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
These second movements – (the “slow” movements) – in Haydn’s Piano Concertos; are thoughtful, introspective, gentle and seductive! – Just my cuppa tea! Some of Mozart’s piano concertos are very close in structure and feeling – almost like ‘twin compositions.’ However, Mozart is usually regarded as the ‘greater’ – for his depth and complexity.
(*** See the Post: “Good Buddies – Mozart and Haydn”***)
Hmmm … I wonder. Sometimes Haydn’s simplicity and directness seem easier on the ears and just as beatific.
This is a LONG long playing selection. First you’ll hear the piano Concerto in F, Hob. XVIII/F2 … followed by the second movements of the following Piano Concertos: 3,4,5,9 and 11
Francois Couperin popped into my mind the other day. I thought:
‘Wasn’t he an important Baroque composer?… Then how come I only have one piece by him in my library?”
So I went surfing in my paid download sites. I found that Bach loved his 4 volumes of harpsichord music – Richard Strauss and Ravel admired his music and Brahms piano music was inspired by him.
Since I don’t like the harpsichord or vocal (and that’s mostly what he composed) – I was looking for other stuff. I found these pieces adapted for the piano (originally for harpsichord) AND some killer cello!
The piano artist on these pieces, Alexandre Tharaud, says about the first piece below: ” I have a particularly soft spot for Duphly’s La Pothoïn, which for me is one of the loveliest pieces ever composed for keyboard.”
duphly-la-pothouin
More ‘piano adapted’ pieces from the Tic Toc Choc series. I like these two from the series: La Visionnaire and Les Jumeles
la visionnaire
les jumeles
And then some ‘killer cello’ I love this first one
Brahms Intermezzo in C major, op. 119 no. 3 just for fun! I’ll bet Brahms had fun composing it, and the pianist playing it
brahms intermezzo in c major op 119 no 3
* AFTERWORD: This post has become very interesting as a result of Taneyev’s comment below! I’ve learned so much from his astute comments. The most important lesson so far has been not to put on the site the first rendition of a piece that I hear: But rather to listen to as least several and try to get a sense of what the composer might have really intended. Or … to go with an Artist who is known to specialise in interpreting the particular composer. I hope you find this piece interesting enough to read the comments (click on comments above – just under the Post title), listen to all the versions here … and maybe even come back with “THE ANSWER” (that is: What is closest to Brahm’s original score?)
Reading how Scarlatti was admired by Horowitz, Chopin, Brahms and others; I had a look in my files and found I only had 2 pieces by him! Quite an oversite. So I downloaded a collection of his sonatas played by Yevgeny Sudbin. Scarlatti (b. 1685 d. 1757) was born the same year as Bach and lived 7 years longer.
Scarlatti’s 555 keyboard sonatas are single movements, mostly in binary form, and are almost all intended for the harpsichord (there are four for organ, and a few where Scarlatti suggests a small instrumental group). Some of them display harmonic audacity in their use of discords, and also unconventional modulations to remote keys.
555 keyboard pieces! Wow. Well here are just 4 of his Sonatas. The first two “exuberant” and the next two “thoughtful”.
Yevgeny Sudbin_01_Keyboard Sonata in B flat major, K 545
Yevgeny Sudbin_03_Keyboard Sonata in F minor, K 365
In this LONG PLAY selection – J.S.Bach provides the perfect “background music” for mundane tasks! Cleaning out that junk drawer, ironing (does anyone iron anymore?!), gardening or just wandering around the house wondering what to do next. His Goldberg Variations provide the background. First the Aria, followed by 8 of the variations.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t give up! There is a pause before the music kicks in on this one. About 10 seconds.
Goldberg variations by 9 Andras Shiff.mp3
UPDATE: see the comment on this one. My “source” slightly retracted his claim that Shiff was “the man” for Bach piano! So let’s hear Gould do the Aria.
Renowned pianist Alfred Brendel has referred to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, known as the Jeunehomme, as a “wonder of the world,” going so far as to assert that Mozart “did not surpass this piece in the later piano concertos.”
Later in the same article: How did Mozart, at age 21, find the burst of courage needed to write the No. 9, which pushes the boundaries of concerto convention and accepted harmonic complexity? Furthermore, after writing a great work, how does a composer move on to write pieces that are more mature but perhaps less ambitious?
