#ClassicsaDay #PrideMonth Week 1, 2025

 The #ClassicsaDay team celebrates Pride Month this June. The wide spectrum of sexual identities is now common knowledge. But there have always been non-cis people. Some were able to live openly, others had to hide their orientation to live. 

For the challenge, I included as many pre-20th-century composers as possible. Here are my posts for the first week of #PrideWeek. 

06/02/25 Dominique Phinot (c.1510-c.1556): Messe Quam Pulchra es

Phinot was a major composer of sacred music. Palestrina and De Lassus, who followed him, used his works as models. His music was published widely. In 1556, he was executed in Lyons for "homosexual practices."

06/03/25 Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy (1605-1677): Airs a quatre parties

Coypeau had a taste for low entertainment, such as puppet shows and organ grinders. He incorporated those common elements into his own music with witty satire. He was believed to be the lover of Cyrano de Bergerac, both of whom were members of an all-male "free spirits" club.

06/04/25 Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687): Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs

At one time, Lully was the most influential musician at Louis XIV's court. Although he was married with children, his homosexual encounters eventually cost him the patronage of the king. 

06/05/25 Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684):Entsetze dich, Natur

Rosenmüller was a German composer who spent a large amount of time in Italy. His career was derailed in 1655 when he was accused of molesting choirboys. Rosenmüller fled Italy, but on for a while. By 1658, he was at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. 

06/06/25 Frederick the Great (1712-1786): Flute Concerto No. 4 in D minor

Frederick's preference for men was an open secret at court. As a musician, he was a talented performer and composer, and he employed some of Europe's best musicians. 

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 4, 2025

    Our neighbor to the south has a long, rich history of classical music. A much longer history than ours, in fact. For May, the Classics a Day team encourages folks to post videos of Mexican classical music. 

There's a lot to choose from. The first composers in New Spain were writing in the 1500s. 

Here are my posts for the third week of #ClassicalMexico.

05/26/25 Carlos Chávez (1899–1978): Xochipilli

Chávez subtitled this work "An Imagined Aztec Music. The subject is the Aztec god Xochipilli-Macuilxóchitl. The ensemble mimics the sound of pre-Columbian instruments.

05/27/25 Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940): 5 Canciones de Ninos & 2 Conciones Profanas para Voz y Piano

Reveultas first published this collection of songs in 1945 for voice and piano. In 1969, an arrangement for voice and orchestra was made available. 

05/28/25 Eduardo Hernández Moncada (1899–1995): Sinfonia No. 1

Moncada was a member of the Nationalist Movement. As such, he was vitally interested in blending traditional Mexican musical forms with those of modern classical to create a true national style.  

05/29/25 Alfonso de Elias (1902-1984): Intermezzo

de Elias was a virtuoso pianist. And while he wrote many piano works, he also produced other forms of music: symphonies, ballets, concertos, string quartets, and other chamber music.  

05/30/25 Luis Sandi (1905–1996): Sinfonia No. 2

Sandi studied with Carlo Chavez (among others). He conducted Mexico's top orchestras and was a member of the International Music Council of UNESCO. 

Next Month:

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 3, 2025

   Our neighbor to the south has a long, rich history of classical music. A much longer history than ours, in fact. For May, the Classics a Day team encourages folks to post videos of Mexican classical music. 

There's a lot to choose from. The first composers in New Spain were writing in the 1500s. 

Here are my posts for the third week of #ClassicalMexico.

05/19/25 Alfredo Carrasco (1875–1945): Romanza in palabras

Carrasco spent most of his professional career in Mexico City. Romanza in palabras is one of his most popular works.

 

05/20/25 Julián Carrillo Trujillo (1875–1965): Primera Suite para Orquesta, Op. 1

Carrillo would eventually develop his own musical system, Sonido 13. IN his early days, he composed music, like this suite, for a local orchestra.

