Thank you. Even as a Schumann lover, I was unaware of a Cello concerto. :drool5:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dostoevskian
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Thank you. Even as a Schumann lover, I was unaware of a Cello concerto. :drool5:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dostoevskian
It's a gem for sure. Much like the piano concerto, it's pure, rhapsodic, unadulterated (for some, adulterated) romanticism.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gladys
Have you checked out his Violin Concerto yet? It's some what of an enigma - banned for many years by Schumann's friend Joachim (who was convinced that it was the work of a madman) and not rediscovered until Joachim's grand-nieces began to hear "spirit voices" telling them to recover it.
Eerie stuff, but the concerto itself is very unique and quite dark... :)
Oh, the Schumann Cello Concerto. A wonderful work. A human being against the music industry, no less.
Mstislav Rostropovich, Cello
Orchestre National de France,
Leonard Bernstein
October 1976
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwOis...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiqRn...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suz0Y...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmn2A...eature=related
JS Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
BWV 1051
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAHID...eature=related
I love nearly all forms of classical music, new age, ambient and post-rock (e.g. Sigur Ros) music - all very peaceful types of music. And I've listened to the AOL music radio station for New Age Music and I don't believe I've ever heard a song that I don't like on it, whereas with other genres of music like rock and pop, there are so many awful artists, and occasional decent ones, like Pink Floyd or Sting. New age music seems, also, not to be very well-known. Enya is probably the most well-known new age artist, and most listeners still don't know quite how to classify such music.
As I would like to say, "New age is the new classical."
Anyhow - here's a song by a sort of classical / sort of new age/ambient band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPvTOwxCecM
Nara, by E.S. Posthumus
Current Listening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDUAfKuGTcYQuote:
Originally Posted by Aragorn Elessar
I would avoid the mistake of assuming that classical music as a whole... or even the majority of what we define as "classical music" is in any way nothing more than relaxing, peaceful, ambient background music ala New Age:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKAH_t0aXA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goeOUTRy2es
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9Lv...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9bIoYvdMtE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uMfXh4OOx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP_CSQgBPpQ
These examples only skim the surface... for the very reason that "classical music" is a veritable universe. The very term, "classical music" is meaningless... in that much of what we define as "classical music" was not of the "classical" era (Mozart, Haydn, early Beethoven) but also includes Baroque, Renaissance, Romantic, Post-Romantic, Modernist, Minimalist-era works etc... Essentially, "classical" music might be best defined as the musical equivalent of "fine art" (and as such is sometimes defined as "Art Music"). It is the product of composers with the ability to read music, a knowledge of the history of music, and a mastery of complex musical forms and theory. Yet even this definition is incomplete or flawed for the very reason that what we define as "classical music" is a body of work with often quite different purposes or intentions: Some of the music is intended for entertainment, some has spiritual aspirations, some was pedagogical, some has political aspirations or strives to challenge.
As we entered the 20th century and developed the technology which allowed music to be recorded, composers and performers that would have once been forgotten as mere popular or folk music now had the ability to record their efforts for posterity. As result, the line between folk/popular music and "serious" music or "classical" music has become blurred. Classical composers have been influenced by jazz, and various folk music forms... and even pop and rock... and jazz, folk, and pop/rock have been influenced by classical music in return. It is quite likely that Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis will rank among the greatest composers/musicians of the 20th century... well above many of the more esoteric "classical" composers. One might even suspect that a Beatles song such as Norwegian Wood or In My Life may stand along side the lieder and melodies of Schubert, Schumann, Faure, Debussy, etc...
In other words, in no way would I think to suggest that ambient music is the "classical music" of our day... rather, the "classical music" of our time will probably be found in a broad array of forms and genre... and certainly not all having the intention of providing peaceful, relaxing background listening.
After hearing Conlon/LA Opera's new Siegfried yesterday, listening to Solti/VPO's Walküre today.
Was veering back to Karajan/BPO's Ring cycle, but Conlon/LA is so new and fresh...
This fall Levine/MET is supposed to give us a new Ring at NYC.
Always a massive undertaking, let's hope they concentrate on the singing and orchestral performance rather than trying to outsmart other productions with scenic razzmatazz e.g. space suits or whatever.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebas. Melmoth
Of course opera is a visual spectacle as much as it is musical... but I do agree that efforts to present the classics in the term of MTV or science fiction fantasies tend to fail as miserably as the Romeo + Juliet with Leonardo DiCapprio some years back. Wagner, unfortunately, seems to be the target for the most outlandish costume and stage set designs.
