BACH TO BOULEZ (pronounced 'back' to Boulez)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A hymn to the Sun
Nielsen's glorious hymn to the sun. "Helios Overture" has been a favourite work of mine since I first heard it in 1978. Recently I have re-examined Nielsen's music especially as regards the symphonies and the concertos. New discoveries are his wonderful 'Wind Quintet', the complete string quartets and the opera "Maskarade" which is absolutely glorious music.......tuneful and full of great humour! Nielsen ranks high on my list of very favourite composers.....perhaps one of the top three! There is an excellent 6 disc set of the symphonies on the Dacapo label from Denmark. It can be ordered through your neighbourhood Naxos retailer. The first three CD's are all the symphonies; the fourth disc us a SACD of his best loved orchestral music and the last two discs are DVD live performances of the symphonies. HEARTILY RECOMMENDED!
Sorry for not posting in so long but......
This is one of my recent discoveries in the long period since I last posted. Grainger's music is glorious and so easy to listen to and appreciate. Some of the many composers I have discovered are Vagn Holmboe, Per Norgard, Rued Langgaard, Niels Gade, Robert Simpson, Alexandre Tansman, Florent Schmitt, Jean Francaix, Darius Milhaud, Humphrey Searle, Toch and so many more. I do have a terrible unquenchable thirst for discovering 20th Century composers and their music that is off the beaten track. In fact the three B's are NOT Bach, Beethoven and Brahms! The three B's are Berg, Bartok and Boulez. Down with the "great" classics! If today's audiences don't come to terms with 20th Century composers, both known and not so known, then I say it's time to relegate the "great" classics to a dark dusty death in a very dark cellar, lock the door and throw away the key. Modern classical music enthusiasts have been dumbed down for far too long. Imagine ANOTHER Beethoven symphony cycle recently released, this time conducted by Chailly........do we really need another cycle??!! I say beat the damn works to death and then move on!
Down with Beethoven and up with Carl Nielsen(one of the greatest symphonists of all time)!!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde: Der Abschied 1/2
Der Abschied translated into English is 'The Farewell'. It is the last movement of his un-numbered symphony. Fearing he would die after writing his ninth symphony(as Beethoven did) he wrote this symphony after completing the eighth symphony. He chose to not number this work to outsmart fate itself. He went on to write his ninth and unfinished tenth. In his mind when he got to the tenth he was actually starting his eleventh. What he didn't know was that there were other composers who died after writing nine symphonies: Vaughan Williams, Dvorak, Glazunov(ninth was unfinished). Bruckner could be added to the list but he did write two early study symphonies that we now count as No.'s '0' & '00'. In this case we find a real similarity between the two composers as they both wrote a total of eleven symphonies and the last ones were left unfinished.
I feel that in this movement he was initiating his departure from this world. On May 18,1911 he did depart this world.
Gustav Mahler... July 7,1860 - May 18,1911
One hundred years ago today Gustav Mahler passed away. Few words can describe the sorrow I feel of his passing away at such a young age. If only he had lived another 20 or so years, imagine what more he could have written.But the music he did leave us will live in the hearts and minds of those who do love his music. Thank-you Herr Mahler!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Villa-Lobos - String Quartet no.1: Cantilena
There is unfortunately no complete performance by one group of this wonderful work on YouTube. So I did find six different quartets performing one movement each. This is a wonderful introduction to the huge cycle of string quartets by Villa-Lobos. In the first six quartets Villa-Lobos incorporated Brazilian colours and an incredible sense of being in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest all at the same time. The tragedy of these quartets is that they are seldom performed outside of Latin America.
This is glorious music, so please DISCOVER and ENJOY!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Villa-Lobos - Choros No.3 "Pica-Pau"
Choros no.3 is a perfect example that Villa-Lobos was completely fluent at writing music for chorus/voices. It is one of his most popular and best loved works in his entire repertoire!
PLEASE ENJOY!
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.7 1/3
Raul, this one is for you. More glorious music from the great Brazilian master! Please listen and enjoy!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 - Aria
If you're not sure that you have ever heard the music of Villa-Lobos, this clip should prove that you have heard something written by the Brazilian master.
ENJOY!
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 1/4
This is marvellous music by the most important composer to come from Latin America and specifically Brazil. Villa-Lobos was a very prolific composer in that he wrote over 2,000 works in every genre known to the Western musical world. He wrote 12 symphonies, 17 string quartets, 5 piano concertos, a virtual ton of solo piano music, 6 operas and many other delightful works. This music is from a great cycle of works named "Bachianas Brasileiras", a Brazilian homage to J.S. Bach. He also wrote another cycle of marvellous music called "Choros". In his music he shows his great pride of being Brazilian. While the Bachianas and Choros are quite nationalistic, the symphonies tend to be more formalistic. It is as if Villa-Lobos was trying to show the world that he could write symphonies that were not nationalistic. The string quartets are every bit as important a cycle as those written by Shostakovich(15 quartets) and Bartok(6 quartets). They are a blend of Brazilian and neo-classical elements. Villa-Lobos also wrote elegant and delightful music for the solo guitar.
After so many years of ignoring his music, my eyes and ears have been opened to this incredibly marvellous music. Recently I purchased the complete symphonies on the CPO label, the complete string quartets on the Dorian label and the best recordings ever of the complete Choros and Bachianas Brasileiras on the BIS label. Please note that in the case of the quartets, these recordings can also be purchased on the Brilliant label, albeit without the bonus DVD offered in the Dorian set. The DVD is a complete performance of the Quartet No.1 and interviews with the performers. The BIS set comes with a bonus CD of the composer's complete solo guitar music. This bonus CD is a total delight!! In every way all these performances along with the complete piano concertos on the DECCA label are all top notch and have received rave reviews from all over the world!
This is great music! PLEASE ENJOY!
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