#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalNine Week 4

September is the ninth month of the year. And so the #ClassicsaDay team decided to make the number the theme. For September 2018, the challenge is to post classical works that have to do with the number nine. 

I chose to alternate between nonets, opus nine compositions and works with a catalog number of nine. Here are my posts for the fourth and final week:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K.271

Mozart wrote his ninth piano concerto in Salzburg when he was 21. It was written for pianist Victoire Jenamy. The concerto's nickname, "Jeunehomme," is a corruption (possibly a mondegreen) of "Jenamy."

Arnold Bax - Nonet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Harp, String Quartet and Double Bass.

Bax didn't use the standard instrumentation for a nonet. He replaced the French horn and bassoon with harp and a second violin. The 1930 work was an arrangement of his 1928 Sonata in F for violin and piano.

Carl Nielsen - Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 9

Nielsen completed the first of his two violin sonata in 1895. The 30-year-old composer was heavily influenced by Brahms, although the sonata shows much of Nielsen's personality as well. Nielsen was a violinist, and the music lays well on the instrument. Although cooly received initially, the sonata is now considered part of the repertoire.

Domenico Scarlatti - Sonata for keyboard in D minor, "Pastorale" K.9.

This work was in the "Essercizi per gravicembalo," published in 1738. the exact date of composition is unknown -- it may have been as early as 1728. Scarlatti's catalog numbers can be confusing. This sonata is listed as K. 9 (Kirkpatrick), L. 413 (Longo), P. 65 (Pestelli), and Cz. 14 (Czerny). Since there was a nine in at least one of the catalog numbers, I decided it was fair game for this month's theme.

Osvaldo Golijov - Last Round for String Nonet

Golivjov's 1996 work is for four violins, two violas, two cellos, and one contrabass. The work was written in tribute to Astor Piazzolla and incorporates some elements of tango.