#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAugust Week 4

For August, the Classics a Day team chose to celebrate some birthdays. Several major composers were born in August, and some deserve rediscovery. The challenge is to post videos of August's birthday boys and girls to your social media feed.

For this challenge, I tried to match the actual birthdate to the date of the post. (I wasn't always successful.)

08/27/24 Rebecca Clarke (August 27, 1886): Viola Sonata

Clarke was a British violist who studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams. She ws one of the first female professional musicians to join an orchestra in 1912. And she had a successful career as a solo violist and chamber player.

 

08/28/24 Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918): I Hate Music!

There were very few things Bernstein didn't excel at. He was a successful composer for the concert hall and musical theater. He created an iconic TV series that introduced millions to classical music. And he was one of the world's best-known conductors.

 

08/29/24 Nicola Antonio Porpora (August 17, 1686): Gia la notte s'avvicina

This Italian singer and composer is better known for his students than his own work. He taught Farinelli and Caffarelli, the two greatest castrati of their age. He also took in a young Franz Joseph Haydn as a pupil and assistant.

 

08/30/24 Benjamin Godard (August 18, 1849): Concerto romantique for violin and orchestra, Op. 35

Godard died at age 45. But this violinist and composer left an impressive body of work. His catalog includes 8 operas, 5 symphonies, and 4 concertos (two for violin). He also wrote a great deal of chamber music and over 100 songs.

 

08/31/24 Francois de Fossa (August 31, 1775)

De Fossa was an accomplished French guitarist, who composed for his instrument. He published 19 collections of his music in the 1820s and helped prepare Boccerini's guitar quintet for performance.

 

Next Month:

BBC Philharmonic Delivers with Roberto Gerhard

If you read about Roberto Gerhard before hearing his music for the first time, you might be surprised. Gerhard enthusiastically supported Arnold Schoenberg's 12-tone system. He studied with Schoenberg, and the two became lifelong friends. 

But Gerhard charted his own way through dodecophony. Like Alban Berg, he didn't avoid intervals and chords that sounded harmonious. Gerhard was also an ardent nationalist. He was deeply familiar with traditional Spanish music. 

This release provides a good introduction to Gerhard's music. These works aren't mathematical exercises or zarzuela. Rather, they're a unique blend of mid-20th-century modernism with traditional Iberian music. 

Gerhard's "Don Quixote" took a decade to bing to fruition. He started the score in 1939. The work underwent expansion and revision over the years. "Don Quixote" premiered as a ballet in 1950. It didn't earn a place in the repertoire. 

But the orchestral suite based on the ballet received far more performances. The version here is the complete ballet score, with the interludes and epilogue.

This makes a great companion piece for Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat." The music very strongly anchors the ballet in Spain. And a Spain of an indefinite past at that.

And at the same time, the score has the sparseness of a Stravinsky or Bartok work. 

Juanjo Mena leads the BBC Philharmonic in some great performances. Under Mena's direction, these aren't Spanish works, but cosmopolitan works with a Spanish flavor. 

A fine introduction to Roberto Gerhard.

Roberto Gerhard: Don Quixote (complete ballet)
Suite from "Alegrias," Pedrelliana
BBC Philharmonic; Juanjo Mena, conductor
Chandos

Gerard Schurmann - From Film to Concert Hall

Gerard Schurmann is best remembered for his film work. He orchestrated the score to "Laurence of Arabia." And he provided music for fourteen feature films from the mid-1950s through 1997.

Like many film composers of his generation, Schurmann was classically trained. And he was as comfortable writing for the concert hall as he was for film.

The showcase work on this release is Schurmann's Piano Concerto. It was written in 1972 for pianist John Ogdon. Schurmann had previously composed a set of bagatelles for Ogdon. His goal with the concerto was to showcase Ogdon's talent. 

He succeeded. And in the process he created an incredibly challenging concerto for other pianists. Schurmann's language is highly chromatic but never spills into atonality. The solo passages are often quite complex, yet easy to follow.

Two of the selections rework Schurmann's film scores. But they're not merely recycling, or creating suites from film cues. Rather, Schurmann revisits the material to create something different. And something better suited for concert audiences. 

Romancing the Strings is based on his score for the Disney series "Dr Syn – Alias the Scarecrow." Schurmann's atmospheric themes reminded me of Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht." One with a more positive take on romance, that is. 

The Man in the Sky is subtitled a concert overture. And how. The original 1957 film was about a test pilot. And the swoop themes and heraldic trumpets signal a flight into high adventure. What a great way to open a concert -- and an album!

Some film composers run out of steam trying to write music longer than a few minutes. Not Schurmann. These large-scale works are well-constructed and beautifully orchestrated. As one might expect.

