jmc's classics
This is the Birthday of Demetri Shostakovich and Will Smith. It is the anniversary of the Premier of Sibelius' Third Symphony (Opus#52) in 1907 with Sibelius conducting. The event took place in Helsinki Finland. Sibelius was not known as a conductor.
This is my favorite work of Sibelius. I also enjoy his Second Symphony (opus#43) especially the finale. Unfortunately, the Third seems to be his least popular symphony. His most popular are the Second and the Fifth (Opus #82). The most famous work by Sibelius is Finlandia (Opus #26). Sibelius lived to be 92 but did not write much after he turned 60. The Third like the Fifth is divided in to three movements instead of the standard four movements of a symphony. They are: Allegro moderato, Andantino con moto and Moderato; Allegro. The work lasts about 30 minutes. The three movements are about equal in length. It is more simple that his first two symphonies. His later symphonies are said to be more heavyweight. It was sometimes refere to as Sibelius' "English Symphony" because it is dedicated to British Composer conductor Granville Bantock (1868-1946) who was a sponsor of this work. Sibelius' symphonies do not have titles or nicknames like other composers' symphonies sometimes do. I have heard many versions of this work. The version that I have is With Colin Davis conducting the London symphony orchestra on the RCA label. I do recommend this work. It is coupled with the Fifth Symphony. This is part of a series of Davis conducting the other symphonies of Sibelius.
0 Comments
As with most things, there is always debate on what is the best. Everybody has their own opinion. Recently on the British site classicalfm.com there was a list of the 15 greatest choral works. The most famous Handel's Messiah was listed at #4. The top one was Vivaldi's Gloria in excelsis Deo. At #2 was J.S. Bach's St. Matthew's Passion (BWV244). That is one of my favorite choral works along with the St. John's Passion (BWV245) is not even listed. Neither was his B minor Mass (BWV232) I personally enjoy all three.
Some of the pieces that are listed I am not familiar with. At #9 is Bruckner's Mass in F which is from 1867. He is remembered for his symphonies. I also like his chamber music. Carl Orff's (1896-1981) Carmina Burani is listed at #12. I am not familiar with it. It is about some secular texts of poems from the late Middle Ages. Parts of it have been featured in films and commercials. Orff also wrote two operas. There is one contemporary piece that is listed: Arvo Part's Beatitudes dating from 1990. The Beatitudes are from Christ's Sermon on the Mount and tells the type of qualities that a person should have. Part is from Estonia. I have heard some of his secular music. Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. One thing that I am disappointed about with this list is that it did not list any of Tchaikovsky's or Rachmaninoff's choral works. Although both are not remembered for choral works, both were Russian and wrote music for The Russian Orthodox Church. i like choral music. There are many excellent recordings of the above mentioned works. I am not going to go down and do a critique of all of the works. It would take too long. Check out Classical FM. They do have some interesting articles. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |