It has been awhile since the last 100 Concerto post. It is probably the least time-consuming of all the posts to make, in perspective to the Symphonic Friday and the upcoming Month on Mozart, it is probably the appetizer to the feast.

Anyway, the next installment is as such. Finally, for a guy who pretends he can play the saxophone moderately well, it's nice to see the phone on the list somewhere. The first Concerto for Cello also shows up.

The Next Five Continue the Countdown: 89-85

89. Liszt Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat Major
1. Allegro Maestoso


2. Quasi Adagio


3. Allegretto vivace - allegro animato


4.Allegro marziale animato


Martha Argerich with Christoph von Dohnanyi and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra


88. Korngold Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.35

3.Finale Allegro assai vivace


I really thought this one would be higher on the list, but it is still a great work. The previous post on it is here.

87. Haydn Cello Concerto No.2 in D Major, Hob.VIIb2

1. Allegro moderato (1)


Allegro moderato (2)


2. Adagio


3. Rondo (Allegro)


Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)performs and conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

86. Glazunov Saxophone Concerto in E Flat Major, Op.109

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Andreas van Zoelen with Arjan Tien and the Magogo Kamerorkest

85. Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV 1052

1. Allegro


2. Adagio


3. Allegro


Rinaldo Alessandri with Concerto Italiano

The Concerto Countdown will be the only label kept going through May that's not related to Mozart. Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninoff posts and every other composer are on hiatus until June as they make way for Mozart. I'm still not sure how it will go, but experimenting is good.

The Concertos keep getting better!

The challenging pieces of Rachmaninoff are daring, deliberate and very often, daunting.

All could be said about his Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.36. The sonata finds similar structural and musical references to that of his Third Piano Concerto written four years prior (1909), which is considered one of the most difficult concertos out there. The Sonata, like his Third Concerto was not an immediate success with the public, it required a certain level of persistence before breaking into the hearts of the audience.

As the difficulty of the Third Concerto is profound, the second sonata takes that level perhaps one flight higher. The musical layers of this piece alone require such grand technique that it truly is one his most difficult pieces to play with a sense of musical authority. There is no accompaniment with an orchestra to provide color and aura, such forth is all necessitated in the piano solo. Rachmaninoff's educated and elusive knowledge of the keyboard made the technical feats bearable for most trained pianists, the musical aspects are however, less conquerable and more widely challenged.

Part I


Part II

The video features Enrico Pace.

It was common for Rachmaninoff to be in disfavor of several pieces immediately after their composition. The second sonata caused him frustration and he insisted it wasn't his best work. Rachmaninoff left no recording of this piece to reflect on how it should be played or approached. As such he was quite fond of the authoritative performance provided by Vladimir Horowitz, as he had been with Horowitz's rendition of the Third Concerto.

In fact, after Rachmaninoff revised the sonata and still found himself displeased, he gave Horowitz the indefinite authority to do with the work what he pleased.

As for the title of the post, it is a commentary off a website that said. "If Rachmaninoff referred to his Third Concerto as a 'piece for elephants,' than if this were to be true, his second sonata would have to be his piece for rhinoceroses."

Rhino + Rachmaninoff = Rhinomoninoff!!

...Continued
Shostakovich Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.47
The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky premiered the symphony in Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg on November 21, 1937.

Denunciation

The span surrounding the Fifth Symphony for Shostakovich fell during a period of political intrigue in his life. In 1936, a year before the composition of the symphony began Shostakovich fell from grace. At this time, his opera Lady Macbeth and the Mtensk District (1934) was in particular the start of this. An article in Pravda, the leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, panned the opera as being too formalist in an article entitled Muddle Instead of Music. The article panned the opera extensively, noting it was “course, primitive and vulgar,” and “a farrago of chaotic, nonsensical sounds.”

The music in the opera did not follow the ideas of socialist realism as it was considered too complex. An adequate portrayal of socialist realism in music meant a monumental approach and an exalted rhetoric based on optimism. Almost mirroring a sense of heroic classicism.

Socialist Realism and Political Conflict

Its purpose was to elevate the common worker, whether factory or agricultural, by presenting his life, work, and recreation as admirable. In other words, its goal was to educate the people in the goals and meaning of Communism. The ultimate aim was to create what Lenin called “an entirely new type of human being”: a New Soviet Man. Stalin described the practitioners of socialist realism as “engineers of souls.”

Shostakovich was losing political ground quickly. Lady Macbeth was thought to have been instigated by Stalin; a consequence of this rumor was watching his commissions beginning to dry up and his income fell by about three quarters. At the same time his Fourth Symphony entered rehearsals that December, but the political climate made the performance of the work impossible. It was not performed until 1961, but Shostakovich did not reject the work; it still retained its designation of his Fourth Symphony.

