if you have never heard of this guy, his first name is engelbert. engelbert humperdinck.
this was an opera written in about 1893, receiving its first performance under the baton of none other than richard strauss. humperdinck wrote a number of operas, almost all based on fairy tales. this is by far the most successful and well remembered (in fact, i really can't off the top of my head think of any other compositions by him =/) he did most of his writing for vocal works, both solo and choral. his operatic writing was a nice counterpart to the seriousness and darkness of contemporary Wagner, though a lot of their musical vocabulary is very similar.
the overture doesn't really relate as tightly to the characters in the opera as wagner's do, but everyone knows the story of hansel and gretel anyway so i'll avoid recapping here. the overture does deal with a sort of mood setting for the opera, evoking both a dreamy idyllic atmosphere as well as a middle section of slightly more ominous music perhaps referring to the kids' encounter with the witch. the whole overture, though, definitely maintains a playful, light and catchy tone.
the opening chorale is a really fantastic one - so simple, C major, basic harmonic progressions, but phenomenal in its effect. the music here is also the basis for the more famous "prayer and dream" section in the opera itself.
the development of the material sounds a lot like brahms to me. lush strings, sustained wind solos, and a gentle swell into a rephrase by the oboe and supporting winds.
the trumpet enters with a sprightly motif at 2:50 accompanied by sharp pizzs from the strings, waking the music up and spurring it to a more flowing tempo. the rest of the brass take up this motif until we sense a proverbial curtain raise. (even a pause for applause.)
at 3:38 the strings come with their pastoral melody, the third theme to come in. the counterpart/second theme to this is the wind dance at 4:11, and this material is based to some degree on the trumpet fanfare.
the development begins at about 4:50. we have a return of every theme so far, from the horn chorale to the sprightly winds, and this is taken on a journey through several keys as well as an accelerando. the part with all the string arpeggios is especially fun.
6:05 is a grand arrival of sorts, with all the themes finally coming out in full, particularly the strings. the swing is broad, childish, almost exaggerated. the strings get busier themes over a constantly rising and falling swell of brass.
finally we cadence in a shining C major, and we have a return of the chorale. these chord changes at this section are particularly beautiful and even unexpected.
some pretty light music for today. stay posted, i think some dvorak on the way.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Brahms: Capriccio in B minor, Op. 76 No. 2
i remembered this piece on a whimsy and decided to look it up since i couldn't remember what it actually was but remember having had to analyze it at some point in my beginning theory class (i think it was given us as an example of something that sort of defies analysis. there is a bunch of strange substitution, cadencing in the wrong keys... etc).
there are 8 pieces in this Op. 76, and this is of course the second. it is marked allegretto non troppo.
this is short and there are wonderful recordings so i can afford to post a few. respectively: rubinstein, backhaus, and kempff.
when brahms wrote this in 1878 he hadn't written any solo piano music for twelve years and marked the beginning of the sort of "later" piano works which was a much smaller body. this particular capriccio has proved popular, its playful but somehow sophisticated gypsy like demeanor making the piece an immediate earworm.
the piece is in a sort of rounded binary form, where the first section is comprised of both minor and major portions (the major portion being in the relative of DM).
the middle section, starting at 1:25 (of the rubinstein), is in G Major, a dominant to the relative major D. here is some very typical Brahms piano writing - lush, arpeggiated, lots of chromatic adjustments and lyrical melodies.
recap at 2:30, with a texturally similar but still fantastically original spin on the original theme, lots of octave jumps, etc. after a lot of chromatic uncertainty, the piece slows to a halt, and ends with a B Major chord.
for me it's important to capture a sort of shadowed grace which i think kempff does quite well - the slightly slower tempo and amount of weight he gives to all the notes (which are easy to make flippant if you take the staccato at their word) are just right, as is the curve he gives to the end of each phrase. i also like how the middle section is the same tempo - for me that's about the initial tempo he chooses, so he doesn't have to change too much upon hitting the lyrical section. i also like how the a tempo doesn't feel like a recap until he actually hits the main material of the theme.
the backhaus recording is different for sure. probably just by listening, judging from his ornamentations, his rhythm and phrasing, which are more along the lines of instinct than anything else, you can tell he is actually 70 at the time of this recording.
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in Eb Major, Op. 82 - III. Allegro molto
this begins with a timpani roll and scurrying tremolo all throughout the strings, moving in scale-wise motion all over, in Eb major.
1:15 enter the horns with the motif that everyone will remember from this movement - a sequence of fifth, sixth, and seventh, then cycling back, all with the upper note as Bb. the winds enter with a descant-like melody - it's honestly pretty hard to focus on next to the grandness of the horns, but apparently this is one of sibelius's best known melodies. for me the best moment is at 2:26, where he stretches the interval to a major ninth and cadences from a sort of minor four to the C Major.
the scurrying theme is not at all as triumphant as we expect from the opening. the violins return with a sort of fugue based on their tremolos from the beginning, with the flutes and clarinets repeating the famed melody. the violins take over, making it into a lush but somehow anxious theme full of shadow. even when the "swan call" motif comes back (what they call the horns' motif in the beginning) it is sort of muted; it avoids cadencing satisfactorily and becomes more dissonant. it seems to me as if this music teeters on wanting to overcome the darkness of these dissonances and cadence full of light, and crumbling to end in a thundering minor.
the lighter side wins out, though not with some crunch - with chromatic rising lines in the strings and brass (note the stress at 8:00 caused by the rising A Bb Bnat C C# D Eb), and especially this CRAZY chord at 8:12 when the brass come in with something completely unidentifiable - sounds like a bitonal crash. wow. even though we have reached the grand eb major by 7:50 or so, it is not a pure triumph.
the ending is really different - six chords of the usual V-I cadence, but separated by entire bars of total silence. what do you think? it's not my favorite ending, but it might rank somewhere in the top ten.
1:15 enter the horns with the motif that everyone will remember from this movement - a sequence of fifth, sixth, and seventh, then cycling back, all with the upper note as Bb. the winds enter with a descant-like melody - it's honestly pretty hard to focus on next to the grandness of the horns, but apparently this is one of sibelius's best known melodies. for me the best moment is at 2:26, where he stretches the interval to a major ninth and cadences from a sort of minor four to the C Major.
the scurrying theme is not at all as triumphant as we expect from the opening. the violins return with a sort of fugue based on their tremolos from the beginning, with the flutes and clarinets repeating the famed melody. the violins take over, making it into a lush but somehow anxious theme full of shadow. even when the "swan call" motif comes back (what they call the horns' motif in the beginning) it is sort of muted; it avoids cadencing satisfactorily and becomes more dissonant. it seems to me as if this music teeters on wanting to overcome the darkness of these dissonances and cadence full of light, and crumbling to end in a thundering minor.
the lighter side wins out, though not with some crunch - with chromatic rising lines in the strings and brass (note the stress at 8:00 caused by the rising A Bb Bnat C C# D Eb), and especially this CRAZY chord at 8:12 when the brass come in with something completely unidentifiable - sounds like a bitonal crash. wow. even though we have reached the grand eb major by 7:50 or so, it is not a pure triumph.
the ending is really different - six chords of the usual V-I cadence, but separated by entire bars of total silence. what do you think? it's not my favorite ending, but it might rank somewhere in the top ten.
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in Eb Major, Op. 82 - II. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto
sibelius's choice for key of this movement, g major, is an interesting one. so is his form - it's effectively a set of theme and variations, but not discrete and developed in much the same way one would expect of any symphonic movement, emotionally speaking. the central variations have expanse and sometimes fly off the handle a bit into passionate climactic statements; the earlier variations serve as a sort of leadin for this.
having just done a set of variations on a relatively complex theme (the enigma), this seems to have some similarities - the theme just is a little unusual. to begin with, as in the elgar, the theme itself sounds like it could be a variation.
it's stated first by staccato, soft flutes in thirds, with a rhythmic motif of five quarter notes (quarter rest). this is alternated a few times with the strings.
2:15
the first variation. a playful, arco take on the main theme by the violins, circling around and adorning the main notes over sustained chords in the winds. this is a bit of a step up, intensity-wise, from the subdued theme. there is an almost impassioned middle section, and when the violin line comes back, it accelerandos into an almost rushed-sounding outpouring, landing us somewhere in the middle of Eb major by the time we're there. it's in this limbo we start the next "variation" - in fact it's quite difficult to tell where, exactly; it's somewhere around 4:35. now we are in a sort of development; the chords are restless and leading, but the basic contour of the music is the same.
5:25 is the beginning of a new variation, featuring "see-saw" figurations in the strings and staccato winds.
it seems here that each return to the main theme is becoming compressed, as is the rhythm (which becomes faster and faster) and intensity. at around 6:17, though, we hit a stride, as if he has realized what he's doing - and all of a sudden the music becomes subdued. amid grey pizzs which are in the right rhythm but otherwise descend instead of ascending like the theme, there are occasional swells of brassy angst which eventually just go away.
winds come in singing for perhaps the first time in the whole movement; tentatively and darkly, the strings follow them. finally they resolve in g major, but it is somehow sad.
very poignant movement, and sort of difficult to understand.
having just done a set of variations on a relatively complex theme (the enigma), this seems to have some similarities - the theme just is a little unusual. to begin with, as in the elgar, the theme itself sounds like it could be a variation.
it's stated first by staccato, soft flutes in thirds, with a rhythmic motif of five quarter notes (quarter rest). this is alternated a few times with the strings.
2:15
the first variation. a playful, arco take on the main theme by the violins, circling around and adorning the main notes over sustained chords in the winds. this is a bit of a step up, intensity-wise, from the subdued theme. there is an almost impassioned middle section, and when the violin line comes back, it accelerandos into an almost rushed-sounding outpouring, landing us somewhere in the middle of Eb major by the time we're there. it's in this limbo we start the next "variation" - in fact it's quite difficult to tell where, exactly; it's somewhere around 4:35. now we are in a sort of development; the chords are restless and leading, but the basic contour of the music is the same.