Gerard Schurmann: Orchestral Works
Piano Concerto; Gaudiana
Man in the Sky; Romancing the Strings
Xiayin Wang, piano
BBC Philharmonic, Ben Germon, conductor
Chandos CHAN 20341

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAugust Week 3

 For August, the Classics a Day team chose to celebrate some birthdays. Several major composers were born in August, and some deserve rediscovery. The challenge is to post videos of August's birthday boys and girls to your social media feed.

For this challenge, I tried to match the actual birthdate to the date of the post. (I wasn't always successful.)

08/19/24 George Enescu (August 19, 1881): Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 11

Enescu is considered one of Romania's greatest musicians. He was a virtuoso violinist and pianist, a prolific compooser, a conductor, and a teacher.

 

8/20/24 Antonio Salieri (August 18, 1750): Piano Concerto in C major

Salieri was a major composer in 18th C. Vienna with an impressive list of students: Franz Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and even Franz Xaver Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus' son). 

 

8/21/24 Lili Boulanger (August 21,1893): Les Sirenes

Her older sister taught many of the 20th Century's greatest composers. Lili focused on composition, winning the Prix de Rome in 1913. Her death at age 24 curtailed a brilliant career.

 

8/22/24 Claude Debussy (August 22, 1862): La Mer

Debussy was not a favorite with his composition teachers. He simply didn't follow the rules. Nevertheless, his music had its own internal logic and in time, an international appeal.

 

8/23/24 Moritz Mozkowski (August 23, 1854): Piano Concerto in E major, Op.59

Moszkowski was considered one of the best pianists of the early 20th Century. Most of his compositions involve the piano, although he did write other forms of music.

 

Victor Bendix Symphonies - Career Bookends

I feel sorry for Victor Bendix. At the start of his career, Bendix was too avant-garde for Danish audiences. And at the end of it, he was considered too old-fashioned. 

This release features two symphonies that bookend that career. Symphony No. 1 "Fjældstigning" (Ascension) was written in 1882. This is a big, ambitious work, full of excitement and energy.

The title refers to the symphony's over-arching theme. That is, climbing a mountain peak to a hidden temple. To me, the work sounded similar to Strauss' "Alpine Symphony." It has the same grandeur to it. 

Franz Liszt liked the work, but audiences didn't. As one critic wrote at the premier, "The audience couldn't find their way in or out." Listening over one hundred years later, I didn't have that problem. Bendix was ready to scale the heights of music, but no one understood him. 

Bendix was a successful conductor. But he struggled to get his composition career started. Near the start of the 20th Century, he was still trying. And tastes had changed. 

Symphony No. 3 was completed in 1895. Bendix would compose one more symphony in 1907. But in 1895 he knew his moment had passed. 

This symphony is far more sophisticated than the first. And it's more somber. The final movement, "Elegie." Like Bendix's dreams, the work seems to end not with a bang but with a whimper. 

The Malmo Symphony Orchestra has some solid performances here. The energy level of the first symphony starts at exuberant and ramps up, really selling the work. They plays the third symphony with a lyric delicacy that is heart-breaking at times.

I'm hoping this ensemble records Bendix's two other symphonies. All four have a distinctive character. I think the orchestra's up to the task. Bendix's music was judged by contemporary tastes. With that context removed, we can listen to these works more objectively. 

And objectivly, I found them quite engaging. 

Victor Bendix: Symphonies 1 & 3
Malmo Symphony Orchestra; Joachim Gustafsson, conductor
Dacapo 8.224742

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAugust Week 2

For August, the Classics a Day team chose to celebrate some birthdays. Several major composers were born in August, and some deserve rediscovery. The challenge is to post videos of August's birthday boys and girls to your social media feed.

For this challenge, I tried to match the actual birthdate to the date of the post. (I wasn't always successful.)

08/12/24 Heinrich Biber (August 12, 1644): Battalia a 10

Although he wrote in many genres, Biber is best remembered for advancing violin technique. He was among the first to write double stops and alternative tuning. 

 

08/13/24 John Ireland (August 13, 1879): Piano Sonata

1918 Most of Ireland's works were written for piano. His 1918 piano sonata is one of his longer works for the instrument. Many are miniatures, or suites made up of short movements.

 

08/14/24 Samuel Wesley (August 14, 1810): Symphony No.6

1802 Wesley was Charles Wesley's son and John Wesley's nephew, founders of the Methodist Church. Samuel wrote a fair number of organ works, as well as 6 symphonies 11 concertos, and a variety of anthems.

