Classical Music

Remembering the Renaissance Era

2010-03-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

The period of time from 1400 to 1600 was an important one for artists living in the West; it has been named the Renaissance era, not just for classical music, but also for many of the other creative fields. Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ or ‘reconstruction’, two words that perfectly reflect the feeling of this particular time. Artists of all types began to produce work that showed more creative innovation then anything else that came before, there was a sense of freedom and individual merit in all forms of music, painting, sculpture and the written word. This sudden sense of freedom was a relief after living through the previous long running medieval period, in which most music was created for the church; involving monophonic genres that tended to lack any feeling or self expression.

During the start of the Renaissance period improvements in printing and paper quality enabled the distribution of musical notation, this simple advancement now made it possible to share musical ideas with others and record compositions for future generations. This was actually quite a big step, seeing as in medieval times there was no musical notation, ideas were passed from person to person and developed that way.

The renaissance era saw people slowly moving away from composing classical music just for the church and creating secular pieces; one specific form of music that gained popularity was madrigals, sung in polyphony. In fact most renaissance compositions appear to have been written with only vocal parts, leaving out the instrumentals completely. Even though more composers were moving away from religious music they still felt a strong connection to the church and getting the public to change their listening habits would have to come gradually. There were 3 common forms of music created for the Catholic Church Liturgical music, Masses and Motets, all of these were usually preformed during mass or the Holy Communion. The first type of classical music was preformed as a polyphony vocal with no instruments to back up the singers, but the masses and motet styles were commonly accompanied by a lute or other small instrumental ensemble.

A few of the composers that were revered during the Renaissance period include, Pierre De La Rue, who wrote music made up entirely of vocal parts usually singing in a very low key (C’s and B Flats) He is known for writing ‘The Requiem’ which has survived through the ages.

Claudio Monteverdi inspired by his peers and the changes going on through out the Renaissance era, he went on to compose the first dramatic opera ‘Orfeo’. He also became strongly involved in the shift in styles during the early stages of the Baroque period that shortly followed the Renaissance.

Giovanni Gabrieli, a well known composer during both the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He is well known for his use of the traditional Venetian school style, which Gabrieli used to create mainly religious classical music. His personal creative touch can be seen in the way he uses the church space to give add depth and resonance to his songs.

A beginners guide to classical music

2010-03-30T01:52:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in learning more about classical music and exploring the various sub genres that make up this breathtakingly satisfying art form that seems to be fading into the background of popular music styles today? If the answer is yes, then you’ll be happy to know that there are many websites available that cater to newbies and long time classical music enthusiasts alike. So whatever specific piece of information related to classical music you’re looking for, you’ll be able to find it with a click of your mouse button.

For those new to the classical music scene you may be interested to know that this art form is split into 5 main groups. The renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary periods; these are all eras between 1700 until now, that signify a shift in the style and sound of classical music being played.

Renaissance – This time period marks the start of popular forms of classical music in Europe and falls between 1400 and 1600. Choral music called Madrigals was popular during the renaissance period as was composing pieces of music, which focused on making the brass sections prominent. Well known composers from this time include, Thomas Tallis, Josquin Des Prez, Pierre De La Rue and Claudio Monteverdi.

Baroque – The Baroque era lasted from 1600 to 1750 and gave birth to two extremely well known composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. These composers and others of this time became more experimental with their classical music creation, allowing for solo instrumental part and split section playing; something that wasn’t so common in the past. During this period a lot of music was written especially for the church. Famous composers of the Baroque time include, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli.

Classical – The classical period goes from 1750 to 1820 a much shorter span then previous era. At this time classical music is becoming well known and symphonies are created on a larger scale to be preformed in concert halls. The style of the time borrowed many of the complicated polyphonies of earlier styles. The major players during this period came from Germany and Austria, including Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Hayden.

Romantic – From 1820 till 1900 the Romantic period saw a complete change in the old styles of classical music; composers became more expressive and experimented with many new groundbreaking techniques. The sound during this time became more powerful and emotive, composers aimed to affect some sort of emotional response from their audience. There were many well known artists from this period, including Peter llyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, Giuseppe Verdi, Robert Shumann and Richard Wagner.

Contemporary – Better known as the neo – classical era and style, this period which runs through the 20^th century. It is harder to pigeon hole the exact time span for this period, as soon after the classical music genre saw a decline and other forms of music rose into the lime light to take over the lead. You could say that composers continued to experiment with new ideas and mix in the old techniques in an attempt to create something new. The introduction of electronic instruments, gave composers new platforms for creative experimentation. A few well known composers during this period include, Arnold Schoenberg, Milton Babbit and Vladimir Ussachevsky.

Beethoven's Pastoral Sonata

2010-01-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major in 1801, at a time when he was becoming increasingly alarmed at the steady loss of his hearing. Despite the traumatic time in which it was written, this particular piece of piano music conveys a sense of serenity. Like so much of Beethoven's piano music, the descriptive title "Pastoral" was given to the work by the publisher and not Beethoven. In fact, in many cases, the publisher never even sought Beethoven's opinion on the titles.

While the Pastoral Sonata is somewhat overshadowed by its predecessor, the Moonlight Sonata, it is one of Beethoven's most admired sonatas, mostly for the ease in which it displays its intricacies. The sonata is set in the four-movement outline:

Allegro
Andante
Scherzo e Trio: Allegro vivace
Rondo: Allegro non troppo

The first movement begins with a simple D major theme over a drone bass. It is perhaps the rustic feel of the opening that prompted the publisher to give it the title "Pastoral." The second theme modulates to the key of F-sharp minor, which at the time, was a rather unusual choice of key for the second thematic section of a sonata form.

The second movement, in the key of D minor, sounds something like a forlorn march with it's staccato sixteenth-note bass line and the dotted rhythms later on. The movement is introspective and was a personal favorite of the composer.

The third movement is one of Beethoven's humorous scherzos. The trio in B minor is simply built upon the repetition of a four-bar melody. Beethoven is perhaps one of the few composers with the ability of being repetitious without being monotonous. The Sixth Symphony is the perfect example of this quality.

The finale is a lively rondo and parts of it have been compared to the drones of a bagpipe and to the gigue, a Baroque dance. The sonata ends with a faster temp (Piu Allegro) and is the only "virtuosic" section in the entire sonata.

The Pastoral Sonata stands at an interesting time in Beethoven's career. It marks the end of Beethoven's "Classical" period. Shortly after it's composition, he pledged to take on a new path in music and the works that followed, for example the Eroica Symphony, mark the beginning of a new era not only in Beethoven's music, but in classical music in general.

The Diabelli Variations

2010-01-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

In 1819, the composer and music publisher Anton Diabelli sent a waltz tune of his own creation to fifty of the most prominent composers in the Austrian empire asking them to each to compose a variation on the tune. Among those included were Franz Schubert, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Czerny and Ludwig van Beethoven. He intended to publish the variations in a single volume titled Vaterländischer Künstlerverein and use the proceeds to help orphaned children and widows of the Napoleonic Wars. The story goes, although the accuracy is often questioned, that upon receiving the commission, Beethoven heartily proclaimed his dislike of Diabelli's tune and that he would refuse to write a variation. However, after learning that Diabelli would pay a significant price for the commission, Beethoven changed his mind. Furthermore, he decided to show how much could be done with such a banal tune. The result was a set of 33 variations now known as the Diabelli Variations.

The Diabelli Variations stand not only as one of Beethoven's greatest piano works, but also as one of the crowning achievements of piano music in general. Donald Tovey called it "the greatest set of variations ever written" and Alfred Brendel described it as "the greatest of all piano works." Only two other works of piano music command the same high respect as Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, J.S. Bach's colossal Goldberg Variations and Johannes Brahms' Handel Variations.

Diabelli published Beethoven's 33 variations as volume 1 of Vaterländischer Künstlerverein and the 50 variations by the 50 other composers were published as volume 2. Diabelli added the following introductory note to the publication of Beethoven's variations:

We present here to the world Variations of no ordinary type, but a great and important masterpiece worthy to be ranked with the imperishable creations of the old Classics—such a work as only Beethoven,, the greatest living representative of true art—only Beethoven, and no other, can produce. The most original structures and ideas, the boldest musical idioms and harmonies are here exhausted; every pianoforte effect based on a solid technique is employed, and this work is the more interesting from the fact that it is elicited from a theme which no one would otherwise have supposed capable of a working-out of that character in which our exalted Master stands alone among his contemporaries. The splendid Fugues, Nos. 24 and 32, will astonish all friends and connoisseurs of serious style, as will No2. 6, 16, 17, 23, &c. the brilliant pianists; indeed all these variations, through the novelty of their ideas, care in working-out, and beauty in the most artful of their transitions, will entitle the work to a place beside Sebastian Bach's famous masterpiece in the same form. We are proud to have given occasion for this composition, and have, moreover, taken all possible pains with regard to the printing to combine elegance with the utmost accuracy.

Beethoven's Tempest Sonata

2010-01-19T10:04:00.001-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor during 1801 and 1802. It remains one of his most enduring piano sonatas and one of the most difficult pieces, both for analysts and performers, of early Romantic piano music. The sonata is often referred to as "The Tempest" or "Der Sturm" in German. However, like much of Beethoven's piano music, this title was not given by the composer. Instead, the origin of this title comes from Beethoven's close associate and friend, Anton Schindler. Schindler, in his biography of the great composer, claimed that the sonata was inspired by the Shakespeare play of the same name. However, much of Schindler's information is widely regarded as inaccurate by classical music scholars. The prominent writer, Donald Tovey, even went so far as to call the story one of the many of Schindler's "inventions." Regardless of whether Schindler claim has any merit, the title has stuck and is a fair description of the stormy nature of the work.

The sonata is in the key of D minor, which it shares with one of Beethoven's greatest works. While Beethoven was particularly found of the key of C minor for the portrayal of epic struggle, it was the key of D minor that he choose for the Ninth Symphony and the greatest portrayal of man's struggle for joy.

