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A Beginner's Guide to Classical Music

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#1 · (Edited)


A Beginner's Guide to Classical Music


Often people unfamiliar with Classical music will ask advice on how to approach it. Where do you start?

🎼

Frankly, many already are familiar with a lot of classical music.

Cartoons from the 1940s and 1950s are loaded with it.

And anyone who's a fan of theatrical films will have heard a great deal of it, even though they may not have realized it: For instance, 2001: A Space Odyssey used a great many classical pieces for its score. From the impressive opening of Richard Strauss' Also Spracht Zarasthustra, to Johann Strauss' The Blue Danube, the use of already composed works helped give the film the impact that made it so very successful.

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange used Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Apocalypse Now used Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries from his massive operatic suite Die Walk?re.

Even Ferris Bueller's Day Off used music from Boccerini's String Quintet in E.

So . . . I compiled a collection of some of the most compelling and accessible classical works for novice listeners.

Originally it was to be a Top Ten, which quickly grew into a Top 20, then a Top 25, and so on.

One of the problems with getting folks to come over to "the classical side" will be familiar to Prog Rock lovers . . . the length and complexity tends to just chase folks away.

CAUTION: This list is NOT really a "ranking", although works I feel are better are more likely to appear in a higher position. The list is more of an "ordering" to introduce the uninitiated to Classical Music, in a sequence that in my opinion is more likely to entice one "into the fold".

But the 1st piece is

The Planets
Gustav Holst, an 8 movement symphonic work that clocks in at well over a half hour.
1916


This piece is #2 on the Parker Symphony Orchestra's List of 10 BADASS PIECES OF CLASSICAL MUSIC. Here's THAT full list.

Orff - Carmina Burana / "O Fortuna" (#18)
Holst - The Planets, Mars (#1)
Verdi - Requiem "Dies Irae" (#79)
Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries (#31)
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons: Summer Mvt. 3 Presto (#6)
Bizet - Carmen Overture / Les Toreadors (#62)
Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain (#19)
Verdi - Il Trovatore / "Anvil Chorus"
Khachaturian - Sabre Dance
Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra, Prelude (#24)


. . . and their "Honorable Mentions":

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (#5)
Shostakovich - Symphony No 5, Mvt 4 (#153)
Bruckner - Symphony No 1, Mvt 3
Grieg - In The Hall Of The Mountain King (#11)
Dvorak - Symphony No 9, Mvt 4 (#2)
Mozart - Requiem in D minor, Dies Irae (#35)
Bizet - L'Arlésienne Suite No 2, Mvt 4 (Farandole)
Saint-Saëns - Symphony No 3, Mvt 3 and 4 (#408)
Beethoven - Symphony No 9, Mvt 4 (#39)
Glinka - Overture from Ruslan and Ludmilla (#231)
Holst - The Planets, Jupiter (#1)
Mozart - Symphony No 25, Mvt 1
Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor (#90)
Smyth - The Wreckers (Overture)


:)

Ah, but The Planets is a great look at orchestration and variety. And several film composers have used Holst's techniques to great success. John Williams has paid great tribute with his scores to Star Wars and others (he's pretty damned prolific).

Of course, the best way to experience Classical music is in a live setting. Unlike rock music, which sometimes suffers in concert, Classical music is exacting . . . it's important to the players and conductor that it be perfect. You won't find fall-down drunk singers or guitarists on acid here.

Here's a great and spirited live version by the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

This version also has a new movement, to include Pluto, discovered after the suite was written.

Mars, the Bringer of War 0:00
Venus, the Bringer of Peace 7:15
Mercury, the Winged Messenger 15:09
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity 18:58
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age 26:42
Uranus, the Magician 35:32
Neptune, the Mystic 41:20
Pluto, the Renewer 49:17

Proms 2016 - Gustav Holst - The Planets



.

This extensive work has popped up in popular music as well, especially the 1st movement.

Sinfonia, a large group of electric guitarists covered it, as did King Crimson (retitled "The Devil's Triangle"), and eventually, Emerson, Lake and Powell.

Jimmy Page adapted part of 'Mars' in the song 'Friends' on Led Zeppelin III.

Yes quoted a few sections of Jupiter in the song "The Prophet" from their 1970 album "Time and a Word".

Isao Tomita did an electronic version many years ago, and Jeff Wayne and Rick Wakeman teamed up as well in 2005 with an album Beyond the Planets.

Many artists, such as Frank Zappa, have "quoted" licks from the suite in instrumental sections of songs.

John Williams used the melodies and instrumentation of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the Star Wars films (specifically "The Imperial March")

Hans Zimmer closely used the melodies, instrumentation and orchestration of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the movie Gladiator to the extent that a lawsuit for copyright infringement was filed by the Holst foundation.

:(

In presenting this in serial form on a blog, there will be a continual problem with videos becoming "inactive". Due to the settings of Talk Classical, I cannot easily go back later and find an active link an simply insert it, as the editing feature becomes inert after a very short period of time. I'm not complaining, mind you, that's just the way it is.

Generally, the specific video I choose will be live, with decent sound and video. I'll usually give a title and artists (the players, conductor, name of the orchestra, etc), so if the link goes dead, one can generally search for it, or a replacement, fairly easily.

I think that being able to watch the performance adds to the enjoyment somehow. So most of these videos are live, even though there are often "better" (subjectively) recordings. "Better" sometimes just means that the studio recording has better production value, and no audience coughing during the quiet sections.

I welcome comments and suggestions. In general, given that this is a blog format, that is likely to happen anyway. Suggestions for entry-level Classical works will be met with bemusement, as it's very likely I'll already have that work on my list. But possibly not. As I mentioned, the list was started quite some time ago, and grew from humble beginnings to a completed list of 200 finished blurbs of specific works, to a projected list of over 600.

I've actually been compiling this on a different vblog, a band fanpage, but as the band and its fans age and leave (in some cases they "transition"), the membership has dropped drastically, and has been in danger of simply "closing shop" several times. The Admin there has moved to a smaller server after "dumping" a good portion of its archives, and is in the process of doing that again.

So, it's already put together for people to follow along and listen as I drop a post.
 
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#365 ·
178
Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 23
in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
1807


Beethoven described this as the best he ever wrote (well, at least until his "hammerklavier" sonata). It may very well be the most celebrated of Beethoven's piano sonatas.

I. Allegro assai
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro ma non troppo – Presto


Here's Daniel Barenboim

Listen to this from start to finish. With no other distractions. Wearing headphones. In the middle of the night. It's only about 23 minutes long. Enjoy.



Beethoven Sonata N° 23 'Appassionata' Daniel Barenboim










.

And just 'cause I'm in the mood, here's a metal version of the 3rd movement played on electric guitar by Mats Kleppe

Good music transcends genre.


Appassionata Op. 57 - 3rd Movement - Beethoven [Metal]




 
#366 · (Edited)
179
Beethoven
Fidelio, Op 72

1805/1814

Beethoven's only opera.

. . . And it took him three versions (and four overtures) to get it right.

Fidelio is at the same time a love story (a wife disguises herself as a prison guard to get a job at the jail where her husband Florestan is imprisoned, and engineers his release), and a story of freedom triumphing over oppression.

Beethoven was no natural when it came to opera – too high-minded and too idealistic for the grubby world of drama and the shades of human motivation – but Fidelio, his only effort in the genre, has astonishing, blazing periods that more than compensate for its patchy moments. There are certain operatic scenes which never fail to tingle the scalp.

The moment when Fidelio reveals himself to be a woman, heroically saves her husband, and then pulls a pistol on her evil nemesis, is a firecracker to beat them all. The ‘Prisoners’ Chorus’ from Act 1 is an unforgettable highlight.

Fidelio/Leonore persuades the chief jailer Rocco to let the prisoners out to feel fresh air and sunlight, so that she can search for her husband. Their chorus ‘O Welche Lust’ (‘O, What Joy’) is an expression of musical ecstasy, all the more potent for the atmosphere of constraint.

Fidelio, Vienna State Opera conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Starring Gundula Janowitz as Leonore/Fidelio, and Rene Kollo as Florestan


LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN-FIDELIO-LEONARD BERNSTEIN-
Fidelio 1978-2


 
#367 · (Edited)
180
String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131
Beethoven
1826

This hurts. Five works by Beethoven in a row to bring Beethoven up to eighteen entries on this list.

A violin concerto
A mass
A piano concerto
His only opera, and now,

A string quartet.

It hurts because I could easily include five or ten more. Leaving out (or, rather, leaving for later) his Hammerklavier sonata, the "Waldstein", the "Kreutzer", the "Archduke", the Coriolan and Egmont Overtures, and even Fur Elise seems, in a way, like an insult.

And this string quartet barely edges out his Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, originally the last movement of his Quartet No. 13 in B♭ major, Op. 130, written in 1825.

So, how is it that Beethoven's 14th String Quartet gets in, while the Grosse Fuge doesn't? It does: It's at #144 on this list.

But the Grosse Fuge, now considered to be a masterwork, was originally poorly received. "An indecipherable, uncorrected horror" that was roundly condemned by critics and audiences alike, so much so that Beethoven's publisher managed to get him to replace it with an alternate 4th movement.

But the String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131 is the most personal of compositions – it is music reduced to its absolute fundamentals with four players in quasi-spontaneous interaction. Beethoven’s last quartets are an extreme form, far from easy listening and incredibly intense, almost like kind of a conversation with God.

This was the composer’s own favorite, and the music Schubert wanted to hear on his deathbed. It took Beethoven a lifetime to be able to write this so don’t expect to get it on first hearing – keep at it, however, and its logic and truthfulness will soon dawn.

There are seven movements, played without a break, with moments of almost complete musical stasis and other instances that sound as though Bach has been reincarnated. Moods arise and float away… it is seemingly ungraspable, but one knows it’s right.

I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
II. Allegro molto vivace
III. Allegro moderato – Adagio
IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile – Pi? mosso – Andante moderato e lusinghiero – Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio, ma non troppo e semplice – Allegretto
V. Presto
VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
VII. Allegro


These seven sections, however, are basically the four conventional movements with a fugal introduction and two connecting interludes.

The set of variations (4th mvt.) is incredibly fine . The brooding Adagio sixth section introduces the furious finale, the only full sonata form in the Quartet. The second theme is derived from the subject of the opening fugue, the latent anger and energy of which now explodes. Richard Wagner wroteThis is the fury of the world’s dance – fierce pleasure, agony, ecstasy of love, joy, anger, passion, and suffering; lightning flashes and thunder rolls; and above the tumult the indomitable fiddler whirls us on to the abyss. Amid the clamor he smiles, for to him it is nothing but a mocking fantasy; at the end, the darkness beckons him away, and his task is done.”

Um, well, yeah. Transcendent, mysterious, revelatory. A quartet with a lack of precedent. Moving music to a new dimension. Inexhaustible originality. An awful lot has been said about this work, and it's time for you to attempt to hear why.

Although this music was not heard publicly until 1835, Schubert requested a private performance five days before his death in 1828. After hearing the Quartet he remarked, “After this, what is left for us to write?”

Here's the Jasper String Quartet at the Soka Performing Arts Center, November 24, 2013.


Beethoven String Quartet No. 14 Op. 131
 
#368 ·
BACH, THE FIRST OF THE BIG THREE

Johann Sebastian Bach, along with Mozart and Beethoven: The "Big Three".

Surprisingly, Bach has been UNDER-represented on this list.

7. Brandenburg Concerto #6, In B Flat
17. Cello Suite No. 1 in G major
20. Well-Tempered Clavier 2, Prelude in F# minor
58. Brandenburg Concertos
74. Well-Tempered Clavier
90. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
113. Well-Tempered Clavier 2

Well, actually the two Well-Tempered Clavier books have a total of 24 pairs of Preludes and Fugues, and there are six Brandenburg Concertos.

But in addition to the Brandenburgs, Bach is also heralded for his "Goldberg Variations" as well as vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor.

Like his contemporaries Handel, Telemann and Vivaldi, Bach composed concertos, suites, recitatives, da capo arias, and four-part choral music and employed basso continuo. Bach's music was harmonically more innovative than his peer composers, employing surprisingly dissonant chords and progressions, often with extensive exploration of harmonic possibilities within one piece.

So let's explore the next 5 Best of Bach not already covered. As expected, there is a wealth of choices. And many of them are very long.

So let's start with a little preview, an appetizer.

181

Bourree in E minor, from the Suite in E minor for Lute, BWV 996

J S Bach

composed somewhere between 1708 and 1717

This Bourree may sound familiar if you're a Jethro Tull fan, but it's been one of the most famous pieces among guitarists.

Here's Tom Janes playing it on a lute guitar (also known as a German Lute, or Lutar)





Bach - Bourée E minor, played on a Lute Guitar by Tom Janes







.

But here's Andreas Martin actually playing a traditional lute, although he's playing the piece in Db minor rather than E minor. And, sadly, there's a dreadful amount of reverb on this recording.



Bach, Bourrée (BWV 996), Andreas Martin, Lute, HD








And I'd be remiss to not include the Jethro Tull version


Jethro Tull - Bourée
 
#369 ·
Bach


“It may well be true that Bach’s Mass in B Minor
– assembled, no less than created –
has become,
some two hundred and fifty years after he bound its 27 movements together,
the most remarkable musical allegory of
human existence
– its pain, aspiration and promises.”