5:25 is the beginning of a new variation, featuring "see-saw" figurations in the strings and staccato winds.
it seems here that each return to the main theme is becoming compressed, as is the rhythm (which becomes faster and faster) and intensity. at around 6:17, though, we hit a stride, as if he has realized what he's doing - and all of a sudden the music becomes subdued. amid grey pizzs which are in the right rhythm but otherwise descend instead of ascending like the theme, there are occasional swells of brassy angst which eventually just go away.
winds come in singing for perhaps the first time in the whole movement; tentatively and darkly, the strings follow them. finally they resolve in g major, but it is somehow sad.
very poignant movement, and sort of difficult to understand.
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in Eb Major, Op. 82 - I. Tempo Molto Moderato - Allegro moderato (ma poco a poco stretto) - etc.
the full tempo marking of this movement is actually: Tempo Molto Moderato - Allegro moderato (ma poco a poco stretto) - Vivace molto - Presto - Più Presto
OK, for today's posts, some sibelius. this is probably my favorite symphony after his first, although i don't know 6 or 7 too well. i think this is one of his greatest examples of a tone that suffuses his music - something that brings to mind thin, cold, cutting air.
this symphony was written in honor of his own 50th birthday (actually a national holiday) on commission from the finnish government. (wouldn't you love to have your own national government pay you to write music for your own birthday.) it was composed in 1915 and revised in 1916 and 1919. the 1919 version is the one we hear most today. at this time he was struggling with some of the modernist tendencies of the likes of schoenberg, etc. and this was reflected most in the form and structure of this symphony. (his preceding fourth symphony, which was not well received, was much more modernist. apparently the first version of the fifth had more in common with it, but upon revision he said he wished to make it more down to earth - in a word, more accessible.) harmonically, it still has more in common with the third symphony.
2/2/2/2 4/3/3/0 timp str
wiki points out that the entire symphony is structured sort of mirror form in its tempi - the first movement begins slow, ends fast; the second movement is a mid-tempo intermezzo, and the last movement begins fast but ends slow.
the grand horn call based on the interval of perfect fourths is probably sibelius's most well known symphonic opening ever. for me sibelius's music is so scenic, so imagery-inspired, that at times it's pretty much impossible for me not to think of some ice-swept mountain in a clear sky, and this is assuredly one of those moments.
the movement is probably a combination of what was originally the first and second movements of the symphony (at least in the first revision, which has mostly been lost). the second movement, a scherzo, becomes the second half (basically the second video posted above). the first half, the tempo molto moderato, is in 12/8, while the allegro moderato on is in a brisk 3/4. the rehearsal numbers actually begin again at the 3/4 (starting at A again).
wiki has a long and sort of obnoxiously musicology-ish bit about the debates going on over the form of this movement. is there a double exposition? it it merely two movements stuck end on end? is it sonata form? if it is, where's the recap? where's the coda? meh.
in any case: the material that gets developed is virtually the same in the allegro moderato as it is at the beginning, so we feel a sense of relief when, after getting through the increasingly murky first section, we emerge into the brisker version of something we know and love from the opening. since the leadup into the second section is climactic and signals something is coming, to a listener it wouldn't be at all the first assumption musically that these are two different movements. they are two variations upon the same idea. of course it doesn't fit neatly into any cookie cutter from the 18th or 19th centuries, but that's the avant garde step that sibelius was taking in this symphony.
the grandiose horn calls in the beginning are followed by little ascending motifs in the winds, and the oboe sound is instrumentationally genius in my opinion. but then we descend to a minor section with characteristic parallel thirds in the winds. with ascending and descending chromatic lines in the strings and signals of struggle in the winds (lots of diminished intervals, tritones, etc) along with percussion rumblings, we get more and more angsty; then we have a pause, and we begin a development of sorts at 3:03. repetitions of the opening motif get cycled around the winds and brass section, and an undercurrent of tremolo notes in the strings heightens the tension as it rises and the opening fourths get crunched into dissonance with that line.
this is pushed into more and more chromatic development; around 6:00 there's an extended section in which the strings repeat their ascending tremolos over a super chromaticized bassoon melody. at 7:08, all of a sudden the strings burst in with their first real melody, and it's basically a reprise of the bassoon melody - highly dissonant, angsty, and rising all the time. then, out of nowhere, the horn call comes in, this time FF, and much more triumphant, full, and robust. it quickly becomes sprightly and lively. the next section, which comes about before we know we're quite in that tempo at all (since the relation is mathematical, the violins' triplet sixteenths just become eighth notes in the new tempo). the allegro moderato actually comes at 0:36.
now sibelius takes the same material and develops it in quite a different way - he tries to maintain a base in an optimistic Eb minor, giving the winds a more extended version of what we only got a taste of at the beginning of the movement.
1:47 gives completely new material in the form of brass, one which has sort of a similar contour to the beginning but sounds much more dancelike. it is this theme that the strings will start to develop, just a few seconds later, pushing it chromatically in all directions with a few rude outbursts of the rising fourth theme amidst it.
the accelerando begins about a minute before the end, with the violins in a constant quarter note sequence of scales which underly hints of the ascending fourths in the winds and brass. the movement is brought to a galloping close in Eb major.
OK, for today's posts, some sibelius. this is probably my favorite symphony after his first, although i don't know 6 or 7 too well. i think this is one of his greatest examples of a tone that suffuses his music - something that brings to mind thin, cold, cutting air.
this symphony was written in honor of his own 50th birthday (actually a national holiday) on commission from the finnish government. (wouldn't you love to have your own national government pay you to write music for your own birthday.) it was composed in 1915 and revised in 1916 and 1919. the 1919 version is the one we hear most today. at this time he was struggling with some of the modernist tendencies of the likes of schoenberg, etc. and this was reflected most in the form and structure of this symphony. (his preceding fourth symphony, which was not well received, was much more modernist. apparently the first version of the fifth had more in common with it, but upon revision he said he wished to make it more down to earth - in a word, more accessible.) harmonically, it still has more in common with the third symphony.
2/2/2/2 4/3/3/0 timp str
wiki points out that the entire symphony is structured sort of mirror form in its tempi - the first movement begins slow, ends fast; the second movement is a mid-tempo intermezzo, and the last movement begins fast but ends slow.
the grand horn call based on the interval of perfect fourths is probably sibelius's most well known symphonic opening ever. for me sibelius's music is so scenic, so imagery-inspired, that at times it's pretty much impossible for me not to think of some ice-swept mountain in a clear sky, and this is assuredly one of those moments.
the movement is probably a combination of what was originally the first and second movements of the symphony (at least in the first revision, which has mostly been lost). the second movement, a scherzo, becomes the second half (basically the second video posted above). the first half, the tempo molto moderato, is in 12/8, while the allegro moderato on is in a brisk 3/4. the rehearsal numbers actually begin again at the 3/4 (starting at A again).
wiki has a long and sort of obnoxiously musicology-ish bit about the debates going on over the form of this movement. is there a double exposition? it it merely two movements stuck end on end? is it sonata form? if it is, where's the recap? where's the coda? meh.
in any case: the material that gets developed is virtually the same in the allegro moderato as it is at the beginning, so we feel a sense of relief when, after getting through the increasingly murky first section, we emerge into the brisker version of something we know and love from the opening. since the leadup into the second section is climactic and signals something is coming, to a listener it wouldn't be at all the first assumption musically that these are two different movements. they are two variations upon the same idea. of course it doesn't fit neatly into any cookie cutter from the 18th or 19th centuries, but that's the avant garde step that sibelius was taking in this symphony.
the grandiose horn calls in the beginning are followed by little ascending motifs in the winds, and the oboe sound is instrumentationally genius in my opinion. but then we descend to a minor section with characteristic parallel thirds in the winds. with ascending and descending chromatic lines in the strings and signals of struggle in the winds (lots of diminished intervals, tritones, etc) along with percussion rumblings, we get more and more angsty; then we have a pause, and we begin a development of sorts at 3:03. repetitions of the opening motif get cycled around the winds and brass section, and an undercurrent of tremolo notes in the strings heightens the tension as it rises and the opening fourths get crunched into dissonance with that line.
this is pushed into more and more chromatic development; around 6:00 there's an extended section in which the strings repeat their ascending tremolos over a super chromaticized bassoon melody. at 7:08, all of a sudden the strings burst in with their first real melody, and it's basically a reprise of the bassoon melody - highly dissonant, angsty, and rising all the time. then, out of nowhere, the horn call comes in, this time FF, and much more triumphant, full, and robust. it quickly becomes sprightly and lively. the next section, which comes about before we know we're quite in that tempo at all (since the relation is mathematical, the violins' triplet sixteenths just become eighth notes in the new tempo). the allegro moderato actually comes at 0:36.
now sibelius takes the same material and develops it in quite a different way - he tries to maintain a base in an optimistic Eb minor, giving the winds a more extended version of what we only got a taste of at the beginning of the movement.
1:47 gives completely new material in the form of brass, one which has sort of a similar contour to the beginning but sounds much more dancelike. it is this theme that the strings will start to develop, just a few seconds later, pushing it chromatically in all directions with a few rude outbursts of the rising fourth theme amidst it.
the accelerando begins about a minute before the end, with the violins in a constant quarter note sequence of scales which underly hints of the ascending fourths in the winds and brass. the movement is brought to a galloping close in Eb major.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 - Variations X-XIV
X. Dorabella - intermezzo: allegretto
dora penny was a great friend who also had a stutter, depicted in the wind interjections in every bar. the first note of these little interjections is almost always stressed, giving a bit of an off-kilter feeling. the nickname was taken from mozart's cosi fan tutte. apparently elgar had a flirtatious but mild relationship with her, and this light and lovely variation reflects that. i particularly like the cello solo.
ok it is actually all i can do to actually post this video because the images are kind of gross, please don't actually watch the video when you listen =/
george robertson sinclair was an organist at a cathedral. he owned a big bulldog called dan, and the variation has almost nothing to do with sinclair except that the dog was his. the first rapid descent shows the dog tumbling into a river. he struggles by swimming upstream, and finally manages to scramble to the bank, barking triumphantly.
sorry for the gross video...