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08/15/24 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Hiawatha's Wedding Feast

Coleridge-Taylor had a highly successful career as a conductor and composer, despite being of mixed-race descent. His trilogy of cantatas based on Longfellow's poem "Hiawatha" made his reputation.

 

08/16/24 Heinrich August Marschner (August 16, 1795): Overture to Hans Heiling, Op. 80

Marschner was the most popular German opera composer of the mid-1800s. He was considered Weber's heir and was supplanted by Wagner.

 

Farrenc: Complete Piano Works Volume 3 - All World Premiere Recordings

Volume three of this exceptional series focuses on a single form: the rondo. Pianist Maria Stratigou collected nine rondeaux from Louise Farrenc. And they're all world premiere recordings. 

Louise Farrenc was a major figure in 19th Century Paris. But her fame as a composer and pianist soon faded after her death. It's only been revived in the early 21st Century. Stratigou's complete traversal of her piano works is both welcome and vital.

Farrenc was considered one of the greatest pianists of her age (of either gender). And she was a pedagogue. As an artist, shoe pushed technique to the limit. And as a teacher, she wrote works to help others learn those skills. 

This release is mixture of works for amateurs and professionals. Farrenc wrote all her rondos within a decade, from 1827 to 1838.

All share a similar early Romantic style. Farrenc's compositions are models of clarity and elegance. And imagination.

Her Trios Rondos Faciles, Op. 8 were written for students. They're simple pieces, but ones with substance. There's a hint of Mozartian charm about them. 

Arrangements of popular opera arias were a mainstay of the 1820s piano literature. Farrenc wrote six rondeau brillants on opera themes.  

These are more difficult works, and more complex. While the melodies remain clear, Farrenc takes them in some unexpected directions. 

Maria Stratigou's doctoral dissertation was "Performance Aspects of Louise Farrenc’s Piano Études." This is music she understands deeply. And as a pianist, Stratigou has the technique to make these works come alive. 

I've enjoyed every installment of this series. And with each release, my respect for this unjustly neglected composer grows. 

Louise Farrenc: Complete Piano Works 3
Rondeaux
Maria Stratigou, piano
Grand Piano

Rautavaara and Aho -- Joy & Asymmetry, Indeed!

This release features the music of a teacher and his pupil. Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara was the teacher. Kalevi Aho was the student. And he learned well. Rautavaara's mature style featured clouds of sound that continually intersected in unusual ways. 

Aho's style has a similar underlying aesthetic but takes a different form. If Rautavaara's music is in soft focus, then Aho's is crystal clear. This contrast is clearest when listening to two works from 2010. 

Unsere Liebe by Rautavaara is primarily homophonic. Its shimmering harmonies obscure the tonal center. Yet they also effectively color the melody, providing emotional context to the work. 

Kolme laulua Mawlana Rumin runoihin was also composed in 2010. Like Rautavaara's work, the rhythmic pulse is weak. Here though, the single-line melody builds as it develops. A harmonic line splits off. A chorus intersperses answering motifs throughout the work. 

Different in style, but somehow similar in intent. These are choral works meant to evoke an atmosphere. Both composers have very subtle contrasts. Both demand the full attention of the listenr. 

And I suspect both composers demand much from the singers. The Helsinki Chamber Choir does an outstanding job. Their intonation is precise, and their vocal blend is seamless.

This is an SACD release. If you purchase a digital download, make it the highest resolution available. On a good playback system, you will hear a difference. Aho and Rautavaar use silence as much as sound. And often very quiet sounds at that. The more details you here, the more the artistry of these two composers comes through.  

Joy & Asymmetry
Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kalevi Aho
Choral music
Helsinki Chamber Choir; Nils Schweckendiek, conductor
BIS 2892 SACD

William Christie and Justin Taylor revisit Gaspard Le Roux

I get it. Not everybody likes harpsichord music to begin with. I occasionally get a few disgruntled calls when I air some on my radio program. What would they think of music with two harpsichords?

I may find out -- I intend to air selections from this release. And why not? Performing are William Christie and Justin Taylor -- two of the best harpsichordists of their respective generations. 

And the music is first-rate, too. Gaspard Le Roux was a harpsichordist at the turn of the 18th century. His 1705 publication "Pieces de Clavessin" is unique. Gaspard provided supplemental music for each piece. Music that could be played by a trio, or by two harpsichords. 

William Christie first recorded this material in 1977 with Arthur Haas. Then as now some editing of the original material was necessary. As a team, Christie and Taylor present a fresh take on this material. 

The two instruments blend well together -- as do the players. Le Roux does more than just double lines. He thickens textures and adds counterpoint. The result is almost symphonic on some tracks. 

