Today's post features the new label "Russian Resonance" which focuses on the strengths of Russian music, and it starts with today's symphony by Sergei Prokofiev.

Even in the absence almost 108 years after his death, Josephy Haydn still had tremendous impact on Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev. Considered by many to be the first neo-classical inspired composition, Prokofiev's Symphony No.1 in D Major, Op.25," shows great tribute to the Symphony of Haydn, with of course a blend of niches provided by Prokofiev himself.

1. Allegro


The work was completed in September of 1917 with the premiere coming on April 21, 1918 in the Russian coastal city of Petrograd. Prokofiev himself led the Orchestra that evening to a great reception and the piece since has grown to be one of the composer's most beloved works, and the most adored of the five symphonies he wrote. The work is often considered the first work that brought back renewed interest in classical music to the wide public, making ground for the neo-classical movement that moved into music following World War I.

2. Larghetto


Music had spiraled into an overwrought emotional vehicle, the spawning legacy of 19th Century Romanticism. The response by composers of the early 20th century was to return music to that of the balanced form it was back in the high classical era, including capping the limits as to what it could aspire to emotionally. The first symphony is modeled after Haydn and whilst being "classical" in its origins, the work is still uniquely twentieth-century.

3. Gavotta. Non Troppo Allegro


The music is short. The symphony is approximately 15-20 minutes long in length and could be even seen as a reference back to the early pre-classical form of the symphony. The symphony is scored as it was back in the days of Haydn, two of each woodwind, two trumpets and horns, timpani and strings.

The symphony follows strict classical form, save the third movement, with the opening allegro and finishing with a fast movement, surrounding an endearing second movement demonstrating Prokofiev's great excitement and ability in lyricism.

4. Finale. Molto vivace


The opening stroke of the first movement pays homage to the days of the Mannheim school in Germany, but then clearly becomes Prokofiev on his own with deeper harmonies and a mix in the classical sonorities. Prokofiev at his most creative and endearing in the second movement, with a fine opening melody supplemented by an even more serene middle section before the two combine to close out the movement. A short humorous gavotte is the subject of the third movement, which in contrast is merely a blink at just under two minutes long. The pacing for the finale is immediate and the strength falls in the opening strings before taken over by the flute, one can hardly keep a straight face in the most popular movement of the symphony. The symphony ends as it begun, triumphantly and in classical tradition of the final movement being the most important musically.

Performance was of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan in one of the last great concerts he would ever conduct in 1988. His death came a year later.

The ridiculously difficult piece in this post was written in September of 1869 by Russian composer, Mily Balakirev.

Balakirev was deeply nationalistic with his music, writing in the truest of Russian traditions. Such was the inspiration for the virtuosic piano piece, Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy. In surprising contrast to the rest of Balakirev's music it was written in only about a month. The idea for the piece arose from his trip to the Caucasus (geopolitcal region connecting Russia and the middle east along the Black sea), as described in an excerpt from a letter below he wrote of the trip.

"...the majestic beauty of luxuriant nature there and the beauty of the inhabitants that harmonises with it – all these things together made a deep impression on me... Since I interested myself in the vocal music there, I made the acquaintance of a Circassian prince, who frequently came to me and played folk tunes on his instrument, that was something like a violin. One of them, called Islamey, a dance-tune, pleased me extraordinarily and with a view to the work I had in mind on Tamara I began to arrange it for the piano. The second theme was communicated to me in Moscow by an Armenian actor, who came from the Crimea and is, as he assured me, well known among the Crimean Tatars"


Boris Berezovksy in a 2005 Recital in Mexico City

Because of its immense difficulty there are many existing editions featuring numerous ossia (easier alternative) passages. Its technical difficulty made if a natural favorite among virtuosic pianists of the ages such as Nikolai Rubeinstein, who premiered the work, and Franz Liszt who were known to have performed it during their lifetime. In modern times pianists such as Martha Argerich and Vladimir Horowitz have made notable recordings. Balakirev, considered a virtuoso pianist in his time once admitted that there were passages in the piece that he "couldn't manage."

