jmc's classics
Alberic Magnard (1865-1914) is considered to be the French Bruckner. Their lives were very different. He is called the French Bruckner because they used some of the same technics in their music.
As mentioned, Bruckner resembles more Cesar Frank or Edouard Lalo who were both Bruckner's contemporaries. Until five years ago. I had never heard of Magnard. On Arkiv.com there are only about 20 recordings of his works. Acording to the article on him, his works have been overlooked until the end of the 20th century do to his misanthropic personality. He was killed at the outbreak of wwl trying so save his works from his house which was being bombed. His music is now being more well received. He wrote less than 30 compositions. his best known works are his 4 symphonies. He wrote a string quartet. he also wrote two operas La Guercoeur (Opus #12) which is set in legendary times and Yolanda. there is one recording of Guercoeur available on EMI. I could not find any recordings available of Yolanda or any other information on it other than it is a one act opera. His symphonies are now considered some of the finest symphonies that originate from France of the late 19th century. I have a CD of the First and Third Symphonies By the Toulouse capital Orchestra conducted by Michel Plasson which is on the EMI label. The Third is his most popular. It has a certain beauty to it. He makes use of sonorities and chorales that resembled Bruckner. Magnard's symphonies are shorter than those of Bruckner. Most of Bruckner's symphonies last at least an hour. I consider Magnard's music worth listening to. I am not as familiar with his other works. I hope that soon his works become more popular!
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Most dictionaries define a "Serenade" as a piece of music for instruments or voice by a man for his lover usually played at her window. In classical music, it can mean various things Benjamin Brittan (1913-1976) wrote a Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Opus #31) in 1942 which is based on several poems. Mozart wrote several pieces called "serenades ". Dvorak and Tchaikovsky both wrote string serenades. So did Elgar and Joseph Suk. These are pieces for string orchestra. Joseph Suk was Antonin Dvorak's son in law. One of Suk's grandsons is a prominent concert violinist. Brahms wrote three symphonies. In addition he wrote two early serenades for orchestra (Opuses#11 and #16). They were for full orchestra, not just for string orchestra.
Dvorak wrote a String Serenade (Opus #22 ) and a Wind Serenade (Opus #44). The String serenade is one of Dvorak's more popular works along with his Symphony #9 and his Cello Concerto. I especially love the String serenade. I listen to it frequently especially the first movement Moderato. There are many fine recording of this work the one that I have is the one by Neville Mariner with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. I don't think that this version is currently available. It is coupled with the Wind Serenade. Put the String Serenade together with Schubert's 5th symphony and two or three other works that would be a good concert. ello (1 I only watched the preview for the Grammys. I did not watch the rest of it. I was not surprised that Adel won most of the top awards. I do like some of Beyoncé's songs. They did not show the classical awards.
The album by Michael Daugherty Tales of Hemingway on the Naxos label won in the categories of Best Classical Album, Best Instrumental solo and Best Classical Compendium. It was by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Giancarlo Guerrero. As stated earlier, I was never a fan of Hemingway. He was a bad role model. I was not in to his stories. The only story of his that I read was "A Farewell to Arms" Which was very depressing. I was forced to read it in a literature class that I too a long time ago at the local community college. I did not do good in the class and was talked in to taking it by one of the councilors that I was working with. I am not familiar with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Nashville does have a good arts scene other than Country Music. It is now a growing metropolitan area. I have never been much in to country Music. I do like some of it. But for the most part, most of the songs in this genre are rather depressing. I find much of Gustave Mahler's music also to be depressing. The Best Opera recording went to John Corigliano's "Ghosts of Versailles" . I am not familiar with this Opera. It involves King Louis xvl of France and Queen Maria Antionette. It also involves characters for the Operas Barber of Seville and the Marriage of Figero which were based on stories by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais who was a favorite of the French Royal Family. In addition to the famous opera by Rossini There was another opera called the Barber of Seville written by Giovani Paisiello Today is Valentines Day or St. Valentines Day St. Valentine was an early Christian martyr during Roman times when Christianity was illegal. He had performed marriages of soldiers which was outlawed. There are many other legends about St. Valentine.