XII. B.G.N - andante
basil g. nevinson was a well-known cellist, hence the big cello solo interlude that bookends this variation and the predominantly cello section melody. nevinson was the inspiration for the cello concerto, which elgar completed some years later.
XIII. *** - romanza: moderato
this is my favorite variation because of the transformative middle section. wiki reports that this was supposed to be lady mary lygon, a friend of elgar and his wife who just happened not to be available when the variations were finished and elgar sent her a note requesting to use her initials. but a different story gaining traction is that the stars actually refer to a secret lover that elgar had named dora adeline nelson, and they had a love child named pearl. nelson was a cook in the kitchens; being of lower caste, elgar could, of course, never acknowledge their existence or his love, but apparently it was an open secret in the servants' circles. who knows? but it would certainly be more of a reason to keep the stars - it somehow seems unlikely that lady mary lygon would have refused to let her name be used even post publication, and if it were innocuous it seems elgar had plenty of time afterwards to clarify it. buuuut, there are at least two other theories out there, including "helen weaver" and "alice stuart-wortley."
anyway, the variation's main material is graceful and lyrical and suggests a lady for sure. but the middle section i mentioned is introduced by a sudden cessation in the flowing movement of the theme, and seems really to have nothing to do at all with the theme. alternating thirds in the violas underly a timpani roll played with hard sticks, giving a metal edge to the sound, kind of an ominous rumbling on the horizon. the clarinet solo is apparently a quotation from mendelssohn's calm sea prosperous voyage. this is all in the harmonically far away key of a-flat major.
you get some bernstein for the last variation because the other guy is too noob to finish his collection of videos. (i would have uploaded all bernstein, but for some reason this is the only movement that was posted.)
XIV. E.D.U. - finale: allegro presto
edu was his wife's nickname for himself. the finale is longest besides perhaps nimrod, and includes throwbacks to the variations of the two biggest influences on his life, II (his wife) and IX (nimrod/jaeger). we end triumphantly in g major.
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 - Variations V-VIII
V. R.P.A. - moderato
richard penrose arnold was also an amateur pianist and the son of a poet. elgar wrote that his playing had a way of "evading difficulties but suggesting in a mysterious way the real feeling. his serious conversation was continually broken up by whimsical and witty remarks."
this actually makes complete sense if you listen to the movement, which suggests a darkness that could easily be soupy and anguished but moves a bit too easily for that. then of course the major section brings in the "whimsical" insertions by winds and violins.
VI. Ysobel - andantino
the variation is attacca from the previous, and begins right at 2:19. isabel fitton was a viola student of elgar's. the variation is played mostly by a solo viola, and the opening viola (section) statement includes a sort of exercise in string crossing, reportedly one of elgar's jokes, in which the viola has to cross from the C string to the D string without hitting the G string in between (the interval is a tenth - from the open C to an E above that). so i can imagine that for a performer/conductor aware of this, it would be important to resist the temptation to use a less awkward fingering of just putting the E up on the G string in third position.
the moment when the strings melt away to reveal the solo viola is particularly lovely.
VII. Troyte - presto
arthur troyte griffiths was an architect and amateur pianist who was apparently quite terrible at playing the piano. this apparently represents elgar's abortive attempt to teach him, and his "enthusiastic incompetence." wiki, though, reports that the almost unplayably fast movement depicts a day when they both got caught in the rain and had to make a mad dash for shelter. i like to think that elgar wrote those ridiculous fifths in hopes that violinists wouldn't be able to play it that fast and it would more effectively represent troyte's fail on the piano.
(i find the images that accompany this movement in the above recording hilarious.)
VIII. W.N. - allegretto
winifred norbury was a friend of elgar's who was fairly easygoing, but most accounts agree that the variation is as much about the house she lived in as the woman herself. the house itself was a classic 18th century house which was the site of many chamber performances and musical gatherings. one writer suggests that her laugh is hinted at in the central section (the oboe + trills).
richard penrose arnold was also an amateur pianist and the son of a poet. elgar wrote that his playing had a way of "evading difficulties but suggesting in a mysterious way the real feeling. his serious conversation was continually broken up by whimsical and witty remarks."
this actually makes complete sense if you listen to the movement, which suggests a darkness that could easily be soupy and anguished but moves a bit too easily for that. then of course the major section brings in the "whimsical" insertions by winds and violins.
VI. Ysobel - andantino
the variation is attacca from the previous, and begins right at 2:19. isabel fitton was a viola student of elgar's. the variation is played mostly by a solo viola, and the opening viola (section) statement includes a sort of exercise in string crossing, reportedly one of elgar's jokes, in which the viola has to cross from the C string to the D string without hitting the G string in between (the interval is a tenth - from the open C to an E above that). so i can imagine that for a performer/conductor aware of this, it would be important to resist the temptation to use a less awkward fingering of just putting the E up on the G string in third position.
the moment when the strings melt away to reveal the solo viola is particularly lovely.
VII. Troyte - presto
arthur troyte griffiths was an architect and amateur pianist who was apparently quite terrible at playing the piano. this apparently represents elgar's abortive attempt to teach him, and his "enthusiastic incompetence." wiki, though, reports that the almost unplayably fast movement depicts a day when they both got caught in the rain and had to make a mad dash for shelter. i like to think that elgar wrote those ridiculous fifths in hopes that violinists wouldn't be able to play it that fast and it would more effectively represent troyte's fail on the piano.
(i find the images that accompany this movement in the above recording hilarious.)
VIII. W.N. - allegretto
winifred norbury was a friend of elgar's who was fairly easygoing, but most accounts agree that the variation is as much about the house she lived in as the woman herself. the house itself was a classic 18th century house which was the site of many chamber performances and musical gatherings. one writer suggests that her laugh is hinted at in the central section (the oboe + trills).
IX. Nimrod - Adagio
this is far and away the most celebrated of the entire set of variations, and gets played often independently. it's slow and chorale like, and depicts an episode in elgar's life in which his friend augustus jaeger convinced him to continue composing even after elgar had decided to stop. nimrod, the "mighty hunter" in the Book of Genesis, is a reference to the german meaning of jaeger's name, hunter. jaeger provided support and constructive criticism throughout elgar's composing career, and was his closest musical friend.
the opening bars carry a small hint of beethoven's work (according to elgar himself, it is just a shadow of the opening of the second movement of beethoven's pathetique sonata). this was, apparently, what jaeger himself hummed when he reminded elgar that beethoven had had to go through great difficulties but continued to compose greater and greater music.
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 - Theme, Variations I-IV
there are 14 variations (plus a theme) in all. here they will be divided up into 3 entries. the whole thing totals just over 30 minutes, about the length of a very short symphony, so i don't feel too badly about trying to use this to catch up to my intended post rate :P
this is elgar's one and maybe only well-known orchestral work, excepting maybe his cello concerto and to a much lesser degree his second symphony and violin concerto. elgar was an english composer from 1857-1934, and he wrote this piece in 1899, in his forties.
check out this epic handlebar mustache.
elgar considered himself a sort of outsider in the british music scene and we know he was heavily influenced by the music of continental europe. but, when we (performer musicians) think of elgar we can't help but think of quintessentially english music. probably like this image, his british identity has probably become bound with his compositional qualities in your mind already.
but lets put this aside for now.
nobody who has ever heard of this piece doesn't know that these initials refer to people who were important to elgar, and until recently we didn't even know about half of them. so now that we do know them (or so we think), it's of course one of the favorite guilty pleasures of program-music analysts/lovers to find which aspects of the personalities are reflected in the music.
Theme
usually themes require little explanation, but this is one of the most complex themes i have ever heard. not that it's really that harmonically or structurally complex, but the one quality of most themes i've heard is that it is memorable - an earworm, even - and singable. this is neither. it definitely took two or three play-throughs for me to even be able to hum the thing from memory, and even then it's not always clear what the "melody" of the theme is. so listen to the beginning a few times. of course, it's likely that you've hear this piece a few times already and so might already know what the theme sounds like, but i had never even listened to this piece until last week.
the story goes that elgar was improvising at the piano, and his wife enjoyed hearing this particular little bit of music, upon which he decided to improvise several variations about their mutual acquaintances.
the theme is sort of mournful, even a bit solemn. we begin with a sort of fragmented, breathy, off-beat G minor. this segues directly into a middle section which is a bit more lyrical, in G Major. then the g minor material comes back, fragmented as before. the ending chord is a G Major.
before the premiere elgar said something interesting: "The ‘Enigma’ I will not explain – its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’, but is not played . . . So the principal Theme never appears, even as in some late dramas – eg Maeterlinck’s L’Intruse and Les sept Princesses – the chief character is never on stage."
these sentences have been discussed pretty much to death. but for me this explains the fragmentary nature of the theme itself. for him the theme existed somewhere else, and is never fully realized in the entire work. think of the theme as a sort of window, which is partially obscured and doesn't allow the entirety of the light behind to come through.
furthermore, contrary to what everyone thinks, the "enigma" refers to this obscured quality of the theme. NOT the initials!
i'm going to go on a small tangent. if this portrayal of the theme is right, then it definitely explains why the theme actually sounds like a variation. one can imagine a sort of pre-theme that IS singable. after a bit of experimentation i have a line that basically just follows what the bass line does.
