Classical Listening

[Gladys]

...moving on to the great Cello Concerto (du Pre)

Thank you. Even as a Schumann lover, I was unaware of a Cello concerto.

schumann-concerto-pour-violoncelle-en-a-mineur-op-129

[Dostoevskian]

Thank you. Even as a Schumann lover, I was unaware of a Cello concerto.

It's a gem for sure. Much like the piano concerto, it's pure, rhapsodic, unadulterated (for some, adulterated) romanticism.

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...

[Musicology]

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

[Aragorn Elessar]

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

[Dostoevskian]

I love nearly all forms of classical music... all very peaceful types of music.

Current Listening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDUAfKuGTcY

[stlukesguild]

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.

[Sebas. Melmoth]

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.

[Emil Miller]

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.

[stlukesguild]

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.

[Musicology]

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) !

[stlukesguild]

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:



















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://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

[LitNetIsGreat]

Beautiful stuff, thanks.

[Sebas. Melmoth]

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

[LitNetIsGreat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC84wEqMqAM
Ah, next Saturday, The Royal Opera House london, Figaro!!!

[stlukesguild]

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 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.