Universal La Folia

La Folia is perhaps the oldest and one of the most fundamental music themes created in Europe. Even though a few countries of origin are possible, it is believed that it was created in Spain and was published for the first time in 1672. There are two folias out there – early and later – the former going back to the 16th century. It was the 15th century Iberian quick-paced dance upon which the early folia was based. It is thus much faster compared to the later folia. However, it is the later folia that lies in the basis of many compositions we know. This standard 16-bar chord progression, normally in D minor, can be found in music compositions by 150 famous composers, among which are Bach’s “12 Variations über die Folie d'Espagne”, Liszt’s “Rhapsodie espagnole”, Scarlatti’s “29 Partite sopra l’aria della Folia”, Vivaldi’s “Trio Sonata”, Salieri’s “26 Variations on La Folia di Spagna” and many others.

Some say that after Rachmaninoff’s revival of the theme in his “Variations on a theme by Corelli” as well as Ponce’s use of it in “Variations on "Spanish Folia"” and “Fugue for guitar” in the 1930’s, La Folia slowly left the stage. It’s not true! Many contemporary composers keep using it in their works, experimenting with this historic tune. There are even sites dedicated to La Folia, where old and modern versions are being gathered and analyzed.

La Folia’s interesting feature is that it can be played in most unusual music instruments but sound absolutely natural. Doesn’t matter, whether you play a mandolin, or carillon, or rebab, or ukulele and what not – La Folia can be a good start for your own unique improvisations.

The 'Freed' Happy Birthday Available for Creative Arrangements

I’ve my birthday coming soon so I thought I’d dedicate this post to one of the most famous, if not ‘The’ most famous, birthday songs on the planet – “Happy Birthday To You”.

I bet many people playing and singing these few well-recognized 8 notes to congratulate their loved one rarely took time to think that there was a big company behind them, a company that earned huge sums of money annually on it. Happy Birthday was perceived a ‘people’s song’ already, it seen belong to everyone. But until recently, it wasn’t actually like that. The Warner/Chappell publishing company was charging for the song since 1988 after it bought the successor of the Summy Co. that, in its turn, held the copyright to the song previously given to it by the Hill sisters – Patty and Mildred – who wrote it. Yeah, a chain that long. The original lyrics were meant to greet the kids at the kindergarten and sounded like ‘Good Morning, Dear Children, Good Morning To You’ – this song was published by the Hill sisters as part of the book “Song Stories for the Kindergarten”. That’s when the Hills assigned the copyrights to the above mentioned Summy Co.
The 80-years story behind the song is actually very complex; it dates to as far as 1893 and it’s already hard to track all the copyright twists.

Let’s leave that apart and savor the main news – in September 2015, the court has finally decided to free the Good-Morning/Happy-birthday song from any copyrights. It means that anyone – musicians, filmmakers, artists, etc. – can use it publicly without the fear of having to pay a huge sum for it.

Within this short period since the Happy Birthday song was freed there have appeared lots of music arrangements celebrating the opportunity to create own versions of the century’s birthday symbol. Happy Birthday on guitar, cello, trumpet, oboe, in a jazzy style or in a classical manner - looks like many musicians have been anticipating the moment!

The World For Christmas

My favorite time of the year is about to settle in completely and entirely on most of the planet and that gives me some special holiday chills! Christmas is of so much sincere joy and inspiration to me that I look forward to live it through again and again. The ambiance that reigns in December is like nowhen else – even the coldest spots of the world get filled with special warmth, family love and unity of the souls.

Like with most important things in life I perceive Christmas musically as I can’t imagine it without music. The magic Christmas carols and songs that accompany this holiday are so deeply planted in my heart. Despite the list of old Christmas songs that have been around for years, ages, I keep looking for new Christmas melodies that appear every year. I love to observe how modern composers see this holiday and therefore look for new music portraits of Christmas.

This year one of my curious finds is represented by a contemporary choral piece by Anders Edenroth – “The World For Christmas”. Below is the video of The Real Group performing it. The amazing thing about the composition is not just the great music in general but the message of the song. We are all used to listening to Christmas songs that are an ode to joy, holiday and the happiness of the moment. But in this case the compositions aims for something of a bigger scale, much bigger. This song is an expression of a huge concern for our planet and the ecological problems it has to face. A call for global action and change. And it does make me want to act. Below is the beautiful video of the song made the guys. Just watch it and get inspired.

Devil's Trill Sonata

I fall in love with some music works only for their background story. And if the piece sounds gorgeous too – even better!