(halfnotes to each note)
Bb C D Eb D C Bnat C C# D Eb C
B C D E D C B A
it's interesting that in this light the major section is pretty much an exact copy, harmonically, of the minor section, with the necessary changes to make it into a major.
i think the real theme would go something like: B a g C a D c bb A c Bb c d G a F eb d C eb...
etc
I. C.A.E. - l'istesso tempo
caroline alice elgar was his wife. wiki reports that the four note motif that opens the movement in the violins (A# B F# G, I think) is something elgar used to whistle when coming home to his wife. in rehearsal the conductor told us that his wife was a gentle, very domestic person, which is reflected in all this very understated variation except the outburst of passion that comes out of nowhere and lasts for all of two bars, not even given a proper cadence before shrinking back into its shell. presumably this was a portrayal of how elgar saw her.
II. H.D.S.-P. - Allegro
hew david stuart-powell, an amateur pianist. the highly chromatic toccata-like style of this variation makes it a nightmare for the orchestra. apparently this is a big travesty of the licks he used to warm up with on the piano before beginning to play. elgar wrote that it was chromatic to beyond stuart-powell's liking. he played a lot of chamber music with elgar.
III. R.B.T - Allegretto
richard baxter townshend receives the first "major" variation. he was the author of the "tenderfoot" series and also an amateur actor, and elgar liked how his usually low voice "flew off" into the soprano range when he was acting. i suppose you can hear this in the oboe, with the swells on higher notes, and the little interjections in the strings.
IV. W.M.B. - Allegro di molto
this exuberant, galloping variation belongs to william meath baker, who was "a country squire with an abrupt manner and a tendency to bang doors behind him when leaving a room." elgar wrote that he "expressed himself somewhat energetically."
this is elgar's one and maybe only well-known orchestral work, excepting maybe his cello concerto and to a much lesser degree his second symphony and violin concerto. elgar was an english composer from 1857-1934, and he wrote this piece in 1899, in his forties.
check out this epic handlebar mustache.
elgar considered himself a sort of outsider in the british music scene and we know he was heavily influenced by the music of continental europe. but, when we (performer musicians) think of elgar we can't help but think of quintessentially english music. probably like this image, his british identity has probably become bound with his compositional qualities in your mind already.
but lets put this aside for now.
nobody who has ever heard of this piece doesn't know that these initials refer to people who were important to elgar, and until recently we didn't even know about half of them. so now that we do know them (or so we think), it's of course one of the favorite guilty pleasures of program-music analysts/lovers to find which aspects of the personalities are reflected in the music.
Theme
usually themes require little explanation, but this is one of the most complex themes i have ever heard. not that it's really that harmonically or structurally complex, but the one quality of most themes i've heard is that it is memorable - an earworm, even - and singable. this is neither. it definitely took two or three play-throughs for me to even be able to hum the thing from memory, and even then it's not always clear what the "melody" of the theme is. so listen to the beginning a few times. of course, it's likely that you've hear this piece a few times already and so might already know what the theme sounds like, but i had never even listened to this piece until last week.
the story goes that elgar was improvising at the piano, and his wife enjoyed hearing this particular little bit of music, upon which he decided to improvise several variations about their mutual acquaintances.
the theme is sort of mournful, even a bit solemn. we begin with a sort of fragmented, breathy, off-beat G minor. this segues directly into a middle section which is a bit more lyrical, in G Major. then the g minor material comes back, fragmented as before. the ending chord is a G Major.
before the premiere elgar said something interesting: "The ‘Enigma’ I will not explain – its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’, but is not played . . . So the principal Theme never appears, even as in some late dramas – eg Maeterlinck’s L’Intruse and Les sept Princesses – the chief character is never on stage."
these sentences have been discussed pretty much to death. but for me this explains the fragmentary nature of the theme itself. for him the theme existed somewhere else, and is never fully realized in the entire work. think of the theme as a sort of window, which is partially obscured and doesn't allow the entirety of the light behind to come through.
furthermore, contrary to what everyone thinks, the "enigma" refers to this obscured quality of the theme. NOT the initials!
i'm going to go on a small tangent. if this portrayal of the theme is right, then it definitely explains why the theme actually sounds like a variation. one can imagine a sort of pre-theme that IS singable. after a bit of experimentation i have a line that basically just follows what the bass line does.
(halfnotes to each note)
Bb C D Eb D C Bnat C C# D Eb C
B C D E D C B A
it's interesting that in this light the major section is pretty much an exact copy, harmonically, of the minor section, with the necessary changes to make it into a major.
i think the real theme would go something like: B a g C a D c bb A c Bb c d G a F eb d C eb...
etc
I. C.A.E. - l'istesso tempo
caroline alice elgar was his wife. wiki reports that the four note motif that opens the movement in the violins (A# B F# G, I think) is something elgar used to whistle when coming home to his wife. in rehearsal the conductor told us that his wife was a gentle, very domestic person, which is reflected in all this very understated variation except the outburst of passion that comes out of nowhere and lasts for all of two bars, not even given a proper cadence before shrinking back into its shell. presumably this was a portrayal of how elgar saw her.
II. H.D.S.-P. - Allegro
hew david stuart-powell, an amateur pianist. the highly chromatic toccata-like style of this variation makes it a nightmare for the orchestra. apparently this is a big travesty of the licks he used to warm up with on the piano before beginning to play. elgar wrote that it was chromatic to beyond stuart-powell's liking. he played a lot of chamber music with elgar.
III. R.B.T - Allegretto
richard baxter townshend receives the first "major" variation. he was the author of the "tenderfoot" series and also an amateur actor, and elgar liked how his usually low voice "flew off" into the soprano range when he was acting. i suppose you can hear this in the oboe, with the swells on higher notes, and the little interjections in the strings.
IV. W.M.B. - Allegro di molto
this exuberant, galloping variation belongs to william meath baker, who was "a country squire with an abrupt manner and a tendency to bang doors behind him when leaving a room." elgar wrote that he "expressed himself somewhat energetically."
Friday, March 25, 2011
Haydn: Symphony No. 59 in A Major, "Fire" Symphony
i am also only doing one entry for this symphony, which is very early haydn (circa ~1767, perhaps earlier). the nickname, as with most of haydn's, is more or less unrelated (at least, to the actual music). while one who was looking at it in hindsight might be able to attribute the name to the perky opening and the quick tempo marking of the first movement, the symphony is not very much more or less fiery than any other symphony that haydn wrote during the time. the leading theory is that parts of it were used as the music to a play by Großmann called "die feuersbrunt" or the conflagration. but it was presented as a gift to the court of his patron esterhazy in full, after this
2 ob, 2 hn, strings
I. Presto
II. Andante o piu tosto allegretto (andante or a faster allegretto)
III. Menuotto
IV. Allegro assai
unfortunately i'm unable to provide a recording for this. hopefully i will find one someday, but i guess you'll have to live with a quick synopsis. because of this, i won't do my usual analysis type style since that's really dull if you don't have a recording to reference.
note the fast tempo marking of the first movement, which is probably the most interesting. the firsts do a quick pickup, but then the melody goes to the other strings while the firsts saw off on on a repeated A. then there is a gentler theme. a nice note i read says that the effect is as if two characters in a play have been introduced. the drama effect is a big force in the symphony, with the character being driving and insistent rather than normal sunny A major.
the second movement, in a minor, is actually in 3/4, which is a bit unusual. it's also not too slow, and sounds more like a minuet than anything else for a while. it has the character of a galante. there is also a crazy moment at the recap, where the horns, playing for the first time in the movement, burst in with a FF fanfare type figure over the quiet theme that vanishes almost as soon as it's played.
the third is a relatively fast (for the time) minuet, in A major switching to A minor during the trio.
the fourth opens with a brilliant horn duo in open intervals, which is answered by oboes before bursting into a rushed and lively string gallop.
i'm sure i will find a recording to update this with someday. until then, see if you can't keep an eye out for this very charming short symphony.
the second movement, in a minor, is actually in 3/4, which is a bit unusual. it's also not too slow, and sounds more like a minuet than anything else for a while. it has the character of a galante. there is also a crazy moment at the recap, where the horns, playing for the first time in the movement, burst in with a FF fanfare type figure over the quiet theme that vanishes almost as soon as it's played.
the third is a relatively fast (for the time) minuet, in A major switching to A minor during the trio.
the fourth opens with a brilliant horn duo in open intervals, which is answered by oboes before bursting into a rushed and lively string gallop.
i'm sure i will find a recording to update this with someday. until then, see if you can't keep an eye out for this very charming short symphony.
Moszkowski: Suite in G minor for Two Violins & Piano, Op. 71
i'm only going to do one entry for this suite because i feel one can get to know it pretty well without any formal introduction to every movement.
moszkowski was a german composer of polish descent, and his nationality is somewhat of a debate. unfortunately he's not too well known today but he did some nice writing mostly for piano. he lived from 1854-1925 and was probably one of the most respected pianist-composers after chopin and liszt. too, a lot of his stuff sounds sort of like chopin plus, harmonically speaking. it's a bit crunchier and chromatic, but has very similar flourish and pianistic elements.
the poor guy resisted mightily the changes brought about by schoenberg, scriabin, and debussy. in that sense, he was born quite after his time.
this is a fun, fairly tasteful little violin duet i discovered last week. it was written in 1902. it has four movements.
