This is a charming Berceuse - really more of a lullaby by the french composer Henri Sauguet, He was of the generation just behind Le Six and although he lived a long time and was very prolific he has rather disappeared from view.
I remember hearing this on the radio some years ago (I think in a programme introduced by Jeremy Nicholas , though I might be wrong on that) and was utterly enchanted by its simplicity but also but the piquancy of the harmony. I can't find a copy of the text on line, but it is a bed time song to a child from its mother , who is looking out over the sea and watching the birds and the boats fly away. It was written in Madagascar and actually comes from an opera le plumet du colonel
I don't think that I have ever heard another note of Sauguet's music, although there are published recordings and other extracts on YouTube so I really ought to find out more about him.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
One track wonders - Love's dream after the ball
I have mentioned in this blog before how I sometime leave the IPOD on random and see what comes up. This popped out a few days ago and I thought that I would share it. But more than that it got me thinking about composers for whom I have precisely one track on my IPOD.
This is a gorgeous piece of nostalgic delight by Alphons Czibulka (there are various spellings) who was an Hungarian bandmaster and composer of operettas. He was obviously very prolific as this is opus 356!
Richard Bonynge knows exactly how to bring off a piece like this. He obviously enjoys the charm and sentimentality but he doesn't milk it for all it is worth. It takes great musicianship and technique to perform light music as elegantly as this,
I doubt that many readers will have heard of Czibulka, but I would be prepared to put quite a lot of money on a wager that everybody reading this will recognise at least one of his melodies. The "hearts and flowers" melody so often used as an accompaniment to love scenes in the silent movies is based on a song by Czibulka! Whether that is how he would like to have achieved immortality in that way is a moot point, but at least he has left a thumb print on musical and cinema history.
This is a gorgeous piece of nostalgic delight by Alphons Czibulka (there are various spellings) who was an Hungarian bandmaster and composer of operettas. He was obviously very prolific as this is opus 356!
Richard Bonynge knows exactly how to bring off a piece like this. He obviously enjoys the charm and sentimentality but he doesn't milk it for all it is worth. It takes great musicianship and technique to perform light music as elegantly as this,
I doubt that many readers will have heard of Czibulka, but I would be prepared to put quite a lot of money on a wager that everybody reading this will recognise at least one of his melodies. The "hearts and flowers" melody so often used as an accompaniment to love scenes in the silent movies is based on a song by Czibulka! Whether that is how he would like to have achieved immortality in that way is a moot point, but at least he has left a thumb print on musical and cinema history.
Monday, 15 September 2014
Heavenly length?
Had a rehearsal play through of Schubert 9 last week. It is a piece which excites strong opinions. But one thing that all orchestral players agree on is that it is one of the most exhausting pieces in the entire repertoire. It is not long as a Mahler symphony, but in Mahler there are generally places to take a break, whereas the Schubert is inexorable and there is nowhere to relax. The first three movements are difficult enough in this respect, but the finale - over 1000 bars - is in a class of its own. Thankfully we did it without all the repeats. I do remember playing in a performance years ago with all of the repeats - it very nearly finished me off.
As far as is known Schubert never heard the work performed - indeed there seems not to have been a performance in his lifetime, although there may have been a private informal run through. Schumann admired what he call the symphony's "heavenly length" but I am of the view that had Schubert heard the symphony in performance he would have made some small excisions here and there just to cut out some of the repetition.
But what a symphony it is. In many ways it is more modern and forward looking than Beethoven's 9th symphony , which is more or less its contemporary. So much of it looks forward to the world of the next generation. Heard out of context parts of the trio are pure Dvorak, while the slow alternating chords near the end of the slow movement are highly characteristic of Brahms. Incidentally it was Brahms who was responsible for the confusion over the numbering of the symphony. He believed that unfinished works should be numbered after finished works, so attached the number 7 to the symphony, on the basis it was the only symphony Schubert finished after no 6. The "unfinished" was no 8. So the parts we were playing from were headed symphony no 7. The absurdity of this symphony being numbered before the earlier unfinished symphony was gradually appreciated and so the symphony became no 9. The unfinished remained no 8. And no 7? Well there is another unfinished symphony which became no 7. This is much more fragmentary - for most of the piece we only have a first violin line so it is not really performable, although there have been realisations of it. But it plugs in the gap in the numbering very conveniently.
The other composer whose music seems pre-echoed in the symphony is Bruckner. Some of the harmonic daring , particularly in the first movement, seems to foreshadow much of what can be found in Bruckner - and of course the sheer scale of Schubert 9 was not really matched until Bruckner's symphonies a generation later. But there is a direct connection between the two composers. Right towards the end of his life Schubert felt the need to improve his counterpoint skills and arranged some lessons with Simon Sechter, who was one of the leading teachers of the day. We don't know exactly what happened in those lessons, indeed if they every really took place, but it is astonishing that Schubert felt he needed lessons. The link is that Sechter was one of Bruckner's main teachers - we know for certain that Bruckner went through an intensive course of harmony and counterpoint with Sechter.
