tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63237072011-09-04T08:56:43.497-04:00What I Like About...In January 2004 I starting writing an opinion for each selection in the Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music. Now, more than a year later, I am almost finished. Soon, I will have an archive full of opinions on the music we so carelessly call "classical." And no one can stop me.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.comBlogger1781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1131801472733173612005-11-12T08:02:00.000-05:002005-11-12T08:22:25.493-05:00Ein deutsches Requiem, No. 4: Wie lieblich sind deine WohnungenJohannes Brahms (1833-1897)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 38-42There are two images of Brahms most salient in my generational memory of him (neither of which I have found online). One is of the beardless young pianist who met Jospeh Joachim while touring with Hungarian Rhapsodies. Together, they would decry Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1129661131672549372005-10-18T14:45:00.000-04:002005-10-18T22:26:59.646-04:00Pope Marcellus for the Very YoungAs we listen to the Brahms Requiem we should remember the lessons from the Pope Marcellus Mass (which appears in this anthology in two excerpts: Credo and Agnus Dei.) I was reminded of that piece the other day by Helen Radice as she was commenting on Jessica Duchen’s Memory Lane which referred to a wonderful post on Palestrina by David Salvage. In the comments Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1127531166750197512005-09-23T23:05:00.000-04:002005-09-23T23:06:06.756-04:00Approaching BrahmsI would like to say that, in Brahmsian style, my internet hiatus--which in blogsphere years must be decades, has been due to an overly self-critical, cigar smoking approach to writing that really takes the time to get it just right and that I have produced a post on Brahms that is as well written as any one of his four symphonies. Sadly, I cannot claim that to be the case.What Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1117752636430354032005-06-02T18:49:00.000-04:002005-06-02T18:50:36.436-04:00During LifeI heard, each to each and together,The distance between myself and thoseWho were singing.The ground was indistinct and vast yetProvided no obstacle againstThe waves of sound.The air, dark, unlimited, was cleanAnd would have flowed as easily backWere I singing.It was my desire to listen.Though I cannot say what I understood,I lived in sound.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1117637763187926052005-06-01T10:52:00.000-04:002005-06-01T10:56:03.196-04:00Virga JesseAnton Bruckner (1824-1896)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 37It is not difficult to find people who dislike Mr. Bruckner's music. You may recall the tour bus metaphor offered by Tom Strini last March (which I came across via Alex Ross). And I do not think I could distance myself from opinions like Mr. Strini's too easily. As much as I admire maestro Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1117544984157625572005-05-31T09:08:00.000-04:002005-05-31T09:09:44.163-04:00Geheimes Flüstern hier und dort, Op. 23, No. 3Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 36Her name reminds us of a conflict from the early years of her life: her father's vision of her future challenged by Robert's interest in her future. This child of divorced parents, who made good of her father's influence as a piano teacher, became a devoted wife.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1116772581842226752005-05-22T10:35:00.000-04:002005-05-22T10:50:06.943-04:00Soon to return...I've been preoccupied with the last few days of school and have been missing the blogsphere. I'll be back soon. Meanwhile, I posted the poem that was on my sidebar in order to have it in my archives. I also have a new poem for my sidebar.By the way, should it be Side Bar or sidebar?See you in a few days.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1116772343628388742005-05-22T10:31:00.000-04:002005-05-22T10:48:33.676-04:00Some After timeSome Aftertime (when allis done) idwon'tbe anymore and you(without us)shallreflect nottimeness butendless silentcontent forthis will bethe momentafter all defenses anddesires,hopeand love aregone. Withoutthis momentwhathas life beenand what iseternity?Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1115806959762797892005-05-11T06:22:00.000-04:002005-05-11T06:22:39.770-04:00Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 7: Ich grolle nichtRobert SchumannNorton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 35She is the one wearing diamonds going around being splendid while you cry in your beer yet you pity her for being so lovely. This painfully familiar scenario set to music could almost serve as an anthem to many young men early in the lessons of love.Appropriate for an anthem, our Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1115635923943483482005-05-09T06:50:00.000-04:002005-05-09T06:52:04.010-04:00Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 1: Im wunderschönen Monat MaiRobert SchumannNorton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 34One of the many delights of serialism is the tension it can create between a few small groups of pitches. R. Schumann's first Dichterliebe, "In the Marvelous Month of May," opens with such tension in the context of triadic harmony and repetition. The effect is that of Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1115034593394876712005-05-02T07:45:00.000-04:002005-05-02T07:49:53.396-04:00Der Lindenbaum, Winterreise, D. 118Franz SchubertNorton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 30-33When he won his Pulitzer Prize, I think it was, Aaron Kernis remarked that it was a good thing composing worked out for him because he had no other skills (if memory serves, I read this in Strings Magazine, those few years ago). Things did not work out so well for Mr. Schubert and yet, Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1114436735796166792005-04-25T09:42:00.000-04:002005-04-25T09:47:53.180-04:00Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118Franz Schubert (1797-1828)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 25-29It is tempting to think of our Romantic composers dying Romantic deaths. John Field died far from home in Moscow at the age of fifty five in 1837. Frail from overwork and weakened by the loss of his family, Mendelssohn died at the age of thirty-eight ten year later. Chopin, as he Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1113831611032497892005-04-18T09:00:00.000-04:002005-04-18T09:40:11.033-04:00Trois études de concert, No. 3: Un sospiro (A Sigh)Franz Liszt (1811-1886)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 20-24Whenever I hear mention of Franz Liszt I think of the poem The New Jules Verne in which Joesph Brodsky described a ship as having a "Franz Liszt" profile.I would like to dislike Maestro Liszt. After listening to Chopin, Liszt's personality seems overblown. Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1113562665279211532005-04-15T06:53:00.000-04:002005-04-15T06:57:45.280-04:00Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 19Perhaps it is the music teacher in me, but what I find most interesting in Chopin is the influence his music teachers had on him. I like to think that Adalbert Zywny and Józef Elsner saw Chopin's unique potential early and were empathetic enough to handle him with the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1112357137844165982005-04-01T06:51:00.000-05:002005-04-03T19:11:39.106-04:00Nocturne in A Major, No.8John Field (1782-1837)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Track 18I have never read a novel by Daniel Steel and she is not on my reading list, yet the life of John Field impresses me as a story she could have written. Starting out in Ireland, Mr. Field's life seems to make a line, with loops and detours, across an early nineteenth century Europe into Russia.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1111935205127431972005-03-27T09:49:00.000-05:002005-03-28T05:28:14.256-05:00Phantasiestücke Op. 12, Nos.5: In der NachtRobert ShumannNorton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 15-17Before I was married, Sujean, now my wife, and I often lived in different towns. I would often fall asleep thinking of flying over the states between us like one those floating persons in a painting by Chagall. Though Robert had the story of aquatic Leander in mind, his Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1111754273493616772005-03-25T07:20:00.000-05:002005-03-27T07:06:31.040-05:00Phantasiestücke Op. 12, Nos.4: GrillenRobert Shumann (1810-1856)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 12-14Mit HumorYesterday, I started by reading a post on the Fredösphere regarding the loves of Olivier Messiaen. I agree entirely with the value Mr. Himebaugh gives to biographical information and his post lingered in my mind as I went to The Rest is Noise. There, Alex Ross' Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1111580998566945442005-03-23T07:26:00.000-05:002005-03-23T07:29:58.566-05:00Call me Rip van Wrinkle. The orchestra I play for changed its rehearsal cycle just slightly and, I hope, just once for last week's concert. The change put all the rehearsals during the week and the drive up and down to Springfield just about wore me out. For the days since, if I haven't been teaching or eating I have been sleeping. I think I am awake now.Worth mentioning on the Shakespearean Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1110682438198190912005-03-12T21:48:00.000-05:002005-03-12T21:53:58.200-05:00Thank you, Helen.Helen Radice's post on the translator's art has been in my thoughts this week as I have moved my attention from Mendelssohn to Schumann. These guys--soon to be joined by Field, Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, and Clara Schumann--have contributed the most instrument-specific music in this anthology so far. And it seems, as I gradually make my way through this scholarly collection of Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1110198030468227172005-03-07T07:17:00.000-05:002005-03-07T07:20:30.470-05:00Lieder ohne Worte a) Op. 67, No. 4 in C MajorFelix MendelssohnNorton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 9-11The comparison may be tenuous and, perhaps, even invidious but I am reminded of the Rimsky-Korsakov Bumblebee when I hear this Presto of Mendelssohn's. Listener's of the Green Hornet radio drama may be cursed to think of that flight whenever speedy sixteenth notes appear. Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1109849741129313442005-03-03T06:32:00.000-05:002005-03-03T06:35:41.130-05:00Lieder ohne Worte, a) Op. 85, No. 4 in D MajorFelix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 7-8I thought of Felix recently while reading about the Forbidden Planet, an article found via the Fredösphere. I saw that pretty fun film when I was not quite a teenager and a few words from the grumpy Dr. Morbius made an impression on me as an aspiring musician. Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1109244383106572022005-02-24T06:26:00.000-05:002005-02-24T06:26:23.106-05:00Symphonie fantastique IV. March au suppliceHector Berlioz (1803-1869)Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 9 Tracks 1-6What we have here is a peacock more interested in his feathers than his mate. When Hector saw Hamlet and fell in love with Harriet, playing Ophelia, he, I suspect, was more in rapture with the theater than he was interested in learning about Harriet's needs as woman. Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1107458919167269452005-02-03T13:03:00.000-05:002005-02-06T07:41:20.156-05:00String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, No. 14, Op. 131, b) Allegro molto viviace (second movement)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Track 70
A composition teacher of mine once said that the problem with much music is simply that nothing happens. Though I feel I could write a book about the preceding fugue, given the money, it is, like the music my teacher Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1107345489599959332005-02-02T06:57:00.000-05:002005-02-03T08:14:44.046-05:00String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, No. 14, Op. 131, a) Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo (first movement)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 67-69
Does a key signature have meaning beyond the technical information it provides the performer?
Perhaps the answer depends on how you have been spending your time. For instance, if you have been sitting inIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1107257935936091622005-02-01T06:30:00.000-05:002005-02-01T06:38:55.936-05:00...a few more notes.