This time also coincided with a cataclysmic event sweeping the territory as 1936 marked the beginning of the Great Terror. During this surge, many of his friends and relatives were imprisoned or killed. Shostakovich’s only consolation throughout this siege was the birth of his children; Galina in 1936 and his son Maxim two years later.

New Ground

The composer’s response to his denunciation was the Fifth Symphony in D minor. This was the situation he faced in April of 1937 the month composition began. Shostakovich knew that if he were to anything but yield to Party pressure, it would need to be subtle. All eyes would be on him and whatever composition he finished would be vastly scrutinized. His form of musical satire that had guided his previous works had been denounced and would not be tolerated so blatantly again, a product of the new scheme of the communist party. Falling back on venting his tragic side cautiously whilst otherwise toeing the line of socialist realism would amount to self-hypocrisy. For Shostakovich his goal was clear. He had to somehow turn the simplicity demanded by the authorities into a virtue, mocking it while in the process of turning it into great art.

One work, written 37 years earlier had achieved this basic paradox. It was Gustav Mahler and his Fourth Symphony. Mahler began the work in a mode of childish simplicity, at which initial audiences scoffed. However, he developed his musical material in such a bewildering manner that even the most simple-minded listeners had to admit that they had been fooled. Shostakovich could not be enlighten less-aware listeners without risking at the very least a trip to the Gulag, but he could let the sharper-minded ones know what he was up to by reusing Mahler’s opening gestures from the Fourth.

Mahler’s Fourth starts with 24 F sharps tapped in consort with sleigh bells; the vaulting canon theme of which comprises the first four bars of Shostakovich’s Fifth descends to a motto rhythm of three repeated A’s on the violins. These A’s would engage much more importance later in the work.

Four months after he withdrew his Fourth Symphony, he began writing his Fifth. This work, he hoped would spark the birth of his political rehabilitation, it at least outwardly rising up to party expectations. It could pass for an example of the heroic classicism demanded by official policy. Shostakovich reserved a more conservative scope with the work as the slimed down music was vastly contrasting to the abundance of the Fourth. The Fifth came with less orchestral color and a smaller breadth of scope.

As noted during the video post of the symphony, the scaling down also brought a refinement of his pithiness and a deepening of ambiguity. More importantly, Shostakovich found a language through which he could speak with power and eloquence over the following three decades. Paul Bekker, in describing Mahler’s works, called this power Gesellschaftbildende Kraft, or literally “community-moulding power.” In applying it to the work of Shostakovich, “it is the power to weld an audience together, uplifting and moving them in a single emotion-controlled wave, sweeping aside all intellectual reservations.”

Reception

With the Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich gained an unprecedented triumph with the music appealing equally—and remarkably—to both the official critics and the public. The authorities had found everything they had looked for restored in the symphony whereas the public heard it as an expression of the suffering to which Stalin had subjected.

Just think, this is the last symphony for four weeks that won't be solely dedicated to Mozart.

I thought to myself about this post and who I could bring to the table before leading into 4 straight Mozart Symphonies (which I already have planned), and I took a venture into a composer of which I had never previously heard any of his works that weren't related somehow to the piano.

Having looked at the previous post on Mahler's Fifth symphony I seemed to figure out the direction I would go. Dimitri Shostakovich was the man this weekend. The work is his Fifth Symphony in D Minor, Op.47. It was written between April and July of 1937 and was premiered in Leningrad on November 21 of that year, to which the response was so grand that it turned an ovation of over 40 minutes. The audience had become so overcome with the emotion of having listened to a piece of music that wasn't merely political hackwork, and that wasn't afraid to display some real human emotion.

I figured since the video content alone is huge. The movements of the symphony are posted below with brief commentary on their composition from Michael Steinberg's The Symphony, while a tendered history of the symphony will accompany tomorrow since both are of great importance to the symphony overall, and both are of high content. It would be hard to take in the musical power and intellectual aura hidden within in one listening.

1. Moderato (1)


Moderato (2)


The symphony opens with a strenuous string figure in canon, initally leaping and falling in minor sixths then narrowing to minor thirds. The sharply-dotted rhythms of this figure remain to accompany a broadly lyric melody played by the first violins. Later the violins introduce another melody, this time spacious, cold and static. From that, all the musical material from the movement is established. The movement is one that is tremendously varied, its climax harsh. The coda, with the gentle friction of minor in strings, against chromatic scales in the celesta, ends on a note of haunting ambiguity.

An ambiguity that would be very important in social conceptions that would stem from this work, and also covered tomorrow.