I. allegro energico
II. allegro moderato
III. lento assai
IV. molto vivace
this performance is decent, but there are certainly recordings out there which bring out the virtuosity and color better. this is a bit soupy for my tastes. i'll just post the first movement, and if you are interested enough to catch the rest then the links are provided for you above.
probably my favorite part is just the opening. i enjoy how it sounds like there are more instruments because of the double stops. it's a dramatic theme, and reminds me quite a lot of one other famous violin duet, the ysaye sonata for two violins. it is pretty predictable, down to the modulation and cadence in B-flat major.
second theme comes in at about 0:58, very reasonably in b-flat major as well. it's lighter, sunnier, but no less melodramatic.
development starts at about 2:10, with the second theme coming back in D major instead of b-flat. then we begin a pretty typical sequence of shifting keys which indicate a development. there are some fakeout moments, like what sounds like a sort of elided recap at 2:53, which makes it sounds like they're going to go back into the themes this time in the correct key of G. but instead of going into the second theme in that key it sinks a bit further than we expect, with the expected tonic of G turning into the third of an e-flat chord.
there is also a sort of fake ending at 3:37 ish, but we are still in e-flat, so this is clearly not the end. we go onto a sort of suspended state which hovers for a bit before ascending up and turning into some d octaves which serve as the dominant lead-in for the real recap at 4:14.
the recap is really short and is pretty much actually a coda for the g minor ending.
the second movement is sort of understated and lovely, with a very romantic spin on what could be a classical theme (well, until the keys start shifting around anyway). there is also a cool little burst of tarantelle-like energy 1:21 of the recording which melts quickly away.
the third movement is real romantic writing, what sounds like an elegy or song without words. and the fourth movement is a fast little gallop of fun. it's altogether quite a cute piece, and i'm kind of surprised that it doesn't get played more often by students and the like.
this duet was almost immediately made into a piano trio (a more popular and balanced ensemble) to make it more accessible to perform and program. but this is the version which it was originally conceived for.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 - IV. Finale. Moderato assai.
ok, we are now in solid C Major for this movement, which is essentially an expounding upon the third and last folk song, "the crane." like the spinner song, i can't find any record of this song besides that it is used here, so just trust in the flavor of the tune :)
i read a program note comparing the opening fanfare to the great gate of kiev composed only a year later, and i rather like the comparison. it only works for about the first minute, though, because then this movement takes on a rather whirly folk dance like character (decidedly not great gate-esque). we get mostly every type of variation on the first two bars of this theme, with every instrument and other keys (e minor, at around 1:45). there is a nice little section where he alternates between the C major and an augmented sixth chord (A-flat). the second subject is a lilting theme at 3:00, in A-flat major, with the violins first. this pretty much gives us the entire scope of the movement's material, for the crane theme comes back and takes over the texture again, but this time it is also in A-flat major.
the development starts with a series of descending major thirds that is a continuation of the cadence at 4:33. we descend to a low of Db, and now we get statements of developmental snatches of both themes.
eventually we end up firmly back in c major, and it is more or less a straight shot to the end except for one lull in the action, at around 8:26, where the repetition of the theme gets interrupted by a little ornament in the piccolo and rising chromatic themes. the brass repeat their motif of descending thirds (basically a big diminished seventh chord), and this is accented at the bottom by a gong of all things. but after that big dramatic silence it's like OH WELL! and then we do the big happy ending that everyone is expecting. really this movement tires me out haha. i am really tired of hearing that theme by the end, which is after all only two bars long. but it is still fun :)
i read a program note comparing the opening fanfare to the great gate of kiev composed only a year later, and i rather like the comparison. it only works for about the first minute, though, because then this movement takes on a rather whirly folk dance like character (decidedly not great gate-esque). we get mostly every type of variation on the first two bars of this theme, with every instrument and other keys (e minor, at around 1:45). there is a nice little section where he alternates between the C major and an augmented sixth chord (A-flat). the second subject is a lilting theme at 3:00, in A-flat major, with the violins first. this pretty much gives us the entire scope of the movement's material, for the crane theme comes back and takes over the texture again, but this time it is also in A-flat major.
the development starts with a series of descending major thirds that is a continuation of the cadence at 4:33. we descend to a low of Db, and now we get statements of developmental snatches of both themes.
eventually we end up firmly back in c major, and it is more or less a straight shot to the end except for one lull in the action, at around 8:26, where the repetition of the theme gets interrupted by a little ornament in the piccolo and rising chromatic themes. the brass repeat their motif of descending thirds (basically a big diminished seventh chord), and this is accented at the bottom by a gong of all things. but after that big dramatic silence it's like OH WELL! and then we do the big happy ending that everyone is expecting. really this movement tires me out haha. i am really tired of hearing that theme by the end, which is after all only two bars long. but it is still fun :)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 - III. Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace
this whirling little scherzo might be one of my favorite of all tchaikovsky movements. it is in a brisk 3/8, with a really delightful tension and use of chromatic climbing to heighten suspense. also it is kind of cool how he varies the grouping of the bars. a lot of the time it sounds as if it could be 9/8 but he throws in random 6/8s to keep us on our toes. he does a lot of hemiola too, a lot of fun rhythmic things.
this movement is very accessible so it requires little explanation. there is a little sprightly trio section which starts at 2:30, with a meter change into a l'istesso tempo 2/8. the subject is given by the winds and horns.
for me the most amazing thing is the transition back to the da capo. this occurs almost without our noticing, at 3:30, with a quick switch by the winds into triplets instead of eighths, allowing the strings to take back the first theme of the opening.
the coda occurs at 4:46, with the return of some material from the trio meshed with relentless triplets from the scherzo.
this movement is very accessible so it requires little explanation. there is a little sprightly trio section which starts at 2:30, with a meter change into a l'istesso tempo 2/8. the subject is given by the winds and horns.
for me the most amazing thing is the transition back to the da capo. this occurs almost without our noticing, at 3:30, with a quick switch by the winds into triplets instead of eighths, allowing the strings to take back the first theme of the opening.
the coda occurs at 4:46, with the return of some material from the trio meshed with relentless triplets from the scherzo.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 - II. Andantino marziale, quasi moderato
this movement takes place in e flat major, the relative.
according to wiki the movement was originally a bridal march for undine, an opera which was never published. it's obviously a march, and i love the image of a procession approaching from the distance. but i don't know if it's something i would want to get married to ;)
the rhythmic, dotted opening theme is stated softly in the winds. it is joyful and affirmative, and dovetails nicely into a warmly lyrical string theme at 1:29. (this was actually the subject of my dictation at ithaca...) the march comes back after this, with a fun pizzicato underpinning.
unison Gs in the horns take us to a G minor section, where we hear a slower theme in quarters, which is the second of the three russian folk tunes that were incorporated into this symphony, called "spin o my spinner." actually very reminiscent of the mother volga theme in the first movement. i can't link to a recording of this song because i actually can find no evidence that it even exists, as a google search for the name turns up more hits for tchaik's symphony than for it itself. but every article on this symphony says the same, so it must be true!!
this central section is the most extended of the movement. eventually we are led to a chromatic climbing in the winds against a pedal Ab in the celli (around 4:50), and a forte restatement of the spinner theme, which begins to have tricklings of a pluckier mood at 5:23 in the strings. before we know it we've melted back into the march (which retains the ornamentation in the strings). one more restatement of the second theme, and of the march, and the movement is wrapped up.
according to wiki the movement was originally a bridal march for undine, an opera which was never published. it's obviously a march, and i love the image of a procession approaching from the distance. but i don't know if it's something i would want to get married to ;)
the rhythmic, dotted opening theme is stated softly in the winds. it is joyful and affirmative, and dovetails nicely into a warmly lyrical string theme at 1:29. (this was actually the subject of my dictation at ithaca...) the march comes back after this, with a fun pizzicato underpinning.
unison Gs in the horns take us to a G minor section, where we hear a slower theme in quarters, which is the second of the three russian folk tunes that were incorporated into this symphony, called "spin o my spinner." actually very reminiscent of the mother volga theme in the first movement. i can't link to a recording of this song because i actually can find no evidence that it even exists, as a google search for the name turns up more hits for tchaik's symphony than for it itself. but every article on this symphony says the same, so it must be true!!
this central section is the most extended of the movement. eventually we are led to a chromatic climbing in the winds against a pedal Ab in the celli (around 4:50), and a forte restatement of the spinner theme, which begins to have tricklings of a pluckier mood at 5:23 in the strings. before we know it we've melted back into the march (which retains the ornamentation in the strings). one more restatement of the second theme, and of the march, and the movement is wrapped up.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 - I. Andante sostenuto - Allegro vivo
ok, i have cultivated a bad situation and attitude regarding this. like all every day things, once you start not doing it every day, then you feel like one more day of not doing it will not make that big a difference. tough.
this symphony is subtitled "little russian," because of a collection of three ukrainian folk songs he used throughout the symphony (ukraine was called "little russia" sometimes, as a nickname). it was written in 1872 on holiday there, and (as one can tell from the nickname) is usually considered the most blatantly nationalistic of all his symphonies (most program notes mention that it earned considerable esteem in the eyes of the russian five, whom he showed the work to in its compositional stages). he revised it in 1879, and this is the version that we hear most often today. it's certainly the most played of the first three symphonies, though it doesn't get as much limelight as any of the latter three.
this movement opens with a pretty stylized version of a ukrainian song called down by mother volga. the first of many repetitions of this theme is stated by a solo horn. apparently this horn solo is a big deal. i had a friend at summer camp who had been assigned to play this, and she basically did nothing all week but panic and practice it.
at 1:37 or so, we hear the theme start to be fragmented, with the winds playing variations on the first bar and the strings playing a swirly rising motif that will also become prominent.
more layers are added, until at 2:40 we end up in a sort of d-flat major arrival. we quickly sink back into the solo horn statement, rounding off the introduction.
3:40 is the beginning of the allegro vivo. we finally get a new theme: it's much more martial, four eighths and a quarter; this becomes a heavily stated rhythmic motif for the rest of the movement. you may hear its influence in rimsky's russian easter overture. the much more pastoral, calmer second theme, with oboes, comes at 4:16.
