Ernst Krenek on completing unfinished works
I want to share a very long quote I was pleased to read the other day about a subject I had been thinking about not too long ago. As the title suggests, it’s from Erst Krenek, regarding his opinion based on his experience of finishing works left incomplete by other composers. He says the following: Completing the unfinished work of a great master is a very delicate task. In my opinion it can honestly be undertaken only if the original fragment contains all of the main ideas of the unfinished work. In such a case a respectful craftsman may attempt, … Continue reading Ernst Krenek on completing unfinished works
On this day: Week of May 26, 2014
May 26 Births: 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)] 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962) 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002) Wikipedia says of him “He never played contemporary music other than Ravel’s, except for Sergei Prokofiev‘s Piano Concerto No. 3.” 1921 – Ernst Märzendorfer, Austrian conductor (d. 2009) First conductor to record all of Haydn’s symphonies 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer Deaths: 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906) May 27 Births: 1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640) 1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968) 1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, … Continue reading On this day: Week of May 26, 2014
Beethoven symphony no. 1 in C, op. 21
performed by the Cleveland Philharmonic under George Szell, or the below video of Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago symphony I mentioned in a tweet the other day that Schubert feels like the gateway drug to classical-era music, at least … Continue reading Beethoven symphony no. 1 in C, op. 21
The Curse of the Ninth
So this is fun, but also kind of inaccurate. When Mahler was preparing to write his next symphony after the eighth, he was troubled by something. He was worried about a curse or misfortune that could befall him if he … Continue reading The Curse of the Ninth
On this day: Week of May 19, 2014
Week of May 19, 2014 Yet another week of dates and (a lack of) events. I’m always so excited when there’s a date of a premiere or something that happens. It’s rare that I find them on Wikipedia. Some of them I’m aware of because a piece happens to be in my listening rotation, and I make a note of it ahead of time, but that’s only by coincidence. May 19 Births: 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (d. 1667) 1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect and educator, designed the Manchester Opera House (d. 1964) Significant enough 1929 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer … Continue reading On this day: Week of May 19, 2014
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
performed by the National Symphony Orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich Buckle up… please listen to this piece, and please read this whole thing. Or just read the wikipedia article on it. I reference it a lot. I listened to his first … Continue reading Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
On this day: Week of May 12, 2014
Barely got last week’s installment out, and there is LOTS of stuff I kind of have queued up that I’ve been listening to and am eager to write about and would definitely be able to if this were a more revenue-generating activity. But alas, ’tis a labor of love. Let us begin. May 12 Births: 1739 – Johann Baptist Wanhal, Bohemian composer (d. 1813) 1754 – Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer and publisher (d. 1812) 1755 – Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1824) 1814 – Adolf von Henselt, German pianist and composer (d. 1889) 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1924) 1928 – Burt Bacharach, … Continue reading On this day: Week of May 12, 2014
Franz Schubert: symphony no. 1 in D (D. 82)
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner (Below is the Failoni Orchestra under Michael Halasz) https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/n2fxg3ncs5s&source=uds There is a tenuous connection to one of the characters in this week’s “on this day” series. Although he may not be a name many casual fans of classical music would recognize, Antonio Salieri played a large part in the development of the young Schubert and his musical education. Salieri’s influence was greatest in opera, which he wrote in three languages. He was apparently one of the most respected, sought-after teachers of his era, and aside from … Continue reading Franz Schubert: symphony no. 1 in D (D. 82)
On this day: Week of May 5, 2014
Way behind on writing this week. Busy week. Let’s get started. May 5 1891 – The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor. Cool little piece of trivia I didn’t know. Births: 1749 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French composer (d. 1794) 1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer (d. 1949) Deaths: —— — May 6 Births: 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755) Deaths: 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535) 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)] 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906) May 7 … Continue reading On this day: Week of May 5, 2014
Week of April 28, 2014
What’s gonna happen when I’ve done a year of these? I guess it’ll retire. April 28 1948 – Igor Stravinsky conducted the premier of his American ballet, Orpheus, in New York City at New York City Center. Births: 1715 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer (d. 1767) 1848 – Ludvig Schytte, Danish composer, pianist, and teacher (d. 1909) 1906 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (d. 1999) 1943 – Yoav Talmi, Israeli conductor and composer 1943 – Jeffrey Tate, English musical director and conductor No deaths of note. April 29 Births: 1842 – Carl Millöcker, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1899) 1879 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor (d. 1961) This guy’s pretty important, but he seemed like kind of … Continue reading Week of April 28, 2014
Sibelius Symphony no. 1 in Em, op. 39
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony under Neeme Järvi (below is Järvi with the Orchestre de Paris) Quite a nice first symphony, from a composer whom I’ve come to really enjoy. He has a distinct voice among the late Romantic composers … Continue reading Sibelius Symphony no. 1 in Em, op. 39