Schubert 9 is of course the work of a young man, even though it is a "late" work. I can remember discussing with one of my lecturers at university what Schubert's music might have developed into had he lived longer. After all he would only have been in his mid 60s when Tristan und Isolde was written. One senses that had he lived Schubert would have got to the harmonic language of Tristan well before Wagner.
As far as is known Schubert never heard the work performed - indeed there seems not to have been a performance in his lifetime, although there may have been a private informal run through. Schumann admired what he call the symphony's "heavenly length" but I am of the view that had Schubert heard the symphony in performance he would have made some small excisions here and there just to cut out some of the repetition.
But what a symphony it is. In many ways it is more modern and forward looking than Beethoven's 9th symphony , which is more or less its contemporary. So much of it looks forward to the world of the next generation. Heard out of context parts of the trio are pure Dvorak, while the slow alternating chords near the end of the slow movement are highly characteristic of Brahms. Incidentally it was Brahms who was responsible for the confusion over the numbering of the symphony. He believed that unfinished works should be numbered after finished works, so attached the number 7 to the symphony, on the basis it was the only symphony Schubert finished after no 6. The "unfinished" was no 8. So the parts we were playing from were headed symphony no 7. The absurdity of this symphony being numbered before the earlier unfinished symphony was gradually appreciated and so the symphony became no 9. The unfinished remained no 8. And no 7? Well there is another unfinished symphony which became no 7. This is much more fragmentary - for most of the piece we only have a first violin line so it is not really performable, although there have been realisations of it. But it plugs in the gap in the numbering very conveniently.
The other composer whose music seems pre-echoed in the symphony is Bruckner. Some of the harmonic daring , particularly in the first movement, seems to foreshadow much of what can be found in Bruckner - and of course the sheer scale of Schubert 9 was not really matched until Bruckner's symphonies a generation later. But there is a direct connection between the two composers. Right towards the end of his life Schubert felt the need to improve his counterpoint skills and arranged some lessons with Simon Sechter, who was one of the leading teachers of the day. We don't know exactly what happened in those lessons, indeed if they every really took place, but it is astonishing that Schubert felt he needed lessons. The link is that Sechter was one of Bruckner's main teachers - we know for certain that Bruckner went through an intensive course of harmony and counterpoint with Sechter.
Schubert 9 is of course the work of a young man, even though it is a "late" work. I can remember discussing with one of my lecturers at university what Schubert's music might have developed into had he lived longer. After all he would only have been in his mid 60s when Tristan und Isolde was written. One senses that had he lived Schubert would have got to the harmonic language of Tristan well before Wagner.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Chips from the workbench?
It is easy to recognise greatness in major masterpieces. But sometimes I think that the real place to look for it is in minor works that slip from the composer's workbenches. Sometimes these are pieces written to earn money, sometimes as a piece for a special occasion and sometimes just to give a composer a bit of breathing space between major projects.
In many ways it is easier to achieve greatness on a vast canvas - but it takes a special form of genius to achieve it in a brief piece lasting only a couple of minutes. One of the real masters of this was, in my view, Stravinsky. If you look through his list of compositions there are all sorts of minor "odds and ends" scattered through the catalogue. Almost without exception these miniatures encapsulate the genius of Stravinsky in a few deft strokes. You only need to hear the opening notes of a piece like the Circus Polka or the Scherzo alla Russe to be instantly transported into Stravinsky's world. I've played a good few of these pieces over the years and always enjoy doing so. One I haven't played but would love to is the Greetings Prelude
You know from the very first notes that it couldn't be by anybody except Stravinsky - indeed it sounds so much like "real" Stravinsky that you begin to suspect that the tune we all know ...and love ... is a simplified version of the Greetings Prelude!
Was there ever another composer who left quite so many tiny fragments of musical genius?
In many ways it is easier to achieve greatness on a vast canvas - but it takes a special form of genius to achieve it in a brief piece lasting only a couple of minutes. One of the real masters of this was, in my view, Stravinsky. If you look through his list of compositions there are all sorts of minor "odds and ends" scattered through the catalogue. Almost without exception these miniatures encapsulate the genius of Stravinsky in a few deft strokes. You only need to hear the opening notes of a piece like the Circus Polka or the Scherzo alla Russe to be instantly transported into Stravinsky's world. I've played a good few of these pieces over the years and always enjoy doing so. One I haven't played but would love to is the Greetings Prelude
You know from the very first notes that it couldn't be by anybody except Stravinsky - indeed it sounds so much like "real" Stravinsky that you begin to suspect that the tune we all know ...and love ... is a simplified version of the Greetings Prelude!
