Sir Malcolm Arnold Peterloo Overture

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His output of works features music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music for brass band and wind band. He also produced scores for more than a hundred films, among these The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Oscar.WIKIPEDIA

  Malcolm Arnold Peterloo Overture...
Peterloo is the derisive name given to an incident that happened on August 16th, 1819 in St Peter’s Fields Manchester, when an orderly crowd of some 80,000 people met to hear a speech on political reform. On the orders of the magistrates they were interrupted by the yeomanry attempting to seize the banners they carried, and to arrest their speaker, Henry Hunt. Cavalry were sent in, and eleven people were killed and four hundred injured in the ensuing panic. This overture attempts to portray these happenings musically, but after a lament for the killed and injured, it ends in triumph, in the firm belief that all those who have suffered and died in the cause of unity amongst mankind, will not have died so in vain. from notes by Malcolm Arnold

 VIDEO: This performance at the opening concert of the Laredo Phil's 34th Season was dedicated to the memory of the conductor's brother, Finbarr Townsend who passed away June 27, 2013.
 

Vivaldi Violin Concerto in C major, 'Il piacere' Op.8 No.6, RV180

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 † 1741) 


 Concerts for the Prince of Poland, 1725 Work: Violin Concerto in C major, 'Il piacere' Op.8 No.6, RV 180 "Il piacere" (Pleasure), First Publication 1725 in Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Op.8 (No.6) The sixth in the set, the Concerto in C major for violin soloist plus strings and basso continuo, RV 180, named "Il piacere" (Pleasures), is fully as charming as the Four Seasons. The opening Allegro has a graceful and vigorous theme for the ripieno alternating with virtuoso passages for the soloists. The central Largo has a quietly pensive theme for the ripieno alternating with melancholy and meditative episodes for the soloist. The closing Allegro is more muscular and more dance-like than the opening Allegro, with a hammering theme shared by the ripieno and the soloist. What any of this has to do with pleasures is anyone's guess, but that it gives pleasure is incontestable.

 VIDEO: Andrew Manze, violin & director Academy of Ancient Music 

Claude Debussy - Première Rhapsodie

  The Première rhapsodie (First Rhapsody) by Claude Debussy is a piece for accompanied solo clarinet. Composed between December 1909 and January 1910, it was dedicated to the French clarinet professor Prosper Mimart. In 1909, Gabriel Fauré, Director of the Paris Conservatoire, named Debussy to its Board of Directors (le Conseil Supérieur). One of Debussy's first duties was to supply two works for the next year's clarinet examinations. The Rhapsodie was first performed as part of the examinations on July 14, 1910. The original composition was for clarinet and piano; Debussy published his own orchestration of the accompaniment in 1911, after the official premiere with Mimart. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Clarinet: Eva Polgar Conductor: Chia-Hong Drapal Liao Pro Arte Orchestra Taiwan
 

Couperin Pieces En Concert For Cello & Strings

François Couperin (French: [fʁɑ̃swa kupʁɛ̃]; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family. He was the most famous member of a large French musician family. He was organist of Louis XIV. of France and became famous both as a composer and harpsichordist. He has made its largest bet on harpsichord and Chamber Music area, but also his church music belongs to todays. The composer Louis Couperin was his uncle.

 VIDEO: Simca Heled, violoncello. The Israel Sinfonietta.

Debussy Printemps [ Debussy - Printemps (Suite symphonique) also Chorus, piano and orch ]

Composition Year 1887 First Publication 1904 Debussy himself later made an arrangement for chorus and piano 4 hands published in La Revue Musicale, 1904. It was Henri Büsser who, in 1912, re-orchestrated it (without voices) from this piano 4 hands version under Debussy's supervision and was published in 1913.

VIDEO: Claude Debussy - Printemps (Suite symphonique) Orquestra Sinfônica de Minas Gerais - (OSMG) Regência: Charles Roussin 

Debussy Preludes Book I

Claude Debussy's Préludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. Unlike previous collections of preludes, such as those of J.S. Bach and Chopin's Op. 28, Debussy's does not follow a strict pattern of key signatures. Each book was written in a matter of months, at an unusually fast pace for Debussy. Book I was written between December 1909 and February 1910, and Book II between the last months of 1912 and early April 1913. WIKIPEDIA


VIDEO: Sviatoslav Richter plays Debussy Preludes Book I
 

Vivaldi: RV 119 / Paris Concerto n. 3 for strings & b.c. in C minor

Composition Year 1720-24, by 1736 at latest The concertos for strings are a very special genre in Vivaldi's output. Contrary to the concertos for solo instruments, those offer a real balance and amazing range of colours between all the instruments concerned.