On Tuesday 2nd May 1865, the University of Dublin Choral Society in Ireland were finally persuaded to hold a concert that was to include some music by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) - to which the public were invited. This was to be the first performance of Bach’s music ever given in the country. (This coming at the safe distance of 115 years after the composer’s death in Leipzig and with concert fashion completely dominated by Viennese composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven). The programme manager in Dublin decided to limit performance of this risky composer to less than 10 minutes. Performing only two movements, in fact, from the B Minor Mass. (‘Crucifixus’ and ‘Et Resurrexit) -
‘Crucifixus’
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=lkjQ...eature=related
‘Et Resurrexit’
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=TiQq...eature=related
Greatly irritated by what he heard a journalist sitting in the audience who was working for the ‘Dublin Daily Express’ published his opinon of it the next day (3rd May 1865). Saying that he had just heard -
‘The most stifled/crabbed of all earthly music’
(Since which time music and musicians have learned better) !
With summer having arrived I am on break from teaching and have a goodly amount of time to spend in my studio working on my own artistic endeavors (painting). Perhaps it is that feeling of freedom linked with a bit of remembered youthful rebellion that we all felt when the school year wound to a close... but for whatever reason, I have been spending a lot of time recently listening more to rock, jazz, gospel, blues and even bluegrass. Among my recent purchases are the following:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/...1b705b58ae.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/...9c928abb9c.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/...f410b4bc21.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/...e44b009856.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/...6af51ff002.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1275/...3898ed763a.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/...740d798bf5.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/...0197e770b3.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/...94d8939ae8.jpg
Having said that much, in no way have I put away my passion for classical music... and my current obsession with the Baroque. One composer I have only recently come to explore is the ever fascinating
Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), also known as Johann Dismas Zelenka, was a Czech Baroque composer. Zelenka played the violone, a large (the largest) stringed instrument analogous to the double bass. For quite some time Zelenka was completely ignored. As a result of the Historically Informed Movement (HIP) in classical music, and the revival of interest in earlier music, there have been any number of Zelenka revivals. There is even a web-site devoted to him:
http://www.jdzelenka.net/
Whereas Felix Mendelssohn... among others... helped to spur a revival and a recognition of the genius of the music of J.S. Bach, Zelenka, on the other hand, did not enjoy any significant revival until the mid-20th century. In part this may have been due to the fact that Dresden and the Czech Republic (Bohemia)... where Zelenka had been employed and where most of his manuscripts were housed... fell behind the Iron Curtain. The East German and Czechoslovakian Communist government did not approve of any music that supported the religion... especially the Catholic Church. Only recently has Zelenka's music become accessible to the public, and begun to enter the musical canon... especially among Baroque music aficionados. Zelenka has begun to be recognized as one of the most interesting of the endless array of talented Baroque composers long neglected.
Where Wagner, Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler may stand as towering figures within the music of the Romantic era, composers such as Bruckner, Wolf, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc... were in no way ignored. The Baroque era, however, has long been limited in the minds of many to Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi... with perhaps a cursory nod to Scarlatti. The Baroque revival has brought renewed interests to composrs such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Adolf Hasse, Jean-Baptiste de Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Michel Richard Delalande, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Arcangelo Corelli. Zelenka is a unique addition to these composers.
Zelenka was born in a small town southeast of Prague in Bohemia. His father was a schoolmaster and organist there; almost nothing more is known with certainty about Zelenka's early years or his musical training. He possibly studied music in Prague at a Jesuit college named the Clementinum.
It is known that Zelenka served Baron Hartig, the imperial governor resident in Prague, before becoming a violone player in the royal orchestra at Dresden. He studied counterpoint in Vienna under the composer, Johann Fux
In Dresden, Zelenka initially assisted the Kapellmeister, Johann David Heinichen, and gradually assumed Heinichen's duties as the latter's health declined. After Heinichen died in 1729, Zelenka applied for the prestigious post of Kapellmeister; the post went instead to Johann Adolf Hasse. In 1735, Zelenka was given the title of church music composer. He was in good company, as J.S. Bach had also applied for this title and shared it with Zelenka. Zelenka died in Dresden in 1745, having written works in his final years that were never performed during his lifetime.
