Dead-Composers Society

[Zombie]

Stravinsky Suite Italienne 

Stravinsky is a name that scares off many people, maybe thinking Rite of Spring, or The Firebird with lots of dissonance and it’s not for them. Which is not just a shame (both those pieces are incredible experiences with a full orchestra in a concert hall) but simply wrong. Stravinsky was not just an exceptional composer - the greatest of the twentieth century? - but wide-ranging and versatile (ooo, Matron! ), composing in many styles during his life and perfectly capable of writing beautiful melodies.

The Suite Italienne uses music from his short ballet Pulcinella (composed 1930) which he rearranged for piano and cello about two years later. There are five movements and in the second, serenata, Stravinsky uses the “siciliana” form popular during the Baroque period having a minor key and a gentle rhythm. Anyway, see what you think

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Zombie

[BigBen]

On 2/22/2021 at 10:30 AM, Zombie said:

interestingly this challenging work only became popular and well known after Horowitz popularised it in the 1930’s, more than two decades after Rachmaninov gave its first public performance in New York in 1909, the year of its composition

When I was a kid, we had the RCA Victor LP of Byron Janis and I forget which orchestra.  I would play it over and over, partly because it was one of the few discs we owned at that time, and partly because it was a gorgeous performance.  I'll have to look up a recording by Horowitz and see what I think.  He is often a bit too dry and technical for my taste, though I admire his virtuosity.  But my heart belongs to Rubinstein and Argerich, because of the passion of their playing.

[BigBen]

On 3/8/2021 at 7:09 PM, Zombie said:

Stravinsky is a name that scares off many people, maybe thinking Rite of Spring, or The Firebird with lots of dissonance and it’s not for them.

Stravinsky's music started to make a lot more sense to me, once I saw my ex-lover dance Petrouchka.  Suddenly, it became clear what the composer was driving at.

A friend of mine once made the point that a lot of dissonant music of the twentieth century was popularized by the makers of cartoons.  For example, Disney included A Night on Bald Mountain in his movie Fantasia.  I think the combination of the visuals with the music helps the dissonance sneak past our defenses—it worked on me, in any case! 😄

[Zombie]

1 hour ago, BigBen said:

A friend of mine once made the point that a lot of dissonant music of the twentieth century was popularized by the makers of cartoons.  For example, Disney included A Night on Bald Mountain in his movie Fantasia.  I think the combination of the visuals with the music helps the dissonance sneak past our defenses—it worked on me, in any case!

that’s an excellent point

twentieth century movies, in particular, have given modern composers a tremendous outlet for works that would most likely never have achieved success in the concert hall or recording sales yet, in combination with the on-screen drama / horror / thrills, “sneak past” the default public prejudice that would otherwise leave their work unplayed and unheard

 

[AC Benus]

Adam Cicchillitti performs Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata in A-major, K. 209

 

[AC Benus]

Michael Christian Durrant performs his arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon

 

 

[BigBen]

It's a shame that poor Pachelbel is known only for his Canon in D, the least and least interesting of all his compositions.  He wrote so many great works for the organ, but because of overexposure forty years ago, this is the only piece of his that ever gets played.  Unlike a number of other composers, whose most frequently-played work is also their best, Pachelbel deserves a lot better than to be remembered for this throwaway work.

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, BigBen said:

It's a shame that poor Pachelbel is known only for his Canon in D, the least and least interesting of all his compositions.  He wrote so many great works for the organ, but because of overexposure forty years ago, this is the only piece of his that ever gets played.  Unlike a number of other composers, whose most frequently-played work is also their best, Pachelbel deserves a lot better than to be remembered for this throwaway work.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Been missing my mom more than usual lately. Here's my performance translation of Mahler's Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from the Rückert - Lieder series. Doing this work in the weeks after her death helped me get through, and I was proud to do it in her honor.

 

I’ve been missing from the world lately,

Away from those with whom I once spent time;

They’ve not heard from me, so long, ultimately,

They think I’ve moved on to Death’s colder clime. 

 

I’m done caring about them all greatly;

They think I’m dead or unsteady;

Let them think so, calm or irately,

‘Cause I’m dead to this world already (world already).

 

On the world’s turmoil, I watch sedately,

And can rest detached right where I belong;

Living alone in my heaven stately (in heaven stately),

With only my loves, and with my song.

 

Jessye Norman and Irwin Gage perform

 

[Aditus]

7 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Been missing my mom more than usual lately. Here's my performance translation of Mahler's Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from the Rückert - Lieder series. Doing this work in the weeks after her death helped me get through, and I was proud to do it in her honor.

 

I’ve been missing from the world lately,

 

Away from those with whom I once spent time;

 

They’ve not heard from me, so long, ultimately,

 

They think I’ve moved on to Death’s colder clime. 

 

 

 

I’m done caring about them all greatly;

 

They think I’m dead or unsteady;

 

Let them think so, calm or irately,

 

‘Cause I’m dead to this world already (world already).

 

 

 

On the world’s turmoil, I watch sedately,

 

And can rest detached right where I belong;

 

Living alone in my heaven stately (in heaven stately),

 

With only my loves, and with my song.

 

Jessye Norman and Irwin Gage perform

 

I like your translation and interpretation, very much. I'm sorry for your loss, AC.

[Zombie]

I miss mine too. So much

She liked hearing me play this. It’s such a happy piece

 

The year after he wrote it (1884) Greig arranged the Holberg Suite for string orchestra

This is the first of five dance movements - Praeludium (Prelude)

 

 

 

 

[AC Benus]

15 hours ago, aditus said:

I like your translation and interpretation, very much. I'm sorry for your loss, AC.

