#11 - Chopin First Concerto

I think back to college and the amount of music I learned - so much standard repertoire and also the time to explore off the beaten path works. One of the warhorses I enjoyed playing was with the WSU Orchestra, Jay Decker conducting, and soloist Julie Bees in Chopin's First Piano Concerto. It was one that now seems like it was put together quickly, and played on tour in Kansas.Here's the opening of the work.

Chopin: I Allegro maestoso [mp3 file]
Majestic and Broad

Later in the movement and back then, perhaps at the dress rehearsal I believe, I remember being moved and attracted to this passage and the performer.

Chopin First movement recapitulation [mp3 file]
Music conveying passionate and sensual excitement

The second movement has also been a longtime favorite. This is a particular brilliant and moving passage for me.

Chopin: II Romanza [mp3 file]
Long lines and deep chords

Just a little later another spark of genius sweeps across the soloist and orchestra.

Chopin: Romanza example 2 [mp3 file]
Amazing sweeps and scales

#10 - Autumn Music

Sir Andrzej Panufnik's Autumn Music is another charming and bittersweet work. Written for a close friend of his who died of cancer, it consists of one lovely and heartfelt movement.
The opening melody
MP4 file
Twinge of sorrow

Climax of part 1
MP4 file
Fond friendship...

Transition
MP4 file
Percussive piano

Piano drone
MP4 file
Time and death...

Combined Melodies
MP4 file
Coping with loss...

#9 - Tragic Overture

The Tragic Overture by Sir Andrzej Panufnik is a World War Two piece that is deeply moving.
It uses four note motive:
MP4 file
Minimal means

Here's a full orchestra statement:
MP4 file
Repeating riff

A quieter example with a solo from the concertmaster:
MP4 file
Solitary strength

A musical representation of Stukka dive bombers:
MP4 file
Icy and Eerie

A french horn countermelody:
MP4 file
Symphonically sweeping

The final statement:
MP4 file
Totally tragic

#8 - Heroic Overture

This was a work commisioned for and premiered at the 1952 Helsinki Winter Olympics.
It begins with a melody played by the horns.
MP4 file
Secretly a countermelody to a Polish hymn.

It builds to a large climax.
MP4 file
Tasty tension!

The second melody is rhythmic and highly punctuated with percussion.
MP4 file
Percussive Panufnik
(he got into music school as a percussionist, an end to means - studying composition and piano)

The ending is fabulous.
MP4 file
Almost Beethovian!

#7 - Katyn Epitaph

Another of Panufnik's most stirring scores is his Katyn Epitaph. Read about the tragedy here.
It opens with a solo violin.
MP4 file

Woodwinds take this theme.
MP4 file

Climax heightened by bassoons, tubas, and timpani.
MP4 file

Powerful, final phrase.
MP4 file

Heartfelt gloom.

#6 - Sinfonia Sacra

Andrzej Panufnik's Sinfonia Sacra (Symphony #3) was written to celebrate Poland's Millennium. It was awarded First Prize in the first Prix de Composition Prince Pierre de Monaco in 1963. Panufnik said,

"I wanted this composition to be very much Polish in character and also to
emphasise the Catholic tradition so deeply rooted in the country of my birth."

Let's listen to the main sections and themes in this outstanding work.
It opens with a trumpet fanfare. (Vision 1)
MP4 file

Next, the strings are featured in a quiet, refined melody. (Vision 2)
MP4 file

Then something even more fascinating occurs. We begin with percussion. (Vision 3 - part 1)
MP4 file

Energy builds with the full orchestra [listen for the soaring string melody, killer trombone accompaniment, and wailing timpani lick!] (Vision 3 - part 2)
MP4 file

Finally, the orchestra starts up steps - up and down - leading to? (Vision 3- part 3)
MP4 file

Leading to a simple, but beautiful Polish hymn, Bogurodzica [it is a celebration of Poland after all!] (Hymn)
MP4 file

The climax of the work comes with the full statement of the hymn combined with the opening fanfare motive - perhaps the grandest of Panufnik's creations.
MP4 file

#5 - Panufnik

People often look baffled when I reply "Panufnik" when they ask me who is my favorite composer. Depending on the situation, I explain quickly or more in depth, that Andrzej Panufnik is not only my favorite but one of the most talented composers of the 20th Century.

Let's hear some of the last movement of Panufnik's Violin Concerto. This excerpt shows the symetry of Panufnik - the orchestra slows down as the solo violin plays the melody and then returns, speeding up. (listen first to the melody, then go back and listen for the "clicks" (col legno - literally with the wood of the bow) as they slow down, the solo part continues, then the clicks come back in, speeding up.)
MP4 file
A perfect polacca.