There is no known portrait of Zelenka.
culled from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Dismas_Zelenka
Zelenka composed a small body of instrumental and orchestral works, but the majority of his compositions are sacred choral works: oratorios, masses, cantatas, etc... These compositions display a wealth of virtuosic technics and are quite challenging to perform. As a result of his own mastery of the violone, Zelenka's writing for the bass string instruments is far more complex and demanding than that of any other composer of the era. His stress upon the bass lends his music a certain driving rhythm or even muscularity that some have attributed to the folk music and dances of his native Bohemia.
J.S. Bach reportedly held Zelenka in high esteem.
There is currently a good number of Zelenka recordings on the market. I first came upon him through the efforts of the marvelous recording company, Zig Zag Territories (A label that has done much to explore early music performed to HIP standards... all beautifully performed and packaged). Zig Zag has released two marvelous Zelenka recordings that immediately enthralled me:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/...3d1aa8c536.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/...48e5ab1149.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6pnDcHVNok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzXvf...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk717tZzKkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWA7l...eature=related
Beautiful stuff, thanks.
Yesterday heard the LA Opera's final installment of the Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung--it was fanstastic!
Day before reviewed Levine/MET's Rheingold--one of the best.
http://www.amazon.com/Das-Rheingold-...7041982&sr=1-6
Today, Böhm/Bayreuth's famous 1968 Wälkure.
http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Die-Wal...7042024&sr=1-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC84wEqMqAM
Ah, next Saturday, The Royal Opera House london, Figaro!!!:crazy:
Lucky you! So I talked you into making the London trip. Seriously, I'm not kidding... if I lived as close to New York... or Washington D.C. as you live top London I'd be there every other week. But then we Americans live in our cars. It's not unusual for many Americans to drive 40 or 50 miles or more to work each day.
Returning to Le Nozze... I have the Karl Böhm recording sitting in front of me... still in the shrinkwrap... and I must get around to playing it. But right now I'm four beers under the weather (3 Sam Smith Imperials, and a banana bread beer:banana: and I've got Miles' Kind of Blue blaring with a Three Philosopher's Belgian ale and the Stones waiting in the wings. No Mozart tonight.:nopity:
No that sounds pretty cool actually, sounds like you are enjoying better quality beer than me at the moment for one - as I can't disagree with 54 bottles of Stella for £20; goes down well with the football anyway. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
Yes, you talked me into London, that and the fact that I am a definite Figaro addict. Not sure how good the seat is going to be (and I'm not sure that I am going to be paying £8.60 for one glass of house wine) but I'm sure to enjoy the whole thing anyway. Got myself a good deal on first class train tickets as well, plus my uncle can get me super cheap train tickets in future, as he is a driver, so hopefully more trips to London on the way. As long as I don't get lost on the tube that is...:confused:
Enjoy the weekend, Neely - never mind if the seat is way up in the Gods, the experience will be the stuff life-long memories are made of.
I'm off to Cardiff on Monday to see (or is it hear? I'm never sure) Welsh National Opera: Rigoletto on Monday, Meistersingers von Nurenberg on Tuesday - Bryn Terfil is singing Hans Sachs, his debut in the role. It will be my first 'live' Wagner - I'm looking forward to it.
Well, today I spent fully getting back into my current obsession with classical music. Two new discs arrived in the mail:
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Zelenka I have already discussed above... but I must say this latest disc is quite marvelous... and I am still impressed with the muscular, driving rhythm of Zelenka's music. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber was another marvelous German composer from the time of J.S. Bach. Like Bach and Zelenka he composed a share of marvelous choral works for the church...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hTsx...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oFjx...eature=related
Biber was born in Wartenberg, Bohemia (now Stráž pod Ralskem, Czech Republic).
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/...98195d17_b.jpg
Little is known about his early education, other than that he may have studied at a Jesuit Gymnasium in Bohemia. Before 1668 Biber worked at the court of Prince Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg in Graz, and then was employed by the Bishop of Olomouc, Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, in Kroměříž. Biber enjoyed a good reputation, and his violin playing skills were very highly regarded.