2. Allegretto


The opening motif in this waltz-like scherzo is a variation of the second theme from the first movement; other variations can be detected throughout the movement. Steinberg writes that the music in the movement remains a witty, biting satire-gay, raucous while also nervous. The energy is playfully discharged in an episode of comic relief with those roots stemming from Prokofiev and especially Mahler.

3. Largo (1)


Largo (2)


After such an assertive presence from the brass in the opening two movements, they are nowhere to be heard in the largo movement. Shostakovich fills the air with long and tender string melodies, brief intermezzos from the woodwinds, and prominent roles are with the harp and celesta. While rather tender and quiet the movement is deeply emotive and elegant in tone and broke the audience into tears at the premiere.

4. Allegro non troppo (1)


Allegro non troppo (2)


The fourth movement picks up the march music from the climax of the opening movement, if only in manner if not in specific material. A tense conclusion leads to the quieter section of the piece. This section ends and the short snare drum and timpani solo introduces a brief militaristic introduction to the finale of the movement-an extended and obsessively reiteration of the D major tonality much like the end of Mahler's First Symphony.

The video is of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas at the 2007 BBC Proms in London, September 1, 2007 at Royal Albert Hall. Thomas reminds me of my high school music teacher, maybe it's a reason why I enjoy his conducting? I watched a video of him directing the SFSO on Tchaikovsky's Fourth, it was tremendous.

Well, I have officially completed my second year as a Music major.

Hooray!

Anyway, as a kudos to the end of the year, a favorite from my favorite composer. Despite the fact that it is listed as No.1 when it was published, Beethoven's String Quartet in F Major, Op.18, No.1 was actually the second one he composed. The Op.18 collection is a series of six quartets that Beethoven published collectively to which he would earn a higher incentive. Whether that is true or not, the Op.18 collection is apparent evidence that Beethoven had mastered the "Classical Quartet" developed by Haydn and Mozart.

It is one of my favorites, though not the ultimate as that comes with the Op.59 "Razumovsky" Quartets and his later ones, including the famous Op.131 in C-sharp minor. I like this Quartet in particular for its second movement, it could describe how I feel looking back on this school year.

Below is the Alban Berg Quartet performing the first and second movements.

1.Allegro con brio


2. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato


A story exists that Beethoven was inspired for this movement by the Tomb scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Whether that is true or not, it is one of the more beautiful adagio movements that he wrote among the Op.18 collection.

Neglecting Brahms every now and then is alright, but downright forgetting to list him as one of my ultimate favorites, that could be classified as blasphemous.

Brahms was a meticulous composer. A story exists that Brahms visited his favorite Viennese cafe one evening after a day of composing. A friend asked him how he had spent his day, to which Brahms replied "I was working on my symphony. In the morning I added an eighth note. In the afternoon I took it out." Whilst the bearing of this story on truth is questionable its intent faithfully reflects Brahms' painstaking process of creation. The story of creation behind his Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op.34 is perhaps the best illustration of this story.

It was completed during the summer of 1864 after two arduous years of process. It was initially worked on in 1862 and was meant to be completed for String Quintet, which was met with wide enthusiasm but as his friend the violinist Joseph Joachim quoted, "it lacked charm." A year alter Brahms transformed that into a Sonata for Two Pianos which wasn't as warmly received. Claimed to lack a special substance to make the piece attractive, Brahms finally found the final form the piece would take, as a work for Piano, Two violins, Viola and a Cello. Conductor Herman Levi, who suggested the Quintet arrangement to Brahms commented. "You have turned a monotonous work for two pianos into a great thing of beauty. A masterpiece of chamber music."

The Quintet is dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Hesse. The third and fourth movements are below with analysis courtesy of Dr. Richard E. Rodda and the Kennedy Center.

Scherzo: Allegro


The Scherzo is one of Brahms' most electrifying essays. The Scherzo proper contains three motivic elements: a rising theme of vague rhythmic identity; a snapping motive in strict, dotted rhythm; and a march-like strain in full chordal harmony. These three components are juxtaposed throughout the movement, with the dotted-rhythm theme being given special prominence, including a vigorous fugal working-out. The central Trio grows from a theme that is a lyrical transformation of the Scherzo's chordal march strain.

Finale: Poco sostenuto - Allegro non troppo - Presto non troppo


The Finale opens with a pensive slow introduction fueled by deeply felt chromatic harmonies, exactly the sort of passage that caused Arnold Schoenberg to label Brahms a “modernist.” The body of the movement, in fast tempo, is a hybrid of rondo and sonata forms. Despite the buoyant, Gypsy flavor of the movement's thematic material, the tragic tenor of this great Quintet is maintained until its closing page.

First off, I am very bravely admitting the information that follows. Should anybody I know read this and take me for a sucker, dream on. There are only a few orchestral pieces that I have heard so far in my life that can bring me to tears if the interpretation is just right.