As is expected of a late Classical/early Romantic piano sonata, the work is in three movements:

Largo - Allegro
Adagio
Allegretto

The outer movement are in a the usual sonata form while the middle movement is sonatina (a sonata form without development). The first movement is rather unusual for its day. The Largo would lead one to believe there is a significant introduction before the main Allegro, however, it is in reality, only one bar long and consists of the first inversion of the dominant chord. The first movement alternates between an apparent "storm" and brief moments of peacefulness. Throughout the movement, the pianist is required to show great variety in his playing. Beethoven even includes a sort of recitative, a strictly vocal technique before Beethoven, at the beginning of the recapitulation.

The second movement is in the key of B flat major, also a foreshadowing of the key of the slow movement of the Ninth Symphony, and it borrows several ideas from the first movement. Finally, the last movement is one of Beethoven's dramatic and emotion filled finales.

Puccini

2010-01-15T13:04:00.001-08:00

The great opera "La Bohème” (La Boheme) will be imposed after January 1900, however, after a performance at the theater in Palermo, then on the scenes of the main opera houses in Italy. The great day is January 14, 1900 when for the first time at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome the public could enjoy the opera "Tosca", with the Romanian soprano Hariclea Darclée on the main role. The success is assured, after the soprano aria, Vissi d'arte, the public was standing to applaud. Great success for the few creations of piano music he composed at that time.

In 1904, he married Elvira Puccini Bonturi, which will have a son, Tonio. On February 17, he presents the opera "Madame Butterfly" in Milan that was a real disaster. Only after a recovery of the libretto and music, the work becomes public after a presentation, a few months later, at the Teatro Grande in Brescia. Piano music was also a great help for the composer during this period.

In 1910, a successful debut in New York at the Metropolitan Opera in "La fanciulla del West" with the conductor Arturo Toscanini, and the famous tenor Enrico Caruso. Also at the Metropolitan Opera, will take place on December 14, 1918 premiere of the triptych of operas in one act, "Il Tabarro", "Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi".

Turandot – the première of the opera was at the Teatro della Scala in Milan, April 25 1926. In 1921, Puccini goes to Viareggio and moves to this wonderful town, where he began to work on the composition of the opera "Turandot". But his work remains unfinished. Puccini died on November 29, 1924, in a clinic in Brussels, several days after a neck operation, following a cancer of the larynx. This opera, "Turandot", the unfinished version, will be presented on April 25, 1926 at the Teatro della Scala in Milan, led by Arturo Toscanini. In subsequent performances, the opera will be presented with the additions made after the sketches left by Puccini by Franco Alfano.

Giacomo Puccini's artistic creativity spans a period of 40 years, from 1884 to 1924, during which he composed 12 operas. This small number proves once more the composer's particular artistic requirement. The enormous success enjoyed by Puccini's works during his lifetime, lasts until today and is growing.

Puccini - early years

2010-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Puccini (December 22, 1858, Lucca / Italy - d. November 29, 1924, Brussels / Belgium) was an Italian composer of opera, representing the current of realistic art in Italy called verismo.

Puccini was born into a family with musical traditions. His father, Michele, drove the orchestra city of Lucca, was the organist of the Duomo in town and had composed several works of modest quality, a Miserere, and several cantatas on religious subjects. He died young, when Giacomo was only 5 years old.

He received the first music lessons from his uncle, Fortunato Maggi, which they consider too fitted. He is continuing his studies with Carlo Angelonia, helping him to meet the future fellow composer Alfredo Catalani. With Angelonia, Puccini progress in a visible manner. He also liked piano music. In March 1876 the city of Pisa will attend a performance of the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi and in this moment Puccini dreams to become an opera composer. In the same year he composed a symphonic prelude, two years later a Motet and a "Credo", with whose performance he achieved some success. In the fall of 1880 he went to Milan, where - with a financial support from Queen Margherita of Italy - is part of the Conservatory, having as a teacher the great Amilcare Ponchielli. He also improved his knowledge about piano music.

On May 31 1884 takes place in Milan's Teatro Dal Verma premiere his first opera, "Le Villi", which successfully impressed the public and critics. After several years of hard work he presents at the Teatro della Scala in Milan his opera "Edgar", this time without a great success. Six years later, on February 1, 1895, he obtained a triumphant success with the opera "Manon Lescaut", performed for the first time in on the scene of the theater Regio in Turin.

Tosca had the première January 14, 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Roma. Also this theater, on February 1st 1896, is home for the opening of the opera "La Boheme", under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. In conclusion Bersezio Carlo, a music critic writes: "La Bohème (La Boheme) probably will not leave traces in our theater in particular”. No need to tell more about the brilliant success of this opera.

Beethoven's Emperor Concerto

2010-01-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Emperor Concerto was his fifth and final concerto for the piano and remains today one of the finest examples of piano music. The name "Emperor" was not given to the concerto by Beethoven. In fact, knowing Beethoven's blatant disregard for nobility, it is unlikely he would have named it such. The title Emperor" was actually given to the piece by Johann Baptist Cramer, the first English publisher of the work and a friend of Beethoven's. It was written in Vienna between 1809 and 1811 and dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven's pupil and patron. The concerto is surrounded by many of Beethoven's most famous works. Both the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies date from 1808, the Appassionata Sonata from 1805, and the Archduke Piano Trio from 1810. It was during this first decade of the 19th century that Beethoven wrote his most well-known compositions laying the groundwork for the coming Romantic period, and the Fifth Piano Concerto was one such work.

The concerto is in the key of E flat major, which was always Beethoven's key of choice for grand, noble gestures. Both the Eroica Symphony and the String Quartet no. 12 share the same key as the concerto. Also, like both those works, the concerto opens with dramatic statements of the tonic chord. From there, however, Beethoven breaks from the concerto tradition of his day and introduces the piano through means of a short cadenza. It is only after the piano's introduction that the orchestra announces the principal theme of the movement.

The second movement moves to the remote key of B major and opens with a beautiful string melody. The finale starts without interruption, and the bridge being formed by a solo bassoon sounding a B natural which then moves down to a B flat, the dominant of E flat. The finale is in an extended seven-part rondo form (ABACABA).

The Emperor Concerto was premiered in Leipzig in 1810 in which the solo part was performed by a young church organist named Friedrich Schneider. The Vienna premiere took place in 1812 and Carl Czerny, a pupil and friend of Beethoven's, was soloist.

The Hammerklavier Sonata

2010-01-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, known as the Hammerklavier, is considered to be one of the defining works of the composer's late period as well as one of his greatest piano sonatas. With the possible sole exception of the Diabelli Variations, the Hammerklavier is Beethoven's most technically challenging compositions for piano and even today, it remains one of the most demanding pieces of piano music.

The Hammerklavier Sonata was written during 1817-18, at the close of period in which Beethoven had done little composing. It is the second of five piano sonatas that are considered to be part of Beethoven's late period. During this time, Beethoven begun a renewed study of older music, particularly that of Bach and Handel. As a result, his later pieces, of which the Hammerklavier is a fine example, show a redefinition of Classical forms combined with a resurgence of pre-Classical compositional techniques, including the use of the old Church modes and the redefinition of fugue within Classical forms. The Hammerklavier is also set out on a four movement plan, as opposed to the traditional three movements of the Classical period. This was to be imitated by the Romantics to the point of becoming the established norm for the rest of the century.

One of the great challenges of the Hammerklavier is not only its length (it last an average of 45 minutes), but the emotional depth it possesses. I can remember a particularly accomplished pianist I know remarking on one occasion that while he felt he could play the Hammerklavier as far as technique goes, he did not feel he was prepared for the emotional challenge that it presented. Indeed, the extensive slow third movement, running nearly 20 minutes, is some of the most introspective and emotional music Beethoven ever composed. It has been called "a mausoleum of sorrow" and "the apotheosis of pain."

The Hammerklavier is rarely heard on piano recitals today. This partly due to the unwillingness of some pianists to attempt the work, and partly to the sympathy of pianists to not put an audience through such an emotionally-draining work. Glenn Gould called the work "the longest, most inconsiderate, and probably least rewarding piece that Beethoven wrote for the piano." Indeed, it takes a rare type of pianist to adequately perform the work and it takes an even rarer type of musician to understand and appreciate it. Nonetheless, the Hammerklavier will remain one of the greatest achievements in solo piano music.

Beethoven's "Les Adieux" Sonata

2010-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, op. 81a, commonly known as the Les Adieux Sonata, is the last of the three great works of piano music from his middle period. The work was composed in 1809 and 1810 during the French attack on Vienna led by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Les Adieux piano sonata has an apparent programmatic nature to it, much like that of the Symphony No. 6 completed in 1808. Beethoven titled each of the movements of the sonata and, like the Symphony No. 6, the titles suggest emotions centered around events rather than the events themselves. The French attack on Vienna had forced Beethoven's great patron, the Archduke Rudolph to flee the city. As a result, the dedication of the sonata when it was published in 1811 read, "On the departure of his Imperial highness, for the Archduke Rudolph in admiration." The three movements of the work are titled "Lebewohl" (Farewell), "Abwesenheit" (Absence), and "Wiedersehen" (Return). In addition to this, Beethoven also wrote the three syllables "Le-be-wohl" over the opening three chords of the first movement. It is suggested that Beethoven was unhappy the French title "Les Adieux" for the sonata and regarded it as a poor translation of the German "Lebewohl." "Adieux" was used when addressing large assemblies whereas "Lebewohl" was used when speaking cordially to a single person.

The sonata, as stated before, has three movements:

Das Lebewohl (The Farewell): Adagio - Allegro
Abwesenheit (The Absence): Andante espressivo
Das Wiedersehen (The Return): Vivacissimamente

The sonata opens in the Adagio tempo with a motif consisting of three chords over which the Beethoven inscribed the three syllables of "Le-be-wohl," or, as it is rendered in English "Fare thee well." This simple motif becomes the germ from which the rest of the movement and ensuing Allegro springs. The second movement is an example of the great depth of feeling Beethoven achieved in his piano music. Finally, the third movement expresses the joy of the return of the Archduke to Vienna.

