#ClassicsaDay #PrideMonth Week 5

For the month of June, Classics a Day celebrates Pride Month. And the challenge is to post works from classical composers who self-identified as other than heteronormative. 

There are a lot of composers to choose from -- and not just in the modern era. This was a challenge that deepened my knowledge of classical music. And deepened my appreciation of the additional struggles faced by LGBTQ+ composers both past and present. Here are my posts from the fifth and final week of #PrideMonth.

06/27/22 Lou Harrison - Fugue for Percussion

Harrison wrote this work in 1941. At the time, he was studying composition with Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg. His first visit to Asia was still twenty years in the future.

06/28/22 Camille Saint-Saëns - Allegro appasoinato, Op. 70

Why are opus numbers important? In this case, because Saint-Saëns wrote two Allegro appasoinatos. Op. 43 is for cello, Op. 70 is for piano, both quite different. (and both also have solo and orchestral versions).

06/29/22 Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48

Tchaikovsky wrote this work in 1880. It was given its public premiere in October 1881. According to the composer, "The larger number of players in the string orchestra, the more this shall be in accordance with the author's wishes."

Next month:

#ClassicsaDay #WomensHistoryMonth 2022 Week 5

The Classics a Day team chose Women's History Month as the theme for March. Actually, it's been the March theme for the past five years. And there are still many composers to explore.

As always, I try to shore works I haven't posted before. And as always for this month, I'm posting works by composers I've just discovered (both past and present). Here are my #ClassicsaDay posts for the fifth and final week of #WomensHistoryMonth.

03/28/22 Emilie Mayer (1812–1883) - String Quartet in G minor, Op. 14

Mayer was the Associate Director of the Opera Academy in Berlin. Her composing career took off after a concert of her works in 1850. Mayer wrote seven string quartets. Her G minor quartet was publisedin 1858.

03/29/22 Louise Farrenc (1804–1875) - Cello Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 46

Farrenc was well-known as a pianist and composer. Most of her works were for chamber ensembles. Her cello sonata was published in 1858, and most likely premiered with Farrenc at the piano.

03/30/22 Marianne von Martinez (1744-1812) - Sonata for Piano in E major

Martinez was well-known in 18th Century Vienna, both as a pianist and composer. She often gave command performanes for Empress Maria Theresa.

03/31/22 Sophia Giustina Dussek (1775 – ca. 1831) - Harp Sonata in C minor, Op. 3, No. 3

Sophia Guistina was married to Jan Ladislav Dussek. She was a pianist, harpist, and composer. Her most popular works were her sonatas for harp.

Next Month:

#ClassicsaDay #SovietaDay Week 2

For the third year running, the Classics a Day team chose to honor May Day. For the month of May, Soviet musicians are the theme. Last year I posted music by Soviet prize-winners. 

This time, I'm simply walking my way through the alphabet (Latin, not Cyrillic). The music I discovered proved anything but ordinary. Here are my posts for the first week of #SovietaDay.

5/6/19 Issay Dobrowen - Piano sonata No. 2 Op. 10

Dobrowen studied with Taneyev in Moscow and worked with Nikolai Medtner. He left the USSR in 1922 and emigrated to Norway.

5/7/19 Heino Eller (1887-1970) - Symphony No 1 In modo mixolydio

Estonian composer Eller founded the Tartu Schoool of Composition. Its students include Edward Tubin and Arvo Part.

5/8/19 Samuil Feinberg (1890-1962) - Piano Sonata No. 8

Feinberg was a pianist. Most of his compositions were for the instrument, including 12 sonatas and 3 concertos.

5/9/19 German Galynin (1922-1966)- Piano Concerto No. 1

Galynin studied with Shostakovich. It may be why Galynin's piano concerto was cited for formalism by Khrennikov in 1948.

5/10/19 Soltan Hajibeyov (1919-1974)- Symphony No. 2

Hajibeyov is regarded as one of the founders of the classical music tradition in Azerbaijan. In addition to 2 symphonies, he's noted for his theater works.

May 2017 #ClassicsaDay #SovietaDay annotated list - Part 2

Introduction

One of the ongoing Twitter hashtag groups I participate with is #ClassicsaDay. The idea’s pretty simple: post a link to a classical work, and – in the body of the tweet – provide a little info about it.

For May 2017, some of the participants decided to use the theme #SovietaDay. Part 1 fills in the background behind my selections.

Below is the first group of composers I shared. For the most part, they're the generation leading up to the Revolution.

Soviet composers born 1859-1919

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935)
Ippoloitov-Ivanov was an established composer when the Revolution occurred. In other countries, composers writing in the late Romantic style were falling out fashion. In Russia, Ippoloitov-Ivanov's conservative style kept him out of the political controversies surrounding music.


Julius Eduardovich Conus (1869-1942) 
Conus (or Konius) was violinist and composer who toured extensively before the Revolution. He was working in eastern Poland when the Soviets invaded. He then went to Moscow, where he taught and continued to compose. His conservative romantic style seemed to hold him in good stead.

Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (1874-1956) 
Glière's students include Prokofiev, Koussevitzky, Myaskovsky, Khachaturian, and others. Glière managed to remain above party politics and had a long, distinguished career. His Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra won the Stalin Prize in 1946.



Nikolai Roslavets (1881-1944) 
Roslavets has been described as "Scriabin on acid." An unabashed modernist with cosmopolitan tastes, his music was banned in 1930, and not performed until well after his death.

Arthur Lourié (1892-1966) 
After the Revolutions Lourié served as head of the music division of the Commissariat of Enlightenment. But his contemporary style was increasingly at odds with the Soviet ideal, and in 1921 he escaped to the West, eventually settling in the US. He was a colleague of Stravinsky, whose music he actively promoted.



Lev Knipper (1898-1974) 
Knipper studied with Reinhold Glière and initially was quite experimental. He soon transitioned to a more Soviet-approved style. He also served as an agent for the OGPU (Soviet secret police).

Alexander Mosolov (1900-1973)
Mosolov was enamored of the futurist movement of the 1920s. His experimental style eventually led to exile in the Gulag in 1937. After release, he wrote in a politically approved style, but those works haven't retained the attention of his earliest compositions.