Under-recorded Scott Joplin

Today performers have more chances of getting famous fast, unlike composers who are sort of left in the backstage and whose names are not as often heard around. You’ll rather hear the “oh, you heard that new song by *performer*?” rather than “have you heard the new work by *composer* sung by *performer*?” Cases when composers get the world fame and are recognized by masses of people worldwide are pretty rare. Especially when it comes to

a) recordings
b) conducting

Let’s take America. Such a large country… but the recording priority has been mostly spread between just… 5 names. Five great, talented, outstanding but... few composers: Ives, Barber, Bernstein, Gershwin, Copland. Of course, that’s a very rough distribution but it is basically so. Those are the names that appear on recordings most and whose works are most of all included in conductors’ repertoire.

On the other hand, there are others, slightly overlooked but no less important. But the tradition has been formed in such a way that their names are skipped somehow. And today, I’d like to mark one name – Scott Joplan. Yes, you’d say he’s a fairly well-known composer. But the fame he deserves should have been much bigger in fact – bigger AND embodied in manifold original recordings. Imho. “The King of Ragtime” wrote 44 ragtime pieces, a ballet and 2 operas. But just a few of them received a quality record for future generations. Here, below, is composer’s most influential piece “Maple Leaf Rag” performed by composer himself.

Ave Maria for Piano-Cello Duet

It’s quite interesting when music pieces have the ability to migrate from one genre to another within centuries. And this migration is especially curious when the move happens between two opposite genres such as secular music and church music. In this case, church music is more often to be ‘softened’ for people than the pop music ‘churchilized’ for liturgical services.

Franz Schubert’s setting for Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake” was not supposed to get into church when composed. But it did. Not at once, of course, and not on church’s order. The composer was so happy to receive quite a sizeable amount of money for this work (20 pounds sterling!) that thought that was the peak of it. Only by chance of destiny was the holy Latin “Ave Maria” text put on Schubert’s “Lady” by some unknown musician. Since then this duet has been working pretty well.

As composer’s most popular work, Ave Maria was and still is arranged a lot for different instrumentation – piano, violin, cello, organ, choir, flute, trumpet, saxophone and others. Franz Liszt himself wrote three arrangements for it. But choosing between Ave Maria’s versions, I personally opt for the duet of cello and piano. That’s one curious arrangement like that by Viktor Dick: “Ave Maria, Cello and Piano, B flat major” – a lovely sounding! On video another lovely performance by the young Rice brothers, also in my favorite instrumentation.

Mussorgsky’s “Pictures” in unique arrangement

Music composed from personal experience is always way more emotional and touching. And if this experience is a sad, or even tragic, the power of the piece becomes undeniable.

Such was the mournful experience Modest Mussorgsky had to come over – the loss of a close friend, Russian painter Victor Hartmann who shared composer's passion for Russian art and died at an early age of 39. Mussorgsky was so attached to this person that commemorated his creative work in his music. “Pictures at an Exhibition” were composed based on Hartmann’s paintings put on exhibition after his death.

Chicks Sketch for Trilby Ballet. V. Hartmann

Paris Catacombs. V. Hartmann

The Poor Jew. V. Hartmann

The suite consists of 10 movements that depict Mussorgsky’s vision of the 10 relative drawings. Imbued with personal emotional experience, the suite soon became a showwork for all great pianists to follow. It’s been arranged, performed and recorded many times (Maurice Ravel’s version being the most popular) but there are interpretations that are still worth having a listen. My favorite arrangement of “Pictures at an Exhibition” is written for a string orchestra by Arkadi Troitsky. The video features the suite performed by the National Philarmonic of Russia.

Cesar Cui’s Cat

Although being a very versatile person – he used to be composer, teacher, music critic, army specialist – this music character is associated with something different. At the very first mention knowing musicians will most likely relate his surname to The Mighty Five, the famous composers’ circle a member of which he was. Composing was only a part of Cesar Cui’s life and its fruit caused different reactions among colleague-composers and the public. Some outstanding composers and friends like Rimsky-Korsakov notably disparaged his music-writing skills actually. But one couldn't help but notice the deep love for Russia in most of Cui’s compositions, Alexander Pushkin apparently being composer’s favorite Russian poet. 

Mostly loved for his art-songs, Cui has also a lot of operas written. They all in one way or another touch Russian culture and bear a serious analytical character. However, there was completely different side to that. On the other hand, Cui was so much into the world of children’s concerns. His short fairy-tale opera “Puss in Boots” is pretty known today in Russian the way it was introduced there during Soviet times. However, the original version of the opera was premiered in Rome much earlier – in 1915, and exactly that rare opera version was what has become loved in a relatively narrow circle – the former Eastern Germany.

Rubinstein’s Demon

Anton Rubinstein, the celebrated Russian composer, pianist-virtuoso, conductor, educator and in general one of the key figures in the culture of Russia, composed an avalanche of music masterpieces that are widely performed at the world music stage up to now. Among them, the 20 great operas, some of which are well-known today but not so recognized when written. One of them, as surprising as it may seem, is The Demon, premiered in 1871. When the composition was ready Rubinstein gathered the so-called The Five that consisted of Mussorgsky, Cui, Stasov, Rimsky-Korsakov for a private listening. But the critics gave it a very low assessment. Moreover, about 100 opera performances were also evaluated quite unfavorably being called old-fashioned. The music West didn’t accept it at all, so the opera was not a rarity only in Russia. Now The Demon is regarded differently, it may even be considered Rubinstein’s most popular opera. In such a way, it took this wonderful work based on Lermontov’s poem much more than a dozen years to become deservedly acknowledged.