The Appassionata Sonata

2010-01-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, commonly known as the Appassionata, is considered to be one of the three great piano sonatas of his middle period and is one of the most well-known and often played works of piano music. The sonata was composed during 1803-05, published in 1807 and dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. The name Appassionata was, like many of his other sonatas, not given to the work by Beethoven himself. It was the publisher of a four-hand edition that gave the Piano Sonata No. 23 the name it is most known by today.

Beethoven himself described the work as his most tempestuous piano sonata prior to the mammoth Hammerklavier Sonata composed in 1817-1818. The Appassionata was described as a "brilliantly executed display of emotion and music." In 1802, Beethoven wrote the famous Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter of despair to his brothers over his increasing deafness. Beethoven, however, came to terms with his ailment and determined to fulfill his artistic destiny no matter his physical circumstances. The compositions that followed this event where the epic Eroica Symphony as well as the Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas, which incidentally also mark the beginning of the Romantic era.

The Appassionata Sonata has three movements:

Allegro assai
Andante con motto - attacca
Allegro ma non troppo - Presto

The entire piece is pervaded by the use of Neapolitan harmonies, a technique also used by Johannes Brahms in his Piano Quintet in F minor. Immediately following the initial statement of the movement's first theme it is repeated in the foreign key of G flat major, being the Neapolitan key to the tonic of F minor. The slow movement begins in the key of D flat major, being the dominant key of G flat major and in a Neapolitan relationship to C, the dominant of F minor. The second movement is set of variations which ends deceptively on a diminished 7th chords that serves as transition to the finale. Like the first movement, the finale makes significant use of Neapolitan harmonies. According to the Donald Tovey, the Appassionata is one of the few examples of Beethoven's piano music that ends in tragedy.

Chopin - nearly years

2010-01-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Frédéric Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, sometimes Szopen; French: Frédéric François Chopin), born March, 1 1810 in Zelazowa Wola - d. October, 17 1849) was a Polish composer of piano music in the Romantic period. He is considered one of the most prolific and influential composers of piano music.

Chopin was born in the village of Wola Zelazowa, the son of a Polish and a French expatriate. Although considered a prodigy in his native country, Chopin left Poland at the age of 20 years to go to Paris. The French capital is reinforcing his reputation as a performer, teacher and composer, while adopting the "Frédéric-François". In the period 1837 – 1847 Chopin has a turbulent relationship with the French writer George Sand (real name Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin). The couple has a close friendship with the famous French painter Eugène Delacroix, author of a portrait of two. He passed to nothingness at the age of 39 years with the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

The piano is found throughout his entire work, most of the times even wearing an exclusive role, and his compositions are considered peaks of the repertoire for this instrument. While his music fits among the most demanding work on technique, Chopin's style stands out with the depth of the great expressiveness, not only by the technical complexity. He invented musical forms such as the ballad, but the innovations under his signature concern important existing genres such as the piano sonata, the waltz, the nocturne and the prelude. His works are often mentioned as representatives for the romantic classical music of the nineteenth century. In addition, Chopin is the first western classical composer who included Slavic elements in his music, his Mazurca and Polish are even today the Polish national classical music.

All Chopin's works includes parts for piano. Predominantly, the piano is used as a single instrument, but there are musical works in which appear other musical instruments, such as violin, and cello. He also included parts for voice and orchestra. Over 230 works of this composer have survived. Some manuscripts and works of the early years of childhood have been lost.

The Waldstein Sonata

2009-12-31T12:50:00.001-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, commonly known as the Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest contributions to piano music and one of the three outstanding sonatas of his middle period. The work was completed in 1804 during what is known as Beethoven's "Heroic" decade (1803-1812). It surpasses his previous sonatas in terms of scope and technique, setting the stage for Beethoven's later piano sonatas as well as for the rest of the century. The work is dedicated to Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein of Vienna, both a patron and close friend of Beethoven, thus giving the work its title. In Italy, the sonata is also known by the name "L'Aurora" (The Dawn) because of the opening of the third movement.

The Waldstein Sonata has three movements:

Allegro con brio
Introduzione: Adagio molto - attacca:
Rondo. Allegretto moderato - Prestissimo

The outer movements are the most prominent in the work, taking up the bulk of the time to perform it. The middle slow movement, like its title suggests, is a mere introductory adagio to the rondo finale.

The first movement is revolutionary in its use of the mediant major key for the second theme of its sonata form. According to traditional sonata form, the second theme is stated in the key of the dominant when the first theme is in a major key. However, instead of using the key of G major, Beethoven instead modulates to E major. While not unprecedented, it was the first major work in which Beethoven did this. He would use this technique in several of his later pieces, including the Hammerklavier Sonata and it was taken up and used widely by the later Romantics.

The second movement, as stated above, is an agitated adagio that serves as an sort of introduction to the finale, which it leads into without break. The finale begins with a beautiful, tranquil theme in C major played pianissimo. However, the movements is not all peaceful and sunny when it plunges into the C minor central episode. The movement ends with a prestissimo coda based on the C major theme. This movement is one of my most favorites in all of Beethoven's piano music.

The Moonlight Sonata

2009-12-28T13:02:00.001-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor is one of the most often played pieces of piano music. Indeed, the first movement makes regular occurrences at youth piano recitals. Beethoven gave the sonata, and its counterpart, the Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, the title Sonata quasi una fantasia, meaning "almost a fantasia." Neither sonata follows the traditional three or four movement pattern. In the case of the Moonlight Sonata, the first movement is indeed in a variant of sonata form, yet it is in a slow tempo instead of the usual Allegro. The nickname "Moonlight" was not given to the sonata by Beethoven. It was actually coined by the music critic Ludwig Rellstab in 1832 when he compared the sonata to the moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.

The Moonlight Sonata is in three movements:

Adagio sostenuto
Allegretto
Presto agitato

The first movement opens in the key of C sharp minor. The movement's principal melody, with its dotted-eighth-sixteenth rhythms against the accompaniment triplets, was described by Berlioz as a "lamentation." The melody begins pianissimo and never rises above a mezzo-forte. Karl Schumann noted that the softer dynamics occurred more often in Beethoven's piano music than loud ones. This movement gained instant popularity during Beethoven's lifetime. Berlioz called it "one of those poems that human language cannot qualify," whereas, Carl Czerny, much grieved by the success of the movement remarked, "Surely, I've written better things."

The second movement is a tranquil scherzo and trio in the relative major key, although, written as D flat major instead of C sharp major. Liszt described this movement as a "flower between two chasms."

The final movement is a thunderous, stormy sonata form. Like the previous sonata, No. 13, and later the op. 101 sonata, this movements is an experimentation in shifting the usual weight of the sonata from the first movement to the last. In the conventional Classical sonata, the first movement is the most important to which the rest of the movements augment. However, Beethoven reversed this in the Moonlight Sonata, instead making the final movement the goal to which the previous movements progress towards. This trend was taken up by the later Romantics to great effect. Of the final movement, Charles Rosen remarked that "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing."

The Pathetique Sonata

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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, most commonly known as the "Pathetique," is Beethoven's earliest composition of piano music to achieve widespread and enduring popularity. The work was composed in 1798 when Beethoven was 28 years old. It is commonly assumed that the composer himself named the sonata, yet it was actually the publisher that suggested the title Grande sonate pathetique, of which Beethoven approved.

The work follows the standard Classical sonata three-movement pattern. The first movement begins with an introductory Grave before plunging into the energetic Allegro in cut-time. Several peculiarities occur in the movement. Beethoven returns to the Grave section twice during the course of the movement: first at the beginning of the development section and then again during the coda. Haydn initiated this compositional process, but Beethoven progressed it. He would return to the technique again the String Quartet, op. 127, and expand the concept even further in the String Quartet, op. 130, to the point of different tempi for the two thematic sections in a sonata form. Like most minor-key sonata forms, Beethoven modulates to the relative major key, E flat, for the second theme of the first movement. However, he also unusually uses much mode mixture, touching upon the key of E flat minor.

The second movement is perhaps the most famous part of the sonata and begins with one of the most well-known melodies in piano music. The movement is a large ternary (ABA) form. Finally, the third movement is a lively rondo, whose main theme closely resembles the second theme of the first movement.

Rudolph Reti in his book Thematic Patterns in Sonatas of Beethoven provides an incredibly interesting analysis of this work exhibiting how all the principal melodies of this work spring from the same basic motivic material. The book is good read for any composer and I highly recommend it.

The work has also been prominent in pop culture occuring in the film The Man Who Wasn't There, Billy Joel's "This Night" from his album An Innocent Man and in animated sequence in A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Beethoven and the Piano Sonata

2009-12-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) made an indelible mark on piano music. His thirty-two piano sonatas were highly influential and revolutionary at the time of their composition and, today, form a cornerstone of the literature. So influential had these pieces become in such a short time that Hans von Bülow, the famous late 19th century conductor, called them the "Pianist's New Testament," while Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier formed the "Pianist's Old Testament."

Beethoven's preoccupation with the piano sonata lasted most of his life; the first was composed in 1795, forming part of his opus 1, and the last in 1822, only five years before the composers death. The thirty-two sonatas cover the great expanse of Beethoven's development as a composer and musician. The early sonatas, composed during the height of the Classical period, are reminiscent of Haydn and Mozart. The middle sonatas fall into that great period of expansion and groundbreaking in which Beethoven forged a new path, not only in the piano sonata, but nearly every musical form he touched. In these pieces are the dawn of the Romantic era. Finally, the last sonatas belong to Beethoven's deeply introspective late period which, sadly, even remains a mystery today. All together, the piano sonatas, like his symphonies, tell the great story of an artist and a human.

Besides the groundbreaking artistic nature of the piano sonatas, the works were also revolutionary in the sense of the technique required to perform them. Beethoven, prior to his deafness, had established himself as great piano virtuoso and many of his works are taxing on the technique of the performer. The most striking example possibly being the 29th Piano Sonata, also known as the Hammerklavier. In Robert Taub's book on the Beethoven's piano sonatas he called it the "sonata that makes all of us pianists quake in our boots." Glenn Gould called the piece "inconsiderate." He didn't specify whether he was referring to the usually bewildering effect it has on an audience or the technical demands it makes on the pianists, however, both would be equally correct.