Next is the Hommage a Chopin, in his arrangement for Flute and strings. We begin with the second movement and a funny half step passage (which is hidden by them in different octaves - highly original!) and the return of the melody (a folk tune near the village where Chopin was born.)
MP4 file
Original and very thoughtful.

Next the third movement is very quiet and sparse. First the flute takes the melody, then takes on the accompaniment. We'll hear the last phrase of the melody and then the first phrase of the accompaniment.
MP4 file
Lyric and linear.

Finally, Panufnik's brillant Concerto Festivo - written for the London Symphony. This is one of my all time favorite works. You are getting just a sample here, I encourage you to seek out the entire piece (score and recording!)
MP4 file
Brassy and classy!

After the fanfare and joyous music comes a much softer section. This is the most sublime music I know. The strings are linked with percussion to the woodwinds. The effect builds and grows.
MP4 file
Drifting and uplifting.

#4 - Mays

Enjoy some moments from my friend and mentor, Walter Mays.

We begin with his Rhapsody for Bassoon:
Here is a version for Bassoon and piano
MP4 file

Here is the same passage with Bassoon and chamber orchestra
MP4 file
Haunting and mysterious!

Next, the award winning Dreamcatcher, for wind ensemble.
A passage from the end, almost Debussy-ian.
MP4 file
Impressionistic and dreamy.

Finally, two passages from the horn and piano piece, Dialogues.
First an excellent passage of quarter tones.
MP4 file

Finally, a finale that is stunning.
MP4 file
Dramatic and cinematic.

#3 - Violin Concerti

Close to my heart is the violin, and so we will visit lots of concerti for my instrument. Here are four examples to check out and cherish. I get excited just writing about them and preparing this. So much for getting anything else done tonight, I'm going to go listen to all of these now!
I hope you too, will look these up.

Felix Mendelssohn wrote a concerto that became a standard in the Romantic repertory, for violinists and composers. Listen to this passage with Yehudi Menuhin and you'll hear why!
MP4 file








Double stops, octaves and schmalz.

Johannes Brahms one up'd ol' Felix. This return to the orchestra at the end of the cadenza is charmingly played by Itzhak Perlman.
MP4 file











Ah, trills and thrills.

Bela Bartok wrote a violin concerto (1938) and had it published. What he didn't tell anyone is that he wrote another one before that (1908) and gave it to the woman, Stefi Geyer, he was in love with, who did not return his love. She kept the score and told no one about it. It was discovered in her belongings after her death. This passage with David Oistrakh happens after a huge moment with the orchestra.
MP4 file










Long, lost and lush!

The best for last? Well for today, Beethoven's Violin Concerto is the granddaddy of romantic concerti and is the GOLD standard. Viktoria Mullova certainly has a lot to say about it in her latest version - in this first movement passage leading up to a wild tutti.
MP4 file












Vivacious Viktoria creates tension up to a joyous outcome.

#2 - Having Fun in a measure of music

Today we have three examples from two pieces.
First, Dawn Upshaw singin' Canteloube - Songs of the Auvergne - Begere
MP4 file
Brillant orchestration and charming singing. Makes me smile every time.

Second, listen especially to the keyboard in Astor Piazzolla's Milonga in re.
MP4 file
Fun, sexy rhythm. For a "sad song" south of the border, this packs lots of passion to say the least.

And another section of the Milonga in re, this time, the violin has the fun part!
MP4 file
Gidon Kremer brings alot to this. And it is a blast to play it.

#1 - Living in a measure of music

First is Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, second movement.
MP4 file
These chords (and the 2 phrases before this) are the essence of romance to me.

The next two selections are chamber music, two string quartets that I hold in very high regard. We'll start (and we will return to other passages in the future!) with Witold Lutoslawski's String Quartet from 1965.
MP4 file [Go ahead and listen to it twice - it's short!]
This is a funny section of a very serious and abstract work.
(Again - we will return to it in the future!)

And finally, for today, the Harbor Music by Austin-based NY composer Dan Welcher. It is the second string quartet that Dan wrote.
MP4 file
This melodic section speaks well of Dan, and of his gentle soul.

#0 - Explanation

Music is powerful. It is special. And music is always something that I want to share.
The beauty of music, as I was reminded from listening recently to an interview I had done with a composer (Eric Ewazen) in live performance, is that the music changes each time. Despite that there are specific written (in concrete? not to be confused with music concrete) notes, musicians interpret them in many ways.
I also have a strong belief and feeling that the moments and memories we cherish can be found in music.
From the cheesiness from "Star Trek: Insurrection" (where the lovely alien stops time with Jean-Luc) to an anecdote told to me by a teacher where an old composer/conductor held a particular chord in a performance of a symphony because "he thought it was so beautiful" that he would "never hear it or experience it again", I too, sincerely believe that you can "live" in a moment of music.