jmc's classics
As I have mentioned before this is the birthday of Demetri Shostakovich (1906-1957) and the premier of Sibelius Third Symphony (Opus#52) in 1907.
Today is also the birthday of Canadian pianist Glen Gould (1932-1982) He died of a stroke. He is best remembered for his playing of J.S. Bach's keyboard works. He was of English, Scottish and Norwegian ancestry. His paternal grandfather was a cousin of Norwegian composer Edward Greig (1843-1907). He was eccentric and was usually wearing his trademark winter hat. Often, he hummed the music while he was playing it. Also, He was very sensitive to cold weather wven during the summertime. Gould was a child prodigy and showed an interest in music from an early age. He also dabbled in conducting towards the end of his life. He had written a few compositions including a string quartet. He also wrote some songs and vocal works. I don't know if any recordings of these works are available now. He is remembered for the playing of J.S. Bach's music. I do not have any CD's of him playing but I have seen some of the YOUTUBE videos of him playing some of Bach's concertos which should be watched. In one of them it showed him moving his mouth like he was humming or talking.
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Today is the anniversary of the death of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). He is one of the most popular composers. He wrote seven surviving symphonies. He allegedly wrote an eighth, but it was never published. He is most remembered for his tone poem Finlandia (same name as the vodka) and his Second and Fifth symphonies. My favorite is his Second and Third Symphonies. Unfortunately, the Third is not as popular. Both the Third and Fifth are in three movements instead of the standard four movements.
Sibelius wrote very little music after 1924 and lived in seclusion for the remainder of his life. He was a national hero in Finland. Since his time there have been several famous Finnish composers and conductors. It is Fall and the new symphony seasons are starting. So Is the Metropolitan Opera season. There is always new music played by the symphony orchestras. Some of it does not sound like Classical Music.
September Eighth is the birthday of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) and the anniversary of the death of Richard Strauss (1864-1948). I don't know what they thought of each other's works.
Dvorak was Czech and had spent time in America. His most famous work was his Ninth Symphony (Opus#93) dating from 1893. I like his Sixth Symphony, Violin Concerto and String Serenade which are my favorite works of his. Strauss is remembered mainly for his tone poem Also Sparch Zarathustra (Opus#30) which was used in the movie Space Odyssey 2001. Mainly the opening lines of this work. It has also been used in some commercials. Strauss was also a conductor. There are some recordings of him conducting. Unfortunately, they were made before digital recordings, and the quality is not as good as the recordings of today It would be interesting to know what they thought of each other and each other's music. I am sure that since Strauss live another 45 years, he was familiar with Dvorak's music. |
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