The piano sonatas also changed the way pianos were built. Manufacturers were practically forced to improve their instruments to withstand, not only Beethoven's own playing, but performances in general of his works. Not only was the instrument transformed in this respect, but the range of the instrument was also expanded to what we know today.

At the end of such a journey, Beethoven, through his thirty-two piano sonatas, not only transformed the face of piano music, but of all classical music.

The Sonata

2009-12-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

The sonata, like the symphony, is one of the signature forms of classical music. In fact, the forms are nearly similar, the primary difference being the medium of performance. The sonata, in its usual definition, is a multi-movement work for a solo instrument with or without piano accompaniment. So, in a sense, a symphony is a sonata for orchestra.

The term sonata derives from the Italian word sonare, meaning "to sound." In modern classical music, the term has come to have two somewhat related definitions. The first is what is known as sonata, or sonata-allegro, form used within a single movement of a composition. The second is the above-mentioned multi-movement form in which the first movement is almost always ubiquitously in sonata-allegro form. However, the sonata, as a multi-movement form, was not named after the single movement sonata-allegro.

The modern sonata has its origins primarily in the Baroque period. During this time, the sonata was a polyphonic composition that existed in two forms: the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) and the sonata da camera (ordinary sonata). The sonata da chiesa was often written for one or more violins and bass, and most closely resembles the modern sonata. It consisted of a four movement plan as follows: 1) a slow introduction, 2) a faster fugue-like movement, 3) a slow cantabile movement, and 4) a lively finale often in a binary form. The sonata da camera, on the other hand, consisted mostly of dance tunes and by the Late Baroque and become what is known as the dance suite.

During the Classical period, the modern sonata form was ultimately established. The form was diminished into a three movement pattern consisting of an opening Allegro in sonata-allegro form, a slow middle movement and concluding with a lively finale. However, since it was also usual to precede the opening Allegro with a slow introduction, the resemblance to the older sonata da chiesa is close indeed. This is the form established as established by Haydn and Mozart and evident in the early sonatas of Beethoven. However, like nearly everything else, the form was expanded at the hands of Beethoven and his successors. First of all, the form was expanded to include a dance movement, often a Minuet or Scherzo, before the finale, thus making the form identical to that of a symphony. Furthermore, the length was, in some cases, greatly expanded. Whereas most sonatas by Haydn and Mozart last less than thirty minutes, Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata, Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat major, and most of Brahms' sonatas last from forty-five minutes up to an hour.

The solo piano is the most common instrument for a sonata. Those for two pianos are more unusual. Next in line after the piano in popularity are those for violin and piano or cello and piano. However, nearly every instrument has had a sonata written for it. Paul Hindemith, an early 20th century composer, composed at least one sonata for each of the principal string, woodwind and brass instruments.

The Concerto

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The concerto is one of the signature forms of classical music. In the broadest sense of the term, it is a work, typically in three movements, featuring a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. The basic idea of a concerto is, as the pianist Glenn Gould put it, "a sense of non-collaboration...a willingness of the virtuoso to show off." Concertos typically demand a high degree of technical and artistic perfection from the soloists and the orchestra is relegated to the role of accompaniment. However, this is a very general statement.

The solo concerto originated during the Baroque period along side the concerto grosso. Whereas the solo concerto featured one particular instrument, the concerto grosso contrasted a small group of instruments against the orchestra. Some of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are the most notable examples of the concerto grosso form. However, it was the solo concerto that was to survive into the coming eras of classical music.

It was during the Classical period that the concerto solidified into the form that we recognize today. Bach's sons, C.P.E. Bach and Johann Christian Bach where early pioneers in the classical concerto, yet is was Mozart that ultimately popularized the form. During this time, the three-movement pattern became the accepted norm for a concerto. A modification of sonata form, sometimes called concerto form, was adopted as the standard for the first movement. Following somewhat the principle of the symphony, the second movement of a concerto was in a slow tempo and the finale in a fast, lively tempo and often in a rondo form.

The cadenza also become an important part of the concerto during the Classical period. A concerto usually contained multiple cadenzas, but the most important one was usually placed near the end of the first movement. The cadenza is a chance for the soloists to really "show off." The orchestra does not play during a cadenza, except for maybe the final cadence, and it was the custom during the Classical period for the perform to improvise the cadenza. It was not until Beethoven and the later Romantics that cadenzas were written out for the performer.

During the Romantic period, like everything else, the concerto form was greatly expanded and modified. Beethoven and Brahms both expanded the concerto to near symphonic proportions, both in respect to the intensity of thematic development, and the often grueling demands on the virtuoso. Brahms, in his Piano Concerto No. 2, also expanded the form to four movements. Well-known examples of the concerto from both the Classical and Romantic eras would be Mozart's piano concertos, Beethoven's Violin Concerto, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1.

In the 20th century, the basic idea of the concerto changed very little. Many of the well-known concertos of the 20th century belong more to the Romantic era than the Modern era. Bartok wrote his Concerto for Orchestra in which the orchestra itself is the soloist. Other composers have written concertos for uncommon solo instruments, such as timpani or drum set.

Richard Strauss

2009-12-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Each of Richard Strauss symphonic poems surpassed in terms of music and character everything was done before. The first five symphonic poems are considered to be the most appreciated. The last poem, "Eine Alpensinfonie" (“Alpine Symphony"), composed in 1915, was a failure. Strauss wasn’t only a composer, and his reputation grew as a conductor. In 1898 he succeeded Felix Weingartner at the head of the Royal Opera in Berlin, a post he occupied until 1918, when he became co-director of the Opera in Vienna. During this period he composed works such as "Guntram" (1894) and "Feuersnot" (“Danger of fire" - 1901), considered by many classical music critics as a failure. Only in 1905, with his work “Salome "(after a song of Oscar Wilde) Strauss has managed to create a work which had electrified the audiences as a symphonic poems. Follows in 1908," Electra" (a tragedy written by Sophocles) in which Strauss left the ivory tower for a new kind of classical music harmony, a new and powerful kind of melody and progressive style that foreshadowed the adventures he described. Both works were and remain, largely, some shocking works, two of the most provocative creations of the century. Strauss worked for almost twenty-five years, making "Der Rosenkavalier" (“Knight of Roses" - 1911), the first version of "Ariadne Naxon auf "(" Ariadne in Naxon - 1912, "Ariadne in Naxon" revised - 1916), "Die Frau ohne Schatten" ( "Woman without a shadow" - 1919), "Intermezzo" (1923), "Die agyptishe Helena" ("Helen of Egypt" - 1927) and "Arabella" (1932). Knight of Roses (in Der Rosenkavalier) is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss, after a libretto by the Austrian writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Work was first held in "Hofoper" (now "Semperoper") in Dresden, on the January 26, 1911, under the baguette of conductor Ernst von Schuch. Action takes place in aristocratic circles of Vienna, around 1740, during the first years of rule of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

Meanwhile the Nazis came to power, and Strauss was appointed president of Reichmusikkammer. Being an apolitical and amoral opportunist who did not want than to be left alone to write music, he will hire a Jew librettist, Stefan Zweig, causing the Nazis anger. He will write the words for "Shweigsame Die Frau" (“Silent Woman" - 1934) and for "Friedenstag" (“Day of peace" - 1938), and "Daphne" (1938). Stefan Zweig continues to work with Joseph Gregor.

Richard Strauss - early years

2009-12-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Richard Strauss (born June 11, 1864, Munich - d. September 8, 1949, Garmisch-Partenkirchen) was a great German composer and conductor, a brilliant representative of the classical music. He was succeeded as conductor to Hans von Büllow to lead the orchestra in Meiningen. He conducted the orchestras in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna.
Richard Strauss, the German composer, is known especially for symphonic poems, operas, and especially for his brilliant work as a conductor. His musical instincts are inherited from his father, Franz Strauss. He plays the horn in the Opera orchestra in Munich and attended the world premiere of "Tristan and Isolde" and "Die Meistersinger". He was the most famous horn singer of Germany. Franz Strauss also composed classical music, and become famous heading works of Mendelssohn, and Schumann. Franz Strauss has fed his son with a very conservative classical music, which influenced the compositions of Richard's youth. He will send his son to the Gymnasium in Munich, where he will receive a solid general culture. After graduating high school in 1882, Strauss will join the University of Munich. He spent some time in Berlin, where he played piano at the musical evenings. Here he met Hans von Bulow, who planned listen the "Serenade for winds in E flat" in the interpretation of the Meiningen orchestra. This audit will stimulate him to direct his own work in his hometown, Munich. Thus, Strauss will start his career as an academic composer. He will be introduced to the Meiningen orchestra to Alexander Ritter, composer and violinist, who will connect the young Strauss to the music of Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner. Ritter was the one who persuaded Strauss to give up the conservative style of his youth and begin to compose symphonic poems. He introduced the music of Strauss in the world of Wagner's essays and writings of Schopenhauer.

First turn on the music of Strauss occurred in 1889, with his first poem, "Don Juan". This was the work that made the classical music critics to recognize Strauss and Liszt as natural successor, until a certain point, of Richard Wagner. "Don Juan" was followed by a series of symphonic poems that have assailed the Europeans: "Tod und Verklarung" ( "Death and transfiguration - 1890)," Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streich "(" Till's merry nazbatii Buhoglinda - 1895), "Also sprach Zarathustra" ( "So he spoke Zarathustra" - 1896), "Don Quixote" (1898), "Ein Heldenleben" ( "The life of a hero" - 1899), "Sinfonia domestica" (1904 ).

Ottorino Respighi

2009-12-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

130 years ago was born the composer Ottorino Respighi. He started when he was 10 years old as a violinist. Representative of neoclassicism, he introduced Russian orchestral color and Richard Strauss's harmonic techniques in Italian classical music. He composed eight operas, of which the most important is Semiramis, vocal-symphonic music, chamber music for piano and organ. He also composed the famous symphonic poems "Pines of Rome" and "Fountains of Rome”.