-Robert Shaw, conductor (1998)


182
Mass in B minor BWV 232
1749


One could, I suppose, consider the Mass in B minor as one big sublime extreme Concerto Grosso.

In between an awe-inspiring Kyrie and the jubilant final Dona nobis pacem, there are nine completely unique arias and duets, fourteen impressive ensemble sections for four, five, six and even eight voices, a broad spectrum of instrumental solos, and an incredible variety of styles.

Nowadays, the Mass in B minor is generally regarded as the magnum opus of Bach's vocal works.

Bach may have opted for the Ordinary of the Mass because it gave him a lot of freedom. There is a great deal of text and it is not dictated which movements should be sung by the chorus and which should be arias. Neither are there any rules about the number of movements. Furthermore, the words of the Mass – unlike those of the cantatas – are universal.

Most researchers believe that Bach compiled his Mass largely of existing music, coming predominantly from the cantatas of course.

He also did not give the B minor Mass a title. Instead, he organized the 1748–49 manuscript into four folders, each with a different title. That containing the Kyrie and Gloria he called "1. Missa"; that containing the Credo he titled "2. Symbolum Nicenum"; the third folder, containing the Sanctus, he called "3. Sanctus"; and the remainder, in a fourth folder he titled "4. Osanna | Benedictus | Agnus Dei et | Dona nobis pacem", probably so that they could be used separately.

The work consists of 27 sections:

I. Kyrie and Gloria ("Missa")
1. Kyrie eleison (1st)
2. Christe eleison
3. Kyrie eleison (2nd)
4. Gloria in excelsis
5. Et in terra pax
6. Laudamus te
7. Gratias agimus tibi
8. Domine Deus
9. Qui tollis peccata mundi
10. Que sedes ad dexteram patris
11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu

II. Credo ("Symbolum Nicenum")
1. Credo in unum Deum
2. Patrem omnipotentem
3. Et in unum Dominum
4. Et incarnatus est
5. Curcifizus
6. Et resurrexit
7. Et in Spiritum Sanctum
8. Confiteor
9. Et expecto

III. Sanctus
1. Sanctus - Pleni sunt coeli

IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem
1. Osanna
2. Benedictus
3. Osanna (da capo)
4. Agnus Dei
5. Dona nobis pacem


OK, for an epic work such as this, finding one definitive video is a challenge, especially as it's a film-length work, clocking in at 100 to 110 minutes.

As far as an audio-only, much has been written. But John Eliot Gardiner's version seems to be the go-to for this, but you're always going to get people that disagree on interpretive matters. One of the most popular versions is from Phillippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent.

So here's two versions from which to choose.

Here's the audio recording of the 2015 release of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor performed by the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.



Bach - Mass in B Minor | John Eliot Gardiner (2015)














. . . and a live performance by the Choir of the English Concert and The English Concert conducted by
Harry Bicket at PROMS 2012


Part I: 0: 00: 07
Part II: 0: 53: 48
Part III: 1: 25: 15
Part IV: 1: 30: 38


Bach - Mass in B minor (Proms 2012)


 
#370 ·
JS Bach

"There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself."
- Johann Sebastian Bach


183
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
1741


The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a musical composition for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. The work is one of the most important examples of the variation form. It is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also have been the first performer of the work.

It is often regarded as the most serious and ambitious composition ever written for harpsichord.

Every third variation in the series of 30 is a canon, following an ascending pattern. Thus, variation 3 is a canon at the unison, variation 6 is a canon at the second (the second entry begins the interval of a second above the first), variation 9 is a canon at the third, and so on until variation 27, which is a canon at the ninth. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a quodlibet (which combines several different melodies—usually popular tunes—in counterpoint, and often in a light-hearted, humorous manner).

Great. A Theme and variations, like a lot of variations. What's so great about Bach's Goldberg Variations?

The music is constructed symmetrically, beginning with a beautifully tranquil and highly ornamented Aria, the bass line of which fuels the 30 variations that follow. There is something of a dividing line after variation 15, and the piece ends as it begins, with the return of the Aria. Again, every third variation is a canon — the melody of each is laid over itself, with the additional complication that the pitch difference between the melodies rises from a canon in unison up to the canon in ninths.

Here's Jean Rondeau


Bach - Aria mit 30 Veränderungen Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - Rondeau | Netherlands Bach Society


 
#371 · (Edited)
"Harmony is next to Godliness"
Johann Sebastian Bach


184

JS BACH

In his lifetime of 65 years, Bach composed an incredible 1128 pieces of music. He left an astonishing musical legacy when he died in 1750 - including the six Brandenburg Concertos, the B-Minor Mass, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and hundreds of sacred cantatas. Yet no piece has engendered so much controversy as Art of Fugue, Bach’s definitive exploration of the art of fugal counterpoint.



The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080
(Date unknown, likely 1742-1749)

Bach
never specified what instrument or instruments he wanted The Art of Fugue played on; nor did he finish it.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed this monothematic cycle of approximately 20 fugues written in the key of D minor, probably for harpsichord. The number and the order of the fugues remain controversial, as does the work’s date of composition. Bach did not indicate which instruments were to be used to perform the work, but experts surmise that he would have chosen the organ and harpsichord or a small string or chamber orchestra. The work has been performed on a wide variety of instruments, including the piano, and by string quartets, chamber orchestras, period instruments, and even saxophone ensembles.

And perhaps it doesn't matter; after all, it DOES work however you choose to set it.

So, it starts with a simple theme, which undergoes many permutations throughout the 14 fugues and four canons (in baroque terminology, fugues also) which constitute this work. The individual pieces get continually more complex and demanding as it goes on.

For instance, the 3rd fugue turns the theme upside down. In the fifth fugue, we hear it with some intervals filled in with rather jazzy, dotted rhythms.

Later still, we hear it syncopated and in triple time. Starting with the eighth fugue, new themes are introduced, but they are all in fact derived from this original theme.

The final fugue was the last he was ever to write, and also his longest. Although he had often hidden the BACH motif in his music (in German nomenclature it consists of the notes B flat, A, C and B) here – for the first and only time – he overtly introduces it as the third main theme of this massive fugue.

The incomplete state of the final fugue creates a musical, aesthetic, philosophical and even moral quandary for the performer. Most allow the work to trail off at the point where Bach’s manuscript ceases . . . which makes no sense musically, but most certainly deals with existential questions of human existence, while others use endings composed by experts.

Then again, there are others that feel that the work was left unfinished not because Bach died, but as a deliberate choice by Bach to encourage independent efforts at a completion.

So, most experts now agree that Bach probably intended the work as a pedagogical work for the harpsichord player, never imagining that someone might mistake it for a concert work. Ah, well, too late now.

So . . . which version should I post? Which is the best?

It's all a matter of taste . . . You can find recordings on harpsichord, organ, piano, chamber groups, and orchestras.

The Art of Fugue has most certainly a wealth of learned dissertations written about it. But here's a quote from Peter Gutmann, not a musicologist, but a music aficionado, which says worlds about Art of Fugue:

Why did Bach create the Art of the Fugue?

Wolff posits a practical concern. In 1737, a former pupil, Johann Scheibe, possibly in retaliation for Bach having passed him over for a coveted appointment, published an attack in which he savaged Bach's style as "turgid and confused," decrying its "beauty darkened by an excess of art" that buried the melody, detracted from the beauty of the harmony, had excessive ornamentation, and was extremely difficult to play.

In retrospect, we now recognize this as a harbinger of the vast change that was about to forego Bach's counterpoint in favor of the emerging homophonic style, consisting of a dominant melodic line supported by harmony, that persists to this day (and of which, ironically, Bach's sons were in the vanguard of promoting).

Bach never wrote about his own music, but a colleague, Johann Abraham Birnbaum, came to his defense (and panned the new style), asserting that "one very soon becomes tired of insipid little ditties that consist of nothing but consonances" and that "harmony becomes far more complete if all the voices collaborate to form it." But it was a losing battle - a mere two years after Bach died, Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, a respected critic, expressed regret that the fugue (and, by implication, polyphony in general) already had declined into an ancient aberration, even as he saluted the Art of the Fugue as a bulwark against contemporary rubbish.

Wolff feels that Bach, plunged into the midst of this esthetic debate, felt compelled to memorialize the art to which he had devoted his life and to create a compendium of its range and techniques. As Herbert Parry put it, the Musical Offering had been for the benefit of one king, but Bach created the Art of the Fugue for all musicians.

Although ignored at the time, and for a century to come, the Art of the Fugue is now universally hailed as not only the ultimate treatise on counterpoint and thus the foremost embodiment of Bach's esthetic ideals, but one of the supreme summits of art, in which a wealth of invention is crafted from a single idea (and in that sense serves to exemplify Bach's core belief in the perfect and inviolate order of the universe, structured according to a Divine plan).

John Stone calls it "tantamount to a sacred text, an artwork so quintessentially perfect in form, so unutterably beautiful from the dual perspectives of the mind and heart, intellect and emotions."

While many of us enjoy it on a superficial level, perhaps the most meaningful tribute is from those having a lifetime of expertise and the deepest familiarity, who consistently declare their studies and analyses to be incomplete and its depths to be limitless, not only as an encylopedic compilation of past technique but as a visionary guide to inspire the creativity of future generations.




Also up for grabs is the order in which the entire work is presented. As the fugues are in groups, one could present them with the canons inserted between groups, or one could group the canons together somewhere.

The entire Art of Fugue runs between 65 and 90 minutes long . . . it does depend on tempi, as well as whether the performer(s) is using a completed final movement, and whether particular movements are omitted (one movement is actually written "a 2", and cannot be played by a single keyboardist without overdubs).

Here's two versions:

First; a wonderful version by the Juilliard String Quartet with guests, with an animated video score, which, for those who love following along, is quite interesting.

The second is a chamber version. The use of instrumental colors gives dimension that cannot be given on a keyboard instrument. Robert Kohnen (harpsichord), Barthold Kuijken (flute), Sigiswald Kuijken (violin), and Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba)


BWV 1080 - Art of the Fugue






Bach - The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 -












Of course, it's quite beautiful and personal with just the setting for harpsichord(s) . . . Here's Bob van Asperen (with a little help from Olivier Beumont) performing live. There is some controversy regarding this performance, mostly with the performance practice of adding ornamentation. It was certainly the performance style of the day, and the purists that object to it are merely embracing a literal interpretation of the this beast. They'd probably hate the orchestrations as well. And the piano versions [the piano have an advantage over harpsichords and clavichords by their ability to be far more expressive since each note can be played independently . . . even the organ versions have limitations . . . while the sound can be changed, the volume changes affect all of the notes as a group.)


Bach Die kunst der fuge BWV 1080 The Art of Fugue Bob van Asperen Olivier Baumont harpsichord


 
#374 · (Edited)
Why did Bach create the Art of the Fugue?

Wolff posits a practical concern. In 1737, a former pupil, Johann Scheibe, possibly in retaliation for Bach having passed him over for a coveted appointment, published an attack in which he savaged Bach's style as "turgid and confused," decrying its "beauty darkened by an excess of art" that buried the melody, detracted from the beauty of the harmony, had excessive ornamentation, and was extremely difficult to play.

In retrospect, we now recognize this as a harbinger of the vast change that was about to forego Bach's counterpoint in favor of the emerging homophonic style, consisting of a dominant melodic line supported by harmony, that persists to this day (and of which, ironically, Bach's sons were in the vanguard of promoting).

Bach never wrote about his own music, but a colleague, Johann Abraham Birnbaum, came to his defense (and panned the new style), asserting that "one very soon becomes tired of insipid little ditties that consist of nothing but consonances" and that "harmony becomes far more complete if all the voices collaborate to form it." But it was a losing battle - a mere two years after Bach died, Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, a respected critic, expressed regret that the fugue (and, by implication, polyphony in general) already had declined into an ancient aberration, even as he saluted the Art of the Fugue as a bulwark against contemporary rubbish.

Wolff feels that Bach, plunged into the midst of this esthetic debate, felt compelled to memorialize the art to which he had devoted his life and to create a compendium of its range and techniques. As Herbert Parry put it, the Musical Offering had been for the benefit of one king, but Bach created the Art of the Fugue for all musicians.

Although ignored at the time, and for a century to come, the Art of the Fugue is now universally hailed as not only the ultimate treatise on counterpoint and thus the foremost embodiment of Bach's esthetic ideals, but one of the supreme summits of art, in which a wealth of invention is crafted from a single idea (and in that sense serves to exemplify Bach's core belief in the perfect and inviolate order of the universe, structured according to a Divine plan).

John Stone calls it "tantamount to a sacred text, an artwork so quintessentially perfect in form, so unutterably beautiful from the dual perspectives of the mind and heart, intellect and emotions."

While many of us enjoy it on a superficial level, perhaps the most meaningful tribute is from those having a lifetime of expertise and the deepest familiarity, who consistently declare their studies and analyses to be incomplete and its depths to be limitless, not only as an encylopedic compilation of past technique but as a visionary guide to inspire the creativity of future generations.
An interesting story, but slightly exaggerated (a bit too "Bach-centric" in view). There were many contrapuntists still active in the period 1750~80, they just don't get as much spotlight as the famous composers
For instance, have a look at the article <I Believe in Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major> 2013/03/18/i-believe-in-mozart-symphony-41-in-c-major/

"I'm back baby!"