After listening to the Eroica the next masterpiece on our tour is the first movement of the C-sharp Minor string quartet, No. 14, Op. 131. I need a little time yet before I can put my thoughts together about this piece. Meanwhile, I was recalling a wonderful archive in The Rest Is Noise which, among other things, talks about the C-sharp in the Eroica.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1107005571667677722005-01-29T08:32:00.000-05:002005-01-29T08:32:51.666-05:00Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Eroica)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 52-66
I remember the LPs of Beethoven's nine symphonies recorded by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under the direction of George Szell that rest in my father's now infrequently used recorded collection. His collection stands silently in an old, tall, black, poorly built, Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1106913335494796182005-01-28T06:55:00.000-05:002005-01-28T14:43:53.423-05:00Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34, No. 2, Largo e sostenuto--Allegro con fuoco (first movement)
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 43-51
It is difficult to appreciate Cleminti's lengthy opener after listening to the streamlined Rondo from Beethoven's Op. 13. Like the Peri/Monteverdi comparison this anthology provoked in earlier pages, the older composer Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1106827377845224832005-01-27T07:01:00.000-05:002005-01-27T07:02:57.846-05:00Sonate pathétique for piano, Op. 13, Rondo, Allegro (third movement)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 33-42
My youngest sister wore the most cherubic blond curls you could ever see when she was a toddler. Just to hear her laugh I would put on extended puppet shows from behind the living room couch. My sound track would always be a Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1106653065551326802005-01-25T06:32:00.000-05:002005-01-25T06:37:45.553-05:00Don Giovanni Act I, Scene 5, b) No. 4: Madamina! è questo
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Track 32
Leporello's catalogue is memorable because there is so much going on without the least sense of clutter. The strings take on laughter and forgetting, the flutes and bassoons laugh and point, the oboes and horns toss in a fast children's tune, and all of Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1103518157978992282004-12-19T23:47:00.000-05:002004-12-19T23:49:17.976-05:00Donna Elvira: Chi è lá
Don Giovanni: Stelle! che vedo!
Listening to Donna Elvira converse with the two criminals, I wonder if this is good recitative. It sounds good. But is that because the singers, Teresa Berganza, Ruggiero Raimondi, and Josè Van Dam, know what to do with just a few notes? Or did Mozart chose the right few notes to repeat so frequently? I miss the picturesque recitative we Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1103435933475544952004-12-19T01:55:00.000-05:002004-12-19T00:58:53.476-05:00Don Giovanni Act I, Scene 5, a) No. 3: Ah, chi mi dice mai/Chi è lá
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 28-30
Yesterday morning, before the sun rose, I opened the cold door to my small car parked near the entrance to Washington park. As I drove away from the leafless trees, turned at the end of the block, I turned on the car radio. It was tuned to Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1103169741372892242004-12-15T23:00:00.000-05:002004-12-17T14:31:43.163-05:00approaching Don Giovanni
My favorite image of the mythical Don Giovanni is in Fellini's 1976 film, Casanova. Casanova, brilliantly cast with Donald Sutherland as the ladie's man, is at a dinner party when he hears that Don Giovanni is present. We see the Don only briefly, his silhouette moves through a nearby passageway. Casanova is interested and takes note.
Why would this mysterious Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1103082328939544142004-12-14T22:44:00.000-05:002004-12-14T22:45:28.940-05:00Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488, Allegro (first movement)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 12-27
When I was younger, less calm of mind, I did not like to listen to Mozart's piano music. Man, did I love Schoenberg, though. I still do but I have grown to understand what to listen for in a piano concerto like this one that has so many Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1102870066268013792004-12-12T11:46:00.000-05:002004-12-12T11:47:46.266-05:00...and even a few more words for Haydn's variations.
As I've mentioned, the compelling feature of these variations is not how they vary. Though the chromatic supporting lines may entrance us while we are reading the score as they may have motivated Haydn to put pen to paper, it is the tune that holds our attention. We adore this tune, as Haydn did, and wish it to change very little. (Could Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1102825850836360602004-12-11T23:25:00.000-05:002004-12-11T23:30:50.836-05:00I have at least one more thought about Joseph Haydn but I haven't gotten it organized just yet. Meanwhile, I enjoyed this post about him which I came accross via the Fredösphere.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1102738990908533082004-12-10T23:20:00.000-05:002004-12-10T23:23:10.906-05:00More on Haydn's anthem...
I was thinking of this tune while I drove across Westward Northern into Over The Rhine, my drive home four days a week. As I approached the viaduct and the familiar train yards came into view, I was strangely reminded of Sir John Gielgud's outstanding performance in the 1980 film "The Formula." He plays an aged German scientist. Complaining about having suffered the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1102679391243575452004-12-10T06:46:00.000-05:002004-12-10T06:49:51.243-05:00String Quartet Op. 76, No. 3, Hob. III. 77, Poco adagio, cantabile (second movement)
Franz Joseph Haydn
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 7-11
On Mondays I have been driving up to Mason, Ohio as a visiting artist. My project there is to assist some of the first and second grade classes of Mason Elementary School in writing anthems. By this time we are halfway through the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1102422140722893742004-12-07T07:20:00.000-05:002004-12-07T07:22:20.723-05:00The Return of Isaac Martin
The worst of it is that I have not been reading other people's blogs. Almost sheepishly I would glance at a page I once visited four times a week. My visit would be brief. I would feel the nostalgic affection mixed with guilt known to be attached to the library book years overdue or the Uncle I never thanked.
