Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms - 5/5 Stars
Written in 3 movements without pause between movements, this exquisite piece takes listeners on an unusual symphonic adventure. Stravinsky himself considered “it not a symphony in which I have included Psalms to be sung. On the contrary, it is the singing of the psalms that I am symphonizing”
One truly enjoyable feature is the broad usage of styles. The opening movement sounds very neo-classical with all its standard deviations from the classical period: abrupt time shifts, nontraditional treatment of harmony and resolutions, and ostinatos. The second movement however sounds like it dates back 300 years by employing the fugue (double fugue in this case) and writing in the style of the high renaissance Venetian choral composer. This movement is very calm and allows deep reflection on the psalms:
I waited patiently for the Lord: and He inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay.
and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.
And He hath put a new song in my mouth: even a thanksgiving unto our God.
Many shall see it and fear: and shall put their trust in the Lord.
The third movement starts as a rousing and boisterous ride. Stravinsky wrote:
"The final hymn of praise must be thought of as issuing from the skies; agitation is followed by the calm of praise. In setting the words of this final hymn I cared only for the sounds of the syllables and I have indulged to the limit my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way".
Later in the movement we hear a slower, ominously dark section that shifts back and forth between mood and uses descending chromaticism to create a sense of unease. This is a little unusual considering the text:
Alleluja.
Praise God in His sanctuary:
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts:
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet:
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance.
Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals,
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.
Alleluja.
Perhaps what I interpreted to be slightly dark was simply a misunderstanding for reverence? Nonetheless, the composer ends with the final cadences sounding almost heavenly.
This piece is a must for anyone interested in 20th century music. Stravinsky was one of the greatest innovators in western music and his music is brilliantly crafted. The Symphony of Psalms stands alone in its own genre of symphony plus psalm and is well worth a listen or ten.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Reich - Four Organs
Reich – Four Organs – 2.5/5 Stars
Steve Reich is one my all time favorite composers. However this piece didn’t exactly do it for me. Reich has always had a fascination with music repeating and changing over time—whether it be some type of increased augmentation, diminution, or evolving offset, one can frequently expect insane amounts of repetition in his works.
18 Musicians is by far the greatest and most successful example of repetitious music organically evolving over time. Four Organs, much to my displeasure, had a few flaws stacked against it:
1) That obnoxious shaker that runs unchanging through the entire piece. It truly goes to the top of “Annoying Usage of Percussion” list, right next to the cowbell in Don’t Fear the Reaper.
2) Four organs playing loudly for 16 minutes could draw a confession out of innocent man.
3) The evolution of sound didn’t change enough and the overall cells were a bit boring. The overall texture shift was nice, and by the end the piece had smoothly transformed. However, both the original cell and the final product weren’t all that aural pleasing.
The biggest redeeming feature offered by this piece is taking a little fun from the experience of listening to the slow shifts, as if watching the tide come in—each wave comes an inch closer. If you’re really interested in hearing a piece like this, I highly recommend 18 Musicians over this piece.
Steve Reich is one my all time favorite composers. However this piece didn’t exactly do it for me. Reich has always had a fascination with music repeating and changing over time—whether it be some type of increased augmentation, diminution, or evolving offset, one can frequently expect insane amounts of repetition in his works.
18 Musicians is by far the greatest and most successful example of repetitious music organically evolving over time. Four Organs, much to my displeasure, had a few flaws stacked against it:
1) That obnoxious shaker that runs unchanging through the entire piece. It truly goes to the top of “Annoying Usage of Percussion” list, right next to the cowbell in Don’t Fear the Reaper.
2) Four organs playing loudly for 16 minutes could draw a confession out of innocent man.
3) The evolution of sound didn’t change enough and the overall cells were a bit boring. The overall texture shift was nice, and by the end the piece had smoothly transformed. However, both the original cell and the final product weren’t all that aural pleasing.
The biggest redeeming feature offered by this piece is taking a little fun from the experience of listening to the slow shifts, as if watching the tide come in—each wave comes an inch closer. If you’re really interested in hearing a piece like this, I highly recommend 18 Musicians over this piece.