 

05/21/25 José Rolón (1876–1945): Vals Capricho Op. 14 "Sobre las Oas"

Rolón studied with Nadia Boulanger in the early 20th Century. He would later found the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco.

 

05/22/25 Manuel María Ponce (1882–1948): Intermezzo

Ponce was a composer and music educator vitally interested in Mexican music. He wanted to preserve both the folk and classical traditions of his country. His own work shows indigenous music influence.

 

05/23/25 Arnulfo Miramontes (1882–1960): Sinfonia No. 1

Miramontes was a pianist, conductor, and composer who wrote in the Post-Romantic style. His first symphony was written in 1916. During the 1910s, he also composed a piano concerto, opera, requiem mass, and some important chamber music.

 

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 2, 2025

  Our neighbor to the south has a long, rich history of classical music. A much longer history than ours, in fact. For May, the Classics a Day team encourages folks to post videos of Mexican classical music. 

There's a lot to choose from. The first composers in New Spain were writing in the 1500s. 

Here are my posts for the second week of #ClassicalMexico.

05/12/25 Macedonio Alcalá (1831–1869): Dios munca muere

Alcalá was a violinist and pianist. Most of his music was improvised and unfortunately, seldom transcribed. One of his most popular works was Dios munca muere, written in 1868.

 

05/13/25 Melesio Morales (1839–1908): Il Sospiro d'Amore

Morales was a native Mexican opera composer. He achieved success as such in Florence in 1866. He wrote 10 operas, 2 cantatas, and several other works.

 

05/14/25 Guadalupe Olmedo (1853–1889): String Quartet Op. 14

Olmedo was the first woman to graduate from the National Conservatory of Music in 1875. This string quartet was one of 15 works she submitted for her degree examination (which she easily passed).

 

05/15/25 Ricardo Castro (1864–1907): Piano Concerto in A minor, OP. 22

Castro was equally famous as a pianist and a composer. He wrote his only piano concerto in 1940. 

   

05/16/25 Luis Sandi (1905–1996): La Hoja de Plata

Sandi was a conductor, teacher, and composer. Although a large part of his output was choral, Sandi also wrote some important works for orchestra.

 

Miklos Rozsa: Sinfonia Concertante

Miklos Rozsa is one of the great film composers of Hollywood's Golden Age. He scored over 100 films.

Rozsa was nominated 17 times for an Oscar and won three times. But that was only half of what he called his "double life."

Rozsa left Nazi Germany in 1931, then moved to France and England, always one step ahead of the invaders. At that time, he was a renowned composer of classical music. When he came to the United States in 1940, he became a rising star in the film industry.

But Rozsa continues to compose "serious" music for the concert hall. This release features three works written while Rosza lived his double life. It also includes the 1929 Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 3, when he was known only as a classical composer.

This early work is very much a post-Romantic showpiece. Gestures are large and dramatic, with a Brahmsian influence. Cellist Harriet Krijgh really sells the work. Her playing is expressive and emotive, but never over the top.

Rozsa completed his Sinfonia concertante for violin, cello, and orchestra, Op. 29, in 1958. This is a much more complex work, with a relaxed tonal structure. Rozsa's use of violin and cello presents both instruments at their best. Their interchanges sometimes take unexpected turns.

Sometimes film composers (even those who started in the concert hall) can only write Hollywood-style works. Rozsa is different. He successfully pulled off his double life. He created concert works that don't sound like soundtrack cues stitched together.

Gregor Buhl directs the Deutsche Staatsphilharmoni Rheinland-Pfalz. Their playing is disciplined with a concentrated power that matches the soloists.

Sure, I love the scores to "El Cid" and "Ben Hur." But I also like these works -- for different reasons. Recommended.

Miklos Rozsa: Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello and orchestra, Op. 29
Notturno ungherese, Op. 28; Rhapsody for cello and orchestra, Op. 3
Harriet Krijgh, cello; Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, violin
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz; Gregor Buhl, conductor
Capriccio C5535