Respighi's father, who was a piano teacher, taught him the violin and piano. Ottorino continued his violin studies with Federico Sarti at School of Music in Bologna, and composition with Giuseppe Martucci and Luigi Torchi.

Then, Respighi briefly studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakov in Russia, which has greatly influenced his work. He has also taken some composition lessons with Max Bruch. We may also note in the Fountains of Rome a double influence of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy.

In the so-called "renaissance" of Italian music after a nineteenth century Respighi occupies an important place, well than apart and difficult to define. He was a pupil of Sarti for violin and viola, of Martucci for composition, of Rimsky-Korsakov and Max Bruch when he combines a desire for renewal, purity, rigor with a sensual conception of his art and fidelity to the symphonic poems. His classical music creation is a rock solid, his knowledge of the orchestra, his love for classical music continues as research. Without having actually been influenced by the French Impressionists, such as Debussy he is close to them by a common sense of the implementation of sound. We can feel the influence of Russian music, the exotic, archaic and oriental modes. Two symphonic poems The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome, have established his reputation. The Botticellian Triptych, his concertos (Gregorian Concerto for Violin, Piano Concerto mixolydian), ballets are not as famous as the the symphonic poems.

The paintings of Sandro Botticelli, entitled Spring, Adoration dei Maggi and Nativity inspired the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, the most appropriate to find corresponding sound. Characters bedding in colors of tempera on panel, with the vivacity of dance movements and delicate colors of garments, could be imagined through the veil of sound, with arabesques and festive harmony.

The Symphony

2009-12-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

The word symphony derives from the Greek word meaning "agreement or concord of sound." However, in classical music, symphony denotes a large-scale work, often consisting of multiple movements and almost always written for orchestra. The standard form is in four movements and often follows the following plan:

An opening allegro, sometimes preceded by a slow introduction
A slow movement
A minuet or scherzo
An allegro finale

The origins of the standard symphonic form begin the Baroque period. During the Baroque, the term symphony or sinfonia had no specific meaning and was used simultaneously for different types of compositions. To make it even more confusing, the terms symphony, sinfonia and overture were generally interchangeable. For example, Bach's three-part inventions for keyboard are entitled Sinfonias. Individual movements, usually for instruments alone, during an opera, concerto, or other larger work were often called a sinfonia. In particular, the opera sinfonia, also known as the Italian overture, is commonly recognized as the direct ancestor of the symphony. By the 18th century, the Italian overture had developed into a standard form of three contrasting movements: fast, slow, and then fast and dance-like. Another Baroque form influential in the development of the symphony was the ripieno concerto, which was essentially a concerto for strings and continuo, but with no solo instruments. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is an example of this form.

By the early Classical period, the symphony began to emerge as an independent form. It began with the basic layout of the Italian overture and ripieno concerto consisting of three movements in the fast-slow-fast layout. The early symphonies, while being composed as stand-alone pieces, were still used a preludes to larger works like an opera. Mozart's early symphonies are in this three-movement form. However, it did not take long for the three-movement form to give way to four-movement pattern we know today. The symphonic form experienced its greatest development at the hands of the German composers centered around Vienna and Mannheim, most notably, Johann Stamitz, and ultimately came to maturity at the hands of Mozart and Haydn at the end of the 18th century. Haydn would eventually be known as the "Father of the Symphony."

The best examples of the symphony are by far the nine symphonies of Beethoven. Beethoven greatly expanded, in multiple ways, the symphonic form handed down by Haydn and Mozart. At the hands of one of the greatest masters of classical music, the symphonic form experienced a tremendous expansion in terms of length and musical expression. Furthermore, Beethoven, in an unprecedented step, introduced the use of the choir during the finale of his Ninth Symphony.

The traditional symphonic form remained mostly prominent for the remainder of the 19th century. In some cases the form was expanded to include an additional fifth movement, a trend that actually started with Beethoven in his Sixth Symphony. Also taking cue from the same piece, Berlioz wrote several "program" symphonies in which the piece was designed to tell a story. The traditional form ultimately saw its conclusion in the symphonic works of Brahms and Dvorak.

In the 20th century, the form underwent much variety. Mahler's symphonies, while often retaining the four-movement pattern, are immensely large-scale, both in terms of length and the forces required to perform them. Other symphonies, like Sibelius' Symphony No. 7 and Samuel Barber's First Symphony are in one movement. Perhaps partly as a reaction against the preceding Romantic period, the symphony has somewhat declined in use and is no longer a primary element of a composer's oeuvres.

Sonata Form

2009-12-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Sonata form, along with fugue, is simultaneously the most complex and most diverse form in classical music. There is probably not a multi-movement piece in all of classical music literature of the Classical and Romantic periods that doesn't contain a movement written in sonata form. It may well be said that this form was the cornerstone of classical music during those periods.

The word "sonata" is derived from the Italian verb suounare, meaning, "to play," and was a term originally applied to instrumental music to distinguish it from "cantata," or vocal music. The modern sonata form has its roots in the Baroque period. During that period, the term "sonata" was often given to a piece consisting of only a single movement in binary form. Examples of this type of composition would be the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. In this older form of the sonata, the first section introduced two different subjects, one in the tonic key and another in the dominant. Then the second section of the piece, making it binary, was usually the exact opposite of this: the first subject in the dominant key and concluding with the second subject in the tonic. From these humble beginnings grew the modern sonata form.

During the Classical period, the sonata transformed into what it known as today. The form essentially grew into a three-part, or ternary, form consisting of the following sections: exposition, development and recapitulation. The exposition, like the first section of the older form, announced the two principal subjects of the piece, and while the keys of the tonic and dominant remained the norm, it was by no means the only choices. Some composers, Beethoven in particular and the Romantics after him, began to explore other key areas for the second subject of a sonata form. The terms of "first subject" and "second subject" were also expanded to not only contain one melody, but, instead may contain multiple melodic ideas related to one another that made up a "thematic group."

The development section is really what the sonata form is all about. In this section, the composer is free to take the melodic material of the exposition, or in some cases even introduce something new, and to explore the possibilities of his melodies. In the Classical period, this section tended to be rather brief but by the end of the Romantic period, it was sometimes just as long as the exposition.

Finally, the recapitulation restates the melodic material of the exposition. However, unlike, the old sonata form of Scarlatti, the dominant key was not used and both subjects are stated in the tonic. At least that is the model. It became common after Beethoven for the second subject of the recapitulation to modulate away from tonic, however, always to a different key than was used in the exposition.

That is the basic outline of sonata form. The form in essence has few mandatory points and within the confines of its three sections are near limitless possibilities for the composer who will attempt to find them.

Brahms' Third Symphony

2009-12-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Brahms' four symphonies are a standard part of classical music literature, right up there with Beethoven's nine. Unlike most composers who ventured into the symphonic medium early in their careers, Brahms did not complete his first symphony until he was forty-three years old. Brahms highly respected Beethoven's nine symphonies and, not only recognized them as the supreme achievement of the symphonic form, but knew that the general public felt the same way. Consequently, Brahms was aware that his own works would be judged against that great master of classical music and this is why it took him twenty-one years to write his first symphony. However, once the first symphony was complete the remaining three were written comparatively quick. His second symphony followed only a year later. The third symphony came about six years after the second and, finally, the fourth was written two years after that.

Brahms' Symphony No. 3 is arguably his most popular and was termed "Brahms' Eroica" by the nineteenth century conductor Hans Richter. It was written during the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, a town overlooking the Rhine Valley, and premiered on December 2, 1883 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The symphony was most well-received as the four, except, as is expected, among the Wagnerites. Wagner had died earlier in the year, however, the feud between his followers and those of Brahms remained alive. In fact, some very fanatical followers of Wagner tried to interfere with the symphony's premiere and a duel between the two factions was only narrowly avoided.

The basis for the musical material of this symphony was Brahms' own personal motto. Brahms' longtime friend Joseph Joachim had taken as his motto "Frei aber einsam," meaning, "Free but lonely." At the time of the third symphony's composition, Brahms was a fifty year-old bachelor and declared his own motto to be "Frei aber froh," or, "Free but happy." The acronym for this motto is then F-A-F, which, Brahms then uses as the musical germ from which the entire symphony goes.

Brahms also pays a musical homage to Robert Schumann. The opening passionato theme of the violins in the first movement echos the opening tune of Schumann's own Third Symphony, the "Rhenish." Brahms was a close friend of Schumann and his family and he paid respect to the composer any several of his pieces.

Haendel, a model for Haydn, Beethoven and Mendelssohn

2009-12-01T04:34:00.001-08:00

Handel was born February 23 1685 in the city of Halle / Saxony (Germany), where he had the first music lessons from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. At 17 years, in 1702,he is already an organist in Halle, a year later employed as a violinist and "Maestro of Cembalo" in the Opera Orchestra of Hamburg led by Reinhard Keizer. In 1705, he wrote the opera "Almira" on a libretto written by Feustking, which attract the public attention. In the spring of 1707 he goes to Italy and stay for two years in Florence and Rome studying Italian composers Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti and Agostino Steffani. In Italy Handel composed operas, oratorios and cantatas, many of them religious, appropriating the style and means of modern Italian music. In 1709 brings a successful premiere of his opera "Agrippina" (the story of Vincenzo Grimani) in Venice. Ironic parody with alternate states of deep emotion, switching from comedy to intrigue, is implemented with great masters in the spirit of Venetian opera.
In the spring of 1710, Handel returned to Germany to take up the position of Kapellmeister at the court of Prince of Hanover, but soon he went to London, where he obtained a great success with the opera "Rinaldo" at the Haymarket Theater. Handel remains permanently in England as a composer and musician of the royal court. Since 1713 he receives an annual pension from the British royal house, and in 1727 Handel became a British citizen. It is his own agent to compete this change with other composers of opera in England, as Giovanni Bononcini and Nicola Porpora.