 VIDEO: Antonio Vivaldi 'Concerto di Parigi n. 3' [Paris concerto] for strings and basso continuo in C minor (RV 119) Modo Antiquo / Federico Maria Sardelli (director)

 

Debussy - Prelude a l'apres midi d'un Faune (Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun)

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (L. 86), known in English as Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, is a symphonic poem for orchestra by Claude Debussy, approximately 10 minutes in duration. It was first performed in Paris on December 22, 1894, conducted by Gustave Doret The composition was inspired by the poem L'après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé. Debussy's work later provided the basis for the ballet Afternoon of a Faun, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. It is one of Debussy's most famous works and is considered a turning point in the history of music; Pierre Boulez has said he considers the score to be the beginning of modern music, observing that "the flute of the faun brought new breath to the art of music." It is a work that barely grasps onto tonality and harmonic function. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun Spanish National Orchestra Josep Pons - Conductor
 

Vivaldi Concerto for Violin in D minor 'Per Pisendel' RV 242

Vivaldi Concerto for Violin in D minor 'Per Pisendel' RV 242...
[image above left]  German virtuoso violinist Johann Georg Pisendel is the person referenced in the designation of this Concerto. He studied with Vivaldi in Venice in 1716, and it was for him that the composer wrote this work. In fact, Vivaldi dedicated six violin concertos in all to Pisendel. This D minor effort was composed in 1712 and first performed in that year then published in 1725, and is part of the Op. 8 set that includes the famous Four Seasons... The collection called Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione. 

 VIDEO: Vivaldi Concerto for Violin in D minor 'Per Pisendel' RV 242

Wagner Parsifal

Parsifal (WWV 111) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12 с.). Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857 but did not finish it until twenty-five years later. It was Wagner's last completed opera and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on Parsifal productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Wagner described Parsifal not as an opera, but as "Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel" ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage"). At Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that there is no applause after the first act of the opera. Wagner's spelling of Parsifal instead of the Parzival he had used up to 1877 is informed by an erroneous etymology of the name Percival deriving it from a supposedly Persian origin, Fal Parsi meaning "pure fool". On 12 November 1880 Wagner conducted a private performance of the Prelude for his patron Ludwig II of Bavaria at the Court Theatre in Munich. The premiere of the entire work was given in the Festspielhaus at Bayreuth on 26 July 1882 under the baton of the Jewish-born German conductor Hermann Levi. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Herbert von Karajan: Wagner - Parsifal, 'Overture'
 

Mozart Symphony No 31 Paris

The Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, better known as the Paris Symphony, is one of the more famous symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The work was composed in 1778 during Mozart's unsuccessful job-hunting sojourn in Paris. The composer was then 22 years old. The premiere took place on 12 June 1778 in a private performance in the home of Count Karl Heinrich Joseph von Sickingen, the ambassador of the Electorate of the Palatinate. The public premiere took place six days later in a performance at the Concert Spirituel. The work received a positive review in the June 26 issue of the Courrier de l'Europe, published in London.

  WIKIPEDIA



VIDEO: Conductor - Nikolaus Harnoncourt Wiener Philharmoniker Musikvereinssaal Wien, 1984 

Haydn: Symphony #49 in f minor "La passione" Hob.I:49

The Symphony No. 49 in F minor (Hoboken 1/49) was written in 1768 by Joseph Haydn during his Sturm und Drang period. It is popularly known as La passione (The Passion). The scoring of the symphony is typical of Haydn in this period: two oboes, bassoon, two horns, strings and continuo. As with all the other titles that have become attached to Haydn's symphonies, this did not originate with the composer himself. It was long believed that the nickname "La passione" or The Passion derived from the nature of the music itself: the slow opening movement of the sinfonia da chiesa, its minor key modality and its association with the Sturm und Drang period of Haydn's symphonic output. Drawing from this traditional reading, H.C. Robbins Landon has described it as "dark-hued, somber—even tragic." However, the nickname can be traced back to a single source from a performance given during Holy Week in the Northern German city of Schwerin in 1790, where secular music was banned from performance between 1756 and 1785. This suggests that the name was derived circumstantially and not thematically and that reading the symphony as having a Passion-related motif is post-facto interpretation.

