#ClassicsaDay #ArmisticeClassics Week 4

November 19, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The #ClassicaDay team asked participants to post classical works related to the conflict. 

For my part, I tried to find examples from both sides of the war, and from as many different countries as possible. Here are my posts from the last week of November.

Rudi Stephan (Germany) - Music for Orchestra (1912)

Stephan's "Music for Orchestra" marked him as one of the most promising composers of the early 1900s. His music pushed past post-romanticism into an early form of Expressionism. He was killed by a sniper at the Russian front in 1915. He had completed only about twenty works.

Benjamin Britten (UK) - Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra, Op. 21

Pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm while serving in the Germany army during World War I. Determined to carry on after the war, he commissioned left-handed piano works from composers across Europe. Wittgenstein commissioned this work from Britten in 1940. He premiered it in 1942 with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Like all of his commissions, Wittgenstein retained exclusive performance rights during his lifetime.

Arthur Benjamin (Australia) - Viola Sonata

Australian composer Arthur Benjamin was serving in the Royal Flying Corps when he was shot down in 1918. He had lost the dogfight to Herman Goering. Benjamin was sent to the Ruhleben internment camp, where several other professional musicians (mostly enemy civilians) were held. He wrote an unpublished violin sonata for performance at the camp.

Charles Ives - They are There! (1918)

Charles Ives wrote "They Are There!" to stir patriotism for the war effort. It's pure Ives. The music mashes up several patriotic songs. According to the lyrics, "Most wars are made by small stupid selfish bossing groups, while the people have no say. But there'll come a day when they'll smash all dictators to the wall."

John Foulds - A World Requiem, Op. 60

Fould's World Requiem is a memorial to all the casualties of the Great War, regardless of nationality. It required over 1,200 performers. The Requiem premiered in 1921. Initially popular, A World Requiem was seldom performed after 1926, when attitudes towards the conflict changed. Foulds career faded along with the popularity of A World Requiem.

Halsam American Brick Build - Bridge

In the mid-1950s' Halsam offered interlocking brick building toys made from pressed wood. I'm assembling each of the models shown in the instruction booklet for their 60/1 and 60/2 building sets. I'm calling it the Halsam American Brick Build.

The twelfth build is a bridge. This was one of my favorite things to build with this set. The plans call for four pillars spanning the (imaginary) water. But you can make as many as you have bricks to build them, making a much longer footbridge.

The approaches are assembled in halves.

The yellow bricks that form the steps secure the two halves.

The bridge supports are somewhat tricky to build. You have to balance everything on a single column of brick.

Once assembled, it's easy to connect the supports together. And, as I said, with enough bricks, you can build a pretty long bridge.

Dussek Complete Piano Sonatas Volume 4 - Illuminating

This release features sonatas that span Dussek's career. And since they're played on fortepianos of the period, they also provide insight into the development of the piano.

The Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 5 No. 3 and the Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 24 are relatively early works. Written in 1788 and 1793 respectively, Tuija Hakkila performs them on a 1790s 5-octave restored Viennese fortepiano.

The Sonata in A, Op. 43 (1800) and the Sonata in F sharp minor, Op. 61 (1806) are played on a copy of a 1799 Longman Clementi fortepiano. It has a 6-octave range, and three strings per note (vs. two for the Viennese instrument).

The differences are audible. The Viennese instrument is noisier. I could easily hear the sound of the action, and there was a slight buzzing in the upper register. The Longman Clementi had an overall smoother sound across the instrument's range. And it had a stronger sound as well, with action that was almost unnoticeable.

The music reflects the instrument it was written for. The early sonatas on this release sound less expressive, and closer to the Baroque than the later works. Dussek takes full advantage of the newer instrument, expanding the range of the music, and increasing the contrast in dynamics.

Tuija Hakkila is a superb performer, matching her touch to the capabilities of the instruments. The Vienna fortepiano sounded a little fragile, and Hakkila plays it gently (yet expressively).

The Longman Clementi seemed robust enough to handle Dussek's grand gestures. And Hakkila doesn't hold back.

Of the four volumes in this series, I found this installment the most interesting, and the most instructive. And there's some fine music-making going on here, too.