Berg - Violin Concerto
Berg – Violin Concerto - 4/5 Stars
Berg does a wonderful job of combining both a clear 12-tone technique with a slightly more tonal style. His usage of 12-tone rows is clearly influenced by his teacher—Arnold Schoenberg. I find myself drawn more toward Berg’s music simply because his tonal moments ground his pieces and give the ears something to cling to. 12-tone technique can often sound very random and give the impression of chaos. However, mixing in some tonal aspects makes the serialistic moments seem like an adventure instead of random chaos. One aspect I really enjoyed was the way Berg employed his rows. He frequently spaced his rows out to span several octaves—giving the piece an arpeggiated, leaping sensation—always expanding or contracting. This is, in my opinion, much more favorable than small, stepwise motion.
If you’re looking to expand your ear a bit and try to get into 12-tone and serialism composers, Berg’s violin concerto is the perfect way to sample the water considering its palatable application of rows and its mixture of tonality. Also, this piece is very virtuosic for the soloist, and who doesn't enjoy watching a violinist sweat?? ;)
Berg does a wonderful job of combining both a clear 12-tone technique with a slightly more tonal style. His usage of 12-tone rows is clearly influenced by his teacher—Arnold Schoenberg. I find myself drawn more toward Berg’s music simply because his tonal moments ground his pieces and give the ears something to cling to. 12-tone technique can often sound very random and give the impression of chaos. However, mixing in some tonal aspects makes the serialistic moments seem like an adventure instead of random chaos. One aspect I really enjoyed was the way Berg employed his rows. He frequently spaced his rows out to span several octaves—giving the piece an arpeggiated, leaping sensation—always expanding or contracting. This is, in my opinion, much more favorable than small, stepwise motion.
If you’re looking to expand your ear a bit and try to get into 12-tone and serialism composers, Berg’s violin concerto is the perfect way to sample the water considering its palatable application of rows and its mixture of tonality. Also, this piece is very virtuosic for the soloist, and who doesn't enjoy watching a violinist sweat?? ;)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Beethoven - Symphony 1
Beethoven – Symphony #1
4/5 Stars
Overall this is a wonderful and musically concise piece. Being Beethoven’s first symphony, we don’t see a lot of the radical innovations that we typically associate with his works. Instead, we hear a piece that sounds as if it could have been written by one of his predecessors, i.e. Mozart,or even Haydn.
The opening is quite unusually however. The first 12 bars tease the ear as to the home key. Perhaps this is some sort of a musical joke? There is a constant tonic-dominant relation occurring, but each time it’s in a different key, further confusing the ear.
Both of the first 2 movements are written in clear sonata form, with very well articulated and memorable themes. The motivic development in these two movements stand out as remarkable in comparison to symphonies written by his predecessors. The intricacy and careful crafting of his themes is truly amazing in all his works, and this piece is no exception.
The third movement isn’t marked as a scherzo, but similar movements in later symphonies are. This begs the question if Beethoven had yet discovered this label. The final movement opens with a startling bang! Calling back the chordal relations from the first movement. It’s hard not to appreciate the symmetry.
My only major criticism of this piece is its lack of balance in terms of movement lengths. The first two movements are closer to 10 minutes and the last two are 9 minutes combined. The third and fourth movements are over so fast, I felt a little short changed and was looking for more.
On the whole this is a wonderful introduction to Beethoven’s music and brilliantly exemplifies much of what defines the late Classical era in music.
4/5 Stars
Overall this is a wonderful and musically concise piece. Being Beethoven’s first symphony, we don’t see a lot of the radical innovations that we typically associate with his works. Instead, we hear a piece that sounds as if it could have been written by one of his predecessors, i.e. Mozart,or even Haydn.
The opening is quite unusually however. The first 12 bars tease the ear as to the home key. Perhaps this is some sort of a musical joke? There is a constant tonic-dominant relation occurring, but each time it’s in a different key, further confusing the ear.
Both of the first 2 movements are written in clear sonata form, with very well articulated and memorable themes. The motivic development in these two movements stand out as remarkable in comparison to symphonies written by his predecessors. The intricacy and careful crafting of his themes is truly amazing in all his works, and this piece is no exception.
The third movement isn’t marked as a scherzo, but similar movements in later symphonies are. This begs the question if Beethoven had yet discovered this label. The final movement opens with a startling bang! Calling back the chordal relations from the first movement. It’s hard not to appreciate the symmetry.
My only major criticism of this piece is its lack of balance in terms of movement lengths. The first two movements are closer to 10 minutes and the last two are 9 minutes combined. The third and fourth movements are over so fast, I felt a little short changed and was looking for more.
