Tag: symphonic

Marina Manafova | “Viva Italia” Fantasy for Piccolo on Themes by Rossini and Verdi

The “Viva Italia” Fantasy for piccolo on themes by Rossini and Verdi, by Marina Manafova, is performed here by the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra; Kuelyar Ksenia is the soloist. The Orchestra has performed for 239 years and “is one of the oldest in Russia. Its history dates back to the first orchestra of the St Petersburg Imperial Opera Orchestra. Information on Manafova, a Russian composer, is nearly impossible to find, but this 2018 performance was the world premiere of the Fantasy.

Italian composers Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini are often linked due to their shared focus on opera. WQXR’s blog illuminates the relationship between the two colleagues: “The two men met in Bologna in June 1842, and Verdi quickly admired his older colleague. Verdi was able to discuss with Rossini his many operas and it seems that he particularly came to learn a lot about L’Italiana in Algeri, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and what was known in Italian as Guglielmo Tell. He later said that ‘I cannot believe that there is another opera that has a greater abundance of musical ideas, comic verve and truthfulness of declamation than Il Barbiere di Siviglia, which must be the greatest comic opera there is. I admire Tell, but how many other sublime things there are in his other operas.’”

The piccolo soloist, Kuelyar Ksenia, was the winner of the All-Russia competition in 2000. She “is a regular (flute and piccolo) soloist with St. Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra …. participates in projects organized by Ensemle of Modern Music under Pro Arte Foundation … (and) gives master classes in Russia, Germany and Spain … ” She has worked as a teaching assistant “at the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after Rimsky-Korsakof.”

Ksenia’s mastery of the diminutive woodwind is evident at all times, but never moreso than when the highest arpeggio notes sail gracefully out into the crowd, strongly stated but sometimes somewhat quieter than the low notes. This excellent technique is no small feat for a flutist, but a near-miracle on piccolo! After starting in D major, 2:18 brings a transition to A major, followed by several other modulations throughout (the music begins at the 0:40 mark).

Benjamin Britten | Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

UK composer Benjamin Britten’s classic educational work, “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” originated “in an educational film titled Instruments of the Orchestra,” (LeoQuirk.com).  “Following World War II, initiatives to better the British people included introducing public secondary schools, health and food support for underprivileged children, and widespread democratization of high art, with the goal of nourishing a moral and productive populace. To this effect, the BBC, the primary radio station of the time, maintained relatively high percentages of classical music on the air. They created such programs as orchestral concerts and music talks for schools, preceded with introductions of each instrument and their sound for recognition during the piece of music.

Britten chose to use Henry Purcell’s Rondo theme from his Abdelazer Suite as a basis for the work and, though some thought this was an easy way out of composing, his choice to reference a British composer was praised by others as a demonstration of his skill in the art of variation, and a link as being the greatest British composer since Purcell. Here is Purcell’s original theme.”

The University of Kentucky breaks down the careful introduction of each instrument family — many of which are accompanied by key changes. “The theme is first played by the full orchestra, then by the various families of instruments (woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, and full orchestra again). Next, Britten shows off the individual instruments by having them play a variation of the theme … There are thirteen variations. Finally, the composition ends with a new tune, first introduced by the piccolo and then played in a fugue (a sort of counterpoint that Britten called “a race between the instruments”) by each of the other instruments of the orchestra until the brass instruments again play the main theme to close the work.”

The original 1946 short film, Instruments of the Orchestra:

Comedian John Hodgman came up with a new take on the piece’s narration in the 2010s. An excerpt from his performance with The Boston Pops:

Christopher Tin (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir) | Baba Yetu

If you enjoy turn-based strategy video games, then you are likely familiar with the Civilization franchise, and if you played Civilization IV, then you may have spent a significant amount of time staring on the main menu screen, enraptured by today’s tune and forgetting entirely that you’d settled down to conquer the digital world. American composer Christopher Tin‘s composition “Baba Yetu” arranges a Swahili translation of The Lord’s Prayer into a masterful piece for choir and orchestra.

The tune won the 2011 Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists — the first ever piece of video game music to win. Just as impressive, it’s featured on an album which itself won the 2011 Grammy for “Best Classical Crossover Album”: while the piece debuted with the game in 2005, Tin also released a recording of it on his first album, Calling All Dawns, in 2011.

Tin begins the song with a rousing call and response in G major. The voices gradually build and merge into a modulation to D major, which begins at 1:00. 20 seconds later, the chorale drops away, and the tonal center begins to shift until the voices triumphantly return and modulate squarely to E major while proclaiming “Ufalme wako ufike utakalo. Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni, Amin.” (Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth, as it is in heaven, Amen). With the verse finished, tonal certainty once again fades, until at the 2:25 mark the final chorus brings us back to G major to finish out the tune. I hope you enjoy this moving arrangement, along with the visual accompaniment of some truly high-definition 2005 video game graphics!