Jan Ladislav Dussek
Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4
Sonatas Op. 5 No. 3; Op. 24; Op. 43, and Op. 61
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Brilliant 95604

Diabelli Project 216 - Piece for Piano, Part 2

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of my Piece for Piano revisits the opening material. After the arrival of the stacked triads, the right-hand returns to its simple rhythmic figure. This time it's even simpler. Rather than a two-note cluster, it's just one repeated note. And the left hand simply repeats its opening note. Obviously, this suspension of motion won't last. Can't wait to see with my subconscious comes up with next week.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Panufnik - Celestial Bird gives the gift of song

"Celestial Bird" is more than an album -- it's a present. In celebration of Panufnik's 50th birthday, this release brings together ten of her previously unrecorded choral works.  The music is all fairly recent, dating from 2013 through 2018. And it shows the wide-ranging interests of the composer.

St. Pancras Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis is a fine example of her sacred choral writing, drawing on -- but not limited by -- choral tradition.  Her Christmas Carol, "A Cradle Song" is a quiet, beautiful lullaby that should appeal to most community and church choirs.

Jeffrey Skidmore and Ex Cathedra commission two works on the album. "Since We Parted" marks the centenary of the end of World War I. The sparing use of trumpet, harp, cello, and piano add to the poignancy of the music.  The second commission, "Child of Heaven," uses Indian modes to create an undulating line that runs through the work, tying the various motifs together.

The album opens with "Unending Love," a work for choir, Indian violin, percussion, sitar, and Carnatic singer. Panufnik's always been interested in other cultures, and as this work shows, she's no dilettante. The music gives the Western choir and the Indian performers common ground, letting them work together to create something greater than both parts.

It's a wonderful work. My only complaint is that "Unending Love" ends far too soon. Classical Indian music can easily run 30 minutes or longer. "Unending Love" clocks in at 9:14. It's a sonic world I would have enjoyed visiting for another 10 minutes or so.

Happy Birthday to Roxanna Panufnik, and many happy returns. The birthday may be hers, but the present, "Celestial Bird," is ours to enjoy.

Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird
Ex Cathedra
Milapfest
Jeffrey Skidmore conductor
Signum Classics SIGCD543

#ClassicsaDay #ArmisticeClassics Week 3

November 19, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The #ClassicaDay team asked participants to post classical works related to the conflict. 

For my part, I tried to find examples from both sides of the war, and from as many different countries as possible. Here are my posts from the third week of November.

Edward Elgar (UK) - The Fringes of the Fleet

Elgar set Rudyard Kipling's poems in 1917. They were performed throughout the UK to boost patriotism. The tenor who premiered the work, Charles Mott, was killed in action in 1918. After the war, attitudes changed, and the song cycle was seldom performed.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Austria-Hungary) - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in C-sharp major, Op. 17

Pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in World War I. Determined to carry on after Armistice, he commissioned left-handed piano works from composers across Europe. Wittgenstein was so pleased with Korngold's 1924 concerto, that he also commissioned a chamber work from him.

Ernest MacMillan (Canada) - String Quartet in C minor

Canadian conductor/composer MacMillan was attending a Wagner festival at Bayreuth festival when hostilities broke out. He was sent to Ruhleben internment camp, along with Edgar Bainton. His string quartet was written his fellow prisoners, who put on a series of chamber music concerts.

Alban Berg - Wozzeck

Berg began composing "Wozzeck" in 1914 and continued working on it while serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army. The grim story of the hapless private Wozzeck resonated with post-war audiences. "Wozzeck" was frequently performed in Germany until 1933, when it was banned by the Nazis as degenerate.

Ivor Gurney (UK) - War Elegy

Gurney wrote poems and composed music while serving with the Gloucester Regiment. He was wounded in 1917 and gassed in 1918. His promising postwar career was soon derailed by mental illness. He was institutionalized in 1922 and remained so for the remaining 15 years of his life. He completed his War Elegy just two years before his breakdown.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm taking the day off to spend time with friends and family. Have a good holiday!

Emilie Mayer Orchestral and Chamber Works - Music Worth Knowing

If you're not familiar with Emilie Luise Friderica Mayer, this release provides an excellent introduction. Mayer studied composition with  Carl Loewe in the 1840s. Mayer was prolific, and her works were often performed in her lifetime.