Samuel Barber leads the way with his infamous Adagio for Strings. The Funeral March movement from Beethoven's Third Symphony is in there as well. Rachmaninoff's second movement of the Second Piano Concerto gains honorable mention, and another one belongs to Gustav Mahler and the Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony (in C-sharp Minor)

It is probably the most performed and well known of all Mahler's Symphonies, it was written between 1901-02. It is a majestic piece of music that once saw legendary conductor Herbert von Karahan saying of the Symphony: “You forget that time has passed. A great performance of the Fifth is a transforming experience. The fantastic finale almost forces you to hold your breath.”

1901-02 were personally exceptional years for Mahler. He had come into possession of his own villa in South Austria, finally gotten married, and was expecting a child. In terms of his career, it couldn't have been higher. He was at the time the Director of the Vienna Court Opera and was the principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s great orchestras at the time. It only seemed suiting that his music writing took a similar revelatory spike.

Mahler was much similar to Beethoven in that a retreat to the country, and a new outlook on life sparked a change in personality and perception of music. The only thing being it was about a century before for Beethoven and it was his Third Symphony, not his Fifth. Mahler was also said to have had a "middle period," and the Fifth Symphony is probably the best product of that stage. Mahler was in his twenties and thirties when he had composed the first four symphonies, the Fifth came about a decade later and is much deeper. The Fifth was of such new stature orchestrally that Mahler's own wife said her husband "was at the height of his powers”.

Mahler was a deep devotee of Bach (as are we all) and counterpoint was becoming an increasingly important factor in Mahler's works. His interest peaked in his composition of the Fifth Symphony and can be distinctly heard in the third and fifth movements.

While with most programs the key of the symphony is listed as C-sharp minor, Mahler himself often objected to the assignment of one key for the work. "From the order of the movements (where the usual first movement now comes second) it is difficult to speak of a key for the 'whole Symphony,' and to avoid misunderstandings the key should be omitted." Quite understandable when the only movement of the work actually in C-sharp minor is the opening movement, a distinct funeral march that suits the key. The other four movements: 2nd is in A minor, 3rd and 5th in D major, and the 4th is in F Major.

The work was said to have been designated by Mahler into three parts. The first two movements constituting Part I, the long scherzo of the third movement Part II alone and then the final two movements make up Part III.

Part III is shown below.

Fourth Movement, Adagietto (F Major)


The Adagietto is without a doubt the most famous movement from this work, and quite possibly Mahler's most famous single piece of music. It had been performed numerous times standing free from the rest of the symphony. Among noticeable trivia for this movement, it was performed at the mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on June 8 1968, the day of the burial of Robert Kennedy.

The Adagietto was voted the 3rd "saddest classical" work ever in a 2004 Poll by listeners of BBC'sToday Program. Quite suiting to my confession above, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was voted the "saddest."

Fifth Movement, Rondo-Finale (D Major) Part 1


Fifth Movement, Rondo-Finale Part 2

hold your breath near the end, exhilarating!!

It is conducted by one of my all time favorites, Zubin Mehta with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile. 2001.

A great analysis of this work is here

Well I have yet to learn this piece, though I do have the sheet music and said I would last summer. Maybe this summer, I'll put it in there.

In fact, my best friend who is studying piano as well performed it this semester, and did it for her jury. She played it well.



As I haven't stated the piece yet, it's Mozart's Fantasie in C Minor, K475. It was written when Mozart was 29 years old in 1785



The Fantasia is one of very few works Mozart composed in C minor during his years in Vienna. Because of the formal freedom traditionally associated with such pieces, the composer was able to produce in the Fantasia a notably expressive example of keyboard music; in contrast to the prescriptions of traditional forms, the Fantasia instead draws upon Mozart's intuition and supreme sensitivity as a composer and pianist.

The performer in the video is Tamara Poddubnaya, from the Gould Academy.

Well today was my Jury for my piano studio.

It went well I suppose, the grade I get from the performance won't have a huge effect on the overall grade of the class, according to my teacher anyway.

I started with the Menuet and Trio from the Beethoven Sonata in D Major, Op.10, No.3, which was probably the best out of all the pieces today. After that, my confidence seemed to erode away. While I was still playing what I felt was good piano it didn't sound that confident. It came out in my next two pieces, the Rondo fourth movement from that Op.10 Sonata and then Chopin's Nocturne in E minor, Op.72, no.1 (posthumous).

It felt weird, last semester I started off a little shaky but then gradually gained confidence as the performance progressed. This time I had it, then felt it slowly disappear.

I figure the last piano post kind of hinted at this one today.

