instrumental – Page 8

Johannes Brahms | Tragic Overture, Op. 81

“In the summer of 1880, Brahms … composed two concert overtures. ‘One weeps, the other laughs,’ he commented to his biographer, Max Kalbeck,” (IndianapolisSymphony.org). “The laughing piece referred to his rollicking Academic Festival Overture, Opus 80, filled with light-hearted student songs, written to acknowledge his doctoral degree bestowed by the University of Breslau, introduced by soft trombone chords. The weeping piece was his Tragic Overture, Opus 81, and a heavy counterpoise to the first. Brahms explained his motivation saying, ‘I (simply) could not refuse my melancholy nature the satisfaction of composing an overture for tragedy.’

Though it was not written for any specific tragedy, speculation has suggested Tragic Overture was possibly written in contemplation of a commission to write incidental music for Goethe’s Faust. (This did not materialize.) Another possibility is that the composer had read Nietzsche’s work The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music, published in 1872. This Overture is dramatic commentary on the spirit of tragedy in human life.

Tragic Overture begins with two slashing chords, which preface the solemn main theme, orchestrated within low strings and low winds in D minor. Trombones and tuba build a bridge to a contrasting F major theme, but relief is short. A third main subject stemming earlier sketches is also introduced. Writing in sonata form, the composer moves directly into a convulsive development. Brahms scholar Walter Niemann wrote, ‘The fleeting touches of thrilling, individual emotion in this overture are not to be found in conflict and storm, but in the crushing loneliness of terrifying and unearthly silences in what have been called dead places.‘ Themes surge and spin in a tempest of emotion. A traditional recapitulation, introduced by two fortissimo chords, summarizes the main ideas with certain alterations. Opus 81 premiered on December 20, 1880 in Vienna …”

A half-step key change, partially camouflaged by extensive chromaticism, takes place at 8:07. At 10:59, the piece reverts to its original key of D minor.

Jay Ungar + Aly Bain | The Lovers’ Waltz

“Aly Bain was born on May 15 1946 in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland,” (WorldMusicCentral). “Lerwick is a small, enchanting town on the Shetland Islands. Aly began learning fiddle at the age of eleven. Tom Anderson, his teacher, is acknowledged as one of the true masters of Shetland music. Aly developed a highly dramatic style of playing, matching his great tone and technical ability with genuine emotion. Alert to the musical potential of the dynamic interaction between Irish and Scottish traditions, he helped establish the Boys of the Lough. The group is now recognized as one of the best in the tradition.”

Fiddler Jay Ungar was “a Bronx kid” while pianist Molly Mason “grew up in Washington State,” (JayAndMolly.com). “He was raised on pop music of the 1940s and ’50s. She had a fondness for traditional fiddle music and ’30s and ’40s popular tunes. He hung out in Greenwich Village coffeehouses and roamed North Carolina and Tennessee in search of traditional players. She played clubs and colleges on the West Coast and took a liking to the jazzy sound of the Swing Era. Since joining forces—both artistically and romantically (the two would marry in 1991)—Jay Ungar and Molly Mason have become one of the most celebrated duos on the American acoustic music scene.” Ungar is probably best known for co-writing “Ashokan Farewell” with Mason — a tune which was featured in the Ken Burns series The Civil War and certainly feels like it was written a century or more before its 1982 debut.

Ungar, Bain, and Mason collaborate here on “The Lovers’ Waltz,” also written by Ungar and Mason. Starting in G major, the tune alternates between solo and duo fiddle lines and a solo by an uncredited guitarist as the key shifts up to D major at 1:47.

Glasys | Back to Reality

“GLASYS (Gil Assayas) is a pianist, synthesist, producer and vocalist who melds many genres and influences including Electronic Music, Alternative Rock, Jazz, Classical and Video Game Music,” (from Glasys’ site). “This album (Tugging on My Heartchips) is mainly inspired by the Gameboy games from my childhood. As a kid, the only gaming console I had was the original gray Gameboy, which I spent countless hours playing.

Some of those games had incredible soundtracks (Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge are two examples) and I’d often turn on my Gameboy just to listen to the music! No joke, some of those themes would make me tear up. I tried to capture those magical, nostalgic feelings in this 7-track album.”

After starting with a theme in an A dorian scale, the same passage is repeated in C# dorian at 0:59 on “Back to Reality” (2023). At 1:39, a bridge falls gradually downward, leading us back to A dorian at 1:54; the pattern repeats from there. Throughout the video, the virtual and the real world fight for prominence, until the timbre shifts from electronic keyboards to acoustic piano at 3:19, visiting the same territory with more expression and rubato. However, the digital world seems to get the last word as the end fade brings a subtly deflating tonality (4:20).

