Johann Sebastian Bach. St Matthew Passion. 'Erbarme Dich, mein Gott'

It is believed that Bach composed either four or five passions. However, only two of those survived till nowadays – St. John and St. Matthew. Both of these music works set on the sacred Bible texts tell the story of Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and are performed on "Good Friday".

Despite that, they quite differ in style and character. Unlike St. John, St. Matthew Passion is rather a ‘religious opera’, it’s much longer (twice as many verses), more dramatic and action-oriented. It also has more music grandeur – with its 2-part choirs (each showing different crowds during the crucifixion) and a large orchestra that perfectly produces the dramatic effects (halo though strings ensemble, Christ’s weariness at Calvary though deep pedaling). The Passion was first heard on Good Friday of 1727 in Leipzig but was revised a couple of times after that.
Regardless of the work’s length it is worth listening to it from beginning to end – that’s the best way it’s perceived to the fullest. However, there a number of arias that are often taken as excerpts and make good separate music works. One of them definitely is the "Erbarme dich, mein Gott'" alto aria that, along with others, is based on Christian Picander’s texts. It describes Peter’s lament for having ‘betrayed’ Jesus three times before dawn and is extremely emotional. There also exists an interesting version as far as this aria is concerned. They say that Bach was inspired by love for his wife Anna Magdalena for composing this particular part of St. Matthew’s Passion and kinda ‘dedicated’ it to her. Well, who knows.
Meanwhile, have a listen to the aria itself and the bright counter tenor Peter Kenny singing it at the dramatization by Jonathon Miller:

Let Her Go (Passenger)

You know there are songs that can be put on your media player track list just on their own – when you click the  ‘repeat’ button and can spend quite a while with that music playing there in your ears for many times on end. Normally it’s not the classics (oh, forgive me, my favourite genre!), as classical music requires your full concentration if you want to perceive it to the maximum (imho). Most often those are rather pop or light rock kind of songs, neither too intrusive not too frivolous.

photo by Murad Osmann

So today is one of those days when I’m good with one of those ‘endless’ songs on my playlist. And today it’s “Let Her Go” by Passenger, a folk-rock-indie-pop piece. I chose the acoustic version and it goes in perfectly. I did like Michael Rosenberg’s (Passenger) work for both its melodic line and ‘non-empty’ lyrics. So besides enjoying the soft flowing guitar music I love to think about the depth of the things he’s touching in the song itself. So often do we have to lose something/someone, which is very much regretted later but is never to be returned. From such simple examples as missing sun in winter or missing home when on the road, Michael goes to the main point: we learn to appreciate and know Love when we let her go.

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

Good lyrics, amazing music, pleasant work. No wonder “Let Her Go” topped the charts of many countries in 2013 and was nominated for Brit Awards 2014 as British Single of the Year. Enjoy the song and take care of your loved ones!

The Portrait of Love in Classical Music

It has already entered into tradition to dedicate an annual post to the day of celebration of Love – St. Valentine’s. This time is no exception – Happy St. Valentine’s, guys, all those who are lucky to celebrate it truly! Have a very special cosy day with your Valentine.

And to help make it more special there are always some great tracks to shape the right atmosphere. Pop music bulks in love songs today and it wouldn't be hard to pick some. If you want some deeper lyrics with you’d rather opt for some rock ballads. Or, if you just need a nice background, light jazz or chill-out would be the best alternative. But what about classical music? Which repertoire is better to convey the ‘love’ message?

Definitely, some of the classical masterpieces like Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen are obviously filled with love making it the central object. But there are many more classical music works that make this subject not so evident but still convey it perfectly. Let’s name some of them.

Bach. St Matthew Passion. Erbarme Dich, mein Gott. Despite being a sacred work, this is a very emotional and powerful expression of composer’s love for his wife Anna Magdalena.

Berlioz. Symphonie Fantastique. Composer’s love for an Irish actress Harriet Smithson acted as a driving force for writing this symphony. He met her at the Shakespeare’s Hamlet performance in Paris (Harriet played Ophelia) and fell in love. The symphony was dedicated and sent to her but Harriet listened to it only in 5 years. Well, the good thing is that they did get married in the end.

Mahler. 5th Symphony. Adagietto. Expression of love for Mahler’s wife Alma Schindler. This part was actually written before the symphony itself and served as a love-song based on a small poem Mahler dedicated to his wife.

Brahms. Rhapsody for Alto. To-be-kept-in-secret composer’s love for Schumman’s daughter who was to marry another man. That’s a very personal work, intense and powerful. No wonder that at first composer didn’t want it to be published anywhere.

Janáček. String Quartets 1 and 2. Very illicit expression of passion in both quartets. No.1 was inspired by Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata (theme of jealousy) and No.2 inspired by author’s attraction to and correspondence with a very young woman.

There is another interesting observation that I stumbled upon. It is believed that the thematic tilt is somehow predefined by the music key of the piece. Thus, the B minor is said to be the best one to express romantic or sad or melancholic or even grieving feelings. It was usually a certain means of tender complaint but at the same time a sign of accepting the destiny. These were the conclusions made by the theorist Christian Schubart. Just some food for thought.

Classical Winter Music Pieces

It’s freezing. Oh yea it is, like all over, all the way down through to your bones. But I’m still trying to find the charm about the lady in white, lady Winter. Everyone’s got their own ways of keeping warm in winter, warm clothes, hugs, hot tea, and so on. I have my ways too, and in addition to the above mentioned I love to just get wrapped in granny’s woolen hand-made cover with a huge mug of lemon tea and turn on my collection of “winter pieces”. I’d like to share some with you if one day you may find yourself willing to use the same method.

I’ll start with probably one of my favourites – Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Daydreams” (Symphony No.1). The symphony that almost drove the famous composer out of his mind (literally!) – so much effort he put in its composing. Doctors were insisting he have a rest and some sleep. But the obsession seemed to take over him. Despite that much labor contributed, the work wasn’t met with much of a welcome by either music critics or composer’s teachers and friends (Rubinstein, Zaremba). Edited, partially recomposed and renewed, with time the symphony gained its acknowledgement and was named the first of composer’s early notable music works. For a person not digging too deep in history to learn about the author’s sufferings over this work, “Winter Dreams” is a wonderful vigorous piece with a folk motive of the amazing Russian winter scenery.

The most ‘winter’ winter would go to Vivaldi’s “Winter” from “Four Seasons”. So recognizable and memorable this violin concerto has already become. Like the previous concertos (presumably), the 4th one is based on a sonnet (again presumably) written by Vivaldi himself. The good thing about program music like that is that it is meant to evoke the extra-musical in our perception – close your eyes, take a listen and you will hear the beautiful snowblasts howling out there.

Next comes Chopin’s “Winter Wind” (Etude No.11). That is actually not an entertaining piece but a music study for solo piano. It is aimed at training a musician’s left hand flexibility and right hand dexterity, to make brain hemispheres work neatly together. But to a common listener it’s a very easy-listening  soft music piece. A bit gloomy but mesmerizing.

I was also planning to talk a bit about Schubert’s “Winterreise” (ger. ‘winter journey’), a song cycle on the basis of Muller’s poems, but decided to skip it and rather focus on a contemporary music work that is on my list of winter music. I’m referring to the “Winter Etude” for classical guitar by a Russian composer Kirill Voljanin. I ran across his video on YouTube where the author is performing the piece himself:

Maybe that’s because of the successful combination of the soothing ‘warm’ melody and the beautiful visuals (I love sand art!) that made me stick to the screen for a few minutes and grab my mug firmer.

Stay warm!