February is the shortest month of the year. That fact inspired #ClassicsaDay team (of which I'm a member) to make short classical pieces the theme for the month. The challenge is to select stand-alone works, not movements of larger pieces.
Participants post links to short classical pieces in the social media channel of their choice, using the #ClassicsaDay and #ClassicalShorts hashtags. How short is short? That's up to the individual. I limited my selections to playing times of less than ten minutes. I also tried to include a variety of style periods, and have both famous and unusual works in the mix. Here are my selections for the third week of #ClassicalShorts.
Ethel Smyth - On the Cliffs of Cornwall
"The Wreckers" was the third of Smyth's six operas. Like many composers, she extracted extended orchestral sections for concert performance. "On the Cliffs of Cornwall" serves as the prelude to act 2.
Thomas Tallis - Spem in Alium
A 1611 letter suggests that Tallis wrote this 40-voice motet as a challenge to a 30-voice piece by Alessandro Striggio. Tallis used 8 choirs of 5 voices each in a masterful display of counterpoint.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina- Motete Ego sum panis vivus
This is one of the over 200 sacred motets Palestrina wrote. It's considered a masterwork of form and structure, both in its use of voices and the way in which the melodic lines react to and illustrate the text.
Stefania de Kenessey - Sunburst
Contemporary composer Stefania de Kenessey launched the Derriere Guard "to return to long-forgotten, long-abandoned ideas rooted in history and tradition." As "Sunburst" illustrates, the idea was to reimagine tonality in a modern context.
Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question
Ives wrote the work in 1908, although it wasn't performed until 1946 -- by a student ensemble at Julliard. The work features offstage strings, an onstage woodwind ensemble, and a solo trumpet.
February is the shortest month of the year. That fact inspired #ClassicsaDay team (of which I'm a member) to make short classical pieces the theme for the month. The challenge is to select stand-alone works, not movements of larger pieces.
Participants post links to short classical pieces in the social media channel of their choice, using the #ClassicsaDay and #ClassicalShorts hashtags. How short is short? That's up to the individual. I limited my selections to playing times of less than ten minutes. I also tried to include a variety of style periods, and have both famous and unusual works in the mix. Here are my selections for the third week of #ClassicalShorts.
Jean Sibelius - Finlandia, Op. 26
Sibelius' 1899 tome poem was veiled protest of Russian censorship. It was originally the finale to a tableau of Finnish history. To avoid censorship, the work would be listed in programmes with different titles.
Carl Friedrich Abel - Symphony No. 1 in G major, Op. 7
Abel team up with Johann Christian Bach to present a concert series in London. The highly successful Bach-Abel concerts ran from 1764-1782. Many of Abel's symphonies were written for these concerts.
Paul Hindemith - Konzertstucke for Two Alto saxophones
Beginning in the 1920s, saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr asked composers to write for his instrument to expand the repertoire. Hindemith was so excited by the prospect he wrote a work for two soloists (although Raschèr didn't have another soloist in mind).
Joseph Jongen - Piano Sonatina op 88
Jongen was an important organist and composer of the early 20th Century. Although he wrote over 240 works in all genres, only his organ pieces are regularly performed -- and other notable keyboard compositions such as this sonatina.
Barbara Strozzi - L'amante secreto
Venetian Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was renowned for her singing and composing. In her lifetime eight volumes of her vocal music were published. "L'amante secreto" is a good example of her vocal writing.
George Enescu - Konzertstucke for violin and piano
The Konzertucke was commissioned by Gabriel Fauré for an international competition hosted by the Paris Conservatoire. Enescu sat on the jury, and also wrote companion jury pieces for trumpet, harp. and flute.
February is the shortest month of the year. That fact inspired #ClassicsaDay team (of which I'm a member) to make short classical pieces the theme for the month. The challenge is to select stand-alone works, not movements of larger pieces.
Participants post links to short classical pieces in the social media channel of their choice, using the #ClassicsaDay and #ClassicalShorts hashtags. How short is short? That's up to the individual. I limited my selections to playing times of less than ten minutes. I also tried to include a variety of style periods, and have both famous and unusual works in the mix. Here are my selections for the second week of #ClassicalShorts.
Anton Webern Symphony No. 21
Webern's 1928 symphony distilled the form down to its essence. Webern used klangfarbenmelodie (tone-color melody) extensively. The melody's broken up, and passing from one instrument to another, often note by note.
Felix Mendelssohn - Konzertstuck No. 1 Op. 113
This is one of two pieces Mendelssohn wrote for a clarinet, basset horn and piano trio in 1833. They were for Heinrich Bauermann (clarinet) and his sone Carl (basset horn) who toured Europe with the works.
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer - Sonata a tre
Schmelzer arrived in Vienna in the 1630s and spent his career in service to Emperor Leopold I. Works such as this sonata influenced Heinrich Biber, who may have been his student.
Cécile Chaminade - Flute Concertino Op. 107
The concertino was written in 1902 for the Paris Conservatoire. The work is extremely difficult and is often used as a jury piece as well as a concert work.
Steve Reich - Clapping Music
Reich's 1972 work is a model of minimalism. It requires just two performers clapping hands. Its material is simple as well. The motion of the work comes from the rhythmic pattern moving in and out of phase with itself.
February is the shortest month of the year. That fact inspired #ClassicsaDay team (of which I'm a member) to make short classical pieces the theme for the month. The challenge is to select stand-alone works, not movements of larger pieces.
Participants post links to short classical pieces in the social media channel of their choice, using the #ClassicsaDay and #ClassicalShorts hashtags. How short is short? That's up to the individual. I limited my selections to playing times of less than ten minutes. I also tried to include a variety of style periods, and have both famous and unusual works in the mix. Here are my selections for the first week of #ClassicalShorts.
John Adams - Short Ride on a Fast Machine
Adams considers this 1986 work a fanfare for orchestra. "Short Ride" is one of Adams' popular and oft-performed compositions.
C.P.E. Bach, Solfeggietto in C minor
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote this piece in 1766. It's one of his most famous compositions. The work consists of a single line melody, distributed between the clefs. It's often used to train students to play equally with both hands.
Fritz Kreisler, 'Schön Rosmarin'
This work was originally part of "3 Old Viennese Dances." Over time, this popular tune has taken on a life of its own as an encore piece.
Claudio Monteverdi, 'Cantate Domino'
Monteverdi's setting of Psalm 97 is for six voices -- 2 sopranos, alto, tenor, and 2 basses. The title, "Cantate Domino canticum novum" means "Sing to the Lord a new song."
Frederic Chopin Nocturne No. 5 in F-sharp major Op. 15 No. 2
Chopin dedicated his Op. 15 Nocturnes to Ferdinand Hiller, an important composer, and pianist of the era. The Nocturne in F-sharp major is a technically demanding work, worthy of Hiller's talents.
Francisco Tarrega, 'Lagrima'
This is one of Tarrega's most popular works. The guitar virtuoso composed it while touring London in 1881. The composition exists in different forms, and there's some question as to which (if any) is the prelude as Tarrega wrote it.