We have been constantly "educated" (or "brainwashed" depending on how you look at it) in this way. "Thank Bach only, and no one else."
What if we had been educated from childhood about, for instance, the complex organ works of Johann Ludwig Krebs and nothing about Bach? Would things have been the same? (I'm just asking).
 
#372 · (Edited)
I'm a little bummed that the two versions of Art of Fugue I wanted to have linked to the previous post are no longer available on Youtube, one a scrolling version by the Emerson String Quartet, and one with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein.

The Emerson String Quartet version is still available for viewing (although it's audio only), but only as individual videos for each section.

So I had to substitute other versions. Such is the mysterious world of Youtube videos that come and go.

So here's a "Consolation Prize" of the Juilliard String Quartet performing Contrapuncti 1 - 4 live from Bach Art of Fugue.

 
#373 ·
I'm a little bummed that the two versions of Art of Fugue are no longer available on Youtube, one a scrolling version by the Emerson String Quartet, and one with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein.

The Emerson String Quartet version is still available for viewing, but as individual videos for each section.

So I had to substitute other versions. Such is the mysterious world of Youtube videos that come and go.

So here's a "Consolation Prize" of the Juilliard String Quartet performing Contrapuncti 1 - 4 live from Bach Art of Fugue.

I'm probably misunderstanding the reference but is this what you were referring to -

 
#379 · (Edited)
Johann Sebastian Bach

185

The Musical Offering, BWV 1079
1747


The Musical Offering is possibly the most significant piano composition in history (partly because it's probably the first piano composition in history).

It is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia), to whom they are dedicated.

The Ricercar a 6 (sometimes referred to as the Prussian Fugue), is a six-voice fugue, and is regarded as the high point of the entire work.

Here's the short version of the history of The Musical Offering: The collection has its roots in a meeting between Bach and Frederick II on May 7, 1747. The meeting, taking place at the King's residence in Potsdam, came about because Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel was employed there as court musician. Frederick wanted to show the elder Bach a novelty, the fortepiano, which had been invented some years earlier. The King owned several of the experimental instruments being developed by Gottfried Silbermann. During his anticipated visit to Frederick's palace in Potsdam, Bach, who was well known for his skill at improvising, received from Frederick a long and complex musical theme on which to improvise a three-voice fugue. He did so, but Frederick then challenged him to improvise a six-voice fugue on the same theme. Bach answered that he would need to work the score and send it to the King afterwards. He then returned to Leipzig to write out the Thema Regium ("theme of the king").

Two months after the meeting, Bach published a set of pieces based on this theme which we now know as The Musical Offering. Bach inscribed the piece "Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta" (the theme given by the king, with additions, resolved in the canonic style), the first letters of which spell out the word ricercar, a well-known genre of the time.


But the longer version is far more interesting. I give you an article from THE GUARDIAN by JAMES GAINES, dated Thu 13 Jan 2005. It's well written, fascinating and an easy read.

The Art of Feud

Bach's final work was a tribute to Frederick the Great. Or so the story goes. If you read between the notes, says James Gaines, you will find a devastating attack on everything the king stood for.

Musicologists have long been fascinated by Bach's Musical Offering, one of his last and greatest instrumental works. Its 16 movements are based on a theme given to Bach by Frederick the Great during a visit to the Prussian court in Potsdam. But critical to an understanding of the work, is what Bach buried in the score . . . .



So, again, as with many great works, it's long. It may last 48 to 80 minutes, depending on the performance.

But how about a little appetizer? Here's a short three minute excerpt from The Musical Offering . . . specifically the enigmatic Canon 1 a 2 . The manuscript depicts a single musical sequence that is to be played front to back and back to front. This video presents it as a Mobius Strip.


J.S. Bach - Crab Canon on a Möbius Strip






Das Musikalische Opfer BWV 1079 The Musical Offering
Le Concert des Nations conducted by Jordi Savall
Pierre Hanta
: harpsichord


0:00:00 Thema regium
Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae
0:06:36 • Canon perpetuus super thema regium
0:09:02 • Canon 2 a 2 violini in unisono
0 : 10:43 • Canon 1 a 2 cancrizans
0:12:33 • Canon 3 a 2 per motum contrarium
0:14:13 • Ricercar a 6
0 : 21:53 • Canon a 4 per aumentationem, contrario motu (A)
0 : 24:28 Sonata sopr'il soggetto reale a traversa
• Largo
• Allegro
• Andante
• Allegro
Thematis regii elaborationes canonicae
0:42:08 • Canon a 2 quaerondo invenietis (A)
0:43:42 • Canon 5 a 2 per tonos
0 : 46:56 • Canon a 2 quaerondo invenietis (B)
0:48:08 • Fuga canonica in epidiapente
0 : 50:14 • Canon a 2 per aumentationem, contrario motu (B)
0:52:45 • Canon perpetuus per giusti intervalli
0:54:45 • Canon a 4
0:59:06 • Ricercar a 6



Bach Das Musikalische Opfer BWV 1079 Musical Offering Jordi Savall Concert des Nations


 
#380 ·
Bonus Round

Oooo . . . a suggestion. I like that.

Someone has recommended Glenn Gould playing the Sarabande from Partita No.4 (BWV 828) by Johann Sebastian Bach, 1726–1729.

I don't know why he suggested it, other than it's likely he likes this piece a great deal.

Glenn Gould is a legend in the pianists' bookcase. He's certainly an eccentric, and his recordings are both revered and reviled by 'experts'.

His interpretations are often quite different from those of other noted pianists, who will sometimes criticize his unorthodox artistic choices, but he always brings a fresh view to pieces. You're also liable to hear him humming along as he plays.

His piano had to be set at a certain height and would be raised on wooden blocks if necessary. A small rug would sometimes be required for his feet underneath the piano. He had to sit exactly fourteen inches above the floor, and would play concerts only while sitting on an old chair his father had made.

He's renowned internationally as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach. But his technique is superb.

So . . . The Partitas are a set of six harpsichord suites, the last of the keyboard suites he composed (the first two being The English Suites, and the French Suites, and, hence, the Partitas are sometimes referred to as The German Suites). The suites usually had 6-7 'movements', most of which were in dance styles.

I've had the pleasure of competing with some selections from these suites when I was a teenager.


Glenn Gould - Bach - BWV 828 - 5 - Sarabande

 
#381 ·
186

Bach
Partita for Violin no. 2 in D minor
1717-1720


This is from Bach's compositional cycle called Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin.