Aaron Copland | Appalachian Spring, movement 2

“As the composer recalled at an 81st birthday celebration held at the Library of Congress,” reports NPR, “on the same tiny stage where ‘Appalachian Spring’ premiered in 1944…’I was really putting Martha Graham to music. I had seen her dancing so many times, and I had a sense of her personality as a creative office. I had — really in front of my mind I wasn’t thinking about the Appalachians or even spring. So that I had no title for it. It was a ballet for Martha, was actually the subtitle that I had.’

By the time he received the $500 commission to create his ballet for Martha Graham, Aaron Copland was one of America’s most important composers. Throughout the 1920s and early ’30s, he created work in a modernist style, music that was prickly and angular, frequently utilizing elements of jazz. But by the early ’40s, he moved towards a more populist style, with such pieces as ‘Fanfare for the Common Man,’ ‘Lincoln Portrait’ and ‘Rodeo.'”

In an interview with the BBC, Copland said he made use of folk music was because it was free. “The principal attraction for me in a folk song was that it was an easy way to sound American.” The piece premiered in October 1944. The Graham company toured with the ballet; on 1945’s V-E Day, Copland won a Pulitzer Prize for the work.

Beginning in A major, movement 2 of “Appalachian Spring” transitions to C major at 0:26, but reverts to A major at 0:48. By 1:28, F major is in play, and not for the last time — and the movement touches on other keys as well.

Here’s the entire piece, conducted by the composer in 1980:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Deis Irae (from the Requiem Mass in D Minor, 1791)

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was left unfinished at the composer’s death on December 5, 1791. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg in 1792; von Walsegg had commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the February 14 anniversary of his wife’s death. The lyrics of “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) are derived from a thirteenth century Latin hymn.

Süssmayr must have completed a great deal of this movement; as Classic FM reports, “In July 1791 an ‘unknown, gray stranger’ turned up at the composer’s door saying he represented someone who wanted a Requiem from Mozart on the understanding that he not seek to learn the identity of his patron.

Spooked by the commission, Mozart threw himself obsessively into the work. But it was all too much. He was only able to complete the Requiem and Kyrie movements, and managed to sketch the voice parts and bass lines for the Dies Irae through to the Hostias.”

There are several short sections: D minor, F major, C minor, and finally returning to D minor. Many thanks to regular contributor JB for this submission!

J.S. Bach | Sheep May Safely Graze (BWV 208)

This version of J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze,” originally Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively hunt is all my heart’s desire), part of a larger 15-movement cantata, features an orchestral instrumentation, including modern flutes. But according to Bach Digital, the original score calls for two recorders and continuo (harpsichord and cello or viola de gamba). While a large portion of Bach’s income came from the church, this 1713 work is Bach’s first known secular cantata, composed while he was employed as court organist in Weimar. It is thought to have been intended as a gift from Bach’s employer, William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, for one of his neighbors, Duke Christian, who was a keen hunter.

Classical FM explains further: “…sheep may graze safely where there’s a good shepherd who stays awake and where there’s a good nobleman watching over a blissful nation. Why did Bach set such a line? Well, because he was writing this music for the birthday of Duke Christian in 1713 and he knew on which side his bread was buttered. The commission also gives rise to its third name, ‘the Birthday Cantata.'”

This version, featuring an English text, was performed by The Voices of Azusa Pacific University with the Concertante Ensemble of London. Starting in G major, there’s a substantial mid-section from 1:59 – 3:50 (starting in A minor but featuring plenty of pivots) before a return to G major at 3:50.

Edvard Grieg | Peer Gynt Suite #1: Anitra’s Dream

Here is Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite #1: Anitra’s Dream“ (1876), accompanying the world-class hunting techniques of the Short-Eared Owl. The main theme, starting in minor as the piece begins, is re-stated briefly in a major key at 1:16, reverting back to minor at 1:25.

Ludwig van Beethoven | Choral Fantasy in C Minor, Op. 80

Thanks to George Fergus for contributing today’s post!

“The unprepared shift from C major to E flat major on the word ‘Kraft’ (‘Power’) at 17:38 signaled, to Beethoven, a fundamental shift in the relationship between text and music. The word is imbued with an extraordinary amount of power (pun intended) over the music itself, forcing an abrupt shift in tonality. This is a sort of prelude to Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk, or total unity of music, text, and action as a singular art (as opposed to three art forms combined).

Happens again at 18:23! This 1808 piece is also considered a ‘trial run’ for the Ninth Symphony! This same minor third motion (up a step, in D) is found in the larger, later work.”