It would be easy to admit that the work is merely a showpiece, but Islamey had its own impact on virtuosic solo piano music in later years. Ravel once remarked to a friend that his goal in writing Gaspard de la nuit was to compose a piece that would rival or be more difficult than Islamey. Alexander Borodin referenced quotations of the piece in his opera, Prince Igor while Nikolai-Rimsky-Korsakov did the same in his Scheherazade.

For your curiosity you can check out a PDF of the score available at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP.org) here.

Just priceless. No words or details necessary.

Boris Berezovsky performs, with Dimitry Liss conducting the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra.

Second movement / Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto in C minor, Op.18


8:21 till the end brings me to tears almost every time.

Rachmaninoff was a melodious man, writing some of the most beautiful melodies in music. Today's post is a great example of the composer's ability in transcending the beautiful into near tragedy.

The Vocalise, Op.34, No.14 was published in 1912 with thirteen songs compiling the Fourteen Songs, Op.34. It was dedicated to Russian soprano, Antonina Nezhdanova, who when approached by Rachmaninoff about performing it, was hesitant to premiere it because of the lack of words. Despite the work being meant to not have words, Rachmaninoff was believed to have said, "Why do we need words? You can express everything better and more fully with your voice than anyone else can with words..."

Here are two great, different arrangements for this work. The first one is with soprano and orchestral accompaniment, the second one on the violin and orchestral accompaniment.


Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performing with Stephen Barlow conducting.


Violinist Itzhak Perlman performs

A composer I have grown to appreciate over the past six months or so since seeing the live performance of his ninth symphony is Antonin Dvorak. His music speaks to the heart in its vitality and its rhythmic exuberance, but also with his tender moments and ability to write the most endearing melodies as well. The dance spirit of his native Bohemia, now known as the Czech Republic is alive and well in all his works.

The Carnival Overture, Op.92 has become, like his other orchestral music, a mainstay in the repertoire. An underlying cheerful optimism is almost always evident in his music, making it nothing but a joy to hear. The Carnival Overture was written in 1891, as the middle work in a set of three overtures. As a group they were titled "Nature, Life and Love." The three pieces were first performed in Prague on April 20, 1892 with Dvorak conducting.


Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa conducting in a 1993 concert recognizing the 100th Anniversary of his Ninth Symphony, "From the New World."

The Overture bubbles with energy and exuberance, except for a poignant, haunting melody in the English horn and solo violin. Like much of Dvorak's music, it abounds with dance rhythms and folk-music influences from his native Bohemia.

Dvorak wrote his own program note describing the story behind the music: "The wanderer reaches the city at nightfall, where a carnival of pleasure reigns supreme. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of people giving vent to their feelings in the songs and dance tunes."

The piano sonata took a huge dive after the death of Beethoven in 1827. Twenty-six years later, the sonata in this post helped take the genre back into the promised land (if only for a moment).

Brahms wrote his third Piano Sonata in F Major, Op.5 when he was barely 20 years old. Brahms only wrote three sonatas for piano, so effectively never wrote in the genre again but found an even more expressive medium for the piano in his solo works and intermezzi later in his career.

Brahms was a Classical enthusiast and a great Beethoven admirer (Brahms "plays" with the theme from Beethoven's fifth symphony in c minor throughout the work), so even though the third sonata was written with the freest of Romantic spirit it was confined to the strictest of classical architecture, even despite the fact the sonata is written in five movements as to the norm of three-four movements. The fourth movement Intermezzo sits between the typical Scherzo movement and the Finale movement.

Boris Berezovsky performs in a 1992 video.

1. Allegro Maestoso


2. Andante. Adante espressivo - Andante molto


3. Scherzo. Allegro energico avec trio


4. Intermezzo (Rückblick / Regard en arrière). Andante molto


5. Finale. Allegro moderato ma rubato


Overall, I find it is an effective piece but it is not overly what I like about Brahms. Save for the ending section of the second movement, the third movement (a great scherzo) and some lovely writing in the finale, the rest I find too bland musically.

It could literally send shivers down your spine this piece could when played exceptionally well.

Rachaminoff's two collections of his Etudes-Tableaux (Op.33 and 39) are much different than his two collections of Preludes (Op.23 and 32). The Etudes were meant to be "picture pieces," evoking the imagination of the performer and listener without a word from the composer as to what they were supposed to be seeing. The two collections of Etudes rank among the most challenging of the piano repertoire, comparing them to the Concert Etudes of Liszt and Scriabin.

