Romantic Piano Music: An Epilogue
Of course…. I’ve said it many times. These series that I organize in my head are by no means comprehensive. We did a pretty thorough one back in July and into August where we discussed some early piano works of … Continue reading Romantic Piano Music: An Epilogue
Ruth Crawford Seeger: String Quartet 1931
performed below by the Playground Ensemble Of all the quartets discussed so far, I feel this one has the traditional(ish) ideas of Schoenberg, the dense intensity and purpose of Babbitt, and the deep impression and atmosphere of Dutilleux, although I … Continue reading Ruth Crawford Seeger: String Quartet 1931
Digesting Modern Music
from this article entitled Loving, Hating Carter, Boulez I couldn’t end our first real series on modern (more modern than the Second Viennese School) music without kind of addressing this. It was an article I came across a while back … Continue reading Digesting Modern Music
Schoenberg String Quartet no. 4, op. 37
performed by the New Vienna String Quartet (Neues Wiener Streichquartett) A playlist with all four movements can be found here. “…it awakens feelings that are not far from those caused by euphony.” From this article, which I’ll cite also below … Continue reading Schoenberg String Quartet no. 4, op. 37
Where’s the Bach?
Yes… I am aware. Did you know Bach used teeny tiny paper and/or had huge hands and person? Along with the until-recent absence of works from Josef Haydn, Bach is a composer who has been tragically neglected on the blog, … Continue reading Where’s the Bach?
Babbitt String Quartet no. 2
performed by the Composers Quartet There was until recently no YouTube Video to share, but one has appeared, and I’m not sure how long it will stay up. There’s only one (studio?) recording of this piece, to my knowledge, and … Continue reading Babbitt String Quartet no. 2
Babbitt: Composition for Twelve Instruments
performed by the people listed here, directed by the very friendly Erik Carlson “… entire twelve-tone compositions may be seen to be consequences of the structure of the original sets on which they are based, thus revealing “those attributes of … Continue reading Babbitt: Composition for Twelve Instruments
Babbitt: Composition for Four Instruments
played by any of the people in the recordings listed here, or as below (more detail on the performers later, but they are listed in the YouTube video’s info “… the general lesson of Composition for Four Instruments is that … Continue reading Babbitt: Composition for Four Instruments
Milton Babbitt: Three Compositions for Piano
performed by Robert Taub. The CD is available here The first of these three pieces is above on YouTube, and if it’s even the least bit intriguing, I would highly recommend buying the album. Here we are, at a place I have … Continue reading Milton Babbitt: Three Compositions for Piano
Dodecaphony: Part 4 (a.k.a. Influential People: Milton Babbitt)
Epilogue: Total Serialism a.k.a Influential People: Milton Babbitt It’s been a while. If you haven’t read or don’t remember a three-part series I wrote a few months back on the beginnings of the twelve-tone system, go check out the first … Continue reading Dodecaphony: Part 4 (a.k.a. Influential People: Milton Babbitt)
Henri Dutilleux: Ainsi la Nuit
performed by the Arditti quartet, or below by the Belcea Quartet The piece, as discussed below, is in a total of eleven different sections. For specific links to these sections within this recording, please see below. There’s also a video included … Continue reading Henri Dutilleux: Ainsi la Nuit
Some 20th Century String Quartets: A small series
I have come to love string quartets. It seems this group of four instruments has the perfect balance of succinct compactness, clarity, cohesion, and range of expression. There are times when a quartet sounds perfectly like a quartet, with four … Continue reading Some 20th Century String Quartets: A small series
Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 in Dm, op. 15
performed by Claudio Arrau and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink … and here we are, at the end of a very long string of piano works taking us from the heart of the Classical era almost a hundred … Continue reading Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 in Dm, op. 15
Brahms: Scherzo in Eb minor, op. 4
performed by Claudio Arrau Yesterday we spoke at some length about the early history of Brahms and his classical, traditional bent. His first piano sonata and his first symphony, among other works, show clear influence from Beethoven, and a great … Continue reading Brahms: Scherzo in Eb minor, op. 4
Brahms piano sonata no. 1, op. 1
performed by Krystian Zimerman Welcome back after our first three days of no posts since July 6 (or something). And who naturally follows the dear Mr. and Mrs. Schumann but their little protege of a composer, one Johannes Brahms? He’s … Continue reading Brahms piano sonata no. 1, op. 1
Schumann Piano Concerto in Am, op. 54
performed by Mitsuko Uchida and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, or below by Argerich/Chailly/Gewandhaus The idea of inspiration is an interesting one. This is the first husband-and-wife couple we’ve featured on the blog, as I mentioned yesterday with … Continue reading Schumann Piano Concerto in Am, op. 54
Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto in Am, op. 7
“A woman must not wish to compose… there never was one able to do it.” Well, the woman who said that certainly could. A minor piano concertos. What comes to mind? Most likely Schumann and Grieg. After all, there’s some … Continue reading Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto in Am, op. 7
Schumann: Papillons, op. 2
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy, or below by Murray Perahia I feel I must add a few words about the origin of the Papillons, for the thread that is meant to bind them together is scarcely visible. You will remember the … Continue reading Schumann: Papillons, op. 2
Schumann: Variations on the name Abbeg, op. 1
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy, or below by Christoph Eschenbach On to Schumann! Schumann was born the same year as Chopin, on June 8, 1810, and as we’ve stated with some of Chopin’s pieces, he made glowing statements about Chopin’s early works in his own early days as a music critic, even inspiring his own future father-in-law to sing the praises of Chopin’s op. 2, embarrassing its composer in the process. While Chopin marked the end of our really hefty address of some of the earliest piano works of really significant composers, I couldn’t help but add a few things to … Continue reading Schumann: Variations on the name Abbeg, op. 1
Chopin Piano Concerto no. 2, op. 21
Performed by Krystian Zimerman and the Polish Festival Orchestra I didn’t really feel bad for writing somewhat coldly or dispassionately about the piano sonata; after all, I seemed more positive about it than many of the other writers and critics … Continue reading Chopin Piano Concerto no. 2, op. 21
Chopin Nocturnes, op. 9
performed by Idil Biret no. 2 here no. 3 here There are three of these works, but I’m not going to address them on separate days as we did with the works that make up Beethoven’s ops 1 and 2. … Continue reading Chopin Nocturnes, op. 9
Fugue for Thought 