jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the premiere of Brahms' Fourth symphony (Opus#98) in 1885. Is his last and considered his most austeresymphony. It is devided in to four movements: Allegro non troppo, andante moderato, Allegro giocoso and allegro energico. I ah not as familiar with Brahms three other symphonies. This is my favorite work of Brahms along with his double Concerto (Opus#102) and Piano Trio #12(Opus#18).
There is a theory that this work was inspired by the Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare which Brahms had been researching at that time. British rock artist Rick Wakeman used the third movement in 1971 in his album Fragile which featured an abbreviated version of the third movement. I especially like the third movement in this work. It is considered some of the darkest music of the 19th Century. Although it is not melancholy in nature. Mahler's music seems to be of a melancholy nature. The First movement has a similar sound in my opinion to the first movement of Alexander Scriabin's Piano Concerto. I like the second movement in this work. There are many versions of this work available on Cd. The one that I have is of Bernstein conducting the NY Philharmonic Orchestra on Sony. It contains the Tragic and Academic festival Overtures. The Tragic Overture is why I first purchased that CD. I do recommend this version of the Fourth.
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Today is the Birthday of Franz Liszt(1811-1886). he was a Hungarian composer. I am not as familiar with his music. He became a monk later in life. he did produce sacred works.
His most famous work is probably the Hungarian Rhapsody #2 which was featured in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Bugs is playing it and he is disturbed by a mouse. Classical music was often used in Looney Tunes cartoons. He had an iconic looking face. He had a minor role in the 1943 version of Phantom of the Opera. His daughter Cosima was the wife of Richard Wagner. This Date in Classical music can be heard on many Classical stations. it gives a lot of good information on what happened on that date in history. I also enjoy Exploring the Music with Bill McLaugin. he has some good insight on music.
This is the anniversary of the premier of Claud Debussey's (1862-1918) Le Mer. it is a tone pome about the Sea. It was not well received when it premiered. It is popular today. Debussy's most famous work it the Clair De Lune. Which is one of the most recognized pieces of Classical Music. Many of the critis made fun of it when it premiered in 1905.
Le Mer is about the sea. It is in the key of D Major. It makes use of horns harps and solo wind instruments. it is in three movements and lasts around 20 minutes. I have two copies of this work. Bothe are on the Deutsche Grammophon label. the first is with Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. The other is with Pierre Boulez conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. It is coupled with the Premiere Rhaposidie and Nocturnes for Orchestra. Nocturnes is another tone pome by Debussy. It is also in three movements and it includes a female chorus for parts of it. Also, it rins for about 20 minutes. Some have suggested the song "Gloria" was the Blues theme song to be the theme song for the
St. Louis Cardinals should be either Dvorak's Violin concerto (Opus #53) of Schubert's 9th Symphony (D944) should be their theme music. It mak tke a half hour to 45 minutes but they would sound good! |
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