5:26 is an arrival at E-flat major, the relative major key to the c minor. this is a pretty cool moment, and then he goes on to push it just a step downwards (one of those modulatory tricks that can seem hokey at times, but works nicely here) to D-flat major. he repeats this cadence in this key, and then goes to state the mother volga theme again this time in keys stepping merely sideways. we enter a turbulent development section filled with fragments of the mother volga theme as well as the first subject of the allegro vivo.
the end of the development comes with a sinking back into the second subject, instead of the first. this is at 7:41.
aroung 8:22 we get a couple interesting key areas touched on in the exit from the second subject. we end up in the key of c major for a redevelopment.
8:50 begins the coda to the movement. he intertwines all three themes, building them up into a gigantic climax in the home key. we end quietly, with the horn solo repeating the opening.
this symphony is subtitled "little russian," because of a collection of three ukrainian folk songs he used throughout the symphony (ukraine was called "little russia" sometimes, as a nickname). it was written in 1872 on holiday there, and (as one can tell from the nickname) is usually considered the most blatantly nationalistic of all his symphonies (most program notes mention that it earned considerable esteem in the eyes of the russian five, whom he showed the work to in its compositional stages). he revised it in 1879, and this is the version that we hear most often today. it's certainly the most played of the first three symphonies, though it doesn't get as much limelight as any of the latter three.
this movement opens with a pretty stylized version of a ukrainian song called down by mother volga. the first of many repetitions of this theme is stated by a solo horn. apparently this horn solo is a big deal. i had a friend at summer camp who had been assigned to play this, and she basically did nothing all week but panic and practice it.
at 1:37 or so, we hear the theme start to be fragmented, with the winds playing variations on the first bar and the strings playing a swirly rising motif that will also become prominent.
more layers are added, until at 2:40 we end up in a sort of d-flat major arrival. we quickly sink back into the solo horn statement, rounding off the introduction.
3:40 is the beginning of the allegro vivo. we finally get a new theme: it's much more martial, four eighths and a quarter; this becomes a heavily stated rhythmic motif for the rest of the movement. you may hear its influence in rimsky's russian easter overture. the much more pastoral, calmer second theme, with oboes, comes at 4:16.
5:26 is an arrival at E-flat major, the relative major key to the c minor. this is a pretty cool moment, and then he goes on to push it just a step downwards (one of those modulatory tricks that can seem hokey at times, but works nicely here) to D-flat major. he repeats this cadence in this key, and then goes to state the mother volga theme again this time in keys stepping merely sideways. we enter a turbulent development section filled with fragments of the mother volga theme as well as the first subject of the allegro vivo.
the end of the development comes with a sinking back into the second subject, instead of the first. this is at 7:41.
aroung 8:22 we get a couple interesting key areas touched on in the exit from the second subject. we end up in the key of c major for a redevelopment.
8:50 begins the coda to the movement. he intertwines all three themes, building them up into a gigantic climax in the home key. we end quietly, with the horn solo repeating the opening.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: III. Rondo (Vivace)
orchestra is less to my liking in this movement in this recording - not quite light enough.
quiet c major opening, but nevertheless full of energy: this is the G major theme for the last movement. it features the rhythm quarter (eighth rest) sixteenth-sixteenth | quarter, and opens in C major for a while before correcting to the G major tonic.
1:12 - B section, in a lovely pastoral D major. features lots of great arpeggios and acrobatic playing.
2:27 - the piano leads us with some scales right back into the A theme.
3:13 - piano takes the bombastic part of the A theme in a completely different direction, ending in E-flat major. (later B-flat minor, F minor, etc etc) one can think of this section as a sort of development.
4:37 - the development leads to material from the B section, this time in G major.
5:51 - we start diverging from the original B section material. eventually we get to a big F-sharp diminished 7, acting as a vii to G.
6:28 - the G acts as a dominant to C, putting us back at the A theme.
the last part of this movement is quite unique: starting at 7:00 we have a normal F#dim chord, which switches enharmonically and becomes a Gb Major chord, putting us more or less as far away from the tonic as we can get. now we're on a sequence around the circle of fifths, leaving us in the perfect position for cadenza.
9:28 after the cadenza we spring into a super fast coda, led into by strings with D-A alternating eighths. from there on it's a straight shot to the end!
very fun concerto.
quiet c major opening, but nevertheless full of energy: this is the G major theme for the last movement. it features the rhythm quarter (eighth rest) sixteenth-sixteenth | quarter, and opens in C major for a while before correcting to the G major tonic.
1:12 - B section, in a lovely pastoral D major. features lots of great arpeggios and acrobatic playing.
2:27 - the piano leads us with some scales right back into the A theme.
3:13 - piano takes the bombastic part of the A theme in a completely different direction, ending in E-flat major. (later B-flat minor, F minor, etc etc) one can think of this section as a sort of development.
4:37 - the development leads to material from the B section, this time in G major.
5:51 - we start diverging from the original B section material. eventually we get to a big F-sharp diminished 7, acting as a vii to G.
6:28 - the G acts as a dominant to C, putting us back at the A theme.
the last part of this movement is quite unique: starting at 7:00 we have a normal F#dim chord, which switches enharmonically and becomes a Gb Major chord, putting us more or less as far away from the tonic as we can get. now we're on a sequence around the circle of fifths, leaving us in the perfect position for cadenza.
9:28 after the cadenza we spring into a super fast coda, led into by strings with D-A alternating eighths. from there on it's a straight shot to the end!
very fun concerto.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: II. Andante con moto
this movement is one of the strangest second movements i can think of. it is sort of slow, but not at all in the same manner of usual slow movements.
E minor.
a solemn, declarative almost marchlike orchestral introduction by unison strings only, which leaves it sort of groundless and uncertain (the thing that keeps it from becoming a march). rather, this movement takes on the tone of a sort of recitative. the orchestra does a sort of rhythm thing at certain intervals, and the piano enters mournfully, alone, and spends the entire movement playing "against" the sternness of the strings. it's fascinating to listen to because it's so counterintuitive, the way the piano stays so calm against the austerity of the strings. gradually the strings phase out and leave the piano to soliloquize and lament on his own. 2:31.
the piano's monologue goes on for a while and eventually rises to a full cry, with dissonant intervals and an ongoing trill which heightens the tension (3:30). (imho arrau does this pretty magnificently.) eventually, this dies, though, replaced by an unmeasured, sad scale which eventually dies into a cadence in e minor. upon the cadence the orchestra reenters with its former dotted rhythm, and together they come to a quiet, sad agreement, with the piano sounding a strange afterthought on a high G before closing on e minor.
the e minor chord doesn't linger too long, though - it dovetails right into the third movement attacca, which begins with a quiet c major chord (using the E as the transition point).
E minor.
a solemn, declarative almost marchlike orchestral introduction by unison strings only, which leaves it sort of groundless and uncertain (the thing that keeps it from becoming a march). rather, this movement takes on the tone of a sort of recitative. the orchestra does a sort of rhythm thing at certain intervals, and the piano enters mournfully, alone, and spends the entire movement playing "against" the sternness of the strings. it's fascinating to listen to because it's so counterintuitive, the way the piano stays so calm against the austerity of the strings. gradually the strings phase out and leave the piano to soliloquize and lament on his own. 2:31.
the piano's monologue goes on for a while and eventually rises to a full cry, with dissonant intervals and an ongoing trill which heightens the tension (3:30). (imho arrau does this pretty magnificently.) eventually, this dies, though, replaced by an unmeasured, sad scale which eventually dies into a cadence in e minor. upon the cadence the orchestra reenters with its former dotted rhythm, and together they come to a quiet, sad agreement, with the piano sounding a strange afterthought on a high G before closing on e minor.
the e minor chord doesn't linger too long, though - it dovetails right into the third movement attacca, which begins with a quiet c major chord (using the E as the transition point).
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: I. Allegro moderato
the reason i got hung up on publishing this concerto was because on the day i decided to do it i started by browsing youtube videos to see which one i would like to post. this turned out to be a mistake, as i didn't find any that i truly loved and hence had no incentive to actually post. but i just found this arrau recording, and even though it's not a video, i'm posting it because i like it.
klemperer, philharmonia.
1/2/2/2 2/2/0/0 timp str
this was composed in 1807, and premiered in a private living-room concert with the coriolan overture and symphony 4 (op. 60). the public premiere didn't come until 1808, and was beethoven's last appearance as a solo pianist. it was also the premiere of symphonies 5 and 6, and the choral fantasy. (yea, what a ridiculous concert that must have been.)
klemperer, philharmonia.
1/2/2/2 2/2/0/0 timp str
this was composed in 1807, and premiered in a private living-room concert with the coriolan overture and symphony 4 (op. 60). the public premiere didn't come until 1808, and was beethoven's last appearance as a solo pianist. it was also the premiere of symphonies 5 and 6, and the choral fantasy. (yea, what a ridiculous concert that must have been.)
in my experience, this is the beethoven piano concerto that music snobs like to like (at the expense of the more extroverted, jollier and altogether more exciting emperor concerto, no. 5). alone among the five, it has a really unique grace, poise, and gentleness about it. one of the best things is the very opening - solo piano, all alone, with the chorded theme. this is made even more astonishing by the entrance of the orchestra in B Major, which sort of relocates the key to B instead of acting as the III chord.
the entrance of the piano right after the introduction is one of my favorite moments, especially 3:12.
this movement comes in pretty standard sonata form. after the orchestral introduction you have exposition until
about 6:45, with a second theme in D Major at 4:40. this second theme goes on for a while, circling around the fifths, and finally ending up in material from the first theme (instead of a D Major cadence like we expect) at 6:45. after bringing back the first theme material in the dominant key, we end up 7:38 with a mysterious repeated F, which somehow leads us into a development featuring falling minor chords, leaving us rather unsure of what key we are in. after falling down a huge sequence, we end up with a long section which serves as the dominant to C# Minor. though we start expecting this cadence for a while it doesn't come for a while, and when it does it is pp. this is my other favorite movement of the piece (9:15).