The work below, theEtude-Tableaux, Op.39 No.6 in A minor performed by the amazing Valentina Lisitsa in an uproariously vivid performance, is one to remind us all that a)Rachmaninoff's music is indeed playable, and b) what results from exceptional dedication.



Referred to as the Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf etude, the piece starts off aggressive with thunderous chromatic runs low on the keyboard, swiftly answered by quick, engaging figures in the treble that eventually transform themselves into a march. As the music develops it grows more uproarious and hectic till it reaches a presto, where at this point sounds nearly out of control. The effect of the piece is heavily mysterious yet fully unified. If the piece is to have referenced the story of Little Red Riding Hood, it seems clear that the Wolf is the victor.

One could almost wonder how this video could be for real, but the truth is often the most difficult thing to comprehend when confronted by a greater visual ideal.

Background on the prelude came with reference from the book, Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings by Max Harrison. A great read so far, and I'm only a little bit into it.

The right music at the right time can do anything for the soul.

Tchaikovsky is my "soul" composer. The Nutcracker will always have a personal connection with me, including my performance as a party boy in Act I in the 1999 Alberta Ballet production (that was 10 years ago!). Act II of the ballet is just so mesmerizing for me (the music anyway), including the selection in the video below.

Enjoy Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers, from the Nutcracker ballet performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.


1:41 is a smile breaking moment!

So as it really hasn't been that long since the last symphony post (Dvorak No.9 on August 9, 2008), historically speaking we would need to go back sixteen years from 1893 to 1877 to get to the symphony in this post. To think that so much happens in those sixteen years is almost too much to take, including the move into post-Romanticism and the rise of Russian music.

Anyway, enjoy this weekend's symphony.

With the views that Johannes Brahms was one of the great symphonists, it could come as a surprise that the composer himself was weary of the genre early in his life. Brahms first drew up sketches for a symphony in 1856 (he was 23) but not a soul was to hear his first completed work until twenty years had passed in 1876. Luckily for the musical world, the first symphony broke Brahms free of his qualms and the world had only to wait a year before the second one followed.

Brahms great symphonic writing was seen throughout his early works. When Brahms was twenty, he performed a selection of his piano pieces for his friend and fellow composer, Robert Schumann. The pieces impressed Schumann enough to say that he heard “disguised symphonies,” and could only predict about the splendors and possibilities that Brahms could achieve when he took his writing into an even more diverse setting such as a full orchestra.

The Second Symphony in D Major, Op.73 was written in the summer of 1877 in the town of Pörtschach on the Wörthersee in the Austrian Alps. The casual, sunny retreat in the mountains appeared perfect for Brahms to play a joke on his publisher by describing the new work he was composing as, gloomy and filled with melancholy. “I have never written anything so sad and mournful. The score will have to be published with a black border.” As would later be discovered, the second symphony is anything but gloomy, save for the four-note introduction to the first movement that could be viewed as dark, and was considered “a great, unqualified success” by Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick. Hanslick later extended his comments to describe the symphony as a work that “extends its warmth and sunshine to connoisseurs and laymen alike.”

1. Allegro non troppo (part one)


One could not blame Brahms for waiting so long into his life before writing a symphony, as the world was still perhaps confined within the legacy of Beethoven and his nine great symphonies. It even continued with the second being referenced to the similar pastoral likeliness of Beethoven’s Symphony No.6 in F Major, which parallels Brahms in many ways. Brahms first, and Beethoven’s fifth symphonies were written in the key of c minor and were a prelude to the later vibrant and joyous works of Brahms’ second and Beethoven’s sixth. Both works followed their predecessors more quickly.

1. Allegro non troppo (part two)


The opening movement is where the symphony could be considered the most nonchalant. The movement contains three vivid melodies, first opening with four notes in the bass, the second one moves into the full orchestra that is much more vibrant and later ensues with the nostalgic third melody sung by the violas and cellos. The three melodies then provide the material for the development in a section that shows Brahms true meticulous nature with developing as many as five melodies and keeping them all on the go. The orchestration is rich and warm throughout and the climax falls before the coda where the movement ends softly and tranquil.