After her death, Mayer's music fell into obscurity. A renewed interest in women composers of the past has brought them back to life.

Mayer had a unique compositional voice. It blended common practices of the day with a forward-looking treatment of harmony. The 1847 Symphony No. 4 in B minor seems to draw on Beethoven for inspiration. But it's no pale imitation.

Mayer's orchestration is somewhat transparent in the fashion of Mendelssohn. Her lengthy themes are quite expressive, at times sounding like transcribed songs.

The Piano Concerto in B-flat major was written three years later. It's for a small orchestra and has a certain Mozartian elegance to it. The solo piano part is active, but not showy. Mayer seems more concerned about the melodic expressiveness of the instrument rather than its pyrotechnic possibilities.

The String Quartet in G minor, Op. 14 is the first of seven she composed. This work reminded me of the quartets of Mendelssohn and Schumann. There's clarity in the ensemble writing (like Mendelssohn) and complexity in the harmonies (like Schumann).

To me, the Piano Sonata in D minor sounds like a cross between early Beethoven and early Liszt. And that's not a bad thing. The themes are easy to follow, awash in rich harmonies. There's a flow to the sonata that's similar to those of Liszt's, although the emotional outpouring is somewhat contained.

Emilie Mayer, like many of the early Romantic composers, was still influenced by the Viennese School. And like her more successful colleagues, she soon figured out what elements to embrace and which to discard.

The four works on this release form a good representation of Mayer's output. There's a lot to like here. And the music is of a quality that one has to wonder why it's taken this long to reemerge.

Emilie Mayer: Symphony No. 4, Piano Concerto, String Quartet, Piano Sonata
Ewa Kupiec, Yang Tai, pianos; Klenke Quartett; Neubrandenburger Philharmonie; Stefan Malzwew, conductor
2 CD Set
Capriccio C5339  

Collecting -- and Collecting Information 33

I first discovered the Straco Express at a train show back in 2010. It was sitting in a box with some track and it was mine for $20.00.  I've written extensively about the set and companion H0 tinplate trains from Japan.

It's an area of vintage toys that has not attracted much interest. And therefore, it hasn't prompted many studies. Unlike Lionel Trains, there are no histories of these Japanese companies, or compendiums of their products, or even price lists.

I eventually discovered that the Straco Express was made for the Fred J. Strauss Company (STRAuss COmpany). They were one of the earliest importers of toys from Japan after the war, and were in business through the mid to late 1950s.

But who made the toys for Straco? That remained a mystery until I found a set box.

Mystery solved. The box shows the set was made by MRK.

The box art also provides some other information, too. First, it accurately depicts the train. I know definitely now that there are no cars missing from my set.

The set claims to have 51 pieces. The train itself accounts for four. The power pack would be the fifth. Twelve pieces of track to make the oval bring the total to 17. So where are the others? Probably on sheets of cardboard.

Often these sheets of figures, buildings, scenery, and signs were included. I have examples of such from Nomura and Cragstan/Distler. The sheets were usually perforated, and the bases of the punch-out pieces scored for easy folding.

And each punch-out was counted as one figure. So there was likely a sheet or two with 34 such images included.

It's also possible that the sheets only had 34 images, and the three signs on the box cover counted at three pieces. If so, it would help explain why the box for this set is so rare. If the top was cut up for the railroad signs, there would be little reason to keep it (or the bottom).

While the information on the box helped, it didn't answer every question.

MRK may have made the set, but "MRK" is a cipher. No one -- not even the few who have researched these postwar Japanese companies -- can say what company "MRK" indicates. No other types of MRK-branded toys have surfaced.

So the mystery continues -- for now.

Diabelli Project 215 - Piece for Piano, Part 1

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This time I opted to write a solo piano piece. I don't play the piano all that well, so technically this piece will lean more towards Haydn than Liszt. The opening bars set the stage, with the melody in the left hand.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

#ClassicsaDay #ArmisticeClassics Week 2

November 19, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The #ClassicaDay team asked participants to post classical works related to the conflict. 

For my part, I tried to find examples from both sides of the war, and from as many different countries as possible. Here are my posts from the first full week of November.