Weather Report | A Remark You Made

“Weather Report were one of the earliest jazz fusion groups to emerge at the beginning of the ’70s,” (AllAboutJazz). “They were rare in that, like Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, they didn’t have a guitarist to light the fire and excite the audience as was the case with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever; instead, they relied, in addition to pure instrumental virtuosity, upon intelligent compositions. The band’s founding members were none other than Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, two exceptional musicians who had already contributed considerably to Miles Davis’ continuing evolution throughout the ’60s and into the early ’70s; some of the great trumpeter’s most pioneering achievements might not, in fact, have been possible without them.

Now, forty years after the event, Heavy Weather (1977) was the Weather Report’s major commercial breakthrough; arguably their finest album ever, it succeeded in breathing new life into a genre that was challenged to compete against the latest pop/rock fads of the time. Part of the LP’s success, it must be said, was due to the group’s enlisting of John Francis ‘Jaco’ Pastorius, fretless electric bassist extraordinaire; a man who forever altered the perception of his instrument and whose self-titled 1976 Epic Records debut caused such a sensation that, at the time, many considered it to be one the greatest bass albums ever recorded.”

Heavy Weather‘s “A Remark You Made” isn’t full of the fireworks of the album’s uptempo tracks, such as “Birdland” or “Teen Town.” But it nonetheless clearly showcases the expert interaction among the band’s master musicians. After a start in Eb major, the plaintive main theme comes from the Jaco Pastorius’ fretless bass as the tonality flips to the relative minor, C minor, at 0:31, then continues for a gently atmospheric solo from bandleader Joe Zawinul’s keyboards until 1:11. Continuing in Eb major, Wayne Shorter’s fluid tenor takes the spotlight, joined here and there on the melody by Jaco (3:49) until the bass returns to holding down the roots (4:06) under a protracted solo from Zawinul that borders on hypnotic, cycling through only two chords. At 5:39, Jaco re-states the opening theme, then repeats it over and over; the upgoing lyrical melody is underlined all the more by the downward chromatic motion of the bass line itself, which ranges from C down to G before jumping back up to C during each cycle (starting at 5:39-5:50). At 6:21, A Db major chord wakes us from our sustained idyll; serving as a bVII of Eb, it delivers us back into the original Eb major.

for Scobie

Ludwig von Beethoven | Für Elise

“Beethoven wrote his Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, better known as ‘Für Elise’, in 1810, but it wasn’t published until 1867, 40 years after his death,” (ClassicFM). “It’s one of the first pieces learner pianists play on the piano; open a little music box, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear it’s charming melody. But although it seems like quite a simple piece, it turns out that ‘Für Elise’ is a actually a really sophisticated piece of music: well, it was written by Beethoven after all. When the music was being transcribed, Beethoven’s handwriting was misread. The text on the manuscript actually read ‘Für Therese’. It is widely acknowledged that Therese was Therese Malfatti, a woman to whom Beethoven proposed in 1810 – the same year he composed ‘Für Elise’.

The piece is in rondo form, where the main theme appears three times, separated by contrasting sections. The shape of the piece in Rondo form can be summarised as ABACA, where A is the main theme, and B and C are the two development sections.”

Starting in A minor, there’s a shift to F major at 1:15 and a return to A minor at 1:44.

Archie Churchill-Moss | Odi + Nancy

“Archie Churchill-Moss has been the boy to watch for some time, first drawing acclaim in the Jim Moray/Sam Carter ensemble, False Lights, as well as in his trio with Tom Moore and Jack Rutter, now slimmed down into the more experimental and hauntological duo, just he and Tom Moore’s violin (At The Barrier) … Like most box players, Moss is largely versed in dance music, especially those from the English and French repertoires. This selection of tunes are all of his own composition, written over his years as an artist. Undoubtedly doffing a cap to those traditions, this is dance music, but with a deeper undercurrent of complexity, stretching the harmonic and melodic limits that are usually attached to such styles. In his own words, to ‘explore the various tonal centres the accordion is capable of navigating.’

Moss has stated he wants this to be recognized as a danceable record, and, whilst I get that and can see that, I confess it would be a brave ceilidheer choosing to navigate some of the steps offered here, suspecting, really, that this more dance music for the mind, maybe with headphones on, or in the car. (To be fair, the latter is where I listen to most of my dance music anyway.) Certainly, the instrument has been taken to its limit and Moss thrashes out some remarkable life from it.”