To return to a project unfinished, a hobby once enjoyed,Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1099132831628728192004-10-30T06:38:00.000-04:002004-10-30T06:40:31.626-04:00String Quartet Op. 33, No. 2 (The Joke), Hob. III. 38, Presto (fourth movement)
Franz Joseph Haydn
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 8 Tracks 1-6
The concept of the quartet as a violin player with three other people is one that I, a 'cellist, resist. As a young student in quartet lessons with my siblings I would stare out the window for long lengths of time as we played through theIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1098616024340041762004-10-24T07:05:00.000-04:002004-10-24T07:07:04.340-04:00Symphony No. 104 in D Major, Hob. I:104, Finale
Franz Joseph Haydn
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 58-68
Haydn grabs our attention with a very soft yet resonate pedal 'D' in the low strings and brass. The violins then state the theme without harmony or counter melody. When they repeat the theme, with a counter melody, the listener is witness to how the event is put Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1098025056133867932004-10-17T10:42:00.000-04:002004-10-17T17:26:22.673-04:00Local No. 1, A.F. of M., gig notes #1
Is it true that in classical performance the priority is on how you play while in jazz it is on what you play? (Where did I read that?) The other night I played a gig that seemed to contradict that perception. I played in the orchestra behind Steve and Eydie. They knew their act as well as Gil Shaham knows the Tchaikovsky Concerto.
The band leader and Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097800654371237852004-10-14T20:26:00.000-04:002004-10-14T20:37:34.370-04:00Symphony No. 92 (Oxford), Hob. I:56, Adagio cantabile (second movement)
Franz Joseph Haydn
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 54-58
The acceleration of world change contemporaneous with this Adagio is eerily noticeable in the NAWM collection. The fully developed string section that Vivaldi enjoyed is now joined by a flute, oboes, and bassoon, French horn, trumpet, and Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097605790127817712004-10-12T14:25:00.000-04:002004-10-14T08:29:00.483-04:00Symphony No. 56 in C Major, Hob. I:56, Allegro di molto (first movement)
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 47-53
As a teenager I hated Haydn. Still, it is sometimes too easy for me to slip into a derisive mode when I see his name. For instance, my first reaction to seeing him listed in the liner notes of these recordings was to wonder why heIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097461977598236492004-10-10T22:30:00.000-04:002004-10-12T11:48:52.060-04:00Concerto for Harpsichord or Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 7, No. 5, Allegro di molto (first movement)
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 34-46
History is lucky for these two sons. Not all of J.S. Bach's progeny were so smart. One has to wonder how much these lucky children were intimidated by their father's work or if they even Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097420203424345552004-10-10T10:48:00.000-04:002004-10-10T10:56:43.423-04:00Sinfonia a 8 in E-flat Major (La melodia germanica, No. 3)
Johann Wenzel Stamitz (1717-1757)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 29-33
Gone are the days when a composer could win the mantle of innovator by writing a crescendo . Though there is something about the Mannheim affection for patterns that reminds me of John Adams. Like Adams, Johann Stamitz seems to have Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097257525490335882004-10-08T13:43:00.000-04:002004-10-08T13:55:54.666-04:00Sonata in A Major, H. 186, Wq. 55/4, Poco adagio (second movement)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Track 27-28
The vague nostalgia of the fortepiano reminds me of a sad upright abandoned in a hallway of a once European-style home in Yellow Springs, Ohio. No longer space for a family of optimistic emigrants, the house has been rented out to Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1097164928936398652004-10-07T13:00:00.000-04:002004-10-07T12:05:08.266-04:00I’ll second that!
Charles T. Downey at ionarts recommended Cephas and Wiggins. I heard them a few weeks ago in Cincinnati and thought they were great. Go buy their CD.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1096818530185728062004-10-03T11:42:00.000-04:002004-10-03T11:50:30.683-04:00Springfield Symphony Orhestra performance notes #1
Nimrod From the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar
Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch
Fountains of Rome/Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi
Peter Stafford Wilson, conducting
Sandra Wolf-Meei Cameron, violin
Shortly before the start of our 2004-05 season our principal oboist, James Mitchell, died of heart failure. We performed the Nimrod variaition asIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1096628212936356442004-10-01T06:56:00.000-04:002004-10-10T10:58:51.426-04:00Symphony in F Major, No. 32, Presto (first movement)
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (ca. 1700-1775)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 24-25
The pseudo-science of Rameau's bestseller gains verisimilitude in the work of the elegant Mr. Sammartini. Never have theory and practice been so happily joined. "I like soup. I like soup," declare the strings. The simple melodic Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1096204956548414562004-09-26T09:17:00.000-04:002004-09-26T09:53:34.096-04:00Sonata in D Major, K. 119
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 22-23
After the uxorious King and his homely Queen (she is, in my eyes, very beautiful) have long receded in our history we are left with their servant's sonatas which had helped remove tedium from their hours. Three years saw each of them pass: 1757, Scarlatti; 1758, Barbara; 1759, Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095963665499025452004-09-23T14:16:00.000-04:002004-09-23T14:21:05.500-04:00Orfeo ed Euridice Act II, Scene 1, (excerpt)
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 17-21
It seems that I like the Beggar’s Opera less the more I do not listen to it. For me, it has come to represent that moment in the creative flow of music when our efforts turn away from a lyrical, growing complexity capable of engaging our full Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095682849008700282004-09-20T08:14:00.000-04:002004-09-20T08:20:49.006-04:00Guest Artist Concert #1
Contemporary Performer's Workshop
Andrea Lee, violin
Patricia Wood, piano
Because I think it was wonderful, I am unable to offer you any opinions. More accurately, as the host of this performance I thought it was great before it started. My interest here is simply to document this performance.