Was there ever another composer who left quite so many tiny fragments of musical genius?
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Great endings no 1 - Sibelius symphony no 5
A long and tiring day at work today and feeling pretty miserable by the time I got home. I turned on the TV for some mindless watching and found myself listening to Sibelius 5 from the Proms. It really cheered my spirits - the end of the symphony is one of the most uplifting moments I know - I really did find myself shouting out in excitement after the last chord. So I have decided to start a new series - on great endings.
I've a limited amount of experience of Sibelius. I've played the first and second symphonies and done a play through of the fourth. I've never played the fifth although I did a conducted a string sectional once. I don't know all of the symphonies that well but particularly enjoy the second and third.
But the finale of the fifth must be the composer's greatest achievement. This is a wonderful example of organic growth and the screwing up of tension towards a triumphant harmonic resolution. And then there are those final chords - the massive hammer blows - irregularly spaced with time almost standing still between each of the chords - except between the last two, which are more closely spaced than the others. It never fails to thrill.
It is such a stroke of genius that one feels that it must have come as red hot inspiration to the composer. But we know that this is not the case. The 5th symphony had a complex gestation and the work as first performed was significantly different to the version which we now know and love. The most remarkable difference is right at the end. The hammer blows are still there but there is no silence between them - instead sustained string chords. Such a different effect.
It is of course difficult if not impossible to hear this original version without comparing it with the familiar revision and so it sounds very odd. If you can get the revised version out of your head I suspect that the original version is, on its own terms, highly effective, but there is no doubt that the revision makes a much greater effect.
Genius is indeed 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.!
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
If i'm not pure at least my jewels are!
Like many orchestral players I first came across Candide when playing the overture with my youth orchestra. This was my first step up into a senior youth orchestra and I still remember the programme
Bernstein - overture to Candide
Strauss - suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Berlioz - Royal Hunt and Storm and Trojan March
Mussorgsky orc Ravel - Pictures from an exhibition
That was quite a step up from simple arrangements in the school orchestra! What on earth must it have sounded like
I remember in particular struggling with the cross rhythms at the end of the overture - which are of course used in Glitter and be Gay.
I vaguely remembering hearing one of the ensembles (I think it might have been I am easily assimilated) on desert island disks and being hooked. I got hold of the original cast LP soon after wards and it was one of my most played recordings.
It is a piece of real genius - worth to stand with the finest of lighter operas - in fact with any sort of opera. The inventiveness is astonishing and Bernstein's ability to send up grand opera in an affectionate way is never shown to greater effect than in this aria. It is hard to listen to the Jewel song from Faust or the Bell song from Lakme without a smile once you know this parody.
But Candide also has one of the most spine tingling moments I know in all music. The final number builds to a great climax and then
the chorus is left on their own
I remember the hairs rising on the back of my neck when I heard this at ENO a few years ago.
Much as I love parts of West Side Story , Candide is undoubtedly Bernstein's masterpiece.
Bernstein - overture to Candide
Strauss - suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Berlioz - Royal Hunt and Storm and Trojan March
Mussorgsky orc Ravel - Pictures from an exhibition
That was quite a step up from simple arrangements in the school orchestra! What on earth must it have sounded like
I remember in particular struggling with the cross rhythms at the end of the overture - which are of course used in Glitter and be Gay.
I vaguely remembering hearing one of the ensembles (I think it might have been I am easily assimilated) on desert island disks and being hooked. I got hold of the original cast LP soon after wards and it was one of my most played recordings.
It is a piece of real genius - worth to stand with the finest of lighter operas - in fact with any sort of opera. The inventiveness is astonishing and Bernstein's ability to send up grand opera in an affectionate way is never shown to greater effect than in this aria. It is hard to listen to the Jewel song from Faust or the Bell song from Lakme without a smile once you know this parody.
But Candide also has one of the most spine tingling moments I know in all music. The final number builds to a great climax and then
the chorus is left on their own
I remember the hairs rising on the back of my neck when I heard this at ENO a few years ago.
Much as I love parts of West Side Story , Candide is undoubtedly Bernstein's masterpiece.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Saint-Saëns
Two of the bitchiest musical quotes I know are both directed at Saint-Saëns. Ravel , on being told that the composer had continued to write music during the first world war said " if he had been making shell cases during the war it would have been better for music while Nadia Boulanger, the great French teacher is reported as having said Saint-Saëns knew his business admirably well. He only lacked what no one could give him.
Boulanger was essentially saying that Saint-Saëns was had technique but no inspiration. I think that that is an extremely harsh verdict.