Christie and Taylor include some two-harpsichord arrangements of other contemporary composers. And wisely so. Hearing a Lully overture and a Marain piece provided welcome breaks. 

This is an album worth revisiting many times. Christie and Taylor are superb players, and they have a real chemistry. My next task is to seek out that Christie/Haas recording and do a little A/B listening. 

Recommended.

Conversation: Gaspard Le Roux
Suites pour deux clavecins
William Christie, Justin Taylor, clavecins
Harmonia Mundi HAF 8905337

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAugust Week 1

For August, the Classics a Day team chose to celebrate some birthdays. Several major composers were born in August, and some deserve rediscovery. The challenge is to post videos of August's birthday boys and girls to your social media feed.

For this challenge, I tried to match the actual birthdate to the date of the post. (I wasn't always successful.)

08/05/24 Arthur Bliss (August 2, 1891): Things to Come

British composer Bliss was a major figure in the 1930s. His compositions for film, ballet, and concert halls were equally popular. "Things to Come" was the first of nine films he scored over two decades.

 

08/06/24 William Schuman (August 4, 1910): Symphony No. 9 "The Ardeatine Caves"

This American composer won the first Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1943. He later won a second special Pulitzer in 1985 for his work as a composer and music educator.

 

08/07/24 Granville Bantock (August 7, 1868): Scenes from the Scottish Highlands

Granville Bantock was often inspired by the music of his native Scotland. As a conductor, Bantock presented many works by fellow British composers and helped found the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1920.

 

08/08/24 Cecile Chaminade (August 8, 1857): Concertino for Flute and Piano

This French composer and pianist was active at the turn of the 20th Century. Known primarily for her piano music, Chaminade also composed several orchestral works and an opera.

 

08/09/24 Benedetto Marcello (August 9, 1686): Ciaccona

Marcello followed the wishes of his family and became a lawyer. He eventually became governor of Pola. And all the while he pursued his passion, music. Marcello's catalog includes oratories, concertos, and sinfonias.

 

Juliana Koch Presents Ruth Gipps at Her Best

Chandos has already released two albums of Ruth Gipp's orchestral music. This release features some of her chamber works for oboe. Gipps was an accomplished oboist, pianist, and composer. So I would expect that this music would have some of her best work. And I think it does. 

Gipps fully exploits the potential of the oboe. There are few examples of extended technique here, but plenty of demanding passages. 

Gipps studied composition with Gordon Jacobs and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Throughout her career, her music remained resolutely tonal. Several works suggest an "Englishness" in their modal harmonies and melodic shapes. 

But Gipps used these elements sparingly, as a way to enhance her own musical expression. 

Juliana Koch performs with impressive facility. Her runs are immaculate. The intonation of the instrument is also spot on. This is an album of incredible beauty. 

For me, the title track was the real showpiece. "The Piper of Dreams" is for solo oboe. Gipps crafts a melody that implies its harmony.  This provides the listener a point of reference. And Koch's playing adds to the experience.

The trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Piano, Op. 10 was written in 1940, while Gipps was still studying composition. The influence of her teachers may be the strongest here. And yet there's no mistaking thing music for anyone else's. 

Gipps had a rare gift for composition and one that just is now being fully appreciated. If you like English music, this disc is for you. 

Ruth Gipps: Piper of Dreams
Juliana Koch, oboe, cor anglais
Michael Michale, piano; Julian Bliss, clarinet
Chandos CHAN 20290

John Turner: Highways and Byways - Rarities for Recorder

I have a slogan for my WTJU radio program. It's "exploring the highways and byways of the classical repertoire to help you discover your next favorite classical work." So of course I'm going to audition an album entitled "Highways and Byways!"

In this case, the repertoire is "Rarities for Recorder." And John Turner isn't kidding. This album of contemporary recorder music is full of surprises. Recorder music by Stravinsky? It's here.

Recorder music by percussionist William Bergsma? Got it. As well as works by big names such as Lennox Berkeley, Alexander Gretchaninov, and John McCabe. And it includes works by Christopher Ball, Peter Hope, and Dorothy Pilling, among others.

What really appeals to me is that all these works were written for the instrument.  No arrangements or transcriptions here. And it's an impressive lineup of the music.

John Turner is a true virtuoso. His career stretches back to the 1960s with David Munro and the Early Consort of London. He was also a member of Christopher Hogwood's Early Consort of Music. Turner has premiered over 600 works for his instrument. 

So consider this a mere sampling of what's available. And a demonstration of how beautiful and expressive the recorder can sound. 

The album delivers both in quality and quantity. And yes, Turner's helped me discover some new favorite classical works.   