The Contemporary Performer's Workshop is a nonprofit organization with the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095680848179263292004-09-20T07:34:00.000-04:002004-09-20T07:47:28.180-04:00Cincinnati Symphony Orhestra concert review #1
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b by Beethoven
Kullervo, Op. 7 by Sibelius
Paavo Järvi, conducting
Charlotte Hellekant, mezzo-soprano
Jaakko Kortekangas, baritone
Estonian National Male Choir, Ants Soots, director
Last Friday night I walked across Washington Park to hear the CSO's first concert of the season. My good mood was easily encouraged by Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095364810567877432004-09-16T16:00:00.000-04:002004-09-17T19:09:48.906-04:00The Beggar's Opera, Scenes 11 to 13.
John Gay (1685-1732)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 12-16
Mr. Gay would have enjoyed the joke of being granted a spot on the list of great composers. As a composer, he has left us nothing of substance to ponder. Mr. Gay's influence, and the reason to consider him here, is much like the influence rock music would have centuries later.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095279831929574802004-09-15T16:20:00.000-04:002004-09-15T21:07:17.016-04:00Cleofide, Act II, Scene 9: Digli ch’io son fedele
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 7-10
It is a shame that the name “Faustina” is no longer popular with expecting parents. A woman with a name like that is likely to get what wants in life. Unlike Fracesca. Fracesca Cuzzoni, you may recall, was Faustina Bordoni’s sparring partner. While Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095188015250624682004-09-14T14:51:00.000-04:002004-09-15T16:19:54.516-04:00La serva padrona, Recitative and Aria: Ah, quanto mi sta male/Son imbrogliato io
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 7 Tracks 1-6
With a soft thud somehow audible though most of Europe, the Baroque era came to an end as J. S. Bach’s neck muscles lost the strength to hold his mighty head aloft and, consequently, his forehead came to rest on the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1095024067400246052004-09-12T17:18:00.000-04:002004-09-12T17:23:52.233-04:00Saul: Act II, Scene 10, c) No. 68, Chorus: O fatal Consequence of Rage
George Frideric Handel
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 27-29
I would have loved to have heard the clatter of Saul’s javelin. Such a violent and disorganized percussive event would have been a fine segue from his argument to the chorus’ lament. The out of control stick would be a perfect symbol of Saul’Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1094392967633464612004-09-05T10:01:00.000-04:002004-09-05T10:02:47.633-04:00Saul: Act II, Scene 10, b) No. 67, Recitative, Saul and Jonathan: Where is the Son of Jesse?
George Frideric Handel
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 26
I wonder how carefully Handel wrote his recitative? Not that there is something sloppy about his work, but this type of recitative does not seem to ask much of the composer. Singers generally seem to approach recitative withIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1094180032680487692004-09-02T22:51:00.000-04:002004-09-02T23:08:39.343-04:00Saul: Act II, Scene 10, a) No. 66, Accompagnato, Saul: The Time at length is come
George Frideric Handel
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 25
“Up, up and away,” said Saul when the time at length had come. At the end of the Baroque we see our angry king bounding up the C Major arpeggio with a confidence and verve unimaginable by Peri and his colleagues. Between those years Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1094090556108910242004-09-01T22:00:00.000-04:002004-09-01T22:07:00.276-04:00Giulio Cesare: Act II, Scene 2
Recitative and Aria: V'adoro pupille
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 20-24
In the 90's we saw Giulio hamming it up on the beach. This was a great moment to put in an anthology. It is the moment of his greatest defeat, the moment he is most in danger. Surrounded by his slain warriors, we see him on the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1093981699354178802004-08-31T15:47:00.000-04:002004-08-31T15:48:19.353-04:00Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, Credo: Symbolm Nicenum c) Et Expecto
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 18-19
And here is that bombastic ending Bach promised. It is curious to me that the scholars who put this collection together selected the conclusion of the Credo. Though bombastic, this excerpt is not a grand finale and the preceding few sections depend Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1093916918742724422004-08-30T21:37:00.000-04:002004-08-30T21:48:38.743-04:00Back to the B minor Mass in a moment...
