Dead-Composers Society

[AC Benus]

Korngold's "Mother and Son" a Piano Rhapsody 

 

[AC Benus]

Music that premiered on April 15th many springs ago. Do such feelings as we experience in the blood this time of year mark opportunists for renewal, or hopelessness that one can never, never really participate in what others feel is natural?

Andre Previn and Kathleen Battle perform one of human art's greatest testaments to love, Mozart's L'amerò, sarò costante from his opera Il re pastore

 

[AC Benus]

Pierre Amoyal and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra perform the adagio from Louis Spohr's 8th violin concerto 

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by AC Benus

[Zombie]

George Frideric Handel, born in Halle (Saxony) in 1685, travelled widely around Europe as a young man developing his craft, especially in Italy. He settled in England in 1712 where he lived more than half his life (until his death in 1759) and studied carefully the music of Henry Purcell to develop a musical style tailored for English tastes. He became a prolific writer (opera, concertos, sacred, ceremonial) and composed much of the music that became central to British life and culture including for the London theatre and State occasions. 

In 1727, by a special act of Parliament, Handel was officially made a British citizen. Four months later King George I died suddenly and Handel was commissioned to compose music for the coronation of George II. He composed four “anthems” for orchestra and chorus and the most famous of these, Zadok the Priest, has been used at every British / Commonwealth coronation since and will be again next Saturday (6 May).

The long instrumental introduction, with its subtle modulations, chord inversions (“slash chords”?) and unexpected harmonic shifts creating a gradual, suspenseful and uniquely memorable buildup to the eventual and deeply satisfying arrival at the home key (tonic) with the dramatic entry by the chorus, is explained here:

https://realstrings.wordpress.com/2015/07/02/zadok-the-chords/

Annie Lennox plays the intro (almost)

 

and I just love this joyous version

 

[AC Benus]

Naumann Te Deum 

 

[Backwoods Boy]

11 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Naumann Te Deum 

 

Thanks for the exposure to lesser-known composers.  I think I hear influences of Bach and Handel.

[AC Benus]

35 minutes ago, Backwoods Boy said:

Thanks for the exposure to lesser-known composers.  I think I hear influences of Bach and Handel.

Thanks ❤️ I just bumped into this recording last night and thought it was worth sharing

 

[Backwoods Boy]

S.Rachmaninoff. Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30.
Soloist Alexandеr Malofeev (17 y.o.).
Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Dimitris Botinis.
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, 30/12/2018

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by Backwoods Boy

[AC Benus]

Joanne Polk performs "Autumn" from Amy Beach's Four Sketches

 

 

[Backwoods Boy]

On the topic of Autumn - a quite different perspective :

 

[AC Benus]

Savva Zihs performs Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor

 

[Backwoods Boy]

55 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

Savva Zihs performs Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor

 

Fascinating, as were the suggested follow-on classical performances and further exploration into the history and wide uses of an instrument I had always associated with folk music - primarily polkas.  Thanks for triggering an hour's worth of education.

[AC Benus]

2 hours ago, Backwoods Boy said:

Fascinating, as were the suggested follow-on classical performances and further exploration into the history and wide uses of an instrument I had always associated with folk music - primarily polkas.  Thanks for triggering an hour's worth of education.

There are some amazing concert artists out there, and youtube introduced me to the art of this instrument too. Bach sounds great on a powerful accordion, and there is so much artistry in the "breath control" to boot.

The other instrument that opens up the true music-making abilities of Bach is the guitar. I'll look for some of the pieces I rolled into the final Secret Melville script. They're awesome

[AC Benus]

Salieri's gender-bending Il mondo alla roversia (The World in Reverse) caused a sensation when it hit the stage in 1795. Here's a truly theatrical rendering of its rollicking overture

 

 

[AC Benus]

Bach on guitar:

Flute Sonata BWV 1034, Movement 3, Andante (Russell transcription for guitar): https://youtu.be/Qvg6B3qU55A

Violin Sonata BWV 1003, Movement 3, Andante (transcribed for guitar): https://youtu.be/p7yJ7G05GRw

Flute Sonata, BWV 1034, Movement 3, Andante (transcribed from flute and guitar): https://youtu.be/6tUnHDgB2ko

 

[AC Benus]

Marian Anderson performs "Es ist vollbracht" [This mournful night] from Bach's Johannespassion

 

 

[AC Benus]

Viva il dramma per musica! Maayan Licht reminds us gloriously that Alexander was a Great big queen

This entire 4 hour production from last year of Leonardo Vinci's Alessandro nell'Indie is awesome, with plenty of Metastasio camp and queerness built right in! 

[AC Benus]

More of Maayan Licht's performance as Vinci's Alexander the Great. Giant, honking phallus, anyone . . . ? lol

 

[AC Benus]

Kurt Weill Youkali

 

 

[AC Benus]

Franz Lehàr - Wiener Frauen Overture

 

The writing starting at min. 4:00 is so modern in harmony; amazing orchestral control as well

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

On 9/18/2023 at 10:52 PM, AC Benus said:

Franz Lehàr - Wiener Frauen Overture

 

The writing starting at min. 4:00 is so modern in harmony; amazing orchestral control as well

 

Wow. Shades of Williams and Sousa, and such lush orchestration. This made my morning. 

[AC Benus]

Since we had Lehàr last time, now for his rival Franz von Suppé. Jonathan Scott's arrangement and performance of the Dichter und Bauer overture for organ. Bach, eat your heart out  

 

[AC Benus]

What virtuoso playing! Break-neck tempo too

[Parker Owens]

1 hour ago, AC Benus said:

What virtuoso playing! Break-neck tempo too

Enchanting! He has his dancing shoes on, it seems, as his fingers fly across the keyboards. 

[AC Benus]

Waldteufel78 performs "Samt und Seide" (Velvet and Silk) from Carl Michael Ziehrer's operetta Der Fremdenführer (The Vagabond). A rendering like this shows how late-era waltzes smoothly contributed to the formation of Ragtime in the 1890s (in Saint Louis, its birthplace. The first Rag was printed there in 1896).

 

Edited March 25 by AC Benus