On Monday when I posted about the Rachmaninoff preludes with Nikolai Lugansky, I talked about his performance of the Brahms Six Piano Pieces, Op.118 and how sweet the videos of them were. So it would seem only obvious to continue with that trend.

The collection is my favorite piano work by Brahms and in my opinion, some of the most beautiful works for solo piano. My two favorite movements of the six are below

No.2, Intermezzo in A major, Andante teneramente


I love the feeling of mystery this movement creates. An endearing melody surrounded by a different series of color and accompaniment in each appearance, Brahms bewilders us here with a lamenting beauty.

No.3, Ballade in G minor, Allegro energico


The ballade embodies a similar feeling of lament. Its deep orchestration in the introduction eludes a feeling of greater majesty whilst still having us succumb to another wonderful romantic melody.

The pieces are a devoted testament to the later years and style of the composer. In 1890 Brahms resolved to give up composition once and for all. However he was not able to remain loyal to his decision and instead continued to produce music. Some of this music from this stage has gone on to be what some say as his "greatest masterpieces."

The Op.118 collection was composed in 1893, they were dedicated to Clara Schumann and were the penultimate composition by the composer to be published before his death.

Well after the first six concertos in the Top 100 Classic Concertos were revealed, it created a bit of anticipation and hype amongst myself. I suddenly kept wanting to just keep going with one every day, but then realized that would take longer than the method I was presently doing.

Anyway, here are the next Five. 94-90

94. Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.5 in F Major, Op.103 "Egyptian"

third movement

93. Giuliani Concerto for Guitar and Strings No.1, Op.30

first movement

92. Ross Edwards Oboe Concerto
This is a rather new concerto on the scene, recordings of it are extremely rare thus far in the public domain. I could only find excerpts, even by the radio site that did the list [sigh]

91. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F Major, BWV1046

first movement


second movement

90. Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets in C, RV537

not the best quality of video, but the performance is good.


The Baroque seemed to be on showcase in the recent installment.
Till the next update, ask yourself, what concerto could you not live without?

Having already talked extensively about the Thirteen Op.32 Preludes by Rachmaninoff, I thought it would be time to divulge into the other opus collection of preludes, the Op.23 preludes. I've already talked about one, perhaps my most favorite, the Op.23, no.5 Prelude in G minor with a previous recording by Richter, I managed to find a video that I felt was even better than that one.

As an added bonus, it comes with the Prelude Op.23, no.7 in C minor, and Moment Musical Op.16, No.4 to end off the video.
The C minor prelude, Op.23 (above) is a very spirited work. It contains sixteenth notes constantly in a perpetual type of sequence until the very end of the piece. It comes filled with glorious harmonic depth and an intense battle between sincerity and depravity.

Amazing works...



...and an amazing performer, his name is Nikolai Lugansky. I stumbled upon him about a year ago with his video of Brahms' Six Piano Pieces, Op.118 (one of my favorite works) which he performed tremendously.

I've always felt that one day I'll get to perform in front of an orchestra.

How long that takes, or what I perform is always up for a matter of debate but if I was asked to pick a piece now, something short and single movement driven, I could probably make that choice fairly quick.

Among all the romantic composers I fathom about, one I frequently forget about is Robert Schumann. He was one that seemed to capture the essence of the glory and tragedy of the "Romantic artist."

Schumann (1810-56) was brilliant, a talented pianist and an extraordinary composer. He was noted for one, as being obsessed with the "art" of music. Part of that love, and artistry stemmed from the love he possessed for another brilliant pianist, Clara Wieck, of whom he later married against her father's wishes. The marriage seemed to establish a precedent for Schumann's life, he was tormented by depression, attempted suicide and pronounced insane later in his life, where he eventually died in the asylum he had been prisoned to.

Perhaps the drama in his life was a spark in the beauty of his music? Schumann was an artist who also used the template of personal tragedy to produce such amazing works. Among those works are some of the most beautiful pieces for solo piano.

Among those works, is one of my favorites. The Introduction and Allegro Appassionato, Op.92 for Piano and Orchestra is a glowing testament to the beauty flowing through the notes.

Though Schumann's structural forms were roughly based in classical idioms, his music was keenly romantic in its intimacy, deep emotionalism and glowing lyrical beauty. It was interspersed with burst of energy that waken the heart in their exuberance.

Harmonically, to talk of weird tendencies, Schumann had the uncanny ability to make music taste like chocolate.

All is understandable for a man who lived to create eternal "art." Though I'll have to admit the chocolate thing still stands out as being slightly random, for a man once sentenced for being insane, it almost makes more sense in that light.