...but first I have some reading to catch up on. Due to a recent move to bigger digs I have fallen behind the times. Getting all my things across town and settling in has taken more time than I thought and would have liked. But now that I am comfortable I see that my last post is starting to get stale but, as I said, first I have some reading to do.
WhileIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091804689198245692004-08-06T10:41:00.000-04:002004-08-06T11:04:49.200-04:00Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, Credo: Symbolum Nicenum, b) Confiteor
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 15-17
Sadly, I have performed in many modern sacred musical messes; Christmas pageants and the like that enthrall the musically illiterate with a line up of bombastic endings. There is much church music and much about church that I love. However, it seems Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091715873028687662004-08-05T09:55:00.000-04:002004-08-06T11:06:22.386-04:00Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, Credo: Symbolum Nicenum, a) Et in Spiritum sanctum Dominum
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 13-14
Bach's ambition must have been a peculiar thing. As I understand, he was not striving for fame, wealth, or legacy. He was interested in cultivating the good potential that he saw in himself. I would not use the word "ambition" toIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091488301006666692004-08-02T19:05:00.000-04:002004-08-05T09:55:07.673-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 7. Chorale: Gloria sei dir gesungen
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 12
"Parting requires songs; when you meet, there are better things to do!" This was the line in Solzhenitsyn's book that explained the abundance of sad songs compared to the lack of happy tunes. I am not sure there is a lack of happy Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091370834940181422004-08-01T10:03:00.000-04:002004-08-01T11:40:22.740-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 6. Aria (Duet): Mein Freund ist mein!
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 10-11
Listeners like what listeners know. It seems that the climax of a piece of music is generally the moment when the listener has learned the vocabulary of the piece and is ready for a change of some sort. The change can be as Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091179266521037202004-07-30T05:20:00.000-04:002004-07-30T13:35:45.440-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 5. Recitative: So geh herein zu mir
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 9
How should a love letter be preserved? Unlike the tenor who sang earlier in this cantata, the bass singer on this track delivers the sweetness possible in the German language. The intimacy of the text and Bach's passionate setting Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1091017231055140782004-07-28T07:58:00.000-04:002004-07-30T13:15:26.333-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 4. Chorale: Zion hört die Wächter singen
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 8
In a song about singing Mr. Bach atypically arranged his forces to concentrate his power on heartfelt melody. Abstaining from harmony, the strings are unified above the ubiquitous rhythm section and the tenors enjoy the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090928986445308722004-07-27T07:27:00.000-04:002004-07-27T07:53:25.350-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 3. Aria (Duet): Wann kommst du, mein Heil?
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 7
How is it that C minor can sing so sweetly? By the time of this aria the affections have been categorized and understood well enough that a minor chord could make even the crustiest basso weep. Yet this love duet does wellIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090774854067096192004-07-25T12:58:00.000-04:002004-07-25T13:13:02.770-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 2. Tenor Recitative: Er kommt
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Track 6
There are times when Bach sounds a little like the blues. For instance, hergegangen, the last word of this recitative, moves down to the final note in a way that emphasizes the flat third scale degree. But, alas, our singer slips in anIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090587192618669392004-07-23T08:45:00.000-04:002004-07-25T13:01:55.936-04:00Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, 1. Chorus: Wachet auf
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 6 Tracks 1-5
Here, music offers a view of an event far in the past. We see Mr. Bach setting a few simple ideas into motion. A string contingent with a swing in three is echoed by a double reed trio. A French Horn supports a choir singing a good morning Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090420102758977342004-07-21T10:25:00.000-04:002004-07-21T10:30:57.330-04:00Durch Adams Fall, BWV 637
Johann Sebastian Bach
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 45
One is three listeners to Bach. First, you hear Durch Adams Fall as you walk into the sanctuary. Although you do not know the text and are only guessing the composer, something about the piece seems beautifully, heartbreakingly asymmetrical. Second, you follow up on your curiosity and Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090327029855348922004-07-20T08:34:00.000-04:002004-07-21T10:28:53.136-04:00Preludium et Fuga in A Minor, BWV 543
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 43-44
My high school cross country coach once gave me an award for most consistent. He, Major Graves, was working hard to say something nice. As I approached the podium Major Graves talked about my perfect attendance to races we never won and my strong admiration forIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1090155553468343222004-07-18T08:39:00.000-04:002004-07-18T08:59:13.466-04:00Hippolyte et Aricie, Act IV, Scene I: Ah! faut-il
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 42
Rameau reminds us that it is never too late. His contribution to world history came fifty years near the end of an era and thirty years near the end of his life. His book, Treatise on Harmony, is a buoy in the history of music that marks the early stage Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089890703624474082004-07-15T07:20:00.000-04:002004-07-15T07:28:56.506-04:00Concerto for Violin, Op. 9, No. 2, RV 345, Largo (second movement)
Antonio Vivaldi
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 41
Read Kyle Gann's comments on the dangers of being a professor.