George Butterworth (UK) - Banks of Green Willow

Butterworth was just starting his career when WW1 broke out. He was killed at the Battle of the Somme, 8/25/16. His body was never recovered. His tone poem, "Banks of the Green Willow" became an anthem for the War's Unkown Soldiers.

Arnold Schoenberg (Austria-Hungary) - Die eiserne Brigade, March for string quartet and piano (1916)

Schoenberg was conscripted at age 42. An officer demanded to know if he was "this notorious Schoenberg, then." He replied, "Nobody wanted to be, someone had to be, so I volunteered." He composed this march for his regiment, but it was rejected as too dissonant.

Sergei Bortkiewicz (Russia) - Piano Concerto No.2 (for the Left Hand), op.28

Pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm fighting in the German army during World War I. Determined to carry on after the war, he commissioned left-handed piano works from several European composers. Wittgenstein premiered Bortkiewicz's concerto in 1923, and he performed it quite frequently in the 1920s and 1930s.

Frank Bridge (UK) - Lament (for Catherine, aged 9 "Lusitania" 1915)

The sinking of the "Lusitania" by a German U-boat shocked the world because of the large number of civilian casualties. 1,198 died, including several children. One of them was a family friend of Bridge, who wrote this Lament to exorcize his grief.

Albéric Magnard (France) - Symphony No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 23

When war broke out in 1914, Magnard sent his family to safety. He remained behind to defend his home. When German soldiers arrived, he shot at them. They returned fire and set his house ablaze. Magnard and all of his unpublished scores were destroyed in the fire.

Frederick Septimus Kelly (Australia) - Elegy for Strings "In Memoriam Rupert Brooke"

Australian Frederick Kelly was a champion rower -- he won gold at the 1908 Olympics. He was also a talented composer. Serving in the Navy, he was wounded twice at Gallipoli. His elegy was written for a fallen comrade. Kelly died in 1916, rushing a machine gun nest at the Battle of the Somme.

Halsam American Brick Build - Office Building

In the mid-1950s' Halsam offered interlocking brick building toys made from pressed wood. I'm assembling each of the models shown in the instruction booklet for their 60/1 and 60/2 building sets. I'm calling it the Halsam American Brick Build.

The eleventh build is an office building. Like some of the previous structures, this one required sections to span openings in the floor plan. In this case, the bricks were cantilevered in two directions. The first extended the second story walls across the gaps. 

Two additional rows are added to secure the span. Then bricks are extended out of the second story walls to support the gables. It worked pretty well. The overall structure was quite stable.

The roofs on the second stories use the same offset technique as the tower. The end result is a nice -- if somewhat non-descript office building of the early post-war era. 

Office building (front)

Office building (back)

Wilhelm Kempff Chamber Music - Worth a Listen

Wilhelm Kempff is best remembered as a piano virtuoso. But he was also a composer. This release features two youthful chamber works.

The Trio in G minor for violin, cello, and piano dates from 1911, when Kempff was studying composition with a former student of Brahms.

The lineage is easy to hear. Kempff develops his thematic material in the same fashion as Brahms. There are not extra-musical associations here. Like Brahms, Kempff develops his motifs in a methodical, logical fashion.

At times the piano seems to have an oil and water relationship with the strings. Granted, Kempff was only sixteen when he wrote this trio. I was a little surprised, though, at the somewhat pedestrian nature of the piano's music. I was expecting a little more from the composer writing for his own instrument (even a very young composer). Rather than three equal voices, many times I heard strings plus piano accompaniment.

More successful is the 1920 Quartet in G major for flute, violin, cello, and piano. Kempff had completed his studies and was touring as a concert pianist. The piano writing is much more fully realized, and decidedly more interesting. And one can hear Kempff's overall growth as a composer. The instruments are more fully integrated, with every instrument contributing equally.

The material Kempff works with seems more fully developed, too. Kempff does more with his thematic material in this work, breaking motifs down to their component parts and reassembling them in interesting ways.

The Quartetto Raro performs well, but I had a problem with the blend. I'm not sure if its the way the ensemble was recorded, or the way they played. For most of the recording I heard the instruments as individual voices, but seldom blending as an ensemble.