In summer 1670 Karl II sent Biber to Absam, near Innsbruck, to negotiate with the celebrated instrument maker Jacob Stainer for the purchase of new instruments for the Kapelle. Biber never reached Stainer, however, and instead entered the employ of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Maximilian Gandolph von Kuenburg. Because Karl and Maximilian were friends, Biber's former employer refrained from taking any action; he was, however, very hurt by the composer's decision, and waited until 1676 to officially release him. Biber remained in Salzburg for the rest of his life. His musical and social careers flourished: he started publishing his music in 1676, performed before the Emperor (and was rewarded by him) in 1677, became deputy Kapellmeister at Salzburg in 1679 and Kapellmeister in 1684. In 1690 Biber was raised to nobility by the Emperor, with the title of Biber von Bibern. Finally, the new Archbishop of Salzburg, Johann Ernst, Count Thun, appointed Biber lord high steward, the highest social rank Biber would attain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Ignaz_Biber
Like Bach, the masterful organist and harpsichordist, and Zelenka and the bass, Biber's mastery of the violin certainly influenced his compositions. For all the pomp and spectacle of the great choral works Biber composed, he is even more known for his works for violin, including the masterful Mystery or Rosary Sonatas, which tell the narrative of Christ's birth and the Passion. A unique element in this music is the technique called scordatura, deliberate mis-tuning of the violin strings for unusual effects including dissonance or near-dissonance. These sonatas are quite intense in nature, avoiding beautiful melodies and typically baroque ornamentation most of the time. Biber, rather, has a dramatic story to tell, which he does with remarkably imaginative effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMC8mP66BXI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrpCEiug8Ks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPj5fyQjCC0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCSEEvEm3uc
The second composer I have listening to a great deal today has been Antonio Vivaldi:
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Before the Historically Informed Performance movement delved deeper into Baroque music, Vivaldi was commonly seen as the third of the great Baroque composers along side of J.S. Bach and Handel... in spite of the fact that his known oeuvre was limited to little more than the Four Seasons and a few other concertos.
Vivaldi, however, has long had his detractors. The Four Seasons is overplayed to the point of irritation... in spite of it being a truly masterful work. Stravinsky disparagingly suggested that Vivaldi had not written 100s of concertos, but rather the same concerto 100s of times. Of course a cursory hearing of the whole of nearly any musical genre: jazz, bluegrass, Romanticism, opera, and not merely the Baroque or Vivaldi may lead one to the assumption that it all sounds alike.:frown2: But the further one delves into the music, the more breadth, variety and originality one discovers.
Such has been true of the appreciation of Vivaldi as the result of relatively recent discoveries of vast previously unknown scores of Vivaldi's music... especially opera and choral works. Vivaldi's vocal works are among his most spectacular creations... among the greatest of all Baroque music. The Naive Record label has been releasing an entire series of simply stunning recordings of Vivaldi's vast repertoire with a focus especially on the previously unknown works. One of the most splendid recordings has been that of the Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria Vergine (or the Vespers for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary):
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1214/...b18bdce651.jpg
Monteverdi, earlier, had composed a famous Vespers of 1610. Vivaldi was employed in the same city (Venice) and was known to have been commissioned to compose several Vespers... almost certainly including one for the same great cathedral (San Marco) in which Monteverdi's choral masterwork had been performed. Unfortunately, only separate elements of various whole Vespers have survived in Vivaldi's manuscripts. These, parts of various wholes, however, are inclusive enough for musicologists to construct a single whole Vespers... wholly of Vivaldi's composing. This reconstruction includes some of Vivaldi's most sublime music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0ib8EIHnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HaBQ...eature=related
The Psalm 126, or Nisi Dominus contains one of Vivaldi's most haunting creations, the unearthly Cum dederit... heard here in two equally beautiful... and yet very different performances... the first by the Polish conductor and counter-tenor, Jakub Burzyński:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceazCccMvzI
The second version... perhaps less driven and earthy... but even more frighteningly "unearthly" is by the fast rising superstar counter-tenor, Philippe Jaroussky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVgItFV0kBY
In fact... one may here listen to the whole of the Nisi Dominus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqQJg...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyhbQ...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVgIt...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ7IB...eature=related
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Ballet
'Coppelia' (1870)
1. Introduction and Mazurka
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=1u16...eature=related
-
2. Coda
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=vRyW...eature=related
///
Curious question; as one who has only experieced classical music through Academic Decathlon curriculum (two years ago was music of Latin America, last year pertaining to the French Revolution, this year to the Great Depression), I'm grosly ignorant to the vast library of masterpieces unheard by my ears. I download music frequently. Can anyone recommend me some lovely pieces that may be available for download? I'd really love to expand my boundaries.
Thanks,
IceM
Quote:
Originally Posted by IceM
I'm sure there are plenty of forum members who could recommend something, but it would depend on what you mean by 'lovely pieces'.
Why not check out the many links posted on this thread which covers a wide range of musical expression?