A composer is an asset to even the most Spartan societies. Who cares how they collect their pay? Somebody in town should be thinking about music. Concerning Vivaldi, I like to think of him Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089802821725889122004-07-14T06:56:00.000-04:002004-07-14T07:00:21.726-04:00Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 3, No. 2, RV 578 b) Allegro (second movement)
Antonio Vivaldi
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 34-40
Once is never enough for large leaps and chromatic scales. Vivaldi found a way to indulge in these instrumental habits. He helped his listeners with repetitions. The tight harmonic changes Don Antonio favored, which were familiar to his Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089471022438520822004-07-10T10:49:00.000-04:002004-07-10T10:57:25.566-04:00Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 3, No. 2, RV 578 a) Adagio e spiccato (first movement)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 33
Women have never had as strong an influence in music as can be found in the work of the red priest. Though without credit and seated behind a thick screen, Vivaldi's students irrevocably severed instrumental music from a Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089430792670044242004-07-09T23:18:00.000-04:002004-07-09T23:57:38.686-04:00Trio Sonata, Op. 3, No. 2
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 28-32
Corelli comes out on top. As we may recall, this anthology presents another unfortunate comparison on the other side of Baroque. The second time we heard Orpheus announce his plans to go underground was far more convincing than the first. And here, the second time we encounterIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089299941925794832004-07-08T11:14:00.000-04:002004-07-08T11:23:11.413-04:00Trio Sonata: La Raspona
Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 26-27
Fearless Legrenzi sends his joyful violin players into happy competition. The seventeenth century tangle of two violins that is La Raspona reminds me of the thirteenth century tangle of three tenors that is Sederunt. The violins have chords to play with (leaps and showy arpeggiosIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1089125978606879122004-07-06T10:57:00.000-04:002004-07-06T10:59:38.606-04:00Vingt-cinquieme ordre e) Les Ombres errantes
Francois Couperin
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 25
Sensitive to scales, our composer may have heard this piece before it was written. The shadows in his title are uncomplicated musical lines that move with significant weight. They were in motion before he tossed them between the conflicting gravitational bodies of C minor Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1088709519315549642004-07-01T14:59:00.000-04:002004-07-01T15:18:39.316-04:00Vingt-cinquieme ordre b) La Muse victorieuse
Francois Couperin
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 24
Mr. Couperin achieved opera without singers. His haiku-style production was aimed at an audience of one. The ideal listener, wearing those funny pants of the eighteenth century, would have been someone familiar with the going-ons of the theater. Francois was appealing to Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1088355417257971272004-06-27T12:47:00.000-04:002004-06-27T13:02:10.223-04:00Vingt-cinquieme ordre b) La Monflambert
Francois Couperin
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 23
Mr. Couperin's friendly piece offers a lesson in orchestration. Intentionally or not, our gentle Frenchman has provided us with a model of doubling. This technique, as one can hear in this gigue, can have a profound influence on a work's narrative. To my ears, the petit reprise Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1088173470057194372004-06-25T10:20:00.000-04:002004-06-25T10:24:30.056-04:00Vingt-cinquieme ordre b) La Misterieuse
Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Track 22
It is in this mysterious one that we can find a gentle extension of Gregorian Chant. With instrumental writing now established, composers happily, yet cautiously, find new ways to complicate the art of line learned from the good monks. Surprisingly, it is not in the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1088031307769413162004-06-23T18:53:00.000-04:002004-06-23T18:55:07.770-04:00Vingt-cinquieme ordre a) La Visionaire
Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 20-21
The best audience for a composer is the performer. Even though the beautiful dreamer Mr. Couperin had in mind was an amateur, this short piece is still worthy of the most skilled fingers. It can serve the pro like a good short story. I am impressed by this Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1087653298002982972004-06-19T09:44:00.000-04:002004-06-19T09:54:58.003-04:00Chorale Prelude: Danket dem Herrn, BuxWV 181
Dieterich Buxtehude
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 tracks 17-19
I have never found brevity to be a fault. When a piece of music does not take much of the listener's time, it can afford to be strange and, whatever happens, gains significance by isolation. The listener has the opportunity to internalize the music sooner and more Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1087480407997783862004-06-17T09:41:00.000-04:002004-06-19T09:55:24.943-04:00Praeludium in E Major, BuxWV 141
Dieterich Buxtehude (ca. 1637-1707)
Norton Recorded Anthology or Western Music, CD 5 tracks 12-16
I have the Russians to thank for my appreciation of solo organ music. Not that I ever disliked the sound. It was the presentation, I think, that made it difficult for me. For a young listener, the appeal of a man sitting with his back to you in the front of a Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1087395262401665882004-06-16T09:58:00.000-04:002004-06-16T10:21:47.550-04:00The Fairy Queen: Hark! the ech'ing air a triumph sings
Henry Pucell
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 1, CD 5 track 11
It has been a long time since Augustine's unfinished treatise. Strangely it is the Fairy Queen--a more pagan representative could not be found--that, making good use of her introduction, presents a hitherto undocumented expansion of the long tradition of EuropeanIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1087183959614358032004-06-13T23:20:00.000-04:002004-06-13T23:49:24.826-04:00Dido and Aeneas Act III, Scene 2: Dido: Thy hand, Belinda/When I am laid in earth, Chorus: With drooping wings