One of the music compositions that drew my attention in this sense was the sonata composed by Giuseppe Tartini – “Il trillo del diavolo”, which is translated from Italian as “Devil’s Trill”. We know that many composers (as well as mathematicians, scientists etc.) sometimes saw some useful clue or even their work-of-a-lifetime while sleeping. That’s what (almost) happened to Giuseppe. One night Devil himself showed up in his dream (he came for his soul, composer said) and started playing violin. The melody was so beautiful and breathtaking that Tartini was fully encaptured by it. The morning he woke up the first thing to do was grab some paper and try to save what’s was still playing in his head.

As a result we now have a beautiful music composition for violin and piano now. Tartini humbly mentioned that what he made is only a vague reminder of the powerful music he heard in his dream. But in memory of that night, he decided to call his music work a “Devil's Trill Sonata”.

Steven Tyler’s Duo With a Street Musician

I do love it when a music star is not some far-away idol for his fans but rather a ‘close friend’ who gives you the feeling of confidence and reliability. Some big pop and rock stars today are trying to keep a safe distance from their fans, and it’s quite clear – you never know what people can turn out to be there in the crowd. But how great it may feel you music lovers can approach their favorite artists and feel close to them not just in music but in real life too. Even better if you are trying to follow the steps of your music idol playing his/her songs yourself.

I was so delighted to watch this piece of video where Steven Tyler proved to be so open-minded and easy-going with a fan of his. The Aerosmith vocalist was having a walk around the downtown of Moscow and suddenly that guy is there, playing the Aerosmith hit of all time – I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing. Instead of regarding it as trivial street art attempt to reproduce the hit and just passing by, he chooses to join the young man and make a spontaneous duo with him. You can judge by the guy’s face expression that it was a mixture of shock, embarrassment and joy all in once. For an accidental music duo it was quite a good job!

Marianne Mozart's Music Talent

The Mozart family had many generations of gifted people, and besides the star kid Wolfgang it could also boast of other music talents.

Mozart family portrait

Maria Anna Mozart (also known as Marianne) was the older sister of the famous composer. Looks like the music talent was somewhere deep in the genes of the family, so Marianne showed evident signs of music talent just like her younger brother – she played harpsichord really well and was a gifted fortepianist too.

But why don’t we play some masterpiece sonatas or concertos by Marianne Mozart’ worldwide today? Or do we? The thing is that back at the time it was not considered ‘appropriate’ for the women to take up activities like that seriously. Yes, as a kid she was welcome to play music instruments and Leopold the father even took her to tours together with brother, but at that period it was for fun mostly. As soon as Maria Anna grew up to 18 years old, her music career was fully over. The society rules and expectations demanded the girl should get married and take up the role of her own family fireplace care-taker. Hardly could Marianne swim against the stream of prevalent standards.

According to some theories, Marianne did compose quite a few works, and what’s she could stand behind some of her brother’s masterpieces. Which ones? We’ll probably never know for sure. What we do know is that Marianne and Wolfgang had really warmth relations, and the latter dedicated the Prelude and Fugue in C Major to his beloved older sister.

Beethoven’s 5 on Three Harmonicas

The almighty four opening notes of this music work are not likely to be mistaken for anything else. The grand, the powerful, the triumphal Beethoven’s Fifth is the iconic classical symphony of all time.

Taking into account the scrupulous and experimental nature of the composer, it took him 4 (!) years to polish and refine the piece to perfection (1804-1808). And the result was absolutely worth all the sweat and efforts – today this symphony is a magic walkway into the world of classical music even to those who have never been the fans of classics as such.

We know that the Vienna premier of the symphony was far from confident success; rather, by the time the public heard the piece (at the very end of the concert), it did not seem quite interesting to them. Thanks to E. T. A. Hoffman’s rave review of the music work which came up later, the audience eventually paid the due attention to it.

Soon the beauty of the harmonies, the carefully interconnected music elements and the gorgeous rhythm were recognized as composer’s masterwork. From the dramatic first movement, on to the lyrical andante, further to the dark scherzo and finally in the grand finale – throughout the entire piece the listener’s attention is fully captured by Beethoven’s music genius. According to one of the versions, Beethoven himself compared the beginning of the Fifth to the “Fate knocking on your door”. We don’t know whether it’s true or not, but this phrase still makes a perfect description of the famous opening. Ta-da-da-daa.. and you got shivers all over!

The symphony had its fair leap forward right to the legacy of classical music. And it’s no wonder that there have been hundreds of recordings of the piece and that numerous artists around the world wished to try their hand in this outstanding music masterpiece, playing the Fifth on all possible music instruments. Here’s another lovely version of the composition played on three harmonicas:

The Mighty Accordion

When you start playing a certain instrument, it doesn’t open up to you entirely right away. It’s just like a good wine – the bouquet of taste unfolds gradually, surprising you with every flower it brings. Just like wine, music instruments are also to be properly savored with time.