On the whole this is a wonderful introduction to Beethoven’s music and brilliantly exemplifies much of what defines the late Classical era in music.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Aaron Jay Kernis - Musica Celestis
Aaron Jay Kernis - Musica Celestis
Arranged for String Orchestra
5/5 Stars
Transcribed from the slow movement of his string quartet, Musica Celestis is one of the best single movement orchestral pieces I have heard to date. Undeniably it bears many parallels with Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings: chords overlapping and fading in and out in a mysterious and magical quality, using a full range of registers, and striking dissonances resolving to consonance.
Several striking moments come back to my memory upon reflection of the piece. The gradual acceleration and thickening of texture throughout the middle section that culminates in beautiful and long held chords (that are so dense with harmonies and color that one can almost taste the moment) give an astounding since awe. Also, and most memorable, is the abrupt cutout of near the end. The polyphony builds to a tense roar as the violinists find their highest notes, then, as if in mid sentence, the piece stops, taking the breath out of us--a truly deafening silence. Kernis follows that moment by bringing back the high ethereal string moment much like the beginning.
Given the title, one can’t help but think of outer space. I liken the aforementioned mentioned moment to a rocket powering through the atmosphere, then, without warning, breaking free into the silence and calm of space.
What an amazing work!
Arranged for String Orchestra
5/5 Stars
Transcribed from the slow movement of his string quartet, Musica Celestis is one of the best single movement orchestral pieces I have heard to date. Undeniably it bears many parallels with Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings: chords overlapping and fading in and out in a mysterious and magical quality, using a full range of registers, and striking dissonances resolving to consonance.
Several striking moments come back to my memory upon reflection of the piece. The gradual acceleration and thickening of texture throughout the middle section that culminates in beautiful and long held chords (that are so dense with harmonies and color that one can almost taste the moment) give an astounding since awe. Also, and most memorable, is the abrupt cutout of near the end. The polyphony builds to a tense roar as the violinists find their highest notes, then, as if in mid sentence, the piece stops, taking the breath out of us--a truly deafening silence. Kernis follows that moment by bringing back the high ethereal string moment much like the beginning.
Given the title, one can’t help but think of outer space. I liken the aforementioned mentioned moment to a rocket powering through the atmosphere, then, without warning, breaking free into the silence and calm of space.
What an amazing work!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
5/5 Stars
Symphony No. 2 is hands down a complete masterpiece! Titled the Resurrection symphony, the whole work powerfully and profoundly explores a wide range of emotions while depicting the experience of loss, remembrance, harsh realities, resurrection, and judgment:
Movement I:
The first movement creates a sense of loss, mourning, and even a hint of regret. Presumably the listener is to imagine (or remember) the feeling of losing someone dear, and the stir of emotions that accompany.
Movement II:
Here we find a gentle musical setting with long, warm melodies. The grief has passed as we remember the deceased fondly and envision their soul(s) soaring through the clouds upward toward heaven.
Movement III:
We are snatched out of our dreamy haze, and stirred out of a peaceful state to again face the harsh realities of life and loss.
Movement IV:
The exquisite alto soloist sings "I am from God and will return to God. The dear God will give me a light, will light me to eternal blessed life!" to calm our restless hearts.
Movement V:
This movement is a symphony within the symphony—thirty five plus minutes. This is perhaps one of the greatest movements in all symphonic history. The ground shakes, the earth opens, and judgment day is upon us. The massive orchestra literally shakes the hall at times.
Two random comments:
1)I think I know where John Williams got his Superman theme from..... Good heavens that seems a little too close.
2)How does any bass sing a low Bb??
Mahler’s grasp of orchestration is clearly the pinnacle of Viennese orchestration—a master creating a masterpiece. Mahler’s gifts spread far beyond his ability to orchestrate. His melodies are effortless, memorable and beautiful. His timing and placement of key moments is impeccable. And lastly, his understanding of tempo shifts and abrupt mood changes make perfect sense. The only downside to this piece is its duration. It’s hard to find 95 minutes of undisturbed time to listen to the second symphony, but well worth it when you do. I would very highly recommend this piece to anyone, classical lover or not. The power and beauty that moves through the whole piece doesn’t just speak to musically minded folk, but to the hearts of all people.