The Romantic era in art and music lasted from around 1800-1920. From the end of the Classical Period until WWl. The term has nothing to do with romantic love. In music the term "romance" usually refers to a short one movement concerto. A concerto is a piece for solo instrument and orchestra. They are usually in three movements. They can be for any instrument: piano, violin, Cello, are the most common there are also ones for trumpet, trombone, tuba, flute, bassoon, clarinet and oboe. Thee can be for more than one solo instrument and orchestra. Beethoven's Triple concerto, (piano, violin and cello) or Brahms' Double concerto (Violin and Cello). A romance is short and usually lasts for 15 minutes of less. Beethoven wrote two for solo violin and orchestra, Bruch, Dvorak, Saint- Saens, Vaughan-Williams, Svendsen all wrote at least one Romance for Violin and orchestra. Ralph Vaughan-Williams is called "A Lark Ascending" Richard Strauss wrote a romance for cello and orchestra (opus# 13), Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile of Cello and orchestra is another one. He arranged it form the second movement of his first string quartet. Dvorak's Romance for Violin and Orchestra ( Opus #11) comes from an aborted string quartet. I like this piece as well as Dvorak's Violin Concerto (Opus#53). His Cello Concerto (opus #104) is more popular. He also wrote and earlier cello concerto and a Rondo for Cello and Orchestra (Opus #94) which at the present time, I don't know much about. As mentioned Leonard Bernstein(1918-1990) along with Herbert Von Karajan (1908-1989) were among the most famous conductors of the late 20th century. Herbert Von Karajan conducted the Berlin and Vienna orchestras. Bernstein was mainly associated with the New York Philharmonic. I remember his young peoples concerts as a child. He was the first conductor to give a lecture series on classical music beginning in 1954. He as also a great composer in his own right. West Side Story is one of his most famous works. although he was Jewish, he wrote a version of the Mass. Isaac Stern, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand have all played music associated with Christianity including Christmas songs. Barbra Streisand also sang a good rendition of The Lord's Prayer. Bernstein was born in Lawrence Massachusetts to Jewish parents. he went to Harvard and studied with Walter Piston and Edward Burlingame Hill who were American Composers. On Christmas 1989 he conducted Beethoven's 9th in Berlin as parte of the celebrations of the Berlin Wall coming down. he also conducted several other famous orchestras including the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Bernstein was a proponent of the music of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and helped to popularize it. I am not a fan of Mahler's music. He wrote 9 symphonies plus an incomplete 10th. He wrote several song cycles and a Piano Quintet. Much of his music is too depressing to me. Bernstein made several famed recordings of Mahler's symphonies. In 1980 he had protested against nuclear weapons. he was also a political activist He conducted the Second Symphony of Mahler "Resurrection" in 1984 sponsored by a group called Musicians against Nuclear Arms. he supported liberal causes. He was friends with President John Kennedy, Who today might be labeled conservative. In 1970, he and his wife held a party for Black Panther leaders. Bernstein did not endorse them. he claimed it was a fundraiser for their legal defense in the light of harassment by the FBI. In 1965 he performed alongside Sammy Davis Jr, Harry Belafonte etc. at the Civil rights march in Selma Alabama. Belafonte is known to be left leaning and has supported liberal causes. In 1962 he hired Violinist Stanford Allen as the first African American in the New York Philharmonic Fifteen years earlier in 1947 he called for affirmative action in American orchestras. Bernstein was a supporter of Amnesty International. Especially after Chile became a dictatorship. His wife Felicia Montealegre was from Chile. She died in 1978 before Chile became free. H named a fund for Amnesty International in her honor. As mentioned in the 1978 movie Saturday Night Fever There was a disco version of Beethoven's 5th. I have never been that much in to disco. For that matter I am not in to polyester blue leisure suites. Disco I hope is gone for good!