The Adagio non troppo of the second movement starts in many ways similar to the first. A deep, possibly dark melody opens on the violas and cellos, which carry through to a climax before a humbled woodwind section carries out over plucked strings. The strings introduce a feeling of urgency into the movement at this point but the mood sharpens later and the opening melodies are brought back once again before the movement ends with grandeur from the brass, silencing one of the greatest movements in romantic music.

2. Adagio non troppo


The third movement is the symphony at its most pastoral mood. The movement begins and ends peaceful, with a brief interlude of a presto section that hurries the symphony into possible turmoil, but Brahms returns the movement to its peaceful beginnings, before the interlude section can get its hold on the audience.

The fourth movement is a celebrated source of riveting energy. The movement starts soft but sounds vibrant the moment the strings annunciate a soft but busy sounding melody. Soon the orchestra is in full tilt continuing the opening melody in jubilation until a quiet section that prepares second main theme collides with the momentum. After a development section that seems rushed and urgent builds energy, the movement breaks into a calm before out of the dust rises quietly the first theme akin to the opening before the second theme takes over again and drives the movement towards its brilliant coda and one of the greatest affirmative endings in all music.

4. Allegro con spirito


The second symphony is a joyous occasion of music. It premiered in Vienna on December 30, 1877 with Hans Richter conducting. With a celebrated conductor such as Richter on the podium, it showed how high of stature Brahms had become with the Viennese public and how eagerly anticipated his music had become. One could argue that the next generation of Beethoven had arrived in Vienna.

The videos are from a 1973 recording of Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Sadly there is no complete recording available online in any form. This Karajan rendition lacks the third movement, whereas another great recording available online, Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic provide just the outer movements. The complete recording that I have on my computer is of Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and save for the coughing as it is a live performance and the audience cutting off the ending of the fourth movement in applause (though how could you not?), is another great recording.

Here's documentary I discovered on YouTube about Boris Berezovsky. I don't know if this is the whole thing so I am finding out more about it but in the meantime , enjoy.

It is slightly funny, the video has Boris speaking in Russian, which is dubbed over in French and then dubbed with English subtitles...I tried to listen and got lost. You have to watch, which is good in a way.

Part One


His view on Chopin is very true in my opinion, though I would not go as far as "hating" the great polish composer like Boris does in the video.

Part Two


That's some weird jazz. But the part on Music being a drug could also be just as weird, but a bit more insightful. I liked the quote, "You forget everything and devote yourself to your passion."

You never hear the Khachaturian Piano Concerto these days! at least not very often.

Part Three


There's something about that second movement that just makes you wonder...about life.

Part Four


Practicing sometimes does take a lot of discipline, especially when you know that there are occasionally more important things to worry about.

The transcription of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude for the left hand alone looks so daunting, but that is probably because my left hand isn't nearly as developed as it should be, at least in contrast to my right hand. Which is totally ironic because I am left handed.

"Music has to be heard with virtuosity before you can play it like a virtuoso." Great quote.

So here is the first post on January's featured performer, Boris Berezovsky.

“Here, surely, we have the truest successor to the great Russian pianists” (Gramophone)

Berezovsky was born on January 4, 1969 in Moscow, Russia. Boris studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Eliso Virsaladze and privately with Alexander Satz.

In 1988, following his London Debut at the Wigmore Hall, the Times described him as “an artist of exceptional promise,” and “a player of dazzling virtuosity and formidable power.” That description came full circle two years later when Berezovsky took the Gold Medal at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Of his various acclaimed and well received recordings, his complete recording of the complete Beethoven Concerti with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, the complete Rachmaninoff Preludes (May 2005) and the Complete Rachmaninoff Piano Concerti with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (August 2005) are some of the most prominent.

Berezovsky has a daughter, Evelyne Berezovsky (born 1991), who is also a pianist. He currently lives in Brussels.

The piece in the video is the fourth of Franz Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, "Mazeppa," considered one of the most difficult pieces for piano.

So in recognition of my lack of blogging since April of 2008, I have attempted to structure the following into my posting for 2009.