I'd call this a good but not great recording of good but not great chamber music. I love exploring the repertoire, so I enjoyed this release. If my caveat doesn't put you off, you may as well.

Wilhelm Kempff: Chamber Music
Quartet in G major Op.15 for flute, violin, cello and piano' Trio in G minor for violin, cello, and piano
Quartetto Raro
Brilliant Classics 95629

Diabelli Project 204- 214 - Duet for Clarinet and Marimba Complete Score

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

Below is the score for my Clarinet and Marimba Duet. It was written in 10-minute sessions, spaced about a week apart. Since I was continuing the same music from week to week, I allowed myself 2-3 minutes to study the previous week's sketch before diving in.

Although this was an almost entirely spontaneous creation, I'm pretty happy with the results. There's a simple three-part structure to it. The duet begins in one key center, moves to a second, then back to the first. Motiving elements are repeated and reworked, helping it all to hang together.

I do see some copyist errors I need to fix, but I'll address those later.

At the given tempo marking, the piece runs about 2 minutes. Should there be some additional movements? I'm not sure. If I were to continue it, I'd probably use some of the same patterns as building blocks.

For now, though, I think I'll call it done. What do you think?

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Arnold Mendelssohn: Complete Piano Music

Arnold Mendelssohn is just beginning to be rediscovered. Recordings such as this will help immensely.

Mendelssohn was the great-nephew of Felix and rose to prominence at the turn of the 20th Century. He was an accomplished organist and held several Protestant church positions. He was a colleague of Hugo Wolf and counted Paul Hindemith among his students.

As a composer, Mendelssohn was philosophically close to Brahms. He was quite comfortable with traditional classical forms and felt music should be abstract rather than representational.

The few works he composed for piano have strong similarities to those of Schumann and Brahms. The shorter pieces, such as the Federzeichnungen (Pen and Ink Drawings), and the Albumblatt are finely crafted miniatures.

They reminded me of similar works by Schumann. The music is full of inventiveness and technical challenges, with perhaps a bit more restraint than Schumann's.

The Piano Sonata in E minor is a full-blown Brahmsian sonata. Mendelssohn's late-Romantic harmonies reinforce the resemblance. His melodies are memorable and developed logically in a standard sonata-allegro format.

Mendelssohn wasn't entirely satisfied with his sonatina and second piano sonata. They remained unpublished at the time of his death. Listening to them now, I think they're fine works. Mendelssohn seemed to be pushing the limits of the forms. At the same time, the harmonies sound sparser and perhaps more taciturn.

Mendelssohn may not have liked these pieces, but I do.

Pianist Elzbieta Sternlicht has a solid foundation in the repertoire of the early 20th Century. She's also recorded three albums of Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's piano music. Her performances bring out the late-Romantic nature of Mendelssohn's music.

I especially enjoyed her performance of the two sonatas. Sternlicht brought out the underlying structure of the works, giving the motifs the context they needed.

If you like Mendelssohn (Fanny or Felix), Schumann, or Brahms, you'll hear a kindred spirit in these works.

Arnold Mendelssohn: Complete Piano Music
Elzbieta Sternlicht, piano
Hanssler Classics HC17088
2 CD Set

#ClassicsaDay #ArmisticeClassics Week 1

November 19, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The #ClassicaDay team asked participants to post classical works related to the conflict. 

For my part, I tried to find examples from both sides of the war, and from as many different countries as possible. Here are my posts from the first full week of November.

George Butterworth (UK) - Banks of Green Willow

Butterworth was just starting his career when WW1 broke out. He was killed at the Battle of the Somme, 8/25/16. His body was never recovered. His tone poem, "Banks of the Green Willow" became an anthem for the War's Unkown Soldiers.

André Caplet (France) - Les Prières (1914-1917)

Serving in the French army, Caplet was wounded twice. He was gassed, which severely damaged his lungs and lead to his death in 1925. Caplet was a close friend of Debussy. His song cycle Les Prières as completed during the war.

Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (Russia) - Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 17

Myaskovsky was wounded on the Austrian front and suffered from shell-shock. He was transferred to Tallinn to work on navel fortifications. While working and recovering, he produced two symphonies - Nos. 4 and 5.

