Shostakovich & Psycho

What do we know about Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No.3? Yes, it’s beautiful, emotionally charged and enigmatic. What else?

Dmitry Shostakovich

Dedicated to Beethoven Quartet, it was premiered by it in 1946. It was a difficult time for all artists, including composers, as the Soviet censorship machine was especially severe in the post-war years when the cold war in full play. Thus Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony that preceded the quartet was badly censored and banned too, just like the numerous work pf art in that period. The quartet, too, was banned from public stage shortly after its premiere.

In order to avoid the formalism, Shostakovich gave different names to the non-traditional 5 movements of the work on its premiere. They carried a war-descriptive character and made a little ‘story’ of the war time. The names were withdrawn soon in fear of the above-mentioned censorship, which still didn’t help the work ‘to survive’ the rules of the regime.

The String Quartet was perhaps the only composition among his works that fascinated Shostakovich so much. On attending the private rehearsal of Beethoven’s Quartet a few years after, composer was supposed to make remarks concerning the performance. The Third Quartet was the only work that he didn’t stop but asked to keep playing, listening to it defenceless, with tears in his eyes.

Another interesting fact has popped up recently and that one was a bit unexpected to me.  The famous horror sounds from Hitchcock’s “Psycho” soundtrack are believed to be a reworked version of the seven notes from the Third Quartet. Bernard Herrmann decided that Shostakovich’s creation would convey the necessary spirit in the best way. Well, that’s rather a theory than a fact, but still, sounds kinda convincing, have a listen:

Ludovico Einaudi, the 12 “Elements”

Einaudi’s music, already known for its emotional and moving nature seems to be evolving further in its beauty.

Composer’s latest album titled “Elements” has shown another side of the author’s talent. One might be surprised to find out that that the title does not come only from the literal elements like water, fire, air and earth, but is a more complex vision of the world’s essence. According to Ludovico, the idea was to walk on the bridge of the known and the unknown to him, so a great part of the music explores the unexpected sources of inspiration like the myths of creation, Kandinsky’s work, the periodic table, the geometry of the landscape, sound, colour and what not.

The ethereal texture of some of the 12 Elements pieces is changed by the powerful music force of the others. Thus the title track of the album, “Elements” that embodies the ‘organic growth’ is supported by the explosive accompaniment of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, making it even more invigorating.
The critics agree that the new album is quite experimental for Einaudi, compared to his previous piano writing, with more emphasis made on the genre of piano-based electronica (check out the pieces “Numbers” and “Four Dimension” to feel the change of style). However, while listening to the new poignant tracks like “Drop” or “Mountains”, we realise that what Einaudi became recognised and loved for at the very beginning – is still there.

A Psychedelic Orchestra

Sometimes even the most serious musicians are a little bit tired of being serious and way too responsible. Everyday rehearsals and lots, lots of work on themselves is tiresome and can make one need some way to release the accumulated stress. Symphonic music is a hard work so why not have fun from time to time?

I do love it when the industry monsters like BBC can make fun of the things that are considered to be a ‘serious matter’. So here’s a great thingy I found on the web that made me sincerely laugh aloud and praise BBC for the little fun post compilation. The called it "Orchestral Disturbance No 1 in E flat Major" and it really is something psychedelic yet very entertaining.

To very musically sensitive souls: don’t get mad at the creators, no feelings were intended to be hurt!

Recorder Is Back!

The instrument that has been neglected for dozens of years seems to cause a splash of interest among contemporary musicians. They say that fashion, be it clothing, music, art or even lifestyle in general, comes and goes in rounds, so the long-forgotten things are highly likely to come back to fashion one day. It seems to me that this is exactly what’s happening to the Recorder at the moment. We might be at the start of the 3rd wave of its popularity right now (1st – Renaissance, 2nd – 20th century).

Traditionally associated with the natural soothing sounds of singing birds, recorder has been known for its wide range of articulations. The effects that can be produced with the help of this unsophisticated musical stick are surprisingly diverse. Modern recorder music thus is quite varied too. Although it is still being widely used in educational purposes, being perfect for starting kids’ musical journey, the recorder has also become interesting to the alternative musicians for all sorts of experiments. I’ve found this adorable video (below) of a guy playing some mind-blowing beatbox on the seemingly classical-only recorder. I believe the true capabilities of this tiny shepherd’s instrument are only being discovered now.

Hidden Music Illusions in Classical Music

Some composers were not only great in their music-writing abilities but even went beyond great in ‘having fun’ with some of their creations, already great.

Let’s look at Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 47. Besides being an outstanding and quite a complex composition in general, it has a specific menuet (“Minuetto al Roverso”) which is now called a palindrome. Haydn wrote it in such a way that the 2nd half of the piece is the mirror of the 1st one. It means that it sounds the same when played backwards:

Some other examples of palindrome can be found in works by Alban Berg, James Tenney, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern and others.

Another fun phenomenon can be seen in Bach’s collection of fugues and canons known as “The Musical Offering”. Today the term is known as ‘table canon’ and formally means that the music combines inversion with retrogression. But in practice, it’s explained easier: if two musicians are placed in front of each other and the music score is put on the table between them, they will be reading the same line in opposite directions and play the piece together. The same musical set by Bach also contains a ‘crab canon’ which is quite similar to the palindrome, where two lines are backward and complement each other.

Music Surrealism by Michael Cheval

And there’s also a ‘mirror canon’ (e.g. “Quaerendo invenietis” from the same set by Bach). Just like the table canon, it can be popularly explained with the help of the mirror: the sheet music is placed in front of a mirror, while the leading voice is played along its own inversion (the upside down reflection of the score).

I find it quite an exciting revelation of a composer’s genius, don’t you?

Do you know of more curious examples?

Going to a Concert: Things to Remember

Attending a concert of classical music might be a very exciting event, and if you are not a frequent concert-goer – especially. But even experienced concert-lovers might feel anxious every time before getting ready for a classical gig. It’s an overwhelming experience after all. I have come across a brief and clear guide on how to be a proper concert-goer and I though it’s a good thing to remind ourselves what should be remembered first of all in order to avoid embarrassment.

My own biggest problem is the uncontrollable urge to clap. I really can’t hold it back if the music is really good. But the rule is you can only clap before and after the performance. No intermission clapping.

Another problem is the health issues. I mean coughing or sneezing. If you caught a cold, I suggest you don’t go to the concert at all, don’t be an egoist. As for spontaneous coughs, better get some pills beforehand that would help you deal with the urges for a few hours.

And the biggest issue of the modern world – the inability to go without our mobile gadgets. Come on, guys, if you’ve chosen to come to enjoy such a unique experience as a classical concert is – enjoy it! Let your phones be forgotten at least for this time. Phones off, music on!

Well, some artists do not get disoriented so easily. Here’s how a pianist punished the disobedient listener for the unsilenced mobile phone:

World's Largest Orchestra (7500 Musicians)

Every year people strive for new records, beating the previous ones or setting new heights. It is within our nature – the desire to compete, win and be called the best in something.

Music is just like all other spheres where records are regularly set, be it in the run for a title or just out of creative curiosity. The list of international music competitions is as diverse as it could possibly be and I would call it a good sign. Bela Bartok, however, would not agree, he used to say that "competitions are for horses, not artists". Whatever it is, I still find it great that people strive to make the most of their lives by reaching new peaks.

The summer of 2016 has been interesting in this regard. On July 9, 7500 classically trained musicians gathered at a football stadium in the German Frankfurt to achieve a new record. By some magic order, the crowd formed a professional orchestra and presented an impressive 45-minute performance. Some of the best pieces of symphonic music by composers like Beethoven, Dvořák, Miles, Webber were united in a beautiful medley under the baton of Wolf Kerschek.

In a regular-sized orchestra, you may have problems watching the conductor’s moves if you have a bad sight. Now imagine what it’s like for the guy in the last row of 7500 people do it? The organizers said it was the most challenging part of the thing. For everyone to start playing at once and not get lost in the middle of the performance, there was a huge screen installed at the stadium. With all of this work done, the guys now officially hold the world record for the biggest orchestra that ever performed.

Four Seasons on Accordion

Not so long ago YouTube welcomed another work in the row of videos viewed more than 100 million times since the moment of the upload. This time, it was not some scandalous footage or a pop song from Korea, nor was it any video filming a natural disaster or the details of some public figure’s private life. This time, it was a music video of a classical composition, one of the legendary masterpieces of all time – Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, the famous group of 4 concerti. And it’s amazing!

As someone commented below the video (it’s actually some visuals laid upon the Budapest recording of the concerts), – “faith in humanity restored!” I am so glad to realize that people do listen to classics extensively, not just in the limited groups but in a viral manner in the highly competitive sphere the digital world is. An even better piece of news is that the interest to classical music is gкowing not only in terms of listening and enjoying, but also as a warmed up desire to TRY it on one own. I am referring to both taking up some instrument (for beginners) and to experiment with the classics in form of music arrangements (for advancing musicians).

Vivaldi’s renowned work features the strings in all of the parts, and I wouldn’t imagine it otherwise. But the imagination of some musicians and the desire to try extends beyond the traditional style sometimes. If I played marimbas, for instance, I think I’d also dream of playing The Four Seasons on them :) I have found this absolutely amazing performance of the “Winter” on the, unexpectedly, accordion. It’s so emotional, so strong that I couldn’t but admire it and share with you.

 

Bach in a Visual Flow

I think that classical music has for years had an image of a very limited sphere of interest meant for and available to just a few (compared to the mass pop music culture, for example).

Excerpt from the music video Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

However, with a certain approach and a bit of imagination, I’m sure it could become as popular as the Pop itself! Why are people so attracted to the mass culture? It has all the necessary attention-holding elements in it: bright imagery, colours and various contrasts. So why not present the same in a classical music ‘video’, for example?

Of course, the best of classics should be experienced and lived preferably live in a concert hall. But we are talking about the other side, about spreading its influence into the masses. Here is a perfect video example of turning classical music into an exciting visual adventure as well. One of Bach’s popular pieces Well-Tempered Clavier was sort of split into sections, each appearing on the screen in form of real-time notes-playing. The attraction, the brightness, the contrast and colours are all there. I watched the video a few times and caught myself thinking that even if I were much younger and not a classical musicians – I would still go for it!

Down by the Sally Gardens Set to Music

The Irish people like no one else are familiar with and proud of the creative work and achievements of their renowned countryman William Butler Yeats, the holder of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His poetry is not only beautiful lyrically but also presents a great basis for music art.

a willow tree

Thus, Yeats’ poem titled “Down by the Sally Gardens” set to music has turned into an amazing Celtic tune. Perhaps the text fit so nicely into the melody because of the origins of the poem itself. It is believed that William wrote it in an attempt to recover and restyle an old folk ballad “The Rambling Boys of Pleasure” that he heard from an old woman in the County Sligo. The first verse sounds just like the old song:

"Down by yon flowery garden my love and I we first did meet.
I took her in my arms and to her I gave kisses sweet
She bade me take life easy just as the leaves fall from the tree.
But I being young and foolish, with my darling did not agree."
(old ballad)

compare:

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.
(Yeats’ poem)
 
The Salley Gardens (or ‘Sally’) is a real location where that peasant woman lived, near a village in Sligo. Salley here may have referred to the tree ‘sallow’, which is, in fact, a willow.

The poem has a number of music settings and each of them is special in its own way. Among composers who presented their vision were Herbert Hughes, Rebecca Clarke, John Ireland, Ivor Gurney, Benjamin Britten, John Corigliano. The folk piece has been arranged for various instrumental combinations but I think it works best on anything strings-related. A string quartet arrangement of the Salley might be the perfect set to express the poem’s haunting beauty. Or, a true Celtic violin could make it sound even more authentic:

Einaudi’s Piano Tribute to the Arctic

As the problem of global warming is growing more serious every year, various organizations worldwide are trying to draw people’s attention to this undeniably formidable matter and raise awareness in every way possible.

an Arctic iceberg

Thus, recently the famous Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi (known for music to films like The Intouchables, Black Swan, Doctor Zhivago series, music works like I Giorni, Divenire, Primavera and many others) was asked to become the voice for Greenpeace’s campaign for saving the Arctic.
To make the message to the world leaders more clear and visual, the renowned pianist was taken to the heart of a melting glacier in Norway and performed there on a specially built floating platform with a grand piano installed on it. For the event, Einaudi, the author of hundreds of music scores already, composed a special theme piece titled “Elegy for the Arctic”. As you can see in the video below, the music piece embraces the ambiance perfectly. We can even observe the ice crumbling helplessly behind the pianist’s back.

Of course, it’s only a symbolic campaign in a world where the race for money and natural resources surpasses the needs of the surrounding nature. However, I wish this powerful act in defense of the fragility of this unique ecosystem did have the planned effect on the countries that are most involved in the destruction of the Arctic ocean.

Porz Goret from Yan Tiersen’s Eusa

Even if you haven’t watched the French film Amelie (by the way, you should, it’s a wonderful work!), you have heard its music theme anyway. In case you never wondered who its composer is, here he is – Yann Tiersen.

French composer Yann Tiersen

I was glad to find out that he released a new ‘album’, as I find his piano pieces simply gorgeous, always rich in harmonies and so skillfully crafted into a poignant yet beautiful entity. I mentioned ‘album’, though it’s not quite an album. It’s a project that he called “Eusa”. Eusa is one of the names that can be used for composer’s home, the island of Ushant, or Ouessant, which is located near Brittany. Tiersen did a thorough work to present his favorite island by splitting it into special locations and dedicating a music piece to each of them. Thus, “Eusa” is built of 10 piano pieces each with a strong background. Tiersen not only composed a bright music description but included a GPS coordinate as well as a wonderful photo into each of the composition. This is how ‘the musical map’ of the little-known island was born. “Eusa” was released in form of a sheet music book with all the additional materials published with it.

The first piece Yann Tiersen shared with the public was the piano solo “Porz Goret”. The video of the author playing this composition you can see below, and those who would love to perform it themselves can get the piano sheet music here. “Porz Goret” is a longing and dreamy piece with perfect right-hand melody that drifts you away right away. It does tell a story of a little place, and a story of a man’s soul. According to Tiersen, his Eusa pieces also built a map of who he is.

Flight of the Bumblebee: How Fast a Performer Are You?

There are some music pieces that for one reason or another are picked as the field to set music records or break them. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of The Bumblebee from the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan is definitely one of them. First of all, for its musical structure and the 'record-suitable' rhythmic pattern.

In 2012, a young man called Daniel Himebauch decided to play the piece at the highest speed he was capable of on his guitar. Thus, instead of the original 170 beats per minute that the bumblebee was supposed to ‘fly’, the piece was performed at 1300 BPM! You can imagine what kind of sound is that, right? A piece hardly recognizable. But Daniel thought he could do better, and this year, in 2016, he beat his own record playing the same piece at 2000 BPM. You can see the process (all controlled and properly monitored) on the video below.

My question is – what’s your attitude to music records like that? I mean I can understand perfectly a desire of a human to be “The” in something: the highest, the strongest, the fastest. The curiosity to test one’s capabilities and to prove one can stand out. But somehow I feel sorry for the classical masterpieces. In a way, they lose their aesthetic value becoming some experimental material that’s attractive only because of its historic name and recognizability. What do you think?

Schubert’s Dream: Music and Prose

We know Franz Schubert as a very prolific composer who unfortunately didn’t live to 32. The author of hundreds of vocal works, 7 symphonies, operas, chamber music and piano compositions is now perhaps one of the most-performed composers, especially when it comes to his chamber music legacy. The other day I ran into the picture below and decided to track the meaning of the dream in Schubert’s works. What would the famous Austrian composer dream of?

Schubert's After-Dinner Dream

It turned out that the DREAM was something more than just the night’s idle pastime. We can meet the notion in at least four compositions by Schubert, both better-known like “Spring Dream” from the cycle Winterreise and the lied for voice and piano “Night and Dreams”, as well as lesser-popular compositions like the secular chorus “Life is a Dream” or the lied “The Dream”.

It is a frequent thing for musicians and composer to use the dream as a musical metaphor, I understand. However, I was surprised to find out about the existence of another work by Schubert that is not music. In 1822, he wrote a tale. It was a short story “My Dream” that, however, told a lot about the musical genius. Franz Schubert was known as a very vivid person, cheerful and open to people. But as the analysis of “My Dream” shows, he had a skeleton hidden deep in the cupboard. In the tale, composer speaks about his fears, about a dream where he had to leave his beloved homeland and forcefully stay far away from it for a certain time without the opportunity to come back. The story does have a happy ending as he makes it back home, happy and delighted. According to the specialists, this work of art brought to light some of the composer’s hidden fears and inner turmoil. He was, in fact, a very lonely person torn by anxiety and despair on the inside. And of that was masterfully masked by the outer outgoing behavior.

Of course, my little research may seem quite superficial but I’m convinced that dreaming did play a special role for the great composer, which got reflected in the nature of his music works in particular. Now on listening to things like Night and Dream, I envision a very different image in my mind...

Waltz "My Sweet and Tender Beast", Eugen Doga

Do you like waltzes?

My favorite part in them is that highest peak of drama when the melody goes from almost complete silence to the incredible storm of sound and emotion. That’s what can easily make my eyes wet for a second or two, and I don’t often cry from music.

This bright description was born mainly due to one composition that keeps inspiring me and warming my souls for quite a few years now. I am talking about the waltz “My Sweet and Tender Beast” composed by Eugen Doga, a popular Moldavian/Romanian composer who used to be very famous at the time of USSR. Well, he is famous now too but the point is that I might have never known about him (and this amazing waltz) if not by chance. And I’m glad that chance came up. During the long 40 years this waltz that was created for the movie “My Sweet and Tender Beast” has been around and people were charmed by its power. But I only learnt about it when UNESCO named this work the fourth musical masterpiece of the 20th century. That’s when Doga’s music opened up to me in all its beauty and near-perfection.

In case you, just like me are one of those rare people who still haven’t heard the work, here’s a chance for you to listen and get swept by it and here’s the piano score for those who would love to get inside the storm.

To me, that’s a piece perfect in times of both form and the emotional charge. Enjoy.

The Recorder Nowadays

The flute is something we all know and often hear of, including kids. But what about the recorder, the flute’s forerunner? Did it get somehow neglected because of its more popular ancestor? Let’s see.

Paul McCartney playing recorder

Extremely popular during the Baroque Era (up to the mid-18th century), the recorders could often be heard within the small instrumental groups (consorts). Translated from Italian as ‘sweet flute’, the recorder was King Henry VIII’s favourite instrument (he had 76 in his collection), and Shakespeare played the recorder to make some music to his famous “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Hamlet”. And that’s not mentioning the well-known Baroque composers who used the instrument in their masterpieces (Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, some of Vivaldi’s concerts). The recorder was perceived as a perfect instrument for imitating birds’ singing.

However, at a certain point, the recorder has almost lost all of its musical fame. And the situated did not change until the 20th century when it was gradually revived, so to say.

Luckily today the number of modern composers who write music for recorder has tangibly grown. It’s been proved that this little stick can be really helpful in practicing coordination, which made the recorder return to schools. Many popular artists are known to play the recorder – Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, James Dean, Dido, among others. Lesser-known composers do not forget to include it into their scores either:

I’m always glad when certain instruments that have almost been forgotten get back to life like that. And I do hope that recorder will still show us its true potential.

Claire de Lune On Marimbas? Why not!

Claire de Lune, how famous has this piece become since 1905! So many arrangements and recordings of Suite Bergamasque have since fought for becoming the most popular and successful. Many have heard the versions by Cailliet, Stokowski, Caplet, Tiomkin – and those are amazing works!

However, some of the interpretations remained aside and did not spread as broadly as the mentioned above. This fact does not make them any less intriguing and ear-pleasing. I have found a couple of really interesting arrangements of Claire de Lune for the most unexpected instruments like marimbas, recorder, vibraphone. And all are equally unique and noteworthy.

I have also learnt that Debussy’ close friend, French composer André Caplet, made his own orchestral version of the piece. And I must say it impressed me!

"Per aspera ad... Astor", dedication to Astor Piazzolla

The name of Astor Piazzolla is one of the first associations with the tango music. Hardly was there any composer who has done to this genre more than Astor. A revolutionary approach took tango as it was to an absolutely different level.

Astor Piazzolla playing bandoneon

Astor Piazzolla is known for adding to the traditional sound of tango the elements of Jazz and Classical Music. What appeared as a result of that fusion is often called ‘nuevo tango’ (‘new tango’), and it really did become something new. Moreover, the composer was also an extremely talented bandoneon player and he performed most of his works on that instrument, which made them even more exotic for that time.

I have come across a really beautiful dedication to the great tango composer. It is played in a duo of violin and piano (with piano obviously in the lead) and it’s got a perfect title – "Per aspera ad... Astor", highlighting the distance it takes to come at little a bit closer to the level of the virtuoso genius.

Brahms' Advanced "Nänie" for SATB and Orchestra

You won’t hear Brahms’ "Nänie" often. Have you ever heard it performed by a choir at all, by the way? Most of you probably haven’t and there is a simple explanation to that. It is very beautiful music piece, lyrical and deeply emotional, but the level of its difficulty makes it unpopular for choirs and orchestras. "Nänie" is one of the most difficult SATB pieces out there.

German classicist painter Anselm Feuerbach
(self-portrait)

Brahms composed it in 1881, deeply touched by the demise of his friend and Germany’ leading painter Anselm Feuerbach. Friedrich Schiller’s poem Nänie (‘nenia’ from Latin – ‘funeral song’) seemed to perfectly convey the composer’s emotions so he set it to music. As one of the poem’s sentences goes, ‘even the beauty must die’. Thus, Brahms expresses his lament on the inevitable death of everyone and everything.

Due to the complexity of the composition, there are not too many choirs that are experienced enough to be able to perform this piece brilliantly.

Beethoven's Fifth and 100 Drones

The Guinness World Records Book stores so many cases that would seem impossible if told you as stories by some unknown person. You could become the only one of the kind in basically every sphere of life – you just need to be unique, literally.

Music is also one of the ‘disciplines’ where Guinness Records were set many times already. Among such records you can found out about ‘a piece with most instruments used’ or ‘the fastest piano juggler’ or ‘the largest orchestra’ and many others impressive things in that sphere.

The video below is not exactly from the musical arena, rather from technology, but I still found it quite charming, the delivery I mean. The only musical thing in it is that an orchestra played live Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to accompany the show. Meanwhile, 100 drones flew up above the orchestra and were simultaneously putting up a coordinated show. Together with such a dramatic ‘sound effect’ the performance turned out to be quite bright and mesmerizing!

Big Violin for Little Kid

Do you remember your early-early childhood well?  When I was 3 years old I was playing with my favorite toys in the playground and was a most carefree kid. Those are some lovely yet quite scarce memories, and they are not in any way connected with music. Not at least with classical music and concert performances at high level with renowned musicians.

But for Akim Camara it’s all a different story. At the age of 3 he was at the center of all that. At this video the kid was exactly 3 years old. And see who he’s performing with and what he’s performing. The creator of the Johann Strauss Orchestra, Dutch conductor and violinist André Rieu is introducing the little Akim to the public. They are playing the Ferdinand Küchler’s Concertino in G Major for Violin and Piano, Op.11. And are playing is marvelously.

I have never been a strong supporter of the early-age music stars, for I’m afraid they are somehow deprived of the best childhood years intended for contemplating and absorbing this world without responsibility and concern. But I understand that sometimes their prodigy talent just can’t be hidden, ignored or ‘postponed’. Well, in that case, I’m wishing the best of luck to kids like Akim in their life and music career.

P.S. Today Akim is 16 and his interest in violin and professionalism only grew with years.