In addition to his operatic creation, he composed under the patronage of the Duke of Chandos the oratorio "Esther" and eleven creations for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1717-1720). In 1719 Handel received the task to write classical music for the opera in London, The Royal Academy of Music ". His work comprises not less than 14 classical music pieces. The great success with works such as "Radamisto" (1720), "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" (1724), "Tamerlano" (1724) and "Rodelinda" (1725), made him famous throughout Europe.

Meanwhile, the public interest in London for the Italian style starts to fall; Royal Opera House has financial loss and is forced to close. Handel tries to represent new compositions ( "Ezio" - 1732, "Ariodante" - 1735 and "Alcina" - 1735) in a smaller theater, but the project fails.

Georg Friedrich Handel's opera is, together with the creations of Johann Sebastian Bach, the highlights of baroque music. Handel's operatic style developed from the conventional models used to treat dramatic recitatives, and choral parts. His great work is characterized by a combination of pathos, dramatic scenes and orchestral interlude, using harmonic modulations. He influenced many generations of composers, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

2009-11-30T15:01:00.000-08:00

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) was the second of five sons born to Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, first wife of the great composer, and would become a very influential figure in classical music himself. In 1724, at the age of ten, C.P.E. Bach began studying at the St. Thomas School in Leipzig where his father had become cantor the previous year. Following this he become a student of jurisprudence at the universities of Leipzig and Frankfurt (Oder) and received his law degree at the age of 24. However, the young Bach abandoned a profession in law and instead dedicated himself to music, and for that the classical music world can be very thankful. A scant three months later, C.P.E. Bach obtained an appointment in the service of Frederick II of Prussia. During this time Bach became one of the foremost clavier-players in all of Europe. It is possible that C.P.E. Bach was also the reason for his father's visit to Frederick which brought about the Musical Offering. In 1768, Bach succeeded Georg Philipp Telemann as Kapellmeister in Hamburg.

C.P.E Bach is most known in two aspects. The first is his style of writing for the keyboard known as Empfindsamer Stil. The main characteristics of this style of composition were sudden changes in mood and an emphasis on the emotional qualities of a melody. It was more or less a reaction against the Baroque period's doctrine of affections in which a piece maintained the same emotion throughout. Bach's works were held in high regard not only by his contemporaries, like Mozart, but also by later composers such as Beethoven and even Brahms, who edited some of his works.

C.P.E. Bach's second claim to fame is his treatise on keyboard playing entitled Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments. In this book, Bach not only discussed the technique of playing the keyboard but also provided a practical method on realizing figured basses and accompaniment. The book is not only important for keyboardists but also for composers and theorists who can gain a wealth of knowledge about harmony from his treatise.

Scarlatti

2009-11-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

Scarlatti, was an Italian composer (Palermo, 1660 - Naples, 1725). He went to Rome in 12 years to study, married here in 1678 and in 1679 presented his first opera. Gli Equivoci nel sembiante, which enjoyed a huge success and, a fact quite rare in his time, was played in many other cities. Entered in the service queen Christina of Sweden, bandmaster at San Girolamo della Carita, protected by the Colonna family, the Ottobani and other important figures of the nobility of Rome had contacts with other Italian centers and has divided the activities of composer gender singing, and working: among his first classical music work we can mention L'Onesta negli amore (1680) and Il Pompeo (1683), in some areas remained famous.
As a result of family intrigue, in 1684 he was nominated as bandmaster at the court of Naples, where for about 20 years worked hard, but uneven, while some of his works were played even in Germany (Pirro e Demetrio in Brunswick, in 1694 played in Naples in the same year). Many disputes in arts domain in Naples court led him to seek other ways to find a support and then began to write operas for Florence, from 1703 until 1706, then came back to Rome, where he met Corelli, through Cardinal Ottoboni.
Unable to get here a stable situation, he went to submit the Venice opera Mitridate Yevpatoriya (1707), returned to Naples in 1709, to face the obligations of his position and from 1717 until 1721 he has divided his time between the city of Naples and Rome, where he had the premiere with La Griselda (1721, libretto by Zeno), after which he wrote instrumental classical music: in 1725 published a collection of quartets for singers and instruments, which could be considered as a bridge between the old Sonata and the future shape of the string quartet.
Scarlatti's musical personality is pretty a liberation of his creative abundance, partially brought to light. In fact, he knew how to show the talent in the most different styles, after ages, cities and destinations he wrote more than 600 secular and religious cantatas in one voice, 90 cantatas for several voices or instruments, 35 oratorios, and a creative work for instruments that cannot be neglected, of which 12 Concerti grossi, sonatas for flute and other works for keyboard instruments.
Passion (about 1680), one of his early works, is one of the most valuable classical music production. He adapts his cantatas also to the most varied styles. He knew the models in vogue in cities where he wrote, but never was concerned about the trends on the reform of the libretto.
He can be considered, even slightly, as the father of "work wafers" his first work locked the counterpoint style, fully inspired the creation of Stradella.

Literature and Music - Schumann's Kreisleriana

2009-11-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

Classical music and poetry have for a long time been closely allied. In fact, they are often called sister art forms because of the many similarities between the two. However, the combination of prose and music was not significantly explored until the Romantic period. This combination gave birth to the symphonic poem (also called a tone poem), a form pioneered mostly be Franz Liszt. In a symphonic poem, the music is composed in a way so as to tell a story. It isn't mandatory that the story originate from literature, however, this was often the case. Many symphonic poems are well-known in classical music, for example, Liszt's Les Preludes and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote.

Besides the symphonic poem, there was also the development of another combination of prose and music. This form was more closely akin to the fantasia and was often written for solo piano. In this form, it was often the objective not to tell the story, but to expressive more of the mood, or inner workings of one of a novel's principal characters. An example of this is Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, based on a novel by E.T.A. Hoffman of the same title. The main character of Hoffmann's Kreisleriana is a fictional composer by the name of Johannes Kreisler. Kreisler was at odds with the world around him, half-crazed and intensely passionate. To represent these sudden changes in character, Schumann constructed each movement of the Kreisleriana to contain two sections of vastly different character, one often intense and dramatic, the other dreamy and lyrical. It is possible that while the piece was written to describe the fictitious character of Johannes Kreisler, Schumann was also knowingly portraying himself as well. In his critical writings, Schumann often used the characters of Florestan and Eusebius to portray his own two-sided personality. Florestan was the hot-headed and passionate while Eusebius was dreamy and introspective.

The character of Johannes Kreisler also reached beyond Schumann and influenced the young Johannes Brahms, who was familiar with Schumann's Kreisleriana. Brahms attributed some of his early works to Johannes Kreisler. These works were playful or passionate in character. Furthermore, in the Variations on Theme of Robert Schumann, op. 9, Brahms signed particular variations "Kr" for Kreisler, these variations being fast and ardent, while others are signed "B" for Brahms, these variations being, conversely, more lyrical and subdued. Besides the connection to the Kreisleriana, Brahms was most probably also mimicking Schumann's ascription of different variations of his Davidbündlertanze to Eusebius and Florestan.

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis

2009-11-24T15:53:00.001-08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is up there with his Ninth Symphony as one of the greatest compositions of classical music, and also the Bach Mass in B minor as one of the greatest settings of the Catholic Mass.

Missa solemnis literally means "solemn mass" in Latin and several other works bear the same title itself or a similar one, such as, Bruckner's Mass in B flat major, the Messe solennelle (simply the French translation) by Berlioz. The settings of the Mass that use this particular title are often large-scale and Beethoven's setting is indeed that. Composed between 1819-1823, the piece comes at the beginning of what is known as Beethoven's late period and it shares many similarities with the piece that followed quickly on its heals: the Ninth Symphony. During this time period Beethoven began a renewed study in older music, particularly that of Bach and Handel, which was just then becoming available in print. This renewed interest shows in the heightened contrapuntal textures of his later works.

Like every mass setting, Beethoven's contains the usual five movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. However, there are some striking peculiarities of Beethoven's setting. The Kyrie is perhaps the most traditional portion of the setting, which a regular ternary form, mostly homophonic texture in the outer sections and more contrapuntal in the central Christe.

The Gloria, as well as the following Credo, are unique because of the absence of Beethoven's usual expansive thematic development process. Throughout the Gloria, both texture and themes change quickly and the movement moves towards its conclusion with a massive fugue to the text "In gloria Dei patris, Amen." However, the movement actually concludes with a brief recapitulation of the opening Gloria, for which Beethoven received criticism for doing. The Credo contains some interesting a cappella passages as well as use of modal harmonies, another area of older music that Beethoven explored in his later years. The movement ends with the pieces second expansive fugue and is one of the most technically difficult choral passages ever written.

The Sanctus is rather "classical" in the beginning, however the Benedictus is greatly expanded. A long orchestral prelude, a violin solo enters (representing the Holy Spirit), and in my opinion this section is one of the most beautiful moments in all of classical music. The "Dona nobis pacem" of the Agnus Dei is rather a unique ending to the piece. The section includes a statement of the famous melody from Handel's Messiah on the text "And He shall reign forever and ever." This melody was reused by several composers and at the time was considered one of the most perfect of fugue subjects. A martial section of trumpets and drums interrupts the Dona nobis before the piece comes to peaceful and solemn conclusion.

Baroque music

2009-11-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

From the second half of XVI century to the middle of the seventeenth-century, the Baroque is the dominant aesthetic of European art. The Baroque practice draws its lifeblood from the Renaissance and, chronologically, its first event shall be referred to Rome after the devastation of the city by German mercenaries during the first part of XVI century.

