Not enough Schubert on this site I think! Here’s a movement from his Octet. It’s interesting how it came about. A famous clarinetist asked Schubert to compose a work similar to Beethoven’s Septet Op. 20. (Schubert added a second violin)
Schubert and Beethoven: Arguably the two greatest composers of that time; and someone asks Schubert to do something similar to Beethoven! Schubert composed it in 1824. Beethoven died in 1827 so he only had 3 years to hear it. Wonder if he ever did?
Never mind … you get to hear a movement from each!
then scroll down and click on Catalogue. The best part is that the sound bites are more like a minute long, rather than the stingy 30 second ones that most sites offer. This is true “Chamber Music Esoterica”!
Trying to find out Who transcribed it? – from the original solo piano to piano with bassoon – I googled until weary! … never did find out. Did Satie himself do it? Or the players on this piece? (Catherine Marchese and Emile Naoumoff) Some listener might leave a germain comment clearing this up! – please do if you’re out there.
Anyway it was so nice to be listening to Satie again this afternoon… what the heck – how about some more?! Here are three pieces joined together running approx. 8 minutes. (I love the first one)
Satie collection
1) 5ieme Gnossienne Modere 2) Caresse 3) Cafe-Concert Songs- Je Te Veux
Here’s another example of how interesting it is when a composer does ‘transcriptions’ of another’s work. (*for more, see the Post titled, “Great Composers pay tribute to other Greats”)
Here are 3 movements from Bach’s Partita #3 for solo violin in E major – transcribed by Rachmaninoff for piano.
First the original violin followed by piano. (*after the music read a more in depth analysis of Rachmaninoff’s effort)
Nobuko Imai_08_Partita No. 3, BWV 1006 I. Preludio
Idil Biret_06_01_J. S. BACH Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue Prelude
Nobuko Imai_10_Partita No. 3, BWV 1006 III. Gavotte en Rondeau
Idil Biret_06_02_J. S. BACH Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue Gavotte
Nobuko Imai_13_Partita No. 3, BWV 1006 VI. Gigue
Idil Biret_06_03_J. S. BACH Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue Gigue
With a few exceptions, Rachmaninov was generally quite faithful to the source music of his transcriptions. In this Bach effort, however, he added contrapuntal parts and harmonies because the original was written for solo violin. Yet the music has a mostly Bachian flavor and some have surmised that Bach himself would have made very similar modifications had he fashioned a keyboard version. That said, there are more than a few snippets of Rachmaninov’s voice in this effort, especially in the opening prelude where there are echoes in the contrapuntal writing of some of the Etudes-Tableaux and the first movement of a work to come in 1940, the Symphonic Dances. The prelude is lively and light, busy with typical joyous Bachian contrapuntal activity. The ensuing Gavotte is even lighter and playful — gracefully dainty, actually — just the kind of music not expected for Rachmaninov to have a hand in. The closing Gigue is also light, but Rachmaninov gives it a little muscle in his bass harmonies. He also makes it quite a colorful affair, all of its nearly two minutes brimming with an infectious joy.
Pelleas and Melisande is a nine part orchestral suite by Sibelius. Here are the first two parts.
Recently I’ve been trying to expand my horizons! Get away from being stuck on Chopin / Beethoven / Mozart / Bach / Handel / Haydn etc: Trying to find stuff a bit more modern that I can appreciate.
I like these two pieces and hope you do too!
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi_SIBELIUS_ Symphony No. 6 _ Pelleas & Melisande Suite_05_Pelleas och Melisande (Pelleas and Melisande) Suite, Op. 46_ I. Am Schlossthor
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi_SIBELIUS_ Symphony No. 6 _ Pelleas & Melisande Suite_06_Pelleas och Melisande (Pelleas and Melisande) Suite, Op. 46_ II. Melisande
Lieder Ohne Worte – Songs without words. A series for solo piano Mendelssohn wrote over various periods in his life. I find them incredibly simple and straightforward in their emotional expression. Clear, uncomplicated and easy to digest! Mendelssohn himself resisted attempts to interpret the works too literally, or add words to the pieces to make songs; and he had this to say:
What the music I love expresses to me, is not thought too indefinite to put into words, but on the contrary, too definite. {Mendelssohn’s own italics}
Hmmm … sounds pretty Zen to me! Here are 9 pieces from the series. (the first number is the Opus number and after the / is the number of the piece within that opus)
(Opus 85 / #4) – (67 / 1) (30 / 1) (The third piece approx. 6 minutes in just blows me away! I love it. It also appears in another Mendelssohn post on this site) (30 / 3) (30 / 6) (67 / 6) (62 / 5) (67 / 2) and finally 19 / 3 (called Jagerlied (“Hunting Song” – powerful stuff!)
Cherubini was BIG – back in his day – but pretty much ignored and forgotten until recently. (see the post Cherubini for how he was admired by Beethoven and other great composers) Here are a few comments about his String Quartets:
“….. his six late string quartets. Fastidiously crafted and supremely musical, these quartets recall Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart in their superior thematic workmanship and classical sense of balance. They’ve ranked among the best-kept secrets of quartet lovers for years…”
Wilhelm Altmann, writing in his Handbuch für Streichquartettspielers (Handbook for String Quartet Players) about Cherubini’s six string quartets, states that they are first rate and regarded Nos. 1 and 3 as masterworks.
So here’s a “best kept secret” and one of the ‘masterworks’. Approx. 15 minutes of String Quartet enjoyement.
From Cherubini’s String Quartet #3 – the second and third movements
From a Naxos music review: Faure’s two cello sonatas are compact, beautifully written works whose musical language, with its many subtle changes of tonality and gift for melody, has been described as conveying ‘the power of tranquil thought’.
I was satisfied with the first version of this piece. (Brahms violin concerto in D major/allegro giocoso) It moved me – until I received this comment from someone who “knows”!
Taneyev commented: I think that the violinist nor the conductor understand what “allegro giocoso” means. The tempo is too slow and to me, boring.
All that time I was listening to, and satisfied with, a rendition that is slow and boring. It was a great lesson in carefully picking the right soloist, orchestra and conductor. So I searched until I found what this piece probably should sound like. The second version (03_) is violinist David Oistrakh with the USSR Radio Large Symphony Orchestra. What a difference! NOTE: This crummy version originally appeared in a post titled, “My Mommy’s Favourite” which I’ve since deleted … because it wasn’t actually her favourite piece of music! See the Post: “Correction to my Mommy’s Favourite”
Brahms violin concerto in D major / allegro giocoso
03_Third Movement Allegro giocoso ma non troppo vivace