All the above qualities are evident in the Introduction and Allegro. It was completed in 1853 and premiered two years later in 1855. The piece opens with a tender and mysterious like beauty in the piano, its melody in a supremely romantic quality. From the gradual rise of the Introduction flows a burst of abiding energy and the Appassionato is perhaps the most important label in the piece. Ensuing is a wandering soul filled with invention, fantasy and to quote one historian, "energy-delicious chocolate."

In examining the majesty of this work, it hardly seems possible that in the year between the composition of the work and its premiere, Schumann committed himself to the asylum in Endenich, where he remained until his death in 1856.

Now, I'm off to find a Hershey bar or of something equivalent in "chocolatey" goodness.

Having touched base with a few of my favorite symphonic composers, Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart, I realized that two of my ultimate favorite Symphonies come from a guy I haven't featured yet. Tchaikovsky was quite a scholar in his time, with his music tributing his sense of nationalism in being distinctly Russian, it is also garnered a distinct reputation for being tremendously difficult.

Probably one of the most important compositions Tchaikovsky achieved throughout his lifetime was the Fourth Symphony in F minor, Op.36. Tchaikovsky had been the subject of deep criticism and emotional burden as of a result of his homosexuality. The death of his mother early in his life was considered a possible reason for his tendencies as her death spiked Tchaikovsky's sexual development. The Symphony in F minor was viewed as a psychic outlet, a medium of which Tchaikovsky could vent his frustrations and voice his emotions.

First Movement




The symphony itself is a most troublesome journey. It is seen by many as a revelation of fate as was seen in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. It would seem that the "fate" representation would be highly significant seeing the life Tchaikovsky was experiencing upon writing it. The opening fanfare heard in the First movement is ideally that representation of the fate motive. It is that one moment that is the chief thought of the entire symphony.

Tchaikovsky's definition of "Fate," was it being "the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness...There is nothing to be done but to submit to it and lament in vain.". In describing the effect of the Symphony he hoped would be exhibited, Tchaikovsky wrote...

"The programme of the first movement is --roughly--that all life is an unbroken alternation of hard reality with swiftly passing dreams and visions of happiness. No haven exists...Drift upon that sea until if engulfs and submerges you in its depths."

I remember watching the video above, after the first movement was over, all I could muster was "Wow...."

Second Movement


Tchaikovsky wrote of the Andantino:
"It is both sad that so much is now past and gone, yet pleasant to recall one’s youth - both regretting the past, and yet not wishing to begin life over again. Life is wearying. It is pleasant to rest and look around. Memories abound. Happy moments when the young blood boiled, and life was satisfying; there are also painful memories, irreconcilable losses. All this is now somewhere far distant. It is both sad, yet somehow sweet to be immersed in the past."

Third Movement


The third movement is perhaps most famous for having the string section playing pizzicato throughout the entire movement. It is described almost as having no clear directional emotion, just simply, rushing and elusive images running past after having a little too much dinner wine. There's no overwhelming feeling of sadness or joy, simply a mecca of thinking freely.

Fourth Movement


The one amazing thing about this Symphony is that, regardless of programme notes, descriptions of analysis or history of the life of the composer. The Finale is one movement that actually speaks for itself, which I hope is portrayed in the video.

"If within yourself you find no reasons for joy, look at others. Go among the people. Observe how they can enjoy themselves, surrendering themselves wholeheartedly to joyful feelings...'Fate' again appears and reminds you of yourself... You have only yourself to blame; do not say that everything in this world is sad. There are simple but strong joys. Rejoice in others’ rejoicing. To live is still possible."

I was actually surprised that a video of such high standard and quality (Ok, maybe not that high quality, but still pretty darn good) was available on YouTube. It is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim on the eve of Opening Night in 1997 at Carnegie Hall.

I was browsing through the library today and while browsing through one of the books I stumbled upon something interesting.

Back in November 2007, the classical radio station I frequently listen to unveiled the results of a summer long poll which asked listeners to determine the Top 100 Classical Concertos. It was rather funny to me because someone had actually gone and listed the Countdown in its entirety, I thought I was the only one. It inspired me to recollect, find that list and make this post.

There was no limitation to the solo instrument, composer or specific genre (baroque, classical, romantic, twentieth century etc.) so anything goes truly was the case. The countdown was rather skewed towards the piano and the violin as they made up about half of the list, 32 piano and 20 violin concertos were featured.

I thought it would be something to keep me blogging by going through the entire list in the same sort of countdown feature so as to keep whoever reads this blog interested (the counter is always higher when I log in, I'm getting some random stragglers). I haven't said which Radio station as that would ruin the surprise, or might get me in trouble I'm not sure which one I thought of first.

Here are the first six: 100-95

Rachmaninoff's Morceaux de Fantaisie is the subject to this post. More specifically the infamous Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op.2, No.3, the second of five works from that set.