C#minor turns, stepwise, into D#dim, and then cadences neatly in E major. here we are on the ride back to the theme, with a long section serving as the dominant to tonic G major! the moment before the capitulation, the horns come in with a terrific call to announce the arrival of the tonic. then the first theme comes back, not at all introverted this time, but mighty and glorious.
this goes on as expected until 0:40, with the Bb7 chord and cadence in a faraway key - Eb major. it turns out that this is a sort of neapolitan to D, which continues to retransition to state the second theme, but this time in the correct key of G Major.
the rest is more or less as we expect. the second theme finishes in G, and we are led to a cadenza, which finishes on a quiet trill with the reentrance of the orchestra on the main theme.
i think arrau captures the grace for me in a way that most of the recordings on youtube don't, but feel free to make suggestions - there are lots of wonderful recordings of this piece.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141: IV. Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto
this last movement is my favorite. it's hard to find a recording where i can recreate how playing it last week felt, partly because we took it so slow, but it seems somehow right to me now. this is the only youtube recording i can find even remotely approaching it.
it begins with another low brass chorale, with something extra - a timpani death knell, with added interjections from a lone wood block. and then something so lovely so as to be out of place - violin melody which leads you on and on, somewhere undisclosed, so frail and without direction that breathing will break it. it goes nowhere. it's so easy to play this and phrase it according to its contour, but really it is even more haunting when it manages to stay perfectly still - singing while barely exhaling at all, as if really singing will somehow break one's voice.
this is followed by a passacaglia, and it finally builds into the a gigantic scream that is the entire symphony's second loud spot. it is beaten down by despair, with clarinet and bassoon solos that might have been plucky but are too exhausted to protest. the violins again, made even more achingly beautiful by the fact that they just aren't allowed to phrase, to speak, to say anything beyond a wordless toneless line which is supposed to somehow encompass one's whole existence.
there is no sense of grief - nothing so gratuitous or healthy as that. there is only: the fact of life, then death; the remnants of a desire to change that fact; and the emptiness of that impossibility.
it's a symphony so personal that it feels almost insulting to clap after hearing it.
it begins with another low brass chorale, with something extra - a timpani death knell, with added interjections from a lone wood block. and then something so lovely so as to be out of place - violin melody which leads you on and on, somewhere undisclosed, so frail and without direction that breathing will break it. it goes nowhere. it's so easy to play this and phrase it according to its contour, but really it is even more haunting when it manages to stay perfectly still - singing while barely exhaling at all, as if really singing will somehow break one's voice.
this is followed by a passacaglia, and it finally builds into the a gigantic scream that is the entire symphony's second loud spot. it is beaten down by despair, with clarinet and bassoon solos that might have been plucky but are too exhausted to protest. the violins again, made even more achingly beautiful by the fact that they just aren't allowed to phrase, to speak, to say anything beyond a wordless toneless line which is supposed to somehow encompass one's whole existence.
and then the symphony simply dies, the violin's flat line on the heart monitor acknowledged by a ghost's procession of percussion and keyboard instruments that is inexorable, irrevocable, and completely unsympathetic. this last percussion section takes place over a glistening a major chord which lasts for a minute, and then evaporates. the writing for the percussion is amazing here - the steady tick tock of wood block and castanets, against the quarter, quarter, (eighth rest) eighth | quarter, quarter which gets passed through the piccolo, xylophone, and timpani. it's the grim reaper! or so my imagination likes to think. he is unpitying, and he doesn't care that you don't want it to end like this.
there is no sense of grief - nothing so gratuitous or healthy as that. there is only: the fact of life, then death; the remnants of a desire to change that fact; and the emptiness of that impossibility.
it's a symphony so personal that it feels almost insulting to clap after hearing it.
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141: III. Allegretto
there are a number of recordings out there that insist on taking the first and third movements at the speed of traditional "fast" movements. after giving all of these a good listen i have decided there's definitely a reason shostakovich doesn't write "allegro" ever. this movement is obviously the symphony's "scherzo," but though it has a bit of that atmosphere, it shouldn't be taken too fast.
the lead-in is attacca from the previous movement, a series of ascending fifths in the bassoon that rudely interrupts the reverie that might be inspired by the final pizzicati of the second movement.
this is the only recording i can find which actually takes the speed of this movement as the title implies. i like the deliberateness of this tempo. nothing about it should be light or carefree or funny.
the theme played by the clarinet and next the violin is actually twelve tone music. one of the interesting things the conductor told us during our rehearsals was that as a soviet composer shosty was forced to speak against twelve tone music as bourgeois excessiveness. so it's quite interesting that he does his own exploration with it here. also, this is the most earwormy twelve tone music i have ever heard, and he's obviously into the idea of making music that, while still twelve-tone, is still rhythmically and even harmonically graspable.
the second theme is a sidling, ingratiating little slip of a tune played by the solo violin and then the clarinetist. it is followed by a development of sorts, which is very short - a theme by the cello section, which gets repeated by the wind section, both with amazingly orchestrated rhythm sections in the background. this is rounded off with a declarative bassoon solo, leading back into the ascending fifths that start the movement.
the last thing worth noting about this movement is the use of the percussion ticking off to the close. this is remarkable writing and really foreshadows the end of the symphony.
the end of the movement might be considered "cute" in a way, but i would smack anyone who felt like giggling after the end as sometimes happens with cutesy movements in symphonic concerts. this movement is not about being cute or light. one of the other interesting anecdotes the conductor told us last week was how he met shostakovich in old age, when he was a boy. he was in so many respects a broken man, shaking with parkinson's, sickly and strange. in this movement one gets a sense of wrongness, a twisted discomfort of melodies that wiggle around and can't ever seem to find anything comfortable. everything is wrong, the bedsheets are itchy and visions are dancing at the corners of the eyes, the voice won't work correctly and the eyes are too dry to cry. he is about to die in this symphony, and this movement is shaking, hallucinating maybe, the skeletal remains of a harrowed life.
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141: II. Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Allegretto
The second movement begins with a chorale by the brass in F minor, but it is the least comforting chorale one can ever imagine. it is comprised of moving chromatic thirds, with a horn pedal on a clashing C. it rises and falls in dynamic, cadencing in various wrong keys.
the second time the violin plays the same solo, it leads to a crashing, almost grandiose climax. this is the second loud part of the symphony, and it is a big fanfare for the brass against descending chromatic lines in the strings, which almost immediately turn it from something that sounds grand and affirmative into something screeching and despairing. the fanfare has no choice but to succumb, and the brass join the strings in the chromatic meandering, eventually descending back into the quiet sixth motif, this time given by muted trumpets.
note the woodblock. this rhythm - quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth, quarter, quarter - is so ominous, so inevitable, and it foreshadows the percussion's presence which seems so deathly in the later movements.
the strings echo the opening brass chorale at 2:48. celeste solo right afterwards, lone drops in a well of silence.
grey pizzicati end the movement, like small thumps.
this is followed by a mournful, songful extended cello solo, with muted affirmations in the strings.
the chorale comes back, with a slight half-step of different material, cadencing (weirdly) in e major. the cello comes back, also a half step off. shostakovich has a strange gift for making material seem the same but different.
after a short violin solo, two eerie chords at about 5:30 will get repeated at various junctures throughout the movement. the cello ends on a trill, and the the flutes come in with sixths, a relatively simple motif. the second time this comes around, it's the violas with the trill and a trombone giving a long soliloquy. this is a fantastic solo.
the flutes come back to cadence their melody from before in C major, with ominous pipings from a distant trumpet. the trombone comes back with its solo, but it is weirdly different in a way that is hard to pin; it sounds a bit brighter, perhaps.
note the woodblock. this rhythm - quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth, quarter, quarter - is so ominous, so inevitable, and it foreshadows the percussion's presence which seems so deathly in the later movements.
the strings echo the opening brass chorale at 2:48. celeste solo right afterwards, lone drops in a well of silence.
grey pizzicati end the movement, like small thumps.
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141: I. Allegretto
ok here we go. i am 21 posts behind, complete fail. i'm also sick, which is why i've put off making posts even though my audition was on monday and got home on tuesday. i've also started working here, so that is enough disincentive for me to be productive when i get home that i pretty much haven't done anything except sleep.
but here we go!
one change i am going to make (at least to try) is to make sets of posts. this relieves some of the difficulty of choosing a whole new work every day and allows me to cover complete works instead of just partial, because a "set" of posts will be comprised of the several movements of a given work.
we'll start with the symphony that played as part of the orchestra this week, shosty 15. this is actually a fantastic symphony and i like it way more than i thought i would. it's dark, personal, and very quiet. it's also very sad. if you give this a listen, do it alone, in a quiet room, with the earphones on and the hand our mouse on the volume control, because chances are the quiet parts will be too quiet for you to hear and the loud parts (there are only three in the whole symphony, all fairly brief) will be too loud for you to want your volume up.
shostakovich's 15th symphony was his last, and once you know this fact you can't help but listen to it with an ear towards death, in a way that i haven't found present with very many pieces (even the ones that have death in them). it is so quiet and so bitter. he was four years from his death (1975, written in 1971) when he wrote it. though that's quite a while, the fact that this was his last symphony is forever going to mean it's the one that faces "the end." amazingly enough this is a view which enriches it so much as to be almost astonishing (and we know a lot of other things about his condition when writing it that make this view make sense anyway). so though in general the music sounds like a lot of other shostakovich music - dry, sardonic, even witty - by the latter movements it just sounds like muted despair, or even resignation. that is, if the tempi are correct - it seems easy to miss this, in favor of something faster and pluckier. this works OK for the first movement, but it's worth having an ear towards how wooden some of this can sound. one of the things that came up during rehearsal for this piece was that many things could - and maybe should - sound so locked in that they were unmusical - and that has a striking sound that can be used to huge effect in this symphony.
