Jaren Hinckley

(8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957)

 

TITLE: Symphony #1 in E minor, op. 39

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:  This is the first symphony by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Despite it being pretty well-revered in classical music society, I have never really listened to it in its entirety until today. I am a professional clarinetist by trade, so my main familiarity with this symphony is for the clarinet excerpts from movement III that show up on orchestral auditions every so often.

 

This symphony is in four movements, a format that became popular in the Classical Era and persists—for the most part—to the present day. Sibelius also seems to be using classical structure and forms for each of his movements even though he wrote this symphony on the very cusp of the 20^th century.  First movement is in sonata form (with a slow introduction); second movement is slow, pretty, and in variation form; third movement is a scherzo; and the fourth movement is the only one that strays from Classical era stricture with a freer sense of form—more through-composed than anything.

 

HIGHLIGHT: For me, the highlight is most definitely the first movement. The very first thing you hear is a long beautiful clarinet solo—entirely unaccompanied. Here’s a link to a recorded concert performance of the work that I found on YouTube. Once you get past the applause as the conductor enters the stage, the clarinet solo begins at 0:51. Listen from 0:51 to 2:10 for the entirety of the opening clarinet solo.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBBWvzHuC1k

 

Now listen to the first first five or six notes again…

 

And NOW listen to the first five or six notes of THIS video of a very familiar theme from the Godfather movies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBW2LcakfMo

 

Sound familiar? Hmmm…I wonder if perhaps the composer of the music for the Godfather movies—Nino Rota—was familiar with Sibelius Symphony #1…

Rota was a classical composer himself so it would make sense that he was familiar with many of the great works of other composers. And, since Rota was born in 1911 and Sibelius dies in 1957, they were contemporaries…

 

The other thing I love about the first movement is the drama. When the clarinet solo ends and the violins violently burst into action at 2:10. I love the build up from 3:10 to 3:45-ish. I love the use of the brass in such a dramatic fashion throughout. At 4:07 it’s as if we were dropped into a winter wonderland (maybe I’m being influenced in that image by the fact that we got six inches of snowfall last night!).  And the tempo increase starting at 10:40 leading up to the brass at 11:09 reminds me—at least a little of Beethoven’s 9^th.

 

I highly recommend getting to know this symphony!  I plan to listen to many more of his works as I continue this project of listening to everything by the great composers.

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY SIBELIUS?:

Well, aside from his seven other symphonies, he composed a ton of symphonic suites, tone poems, incidental music, choral music, art songs, etc.  This is going to take me a while!

 

 

(1866-1925)

 

A few years ago I researched the life and works of Erik Satie.  Thus began my fascination with this strange, delightful, quirky, happy, odd man.  In my earlier post on Satie, I focused on his most famous work “Gymnopedie #1.”  This time I thought I’d focus on one of his earliest works, a set of character pieces—Ogives.

 

TITLE: Ogives

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE: This is a set of character pieces, or in other words, a set of  relatively short pieces for solo piano.  What is an ogive?  (pronounced oh-jive, or in French, oh-zheev). Depending on what dictionary you refer to, it means either something mathematical (cumulative frequency graph), but the meaning I think is most likely the one Satie intended is an architectural term.  This is an ogive:

I feel quite confident in my assumption because Satie was highly religious and loved the architecture of Notre Dame cathedral.  Here are some ogives in Notre Dame (on the ceiling…the criss-crossing arches):

In addition, Satie was fascinated with medieval plainchant at this time in his life.

Here’s a brief example of the type of plainchant I am referring to:

 

 

 

Now listen to his Ogive #1 and I think you will be able to envision the architecture as well as hear the influence of medieval plainchant.  It begins with a slow unison (in octaves) melody very reminiscent of plainchant.  Then it bursts into large grand chords based on the simple opening melody.  I believe this chordal version of the opening melody is intended to represent the architecture.

 

Ogive #1

It’s beautiful in its simplicity, no?

