#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalQuartet Week 4

April is the fourth month of the year. And so the Classics a Day team decided to make it quartet month. This April the challenge is to post classical works that require four musicians. String quartets are the most common grouping of four -- but there are others. 

A piano trio has four players. And many 20th and 21st-Century quartets bring together unusual combinations of instruments. There's a lot to choose from!

Here are my posts for the fourth and final week of #ClassicsaDay for April's #ClassicalQuartet.

4/24/23 Joan Tower: In Memory (for string quartet)

Tower composed this quartet in 2002. It was written in memory of friend who died in the September 11th attack.

4/25/23 Johann Baptist Vanhal: Quartet for oboe and strings in F major, Op. 7

Bohemian composer was also an organist, violinist, and cellist. But that didn't prevent him from writing music for other instruments. Like this chamber work for oboe and strings.

4/26/23 Emil von Reznicek: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor

Reznicek was a friend and colleague of Richard Strauss (at least for a while). The first of his six numbered string quartet was written in 1882.

4/27/23 Arthur Foote: Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 23

Foote was a member of the influencial "Boston Six" group of American composers that included George Whitefield Chadwick, John Knowles Paine, Amy Beach, and Horatio Parker. He wrote primarily chamber music, like this 1890 piano quartet.

4/28/23 Charles ives: String Quartet No. 1 "From the Salvation Army"

Ives wrote his first quartet while studying at Yale with Horatio Parker. Its title refers to a revival service that the music depicts.

4/28/23 Joachim Raff: String Quartet No. 8 in C major, Op. 192, No. 3 "Suite in Canon Form"

Raff's final string quartet is significantly different than the previous seven. Rather than use the standard four-movement form, Raff opted for seven short dance movements. Further, each movement uses canonic development.

Next month:

Kevin Gorman continues exciting new cycle

Williams Bland composed an extraordinary cycle of piano sonatas. There are twenty-four in all, one for each major and minor key. Kevin Gorman has already recorded Sonatas Nos. 17 and 18 for Bridge. This release features nos. 9 and 10. Here's hoping for a complete cycle!

Both sonatas on this release were written in 2001, and each takes the listener on a journey. Bland is a composer who follows his own muse. His style is a seamless blend of late- and post-Romanticism, jazz, pop, and a few other genres. But it's not a hodgepodge. 

These works are carefully constructed. Stylistic shifts are as important as key changes in developing his themes. 

Sonata No. 9 in F major is titled "Spring." Its title refers not so much to the season, but rather what the season brings. As Bland describes it, "atmosphere, love and lust, flowers and anticipation." And his music delivers. 

The third movement, "Flowers" is subdivided into several sections. Each section references a different blossom. And each section is music of rare and delicate beauty.

Sonata No. 10 in E minor has quite a different character. Here Bland seems inspired by composers such as Schubert and Chopin. 

As with Schubert's piano sonatas, I didn't try to discern where the themes fit in a formal structure. Rather, I just let the music carry me from one idea to the next. And enjoyed every minute of it. 

Gorman's performances are committed and sure. And that's a good thing. These sonatas are not easy to play. And it takes a high degree of musicality to bring out the expressive narratives of these works. Bland easily succeeds at both. 

I'm very much looking forward to the next volume.

William Bland: Piano Sonata No. 9 in F major "Spring"
Piano Sonata No. 10 in E minor; Nouveau Rag
Kevin Gorman, piano
Bridge Records 9580

Leipzig 1723 - Audition Cantatas Impress

Many music lovers know that in 1723 Johann Sebastian Bach became Tomaskantor in Leipzig. He would remain there the rest of his life, composing some of his greatest works for the church. 

Not as many know that Bach wasn't the town council's first choice. Or even their second choice.  And most -- including myself -- were unaware of the application requirements. 

Johann Kuhnau, Tomaskantor from 1701 to 1722, was a polymath. He composed weekly church services and played the organ. Kuhnau also taught at the Thomasschule. And he practiced law,  published novels, and translated classical literature. 

The council quickly realized they weren't going to find another Kuhnau. But they tried.

The applicants had to compose two cantatas based on texts supplied by the council (one of whom was a poet). The council would then hear the application pieces. They were performed in Thomaskirche with the applicant conducting. The council's first choice was Germany's greatest composer -- George Philipp Telemann. 