I remember the old times, when what started with an indifferent playing of the “Shave and a Haircut” with years grew into a deepest passion for piano. As for the accordion, as a kid I used to perceive as the “old grandpas’ music instrument” and didn’t have much appreciation for it until not so long ago. But surprising how one’s attitude can change all of a sudden. In German accordion derives from the word ‘akkord’ which literally means “harmony”. And look how harmonious it does seem in fact!

Accordionist by Michał Koralewski

I was surprised to find out that the US love has so much love for accordion. If it’s pretty clear with Russia’s historic love for it coming from the USSR times, with the US it’s a bit different. Today, there are even a few American cities that declared accordion as their ‘official music instrument’ (Ilinois, Detroit, Skokie).

The special charm of accordion to me is partly in its resemblance with the organ. Have you ever noticed how similar they sound? It’s amazing. Just like the organ, accordion mightily shakes the air and can easily teleport you into a huge concert hall if set your imagination free. Here’s a wonderful ‘street performance’ of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on two accordions to make clear what I mean exactly. Isn’t it beautiful..

Classical Music Portrait of Winter

This might be just the weird feature of my character but I tend to look for the opposites. To be more clear, here’s a perfect example – seasons of the year. It’s hot summer now and I sincerely do love these sunny days. And talking about the extremes, I would always prefer heat to freezing.

the four seasons

But, but. The warmer it is, the more I think about winter! It’s a certain kind of nostalgia that’s following me. As a music enthusiast, I sometimes see things in music terms too. Thus my winter nostalgia is best of all conveyed through the classical music related to this cold time of the year. I’ve run through a few compilations of classical music ‘winter’ works and realized that it’s just what I need to feed my longing for the season – if it’s not temperature-wise, let it be music-wise – even better!

It’s amazing how certain composers managed to created that exceptionally vivid image of Lady Winter through a limited set of sounds. To me, the brightest works in this sense would be those by Russian composers – Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snow Maiden” or Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Daydreams”, for example. Maybe that’s because of the fact they did know what real Russian winter could be like?

What’s your musical vision of the season?

How Lovely It Is to Celebrate Everything With Music

Do you remember your graduation ceremony? Was it rather official or as bright as this one? =)

I find it a great idea to make something as artistic (even if not so flawless) as the Hawaiian graduates’ final performance. Even despite the pretty big size of the class, the graduates 2015 did a pretty good job during such a short period of time. As a result, we have a funny medley of today’s most recognizable pop songs like by Wiz Khalifa’s "See You Again", Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”, Macklemore’s “Thrift shop” and other hits.

Moreover, the songs list did not get limited to pop hits only. The guys also did an original performance (sang and danced) of a very old folk song that was sung by the people of Maori in New Zealand. Well, this class’ graduation is going to be remembered for quite a long time I believe!

The Jackson 5 and Bach: "I Want You Back"

The 1st number one hit for The Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back” – was written in the remote 1969. It didn’t take long for the song to get into all possible charts, billboards and best-song-lists. The popular song with the lead vocal by the young-young Michael Jackson made it to the Hall of Fame and became of the 500 greatest songs of all time, according to the Rollin Stone. A generation’s hit it is.

The Jackson 5

And if you rewind the time many years back you’ll get a different type of ‘hits’. The classical, the powerful, the stunning Bach epoch! Brandenburg Concertos, Minuet in G, Gavotte – these pieces don’t need to be introduced to a classical music fan. What if the best of two era worked together? ThePianoGuys went up for this challenge and brought about a funny mix of the two epochs.

So here we are – an old hit, some very old hits and a modern hit-mix of these two – the music collision of 1770 and 1970:

Rare Attitude to Pachelbel's Canon in D

There is a number of classical music pieces that have been around for years.. no, for centuries! There are recognized by any musician at the first note and keep being performed at many occasions. The surprising thing is that despite the countless number of times we heard those amazing music gems, we still enjoy them every time the familiar melody sounds. The eternal classical ‘hits’ may I say always bring a special joy to the heart and lift the spirit. One can’t but be moved by the magic sounds of Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, Ave Maria, Clair de Lune and the list can go on and on. For every musician this list is special and may differ depending on the personal preferences. However, some of the pieces will be found on anyone’s music favs list!

Today I was amused by a video I came across – a funny ‘rant’ about a piece that’s been following a musician during all his life. Never looked at it from this perspective! The work is the well-known Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. The one that’s on My personal list, to be honest. Well, I had a good laugh watching it!

Beethoven and Salsa

Some people are so devoted to certain music genres that they can’t stand when something is getting mixed up to that. And classical music fans might be the strictest in this regard! Well, I’m definitely not one of those and I do love mixing things that are at times not quite mix-able.

Here’s a loveliest combination of genres that I became very fond of! The classical, the great, the unrivaled Beethoven is united with the passionate, upbeat, rhythmic Latin music. To my mind, the music pattern that emerged as a result is more than successful. Both classical and Latin music are very ‘traditional’ and in a way – similar.  Thy common rhythm of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and Salsa elements leads to a perfect unison. And of course, salsa brings a very special lively flair to the classical power of Beethoven’s masterpiece.

Hungarian Csárdás in Classical Music

Do you like folk music? I love it. Especially the cultural heritage of the Balkan Peninsula. Here the elements of dance and music often intertwined which resulted in a beautiful unity of folk art. The most popular example is the transition of Hungarian dance called Czárdás that later spread into classical music.

Czárdás dance 

Czárdás the traditional dance that was born in Hungary in the 18th century. Its name derives from the Hungarian word “csárda” meaning ‘tavern’. The dance caught on in the nearby countries of the peninsula and is still met in Serbia, Croatia, Romania and other countries of the region. The main feature of the dance was its characteristic tempo – slow beginning and very fast ending. Maybe that was what attracted classical composers. Among the remarkable authors who used czárdás motives and themes in their works are Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and, of course, Vittorio Monti. His czárdás composition for violin and piano is probably the most recognizable now.

Here is a wonderful video of my favorite Victor Borge and his stunning improvisation of Monti’s Czárdás in a duet with Anton Kontra as encore at the concert dedicated to Borge’s 80th anniversary. The funny thing is that he had never played it before. Well, the legendary Victor Borge, what can I say!

A Lovely "Transformation of Pachelbel's Canon" for Marimba

I’m not sure about you but when I hear “canon” my first thought is to prolong it to Canon in D or to Pachabel’s Canon. But in both cases it would only refer to that very famous music piece by outstanding German composer Johann Pachelbel.

So many years passed, first before the composition got popular after its creation in 1919 (a few decades), and then after it was re-discovered in the 20th century. Despite that, it eventually became composer’s most well-known creation and many artists played, covered, arranged it then and now. Originally, “Canon and Gigue in D” was scored for three violins and a basso continuo. But who cares what the instrument is if the desire to play it is too high?

So I heard a number of bright performances of the piece, and every time there is something to be pleased with. Maybe it’s all about the magic magnetism of the piece itself? Anyway, here’s a curious transformation of the canon on Marimba! Why not :) It’s an interesting instrument by itself and even the most recognizable compositions sound different on it. Yea, maybe the guy’s (Nanae Mimura) performance is not all that smooth but he’s doing a great job!

Rare Waltz by Franz Schubert

I love history’s little secret stories and especially when it comes to the stories behind some of the renowned composers’ works.

The other day I discovered this recording of a very cute and endlessly charming waltz composed by Franz Schubert. It is called “Kupelwieser Waltz”. They say it was written for and performed at the wedding of Schubert’s friend Leopold Kupelwieser in 1826.

The interesting thing is that the score of the waltz, unlike most of works by Schubert, was never written down by composer himself. Composed rather spontaneously as a dedication to an important event in his friend’s life, the waltz was only passed on year after year but never put down on a sheet. Over a century had to pass before it happened in 1943, when Richard Strauss, as a family’s close friend, was asked to transcribe this beautiful work. Of course, as a composer himself, Strauss added something of his own to the music, which cannot be unnoticed by classical music connoisseurs. However, the hand of Schubert can be clearly traced throughout the entire work.
I think this serene and peaceful composition is sure to take a place of my list of favs now. Hope you like it too!

8-Bit Classical Music

As a fan of ‘quality’ music, I rather consider myself a conservative type when it comes to great music masterpieces. What I mean is that if I am to listen to a work by Mozart, Bach, Schubert and other outstanding music minds, I prefer to pick a nice recording by orchestras like New York Philharmonic and such, or, ideally, go to a live performance of my favorite compositions (whenever I get a chance to!).

However, recently I’ve become more open to other creative interpretations of my favourite music pieces and I’m surprised to find myself enjoying some of them to a certain extent. I know it’s not a very new thing (sorry, I wasn’t quite following) but it looks like 8-bit music has become quite popular. I ran into it by chance and I guess I’m glad I did.

If someone gave me a contemporary piece in 8 bit to listen to, I wouldn’t be surprised, but hey – what I find first is nothing else but Antonín Dvořák's 9th Symphony! Wut? I was all skeptical at the beginning but the funny thing is that for some reason I didn’t click ‘stop’ or close the window.  I kept listening. Be it out of curiosity or enjoyment, hard to say. But I can say now that that 8-bit mode did not spoil it for me, on the contrary, I found it interesting that way. As I found out later, a lot of classical compositions exist in 8-bit and they do cause people interest. I still am an ardent lover of all the traditional in classical music but now I can add that there also are music experiments worth holding!