5/5 Stars
Symphony No. 2 is hands down a complete masterpiece! Titled the Resurrection symphony, the whole work powerfully and profoundly explores a wide range of emotions while depicting the experience of loss, remembrance, harsh realities, resurrection, and judgment:
Movement I:
The first movement creates a sense of loss, mourning, and even a hint of regret. Presumably the listener is to imagine (or remember) the feeling of losing someone dear, and the stir of emotions that accompany.
Movement II:
Here we find a gentle musical setting with long, warm melodies. The grief has passed as we remember the deceased fondly and envision their soul(s) soaring through the clouds upward toward heaven.
Movement III:
We are snatched out of our dreamy haze, and stirred out of a peaceful state to again face the harsh realities of life and loss.
Movement IV:
The exquisite alto soloist sings "I am from God and will return to God. The dear God will give me a light, will light me to eternal blessed life!" to calm our restless hearts.
Movement V:
This movement is a symphony within the symphony—thirty five plus minutes. This is perhaps one of the greatest movements in all symphonic history. The ground shakes, the earth opens, and judgment day is upon us. The massive orchestra literally shakes the hall at times.
Two random comments:
1)I think I know where John Williams got his Superman theme from..... Good heavens that seems a little too close.
2)How does any bass sing a low Bb??
Mahler’s grasp of orchestration is clearly the pinnacle of Viennese orchestration—a master creating a masterpiece. Mahler’s gifts spread far beyond his ability to orchestrate. His melodies are effortless, memorable and beautiful. His timing and placement of key moments is impeccable. And lastly, his understanding of tempo shifts and abrupt mood changes make perfect sense. The only downside to this piece is its duration. It’s hard to find 95 minutes of undisturbed time to listen to the second symphony, but well worth it when you do. I would very highly recommend this piece to anyone, classical lover or not. The power and beauty that moves through the whole piece doesn’t just speak to musically minded folk, but to the hearts of all people.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
John Corigliano - Symphony I
John Corigliano - Symphony I
2.5/5 Stars
The impetus behind Corigliano’s first symphony was his overwhelming feeling of frustration and sadness from losing so many close friends to the AIDS epidemic. Knowing this fact gives many of his compositional choices a lot more meaning and context. Being unaware of it might leave a listener with some major questions.
Movement I, “Apologue*: Of Rage and Remembrance”, seemed to start with real promise: a vigorous tremolo from the strings all on a single pitch. The pitch however slowly changes timbre (probably due to playing the same pitch but shifting strings) and gives a real since of intense frustration. Shortly after the opening, the mood was quickly spoiled by a barrage of brass. This sudden interjection felt both careless and hokey. The composer failed to develop the brilliant opening gesture and spilled into a chaos of brass in an unprepared fashion. The over structure seemed to be in a lose ABA’ format where the opening and the unfortunate brass “fanfare” made up the A section. The B section, while coming out of left field, had a very interesting juxtaposition of haunting strings slowly shifting from dissonance to suspension to consonance and an offstage piano that sounded like it belonged in the slow movement of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto (upon later research it appears the piece was actually Isaac Albeniz’s "Tango"). The texture was unusual and intriguing—it was hard to focus on both event simultaneously which made it engaging as I tried follow both. The A’ section was much like we might expect but with an even bigger brass apex. It does however end on the same pitch it began with but an octave higher—nice symmetry—perhaps a simple message: we are the same but different.
Movement II, “Tarantella”, was a complete mishmash of thoughts. Within the first 30 seconds there seemed to be at least 3 themes conveying 3 different moods. It felt like a renaissance version the Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride. It sort of aimlessly meandered through various versions of the folk like melodies and had a few disturbing fff interruptions. On the plus side, around the second half, the piece did seem to start growing in intensity and tempo, accelerating to the end—a key feature of a Tarantella.
Movement III, “Chaconne: Guilio’s Song”: the saving grace of this piece. Corigliano captures sadness like a master. Sounding like a cello concerto, the soloist plays a desperately sad melody that aches for resolution, almost achieves it, and then slips back into darkness. The composer sets up a really nice state of emotion though the use of a chromatic melody that moves around slowly enough that the listener almost thinks they hear a home key, but then it shifts to somewhere new. It’s a brilliant mix of anxiety and peace, discontent and content. I almost feel as though the movement might be more accurately named “Purgatory”. However, that really doesn’t fit into the programmatic concept of the piece…nonetheless I found myself completely satisfied with dissatisfaction :) There was some unfortunate bombardment of noise and bells toward the end that I didn’t really follow. But I was so taken with the first half that I barely cared.