I'm not really sure what you're looking for but I know a way I usually manage to find a good song is on theradio. When I'm at home and just parusing the internet I use online radio broadcastings.Quote:
Originally Posted by IceM
What are some of your favorites, if you don't mind me asking?
I love piano compositions; Franz Liszt's Liebestraum is my favorite to date. Tchaikovsky* is always a thrill to listen to, and I enjoy some of Mozart's pieces.
The issue is, I'm so ignorant to what much great music is simply because I haven't been able to hear it. My region of California has no classical station; my internet is faulty and typically cannot upload Youtube videos; and it cannot play online radio, either. I tried, thanks for the link nonetheless.
I'm just looking to hear more classical music and wondering which pieces composed are worth listening to.
I'm amazed that you don't have access to music in California but if you like piano music it has to be Chopin, preferably the waltzes and nocturnes, not to mention the etudes and his two piano concertos. Tchaikovsky's ballet music for The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker are all brilliantly tuneful and I would also recommend his Romeo and Juliette concert overture and especially the Francesca da Rimini overture. No other composer can match Tchaikovsky for tuneful orchestral pieces but the number of non-symphonic works by other composers is vast and you might look at Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Dvorak and Mendelssohn for some really enjoyable music. Another composer whose music is very melodious and exciting is Rimsky Korsakov; especially his Russian Easter Festival Overture and Scheherazade.Quote:
Originally Posted by IceM
This only scratches the surface and is fairly random but it might help.
I'm not going to lie, there are a lot of "great pieces" that are highly praised that I'm not too fond of so if you ever happen to run into a random piece you can't stand, don't feel bad, okay? :]Quote:
Originally Posted by IceM
I'm really confused as to why you don't have a classical station! California and I are more than friends and so far where I've been I've managed to find at least one wherever I go (though one of my favorites was shut off not too long ago).
If I were you I'd be at a cd shop testing out what they have. Good luck, though.
If piano works like Liszt's Liebestraum interest you then I would second Brian's recommendation of Chopin's Waltzes and Nocturnes. To these I would add Schumann's Papillons, Carnaval, Fantasiestücke, Kinderszenen, and Kreisleriana. Schubert's Impromptus would also fit in here and then perhaps Beethoven's more famous piano sonatas: 8 (Pathetique), 14 (Moonlight), 17 (Tempest), 21 (Waldstein), 23 (Appasionata), 26 (Les Adieu). I would also suggest you listen to Mozart's piano concertos... especially the late ones: numbers 18-27 for example.
Really, if you are just beginning to explore the world of classical music you would do well to look to a guide to the basics. I would highly recommend the book, Classical Music; the 50 Greatest Composers and their 1,000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding. This book is well written in a clear and concise language that avoids excessive technical jargon. It is much more than a check-list of the "greatest" composers. It offers a basic understanding of classical music forms and structure, developments, history, as well as a good many of the technical terms.
Today a new recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations arrived. This is perhaps my 6th or 7th version of this magnificent work... but then again... one can never have too much Bach. While I tend to prefer Bach's keyboard works played upon the piano (especially when performed by such masterful interpreters as Glenn Gould, Rosalyn Tureck, Angela Hewitt and Murray Perahia) this particular recording, by Andreas Staier on Harmonia Mundi, is played on the harpsichord. This is surely one of the finest harpsichord recordings I have heard. The instrument is well recorded... avoiding the jarring and jangling nature that makes it difficult to listen to some harpsichord recordings for long. This is a full and rich-sounding instrument, and Staier makes judicious use of the organ-like stops on the instrument that can lend a greater variety or sound color to the work.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/...a94d1f8691.jpg
The work also comes with a DVD in which there is a brief (perhaps 20-minute) interview with the performer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPyfodkXOLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2hFP79Q1Ds
Highly recommended!:smile5:
And now I'm on to the second disc that arrived today... a collection of works by Gérard Grisey... who is a bit further out there than Bach.:smilewinkgrin:
Today yet another Bach purchase arrived in the mail... although in this instance the work is something of the Holy Grail of Bach recordings:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/...d151d14162.jpg
Last December I had planned upon purchasing this set of Bach recordings by Gardiner...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/...93104b9319.jpg
... but I ended up putting off this purchase wanting to save the money for the holidays. This disc contained the Saint Matthew Passion, the Saint John Passion, the Mass in B-minor, and the Christmas Oratorio and through Amazon Marketplace dealers it ran from $35-$45 US. I am now glad I put off buying, for this new box set (top) contains not only all four of those works but the Magnificat and 35 of Bach's Cantatas as well... 22 discs in all... and the price is no greater than the earlier set!!