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Or Johan Sibelius or simply known as just "Sibelius" was a Finish composer and one of the most known composers of the 20th Century. He was born in Finland which at that time was part of the Russian Empire. Finland wanted to be independent of Russia. This came about at the end of WW l. His music is nationalistic in nature. One of his most famous compositions is Finlandia (Opus#26). it has no connection to the vodka of the same name. His other most famous works were his Violin Concerto (Opus#47), second and fifth symphonies (Opuses #43 and 82),and the Swan of Tuonela.
He wrote 7 symphonies all together there is rumor of an eighth but it was never finished. There are a lot of theories and stories about the eighth symphony. My two personal favorite works of his are his second and third symphonies. for the second I have the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy. For the third I have the London symphony Orchestra with Colin Davis. I recommend both recordings. The Third is coupled the his Fifth. I also have a CD of Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra playing the First and Fourth symphonies. With both Sibelius and Bruckner, here are a lot of people claiming who is the better conductor of their works. I think that with Sibelius both Davis and Ormandy are good interpreters of Sibelius' music. His music can be considered late romantic or early modern music. The Romanitc era dates from around 1800 to the beginning of WWl. Sibelius' father died when Sibelius was only two. he was mentored by an uncle who taught him music. He wrote his first composition Water Drops when he was 10. There is a music software named for Sibelius called Sibelius Software. I am not familiar with this software however. it is for music notation www.avid.co/sibelius. For some who write music it might be helpful. Like Tchaikovsky, Debussy and other composers of his day, his music is nationalistic in nature. In addition to Finlandia, he wrote the Karelia Suite (Opus #11). Karelia is a province in south east Finland . Part of it is in Russia. this area was part of Finland but was seeded to the Soviet Union during the Winter War 1939-1940. Sibelius wrote very if anything after 1924. Similar to Rossini(1792-1868) and Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956) who lived long lives but did not produce music works in later life. He was known to be a heavy drinker. Hew was a friend of fellow composers Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. Rossini is mainly known for his opera The Barber of Seville (aka Il Barbiere De Siviglia) and the William Tell Overture from the Lone Ranger. Charpertiere was a Frenchmen and a one hit wonder. His best known work was the Opera "Louise" he wrote a follow up "Julliane" Bothe works are not popular any more. Sibelius' older contemporary Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was the opposite of Sibelius. He wrote until his death. he was also a great conductor in his own right. I have several recordings of Sibelius' violin concerto. Not because I am a great fan of this work but I have purchased other works that I was looking for which Sibelius' concerto was coupled with. His violin concerto and Finlandia are his most popular works. It has been set to words of the Christian hymn Be Still My Soul, Hail festal day in some protestant churches. It was set to different words for the defunct short lived African country called Biafra (1967). Also Rice University voted to use it as the melody for their school song. In addition to the violin concerto, Sibelius wrote a few other short pieces for solo violin and orchestra. He wrote several string quartets which are not popular today. he wrote five Piano Trios and several other short pieces for Piano trio and for violin and piano. Sibelius' music is nationalistic in nature. When Sibelius was born, Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland became independent in 1918. His music was banned in the Russian empire. He did not call Finlandia "Finlandia" until later fearing repression form Russia. Sibelius has appeared on Finnish curencyand postage stamps. He also has many institutions in Finland named for him besides the vodka and software. Ferde Grofe (1892-1972) was an American composer. He was born Ferdinand Von Grofe in New York City to a family of Classical Musicians. He is remembered for his Grand Canyon suit and several Hollywood scores.
His Grand Canyon Suit led to a style in several other pieces: Hollywood Suite, Hudson River Suite and Death Valley Suite. He orchestrated George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I am not familiar with the Grand Canyon Suite. I have a CD of the other mentioned works which I do play a lot. Grofe as mentioned was born in New York but he grew up in the Los Angeles area. He studied and mastered many musical instruments. I was recently watching the game show Jeopardy a few days ago. In the Classical Music category. , I found out that he used coconuts in the Grand Canyon Suit to imitate the sounds of donkeys walking. He was one of the first composers in Hollywood. sound movies came out in 1927. Organs were used in theaters before that. The Hollywood soundtrack then came about. Many of his works have a jazz feel to them. he did play jazz music. There is some classical influence in a lot of Jazz music. This is not my expertise and could take an entire chapter or two. |
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