#ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth Week 2, 2025

 April is Poetry Month. The Classics a Day challenge for April is to post examples of classical music inspired by poetry. The most obvious cases are poems set to music. But sometimes, inspiration runs deeper. 

Here are my posts for the second week of #ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth.

04/07/25 Roger Quilter: Three Shakespeare Songs for Baritone and Piano, Op. 6

Quilter's 1905 set features "Come away, death" and "O Mistress mine" from "Twelfth Night," and "Blow, blow thou winter wind" from "As You Like It."

04/08/25 Johannes Brahms: Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53

This 1869 work sets verses from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Harzreise im Winter." The poem describes the Harz mountain covered in snow, which Brahsm interpreted metaphorically.   

04/09/25 Felix Mendelssohn: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

Mendelssohn based his tone poem on a pair of poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In the age before steam, calm seas were dangerous -- only when strong winds could a voyage continue.

04/10/25 Krzystof Pendericki: Symphony No. 8 (Lieder der Vergänglichkeit) 

This 2005 work uses the poetry of Joseph von Eichendorff, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Achim von Arnim.

04/11/25 Franz Lehár: Friederike

This 1928 operetta was inspired by John Wolfgang Goethe's poem "Heidenröslein." The work tells the story of Goethe's doomed love for Friderike, who sacrifices her love for the poet's career.  

#ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth Week 1, 2025

 April is Poetry Month. The Classics a Day challenge for April is to post examples of classical music inspired by poetry. The most obvious cases are poems set to music. But sometimes, inspiration runs deeper. 

Here are my posts for the first week of #ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth.

4/1/25 Ralph Vaughan Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs

These a cappella works were originally written in 1951 as test pieces for a choral competition. Two songs are from "The Tempest," the third from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

 

4/2/25 Aaron Copland: Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson

Copland composed this cycle in 1950, each poem was dedicated to a different friend. In 1970, Copland finished an orchestral arrangement of this work.

 

4/3/25 Franz Schubert: Du bist di Ruh (Friedrich Ruckert)

Friedrich Ruckert was one of the most popular poets in 1800s Germany. Many composers set his poems to music -- including Franz Schubert.

 

4/4/25 Robert Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39 (Joseph von Eichendorff)

Eichendorff was a popular novelist and poet of the Romantic Era. His poems were often incorporated into his novels, sung by the protagonists. Schumann's cycle is taken from a collection of Eichendorff poems, "Intermezzo."

 

Violina Petrychenko Champions Ukrainian Masters

Pianist Violina Petrychenko's recording career has been defined by her heritage. The six albums she's released on Ars Production all center around Ukrainian composers. The first five were solo piano recitals. This one's more ambitious. 

Petrychenko is a world-class performer. Her phrasing is wonderfully emotive, and her technique is near-perfection. 

Instead, she chose to celebrate the musical heritage of Ukraine, her home. And Petrychecko's ideally suited to do it. Her playing shows a deep understanding of Ukrainian classical aesthetic. It's an aesthetic that is different from other Eastern European countries (especially Russia). 

This album presents two world premiere recordings. And what wonderful additions to the repertoire they are. Vasyl Barvinsky gained international fame as a pianist and composer. In 1948 he was arrested by the Soviet authorities and sent to a gulag for ten years. During that time, most of his manuscripts were destroyed. 

After his release, Barvinsky tried to reconstruct as many works as possible. But time was against him. He died five years later. The Piano Concerto in F minor is a magnificent post-Romantic masterwork. 

The gestures are broad, and the orchestration is sweeping. And yet this is a tightly focused work, running only 20 minutes. Barvinsky doesn't waste a note and uses the piano to telling effect. 

Viktor Kosenko lived and worked primarily in Kyiv. He was interested in Ukrainian folk music, which did not sit well with the Soviets. As a result, he was forced to live in a state-provided apartment in abject poverty. 