Movement IV, “Epilogue”. This was utterly disappointing. If the purpose of this movement was to leave the listener with a mildly irritated, confused, empty sense, then job well done…..and given the topic and the hopelessness of the disease perhaps that was the purpose. This 4 minute movement was completely underwhelming. It called back some old themes and brought back the offstage nostalgic piano, but on the whole this seemed to do nothing. It didn’t have to end with some huge V-I-V-I Beethoven-like bonanza, but something more than we got would have been nice--something with purpose and with a statement that says more than: “sigh”.
Upon reading back, this turned into more of a scathing review than I expected. And don’t get me wrong, there were many nice features: memorable melodies, beautiful orchestration, some interesting textures, and a great concept behind the piece. I personally feel the concept was, unfortunately, not realized to its full potential. All said and done, I would encourage any listener to choose another piece if they are hearing Corigliano’s music for the first time.
2.5/5 Stars
The impetus behind Corigliano’s first symphony was his overwhelming feeling of frustration and sadness from losing so many close friends to the AIDS epidemic. Knowing this fact gives many of his compositional choices a lot more meaning and context. Being unaware of it might leave a listener with some major questions.
Movement I, “Apologue*: Of Rage and Remembrance”, seemed to start with real promise: a vigorous tremolo from the strings all on a single pitch. The pitch however slowly changes timbre (probably due to playing the same pitch but shifting strings) and gives a real since of intense frustration. Shortly after the opening, the mood was quickly spoiled by a barrage of brass. This sudden interjection felt both careless and hokey. The composer failed to develop the brilliant opening gesture and spilled into a chaos of brass in an unprepared fashion. The over structure seemed to be in a lose ABA’ format where the opening and the unfortunate brass “fanfare” made up the A section. The B section, while coming out of left field, had a very interesting juxtaposition of haunting strings slowly shifting from dissonance to suspension to consonance and an offstage piano that sounded like it belonged in the slow movement of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto (upon later research it appears the piece was actually Isaac Albeniz’s "Tango"). The texture was unusual and intriguing—it was hard to focus on both event simultaneously which made it engaging as I tried follow both. The A’ section was much like we might expect but with an even bigger brass apex. It does however end on the same pitch it began with but an octave higher—nice symmetry—perhaps a simple message: we are the same but different.
Movement II, “Tarantella”, was a complete mishmash of thoughts. Within the first 30 seconds there seemed to be at least 3 themes conveying 3 different moods. It felt like a renaissance version the Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride. It sort of aimlessly meandered through various versions of the folk like melodies and had a few disturbing fff interruptions. On the plus side, around the second half, the piece did seem to start growing in intensity and tempo, accelerating to the end—a key feature of a Tarantella.
Movement III, “Chaconne: Guilio’s Song”: the saving grace of this piece. Corigliano captures sadness like a master. Sounding like a cello concerto, the soloist plays a desperately sad melody that aches for resolution, almost achieves it, and then slips back into darkness. The composer sets up a really nice state of emotion though the use of a chromatic melody that moves around slowly enough that the listener almost thinks they hear a home key, but then it shifts to somewhere new. It’s a brilliant mix of anxiety and peace, discontent and content. I almost feel as though the movement might be more accurately named “Purgatory”. However, that really doesn’t fit into the programmatic concept of the piece…nonetheless I found myself completely satisfied with dissatisfaction :) There was some unfortunate bombardment of noise and bells toward the end that I didn’t really follow. But I was so taken with the first half that I barely cared.
Movement IV, “Epilogue”. This was utterly disappointing. If the purpose of this movement was to leave the listener with a mildly irritated, confused, empty sense, then job well done…..and given the topic and the hopelessness of the disease perhaps that was the purpose. This 4 minute movement was completely underwhelming. It called back some old themes and brought back the offstage nostalgic piano, but on the whole this seemed to do nothing. It didn’t have to end with some huge V-I-V-I Beethoven-like bonanza, but something more than we got would have been nice--something with purpose and with a statement that says more than: “sigh”.
Upon reading back, this turned into more of a scathing review than I expected. And don’t get me wrong, there were many nice features: memorable melodies, beautiful orchestration, some interesting textures, and a great concept behind the piece. I personally feel the concept was, unfortunately, not realized to its full potential. All said and done, I would encourage any listener to choose another piece if they are hearing Corigliano’s music for the first time.
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