It's in 5 movements:

Allemanda
Corrente
Sarabanda
Giga
Ciaccona


The first four movements are typical dance styles of the time, and the last (also a dance form) is written in the form of variations, and lasts approximately as long as the first four movements combined.

The Chaconne is one of the longest and most challenging entirely solo pieces ever composed for violin.

Yehudi Menuhin called the Chaconne "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists".

Violinist Joshua Bell has said the Chaconne is "not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect."

In Bach’s Chaconne, the basic theme is four measures long, short and simple enough to allow for 64 variations. From a stern and commanding mood at the beginning, Bach gradually increases the complexity of his theme, mixing in various compositional effects. Some twists upon the theme are spacious and grand; others flow nimbly. Fast runs and large interval skips are frequent, requiring much dexterity from the performer. Bach also calls forth changes in emotional intensity, as some variations are dominated by long notes and others by many, more urgent short notes. Bach builds up his work over 256 measures, finally restating the theme at the end with new, even stronger harmonies.

As with many works by Bach, you can also find version of this transcribed for piano, organ, cello, guitar, harpsichord, piano trio, and orchestra.

But here it is as originally intended.

Here's Shunske Sato on violin.

Bach - Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 - Sato | Netherlands Bach Society




 
#382 · (Edited)
JS Bach

So that's five from Bach, with a short appetizer, and a “Bonus Bach”:

181. Bouree from Lute Suite in E minor

182. Mass in B minor
183. Goldberg Variations
184. The Art of Fugue
185. The Musical Offering

BONUS. Partita No. 4: Sarabande


186. Partita for Violin no. 2 in D minor


So . . . here's dessert.

187
Air on the G String
, the second movement from Orchestral Suite #3 In D, BWV 1068


As with most Bach works, they've been reworked, transcribed for other instruments, re-orchestrated, and shoved into TV episodes and films. You can even hear a bit of it in the Yellow Submarine soundtrack and in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

Overplayed for a good reason: The Air is one of the most famous pieces of baroque music.

Naturally, I'm well aware that some Classical Music elitists look upon this little trifle with disdain, but, it's brilliant in its simplicity.

Let's start with the designation of "Air", not a dance form, but an instrumental 'aria', a lyrical and expressive movement. This Air (written in an asymmetrical binary form) is often played as an independent work, removed from its 1731 Orchestral Suite, which runs a half hour or more, and which the Air is only the second of six movements (starting with an Overture, the Air, 2 gavottes, a bourree, and the predictable ending Gigue.

Of course, this isn’t a simple binary piece with just one modulation – Bach takes us through a wide variety of keys in this piece, everything from the original key of D and its dominant A major, to Cm, Bm, Em, G major and beyond. He also strips out all the extraneous instrumentation, leaving only strings and continuo, a musical 'trick' he also used in the slow movements of The Brandenburg Concertos.

The walking bass pattern helps the piece attain a sort of perpetual motion, never stopping except for strong cadences at the ends of sections. And it's remarkable that this short little piece (it's only 18 measures long!) remains so beautiful and interesting centuries later.

But here's the part you may have missed: WHY is it called Air "on the G string"?

Well, roughly 150 years after it was written, a German violinist, August Wilhelmj made a violin and piano arrangement of the second movement, changing the key from D to C, and transposing the melody down an octave. By doing so, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string.

Here it's played by Early Music ensemble Voices of Music on period instruments, with Hanneke van Proosdij conducting from the baroque organ. I do enjoy this version, as the rest of the instruments aren't drowned out by the overzealous violins.




.

I think context is an important component of music, and for those that feel as I do, here is the entire

Orchestral Suite No. 3
Václav Luks Collegium 1704


00:00 Overture
10:08 Air
14:48 Gavotte I and II
18:08 Bouree
19:10 Gigue

I love the ten minute 'Overture', a bouyant, joyous, and rambunctuous rollercoaster of happiness. At 10 minutes, it's practically half the entire Suite.






.

Oh, and I almost forgot to include my favorite Air on the G String 'shout out'. This one's from George Martin, in the Sea Of Monsters from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. You can hear it at around 2:20, although it's fun hearing it in the context of the short 3:36 track.





.


And that’s it for the J.S. Bach Deep Dive / J.S. Bach Deep Dive
 
#383 · (Edited)
Superb instructional writing - Can be comprehended without difficulty by beginners, offers an engaging challenge for the intermediate, and yet manages to keep the interest of advanced level audiences.

A definite credit to the forum - One that should be made mandatory reading tor those new members who express being intimidated by the contents of the forum.
 
#402 ·
Thanks for your suggestion. I was earlier informed by one of our esteemed moderators that using the darker hue makes it difficult to see the text when viewing in "dark mode". So, I opted for a brownish-orange color that is OK on both backgrounds.

In "regular mode" I'd been using a Cobalt Blue, which really "pops" on a white background, but is not good with a black background.
 
#385 ·
188
Allegro barbaro
Béla Bartók

1911


Well, then, here's a short piece, the Allegro barbaro from Béla Bartók, that may sound familiar to fans of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who used this piece wholesale in the opening track, The Barbarian, from their self-titled debut album in 1970, initially without giving credit to the composer.

Now, even though it was composed in 1911, it wasn't premiered until ten years later.

For the Music Theory geeks (of which I am one), the opening melody of Allegro barbaro is largely pentatonic, and the opening melody uses a Phrygian mode subset.

As a composer he is best known for his use of Hungarian, Slavic and Romanian folk music. He collected and made arrangements of these folk songs, combining the spirit of folk music with the discipline of European art music.







.

And Emerson, Lake & Palmer performing their cover, The Barbarian, live. They used Bartok's Allegro barbaro as the central part of the their version, tagging a 90 second heavy metal intro onto the front and back of it based on Bartok's harmonic progression.



 
#386 ·
189.

Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Jean Sibelius
1899 (rev. 1900)


Music is,
for me,
like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together.
He takes all the pieces in his hand,
throws them into the world,
and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.

-Jean Sibelius


This turn-of-the-century four movement work has some quirky moments, most notable of which may be in the fourth movement, when a number of tones that lead to a rumbling effect due to intermodulation distortion.

The "slow" movement (the second) starts quietly with tragic themes. And expands into a large and furious passage, with the original themes returning at the end and ending calmly.

And the third movement, tucked in between these two is certainly a thrill ride.

I. Andante, ma not troppo - Allegro energico
II. Andante (ma non troppo lento)
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Finale (Quasi una fantasia): Andante – Allegro molto – Andante assai – Allegro molto come prima – Andante (ma non troppo)


While I love Bernstein's version of this, today we'll go with Orchestre de Paris, Paavo Järvi, conductor, for a live version.