Nevertheless his compositions are among the most treasured of the Ukrainian repertoire. His 1928 Piano Concerto in C minor is a gorgeous work. It compares favorably to Rachmaninoff's concertos -- big themes, memorable melodies, and glittering piano artistry.

Petrychenko, the Lviv National Symphony, and Volodymyr Syvokhip serve their countrymen well. These are stirring performances, driven by real passion. I'll be revisiting this release many times.

Ukrainian Piano Concertos
Vasyl Barvinsky; Viktor Kosenko
Violina Petrychenko, piano
Lviv National Philharmonic orchestra; Voldymyr Syvokhip, conductor
Ars Production 260052

The Timeless Sequences of the Liber Ymnorum

 

When it comes to musical source materials, few surpass the importance of the Liber ymnorum. This collection organized and codified the sequences sung in the Catholic Church. 

Notker Balbulus (c.840-912) as a monk working in the Abbey of St. Gall. He was a talented writer and composer. In the 880s, he compiled the Liber ymnorum, and contributed music to it. It's a massive work of liturgical and musicological scholarship. 

Balbulus organized all the music according to the church calendar. Those using the book to prepare a service could easily find the appropriate music. 

Balbulus also carefully notated the music, ensuring its preservation through the centuries. The modern musical staff had yet to be developed. Balbulus used numes -- graphic elements to indicate the rise and fall of the melody. For long and involved sequences, this was a welcome innovation. The choirmaster no longer had to rely on memory. 

The Liber ymnorum is still in use, and Balbulus' compositions are still sung. 

This album features selections from the Liber ymnum, sung by the Schola Antiqua of Chicago. Director Michael Alan Andeson makes some canny programming choices. These sequences are mostly devoice of a strong rhythmic pulse, or harmony. 

Anderson varies his forces, providing contrast between the selections. A sequence sung by a single male voice is followed by one for women's choi, followed by one to two males, etc.   

The recording venue is spot on. St. Josaphat Parish in Chicago provides an open ambience for the sound. There's some echo, but not enough to muddy the music. This was music designed for the church, and that open cathedral sound is part of its DNA. 

The performances are excellent. This is serene, contemplative music designed to enhance worship -- or at least thoughts of the Divine. It succeeds.

Notker Balbulus: Liber ymnorum
Schola Antiqua of Chicago; Michael Alan Anderson, conductor
Naxos 8.579169

#ClassicsaDay #WomensHistoryMonth Week 4, 2025

 March is Women's History Month. And it's a great opportunity for Classics a Day to focus on the contributions of women to classical music. 

Women composers are often unjustly overlooked by history. The problem is seldom the quality of their work -- just the worker's gender. The challenge in March is to post examples of music by women composers. There's a millennium of music to choose from. For me, the challenge was what to leave out. Here are my posts for the fourth and final week of #WomensHistoryMonth.

03/24/25 Dora Pejačevič (1885-1923) Piano quartet in D minor, Op 25

Pejacevic was one of Croatia's most important composers and a talented pianist. Her piano quintet was written in 1908, when she was only 23.

 

03/25/25 Florence Price (1887-1953): Piano concerto in One Movement

Price composed her concerto in 1934 and premiered it at the Chicago Musical College. The score was considered lost until it was found in her former residence in 2009.

 

03/26/25 Clara Schumann (1819-1896) Drei Romanzen, Op. 21

Clara Schumann composed relatively few compositions. Her Three Romances was one of her last works, written in 1853. At the time she was 34, a mother of 7, and concertizing throughout Europe.

 

03/27/25 María Teresa Prieto (1896-1982): Cuadros de la Naturaleza, Diptico para Orquesta 1965

Prieto was a Spanish composer who spent most of her life in Mexico. Her music blended 12-tone technique with Mexican traditional music.

 

03/28/25 Louise Farrenc (1804–1875): Trio for flute, cello, and piano, Op. 45

Farrenc was a piano virtuoso and composer. In her lifetime, she was one of the most famous and respected musicians in Paris.

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