A living composer! I had deliberated on whether to write this article and how to go about it. The works of Glass’s we’re going to be discussing aren’t necessarily the best place to start for this composer to get to know him and his … Continue reading Influential People: Philip Glass
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
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
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)
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
How I got here: As stated on my About Me page, my interest in music was rooted in a fascination with the piano. It seems natural, then, that as I started to familiarize myself with classical music, the piano was … Continue reading Dodecaphony: Part 3
This article has been marked as in need of a revisit. That’s where I feel like I didn’t do the piece justice or have more to say (usually because I didn’t know it nearly well enough or didn’t have the right perspective). I’ll keep the original article for posterity, but publish a new version that will eventually be linked here for my new take on it. performed by Maurizio Pollini That looks intimidating, those three links, but honestly, these pieces aren’t terribly overwhelming. In total, they come to about 13 or 14 minutes of music. Very delicious, important music. While … Continue reading Schoenberg: Drei Klavierstücke, op. 11
To continue our discussion of the twelve tone scheme and the Second Viennese School, we’re going to talk today about the method itself. I’m going to be up front with you, though. I’m not a professional musician, I am not … Continue reading Dodecaphony: Part 2
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan Okay, before anyone gets their panties in a wad, this piece is NOT twelve-tone or atonal or anything. Let’s get that clear. In introducing the Second Viennese School (2VS), perhaps it is odd … Continue reading Anton Webern: Passacaglia, op. 1
Do-what? (a.k.a. Influential People: Arnold Schoenberg) part 2 here part 3 here This was going to be a simple introduction to the early works of the Second Viennese School, and to that group of composers itself, but as with many … Continue reading Dodecaphony: Part 1
performed by Martin Frost and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra So here we are in our final installment of a brief but surprisingly enjoyable miniseries on the clarinet. What’s left? Well, we haven’t had a concerto yet, and this week’s piece brings us solidly into the modern era, with a piece written within the lifetimes of some people still around today. Copland’s clarinet concerto was written shortly after his third symphony. I feel like this shouldn’t be the piece we use to first represent Copland on the blog, as he has lots of other stuff worth talking about, but in the … Continue reading Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto
…. if anything Music, in whatever form, is just one of those things. It is, for most humans, an enjoyable, even integral, part of life. It is very rare that I meet someone who doesn’t have an opinion about, taste … Continue reading What does your taste say about you?
performed by Ashley Wass (per the YouTube video info) The rest of the first movement (Hexameron has apparently not uploaded the second movement…) The third movement (There was another fantastic performance of this piece in its entirety up on YouTube, … Continue reading Frank Bridge: piano sonata, H. 160
performed by Daniel Varsano MYCU: Part 7 mvt 2 here mvt 3 here I’m exhausted. Well, I was when I started writing this as a break from the last few pieces of the German(ic) Symphonies series we did for the last … Continue reading Satie: Gymnopédies
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado MYCU: Part 6 In one swift stroke of genius, I wrote a wonderful post about this piece, and then Blogger ate it. I am livid. Thankfully, I have most of it still in mind. Thanks for nothing, technologies. From Wikipedia: Ida Rubinstein, the inspiration behind Boléro. Portrait by Valentin Serov. I had to check with a friend to make sure this wouldn’t sound weird, but there’s basically two things you need to know about this piece, and they are as follows: It’s a fantastic treatise in orchestration It’s like, the sexiest piece of classical … Continue reading Ravel: Bolero
…on themes of Carl Maria von Weber in an absolutely phenomenal performance by Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony, here, or below by the Royal Concertgebouw under Riccardo Chailly So again, relative to last week’s sprawling, enormous piece, this … Continue reading Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis
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"
performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet Music You Can Understand: Part 1 Eric Satie died 89 years ago this week, and it wasn’t until I saw his name come up on the history post that I actually remembered this guy. He … Continue reading Erik Satie: Gnossiennes
performed by Marthanne Verbit from her album Past Futurists, or below by Janice Weber The score (PDF) as well as recordings can be downloaded here for your enjoyment. I don’t recall how I first heard about this guy. Not long … Continue reading Leo Ornstein: Piano sonata no. 4, SO 360
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under John Williams (A playlist for the recordings of the three movements of this particular performance can be found here) I’m learning that generally speaking, I don’t care much for subtitles of works. ‘Symphony number … Continue reading Alan Hovhaness: Symphony no. 2, op. 132, ‘Mysterious Mountain’
performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Marin Alsop Marin Alsop is a woman. I assumed the info in iTunes had a typo and it was “Martin” or something. Anyway, that’s cool! Maybe the first female music director I can recall hearing of. This American symphony by an American composer is very different than the “New World” American symphony by the Czech composer from last week. That’s sort of the reason I picked it. Let’s contrast a bit. How is this piece American? Well, it’s obviously by an American composer, one of the most famous composers of the 20th … Continue reading Samuel Barber: Symphony no. 2, op. 19
Fugue for Thought 