These works are the central achievements of Bach as a composer of sacred choral music... and any number of the individual compositions (the Saint Matthew Passion, the Mass in B-minor, the Magnificat) might be counted among Bach's greatest works... and among the greatest works ever composed. The recordings by John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and English baroque Soloists are regarded by many critics (in Gramophone, BBC Music, Penguin Guide, etc...) as being the "first choice" for many of these works. These recordings include such talented and renowned singers as Bernarda Fink, Barbara Bonney, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Magdalena Kozena, and Anne Sofie von Otter.
Currently, I am listening to the Mass in B-minor. This work was composed upon a scale beyond any of Bach's other works in terms of the orchestral forces employed. Here we find Bach utilizing the brass, timpani, massed choirs... and a variety of instrumental soloists. Some have suggested that Bach was inspired... a provoked to prove himself... by the example of the great choral works of Jan Dismas Zelenka. Zelenka, working for the Catholic court in the large city of Dresden had access to a far greater orchestra and choir than Bach in had in Leipzig, and the Mass in B-minor was dedicated and presented to Zelenka's patron, August III, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony, in a failed bid to obtain the position of court composer.
The scale of this work leads one to wonder just what Bach might have achieved beyond his already unfathomable achievements, had he ever been awarded a position worthy of his talents, such as the rank of court composer in Dresden, Vienna, Salzburg... or Paris... or a free-lance position such as Handel had in London. While Handel, Biber, Zelenka, and Rameau cannot rival the depth of spiritual feeling and the intimacy exuded in Bach's cantatas written for the relatively small Lutheran churches of Leipzig as required by his position as Cantor of Thomasschule and Director of Music in the principal churches in the town (primarily St. Thomas and St. Nicholas), one wonders what Bach might have done with the forces of a truly grand orchestra and choir. One can only imagine Bach's genius applied to choral works on the level of grandeur expected at the French court in Paris... or operas and oratorios written for the great London audiences and their marvelous grand orchestras.
Nevertheless... we still have the Mass in B-minor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcqaY...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdLCcQixNvg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvkS...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltB7...eature=related
This morning, after seeing some plants growing in the garden heard this for the first time in months -
'Bach was an inside job' !!! LOL !!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=NBT7...eature=related
On a friend's advice, I'm just getting into Mahler for the first time, and enjoying myself so far. The 6th symphony is particularly rousing!
I first got into Mahler with the First (love that death waltz set to 'Frère Jacques'), the Second (the great "Resurrection") and the 5th and 9th Symphonies in the brilliant Barbirolli recordings. I now think that my favorite work would be Das Lied von der Erde conducted by Bruno Walter and featuring the great English contralto, Kathleen Ferrier. Her performance... especially of Der Abschied... a long orchestral song celebrating the eternal cycle of death and rejuvenation... as the singer knew she herself was dying... composed by Mahler who was equally aware of his own mortality... is incredibly heart-wrenching. Ferrier, ever the professional, apologized for what she felt was a missed cue. Bruno responded that it was he and the audience who should apologize that they were not all in tears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtV7TSRLs5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_Ii...eature=related
Currently I'm doing a little listening to a cappella vocal works. The first collection being a selection of the works by arch-Modernist, György Sándor Ligeti (1923-2006).
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I like a good many of the pieces well enough... especially the well-known Lux Aeterna used in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuAaKiX1sg
Currently I'm listening to something older... quite a bit older. Some of the music here dates from the 4th century!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/...ca2346bc34.jpg
The music is chant of the Melchite or Imperial Byzantine Church. The music evolved from a culture in which Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Arabic rubbed shoulders in the streets... and in philosophical, religious, and artistic institutions. This chant eventually made its way west to Morocco and into Islamic Spain where remnants remain in music today. In many ways it makes the music of Ligeti sound almost "conservative" by way of comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VoD_Zt0aFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAhvJ...eature=related
Interestingly enough... the duel between the arch-Modernists and those who refused to abandon Romanticism. The Modernists too a progressive approach, abandoning tonality and harmony and pushing ever forward into increasingly challenging and difficult musical languages that often left even the educated audiences baffled. The Romantics continued to champion traditional tonality and harmony as essential... even natural to music. Many Modernists would accuse their Romantic rivals of being reactionaries... stuck in the past... and pandering to the broadest possible audience. In turn, they were accused of having abandoned music's ability to communicate with a public as a result of their esoteric efforts at experimentation for the sake of experimentation.
