Fuck Yeah Classical

oldhollywood:

Leonard Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (performed by the New York Philharmonic)

The musical West Side Story was composed principally in the late 50s but in early 1961, Bernstein assembled portions of its score into the Symphonic Dances, overseeing the orchestration for this version as it was carried out by Sid Ramin & Irwin Kostal.

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Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K.550: III Menuetto - Trio by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

musichistory:

“Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K.550: III. Menuetto - Trio” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [1788] performed by Barry Wordsworth and Capella Istropolitana [1990]

Random Music History Song of the Day

Quite a variety of music recently…  After beginning this blog with an improbable percentage of rock music, it’s starting to even out.

In the summer of 1788 Mozart completed three full symphonies in addition to at least six other major compositions. In relative poverty at the time, his output had slowed in the years preceding; the ink on his most recent symphony had been dry for two years already. These were also the last symphonies Mozart composed, dying unexpectedly three years later. With all that in mind, a satisfactory explanation of the magical summer of ‘88 has yet to be found.

All three of Mozart’s final symphonies have come down together as his greatest. Symphony No. 40 (the middle of the three), though, was the most out of character. Only the second of his symphonies written in a minor key, it foreshadowed the darker works of Beethoven and, in the final movement, even prefigured the atonal 20th century music of Schoenberg.

Posted above is the third movement of Symphony No. 40, the minuet and trio. The 3/4 third movement was traditionally the lightest movement of a symphony, but Mozart’s minuet was terse and aggressive - not exactly the sort you want to dance to. So much for the myth of a docile, feminine Mozart.

Together with the relaxed 39th Symphony and the Baroque-esque pomp of the 41st, Mozart’s 40th “elevated the symphony from its function as a trifling concert overture to the most introspective and weighty of all musical statements and paved the way for much of the work of the 19th century” (source). This is the rare case where a bold statement like that is not an overstatement.

Doubt we could add anything else to this to make it a better post. Hurrah Mozart!

musichistory:

“La Mer: 3. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea)” by Claude Debussy [1905] performed by Max Pommer and the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra [2003]

Last night I took my wonderful girlfriend to dinner and a show at Orchestra Hall. We saw the second performance of the The Minnesota Orchestra’s Inside the Classics series, Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and La Mer. To share at least a portion of my music history outing, posted above is a different recording of the third and final movement of La Mer, descriptively titled “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea.”

Things I learned at the show: La Mer is notable historically for being the first music in the Western Classical tradition to eschew traditional melody lines in favor of sound layers. In other words, no single instrument carries the lead melody for more than a bar or two. At the same time, Debussy avoided cliched techniques of orchestrating themes related to water (i.e. rolling cello arpeggios). Despite the subtlety of each movement, finding one’s own imagery to match Debussy’s descriptors is not difficult.

Innovative composition and style with a perfect balance of subtlety and clarity - that combination is the genius of La Mer and why the piece remains a staple of symphonic music.

kingorlowest:

“1812 Overture” - P. Tchaikovsky

symphonyno2ineminor:

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 8 in E flat major “Symphony of a Thousand” : “Alles Vergängliche”

Chicago Symphony Orchestra/ Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Heather Harper (Soprano), Arleen Augér (Soprano), Yvonne Minton (Alto),
Helen Watts (Alto), René Kollo (Tenor), Martti Talvela (Bass),
John Shirley-Quirk (Baritone), Lucia Popp (Soprano)

Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Boys’ Choir, Vienna Singverein

symphonyno2ineminor:

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 9 in D Major, IV. Adagio.  Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend

MIT Symphony Orchestra

parachuteshark:

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5: 2nd movement (Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter Vehemenz)

Those plaintive cellos four and a half minutes in. Really hit me tonight, made me stop everything I was doing.

(Thanks for the link, Sandra, yer the best.)

ataxiwardance:

Camille Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3 in C minor Op. 78 (The Organ Symphony) :: Poco Adagio

the “Poco Adagio” movement introduces the organ with a low and parochial tone. the organ is very rare in symphonies and Saint-Saëns combines it with a seemingly lamenting string section in this movement to devastating effect. though its structure is very different, i can’t help but imagine that Samuel Barber’s immortal “Adagio for Strings” drew at least some inspiration from this movement. the movement is expressive and a little melancholy but never fully fades into sorrow. melodic ideas are kept intact and the warm color of brass never really fades. i really worry what morose depths Saint-Saëns could drive me to if he were not such a man of restraint.