However, I do recommend this video of Bernstein's 1992 performance for the wonderful patriotic (and often anachronistic) visuals. The visuals bring a new dimension to the work, even though there seems to have been some re-orchestrations in this version.



 
#387 ·
190

String Quartet No. 8
Dmitri Shostakovich

1960

And we jump forward 60 years, to 1960, to String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110, which reputedly was written in three days, not too long after he was forced to join the Communist Party.

According to the score, it is dedicated "to the victims of fascism and the war"; Shostakovich’s son Maxim interprets this as a reference to the victims of all totalitarianism, while his daughter Galina says that he dedicated it to himself, and that the published dedication was imposed by the Russian authorities.

Shostakovich's friend, Lev Lebedinsky, said that Shostakovich thought of the work as his epitaph and that he planned to commit suicide around this time.

Shosty’s String Quartet No. 8 quotes liberally from Shostakovich’s own music and uses his personal motto theme (a four-note theme built on an abbreviation of the composer's name, DSCH, which becomes D-Eflat-C-B in German nomenclature, which he'd previously used in his 10th Symphony), suggesting that it is autobiographical, that is, about Shostakovich himself.

This highly popular quartet, extremely compact and focused, is in five interconnected movements and only lasts about 20 minutes:

I. Largo
II. Allegro molto
III. Allegretto
IV. Largo
V. Largo

Good
. Let's start with a very short course about Shostakovich, his music, and the 8th Quartet.







"I was shaken . . . and I cried."

And now . . .

. . . what all the fuss is about.



THIS . . . is how music can touch your soul.


Dmitri Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor


The David Oistrakh Quartet
(four Russian musicians) gives an incredible performance at the Glafsfjorden Festival 25 January 2019 in The Great Hall of Ingesund School of Music in Arvika, Sweden.





By the way, judging by the comments under the video, there are many that feel that the Olstrakh Quartet is playing the 2nd movement too fast.

Those people are wrong.





Here's a heavy metal version of the 2nd movement. I think that Dmitri would have nodded approvingly.

Connor Gallagher







Oh, and just one more thing . . . This string quartet, having been premiered in 1960, is still protected under copyright.

Mr. Gallagher is able to present this performance by citing that under "Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by Copyright Statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use."
 
#391 ·
191

String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593
WA Mozart
1790 (published 1793)


That's right, a quintet, not a quartet. It is scored for string quartet and an extra viola (two violins, two violas and cello), sometimes referred to as a "Viola Quintet".


The work is in standard (although modified) four movement form:

I. Larghetto - Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto: Allegretto
IV. Allegro


The opening Larghetto is considered quite unusual for Mozart, even more so since it's in 3/4 time. Even more surprisingly a modified version of this opening is brought back after the main section, then dismissed abruptly.

But most people cite the Adagio as being what makes this quintet so wonderful . . .

There's also a great fugal finale, so good, here's a music nerd score version of that 4th movement that points out just how clever Mozart could be.

This late work exemplifies just how cheeky Mozart's music is; there's just enough smartassiness in most of his works to make them lovable (rather than spiteful). Here, you can hear the violin written deliberately a beat behind the others, or themes that are made up mostly on upbeats rather than downbeats. I love how he lands on deceptive cadences, which tell me that Mozart thought the journey was better than the destination.







.

And here's the whole thing, played by the Kodaly Quartet with Avishai Chaimedes on 2nd viola for this performance for opening night of the 2016 Indian Summer in Levoca Festival. Concert given with the support of the Hungarian Institute in Bratislava.









••••••••••
 
#392 ·
192

Concerto for Percussion Solo and Orchestra
Joseph Schwantner
1994


That's right; 1994. For me, that's practically yesterday. And for Classical Music, it's also practically yesterday.

So . . . It's in a standard three movement format.

I Con forza
II 'In Memoriam': Misterioso
III Ritmico con moto (with restrained energy) con forza


I'll let composer Joseph Schwantner describe his own work:

"The Concerto, cast in a three-movement arch-like design, opens with the soloist stationed near the other percussionists. A collaborative relationship develops between the soloist and his or her colleagues in an expanded ensemble that also includes the piano and the harp. The marimba and drums are most prominently featured in this first movement.

"Throughout the second movement, In Memoriam, a slow, dark-hued elegy, the soloist is placed center stage while the other percussionists remain silent. Two principal ideas appear: a pair of recurrent ringing sonorities played on the vibraphone and an insistent “heartbeat” motif articulated on the bass drum.

"The second movement leads directly into the fast and rhythmic third movement, which begins with an improvisatory section for the soloist. While continuing to improvise, the soloist walks back to the initial performance position of the first movement. As in that movement, the amplified marimba is again prominently featured. The final section, drawn from the drum motives of the first movement, proceeds to a high-energy cadenza and conclusion.

"The score bears the dedication “To the memory of Stephen Albert,” and was commissioned by Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York. The premiere was given by the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Slatkin conducting. Christopher Lamb was the soloist. The wind transcription was done by Andrew Boysen Jr."


- Program Note by Joseph Schwantner

The University of Texas Wind Ensemble
Thomas Burritt, Soloist
Jerry Junkin, conductor

Live in Bates Recital Hall - Austin, Texas
May 1, 2016

 
#393 · (Edited)
00:00 I Con forza
07:00 II 'In Memoriam': Misterioso
18:50 III Ritmico con moto (with restrained energy) con forza


I didn't want to give away too much prior to y'all getting to experience a rather "new" piece, probably for the first time.


So . . . there is a Primary Percussionist (the soloist), and four additional supporting percussionists (the fifth percussionist is 'stage left', behind 5 timpani). Jeez, that's an awful lot of marimbas. I'm still confused at the 1st Percussionist, during the 1st mvt. seems to switch from Marimba to another Marimba at one point . . . I'm guessing that it's a xylophone, but I'm fairly clueless here. There's a few shots where you can see four percussionists all in synch on marimbas . . . quite impressive. I will say that the first few minutes reminded me more of film music, but I suppose that since Classical and Film music are twin sons from different mothers, I shouldn't be all that surprised.

I love the rack of bells in the 2nd movement, and the very subtle gong partially submerged in a tub of water. Oh, that rack of triangular bells is a set of Bianzhong, an ancient Chinese musical set of bronze bells. Even the fact that the percussionist has two triangles (of different sizes) is pretty nifty.

The 3rd mvt is really sweet, with the time shifts between 5/8 and 9/8 (or four counts of 5, followed by a count of 3) for awhile. I really love that kind of ****.

Given my own personal musical tastes, I'm actually somewhat surprised to find a recent Classical work that I'm actually excited about.
 
