jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the death of obscure French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738). he is mainly remembered for for his Rondo Which is used for the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre. Mouret was popular in his lifetime. After he died his reputation faded. He can be considered a "one hit wonder".
Masterpiece Theatre is a show on PBS that brings British dramas to America. It was hosted by Alister Cooke. I have not seen it in years. Among the featured serieses that they have had were: I Claudius, Anna Kerenina, The Mayor of Casterbridge and Upstairs Downstairs. I don't know the rest of the dramas that they had. Upstairs Downstairs was the predecessor to Downton Abby. I have not seen Downtown Abby. Although I have not seen Masterpiece Theatre for years, I have seen some funny spoofs of it. Lyndon La Rouche Theatre on Saturday Night Live in 1986. Then "Monsterpiece Theatre on Sesame Street. Hosted by Cookie Monster or Allister Cookie. I love Cookie Monster. It has a lot of parodies of Masterpiece Theatre. I love Cookie Monster. The piece is called "Symphonies and Fanfares for the King's Supper". It is The Rondo from that piece. The original producer of Masterpiece Theatre wanted British music for the series. However, he could not find any suitable British music. While on Vacation in Italy in 1962 he first heard that piece of music. This piece is typically Baroque in nature. Baroque is the period from about 1600-1750. IT included J.S. Bach and Handel. Mouret came from a wealthy family but died in poverty. He wrote other works including operas. I can only find one or two other pieces of his music available. Operas from the Baroque era are not popular now. Some of the eras are still sung at concerts today. It would take too long to explain why. This is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven. Geogres Onslow is sometimes called The "French Beethoven" I don't see much in common with the two of them.
This is the anniversary of the premier of Schubert's eighth Symphony . My favorites Schubert works are his Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. Shubert had been influnced by Beethoven and the two knew each other in Vienna. Onslow (1784-1853) was born in Clermont-Ferrand France to a French mother and a British aristocrat father who fled England du to a scandal. While in his early 20's he took up an interest in composing and music. He had studied in Vienna under Beethoven.. He rote four surviving symphonies. However, he did write mainly chamber music. He wrote mainly Chamber music. He wrote many String quartets and quintets. On Arkiv Music there is only one each CD of any of his works except one or two. There were only 31 recordings available of his works. I have a recording of his Second and Fourth Symphonies. It is with the Hannover Radio Orchestra conducted by Johannes Goritzki on the CPO label. They have the same for his First and Third Symphonies. Onslow was popular during his lifetime. After his death his popularity faded. He is somtime considere inferior to other composers. His music should be listened to. CPO is a German based label that does a lot of recodings of obscure compossers. They have made a lot of excellent CDs. .
His main works are his carnival of the Animals Today is the anniversary of the premier of Bruckner's Third symphony in 1877. It is my favorite symphony of Bruckner's The version that I have is of Daniel Barenboin conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on the Teldec label. Today is the anniversary of the Death of Camille Saint -Saens (1835-1921).. He was a French composer and is sometimes called "The French Mendelssohn". Georges Onslow (1784-1853) is referred to as "The French Beethoven". In my opinion, I do not see much in common with any of these men. Both Saint-Seans and Mendelssohn were considered to be child geniuses. Among his most famous works are his Third Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (Opua#78),Third Violin Concerto (Opus#61) , First Cello Concerto (Opus#33), Carnival of the Animals and Dans Macabre. He wrote three numbered symphonies plus tow other non numbered ones. Symphony in A and a Symphony in F named Urbs Roma. he wrote two cello concerti and three Violin concerti and like Beethoven five Piano concerti. My favorite work of his is his Havanaise for Violin and Orchestra (Opus#83). He also wrote chamber music including sonatas for violin and piano and as well as for oboe and piano and clarinet and piano and two piano trios (Opuses 18 and 92) which I am not familiar with. He wrote two string quarters (Opuses 112 and 153). I have a CD of these works which features the Medici String Quartet on the Koch label which I recommend even though I am not sure if it is still available. He studied at the Paris Conservatory and also taught there. Among his students was Gabriel Faure another famous French composer. He was a pianist and organist. he served as the organist at two famous churches in Paris The church of the Madalin (St. Mary Magdaline) and the church of Saint-Merri. I am not much of a fan of solo organ music. During his lifetime his music was more popular. It is still popular today. Monuments were made to him in his lifetime and he had traveled the world. He was interested in the Middle East and Africa. some of his music has influences fron those areas of the world. December 8 is the Birthday of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) One of the most famous Finnish composers. he is remembered of his short tone pome Finlandia (Opus #26) and his symphonies and violin concerto. My favorite works of his are his Second and Third Symphonies. he looks like Uncle Fester from the TV Show The Adams Family-I never watched that show.
Like Sibelius Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is of tern the debate of which conductor does the best interpretation of his works. I do not see that much debate with most other composers except Mahler. Many ads for CDs of their works tout the conductor as a good interpreter of the composers works. I can not tell which conductor does the best job at a certain composers work. This can be debated for hours. Many of the Christmas concerts are cancelled or on line. Hopefully things will be better next year.
There are two Chrtistmas carols which I have discovered which have not been popular. Noel We Sing and the Friendly Beasts. I have discovered You Tube videos of both. E Powers Booth has a good version of Noel We Sing and The Harry Simeon Choral has made a good version of the Friendly Beasts. The Friendly Beasts is about the animals that were in the Christ Child's manger. The song lasts about two minutes. Noel We sing lasts about five minutes. I enjoy both pieces. It is a shmae that they are not as popular. This is a
the anniversary of the death of one of the most famous and iconic composers Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791). I remember a 78 RPM of him my family had of his 41st Symphony (K441) "Jupiter" which was his final symphony. That along with his Symphonia Concertante (K364) for violin viola and orchestra are my favorite works of his. The Jupiter Is on RCA with Arturo Toscanini conducting. It is available on CD. The version That I have on CD Saxonie Vertuoso conducted by Ludwig Guttler on the Berlin Classics label. Both recordings I recommend. It is in the standard four movements. The one of the Symphonia Concertante is with Anne Sophie Mutter on the violin and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Neville Marriner on the EMI Label. the Jupiter is in the standard four movements: Allegro, Andante, Menuetto and Molto. It is the paregram of the Classical era symphony:. four movements. It was composed in 1789. A symphonia concertante is a concerto for two or more instruments and orchestra. These works were popular in that time. It incorporates both the symphonie and the concerto. This work dates from 1779. Mozart was considered to be a genius. Some people play his music for young children to make them smart "The Mozart Effect". He wrote operas, masses a requiem, string quartets songs and other pieces. A word on older recordings: The recording technology before wwll was not as good as it is today. Many times listening to old recordings or 78 RPMs is there will be noise or a hissing sound in the background. |
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