By the late 20th century, the entire dispute had become something of a non-issue to subsequent generations of composers... many of whom saw either side as just one more possibility... and freely combined elements of tonality with the dissonance or atonality of Modernism. Another camp abandoned the dispute altogether... recognizing that the dispute which was essentially that of 19th century musical ideals vs those of the 20th century ignored the wealth of other musical possibilities... including non-Western musical forms... and "Early Music".
Concurrent with the explorations of "Early Music" by composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki, Erkki-Sven Tüür, etc... the interest in the studies of Early Music increased and these would have a major impact upon the performance of music in the form of the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) movement. HIP recordings employed the proper period instruments and performing styles to the recording of early music, be it Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, or Gesualdo. Prior to this point, most recordings of earlier composers were performed upon modern instruments, using the large-scale Romantic-era orchestras, and modern performance techniques.
Beyond the rethinking of the older masters such as Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the HIP led to a greater awareness and exploration of other composers within the older musical styles. Where the larger classical music public were well aware of an entire range of masters from the Romantic era, the baroque was often limited to Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi... with perhaps a nod to Domenico Scarlatti. It was soon discovered that the Baroque was not so limited, but rather there were any number of other masterful composers such as Biber, Zelenka, Rameau, Lully, Corelli, and Scarlatti's father, Alessandro, also at work. Exploration expanded to Renaissance and Medieval music where an equally broad array of composers were unearthed and began to see the light of day through recordings: Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Josquin, Palestrina, Perotin, Leonin, Hildegard of Bingen, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, John Dowland, and Nicolas Gombert... who I am currently listening to.
Nicolas Gombert was born in Flanders c. 1495 and was employed in the entourage of the Emperor, Charles V. In this position he traveled widely around Europe spreading the innovations of Franco-Flemish music to the Iberian Peninsula. Gombert was perhaps the leading composer following Josquin and prior to Palestrina. His efforts centered upon the composition of vocal music... sacred works (masses, motets, a Magnificat, etc...) and secular (chanson/songs) where he developed polyphonic music... or music that employs multiple "voices"... singers singing different melodic lines at the same time (as many as 6, 8, 10, or 12 different voices with Gombert) which harmonically weave together into a single sound. Some of his compositions are for unusually large vocal ensembles for the time, and the secular works are often especially complex. Gombert is also known, like Gesualdo, for employing elements of dissonance for expressive purposes. While the music of composers such as Gombert immediately strikes the modern listener as perhaps soothing... hypnotic... clearly spiritual in content, it might serve well to note that in its day it was some of the most daring and cutting edge music... music that many of the more conservative church leaders found shocking... overly ornamental... even blasphemous!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/...6f98e5ffc8.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0yaz1_65v4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuwKXSVlN-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWs6k...eature=related
Here is the answer. We are free to forget the question.
J.S. Bach
Concerto for 2 Keyboards
BWV 1061
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=6vbb...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=CzTb...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Cdbf...eature=related
'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof'
J.S. Bach
Concerto for 3 Keyboards
Allegro
BWV 1064/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=SGNx...eature=related
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/...478b8c8a9d.jpg
According to Wikipedia: Byzantine music remains the oldest genre of extant music, of which the manner of performance and (with increasing accuracy from the 5th century onwards) the names of the composers, and sometimes the particulars of each musical work's circumstances, are known (although Robert/Musicology will probably be along to inform us that it was all the invention of the Jesuits, the Free Masons, Hollywood, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:sosp:). The Byzantine Church came into existence in a place in which Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin all rubbed shoulders. Some of this music dates back to as early as the 4th century. It was largely preserved both as it passed down from generation to generation orally, but also in a rough form of notation known as Ekphonetic notation, which involved symbols used as a mnemonic device to assist in their cantillation. The music was not set rigidly as in more modern Western music, but rather allowed for a deal of improvisation while adhering to notes within the given mode, metrical scheme, accents, and patterns.