Highways and Byways: Rarities for Recorder
John Turner, recorder
Stephen Bettaney, piano
Laura Robinson, recorder; Catherine Yates, Alex Mitchell, violas
Divine Art DDX 21245

Reissiger Complete Piano Trios Vol. 1 - Solid start

The Trio Anima Mundi are quite talented musicians. And quite ambitious. Carl Gottlieb Reissiger wrote 27 piano trios throughout his career. And they're not insubstantial works. 

Volume one features two early trios, each running around 30 minutes in length. So this is volume one of about 13 or so?

Reissiger was a pivotal figure in 19th Century Germany. As Kapellmeister to the Dresden Court, he made the city a major musical center. Reissiger reshaped the orchestra into a world-class ensemble. As director of the Dresden Opera, he programmed the best and the newest works. He was an early supporter of Wagner.

In his lifetime, Reissinger's music was extremely popular. He was in demand as a conductor, a composer, and a teacher. After his death, he virtually vanished from music history. 

His music was considered old-fashioned and unoriginal. Well, recordings like this let us judge for ourselves. 

This volume features Reissinger's first and fourth piano trios, from 1824 and 1829. Despite their lengths, these trios are well-written and well-organized pieces of music. 

The trios remind me of Mendelssohn. There's clarity and straightforward simplicity at work here. And I personally found it appealing, and not derivative at all. 

The Trio Anima Mundi delivers some sensitive readings. They keep the music light and transparent. Robert Schumann wrote "if one wants to learn to compose confidently and authentically in the trio style, take Reissiger’s latest trios as a model." I don't disagree. There's a lot to like here. On to volume 2!

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger: Complete Piano Trios, Volume One
Trio Anima Mundi
Toccata Classicsl TOCC0267

#ClassicsaDay #NorthAmClassics Week 5, 2024

Two countries celebrate their independence in July -- and they just happen to be neighbors. On July 1, 1867, three separate British colonies were officially united. United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick became Canada. 

On July 4, 1776, thirteen separate British colonies were officially united, becoming the United States of America.

The #ClassicsaDay challenge for July is to post music by Canadian and American composers. Both countries have created their own forms of classical music, independent of Europe's. 

Here are my social media posts for the fifth and final week of #NorthAmClassics. As in past years, I alternate between Canadian and American composers.

7/29/24 Albertine Morin-Labrecque (1886 or 1890–1957): Arabesque

Morin-Labrecque was born in Montreal. After two decades touring as a concerto pianist, she joined the faculty of the Conservatoire national de musique.

 

7/30/24 Joan Tower (1938): Piano Concerto, Homage to Beethoven

Tower is one of the most performed living American composers. Her first piano concerto incorporated quotes from three Beethoven sonatas.

 

7/31/24 Hector Gratton (1900–1970): Legende, symphonic poem

Legende is Gratton's most successful work. It won the Jean Lallemand Prize and was premiered by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1937.

 

Next month:

Colin de Blamont Occasional Works Consistently Entertain

These days we commemorate life events with photos and videos shot on smartphones. In the 1700s, there were other options -- if you were wealthy enough. And Louis XV, King of France certainly was. 

His father, Louis XIV, habitually commissioned large-scale musical works for important events. Weddings, birthdays, dignitary visits, etc. were all worthy of a large-scale production.  This release features two such works from the reign of his son. 

"Le Retour de Dieux sur la Terre" celebrated the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska in 1725. The second divertissement is "Le Caprice d'Erato." It premiered in 1729 to mark the birth of the couple's first son.

Both were intended as light entertainment -- light lavish entertainment, that is. Both feature large casts, mostly portraying allegorical figures.

The singers deliver their melodies with delicacy and simplicity. The choruses are sufficiently robust. This is music meant to entertain, and so it does!

De Blamont is an effective orchestrator. Recorders signal a pastoral setting. Hunting horns accompany Diana, the goddess of the hunt. Percussion sounds during the ballets, and low double reeds provide effective tonal color.

The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra has a bright, crisp sound. Their energetic readings of the dance numbers help keep things moving along.

This release doesn't include the librettos, but they're not necessary. There's no drama here. These are set pieces with various gods and goddesses praising the king and queen (or king, queen, and heir). 

Although these were occasional works, they did have staying power. "Le Retour de Dieux sur la Terre" premiered in 1725. It was performed either in its entirety or in excerpts for the Queen through 1748.

And they still entertain today. Especially with these performances.

Colin de Blamont: Le Retour de Dieux sur la Terre
Le Caprice d'Erato
Les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra; Alexis Kossenko, conductor
Chateau de Versailles CV139 CD
2 CD set