I think a lot of the criticism is actually about Saint-Saëns the man rather than the musician. Boulanger and Saint-Saëns had a famous falling about over the 1908 Prix de Rome, where the judges , including Saint-Saëns did not award her first prize in the composition composition. The composer did indeed seem to have had a talent for falling out with people and making musical enemies. The story of him storming out of the first performances of The Rite of Spring because of the misuse of the bassoon is not quite correct (the incident was at the first concert performance, which, unlike the first stage performance, was very well received), but it does show something of his character.
One of the problems with Saint-Saëns is that he was active musically for such a long time that he got left behind by musical tastes. Indeed he must have had one of the longest musical careers of all time. He was born in 1835 and was already a major figure in French musical life by the 1840, counting Berlioz, Liszt and Berlioz. He composed all through his long life - his final work was written in 1921, the year of his death. In today's terms this would be equivalent to somebody still active who was born in the late 1920s and who had been heard playing the piano by Elgar.
Among other incidents in a very full life Saint-Saëns should be remembered as the first major composer to write a score for a film - his 1908 music for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise.
While all of this is fascinating background it shouldn't get in the way of the music itself. I know only a tiny fraction of the composer's large output (indeed I suspect that very few people have even a reasonable knowledge of the repertoire) I do find myself turning to Saint-Saëns more and more. I have a soft spot for the Organ Symphony - not least because I conducted a performance at university, but I have to admit that at times it is a bit old fashioned and creaky, but I am admiring the piano concerto more and more. I'm beginning to get to know some of the chamber music - the wonderfully quirky septet with trumpet of course but also the piano quartet. And there is always the carnival of the animals, which never fails to raise a smile.
What it is that attracts me to this music . It is I think a combination of its fluency and charm. Everything works and fits to together perfectly and the melodic invention is always first rate. But perhaps more than anything there is a sense of communication - this is not inward facing - it is there to be heard and enjoyed. Listen to the second movement of the second piano concerto for a real sense of exuberant fun in the tradition of a Mendelssohn Scherzo, or the poise and control of the beginning of the piano quartet.
Of course there are times when one want music to plumb the emotional or intellectual depths and perhaps Saint-Saëns is not the idea companion for such journeys. But when you want a slightly gentler and less angst ridden journey but still of the highest quality give Saint-Saëns a chance.
Boulanger was essentially saying that Saint-Saëns was had technique but no inspiration. I think that that is an extremely harsh verdict.
I think a lot of the criticism is actually about Saint-Saëns the man rather than the musician. Boulanger and Saint-Saëns had a famous falling about over the 1908 Prix de Rome, where the judges , including Saint-Saëns did not award her first prize in the composition composition. The composer did indeed seem to have had a talent for falling out with people and making musical enemies. The story of him storming out of the first performances of The Rite of Spring because of the misuse of the bassoon is not quite correct (the incident was at the first concert performance, which, unlike the first stage performance, was very well received), but it does show something of his character.
One of the problems with Saint-Saëns is that he was active musically for such a long time that he got left behind by musical tastes. Indeed he must have had one of the longest musical careers of all time. He was born in 1835 and was already a major figure in French musical life by the 1840, counting Berlioz, Liszt and Berlioz. He composed all through his long life - his final work was written in 1921, the year of his death. In today's terms this would be equivalent to somebody still active who was born in the late 1920s and who had been heard playing the piano by Elgar.
Among other incidents in a very full life Saint-Saëns should be remembered as the first major composer to write a score for a film - his 1908 music for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise.
While all of this is fascinating background it shouldn't get in the way of the music itself. I know only a tiny fraction of the composer's large output (indeed I suspect that very few people have even a reasonable knowledge of the repertoire) I do find myself turning to Saint-Saëns more and more. I have a soft spot for the Organ Symphony - not least because I conducted a performance at university, but I have to admit that at times it is a bit old fashioned and creaky, but I am admiring the piano concerto more and more. I'm beginning to get to know some of the chamber music - the wonderfully quirky septet with trumpet of course but also the piano quartet. And there is always the carnival of the animals, which never fails to raise a smile.
What it is that attracts me to this music . It is I think a combination of its fluency and charm. Everything works and fits to together perfectly and the melodic invention is always first rate. But perhaps more than anything there is a sense of communication - this is not inward facing - it is there to be heard and enjoyed. Listen to the second movement of the second piano concerto for a real sense of exuberant fun in the tradition of a Mendelssohn Scherzo, or the poise and control of the beginning of the piano quartet.
Of course there are times when one want music to plumb the emotional or intellectual depths and perhaps Saint-Saëns is not the idea companion for such journeys. But when you want a slightly gentler and less angst ridden journey but still of the highest quality give Saint-Saëns a chance.
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