Scriabin impromptu opus 12 no. 2
Piano Powerful emotions are hidden... Scriabin Scriabin. Another 'crazy genius'?
Monthly Archives:
August 2008
WHO is the Greatest? It’s a short list isn’t it?
Bach / Beethoven / Mozart are usually argued about and compared as the greatest composer.
Bach created “music” as we know it today. (with the introduction/elaboration of Contrapuntal)
Mozart they say is the sound of God and/or Angels.
Beethoven? The Master of everything? Symphonies. Piano. Chamber. etc.
Who else? Chopin / Liszt / Brahms / Handel / Tchaikovsky and a handful of others. But usually it’s an argument about the BIG 3!
I’m going to throw my hat in the ring and proclaim: (after a short 3 year intense period of listening to and collecting Classical Music) Beethoven as The One! The Greatest.
At this point there are only a few pieces by him (on the right side under Beethoven) but I will be adding more from now. Comments welcome!
Here is the second movement of Bruch’s violin concerto #1
Perhaps a ‘perfect’ example of Romantic violin?
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
“The slow second movement is often adored for its powerful melody, and is generally considered to be the heart of the concerto. The rich, expansive themes, presented by the violin, are underscored by a constantly moving orchestra part, keeping the movement alive and helping it flow from one part to the the next.”
Bruch violin concerto no 1 in g minor adagio
Bortkiewicz Cherubini Composers - Ignored and Almost forgotten! Glazunov Hummel Hunt! Opera/Vocal Rubinstein
Obscure and underdog Composers. Why obscure?
Posted on August 9, 2008In the case of Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 – 1837) there doesn’t appear to be a good reason as to why he has become somewhat obscure. At the time he was composing; his music and compositions were spoken of in the same breath as Beethoven and Mozart. (see Hummel and Hummel Hunt on the right)
BUT … it’s a different story with SERGEI BORTKIEWICZ. He suffered every possible trauma from the Russian Revolution, The First World War … and the Second WW too! Even Nazi persecution! Constantly fleeing this, or losing that. How can a musician function? As he wrote:
“I’m writing to you from my bathroom where we have crawled in because it is small and can be warmed on and off with a gas light (!) The other rooms cannot be used and I cannot touch my piano. This is now! What awaits us further ? Life is becoming more and more unpleasant, merciless. I teach at the Conservatory with the heat at 4 degrees, soon even less! […]”
So here’s the Second (the shortest) Movement to Borkiewicz’ Piano Concerto #1 in B minor Op. 16. The passionate “theme” in this movement is so beautiful it could probably spawn a Popular Hit! (maybe it already has and I just don’t know it)
Hey! – I just listened again … and wonder?! Is there inspiration for George Gershwin here?
Bortkiewicz piano concerto no. 1 second movement
Another one from the list Lance sent me of “obscure / underdog” Composers. Lance says that this is his favourite violin concerto! So it’s gotta’ be worth a listen. WARNING: it’s Long!
Glazunov violin concerto in a minor op-82-moderato-andante-allegro
Anton Rubinstein
Not to be confused with the great pianist Artur Rubinstein, born in 1887, Anton Rubinstein, an even greater performer in his time and a clear rival to Liszt and other great pianists of the 19th century, had a marked effect on the development of music in Russia, establishing the first system of professional musical training at a new Conservatory in St. Petersburg in 1862.
Rubinstein grand sonata for piano 4 hands second movement
ANOTHER “Underdog” Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France.
Talk about being cheated out of fame and posthumous recognition!!! Just read what was said about him … by “Them” – back then! And then listen to a movement from that vocal piece “They” raved about.
Posterity has a habit of elevating the obscure and neglecting the famous. Thus it is that Cherubini, hailed by Beethoven as ‘the greatest living composer’, is today often forgotten; ‘If I were to write a Requiem, Cherubini’s would be my only model’, Beethoven continued and the work was performed at his funeral in 1827. Schumann’s opinion was that it was ‘without equal in the world’. Berlioz considered that ‘the decrescendo in the Agnus Dei surpasses everything that has ever been written of the kind’.
Cherubini requiem-no-1-in-c-minor-agnus-dei
How could he be so inconsiderate as to compose ONLY ONE Piano Concerto?! It’s a beautiful piece of music and I wonder why he didn’t compose more? Very inconsiderate.
If you have the time, listen to all three movements. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Scriabin Piano Concerto
First movement
Balakirev Chopin Liszt Madmen of the Piano Piano Rachmaninoff
Madmen of the Piano
Posted on August 2, 2008Madmen of the Piano (*and the piano’s supreme emotional power – Inspired by, and dedicated to Tam from Retravision in Byron Bay, because he just loves the wild piano stuff! )
Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninoff
(*Yes indeed … there are lots of other ‘Madmen Pianists’ – but these guys take the cake)
I was thinking the other day – What instruments convey the most ‘intensity’? Drums? Electric guitar (ala Jimmy Hendrix!) … maybe the Sax? (John Coltrain)
For me it’s the piano. Done by the “Masters.”
Here are some intense pieces; some supremely difficult to play: Pieces that blend that ‘wild’ quality – with emotional glory!
Sorry Tam! I didn’t do what I originally intended; which was to introduce only the purely ‘berserk’ numbers. I know you love ‘em … but hey – I might lose listeners!
Dear listener – if these pieces move you, click on the Title on the right, “My Personal Bias” You’ll find gorgeous piano pieces without as much intensity.
Chopin Ballade #1
Rachmaninoff prelude in G Minor (played by “THE Piano man” – no .. not Billy Joel !! but The Big H – Horowitz)
Rachmaninoff prelude in g- minor Vladimir Horowitz-piano
Liszt erlkonig-op1
Chopin Fanstasie Impromptu in C sharp minor
Rachmaninoff preludes-no-10-in-b-minor-lento
Liszt hungarian rhapsody no-2
Here’s another one. This piece is often mentioned in the “hardest to play” category. It is surely “Intense”!
Islamey an Oriental Fantasy by Mily Balakirev. And here’s what a critic said:
Despite some dismissal that the work is merely a showpiece, Islamey has had a lasting impact on piano solo music; Ravel once remarked to a friend that his goal in writing Gaspard de la nuit was to compose a piece that was “more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey.”
Balakirev Islamey (Oriental Fantasy)