he starts off by writing a bent and broken little tune which somehow manages to incorporate rigidified, dry snatches of rossini's william tell overture, as if these cheerful things have become brittle and stale. when prodded by authorities, he originally described it as a toy store, full of grotesque curiosities, but the only true part of this description (which was more a veneer for the sake of political correctness) was the grotesque part. by the time we get to the creepy little mishmash of cross rhythms and vaguely twelve-tone music at 4:23 which soon crescendoes into a sort of crippled climax, we know that there's not really any sense of the innocence or naivete that might be implied by the toy store description. we have to be kept on our toes by the rhythm and meter changes as well, which are not really grating but are unpredictable.
notice the use of percussion - celeste with the two introductory notes, and lots of xylophone solos. shostakovich does some fantastic writing for the percussion section during this symphony - wood block and castanets among the required instruments.
the returning motif of Eb-Ab-C-B-A is said to represent the name of his grandson, sascha. we all know of shosty's penchant for spelling out things in his music, usually his own name (and elmira, in symphony 10), so this is pretty likely.
but here we go!
one change i am going to make (at least to try) is to make sets of posts. this relieves some of the difficulty of choosing a whole new work every day and allows me to cover complete works instead of just partial, because a "set" of posts will be comprised of the several movements of a given work.
we'll start with the symphony that played as part of the orchestra this week, shosty 15. this is actually a fantastic symphony and i like it way more than i thought i would. it's dark, personal, and very quiet. it's also very sad. if you give this a listen, do it alone, in a quiet room, with the earphones on and the hand our mouse on the volume control, because chances are the quiet parts will be too quiet for you to hear and the loud parts (there are only three in the whole symphony, all fairly brief) will be too loud for you to want your volume up.
shostakovich's 15th symphony was his last, and once you know this fact you can't help but listen to it with an ear towards death, in a way that i haven't found present with very many pieces (even the ones that have death in them). it is so quiet and so bitter. he was four years from his death (1975, written in 1971) when he wrote it. though that's quite a while, the fact that this was his last symphony is forever going to mean it's the one that faces "the end." amazingly enough this is a view which enriches it so much as to be almost astonishing (and we know a lot of other things about his condition when writing it that make this view make sense anyway). so though in general the music sounds like a lot of other shostakovich music - dry, sardonic, even witty - by the latter movements it just sounds like muted despair, or even resignation. that is, if the tempi are correct - it seems easy to miss this, in favor of something faster and pluckier. this works OK for the first movement, but it's worth having an ear towards how wooden some of this can sound. one of the things that came up during rehearsal for this piece was that many things could - and maybe should - sound so locked in that they were unmusical - and that has a striking sound that can be used to huge effect in this symphony.
he starts off by writing a bent and broken little tune which somehow manages to incorporate rigidified, dry snatches of rossini's william tell overture, as if these cheerful things have become brittle and stale. when prodded by authorities, he originally described it as a toy store, full of grotesque curiosities, but the only true part of this description (which was more a veneer for the sake of political correctness) was the grotesque part. by the time we get to the creepy little mishmash of cross rhythms and vaguely twelve-tone music at 4:23 which soon crescendoes into a sort of crippled climax, we know that there's not really any sense of the innocence or naivete that might be implied by the toy store description. we have to be kept on our toes by the rhythm and meter changes as well, which are not really grating but are unpredictable.
notice the use of percussion - celeste with the two introductory notes, and lots of xylophone solos. shostakovich does some fantastic writing for the percussion section during this symphony - wood block and castanets among the required instruments.
the returning motif of Eb-Ab-C-B-A is said to represent the name of his grandson, sascha. we all know of shosty's penchant for spelling out things in his music, usually his own name (and elmira, in symphony 10), so this is pretty likely.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Brahms Symphony/Concerti Keys
1. Cm, EM, AbM, Cm/M (Cm Op. 68)
2. DM, BM, GM, DM (DM Op. 73)
3. FM, CM, Cm, FM (FM Op. 90)
4. Em, EM, CM, Em (Em Op. 98)
1876-85
Tragic Overture: Dm (Op. 81)
Academic Festival: CM (Op. 80)
PC 1: Dm (Op. 15)
PC 2: BbM (Op. 83)
VC: DM (Op. 77)
Double Concerto: Am (Op. 102)
yea this is cheating a little.
2. DM, BM, GM, DM (DM Op. 73)
3. FM, CM, Cm, FM (FM Op. 90)
4. Em, EM, CM, Em (Em Op. 98)
1876-85
Tragic Overture: Dm (Op. 81)
Academic Festival: CM (Op. 80)
PC 1: Dm (Op. 15)
PC 2: BbM (Op. 83)
VC: DM (Op. 77)
Double Concerto: Am (Op. 102)
yea this is cheating a little.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Conductor's Knowledge, pt. 3: Important Operas, East European Composers
the conductor's exam i took last week required us to know the names of a lot of random operas, things that can't really be studied but you would know if you just happened to be involved. nevertheless, today i spent an hour or so culling all the ones i'd heard of from wikipedia's list of important operas. because while i've heard of a lot of them, i would have a hard time recalling them on demand (as opposed to just recognizing the names). so much like violin harmonics, this is just an effort not to get overconfident in the fact that i've "heard of" things or can recognize them on sight as opposed to being able to generate names, notes, and data on my own.
the parentheses indicate the language of the operas themselves. if they are in a nationality that is not the composer's own, i've also noted the composer's nationality.
the parentheses indicate the language of the operas themselves. if they are in a nationality that is not the composer's own, i've also noted the composer's nationality.
1600s:
--Monteverdi: L’Orfeo (Italian)
--Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, The Fairy Queen (English)
1700-1750:
--Handel (German/English): Rinaldo Semele, Alcina (Italian)
--Rameau: Les Indes Galantes, Castor et Pollux (French)
1750-1800:
--Gluck (Austrian/French): Orfeo ed Euridice, Alceste (Italian)
--Mozart (Austrian): Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro (Italian), Die Zauberflote (German)
1800-1833
--Beethoven: Fidelio (German)
--Rossini: La scala di seta, Tancredi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Otello, La gazza ladra, William Tell (Italian)
--von Weber: Der Freischutz, Oberon, Euryanthe (German)
1833-1850
--Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale (Italian), La fille du regiment (French)
--Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini, Damnation of Faust (French)
--Verdi: Oberto, Nabucco, Macbeth (Italian)
--Wagner: Rienzi, Tannhauser, Flying Dutchman (German)
1850-1875
--Wagner: Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Die Meistersinger von nurnberg (German)
--Verdi: Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La forza del destino, Aida (Italian)
--Smetana: Bartered Bride, Dalibor, Two Widows (Czech)
--Mussorgsky: Boris Godonov (Russian)
--J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus (German)
--Bizet: Carmen (Carmen)
--Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld (French)
1875-1900
--Wagner: Siegfried, Gotterdammerung, Parsifal (German)
--Saint-Saens: Samson and Delilah (French)
--Tchaikovsy: Eugene Onegin, Queen of Spades (Russian)
--Offenbach: Les contes d’Hoffman (French)
--Verdi: Simon Boccanegra, Otello, Falstaff (Italian)
--Rimsky: The Snow Maiden (Russian)
--Delibes: Lakme (French)
--Mussorgsky: Khovanschina (Russian)
--Borodin: Prince Igor (Russian)
--Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (German)
--Puccini: Manon Lescaut, La boheme (Italian)
1900-1920
--Puccini: Tosca, Madama Butterfly (Italian)
--Dvorak: Rusalka (Czech)
--Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande (French)
--Janacek: Jenufa (Czech)
--Strauss: Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadni auf Naxos (German)
--Rimsky: Golden Cockerel (Russian)
--Bartok: Bluebeard’s Castle (Hungarian)
1920-1945
--Prokofiev: Love for Three Oranges (Russian)
--Ravel: L’enfant et les sortileges (French)
--Berg: Wozzeck, Lulu (German)
--Kodaly: Hary Janos (Hungarian)
--Puccini: Turandot (Italian)
--Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex (French)
--Weill: Threepenny Opera (German)
--Shostakovich: The Nose (Russian)
--Janacek: From the House of the Dead (Czech)
--Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (American)
--Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (German)
--Strauss: Capriccio (German)
ok this list is probably way excessive in terms of "need to know," but like i said, i basically culled out everything i had even heard of before. may as well.
the other thing that i should have been able to do on last week's test that i couldn't do was name the nationalities of composers from some smaller countries. i'll be the first to admit that i don't really differentiate between like... half the countries in eastern europe, or between the scandinavian countries, or even between the smaller western european ones like luxembourg, belgium, netherlands, etc.
Scandinavian:
Danish: Gade (1800s), Nielsen (1860s-1930s)
Finnish: Sibelius (1860s-1950s), Rautavaara (1928)
Norwegian: Grieg (1843-1900), Sinding (late 1800s)
Swedish: Berwald (1800s), Rangstrom (early 1900s)
Eastern European:
Czech: Gluck, Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek, Suk, Martinu, Schulhoff
Hungarian: Bartok, Dohnanyi, Goldmark, Ligeti, Liszt, Lehar, Kodaly, Kurtag, Rozsa
Polish: Bacewicz, Chopin, Szymanowski, Gorecki, Moszkowski, Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Wieniawski
Romanian: Enescu
Austrian: Albrechtsburger, Berg, Czerny, Kreisler, Korngold, Bruckner,
Estonian: Part, Tuur, Tubin
Armenian: Khachaturian
(Small) Western European:
Swiss: Bloch, Honegger
Greek: Mitropoulos, Xenakis
Belgian: Gossec, Ysaye, Dufay
Dutch: Sweelinck, Andriessen
Irish: Herbert (sort of)
ok nobody is ever going to read these lists but me, but it helped me to type them...
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