jmc's classics
Taylor Swift stole the show at last night's Grammy's. They did not get to the Classical awards until almost the end. I was not as impressed with any of the winners or nominations. It would take a long time to list all the winners. Go to grammy.com for the complete list.
All the hype about the Grammys is given to popular music and not to Classical Music or other genres of music.
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January 27th is the anniversary of the premier of Tchaikovsky's Serenade Melancolique for violin and Orchestra (Opus#26) in 1876. It was written before the Famous Violin Concerto. It is in the B flat key. It is dedicated to Leopold Auer who was one of Tchaikovsky's fellow teachers at the Moscow conservatory
Auer had requested a violin piece. It was completed around the time that Tchaikovsky had completed his First Piano Concerto (Opus#23). There is also a transcription of this piece for violin and piano. This is one of the more popular short pieces for violin and orchestra, along with Beethoven's two romances for violin and orchestra, Svendsen's Romance and Ralph Vaughan-Williams' The Lark ascending. There are many there short pieces for violin and orchestra. It has been described as a "Russian lament" and a "slow movement cut off from an imaginary violin concerto". It does sound sad and melancoly. In this piece are influence from Tchaikovsky's operaVukala the Smith and the slow movement of His First Piano Concerto. I enjoy listening to it. There are many good recordings of this work. The one which I happen to own is of Isaac Stern. This album also includes Henryk Wieniawski's Second Violin Concerto, Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Meditation for Violin and Orchestra (Opus#42). It is with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It is on the Sony label. All three composers were contemporaries of each other. I recommend this album. This year is the 200th anniversary of Bruckner's birth. I have seen some interesting articles about him and his music.
He could have been labeled as an idiotic savant. I have seen a lot of anecdotes about him such as he sked teenage girls to merry him at his first meeting. His music is often misunderstood. He was a devout Catholic. He is mainly remembered for his nine symphonies including one that was left incomplete at his death in 1896. He also wrote a lot of religious music including settings for the Catholic mass. He wrote a string quartet a an Intermezzo for string quintet and a Rondo for string quartet. My favorite works of his are his Third Symphony and the Intermezzo for string Quintet. He is mainly known for his symphonies. However his other music is important. Bruckner was a late bloomer in that he did not start composing until he was in his 40's. He wrote two early symphonies which as of now I have not heard. His symphony in D and Symphony in F which he had left out. They are popular now. There may be other composers who wrote symphonies that are not numbered. One such is Camille Saint-Saens. He wrote three numbered symphonies plus two that are not given a number. He was a devout Catholic as I have mentioned. He dedicated a lot of his works to God. Some people consider his symphonies to be transcendental in nature. There are some who look to his symphonies as a religious experience. He was born to a poor family. Emperor Franz Joseph l of the Austria Hungary Empire was a patron of Bruckner. Vienna Austria was an important music center in the 19th century. Some people find his music to be boring. I remember reading in the local newspaper that a concert people walked out of a performance of one of his symphonies because the thought that it was boring. To people who do not understand his music they may thin it so. He was not lucky in love either. He had never married and he may have had some girlfriends or female friends. If he was around now he would have might have been labeled as eccentric. I enjoy his music and I hope that there is a lot of commemoration of him this year. Next year is January 20 and there will be an inauguration. There will be a lot of fanfair and music as there usually is at these events. I don't like political comercials.
There is a movie out now about Leonard Bernstein which I hope to see soon.
There is also a movie about Maria Callas staring Angelina Jolie which will be out in a year or so which I alos hope to see. I am a fan of Jolie. The octomom was obsessed about Angelina Jolie and wanted to look like Jolie! I am not that obsessed about anybody. In my opinion, one should only be obsessed about Jesus Christ! Unfortunately, in recent years I have gotten in to celebrity obsessions but not like that. Angelina Jolie is a good actress and the entire octomom saga is funny! In the web site of the British magazine and website Gramophone There is an interesting article on the top 10 symphonies
Happy New Year! It is still Christmas Season until January Sixth, Epiphany Day!
I like Mariah' Carey and Taylor Swift's and other pop Christmas music. I like the more traditional Christmas carols better. Sting and others have recorded some of the traditioal Christmas carols.
Speaking of Taylor Swift, I saw a video on Tic Toc of a young lady balling because she could not get tickets to the Taylor Swift concert. This was so funny! With the Christmas season going on, I find that giving CDs as presents is a good idea. Not so much as giving out I-tunes or Spotify. I like to have something physical. Often the CD booklets are very informative.
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