He passed the musical test easily and was promptly hired. Within a week Telemann resigned -- his former employer had come through with a better offer. 

Next on the list was Christoph Graupner. After hearing his cantatas, the council was ready to sign. But not Graupner. He, too, was using the gig to negotiate a better deal with his current employer. But he did recommend a friend of his -- Johann Sebastian Bach.

The council, twice burned, waited until Graupner confirmed he was unavailable. Only then, after two months, did Bach get the nod. 

This release presents the audition cantatas of the three composers. And they're quite different stylistically. Aelbut and the Capalla Jenensis give these works spirited readings. In a way, these are showpieces. Each composer stresses his strengths to impress the council. 

Telemann presents ingenious word painting coupled with imaginative orchestration. Graupner delivers lush, almost operatic works. And Bach gave the council introspective spiritual works. As one council member remarked, Bach's music "was highly praised by all those who appreciate such things!"

Here's my recommendation. Get this release, and without looking at the liner notes, do some blind listening tests. Based on the music alone, who would you hire? 

Leipzig 1723: Telemann, Graupner, Bach
AElbtu; Capella Jenensis
Accentus

Eugene Zador - Celebration Music Release cause for celebration

This release is the seventh in Naxos' Eugene Zador series. And it's an album comprised entirely of world premiere recordings. 

Zador was for many years the top film orchestrator at M-G-M Studios. In the 1950s he worked closely with fellow Hungarian Miklos Rozsa. They collaborated on several classic films like Ben Hur, Quo Vadus, and King of Kings. 

But Zador was more than a talented journeyman. In Hungary, he was an important composer. His career derailed in 1939 when he fled the Nazis and emigrated to America. And while he worked in a dream factory by day, he kept his own dreams alive. 

Zador's name never appeared in the credits of any film. He reserved it for his serious music, which he continued to compose. This release presents a sampling of those works, mainly from the latter part of his career. 

The 1931 Chamber Concerto hints at the direction Zador might have taken without the war. It's a sparsely orchestrated piece, somewhat resembling Bartok mixed with Stravinsky. This was definitely contemporary music. 

The remaining works from the 1960s and 1970s tell a different story. The music is more tonal, although it's a very free-form tonality. Occasionally I could hear passages that reminded me of his film work. But this isn't film music. 

Zador's themes are deceptively complex. It's only as the work unfolds that the complexity begins to resolve itself.

Eugene Zador: Celebration Music
Chamber Concerto; Suite for Horn, Strings, and Percussion
Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV; Mariusz Smolij, conductor
Naxos 8.574262

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalQuartet Week 3

April is the fourth month of the year. And so the Classics a Day team decided to make it quartet month. This April the challenge is to post classical works that require four musicians. String quartets are the most common grouping of four -- but there are others. 

A piano trio has four players. And many 20th and 21st-Century quartets bring together unusual combinations of instruments. There's a lot to choose from!

Here are my posts for the third week of #ClassicsaDay for April's #ClassicalQuartet.

04/17/23 Anton Webern: String Quartet (1905)

Webern was in his third year of studies at Vienna University when he composed this single-movement string quartet. According to one source, the paintings of Giovanni Segantini may have inspired Webern's composition of the quartet.

4/18/23 Ernst von Dohnanyi: String Quartet No. 3 in A minor, Op. 33

Hungarian composer von Dohnanyi wrote three string quartets. His final one was completed in 1926. He did not revisit the genre during the remaining 31 years of his life.

4/19/23 Maurice Emmanuel: String Quartet

This French composer had a strong affinity for modal music. His composition teacher, Léo Delibes did not. And eventually, it caused Emmanuel to be expelled from his class. Emmanuel went on to have a successful career as a composer and academic. His own students included Olivier Messiaen and Henri Dutilleux.

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4/20/23 Dora Pejačević: Piano Quartet in D minor

Pejačević was active in the first part of the 20th Century and is still considered Croatia's greatest composer. Her catalog has 58 numbered compositions, and many more without opus numbers.

4/21/23 Libby Larsen: "She Wrote" for string quartet

The title is a quote from James Joyce's "Ulysses," describing a restless young woman. The four movements follow the emotional arc of the paragraph.