Maurice Ravel (France) - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

Pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WW1. Determined to carry one, he commissioned left-handed piano works after the war. Ravel's Concerto is one that's entered the repertoire (both one- and two-handed versions).

Edgar Bainton (UK/Australia) - String Quartet in A (1919)

Conductor/composer Bainton was attending a Wagner Bayreuth festival when WW1 broke out. He was sent to the Ruhleben internment camp outside Berlin. Bainton soon became its music director, working with fellow prisoners Arthur Benjamin and Edward Clark to produce chamber music concerts, operetta productions, and musical lectures. His String Quartet was one of the first pieces completed after the War.

Paul Hindemith (Germany) - String Quartet No.2 in F minor, Op. 10 (1917)

Hindemith's father enlisted at age 44 when the war broke out. He was killed in hand-to-hand combat in 1915. Hindemith was conscripted in 1917. He served in Flanders in 1918, according to his diary "surviving grenade attacks only by good luck." His second string quartet was written for a quartet he formed with fellow soldiers.

Enrique Granados (Spain) - Canción del Postillón (1916)

Granados was in New York when war broke out in Europe. Because of the conflict, he was unable to return directly to Spain. Granados sailed to England, then booked passage on the passenger ferry SS Sussex to France. The ship was sunk by a German U-boat. Granados, who was afraid of water, drowned while unsuccessfully trying to save his wife. The Canción del Postillón is one of his last works.

Halsam American Brick Build - Two Story House with Wing

In the mid-1950s' Halsam offered interlocking brick building toys made from pressed wood. I'm assembling each of the models shown in the instruction booklet for their 60/1 and 60/2 building sets. I'm calling it the Halsam American Brick Build.

The tenth build is a two-story house with a wing. This was one of the more complicated structures to build. You can see in the instructions, the detail for the rear wing gable.

There are two places where bricks need to be cantilevered (photo, right). The gable for the wing roof is in the foreground. The second-story wall is in the back.

I was a little surprised that the instructions didn't have the two spans connected by bricks running across both. But that would mean the second story span would have to start two courses lower.

And that, with the inset of the wing's wall, would have lead to a more complicated structure -- and a weaker one.

The end result is a fairly substantial structure. It does seem a little odd to me that the most imposing door frame is on the wing. What I would think of as the front has a smaller, simpler door, as does the back.

It may be part of the same problem as positioning the spanning bricks. The fancier door is taller, and that could push the window above the front door up two more rows.

And that would make the second story disproportionately tall. 

Two-story house with wing (front).

Two-story house with wing (back).

.

Poul Ruders: Occam's Razor - Music-making with Old Friends

The cover of this release shows two old friends sharing a moment -- composer Poul Ruders and guitarist David Starobin. Their 30+ year relationship has been extraordinarily fruitful. This release presents a few of Ruders' works commissioned by Starobin.

Occam's Razor is a philosophical principle: the simplest explanation is usually the best. Just as Occam's Razor trims away convoluted explanations, Ruders pares his music down to its basics with these works.

The title track is a 2013 work for oboe and guitar. Each of the eight extremely short movements is a model of conciseness. It's a pithy conversation between oboe and guitar that works on several levels. Each brief movement makes its own point, and the movements fit together to make a larger structure.

Schrodinger's Cat is a thought experiment used to explain quantum mechanics. Quantum particles exist in two states simultaneously. When observed, though, the particles collapse into a single state. The twelve canons Ruders wrote in 2012 share that concept.

The violin represents one state, the guitar the other. And the music bounces back and forth, simultaneously moving and developing until suddenly, it comes together. The description doesn't' do the work justice -- even without knowing the concept behind it, a listener can enjoy the music on its own merits. And when it comes to complex counterpoint, Schrodinger's Cat is exceptionally meritorious.

My favorite works, though, were the simplest. Ruders wrote a series of short pieces for guitar titled "Pages." How short? Each piece fills exactly one page of manuscript paper. With only a page, there's no room for elaborate development or expositions. These pieces are elegantly simple and beautiful.

David Starobin is an exceptional guitarist. Here he's performing music he knows intimately created by his friend. So yes, if you enjoy contemporary music or classical guitar music, this is the disc to get.