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 7-10
A book of Tate's underneath the bough, a pint of beer, a good bass line--and thou, Lady Port-Huntly, in the brewery--Oh, brewery were paradise now! Or so I am inclined to think after revisiting Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1086353500482453552004-06-04T08:27:00.000-04:002004-06-04T08:51:40.483-04:00Armide b) Act II, Scene 5: Armide: Enfin il est en ma puissance
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 4-6
This is not music that came from silence. The debut would have been surrounded by the rustle of people with short attention spans in big clothes, the workings of elaborate scene machinery, and the thuds and grunts of dancers. More impressively, the Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1086186451619398452004-06-02T10:16:00.000-04:002004-06-02T10:32:21.266-04:00Armide a) Overture
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 5 Tracks 1-3
Isolated from the audience, the stage, and the rest of the opera, this overture has enough substance to stand on its own. Yet it does not. The work was intended to grab the listener's attention and prepare the stage. Because this piece does that so well, hearing it without the subsequent rewardsIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084719102255156272004-05-16T10:35:00.000-04:002004-05-16T10:55:03.263-04:00Le bourgeois gentilhomme: Ballet des nations b) Chaconne des Scaramouches, Trivelins et Arlequins
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 50
The French knew swing even before the States were anything. Lully's band of string players answered the royal demand for dance tunes with enough elegance and motion to be remembered hundreds of years later. When we thinkIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084621207673165762004-05-15T07:29:00.000-04:002004-05-15T07:40:07.673-04:00Le bourgeois gentilhomee: Ballet des nations a) L'entree des Scaramouches, Trivelins et Arlequins represente une nuit.
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 49
It is fitting that our symphonic tradition, rising out of the opera pit via the overture, truly begins with Jean-Baptiste. The political structure of the modern orchestra is not unlike theIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084452280062636132004-05-13T08:41:00.000-04:002004-05-13T08:44:40.063-04:00La Griselda
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 46-48
Alessandro knew that once was not enough. His audience would want to look at his Zelda just a little longer. Not interested in singing something new, she repeats what she has already sung. The listeners follow the dal segno, entranced. Because they have already heard this music as Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084279324202538212004-05-11T08:33:00.000-04:002004-05-11T08:42:04.203-04:00Toccata No. 3 (1615, revised 1637)
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 45
The value of Girolamo's virtuosity is the potential it has to inspire contemplation. As Mr. Frescobaldi's friends, seated in the church before Mass, were assaulted by his saxophone-like technique, we can hope that their minds were encouraged to think. With all his Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084197140890761702004-05-10T09:47:00.000-04:002004-05-10T21:46:50.660-04:00Lamentation faite sur la mort tres douloureuse de Sa Majeste Imperiale Ferdinand le troisieme et se joue lentement avec discretion
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 44
It was Froberger's affection for Frescobaldi that made the suite a suite. Because so much time has passed, this lament recalls not the sad fading of the Holy Roman Empire Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1084168727816856642004-05-10T01:49:00.000-04:002004-05-10T21:49:04.626-04:00Gigue: La Poste
Ennemond Gaultier/arr. Jean-Henri D'Anglebert
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 43
D'Anglebert's tribute relocates La Poste. As we may recall, the middle section of Gaultier's composition indulges in the beautiful low sounds of the lute. In D'Anglebert's version these notes are placed in an unremarkable treble range. Clearly, D'Anglebert had the keys in Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1083960768101345462004-05-07T16:07:00.000-04:002004-05-10T22:14:55.476-04:00Gigue: La Post a) Lute
Ennemond Gaultier (ca. 1575-1651)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 42
Ennemond’s gigue is a meditation more than a dance. Hearing La Poste our feet may stay still as our ear follows the line through its gentle chords. Nevertheless, it is easy to imagine people dancing to this line. People wearing the big clothes fashionable with Gaultier’s audienceIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1083859296504449182004-05-06T11:55:00.000-04:002004-05-10T22:16:08.316-04:00Grand Concerto: Saul, was verfolgst du mich
Henrich Schutz (1585-1672)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Tracks 40-41
Paul and Schutz did well enough without the Internet. Mass communication and the up-to-the minute-avant-guard can only be fleeting. These two gained ideas on their travels that they would take with them and, with time, influence the world. Though times have Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1083669298484913732004-05-04T06:58:00.000-04:002004-05-10T22:17:09.703-04:00Historia di Jephte, b) Chorus: Plorate filii Israel
Giacomo Carissimi
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 39
Carissimi commiserated with Filia by offering her a dirge. Musically, a dirge is very useful. It can be effective in comic as well as tragic settings. It can contrast with previously static moments as easily as it can contrast with previously hectic moments. A dirgeIsaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323707.post-1083639132420346802004-05-03T22:48:00.000-04:002004-05-10T22:18:09.816-04:00Historia di Jephte, a) Filia: Plorate colles
Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674)
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, CD 4 Track 38
Giacomo knew how to tell those biblical stories. It is a shame that this oratorio is not as frequently played as Handel's Messiah. Of course, how could Jephte compete with the hero of that story? Handel's own Jephte has not gotten as much stage time. Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16327053315959955832noreply@blogger.com