                              WIKIPEDIA                                    

VIDEO: Ensemble dell'Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, Ruggero Barbieri.
 

Haydn - Symphony No. 47 'Palindrome'

Franz Joseph Haydn was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 47 in G major Hob. I:47 was probably written in 1772. The "Minuetto al Roverso" is the reason this symphony is sometimes called "The Palindrome": the second part of the Minuet is the same as the first but backwards, and the Trio is also written in this way.

VIDEO: Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra - Anton Nanut, conductor

Chopin - Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major, Op 13

Chopin,_by_Wodzinska

Frédéric Chopin wrote six works for piano and orchestra, including two concertos. The Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major, Op. 13, was the second of his concertante works, written in 1828-30. The piece is also sometimes referred to as "Grande fantaisie" or "Fantaisie brillante". Chopin himself referred to it as his "Potpourri on Polish themes", and kept it in his repertory for many years. The Fantasy followed the highly successful Variations on "Là ci darem la mano", Op. 2 of 1827. It was written while a student of Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Nelson Goerner Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century Frans Brüggen, conductor - Chopin - Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major, Op 13

Haydn Symphony No 22 E flat major 'The Philosopher'

Symphony No. 22 in E-flat major, Hoboken I/22, is a symphony written by Joseph Haydn in 1764. Nicknamed "The Philosopher" ("Der Philosoph"), it is the most widely programmed of Haydn's early symphonies. The name ("the Philosopher") is not on the original manuscript and is unlikely to come from Haydn himself. "Le Philosoph" appears on a manuscript copy of the symphony found in Modena dated 1790; thus the nickname dates from the composer's own lifetime. The title is thought to derive from the melody and counterpoint of the first movement (between the horns and cor anglais), which musically allude to a question followed by an answer and paralleling the disputatio system of debate. The piece's use of a muted tick-tock effect also evokes the image of a philosopher deep in thought while time passes by. As Jones notes, the nickname "becomes less appropriate as the symphony proceeds and earnestness gives way to high spirits.

 

 VIDEO: Mark Minkowski 

 

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No 15 Pastorale

Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. The name Pastoral or Pastorale became known through A. Cranz publishing of Beethoven's work, but was first coined by a London publisher, Broderip & Wilkinson. While not as famous as its immediate predecessor, Piano Sonata No. 14, it is generally admired for its intricate technicality as well as for its beauty. The sonata takes roughly twenty-five minutes to play with its intended repeats. Published in 1801, the work is dedicated to the Count Joseph von Sonnenfels.

WIKIPEDIA                   

 

VIDEO: Andras Schiff, Beethoven Piano Sonata No.15 D major op.28 "Pastorale" 

Franck Prelude, Fugue and Variations Op 18

César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. He was born in Liège, where he gave his first concerts in 1834. Franck’s improvisations after church services were major public attractions, and he set some of them down in the Six Pieces he completed between 1859 and 1862. These exploited the power and colors of the Cavaillé-Coll organs to the fullest and did much to establish the distinctively French school of symphonic organ music. The third of the Six Pieces is the Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18, which was dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns, himself an organist of considerable skill. Franck’s dedications do not imply portraits, but the balance and clarity of the Prelude, Fugue, and Variation do suggest the classical orientation of Saint-Saëns. The flowing B-minor Prelude has a gentle melancholy, opening almost like Bach’s “Liebster Jesu” prelude with three repetitions of an asymmetrical five-bar phrase. The Fugue has its own little prelude and clean textures, the polyphony by no means hard to follow. Rounding the three-part work is the Variation, basically a repeat of the Prelude with a more active accompaniment, fading to the light of B major. Several arrangers have scored this work for piano.
 
 VIDEO:Vladimir Viardo's breathtaking interpretation of César Franck's Prelude, Fugue and Variation Op.18. Originally written for organ, but transcribed for piano by Harold Bauer.