jmc's classics
happy Thanksgiving! Watching Macy's Parade then dog show. Thanksgiving traditions. Like movie "Miracle on 34th Street. It should have won Oscar for Best Picture in 1947. Always connected with parade. There are several other movies that have gotten Best Picture.
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I went to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Concert this evening and returned home. I usually go the weekend before Thanksgiving weekend. There Was just one work on the bill Beethoven's Missa Solemnis "Solemn Mass" in D (Opus #123). It lasted an hour and 15 minutes. They Symphony Chorus were there plus four soloists: Kelly O'Connor (Mezzo), Joelle Harvey (Soprano), Stuart Skelton (Tenor) and Shenyang (Basso). The female soloists are American, The Tenors Australian and the Basso is Chinese. When you think of opera singers you don't usually think of Chinese.
Beethoven like Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, R. Strauss, Debussy and Mendelssohn can be written a lot about because they are popular and very storied. When we think of Beethoven we do not usually think of religious music. This was one of his most important works and one that he highly regarded. He wrote one other setting of the Catholic Mass. J.S. Bach who was Lutheran was wrote settings for the Mass. Beethoven was a Catholic. Bach on the other hand is associate with religious music. he wrote music for use in the Lutheran church. The mass is the basic Catholic worship service. it is also used in the episcopal church or the high Episcopal church. Until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) The Mass was said in Latin not the local language. now it is usually in the local language. I am not Catholic. The piece is in five movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. It is part of the Ordinary Mass which is standard mass during the year. Additional hymns for the season are added plus the Bible readings. it was first performed in St. Petersburg Russia on April 7, 1824 of all Places. The Russians are Orthodox and the Catholic Church was at times looked on with suspicion in Russia. The piece was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph who was a member of the Austrian Royal Family and was made Archbishop of Olomouc and was eventually made a cardinal. It has a lot of melodies that are typically associate with Beethoven. It can be likened to a five movement symphony. This is one of his more famous pieces. It is both typical and non typical of Beethoven in that it sounds like a Beethoven piece and that Beethoven did not write much other religious music. One of the more famous religious piece that he wrote was Christ on the Mount of Olives (Opus#85) which I am not familiar with right now. As mentioned earlier, Chinese are not associated with Opera. Australians have produced a good amount of Opera singers. Russia has produced a good amount or operatic Bassos The song for Thanksgiving "We Gather together" by Edward Kremser is popular this time of year. One good version that I have heard is that by Jussi Bjorling form the Firestone Hour. The Firestone Jour was a show in th1950's and early 1960's featuring classical music. Check it out on YouTube as well as this version.
Bjorling (1911-1960) was a Swedish tenor. He was versatile in Italian and German roles as well as popular music. The Scandinavians have produced a lot of good opera stars in the past and present. Many of them at more versatile than the Italian opera singers who usually sang Italian and French roles. This song was featured on Saturday Night live inn the late 70's (I don't remember when) the character Rosana Danna by Gilda Radner tried to sing this song. Check on the Firestone hour on You Tube. This song is featured. It is in black and white and the quality is not good but it is worth watching! Happy Veterans Day to all Veterans and thank you for your service to this country! They are underappreciated.
Yesterday morning was another Coffee Concert. The repertoire Included Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Tanschen I'm Alter Stil (Dance in the Old style), Ravel's Piano concerto in G and Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4 (opus#36). The first two works I am not familiar with. I am familiar with Tchaikovsky's Symphony#4 The conductor was John Storgards a Finish Conductor and violinist. Finland is most famous for Jean Sibelius. The soloists was Marc-Andre Hamelin a French-Canadian Pianist. Storgards has primarily worked with the Helsinki and Tempere Philharmonic orchestras. Helsinki is the capital of Finland. Tempere is another major city in Finland. He has recreated or recorded a reconstructed version of Sibelius' unfinished 8th Symphony. Korngold(1897-1957) was an Austrian Jew. He was one of the first major Hollywood composers. He is remembered for his film work and his Violin Concerto. I am not as familiar with his music. Ravel (1875-1937) is known for His Piano concerto and Bolero which was used in the 1980 movie "10" staring Dudley More and Bo Derek. His Piano concerto has Jazz influences in it. American jazz was popular in Paris in the 1920's. Black American Musicians went there to perform. George Gershewin was influenced by Raven and Ravel had mentored him. I remember my parents had a 78 RPM of Bolero coupled with one of Eric Satie's works. I am not familiar with Saite. I am not as familiar with the piano concerto. The work on the bill that I am most familiar with is Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. It dates from 1878 and is dedicated to his wealthy patroness Nadezha von Meck. The version of this work that I have is with David Zinmann and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It is often compared with Beethoven's Fifth symphony and represents fate. Part of it was used in the 2014 movie Birdman. I especially like the second movement of the Fourth Symphony Andantino. I enjoyed the concert. It was more crowded than some of the other coffee concerts. Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is coming up. Stations are beginning to play Christmas music. I like the more traditional music better. Thanksgiving is now neglected. I love watching the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving and the National Dog show. I hope to discuss chistmas music and other music associate with this time of year in the coming months.
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