Today I'm listening to a second disc by Soeur Marie Keyrouz, who is virtually the unrivaled as a cantor of this ancient music. She was born in Deir el Ahmar in Lebanon and is a member of the Melkite through her religious congregation, she took her vows in the Melkite/Melchite or Byzantine Greek Catholic Church. She has a joint doctorate in musicology and anthropology from the Sorbonne. She has collected and performs a variety of so-called "Oriental" Christian chants, mostly preserved in Greek, Syrian, and Arabic manuscripts and through oral tradition. She is accompanied on this disc by the Chorale De L'église Saint-Julien-Le-Pauvre which provide the steady choral drone over which her voice soars. Not only is this music intensely spiritual... and hypnotic... but the disc is beautifully packaged in a booklet containing the complete texts in translation and a number of lovely reproduction of Byzantine art of the era. Soeur Marie Keyrouz has become something of a "cottage industry" with a high-tech web site of her own:
http://www.keyrouz.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAhvJ...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ql5V_Osp2Y
My summer learning project is to learn and experience Beethoven's string quartets. Today I was listening to Opus 127.
Here's that great first movement, Sonata form of course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5mQQnkKm1k
My summer learning project is to learn and experience Beethoven's string quartets. Today I was listening to Opus 127.
A formidable challenge, indeed! I've honestly never been a big fan of quartets... although I certainly have listened to Beethoven's, Schubert's, Shostakovitch's, Mozart's, Haydn's and a number of others with pleasure. I sometimes wonder if it is not due to my love of song that I am so enamored of nearly any form of vocal music... but find I'm less than enthralled with chamber music... to say nothing of a good deal of modern music?:sosp:
My own goal has been to broaden my grasp of Baroque and earlier music. At the same time... I've been getting back to my American roots in also touring through some of the pioneers of R & B, Blues, Rock, etc... such as Mahalia Jackson, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Richard, Son House, B.B. King, Little Jimmy Scott, Joe Williams, Etta James, etc...
Discovering these in the 1970's, I much later experienced the same feelings - an appreciation of intense existential beauty and fragility - in novels of Dostoevsky, Henry James, James Joyce, Arundhati Roy, and others. Frail, fleeting visions of naked eternity, crystallised in the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
Chamber music doesn't have the power of orchestral music, but it has incredible subtlty. In some respect they have a higher level of artistry.Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
Well, I'm a huge blues fan. :D Those are some great names there.Quote:
My own goal has been to broaden my grasp of Baroque and earlier music. At the same time... I've been getting back to my American roots in also touring through some of the pioneers of R & B, Blues, Rock, etc... such as Mahalia Jackson, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Richard, Son House, B.B. King, Little Jimmy Scott, Joe Williams, Etta James, etc...
Nicely said. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gladys
My own musical tastes are all over the place, and I will admit that some of what I love can be thought of as quite esoteric... especially to those just beginning to explore "classical music". With that in mind, I offer up the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pVW4Z8qOUE
If there is one piece of classical music composed by an American that I certain will last, it is surely Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. This piece of music must surely be one of the most absolutely heart-wrenching artistic experiences I have ever known. The Adagio began as the middle movement of Barber's string quartet, but the composer himself recognized the worth of the piece and scored it for full orchestra. He sent a copy of this score to the great conductor, Toscanini. Toscanini returned it without comment, which deeply annoyed and hurt Barber... until he was informed by the conductor that he had returned the work because he had already memorized it entire. Toscanini gave the first performance of the Adagio for Strings with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5, 1938 in New York. This recording was selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the United States Library of Congress.
The Adagio for Strings is such a moving and somber piece of music that it is no surprise that it was broadcast over the radio at the announcement of Franklin D. Roosevelt's death. It was also played at the funeral of Albert Einstein, the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco, during the radio report of John F. Kennedy's assassination and again was performed in 2001 at Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall to commemorate the victims of the September 11 attacks, replacing the traditional upbeat patriotic songs. It was also played during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. On April 13, 2010 Adagio for Strings was performed at the special joint session of the Polish Parliament and Senate three days after the tragic plane crash. It has also been repeatedly used in television and film, including Oliver Stone's Platoon and David Lynch's The Elephant Man.
Barber also composed a choral setting of the Adagio, Agnus Dei:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkObnNQCMtM
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-Samuel Barber
Here's one that Petrach's Love might appreciate:
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:):):)
This particular madrigal by Moneteverdi absolutely blows my mind... with the high plaintive voice rising above the others in a sweetest/saddest of laments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxcMZl6YwNs
Exquisite!!!;):yesnod:
Currently playing:
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I logged into Naxos and this Liztz recording of Beethoven's 9th symphony popped-up so I hit the "go" button! Seems very sharp and energetic (and fast), here is the second movement on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1KmD...next=1&index=3
Ooh, now that I like!Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely