#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 3

Mexico has a long classical music tradition, extending back to the late 1500s. Composers emigrated from Spain to supply the great Mexican cathedrals with music. Within a generation, native-born composers assumed those roles. 

The Classics a Day team realizes that Cinco de Mayo is more of an American than a Mexican holiday. But it is an opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture. And so, the challenge for May is to post examples of Mexican classical music on your social media platforms.

Right from the beginning the traditional music of the native population influenced the classical composers. As a result, Mexican classical music has become a natural expression of the national character.

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

05/13/24 Alfonso de Elias (1902-1984): Sinfonia No. 3

Elias's style remained solidly Post-Romantic, even as the century progressed. He was also an important pianist and piano pedagogue.

 

05/14/24 Manuel de Sumaya (1678–1755): Missa a 8 de tercer tono

Sumaya was the most famous Mexican composer in the New Spain colony. He was the first to write an opera in North America, modeled after Italian grand opera.

 

05/15/24 Graciela Agudelo (1945–2018): Parajes de la Memoria: La Selva

Agudelo avoided folk elements in her music. She helped found the Mexican Society of New Music and started the contemporary music group Onix Ensamble.

 

05/16/24 Felipe Villanueva (1862–1893): Amar (Nocturno)

Villanueva was a gifted pianist and violinist, as well as a composer. Although he died at 31, he's still considered one of the major figures of Mexican music during the Romantic Era.

 

Avalon String Quartet Give Chicago Composers Some Love

This is the kind of release I like. The Avalon String Quartet present works seldom heard. And they're all works that deserve to be heard -- a lot. 

Florence Price had some remarkable achievements to her credit. In the 1930s her works were performed by major symphonies -- the first for a Black female composer. Her piano concerto attracted critical attention. But when she died in 1953, her passing was hardly noted. 

Many of her works remained unperformed and unheard. And most of it was considered lost until 2009. That's when renovations began on her former Chicago home. The workers discovered a large cache of Price's manuscripts. That collection revived Price's reputation.

Her String Quartet No. 2 was written in 1935. It was only published after its rediscovery in 2009. It's a beautifully crafted work. Price effortlessly blends a late-Romantic style with African-American traditional music.

Leo Sowerby was another Chicagoan whose oeuvre also awaits discovery. He composed over 500 works, many of them still in manuscript. His String Quartet in G minor is one such piece. It was written the same year as Price's second quartet. But it's a very different composition. 

Price focused on melody and harmony. Sowerby focused on linear development. It's how the four instruments interact that makes the music. 

The Avalon Quartet performs these works with sympathy and enthusiasm. Their message: this music is a joy to perform, and you should listen. I did, and I agree. 

Also included is Price's Five Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet. This 1951 shows Price just as talented at polyphony as Sowerby. What interested me was the subject matter. Price didn't select five Negro spirituals. "Clementine" and "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" are also present.

The Avalon Quartet makes a strong case for these works to be heard. And to be heard more often. Recommended.

Florence Beatrice Price; Leo Sowerby
Music for String Quartet
Avalon String Quartet
Naxos 8.559911

The Pre-Raphaelite Cello - British Gold

My first reaction when this release crossed my desk wasn't kind. I had nothing against the composers or the performers -- just the title. The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of British painters and poets who wanted authenticity. 

In the 1850s the mannered style of Raphael and Michelangelo defined academic art. As their name suggests, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were inspired by an earlier style. It was one of intense color and an almost hyperrealistic luminosity. (See the cover for this release.)

The Pre-Raphaelite movement petered out in the mid-1850s. So how, I wondered, could these early 20th-century composers be considered Pre-Raphaelite? According to the liner notes, it's because that's how they defined themselves. 

Percy Grainger coined the term. There were some characteristic harmonies that this loose group of British composers favored. To him, those harmonies were the sonic equivalent of the Pre-Raphaelites' use of color.

Given that, my objection to the title went away. And that knowledge also helped me hear the context of this music. Most of the works were written for British cello virtuoso Beatrice Harrison. Her playing helped define the style of the composers who wrote for her. 

This release presents a roster of composers whom Grainger considered Pre-Raphaelite. There is a similarity in style. Most have the late Romantic post-Brahms sound of Charles Villiers Stanford. But it's mixed with something new. Interest in British folk music was on the rise. Many of these works have modal harmonies and distinctively British melodic turns. 

Adrian Bradbury performs with a clear, warm tone. Many of these works want to sing, and Bradbury's instrument does so. Listen to his heart-melting performance of Roger Quilter's "L'Amour de moy."

Cyrll Scott's compositions border on Debussy-like Impressionism. I especially recommend "Ballade," a 12-minute journey of exploration. 

Every track is a well-crafted miniature. And yes, there is a commonality to these works. Highly recommended for the music, the performances and, yes, even the title.

The Pre-Raphaelite Cello
Adrian Bradbury, cello; Andrew West, piano
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD 0685

Welcome Purcell Reissues from William Christie

 

Well this is a nice present. In honor of William Christie's 90th birthday, Harmonia Mundi is reissuing some of his landmark recordings. This particular present is a two-disc set of Purcell. It's really a present for us all. 

Christie and Les Arts Florissants recorded Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" in 1989. "The Fairy Queen" recording followed three years later. Both the recorded sound and performances have aged well. 

Early music, like other aspects of classical music, is an evolving art form. Over time ideas about interpretations evolve. New recordings of this material can sound very different than Christie's. 

But William Christie's genius was in finding the balance between scholarship and musicality. These are well-researched, historically-informed performances. Les Arts Florissants effectively recreated the sound heard in Purcell's time. 

But they're also musical performances. Purcell's 1689 "Dido and Aeneas" is considered the first English opera. His work "The Fairy Queen" from 1692 is based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." These are both dramatic works for the theater.

Christie knew he was telling stories with these works. Both performances effectively convey the dramas. If you know nothing about 17th-century music, you can still enjoy these stories. 

Everything is sung with such clean, clear articulation. You might not even need the libretto. These recordings are as rewarding to listen to today as they were when first released.

As I say, this set is a present to us all.  

Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas; The Fairy Queen
Les Arts Florissants; William Christie, conductor
Harmonia Mundi HAX 8904106.08
2 CD Set

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 2

Mexico has a long classical music tradition, extending back to the late 1500s. Composers emigrated from Spain to supply the great Mexican cathedrals with music. Within a generation, native-born composers assumed those roles. 

The Classics a Day team realizes that Cinco de Mayo is more of an American than a Mexican holiday. But it is an opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture. And so, the challenge for May is to post examples of Mexican classical music on your social media platforms.

Right from the beginning the traditional music of the native population influenced the classical composers. As a result, Mexican classical music has become a natural expression of the national character.

Here are my selections for the first week of #ClassicalMexico.

05/06/24 José Mariano Elízaga (1786–1842): Ultimas variaciones

Elizage is considered the most important Mexican composer of the early Romantic period. The bulk of his music was considered lost until a cache was discovered in 1994.

 

05/07/24 Cenobio Paniagua (1821-1882): String Quartet No. 1

Paniagua was a violinist as well as a composer. He was the second conductor of the Cathedral Orchestra in Mexico City. Paniagua wrote several operas as well as 70 masses. 

 

05/08/24 Aniceto Ortega (1825–1875): Vals Jarabe

Ortega was a physician, as well as a pianist and composer. He founded Mexico's first hospital for women and children in the 1840s. Ortega helped found the Sociedad Filarmónica Mexicana. And he wrote the first opera based on a native Mexican story --Guatimotzin.  

05/09/24 Felipe Villanueva (1862–1893): Amar (Nocturno)

Villanueva was a gifted pianist and violinist, as well as a composer. Although he died at 31, he's still considered one of the major figures of Mexican music during the Romantic Era.  

05/10/24 Salvador Contreras (1910–1982): Corridos para Coro y Oquestra

Contreras was a composer and violinist. He studied with both Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chavez. His own style evolved from neo-romantic to serial composition.