Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made "eleven" the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number.
I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. Some are the eleventh published work. Some had the number eleven assigned to them in some way by a cataloger.
There are many ways to arrive at #ClassicalEleven - here are my choices for the fourth and final week.
11/25/19 David Conte - Sinfonietta for 11 instruments
This work is a transcription of Conte's Sinfonietta. Conte created the chamber music version for a 2015 concert honoring his 60th birthday.
11/26/19 Louis Spohr - Violin Concerto No. 11 in G major, Op. 70
Spohr is credited with 18 violin concertos -- three without opus numbers. No. 11 was composed and premiered in 1827.
11/27/19 Arnold Schoenberg - Drei Klavierstucke, Op. 11
These 1909 compositions are some of Schoenberg's earliest experiments with atonality. Even so, there's a lyrical element to these works his later strict dodecaphonic writing would deliberately avoid.
11/28/19 Heitor Villa-Lobos - Etude No. 11
This etude is of Villa-Lobos' "Twelve Études for Guitar." No. 11 is basically arpeggios, with challenging left-hand stretches.
11/29/19 Igor Stravinsky - Ragtime for Eleven Instruments
This 1918 work is part of a trilogy reflecting Stravinsky's interest in jazz (A Soldier's Tale and Piano-Rag-Music are the other two). Balanchine choreographed in the piece in the 1960s.
Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made "eleven" the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number.
I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. Some are the eleventh published work. Some had the number eleven assigned to them in some way by a cataloger. There are many ways to arrive at #ClassicalEleven - here are my choices for the third week.
11/18/19 Henry Cowell - Symphony No. 11 "Seven Rituals of Music"
According to Cowell, there are seven rituals of music in one's life: birth, work, play, dance, love, war, and death. This 1954 work depicts all of them.
11/19/19 Muzio Clementi - Toccata in B-flat, Op. 11
Clementi's 1784 sonata was first published by John Kerpden of London. Clementi was based in the city, involved with both performing and piano manufacturing.
11/20/19 Franz Schubert - "Der Spiegelritter" D.11
"The Mirror Knight" was an unfinished singspiel Schubert worked on in 1811. Only the overture and five musical numbers were completed.
11/21/19 George Fridrich Handel - "Amadigi di Gaula" HWV 11
This was the fifth Italian opera Handel wrote for English audiences. The 1714 opera was successful, with runs in London and Hamburg (1717-1720).
11/22/19 Dominico Scarlatti - Keyboard Sonata in C minor, K. 11
This sonata was first published in "Essercizi per Gravicembalo." The 1738 collection included 30 keyboard exercises written by Scarlatti.
Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made "eleven" the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number.
I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. Some are the eleventh published work. Some had the number eleven assigned to them in some way by a cataloger.
There are many ways to arrive at #ClassicalEleven - here are my choices for the second week.
11/11/19 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No. 11 in D major, K. 84
19th Century copies of the score attributed this 1770 work to either Leopold Mozart or Carl Dittersdorf. The current scholarship believes it is an authentic WA Mozart symphony.
11/12/19 Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
The Adagio is an arrangement of the slow movement of Barber's string quartet. Barber also made a choral arrangement, Agnus Dei in 1967.
11/13/19 Heinrich Schutz - Es erhub sich ein Streit im Himmel, SWV Anh. 11
This work takes its text from Revelation; specifically, the War in Heaven. It features four 3-voice choirs, plus brass representing the various combatants.
11/14/19 Dag Wiren - Serenade for Strings, Op. 11
Wiren once said his first desire as a composer was to entertain and please. His Serenade does just that, and has become his most-played and recorded composition.
11/15/19 Nikolai Medtner - Sonata Triad, Op. 11, No. 1
This work is part of a trio of one-movement sonatas. Medtner's inspiration was "Trilogy of Passion" by Goethe.
Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made "eleven" the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number.
I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. Some are the eleventh published work. Some had the number eleven assigned to them in some way by a cataloger.
There are many ways to arrive at #ClassicalEleven - here are my choices for the first full week.
11/01/19 Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 11 "All Men are Brothers" Op. 186
Hovhaness' eleventh symphony (out of 67) was finished in 1960. It incorporates some of his early music from the 1920s-30s, most of which he destroyed.
11/04/19 Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, Op. 22
This sonata was completed in 1800. Beethoven labeled it a "grand" sonata, indicating it had four movements instead of three.
11/05/19 Johann Sebastian Bach: Himmelfahrts-Oratorium, BWV 11
Bach wrote the "Ascension Oratorio" for the feast day service May 19, 1735. The large-scale work is a blend of new music and recycled material from earlier cantatas.
11/06/19 Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel - Piano Trio, Op. 11
Fanny wrote the trio as a birthday present for her sister in 1847. It was completed just before her death, and published posthumously.
11/07/19 Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 1, Op. 11
Mendelssohn completed the symphony at age 15. It was privately premiered in 1827 to honor his sister Fanny.
11/08/19 Giovanni Punto - Horn Concerto No. 11 in E-major
Punto (1746-1803) was a Czech horn player. He developed the hand-stopping technique that allowed natural horns to play more pitches.