Poul Ruders: Occam's Razor
New Music with Guitar, Vol. 11
David Starobin, guitar
Liang Wang, oboe; Daniel Druckman, percussion; Movses Pegossian, Amaila Hall, violin; Xiaobo Pu, YunXianGan, Hao Yang, guitar
Bridge Records 9500

Flattening the O-Gauge Zen Garden

Frank Ellison, an influential model railroader of the postwar era, likened his layout to a theater. The trains were the actors, and the scenery was the stage sets they moved through.

Flats are one of the most common theater sets. As the name implies, a flat is simply a flat surface painted to suggest a larger (and deeper) structure.

Looking for a flat (or two)

I decided that flats would make ideal photo backdrops for my O-gauge Zen garden. And when it comes to flats for model railroads, there are many options. Some lines, such as Ameri-Towne, offer walls from their building kits for separate sale. It's also easy to simply purchase a building kit (like an old Plasticville model) and just use one or more walls.

Panoramic photo backdrops are also available. But I just wanted some structures. I chose a couple of flats from P.T.F. Designs. They're high-quality photographs of real structures mounted on foam core.

As you can see, they fit in quite well. And for the most part, it's not apparent that they are completely flat.

Adding some depth

When I placed the two flats on the layout, they didn't look quite right. I built out the larger structure, and that did the trick. 

The larger building now casts a shadow on the smaller. Once they were no longer on the same plane, the flats appeared more realistic.

And building out the second flat was quite simple. I scanned the flat into my computer. I then printed out a copy. I trimmed two strips from the copied image, each one inch wide

Both strips were mounted to 3/4"-wide pieces of foam core. One had a 1/4" paper overhang on the right, the other on the left. Those overhangs were glued to the sides of the original flat. I now had a quite shallow three-sided structure.

I'll be adding more flats to this layout, and varying the depth of each. This proved to be a quick and inexpensive way to add scenery.

Election Day - More than a Wave

Same time next year?

Every election day I write basically the same post. That is, it's not just important to vote in the big contests. It's important to vote every election.

Because the politicians who can impact your daily life aren't always in Washington. Sometimes, they're at the state capitol. Sometimes, they're governing your county, your city, or your town.

Suppose the party you like takes control of the Federal Government -- but the other party has control of the State House. You can bet that there will be lots of roadblocks to Federal mandates, and perhaps even some countering state laws as well.

What if your town council is mostly made up of folks who have the opposite political view as you? Get ready for new ordinances, taxes, and/or fees you won't like.

We just had a big fight over the Supreme Court nominee. If you had strong opinions about, you should know that many states elect their judges. Sit out an off-year election, and a member of the party you don't like could end up sitting on your state supreme court, appellate court, trial court, or (in some cases), even probate court.

The rulings in those courts will affect you and your community, and perhaps more directly than those of the Supreme Court.

Many law enforcement officials are elected. Some are quite competent, others are just political hacks. How qualified do you want the person in charge of public safety (and your personal security) to be?

This election is important. But don't vote and think it's over until 2020. Every election matters. Because every election shapes some aspect of our government -- local, state, federal.

When it comes to freedom, we should all sweat the small stuff. Because that's where the erosion starts.

Diabelli Project 214 - Duet for Clarinet and Marimba, Part 11

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This is the eleventh installment of my Clarinet and Marimba Duet. The goal of these flash composition sessions is to get the editor/critic part of my brain out of the way of my creative part. And often that means I surprise myself.

In this case, when I started my 10-minute flash session, I suddenly felt like the piece had almost arrived at the final section. I already knew the final section would be a recap of the first. And in this case, a somewhat condensed version of it.

My internal editor/critic thought there might be another week or so of work to do on this, but my subconscious gets the last word. So the piece is finished. Next week I'll publish the full score with final comments. 

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Lars-Erik Larsson Symphony No. 3 - music that should be heard more often

This release completes Andrew Manze's traversal of Lars-Erik Larsson symphonies -- although I hope he doesn't stop there. Larsson was a talented composer who crafted his own language out of various 20th Century trends. It's a voice that needs to be heard more often.

