“I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose — there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?”
It never occured to me until today when I began researching Clara’s work; that not a single Classical composer – ranked as a “Great” – was a woman! How very strange. Well Clara Schumann was certainly an accomplished composer, and what a person! She raised 8 children (4 died before her) cared for a husband who became more and more unstable, befriended and grew very close to Brahms and still found time to tour extensively! – acknowledged as a virtuoso pianist.
So here’s to the ‘only woman’ on the site – (so far) Let’s make it a Long Play Selection. (approx. 25 minutes)
(* dig that horn!)
UPDATE: Clara is no longer the only female composer on the site. Go here for a comprehensive look at the female composers. http://jimsclassicalmusic.com/?p=2855
Clara Schumann
Drei Romanzen, Op. 22 (arr. for horn and piano): I. Andante
Drei Romanzen, Op. 22 (arr. for horn and piano): II. Allegre
I was put off a bit by Brahms during my initial ‘musical education’ because of some bombastic riffs I’d encountered. Over the past weeks I’ve been obsessing on his music. Listening to a lot and reading commentary/critiques. Learning about his life and musical influences. (*note: there is now a Long Playing Brahms)
In this, the second movement of his third piano sonata, I think Brahms is inviting us to drift away. Perhaps he felt like this when he smoked his cigar and watched the sun set.
02 – Piano Sonata No.3 in F min, Op.5 – Andante espressivo
Afterthought: For those of you who might not know … Brahms was a cigar smoker. I’ll just betcha this was one of his smoking tunes!
In the post “Trumpet Synaesthesia” I made a half joking attempt to sum up the sound of the trumpet. In this post I’ll admit to being stumped … as to how one could describe the Trumpet’s Beauty in words. (* only an idiot tries to describe music with words!) Anyway here’s the beauty of the trumpet by a few Masters. (the player is darn good too! – Rolf Smedvig)
MergeTrumpet
Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: I.
Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: II.
Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: III. Finale
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: I.
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: II.
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major: III. Rondo
Torelli: Trumpet Concerto in D major: I. Allegro
Torelli: Trumpet Concerto in D major: II. Adagio
Torelli: Trumpet Concerto in D major: III. Allegro
My brother heard some bassoon quartets on the radio and requested that some Devienne be put on the site. I wasn’t familiar with him so I went shopping! Here are a few snippets of what’s said about him:
“the elegant tone of Paris at the time… grace and balance – qualities which are associated with Mozart … explaining why Devienne was called the French Mozart.”
I got a bit carried away, and what was going to be a few pieces has turned into a Long Play selection! (nearly 40 minutes) I also realised there is very little flute on the site so welcome some Devienne flute. (he was a flautist)
Devienne Long Play
Trios for flute – Allegro Con Spirito – Trio En Ré Majeur
Symphonie Concertante for Flute and Bassoon /Andante
Bassoon sonata I in C major, Op. 24 All three movements
and Oboe sonata in G major opus 71 all three movements
Someone writing a review for an album on Amazon wrote:
The Bach solo string music is, of course, one of the landmarks of classical music. These are some of the greatest pieces of music ever written. They are the musical equivalent of the plays of Shakespeare.
Well … personally I’d have to say I’m not crazy about it (solo violin). I Much prefer the addition of piano which I feel softens what can sometimes be a grating intensity.
These few selections would have to be up there with the best of the best because afterall it is Bach, and its Hillary Hahn playing; whom “they” rave about!
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.
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!)
