Mahler’s third: An epilogue
As has been common for the past few installments of our German(ic) Symphonies series, things got out of hand, and the most consuming idea of the piece itself expanded to take up a huge portion of what was supposed to … Continue reading Mahler’s third: An epilogue
Mahler Symphony no. 3
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, or as below, Abbado with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, a wonderful performance So here we are, at kind of the middle point of our series, and we have reached quite a point in … Continue reading Mahler Symphony no. 3
On this day: week of December 8, 2014
December 8 1813 – Premier of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Births: 1724 – Claude Balbastre, French organist and composer (d. 1799) 1731 – František Xaver Dušek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1799) 1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish pianist and composer (d. 1957) 1877 – Paul Ladmirault, French composer (d. 1944) 1890 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech-American composer (d. 1959) 1939 – James Galway, Irish flute player; apparently spent considerable time with the Berlin Philharmonic Deaths: 2013 – Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and academic (b. 1931) December 9 Births: 1721 – Peter Pelham, English-American organist and composer (d. 1805) 1728 – Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi, Italian composer (d. 1804) 1745 – Maddalena Laura Sirmen, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1818) 1837 – Émile Waldteufel, French … Continue reading On this day: week of December 8, 2014
Hans Rott: Symphony in E major
performed by the Radio Symphonieorchester Wien under Dennis Russell Davies It is completely impossible to estimate what music has lost in him. His genius soars to such heights even in his first symphony, written at the age of twenty, and … Continue reading Hans Rott: Symphony in E major
Hans Rott: The Real Genius?
– a foreword The Artist. Inspiration. Intensity. Devotion. Drama Genius. Talent. Tragedy. Success. Failure. And usually a little bit of crazy. Most of these things come to mind when people think of the typical ‘artist’ in whatever medium, be … Continue reading Hans Rott: The Real Genius?
On this day: week of December 1, 2014
December 1 1948 – Taman Shud Case: The body of an unidentified man is found in Adelaide, Australia, involving an undetectable poison and a secret code in a very rare book; the case remains unsolved and is “one of Australia’s most profound mysteries.” Completely nonrelated, but I’d been reading about it recently and it’s fascinating, and I didn’t realize it was on December 1, so here you are. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Births: 1709 – Franz Xaver Richter, Czech singer-songwriter, violinist, and conductor (d. 1789) 1901 – Ilona Fehér, Hungarian-Israeli violinist and educator (d. 1988) 1937 – Gordon Crosse, English composer and academic Deaths: 1755 – Maurice Greene, … Continue reading On this day: week of December 1, 2014
Bruckner Symphony no. 4 in Eb major, ‘Romantic’ (Haas, 1881)
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Karl Böhm (1973 recording), or below with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Claudio Abbado So did I have that epiphany (from Tuesday’s post)? I think I may have. It seems there comes some point … Continue reading Bruckner Symphony no. 4 in Eb major, ‘Romantic’ (Haas, 1881)
Thoughts on Bruckner: A foreword
It looks like the way in is not always from the beginning. This is also the first time I feel comfortable being so…. forwardly critical or (not indifferent but…) puzzled about the works of someone so well known and highly … Continue reading Thoughts on Bruckner: A foreword
On this day: week of November 24, 2014
November 24 1690 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German organist and composer (d. 1750) Yes, that Pachelbel. Also, interestingly, he was one of the first European composers to relocate to America, and settled in Charleston. My family may even know his descendants. Small world. 1867 – Scott Joplin, American pianist and composer (d. 1917) I know, but it’s Scott Stinking Joplin. I also didn’t realize he was born so long ago. Deaths: 1615 – Sethus Calvisius, German composer and theorist (b. 1556) 1650 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese organist and composer (b. 1566) 1722 – Johann Adam Reincken, Dutch-German organist and composer (b. 1623) 1956 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920) November 25 … Continue reading On this day: week of November 24, 2014
Brahms Symphony no. 2 in D major, op. 73
performed by the Chicago symphony orchestra under Sir Georg Solti Watch both of these above. In the second video, Maestro Bernstein begins talking about the second symphony just before the three minute mark. This is such a pleasant symphony, and … Continue reading Brahms Symphony no. 2 in D major, op. 73
The scope of interpretation
This will be a short one, but I was just thinking, as I’m listening to next week’s piece, perhaps how critical (or not) interpretations are. In reading a review of a certain conductor’s traversal of the symphonies of the composer of next week’s piece, I was a bit surprised. If you didn’t know who the conductor was, who the (very famous) orchestra was, or perhaps even which symphony cycle of what composer it was, the review would seem no better than scathing, with a few moments of honest admiration. There was more than one like that of the same recordings. … Continue reading The scope of interpretation
On this day: week of November 17, 2014
