Saturday, January 23, 2021
Liszt - Malédiction For Piano and Strings
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Vivaldi - Concerto For 2 Mandolins And Strings RV 532
His duties at the Ospedale della pietà, the home for abandoned children, included working with the female children to teach them music and instruct them on ensemble playing as the girls made up the music ensemble of the home. Many of concertos were written to showcase the ensemble to visitors and guests, so there must have been all manner of musical instruments to learn from for the girls besides the usual strings.
Traditional bowl back mandolin |
The instrument that is usually now regarded as the mandolin is an instrument with 4 sets of pairs of strings, with each pair tuned to the same pitch. Modern tuning for the mandolin is the same as the violin.
Modern style mandolin |
II. Andante - The volume goes down and the tempo slows as the mandolins play a tune in E minor that echoes back and forth between them. To insure that the mandolins are the center attraction, Vivaldi instructs only the violins and violas to play a pizzicato accompaniment in unison.
III. Allegro - The final movement changes the meter 3/8 time and ends this concerto. This concerto has been transcribed for two guitars and it's interesting to note that many performances of the concerto with guitars is slower in tempo. Rapid tempos seem to benefit the original version for mandolins that Vivaldi wrote, but his skill and knowledge in writing for the instrument (especially in the middle movement) shows it's more versatile than usually thought.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Bach - Fugue In G Minor (Little) BWV 578
The Little G Minor Fugue is based on this subject:
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Mahler - Symphony No.1 In D Major
Composing for Mahler remained a part-time activity for most of his life, undertaken during the opera and concert off-season. Later in life he would do his composing in a small hut that he had built by the lake and away from his main house.
The 1st Symphony was completed in 1888. He originally called it a two-part tone poem but after the premiere he made extensive revisions and called it his first symphony. One of the decisions he made was to reduce it to a more traditional 4 movement symphony when he eliminated one of the middle movements. The symphony calls for a very large orchestra, over 100 players.
Hunter's Funeral Procession by Moritz von Schwind |
Bruckner - Symphony No. 2 In C Minor
This rhythm is as important as any theme in the first movement, as it is heard throughout the movement in many different tonal forms. The second theme group starts in the strings and the key shifts to E-flat major. The third theme group is also in E-flat major, and begins with a persistent rhythm in the low strings of a quarter note - two eighth notes.
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Glière - String Quartet No. 2 In G Minor, Opus 20
He followed in the steps of the Mighty Five of Russian music; Rimsky-Korsakov ( Glière dedicated the 2nd String Quartet to him), Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin, and Cui, as Russian folk song played a large role in his compositions. One of his most well known works is the 1911 epic 3rd Symphony 'Ilya Muromets', which uses Russian folklore and folk music. As with many composers early in their career, he wrote chamber music as well. He wrote two of his four string quartets early on, with the 2nd in G Minor in 1905.
I. Allegro moderato - The first movement starts straight off with the first of two quite Russian sounding themes in the 1st violin:
This theme gets a short development before it is repeated in the 1st and 2nd violins. A section of key changes and mood changes prepares the way for the 2nd theme in D major that is based on a Russian folksong:II. Andante - A theme in E-flat major opens the movement in the 1st violin, and on repetition by the cello:
A middle section moves into different keys and increases movement slightly and has sections where it grows more passionate, but for the most part the music stays tranquil. The music slowly slows in volume as the theme returns. The music comes to a gentle, quiet close in the key in which it began.
III. Vivace - The 2nd violin begins the movement playing a fifth of A and E, sounding like a village fiddler beginning a dance:
The 1st violin plays the melody that is punctuated by trills. A contrasting section is in the key of D-flat major and modulated to other keys and moods before the music returns to the opening dance. The movement ends with a quiet refrain of the dance, and a hushed chord of string harmonics.IV. Orientale: Andante - Allegro - The final movement begins with 1st and 2nd violins playing in unison, and the viola and cello playing the same melody in unison an octave lower. the music is in the key of G minor, but the ear detects something different about it:
This is a type of minor scale that is heard in different kinds of folk music, sometimes from quite different areas. I have heard it called the Hungarian Gypsy scale, some call it the harmonic melodic scale. No doubt Glière came across the scale in the research he did in Russian folk music. It has an exotic sound to it, and fits quite well in a movement called Orientale.Thursday, January 14, 2021
Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3, "Organ"
This Symphony, divided into two parts, nevertheless includes practically the traditional four movements: the first, checked in development, serves as an introduction to the Adagio, and the scherzo is connected after the same manner with the finale. The composer has thus sought to shun in a certain measure the interminable repetitions which are more and more disappearing from instrumental music.
II. Allegro moderato – Presto - A new theme in the agitated rhythm of the first movement enters, and is followed by another variant of the main theme. The trio of this scherzo has another variant of the main theme and includes the piano in the mix. The scherzo is repeated, parts of the trio are repeated after which the music slowly leads to the first theme that has shifted from C minor to C major and acts as a segue to the last movement:
Maestoso - Allegro - A huge C major chord begins the last movement, the strings and organ alternate until the strings and piano (played 4 hands) transform the first theme in a rippling chorale. Saint-Saëns pulls out all the stops of the organ (and orchestra) in a repeat of the main theme chorale, after which a short fugue discusses the main theme in a different variation of it. The main theme continues to grow and mutate throughout the movement until Saint-Saëns goes completely over the top with full orchestra and organ as the tempo increases and the music races to a grand ending.
Saint-Saëns was a master of the piano, as well as the organ (Liszt called him the best organist in the world) and orchestra. This symphony combines his mastery of instruments and instrumentation into one of the most popular symphonies ever written. The composer himself thought that this symphony was his last, as he said:
I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again.There are of course listeners that don't like the 3rd Symphony, as with any piece of music. Music is a very personal thing after all. But from time to time the symphony still receives harsh criticism, perhaps left over from a tradition of throwing rotten eggs at Saint-Saëns because of what he became late in life.