jmc's classics
March 26 was the anniversary of Beethoven's death in 1827. His two most famous symphonies were his Fifth and Ninth. However, I like his Seventh (Opus#92) and Eighth (Opus#93) better. I have heard both the Fifth and Ninth. In both works they are only remembered for a few parts. Mainly the opening of the Fifth and the last part of the Ninth. However both works should be heard in their entirety.
Both the Seventh and Eighth were written in the early 1810's and were written in the Czech spa town of Teplitz which was at that time a resort town known for its natural springs. Today it is still known as a spa town. The Seventh in A Major dates from 1813. It is dedicated to Count Morita Von Fries who was an Austrian patron of the arts. Beethoven considered it to be one of his best works. The German composer Richard Wagner (181-1883) called this work "The apotheosis of dance". The British Conductor said of the third movement that "it sounds like a bunch of yaks jumping about" It is featured in various films including Mr. Holland's Opus and The King's Speech among others. It is in the standard four movements: Poco sostenuro ,Allegretto, Presto and Allegro con brio. It lasts about 40 minutes. When it premiered, the audience liked it and wanted an encore. The Eighth premiered on February 27, 1814. This one is in the key of F. Beethoven called it his "little F" to distinguish is from the Sixth which is also in F It is considered to be light hearted and some listeners would consider some of the notes to be musical jokes. The Hungarian-British conductor sand that the nickname for this symphony could be "Humorous". Personally I do not think that this is a funny symphony. I like the second and third movements. It is also in the standard four movements :Allegro vivace, Allegretto, Tempo di Menutto and Allegro vivace. It runs about 27 minutes-much shorter than the Seventh. It did not get the rave reviews that the Seventh did and evidently Beethoven did not like that. The contemporary American composer and writer Jan Swafford Described it as "a beautiful, brief ironic look at Mozart and Haydn" Also Schubert's Fifth is considered to be similar to Mozart's works. There are many excellent version of both symphonies. The one that I have is from the RCA series Basic 100. It features both works. It is of the Royal Philharmonic and Andre Previn. Another CD from this series that I have features works by Liszt. This is a good series for beginners. I also have another version of the Eighth. This one is coupled with the Fourth Symphony. It is of the Cleveland Orhcestra with Christopher Von Dohnanyi conducting. This is on the Telarc label. Both are excellent recordings.
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March 21 was the anniversary of the premier of Schubert's Ninth Symphony in C which is also referred to as "Great" to distinguish it form the Sixth which is also in the key of C. This work is sometimes called the "Little" Symphony. The premier took place in 1838. Ten years after the composer's death. The Ninth is one of my favorite works by Schubert. The catalogue number is D944. Schubert's writings are given the "D" in the catalogue of his works. His most famous is his Eighth which was not completed and known as the "Unfinished" Symphony. Both Bruckner and Mahler left symphonies that were unfinished at the time of their deaths.
In 1838, Robert Schumann had permission from Franz Schubert's brother Ferdinand to look through Franz's manuscripts. He found the manuscript for the Ninth. He showed it to fellow composer Felix Mendelssohn who liked it. Both men championed Schubert's music. Because of the numbering it was called his seventh symphony. It was sometimes called his eighth symphony. The unfinished symphony is Schubert's Eighth Symphony. There is no symphony number seven. There may have been manuscripts for a seventh but never found. like a Sibelius Eight Symphony. As mentioned both Schumann and Mendelssohn championed this work. It had a better fate than the Eighth in that there was an attempt to play the Ninth in Schubert's lifetime. When the members of the Vienna Philharmonic first read the score they thought that the music was funny. Parts of Donizetti's opera Lucia Di Lammermoor were played between movements. Both Donizetti and Schubert were born in 1797. Donizetti lived another 20 years. He wrote mostly operas. Schubert and Schumann can be confused. Also, the American Composer William Schuman (1910-1992). so there is a lot of confusion among the three of them. The Ninth is in the standard four movements: Andante, Andante con moto, Scherzo: Allegro and Allegro vivace. It lasts 45 minutes to an hour. I have heard a lot of excellent recordings of this work. The CD that I have is of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra on the RCA label. I like this CD but it is an older CD from 1947. It is coupled with Schubert's Fifth Symphony (D485). I like both works. THey are among my favorites. The Oscars was las week. One of the films was "Tar". It is about the fictional conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. I have not seen this film. It is too long for me. Not only that it appears to be somewhat creepy for me. The main character which is the conductor is a female. The Berlin Philharmonic along with the Vienna Philharmonic are among the greatest orchestras in the world. It featured Mahler's Fifth Symphony. I am not in to Mahler's music. Also excerpts from Elgar's Cello Concerto are also in the film.
This movie did not get Best Picture. Many of the films that do are ones that nobody watches. There are many good films with classical music themes. The CD from the movie is on the Deutsche Grammophon label. I usually do not watch awards shows. I am not in to long movies. |
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