November 17 1876 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s “Slavonic March” is given its premiere performance in Moscow, Russia. Births: 1816 – August Wilhelm Ambros, Austrian composer and historian (d. 1876) 1925 – Charles Mackerras, American-Australian oboe player conductor (d. 2010) Deaths: 1648 – Thomas Ford, English viol player, composer, and poet (b. 1580) 1959 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1887) 1982 – Eduard Tubin, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1905) November 18 Births: 1860 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 1941) 1899 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1985) 1928 – Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (d. 1994) 1955 – Carter Burwell, American composer Deaths: 2012 – Philip … Continue reading On this day: week of November 17, 2014
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D, op. 36
performed by the Gewändhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly Bear with me. There are a lot of videos to see in today’s post. We begin the first part of our very German[ic] series with Beethoven. (I say Germanic because some are Austrian, … Continue reading Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D, op. 36
Get Ready for German
After the two little hiatuses for the past two weeks of smaller pieces, we will be starting another long train of thought I’ve been brewing up for a long time. I may even name the little series in parts, but … Continue reading Get Ready for German
On this day: Week of November 10, 2014
November 10 Births: 1668 – François Couperin, French organist and composer (d. 1733) 1755 – Franz Anton Ries, German violinist (d. 1846) 1850 – Arthur Goring Thomas, English composer (d. 1892) 1873 – Henri Rabaud, French conductor and composer (d. 1949) 1886 – Edward Joseph Collins, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1951) Deaths: — November 11 Births: 1696 – Andrea Zani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1757) 1883 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (d. 1969) 1930 – Vernon Handley, English conductor (d. 2008) 1944 – Jennifer Bate, English organist Deaths: 1974 – Alfonso Leng, Chilean dentist, composer, and academic (b. 1894) 1979 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-American composer and conductor (b. 1894) 1988 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor and organist (b. 1900) … Continue reading On this day: Week of November 10, 2014
Percy A. Grainger: Children’s March (or ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’)
performed by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind EnsembleAwesomely cool easy to follow condensed conductor’s score with notes here (PDF)Music You Can Understand: Part 5 https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/k8oRPbjZt4Q&source=uds So this is like…. Different. And also, before you listen to it, in my experience and those of my classmates in high school, this piece is an earworm of the worst kind. In my About Me page, I mentioned band in high school. I never had any formal (or even informal, really) musical training. I remember once when our director told a percussionist to go play a C major chord and then a … Continue reading Percy A. Grainger: Children’s March (or ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’)
A Mental Inventory
I was thinking the other day who could possibly be the most-featured composer on our little site so far. I started taking a mental tally of what pieces we’d done by each composer (Mozart Monday aside), and I THINK I have come up with the right answer. My thought, though, was that if I’d completely forgotten a piece I’d done by a composer I remember having worked on, then maybe I should go over it again. I’m not going to include links to my referenced posts here; there would be literally dozens of them. They’re terribly interesting though; you should … Continue reading A Mental Inventory
On this day: week of November 3, 2014
November 3 Births: 1587 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1654) 1656 – Georg Reutter, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1738) 1689 – Jan Josef Ignác Brentner, Czech composer (d. 1742) 1801 – Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (d. 1835) 1875 – Emīls Dārziņš, Latvian composer (d. 1910) 1899 – Rezső Seress, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1968) Deaths: 1939 – Charles Tournemire, French organist and composer (b. 1870) 1983 – Alfredo Antonini, American conductor and composer (b. 1901) 2008 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (b. 1913) November 4 1737 – The Teatro di San Carlo is inaugurated. 1783 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria. Births: 1640 – Carlo Mannelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1697) … Continue reading On this day: week of November 3, 2014
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Music You Can Understand: Part 4 (I use this title not condescendingly, but to suggest that the featured piece is not one obscured by highbrow classical ideas or too difficult to grasp. It is easy to understand and enjoy.) performed … Continue reading Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Thoughts on Babbitt’s "Who Cares if You Listen"
or The Composer as Specialist from Hi Fidelity, February 1958 Wikipedia article here Original article here (PDF) Bach, Beethoven, Brahms…. Jump ahead, jump ahead and there’s Babbitt. But there’s also obviously a lot in between. Last week’s post was a … Continue reading Thoughts on Babbitt’s "Who Cares if You Listen"
On this day: week of October 27, 2014
October 27 1827 – Bellini‘s third opera Il pirata is premiered at Teatro alla Scala di Milano Births: 1703 – Johann Gottlieb Graun, German violinist and composer (d. 1771) 1782 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1840) 1927 – Dominick Argento, American composer 1958 – Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer (d. 2009) Student of Jacqueline du Pre Deaths: 1949 – Ginette Neveu, French violinist (b. 1919) 2012 – Hans Werner Henze, German composer (b. 1926) October 28 1893 – Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer’s death. 1915 – Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his tone poem Eine Alpensinfonie in Berlin. Births: 1733 – Franz Ignaz von Beecke, … Continue reading On this day: week of October 27, 2014
Fugue for Thought 