The title Morceaux de Fantaisie reflects the imagery instilled by the pieces as none of them are actually fantasies. The C-sharp minor prelude is undoubtedly the most recognized of the set, and probably of all his solo piano compositions.



The start of popularity for the prelude came from its first performance. Premiered on October 8, 1892 by Rachmaninoff himself at the Moscow Electrical Exhibition. A review singled out the prelude from the entire concert, stating it had "aroused enthusiasm," and from there its popularity grew.



Its difficulty is of remarkable significance. Requiring a dominating tone throughout most of the piece and a certain level of virtuosity required from all Rachmaninoff compositions. The enclosed music is an example of the demanding recapitulatiton, four staves required to accustom the volume of notes, Rachmaninoff's reputation of having big hands continues.

As with any composer where the popularity of one piece often outshone the rest of his work, Rachmaninoff began to loathe the Prelude as audiences frequently demanded it as an encore at concerts. In addition, the prelude's reputation frequently outweighed the rest of the program as audiences would wait solely to hear the prelude.

Jonathan Cambry performs the Prelude at the Ganz Hall at the Chicago College of the performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Last summer when I was in the process of searching for music to tackle in the upcoming school year, I stumbled across Beethoven's Piano Sonata in D Major, Op.10, No.3 very randomly. I picked it up, skimmed through it for about 10 seconds and then went to purchase it, shortly after that I began building a deep admiration for it. It is my favorite of Beethoven's earlier piano sonatas and was my favorite at that point until I stumbled across the Hammerklavier, Op.106 and the Op.110 Sonatas.

Published in a group of three, the Op.10 sonatas represent a rather experimental journey in Beethoven's life, in which he was seen moving away from his earlier models. The biggest of the three is without a doubt the latter No.3 in D Major and was probably the best sonata Beethoven composed until he reached the F Minor, "Appassionata" Sonata No.23, at least in my opinion. Yes that means I looked over the "Pathetique" and "Moonlight" Sonatas.

It was dedicated to Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written in 1798.
First Movement


The First Movement gives away early meaning to the word "epic." It is a simple movement when examining the motive, four descending notes. There are two episodes which respond to the opening. The first one sweet and "dolce" like while the second one deems brilliance, both starting with interlocking repetitions of the opening motive. A brief dark and playful transition halves the movement which then moves into a wonderfully colorful second subject, that once again eludes to the opening four notes.

Second Movement


It is in the second movement, a contrasting D minor, that we see Beethoven in his first tragic form. With reference to the company of the painful adagio of the Hammerklavier Sonata Op.106, the Largo e Mesto movement are two of few true, and profound full length minor movements Beethoven composed for solo piano. One can immediately connect with the tragic journey about to start with the opening motive. It feels at some points like a celebrated funeral march with brief inserts of previous material from the opening movement and mild episodes in F major. The Coda is the movement in its most turbulent nature with the theme now in the bass. Above is a harmonizing right hand which joins the bass as the movement commands itself upwards through a remarkable construct of parallel diminished chords. The intensity and great outburst of power than gradually disappears and the opening motive returns, even smaller than the opening. The ending stands as one of the most creative closes he wrote.

It is with this movement, I found the most admiration for the Sonata, it's a true delight to perform.

Third Movement


After such tragic gloom only moments before, Beethoven needed an immediate contrast of emotions. The Menuetto quickly casts aside the tragedy with a warm, humble tune back in the home key of D Major. Its noble character is built, casually disregarded as Beethoven enters a contagious contrapuntal section which builds momentum into the return of the main theme, all of a sudden appearing with more energy that fades away. The Trio, finds all nobility thrown aside as Beethoven frolics again with a dance in an awkward, almost rough but good-natured manner. "His inner grace shines through his outer roughness." --Anton Kuerti.

Fourth Movement


One finds Beethoven at his wittiest in the Rondo. It is humorous in its approach and construction, whilst being profound with its immediate theme and development. Simply put, Beethoven exerts his cleverness in a movement full of surprises.

Finally, to end with a quote:

"Listening casually to Op. 10 No. 3, one would be struck by a certain operatic glamour, a cool clear brilliance and a sumptuous variety of moods and ideas. Listening more attentively, one will be astounded to note how very parsimonious Beethoven has been. Especially in the outer movement, almost all the thematic material is derived from short, concentrated motives. This reflects Beethoven's growing determination to provide logical, meaningful interconnections to bring together a work." --Anton Kuerti

The Sonata was performed by Claudio Arrau at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile on May 16, 1984.

...I knew eventually I'd get to this. Maybe I should change the label to "sometime on the weekend" I'll update this particular section.