The centerpiece of this release is Larsson's 1944 Symphony No. 3 in C minor. Larsson withdrew the symphony after its premiere. The final movement of the third symphony was reworked and recast as his Concert Overture No. 3. It's a shame that the work went unheard for decades. The symphony is a superbly-crafted four-movement work with brilliant motifs and equally brilliant orchestrations.

The work opens with a motif as distinctive as that of Beethoven's 5th symphony. And like Beethoven's theme, it forms the foundation of all that follows. How to describe the slow movement? Beautifully poignant. It's highly chromatic harmonies reminded me somewhat of Wagner -- with perhaps a little more restraint. The third movement has some lovely modal passages that could only come from Larsson. And the finale brings it all home with the opening motif transformed into something new, yet still recognizable. This symphony is a masterwork.

Andrew Manze and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra perform with energy and verve. The orchestra has a warm, full sound. The wind and brass sections are especially fine in this recording, especially in solo passages.

Also included are three of Larsson's later works. The Adagio for String Orchestra and Tre Orkesterstyken (Three Orchestral Pieces) date from 1960. Larsson had incorporated 12-tone technique into his work -- or rather, he adapted it to his needs. The works sound highly chromatic, yet remain grounded. Larsson harnesses the dissonances of 12-tone music to heighten the emotional impact of his (somewhat) tonal melodies.

This release was well worth the wait.

Lars-Erik Larsson: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3
Symphony No. 3, Op. 34; Tre Orkesterstyken op. 49; Adagio for String Orchestra op. 48, Musica permutatio for Orchestra op. 66 
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Manze, conductor 
CPO 777673-2  SACD 

#ClassicsaDay #FamousLastWorks Week 5

october Famous last Works For the month of October, the #ClassicsaDay team (of which I'm a part), decided to go with a Halloween theme. The idea is to share works marked in some way with the composer's demise. It can be the last piece a composer completed before death, or one left incomplete at death.

For my part, I chose to narrow the focus a little bit. Not all incomplete works were deathbed projects. Schubert, for example, abandoned his "Unfinished" symphony six years before his death. For my contributions, I focussed on the last piece a composer wrote -- whether it was completed or not.  

From famous last words to #FamousLastWorks. Here are my posts for the final week of October.

Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff

Verdi completed his 28th opera -- Falstaff -- as he approached his eighth birthday. The work took three years to write, and Verdi worked on revisions up until his death. Initially, Falstaff received a lukewarm reception. Toscanini championed the opera, helping Falstaff to become part of the accepted operatic canon. https://youtu.be/eZOClxjcSYg

Giacomo Puccini - Turandot

Puccini was very close to finishing Turandot when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had composed all but the final duet, which he was never satisfied with. When he died, the first two acts were completed and orchestrated, as was most of the last act. Franco Alfano completed the opera, reprising "Nessun dorma" for the finale.

Hugo Wolf - Manuel Venegas

Wolf suffered from syphillis and by 1897 it was triggering bouts of insanity. Wolf began work on the opera Maneul Venegas, hoping to complete the work in his decreasing moments of lucidity. He was unsuccessful, and died with only the first act sketched out.

Sergie Rachmanoniff - Piano Concerto to No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 (two-piano reduction)

Rachmaninoff was working on a two-piano version of his fourth piano concerto when his health gave out. His last original composition were the 1940 Symphonic Dances. The piano reduction was left incomplete at the time of his death. Richard Rodney Bennett completed the two-piano version at the request of Rachmaninoff's widow.

Frederick Chopin - Mazurka in F minor, Op. 68, No. 4

There's some question as to whether this Mazurka is indeed Chopin's final composition. The work exists only a a single-page sketch. It may have been written as early as 1846. Chopin was in the process of making clean copies of his manuscripts when he died, and the supposition was that he wasn't able to get to this one. Auguste Franchomme and Julian Fontana made a performance version of the work, but it's not complete -- some of the middle section is virtually illegible and was left it out.

Frederick Delius - Idyll

By 1923 Delius was paralysed and blind -- and unable to composer. An admirer, Eric Fenby, offered his services as an amanuensis. From 1928 until Delius' death in 1934, the two worked together. "Idyll" was the final composition completed by Delius.