#394 ·
193

String Quintet in E major, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275)
Luigi Boccherini

1771


This quintet is famous for its minuet third movement (often referred to as "The Celebrated Minuet") which is often played as a standalone piece outside of the context of the full quintet.

The minuet has been used extensively in popular media including movies, television and video games. It has often been used to depict late 18th / early 19th century society in the United States, most especially during the Revolutionary War. It was most notably used in The Time of Their Lives (1946), the British black comedy The Ladykillers (1955) with Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, and as the music box music in Two Rode Together.

It was also used in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and even more famously, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

And it's also a piece I played as a kid, in a piano transcription.

Unlike the Mozart Quintet in D, this quintet adds an extra cello instead of an extra viola.

It should be pointed out that Boccherini wrote more than 120 string quintets. This Quintet is the fifth of a set of six from his Op.11 composed in 1771 (but was for quite some time known as Op.13 No.5).

It's in four movements

I. Andante mosso, amoroso
II. Allegro con spirito
III. Minuetto
IV. Rondo. Andante


The famous minuet starts at 12:30

Luigi Boccherini, Quintetto per archi in mi maggiore Op.11, No.5, G275
Lukas Stepp, Tobias Feldmann, Philipp Bonhoeffer, Jakob Stepp, & Kristaps Bergs

 
#395 ·
194

Concerto for Bassoon in F Major, Op. 75 (J. 127)
Carl Maria von Weber

1811/revised 1822


Two "Firsts" here . . . . the first time this list has featured the bassoon, and the first piece on the list by Weber (1786 - 1826).

Weber was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. He was born in the Prince-Bishopric of Lubeck, an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803. Oh, yeah. Where's that?

That would put it in the mid-1900s Prussia, or in today's north Germany, with a coastline on the southwestern Baltic Sea.

Weber
's bassoon concerto is among the most frequently played by bassoonists.

The concerto consists of three movements in the standard fast-slow-fast pattern:

I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Adagio
III. Rondo: Allegro


What's of note here, though, is the bassoon itself, which is capable of a wide range of characters and emotions, which Weber capitalizes upon.

After exploring the many different capabilities, at the end of the piece after the final statement of the theme, the bassoonist engages in a tornado of scales and arpeggios, showing off in one of the bassoon repertoire's flashiest and most virtuosic finales.

Here's bassoonist Drew Pattison, with Raphael Jimenez conducting the Oberlin Orchestra



 
#396 ·
195

"Un Bel Di Vedremo", Madame Butterfly, Act II
Giacomo Puccini
1904


The libretto of the opera is based in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long – which in turn was based partially on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll and partially on the semi-autographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanth?me by Pierre Loti.

"Un bel di vedremo" ("One fine day we’ll see") is a soprano aria from the opera when she imagines and performs the return of Pinkerton on a white ship, signaled by a thread of smoke on the far horizon.

The context: In the first act of Madama Butterfly, Lieutenant Pinkerton is a soldier from the United States stationed in Japan, who rents a house from a real estate agent/marriage broker. Along with the house, three servants and a geisha that is to be Pinkerton's wife are supplied. Pinkerton tells his friend that he lives from moment to moment and that he ultimately dreams of marrying a U.S. woman instead.

Despite his future plans, Pinkerton signs the contract and agrees to marry Cio-Cio San, the geisha called Madama Butterfly. Cio-Cio San falls deeply in love with Pinkerton, going so far as to denounce her own Japanese faith, converting to Christianity for Pinkerton. Little does she know that Pinkerton shares similar feelings. Shortly after their marriage ceremony, Pinkerton is called out of Japan.

The second act begins three years later during which time Madama Butterfly prayed for his return. Her servant Suzuki pities her and repeatedly tells her that Pinkerton is never going to come back, but Madama Butterfly believes differently. She sings "Un bel di, vedremo" as she envisions that day Pinkerton's ship arrives into port, and how she'll see it through the window in their home that sits high atop a hill.

One good day, we will see
Arising a strand of smoke
Over the far horizon on the sea
And then the ship appears
And then the ship is white
It enters into the port, it rumbles its salute.

Do you see it? He is coming!
I don't go down to meet him, not I.
I stay upon the edge of the hill
And I wait a long time
but I do not grow weary of the long wait.

And leaving from the crowded city,
A man, a little speck
Climbing the hill.
Who is it? Who is it?
And as he arrives
What will he say? What will he say?
He will call Butterfly from the distance

I without answering
Stay hidden
A little to tease him,
A little as to not die.

At the first meeting,
And then a little troubled
He will call, he will call
"Little one, dear wife
Blossom of orange"
The names he called me at his last coming.

All this will happen,
I promise you this
Hold back your fears -
I with secure faith wait for him.



Maria Callas sings. Movie scenes - Memoirs of a Geisha, a historical novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997.


 
#397 · (Edited)
196
Solemn Vespers (Vesperae solennes de confessore) K. 339
W.A. Mozart
1780

"Solemn Vespers for a Confessor"
is a sacred choral composition for choir, vocal soloists and small chamber orchestra, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780 in Salzburg. The Text is from Psalms 110–113, 117; Magnificat.

It's divided into six movements, which could be separated to accommodate the needs of the mass, which makes them also function well as stand-alone works:

Dixit Dominus (Psalm 110)
Confitebor tibi Domine (Psalm 111)
Beatus vir qui timet Dominum (Psalm 112)
Laudate pueri Dominum (Psalm 113)
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes (Psalm 117)
Magnificat (Canticle for Vespers)

Definitely written in an older church style, yet with some modern homophonic and melodic stylings.

There's nothing really groundbreaking here, but what you do get is some of the most beautiful and divine music of the late 1700s, especially the sublimely gorgeous Laudate Dominum for soprano and chorus, a piece that was so popular in the nineteenth century.

Here's a 2016 performance from the Tucson Masterworks Chorale led by Artistic Director Jonathan Kim, and Soloists Soprano Dori Scholer, Mezzo-Soprano Susan Stokes, Tenor Hugo Vera, and Baritone Mark Hockenberry.

Twenty-eight minutes of joy. Starts at about the 1:00 mark.

If you don't have the 30 minutes to spare, you might want to hear the Laudate Dominum, which starts at 20:22.

 
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“Non ti scordar di me”
Ernesto de Curtis
1912



Well, for most folks, even those that are fans of Classical music, the name of Italian composer Ernesto de Curtis won’t ring a bell. He was born in 1875 and died in 1937, and was a great-grandson of composer Saverio Mercadante and the brother of poet Giambattista De Curtis.

He is mostly known as a Classical “songwriter”, although he was an accomplished pianist.

This may very well be the most beautiful song you will hear today.

Ernesto de Curtis - “Non ti scordar di me” - Luciano Pavarotti

 
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