The second half of the eighteenth century is dominated by the cultural current named the classicism.
Some of the greatest composers of all the times were creating during these times.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) takes this inspiration, from his love for a woman. He created a lieder cycle but also takes out lied written works for piano, revolutionizing the style of execution for that instrument. Great admirer of Bach, he is, together with Mendelssohn (1809-1847) at the origin of Bachgesellschaft, master's first full publication of the work. However, Mendelssohn is the one who, in 1829, rediscover passion for Bach creation.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was undoubtedly the most outstanding musicians of Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century. He was the maestro at the chapel in Weimar, the Court organist at Koelhen in 1717 until 1723 and cantor in Leipzig. Brandenburg concertos were composed in this period. Because of his talent, the orchestra will gain a new power of expression, reserved until then to vocal compositions. Religious Music dominates his work, but instrumental music occupies an important place too. Bach family will give birth to an entire generation of musicians.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, Vienna became the center of European music. This fame is is given by two great composers: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), maestro at the church of San Marco in Venice from 1613 until 1643, is the first to use human voices with instruments, in order to obtain an a capella lyricism. The classical music work is enriched by an instrumental accompaniment.

Later, the classical music is influenced by musical theater and a return to tradition, illustrated by repetitive music. Musical Theater purpose is to overcome the traditional use of the instruments, which must be used as an accessory in a theater.

Renaissance in music

2009-11-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

Classical music has its origins in the Italian Renaissance. Reform and Counter-reform had an increasingly important place; a song was played during the service, which gives birth to orator in Italy, sung in German countries and the great motet in France. Great composers highlight their talent through a privileged instrument, the organ, aspiring to the title of maestro. At the end of the sixteenth century appears a new type, illustrated in 1607 by the opera Orpheus, composed by Claudio Monteverdi. Opera develops in France with Lully and Rameau, and Purcell in England.
The concert is modified by creating new instruments, the violin and harpsichord. The music, already present in the aristocratic education, becomes belongs now to professionals, often serving a noble. A. Vivaldi (1678-1748) dominates the concerto, which send us back period in the late sixteenth century and which designates a work of a certain scale for instruments and voices. Concerto grosso, which uses at the beginning equally all instruments, will gradually give place to the opposition between flute and violin, then piano and the rest of the orchestra, over its three movements, fast, slow, fast.

Baroque and classicism are specific to the eighteenth century, the era of consolidation of large national monarchies-France, and the first ascents of sea power, trade and industry of the world: Holland and England. At the same time these countries participate in the process of development and maintain balanced relations between the social orders in the West and European countries. The development of architecture and art glorifies the achievements of "the monarch by divine right".

Two geniuses are marking this era of classical music: Mozart and Beethoven.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Despite a short and unhappy life, he composed in all genres, with an evident inventiveness, a great creativity. Only the middle of the twentieth century and the appearance of the great musicologists and especially the appreciation of Alfred Einstein helped his work to be truly discovered. He left a tremendous legacy, consisting of sonatas, concertos, symphonies and opera (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Juan, The Magic Flute ...).
The genius of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), with very good grasp of instrumental composition, with romance and lyric, eclipses all his contemporaries. Beethoven is uncontestable maestro of the early nineteenth century.

Brahms Symphony No. 4

2009-11-19T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Romantic composers, and really the period in general, had a fascination with anything "old." The Romantic period saw the "Bach Revival" under the guidance of Mendelssohn, and the publication of works by many of the older, both known and not so well-known, composers of classical music. While there was a great interest in the study of older music, Brahms was unique in actually applying some of these "ancient" techniques in his own music, albeit in a very Romantic manner, and his Symphony No. 4 is an excellent example.

The most obvious old technique Brahms utilized in this symphony is the passacaglia finale. While the form was used even into the 20th century, there are significantly less examples of it after the Baroque period. This finale, however, was a bit a trouble for the symphony's reception. The classical music critic, and friend of Brahms, Hans von Bulow told him to publish the passacaglia as a separate work, "throw the Scherzo in the trash" and rewrite the last half of the symphony. Thankfully, Brahms didn't listen, because it would be hard to imagine this piece without this finale.

A less commonly discussed technique used in this symphony is Brahms' used of the old Phrygian church mode. Each movement displays characteristics specific to this mode and I'll give a few brief examples. First of all, the symphony is in E minor and the Phrygian mode starts on the pitch E. There differences in the two scales is the absence of a leading tone (unlike the other modes, the seventh scale degree was never raised in this mode) and the lowered second scale degree in the Phrygian mode. Each of the old church modes was identified by a characteristic tone. In the case of the Phrygian mode it was this very F natural; no other mode had a half step above the final. While the opening of the symphony emphasizes the E minor tonality with a i-iv-V progression over a tonic pedal, the characteristic F natural is introduced before the completion of the first theme in measure seven. At the return of the first theme in the recapitulation, the theme is announced not in the tonic of E minor, but in the key of C major. C, incidentally, was considered the "dominant" of the Phrygian because no major or minor chord could be placed above the fifth scale degree, B.

The second movement contains the most use of the Phrygian mode. The movement opens with a purely Phrygian melody in the horns and woodwinds followed by a distinctly E major tune. The mixture of E major and the Phrygian mode continues throughout the movement, however, the climax comes in the final closing bars in which the Phrygian melody is accompanied by an E major chord.

The third movement is in the key of C major, again, the "dominant" of the Phrygian mode.

The finale, also, has hints of the Phrygian mode. At the cadence of the passacaglia theme, instead of a strong authentic cadence, the V chord is replaced by French augmented sixth on the lowered second scale degree; instead of having B-D sharp-F sharp-A, we get B-D sharp-F natural-A. Therefore, both the characteristic note of the Phrygian mode (F natural) and the characteristic note of major-minor tonality (D sharp) are heard simultaneously.

Schubert's String Quintet in C major

2009-11-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

While driving home today I was listening to Schubert's String Quintet in C major. It is a remarkable piece of classical music. It was written only two months before the composer's death is the last instrumental composition he wrote. Unlike most string quintets, Schubert employs two cellos instead of the usual two violas. Schubert didn't originate this idea, that credit is probably due to Boccherini. However, Schubert's use of the added cello is rather ingenious because it frees the first cello to take on more melodic importance while the second cello maintains the bass.

The piece bears much resemblance to another late work of Schubert's, the "Great" C Major Symphony. In fact, the Quintet is so expansive in its forms that it doesn't seem too difficult to imagine it as a symphony. Several of Schubert's late works were characterized by large-scale expansive forms, particularly in the first movement, and the quintet is no exception. The first movement accounts for nearly a third of the pieces entire length. The piece begins somewhat mysteriously with a sustained C major chord starting quietly and growing to a forte on a dissonant chromatic chord. For me, it's like beholding some majestic sight but not being to see the entire picture, like part of it's hidden. The opening theme is both graceful and intense all at the same time, and so is much of the movement. It is the perfect blend of early Romanticism and Mozartian grace.

The middle movement, in the key of E major, resembles, not in actual sounds, but in character, another E major movement, namely, the second movement of the Unfinished Symphony. Both these movements possess an eerie otherworldly quality. The Scherzo breaks in with tumultuously after the sublime and tranquil slow movement. Again, there is a strong resemblance in character between this movement and the C major Scherzo of the Shubert's Ninth Symphony. Finally, the Finale is a exuberant rondo with some Hungarian influences. The opening of the movement is rather striking in its quick modulations starting in C major, then dropping to B flat major, up to B major and finally back into C. The piece concludes with rather uniquely with a strong emphasis on the flat supertonic (D flat) before the final tonic chord. It was probably this ending that inspired Brahms to place a strong emphasis on Neopolitan relationships throughout his Piano Quintet.

All in all, Schubert's String Quintet is a remarkable piece in classical music literature. An excellent recording of the piece is by the Emerson Quartet with Mstislav Rostropovich.

What Was Bach's Goal for The Well-Tempered Clavier?

2009-11-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is one of the best known works of classical music. The title page of Bach’s autograph fair copy (in the possession of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz) states that the Well-Tempered Clavier is a set of preludes and fugues “for the Use and Profit of the Musical Youth Desirous of Learning.” Although not published during his lifetime, Bach made use of the Well-Tempered Clavier with his own students, usually lending his manuscript to them and letting them make their own personal copy. These copies were slowly spread across Europe and several latter influential composers, most notably Mozart and Beethoven, obtained their own manuscripts of the Well-Tempered Clavier. During the course of the nineteenth century, this remarkable set of preludes and fugue became a cornerstone in the piano literature, a position which it still holds today. As proof of its importance in the literature, the famous nineteenth century music critic, Hans von Bülow, called the the Well-Tempered Clavier the “Pianists’ Old Testament,” a statement that is still heard today the classical music world.

But what exactly was Bach trying to teach through these preludes and fugues? Was it merely keyboard technique, as it is mostly used for today, or was there a broader goal in Bach’s mind? We know that in the Baroque period the clear-cut and detrimental separation between theory and practice we now possess in music education did not exist. All keyboardists of the period were able to realize a figured bass. This required not only technical command of the instrument, but also a thorough knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, concepts associated only with theory today. Again we return to Bach’s statement on the title page: “for the Use and Profit of the Musical Youth Desirous of Learning.” Bach was not specific concerning the subject of his instruction, therefore his purpose must be to teach, not one specific element, but music in all its aspects. In the Well-Tempered Clavier, the music student has the most comprehensive and practical instructional manual to harmony and counterpoint, far surpassingly any textbook written on these subjects. From these two disciplines comes the foundation needed for a complete understanding of music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This is Bach’s goal for the Well-Tempered Clavier: to teach the whole of music. Bach has provided the means, it is left to the student to use it and profit from it.