This week I thought I'd turn to a composer who's written 41 of them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was probably as important to the composition of the symphony as Beethoven was, if not more throughout the Classical period he lived. The only composer from that era with a greater output of composed symphonies than Mozart was the 103 written by Haydn.

Mozart's Symphony No.38 "Prague" in D Major, K.504" was written in the latter half of 1786 and premiered on January 19, 1787, a few weeks after The Marriage of Figaro was premiered.

First Movement

First Half


Second Half

The career of Mozart in Vienna, was at times stressful on the composer as his works were often the subject of great acclaim, or great criticism. While his career was in such "up and down" status in Austria, he had a consistent crowd of devotees among the Bohemians. With a great number of people consistently dedicated to Mozart's work in Prague, he took it with such grace that he composed this symphony as well as the opera, Don Giovanni to Prague.

"Mozart seems to have written for the people of Bohemia, his music is understood nowhere better than in Prague, and even in the countryside it is widely loved."

It stands as the younger sibling among comparison to the later three of Mozart's symphonies. The Prague Symphony is often overshadowed and overlooked when in comparison to the 39-41st symphonies, even though it is often as profound and provocative. Mozart's construct of this symphony grew deeper when he wrote the final three.

Mozart's deep admiration of developing many melodies is profound in this Symphony. The Symphony opens with an adagio introduction, of which occurs in only two other symphonies (36 "Linz" and 39), before moving into the main section of the movement. Through this process, Mozart produces six melodies developed and recapitulated in a contrapuntal example of the sonata-allegro form.

Second Movement


The second movement is a typical slow movement of Mozart's symphonic compositions of that time. While being consistent in structure, harmonically the movement is unstable but uses some polyphonic interchanges to subside that. The lack of clarinet in the score sees significant effects in this movement.

The early classical symphony of the 18th century would either have three or four movements with the four-movement symphonies containing a minuet. However by the time the Prague Symphony was composed, the symphony was no longer mirrored in comparison with the Opera overture and was no longer bound to this tradition.

Third Movement


The Symphony without a minuet was a possibility and the Prague took full flight of this. Its weight among the other symphonies seems hardly changed and mostly in that, without a minuet the symphony was shorter, but didn't detract from the overall gravity of the work.

The bright exuberance achieved in the third movement kept the Symphony balanced with the harmonic tension of the second movement in its instability and the soaring brilliance of the first movement's contrapuntal flow.

About the Video
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honeck

In the previous Rachmaninoff's Table post, I covered a very popular prelude from Rachmaninoff's Op.32 set of thirteen. As well as the very first Rachmaninoff post featured the No.5 from Op.32.

Since I covered two of my three favorite from that set, I figured I might as well feature the third. It is the Prelude in B minor, op.32, No.10 . All 13 were composed throughout the year of 1910 and are among the most challenging pieces ever composed for solo piano.

The No.10 prelude is in my opinion the most dramatic and sorrow-filled prelude of the thirteen. An overwhelming sense of despair emerges immediately in the piece in a dotted rhythm and a bell-tone type motive that occurs in various forms and frequently. The prelude then dives into a thunderous middle section of drastic chords with the simple melody from the beginning embedded within. It is here where the prelude is its most compelling and dramatic. A brief interlude of the original motive returns, followed by a thrilling cadenza which brings the prelude back to its opening theme in a variated form where it finishes cautiously.


Performed by Sviatoslav Richter in 1971

It's technical aspirations are significantly lower than the remaining preludes but as you can see, requires extensive detail and a good musical heart to perform with the heart Rachmaninoff had in writing it.

I've heard numerous times in my university life thus far that vocalists have it the toughest out of all music majors. Whether that is an exaggeration or not has yet to be seen, but I can see how it could be possible.

However, to go flat out and suggest that one area of study in music is particularly more easy than another one is rather naive. As an anecdote on this one I was recently smacked by my female friend, who is a Clarinet major for stating she had it easier because she has only one line to play. Whereas I neglected things like tuning, tone, fingering and timing. As a pianist I don't need to worry about the tuning aspect but also have to deal with issues such as tone, fingering and color of the overall sound I create on the instrument.

I'm not a great singer, but can understand the difficulties of being a vocalist. One of the greater benefits however is examples like this. A Capella is a rewarding experience I hear but tremendously difficult to perform. Give credit to these guys for this. They're a group called Straight No Chaser, from Indiana University, founded in 1996. All singers in the videos are the original members.

Sitcom Melody


According to what I know the orders of the shows is:
Full House, Andy Griffiths Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers and obviously Spiderman.

Lion Sleeps Tonight


No need to explain where this comes from, listen for references from "Be Happy" and a random "hakuna matata" in there.

Worlds Apart


My personal favorite.

Enjoy.