Starting in F major, “Odi + Nancy” (2023) perks along with a steady beat fostered by years of playing for dancers. The melody is rangy at times and the harmonies quite modern — 7th chords are a common element — but the overall feel is something straight from the well-worn floor of an ancient village dance hall. At 1:59, there’s a surprising shift to F# minor.

For an idea of the sheer dexterity needed to coax so much sound out of such a small instrument, check out this live performance of some sprightly reels:

Jeff Beck | Diamond Dust

The legendary UK guitarist Jeff Beck died yesterday at the age of 78. “Often described as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Beck … was known as a keen innovator,” (The Guardian). He pioneered jazz-rock, experimented with fuzz and distortion effects and paved the way for heavier subgenres such as psych rock and heavy metal over the course of his career. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, recipient of the Ivor Novello for outstanding contribution to British music, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a solo artist and as a member of the Yardbirds.

Musicians and longtime friends began paying tribute minutes after the news broke. On Twitter, Jimmy Page wrote, ‘The six stringed Warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal emotions. Jeff could channel music from the ethereal. His technique unique. His imaginations apparently limitless. Jeff, I will miss you along with your millions of fans.'”

“Diamond Dust,” from Beck’s 1975 album Blow by Blow, never truly settles into one tonality, shifting every two or four measures; the relatively rare minor third key change is heard more than once. The fluid melody is primary, with the chord structure dashing to keep up. The harmonies are so rich that the 5/4 time signature only registers gradually, perhaps because the “1” of each measure isn’t overly emphasized by the rhythm section. Sputnik Music mentions Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew (1970) as having initiated the genre of jazz fusion, but Beck’s Blow by Blow as “defin(ing) the genre, moving away from his former Rock and Blues based efforts, to this all-instrumental album. It reigns as his greatest and most famous achievement.”

for JB

Eileen Ivers | Pachelbel’s Frolics

“Eileen Ivers will change the way you think about the violin,” (CapeSymphony.org). “It is a rare and select grade of spectacular artists whose work is so boldly imaginative and clearly virtuosic that it alters the medium. GRAMMY-winning Celtic fiddler Eileen is a nine-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion and original musical star of Riverdance. The daughter of Irish immigrants, Eileen has played with the London Symphony Orchestra, Sting, and The Chieftains; performed for presidents and royalty; and is hailed as one of the great innovators and pioneers in the Celtic and World music genres. Her recording credits include over 80 contemporary and traditional albums and numerous movie scores, including Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Billboard magazine called Eileen a ‘sensation’ and The New York Times called her ‘the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.'”

Ivers’ 2021 track “Pachelbel’s Frolics” is based on Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” (written somewhere between 1680 and 1706). The Canon has since become nothing short of omnipresent, gaining fame for its composer as something of a classical music one hit wonder. But by now the Canon, a victim of its own success, is certainly near the top of many “needs a refresh” lists: “Since the 1970s, the Canon has been played at innumerable weddings, and quite a few funerals … been called upon to underscore: a tribute to baseball hero Ted Williams at Boston’s Fenway Park (2002); a tenth anniversary commemoration of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots … (2002); a renewal of vows at a Grand Forks, ND old-age home where the harpist was over 90 and the cumulative years married totaled 735 (2006); and … a yearly ceremony in which medical students at the University of Minnesota paid final respects to the cadavers they had lately finished dissecting in first-year gross anatomy class (1997).” (Prisoners of Pachelbel: An Essay in Post-Canonic Musicology, Robert Fink).

Ivers provides a refreshing renovation to the Canon by including some well-trodden ground while also welcoming sprightly new melodic ideas, tempo changes, and a wide-ranging tour of various fiddle styles into the vocabulary. An even larger departure is the modulation to the parallel minor from 2:21 – 3:10.

Karen Sweet & Karen Tweed | Sussex Carol

The Sussex Carol, a popular British tune, is performed here in a jazzy cover by accordionists Karen Sweet & Karen Tweed. It begins with a slow, rubato intro that stretches and embellishes the melody, eventually leading into the tune at 1:16. There is an unexpected downward modulation from G to Eb at 2:04.

Thanks to JB for this contribution!

Lincoln Brewster | Miraculum

“Miraculum,” an arrangement of We Three Kings, is featured on Christian pastor and musician Lincoln Brewster’s 2012 Christmas album Joy To The World. It is the only instrumental track on the record, which reached #6 on the Christian Albums Billboard chart.

The tune begins in Eb minor and glides into Ab minor during the more subdued middle section at 3:15. A sudden return to Eb minor occurs at 4:52

Thanks to MotD contributor Peter McCutcheon for this submission.