Boccherini's String Quartet in C major

2009-11-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how a tune can grow on you, or you just can't explain you listen to a particular song or piece over and over again. Classical music has a whole slew of those melodies that you just can't help singing or whistling to yourself. Who doesn't know the Ode to Joy, or Mozart's Turkish Rondo, or Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring? However, sometimes these melodies come from unexpected places, at least for me, anyway. While attending a concert of Beethoven's Ninth back in the summer, I bought a CD of Resphigi's Pines of Rome performed by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. I pretty much buy any of Karajan's recordings. On the CD, however, is a piece that in a way is grotesquely out of place but in a way also seems quite appropriate. This piece was the the String Quintet, op. 30 by Luigi Boccherini performed by Berlin Phiharmonic string section. I had heard the name Boccherini before but never any of his music. Unfortunately, I have somewhat of a disdain for Italian composers. Their music has always seemed somewhat trivial and more like crowd-pleasers than real music, and when ever I hear the name of an Italian, my mind automatically jumps to one of the greatest of entertainers (notice I said entertainer and not composer), Rossini. I know, I know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover (or in this case, the music because its Italian), but I'm looking at the general picture of Italian classical music here. Anyway, the piece turned out to really surprise me. It doesn't let down, like a lot of Italian music, in being incredibly simple but it possesses a grace that is absolutely charming, and the melodies are quite catchy. For me, it's perfect kick-back-and-relax music that doesn't require a whole lot of effort on my part to understand or appreciate. The third and fourth movements are particularly nice. I leave you with a bit of warning: be prepared for the opening, it definitely won't expect what you hear.

Dvorak's Cello Concerto

2009-11-07T01:10:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, while writing my previous article about Bach, I was listening to a recording of Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor. I usually have some classical music playing while writing. I didn't particularly pick this piece to listen to this morning, it was just what came up next in my Windows Media Player playlist. I've listened to this many times before, but it had been a while since the last time I heard it. Dvorak's Cello Concerto is one of my all-time favorites and if I had to compile a top 10 list for classical music, this piece would definitely be on it along with Beethoven's Ninth, Brahms' Requiem and Bach's Mass in B minor. The piece is absolutely amazing. The passionate and intense opening theme of the first movement and the distinctly Dvorak-esque second theme, with its subtle hints of the New World Symphony, never cease to amaze me. The second movement is graceful and charming, offset beautifully by moments of intense passion. However, it is the third movement that is my favorite part of the piece, with its rustic melody and unstoppable energy. But, it is the close of the movement that absolutely floors me every time I hear it. The graceful, longing melody high in the cello's range is possibly one of the greatest moments in classical music. The final movement of the cello from dominant to tonic with the orchestra's deceptive harmonies underneath are the sign of a genius at work. Then comes the orchestra's brilliant close to a spectacular piece. While I usually despise every I-bVII-I cadence I hear because of its extreme overuse (like Pachabel's Canon at weddings), Dvorak wrote the book on how to pull this cadence off artistically and modern composers would be wise to not imitate it until they can do so with equal skill and grace.

The particular recording of this piece I listened to is with Mstislav Rostropovich on cello, accompanied by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, and in my opinion it doesn't get any better than this. One of the all-time greatest cellists accompanied by one of the 20th centuries greatest conductors and a world-class orchestra. Rostropovich's playing defies words and the Berlin Phil is, as usual, about as close to perfection as you can get. I highly recommend the piece and this particular recording. It's awe-inspiring to say this least and one of those brilliant pieces of classical music that make you feel like you can conquer the world.

Beethoven's Fire and Tears

2009-10-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Ludwig Van Beethoven once said that “Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman”. When it comes to classical music, I think that one piece can make an entire audience feel a multitude of the same powerful emotions. Those emotions may not be felt at the same time, but at some point, we will experience them: joy, sorrow, fear, anger, and so forth (the most powerful of emotions).
I think that Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9 (aka Kreutzer) is a perfect example of the meaning of the above quote. Some may feel that this piece runs too long; at just under forty minutes. But the length is part of what lends to the genius behind it: that beauty of sound could continue to last that long. I cannot imagine listening to the same country or hip-hop song for that long. Not because I don’t like the music; rather because I don’t think that any modern day artist could successfully carry it out that long and have it remain so powerful.
Aside from the length of Sonata No. 9, I think that it is the back and forth action between the violin and piano that makes it so moving for me. The first movement goes from adagio to presto and, for me; it is the violin that evokes the most emotion. For some reason, I feel sympathetic toward the violin at first. As you get further into the first movement, you feel as if there is a true competition between the piano and violin. I get the sense that the violin has to work harder in this competition and I wonder if that was Beethoven’s intention. Indeed, I’m sure it was. The final movement returns to presto; and ‘fire’ and ‘passion’ are truly the words to best describe this last part of the sonata. Only classical music can evoke so much emotion. And at last, in the last few moments of the piece, there is passion and accord between the two competitors. When it seemed as if the violin could not compete with the piano, the two finally come to an agreement and there is passionate harmony.
It is the length, passion, fire, and sympathy of this piece that give let us know that Beethoven was able to back up what he said about music. Sonata No. 9 does strike fire from the heart of man; and bring tears from the eyes of woman.

Biography and amusing facts of Ludwig van Beethoven

2009-09-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

The lives of genius people, as the lives of most of us are tinged both with tragedy, life trifles, happiness and amazing touches of greatness. Here we will take a glace at the life of Ludwig Beethoven, who having had a very humble start in life, was able to not only see and feel these touches of greatness, but to seize them and follow them to his own greatness.

Ludwig Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. The exact birth date is unknown. He was born in what we would call today a welfare family. His father was a tippler. He family was very poor and the great composer was actually born in a little attic room with only one tiny window in it. Such was his humble life start.

When he was only four, he showed his talent for music. His father was the one foster this talent, but only to use it for his mercenary purposes. He wanted to make money on his son, getting him to concert, earn and pay for his drinking. He was sent to learn to play piano, but as most of his teachers weren’t any good, he did not succeed much at first. Nevertheless, by the age of 12 Beethoven could play piano, organ and violin.

The real life changing event for young Beethoven was a meeting with the composer and organist Christian Nephe. He was albe to see Ludwig’s amazing talent and started to teach him music, introducing him to Mozart, Bach and Handel’s compositions.

His teacher was the first one to give Beethoven a start in life, but later on he had two more what I have called “touches of greatness”. He was introduced to Mozart and Joseph Haydn personally. Mozart noted his talent and said that people would hear yet of this great composer. Can you imagine something like said about you by a well known and recognized genius?

The tragedy knocked on Ludwig Beethoven door when he was 32. He was getting completely deaf. At the same period of his life Beethoven falls in love with a young aristocrat name Joliette. However, this love offers him only sorrows and some inspiration for his music, but no comfort and family to be his.

In spite of his deafness, Beethoven continues to compose music and some of his best pieces would be composed in the times of distress and depression.

Beethoven passed away in 1827 in Vienna, Austria. By this time he has written a great number of compositions, won great glory and suffered from being ignominious. It is a only a brief glace I offer you here on his life and biography, but no words can better describe you his life and personality than his own music! Here is where I am personally getting to know great composers listening to their music online: ClassicalConnect.com, my favorite site for classical music.

Biography and amusing facts of Johann Bach

2009-09-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

I believe most people in their lives have heard Johann Bach music or at least have heard about Johann Bach as of one of the most fundamental and outstanding figures among classical music composers. Johann Bach for was born on March 31, 1685 in Eisenach. His lifetime concurred with a life changing epoch, when German and Europe culture and music was in transition from baroque to classicism. So, taking the best from both epoch and music styles Bach was able to attain unbelievable perfection in his compositions.

He came from a family of musicians. His father was a violinist. It was one of the rare cases, when family traditions and life choice of profession has coincided with young Johann inclinations and passion in life. He was given his first music instrument (a violin) when he was 5. I may say the music was in his blood, so by 15 he was no more satisfied with performance only, but he craved for more and started composing music. Most of his compositions were written for organ and clavier. But, he can definitely be called an unsurpassed master of polyphony.

Even though for the most part of his life Bach worked in churches and has written many remarkable spiritual music cantatas and other church compositions, nothing human was alien to him: anger, jokes, hunger or crave for fun. When he was only a youth he headed for Hamburg to listed to a renown at the time performer. He had big passion for music and fun, but little money in his pocket.

On his way back from Hamburg he was almost starving and wished to dine at one of the roadside taverns. When he was calculating his humble assets, he saw somebody throwing fish heads about of that tavern window. He did not hesitate and went right over there to thankfully eat this doubtful life gift. He was so hungry, he almost broke his tooth over a golden coin hidden inside the fish head. Since there were three of those head, he checked them up all and found 3 golden coins in there. He had a decent meal at the tavern and went right back to Hamburg to listen to some more music. But, he never found out how those coins have gotten into fish heads!

One of the best Bach ways of amusement was to go to some poor neighborhood church, disguise into a humble organ player teacher and ask a local organist to let him play their organ. He would sit down and play so perfectly and amazingly that it was reported some people would run out off the church believing it was no human being playing their organ, but the devil himself!

Bach passed away in 1750 in Leipzig. He was famous enough during his lifetime, but after his death his music was forgotten for a while until 1820ss. Four of his sons became musicians and composers, two of which are very famous: Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emmanuel.
You may listen to many of Johann Bach compositions here at this classical music site.

An introduction to this blog, or what it is going to be about…

2009-09-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

As you may see, I am just starting this blog and it is about classic music. I myself am a classic music lover and I enjoy listening to some classical music online here.

Classic music forms an entire world of impressions, emotions and forms. Even though there is a great variety of topics to cover on the subject, here I would like to start with creating some sort of catalogue of people, the genius, who, as one Norwegian composer has perfectly worded it: were able to see, perceive and hear music, because no music can be made or written up. It can only be heard and perceived in our real world or in that no less in reality, the world of our dreams and hopes.

The history of classic music goes back to the beginning of 17th century and coincides with the epoch of classicism in Europe. This epoch was marked by a change in style of architecture and arts. And classic music of that epoch, which has laid a foundation for its overall future course and development, has mirrored the trends and impressions of the long gone epoch.

The most ‘classic’ classical composers are Bach, Mozart or Vivaldi. However, presently the term classic music is used for the most outstanding composers of 19th and 20th century. Classic music presently includes I. Straus waltz and French and Hungarian operettas, as well as more modern and vanguard pieces of such composers as John Cage.

In this blog I would like to get you acquainted with biographies and interesting life facts of many classic and more modern classic music composers. I am going to catalogue them by the countries of their origin. However, I believe there is no better way to get yourself acquainted with classic music composers than listening to their masterpieces. Today most classic music is quite available on the internet and most of them you will be able to find browsing by composers’ name here classical music.