Thanks for your warm encouragement, Adi. It's appreciated 

[AC Benus]

The Vince Guaraldi Trio perform Gershwin's "Looking for a Boy"

 

[Parker Owens]

6 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

The Vince Guaraldi Trio perform Gershwin's "Looking for a Boy"

 

Oh, how I love Guaraldi’s touch on the keyboard! 

[AC Benus]

Some of the most enjoyable 4 hours you could ever spend. This is among my 'long drive' playlists

Hasse Cleofide, dramma per musica 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by AC Benus

[BigBen]

On 4/1/2021 at 7:48 PM, AC Benus said:

Been missing my mom more than usual lately. Here's my performance translation of Mahler's Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from the Rückert - Lieder series. Doing this work in the weeks after her death helped me get through, and I was proud to do it in her honor.

Being a contrarian, I'm not particularly a fan of Mahler's (nor a fan of Mozart's, either, for that matter).  Though I have to admit he wrote some decent pieces, and this is one of them.  But when I want to listen to a long-winded German, it's Bruckner who has captured my heart.

In any case, this is a beautiful rendition by Maestra Norman.  Divine!  I'm glad you find the piece and the singing a consolation in your loss, and thank you for the link.

Edited April 21, 2021 by BigBen

[AC Benus]

American Lieder - Emily Dickinson's "The Saddest Noise" 

I have loved this performance and song since I first heard it live on the radio in 2004. It's hauntingly beautiful; Richard Dworsky's composition frames the poem perfectly as what it is - perhaps the greatest Civil War poem. It was written for Inga Swearingen, and I see she is praised by American Songwriter Magazine like this: “Inga Swearingen’s melodies unfold like Virginia Woolf’s best sentences, patiently building to an expected climax before transcending it like a sweet exhalation of air.”

 

Rich Dworsky - Inga Swearingen Sweetest Noise.mp3

 

"The Saddest Noise" by Emily Dickinson

 

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,
  The maddest noise that grows --
The birds, they make it in the spring,
  At night’s delicious close.

Between the March and April line --
  That magical frontier
Beyond which summer hesitates,
  Almost too heavenly near.

It makes us think of all the dead
  That sauntered with us here,
By separation’s sorcery
  Made cruelly more dear.

It makes us think of what we had,
  And what we now deplore.
We almost wish those siren throats
  Would go and sing no more.

An ear can break a human heart
  As quickly as a spear,
We wish the ear had not a heart
  So dangerously near.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

@AC Benus Thank you for posting this. When I finally had long enough to listen to the song, I had to listen several times. It's incredible, what this music does to Dickinson's voice, to her words.

[AC Benus]

18 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

@AC Benus Thank you for posting this. When I finally had long enough to listen to the song, I had to listen several times. It's incredible, what this music does to Dickinson's voice, to her words.

Thanks for listening, Parker. It's an extraordinary performance and composition. And now you have the file to save with the rest of your music

[Zombie]

On 4/25/2021 at 8:29 PM, AC Benus said:

"The Saddest Noise" by Emily Dickinson

 

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,
  The maddest noise that grows --
The birds, they make it in the spring,
  At night’s delicious close.

Between the March and April line --
  That magical frontier
Beyond which summer hesitates,
  Almost too heavenly near.

It makes us think of all the dead
  That sauntered with us here,
By separation’s sorcery
  Made cruelly more dear.

It makes us think of what we had,
  And what we now deplore.
We almost wish those siren throats
  Would go and sing no more.

An ear can break a human heart
  As quickly as a spear,
We wish the ear had not a heart
  So dangerously near.

Thank you for posting this. I was not aware of this poem or Emily Dickinson before

I used to think music surpassed words in conveying and evoking emotion, but I was wrong

This is a universal poem of loss, as powerful now as when it was written

Grief truly is love with nowhere to go

 

[BigBen]

On 4/30/2021 at 6:59 AM, Zombie said:

Thank you for posting this. I was not aware of this poem or Emily Dickinson before

Dickinson is like Frost, encompassing profound thoughts in simple diction.  If you are not familiar with her work, you might enjoy reading some of her other poems, which should be widely available online.

[AC Benus]

Maria Callas live from Paris, 1958 

 

[Zombie]

the sublime, eternal world of Johann Sebastian Bach 

Prelude No. 8 BWV 853 Book 1 Das Wohltemperirte Klavier (Well Tempered Clavier) 

 

[Zombie]

Negro Melody

Number 10, Deep River, Op. 59 composed in 1905 by Englishman Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and performed by English brothers and sister Sheku (cello), Braimah (violin) and Isata (piano) Kanneh-Mason - just three of seven amazingly talented instrumentalist siblings

 

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Zombie

[AC Benus]

Michael Tippett: String Quartet No. 1 - II. Lento cantabile

 

 

Musical love at first sight

 

Meeting with Wilf was the deepest,

most shattering experience of falling in love;

and I am quite certain that it was

a major factor underlying the discovery

of my own individual musical ‘voice’ –

something that can’t be analyzed

purely in musical terms:

all that love flowed out

in the slow movement of

my First String Quartet,

an unbroken span of

lyrical music in which

all four instruments sing

ardently from start to finish.   

Sir Michael Tippett[i]

1935

 

 

---

[i] “Musical love at first sight” composer Sir Michael Tippett on his relationship with painter Wilfred Franks. See: Those Twentieth Century Blues: an Autobiography (London 1991), p. 58

https://archive.org/details/thosetwentiethce0000tipp_y4e1/page/58/mode/2up