We shall see how it goes. For the most part, I'm pretty excited about what I was able to come up with in terms of giving the blog a bit more structure so this year will be a good indicator of whether I can be consistent with this or not.

It took me a couple of days to come up with this, so bear with me on it.

• 2009 is a Special year for music and the following is planned throughout the year:

Joseph Haydn, the child of Austria. In correlation with the 200th Anniversary of the great Classical composer’s death we shall examine the life of Franz Joseph Haydn, the “father” of the symphony and the string quartet.

Mendelssohn: the Mystic Romantic. 2009 marks the 200th Anniversary of the German composer’s birth. We reveal the growing power of this composer’s music as it has slowly become more recognized as an important event in the history of romantic music.

Vladimir Horowitz, a pianist unchallenged! November 5, 2009 will mark the twentieth passing of his death and the month will be dedicated to who was possibly one of the greatest souls to ever play the piano.

• Returning features...Revamped!

Symphonic Saturday! An eclectic, more diverse range of composers and styles observed in one of the most important mediums of music, now updated every other Saturday.

It begins with Brahms’ Symphony No.2 in D Major on January 17, 2009 and ends with Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor on January 2, 2010

Schubert, Rimsky-Korsakov, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Shostakovich, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, and Dvorak…and many more composers to be featured

Rachmaninoff’s Table! Originally conceived as a medium for exploring his Preludes and his Etudes-Tableaux (hence, table) for piano, this year moves into another direction of the Sergei Rachmaninoff’s compositional output, featuring the rarely heard Symphonies, the Orchestra Suites, choral and voice works, the famous Cello Sonata and additional works for piano as well.

Brahms is Better! The best of Brahms comes to the table this year. His intermezzi for piano, my favorite Op.118 and 119 will be featured as well as his other Opus collections. Brahms famous choral works, solo and piano collaborations as well as touching on more of the chamber music the great romantic created will be featured.

Mozart Musings! How could one not get enough of Mozart? While I was never a big fan of his music, it is quickly growing on me as this year, starting in February we take a journey down the path of his life through the 27 piano concerti Mozart wrote. As well as featuring a summer of Mozart symphonies as on June 26, July 25, and August 10, the final three symphonies (39, 40 and 41) the composer wrote will be featured respectively, with each date corresponding to their day of completion back in the summer of 1788.

The Great Performers and Recording Essentials! While this hasn’t exactly worked out the way I planned, all three performers I attempted to feature earlier will get a redo starting with the latest, Boris Berezovsky in January to start off the year. Friederich Gulda and Mitsuko Uchida will be featured in August and September again. With Horowitz getting November, other famous pianists such as Arthur Rubinstein, Claudio Arrau, Evgeny Kissin, joining them will be some promising newcomers of the past few years, Nikolai Tokarev, The Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, Katherine Chi, Yundi Li, Rafal Blechacz, and many more.

Top 100 Concerto Countdown! Despite my best efforts this post kept getting delayed and I just couldn’t keep it going. But with the rest of the posts looking to be more work than this one, the Concerto Countdown is one of my favorites and will resume from the last post (No.79-75) as well as a full recap starting Wednesday February 4th, 2009.

• Some New Ideas

Music in the Movies! Starting in May-August, we’ll explore some of the great composers such as John Williams, James Horner, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore, and many others just to name a few and the impact that their scores have had on both the movies they were featured in but how effective they were. Plus my personal top ten scores

The Orchestra Pit! Trying to expand on various mediums of how music can be effectively portrayed. We extend music on to the stage where the orchestra is no longer the focal point but still remains the prime communicator between the visual art and the emotional appeal. Ballet music, Opera, and other forms of expressive art such as interpretive and ballroom dancing...to name a few.

BG & the PIANO Performs! I hope to be able to get a video, or several of my playing up, to show that I do actually play the piano, in the approaching months but I may have to pull a few favors to get some guys I know with good recording equipment to go along with me.

And on a side note: Chopin Sticks and Simply Beethoven are on a small hiatus until 2010. In what will be a big year for both composers, marking the 240th Anniversary of the birth of Beethoven and the 200th Bicentennial of Chopin’s birth in Poland. In addition the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition headlines what should be a great year for piano fans.

I hope all goes according to plan, and hope you enjoy what I have in store.