jmc's classics
Christmas music is being played now. There are many new songs with no religious meaning. One of my favorite carols is Gabriel's Message. it was made popular in the 1980's by the British Rock singer Sting. This song is based on a Basque melody. The Basques are a minority in Spain and southern France. They have a distinct language and culture. Their language is not related to French Spanish or any other Indo-European language. The Basque people are traditionally Catholic. The melody dates from the 13th or 14th Century. It is about the Annunciation which is March 25 when the Archangel Gabriel Told the Virgin Mary that when would bare the Christ Child. The Biblical narrative from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke verses 26-38 and 46-55. it was collected by Charles Bordes and translated in to English by Sabine Baring-Gould who was an Anglican priest. Baring-Gold also wrote the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" The melody is somewhat haunting but enjoyable. Luke 1:46-55 is what is known as the Magnificat or Mary's Magnificat. This is when The Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth (the mother of St. John the Baptist). It is one of the most ancient Christian hymns. It has been set to music by many composers over the centuries. It is usually sung in Latin. Now that the Catholic church do not use Latin as a liturgical language, it is sung in the vernacular. I find this song enjoyable and uplifting. I like the Sting versiion of it. However I like it better when it is sung by a choir.
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I attended the SLSO concert on December Third. It featured The Sixth and First Of the Brandenburg concertos by J.S. Bach plus works by Carl Philip Emanuel Bach (1714-1788). He was a son of Johan. Sebastain Bach. There were other members of the Bach Family that were composers. CPE was from Johan's first marriage. he worked for King Frederick the Great of Prussia which was a German state. he was influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment.
The Works by CPE were the Sinfonia in C, Cello concerto in A and the Sinfonia in E minor. I have not been as familiar with the works of CPE. The Sinfonia in C was one of six works commissioned by arts patron Gottfried bon Swieten. the Cello concerto was written for the common people. he was living in Berlin at that time and Berlin had some of the finest musicians in Europe. The Brandenburg concertos were a set of concertos for various instruments and orchestra. That were commissioned by Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg. The Bach Family and a lor of the composers in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries worked on commissions by wealthy patrons. The sixth adn SEcond are my two favorites. The Second was the most popular. The third movement was used in the PBS Show Firing Line. they were written in 1721. The disc that I have of the brandenbergs is a two disc set. it is of Yehudi Menuhin conducting the Bath Festival Orchestra on the ENI label. It also features The Concerto for lute, Violin and Clevesin (BWV1044). I am not as Familiar with the music of CPE. At this time i do not have any of his aalbums. Today is the birthday of Sibelius. it is also the anniversary of the premier of his fifth symphony in 1915. In ten days it is the birthday of Beethoven almost a century earlier. One of my favorite pieces of his is his Seventh Symphony which premiered in 1813. There may not be very much similarities of the two men. Sibelius was married and had children while Beethoven was not married. My favorite works by Sibelius are his Second and Third Symphonies. he wrote seven total. There were rumors of an eighth symphony. He may have wrote it but not finished it. Beethoven wrote nine. There were rumors of a tenth. There are some sketches of a possible tenth by Beethoven. he did write a "symphony" based on Wellington's victory over Napoleon. But is not part of his numbered symphonies.
I like both composers. I have stated my favorite works by both men. Most of their works are part of the standard repertoire today. Yesterday was the anniversary of the premier of Austrian composer Anton Bruckner in America. Which took place in New York in 1885. It was Bruckner's Third Symphony with The New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch (1862-1950). The Third along with his Intermezzo for String Quintet are my favorite works by Bruckner.
The Third premiered in 1873. He wrote several versions of this work. he got his start in composing later in life. Already Bruckner had a reputation as a good organist. he wrote many works for organ as well as religious works. Many of his other symphonies had the same fate in which he wrote several versions. The Third is not as popular as the Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. It is shorter than most of his other symphonies. It lasts about 45 minutes. Most of the others last over an hour. The Third is dedicate to Wagner. the two of them had met and drank beer together. Wagner was one of Bruckner's heroes. I do not see much similarities between the two of them. Wagner wrote mostly opera. he did write to early symphonies. Bruckner conducted the premier. Evidently the orchestra did not like it and thus Bruckner made some changes and revisions to this work. The third is divided in to four movements: Grmabight, Adagio, Scherzo, and The finale Allegro. it is in the D minor key the WAB number is 103. The version that I have is of the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Daniel Barenboim on the Teldec label. I enjoy this recording. |
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