Art vs. Life
or, even more controversial, ‘nature vs. nurture’, or slightly less controversial (and actually applicable) ‘the principles of natural selection as applied to art vs. who you know and how life treats you’ I’ve been exploring the Interwebs lately and looking … Continue reading Art vs. Life
On this day: Week of April 21, 2014
This series seems not to be as interesting for others as it is to me; then again, almost all of this is for my own personal edification, so enjoy what you wish. I also end up learning about a lot of other non-music-related events while scanning the entries for calendar days on Wikipedia. April 21: No events Births 1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1788) 1874 – Vincent Scotto, French composer (d. 1952) 1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985) 1933 – Easley Blackwood, Jr., American pianist, composer, and educator Deaths: 1991 – Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909) … Continue reading On this day: Week of April 21, 2014
Alexander von Zemlinsky: String Quartet no. 4
Performed by the Lasalle Quartet Oh, Mr. Zemlinsky (von Zemlinsky?), what a life you must have had, but how few people know of you now. This piece we will talk about today, the fourth and final of your string quartets, was dedicated to a student of your student, Alban Berg, whose piano sonata we recently talked about. It is the only piece of yours I own or have heard, but I am intrigued and interested in what else you have to offer, and for the third and final part of our music-I-enjoy-and-appreciate-but-don’t-really-understand-so-can’t-say-anything-terribly-constructive-or-educational-or-useful-about-so-take-this-with-a-grain-of-salt series, we end up here. I am interested … Continue reading Alexander von Zemlinsky: String Quartet no. 4
On this day: week of April 14, 2014
Here we are again. I’m still baffled that there isn’t some list or library or something of premiere dates for all these famous pieces that people love and adore collected somewhere. It seems that would be terribly useful. Let’s begin with something not so musically related. April 14 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th). This isn’t at all musically related, but it did happen today. Also, nothing else musically happened, so it’s nice to have something. We work with what we’ve got here at FFT Births: 1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor (d. … Continue reading On this day: week of April 14, 2014
Alban Berg: piano sonata in Bm, op. 1
performed by Glenn Gould https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/QNk_A4ZoI30&source=uds (also, don’t watch this… just listen to it) Welcome to part two of three of our music-I-enjoy-and-appreciate-but-don’t-really-understand-so-can’t-say-anything-terribly-constructive-or-educational-or-useful-about-so-take-this-with-a-grain-of-salt series. The first in this series a few weeks ago was Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, which thankfully had a … Continue reading Alban Berg: piano sonata in Bm, op. 1
On this day: Week of April 7, 2014
Here we are again for more exciting history stuff, like composers I don’t know and non-comprehensive lists of events, apparently. Here we go. April 7 1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s St John Passion BWV 245 at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig. 1805- The premiere of Beethoven’s third symphony is given in Vienna‘s Theater an der Wien on 7 April 1805 with the composer conducting I’m satisfied with those two events. Births: 1713 – Nicola Sala, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1801) 1763 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (d. 1846) What a cool last name. 1899 – Robert Casadesus, French pianist and composer (d. 1972) 1970 – Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist Deaths: 1858 – Anton Diabelli, Austrian composer (b. … Continue reading On this day: Week of April 7, 2014
Nerds (geeks?) and Classical Music
I couldn’t agree more with this article. I was giddy when I found it. Read it and then come back. (Buckle up. The first few paragraphs are outrageously tangential, and then we get to the main point.) I am coming to have a closer relationship with classical music after realizing that it is perhaps the only thing that helps me enjoy or look forward to washing dishes. I don’t have a dishwasher, and I cook a ton (and I’m a messy cook), so there’s lots of washing up to be done in a very small kitchen, but instead of setting a … Continue reading Nerds (geeks?) and Classical Music
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in Am, op. 16
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/vmUPl7Pv0Zg&source=uds performed by the Seoul Philharmonic under James Judd, Valentina Lisitsa, piano (I wanted to find a video or recording of her performance here in Taipei from back in October 2013, but the best I could do was this rather useless ad) Can you think of any other piano concerti in Am? Schumann? Very good. What about Mrs. Schumann? Also very good. The first one is the more important, and while Grieg had it in mind (to some extent or other) during the composition of his own piano concerto (both of them having only written one piano concerto, Grieg not … Continue reading Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in Am, op. 16
On this day: Week of March 31, 2014
We’re coming back to another installment of history and dates. Last week was a good week of some new features on the site (see ‘Resources’) and I hope there is more of that to come. Also, I’m realizing that not ALL premieres and events that ever happened in the history of ever are actually included in these Wikipedia date entries, but a few google attempts do not show me any compendiums of premiere dates of symphonies or anything of the like. So some of that will be manual. Let’s see what we have for this week. March 31 1913 – The … Continue reading On this day: Week of March 31, 2014
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (sextet version)
performed by members of the Ensemble InterContemporain (Amazon) (and for a delightful video of a live performance, check this out) (I recently featured the string orchestra version of this piece in a concert program series over on my Substack. Go check … Continue reading Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (sextet version)
Fugue for Thought 