As you watched that video, perhaps you also noticed that he did not use any barlines at all, and there was no meter indicated.  These choices appear to be another link to medieval plainchant; plainchant also does not use meter or barlines.

 

He wrote four of these and they all share the same characteristics.  They start with a simple melody in octaves (reminiscent of plainchant) and then he repeats that phrase with a rich harmony in both hands and a loud volume, then it repeats again in a different harmonization at a soft volume and then the loud one repeats again. Same phrase four times.  If you found that intriguing, you should listen to the others in the set:

 

Ogive #2

 

Ogive #3

 

Ogive #4 (dedicated to his younger brother, Conrad)

 

What INFLUENCE did these pieces have on music? Well, Debussy and Ravel heard Satie’s early works performed in various trendy clubs, including the Ogives and the Gymnopedies, and many believe that this led Debussy and Ravel directly into the style of composition for which they are known—Impressionism.  Here’s a piece of impressionist music by Debussy—La Cathedrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral).  As you listen, pay attention to see if you can hear the influence of Satie’s Ogives.  Even if you only listen to the first 30 seconds, I think you’ll notice it.

 

 

If THAT’s not related in some way to the Ogives, I don’t know what is.  I mean, it even has cathedral in the title.
Perhaps I’m going too far with this, but…yeah, I’m just going to say it:

If not for Satie, we wouldn’t have Impressionist music…AMAZING!

 

HIGHLIGHT: For me, the highlight is the sacred simplicity of this work.  The minimalist repetitions…Hey, maybe we wouldn’t have minimalism without Satie!

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY SATIE?: A bunch but I can do it.

 

(1866-1925)

 

I recently researched the life and works of Erik Satie.  He was a fascinating, confusing, whimsical, serious man.  Satie was fairly famous in his lifetime. He had numbers of devoted fans and followers. Even Claude Debussy, one of the most influential composers at the time, orchestrated Satie’s most famous work, adding to his popularity. After Satie’s death, his fame waned for over twenty years. It was not until the late 1940’s, when a new biography about his life and music revived interest in his works, particularly in the UK and the USA. In the 1950’s and 60’s, his works influenced popular music and film scores. He is best known for the piece I’m focusing on in this blog post.  Even if the title doesn’t ring any bells to you, I’d be willing to be that you have heard this piece before.

 

TITLE: Gymnopedie #1

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE: This is a character piece, or in other words, a relatively short piece for solo piano.  As with other works by Satie, the title of this piece may very well be a made-up word.  Satie did not seem to imply that this work is programmatic at all.  He simply liked the sound of the word “gymnopedie.”

Here it is:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CUhakq1q-I&index=1&list=PLm-T8aAINJXpDkuEel7fOExkN9XUqR0Ak

 

One of the things I love about this work is the unexpected forte.  Here’s the first few lines of the piece:

 

Note the “f” indication on the 2^nd line (it stands for forte which means LOUD).  Here’s how most people perform it:

 

 

Quite a subtle difference.

 

And here’s how it should be performed:

Now that’s a forte!

 

As mentioned earlier, Debussy orchestrated this work because he was so impressed with Satie’s skill.  In fact, this and one other Gymnopedie are the ONLY works by another composer that Debussy orchestrated.  Here is Debussy’s orchestration of Satie’s simple piano work. I really think it is interesting to hear which instruments Debussy used, particularly his addition of the cymbal within the first few seconds and the use of the horn to provide the fortes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUlZylqILKI&pbjreload=10
As a side note, the rock group Blood, Sweat and Tears won the Album of the Year Grammy Award in 1970 for their self-titled album on which was a single that won the Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance Grammy award.  The name of that single?  Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie.  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6f_uj6qCFM

 

Nice, but I much prefer the original.

 

HIGHLIGHT: For me, the highlight is the simplicity of this work.  The haunting melody over an extremely simple bass line.  It almost sounds like a ground bass, but it is not.  It changes pitches enough over the course of the piece that it can’t be considered a true ground bass.

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY SATIE?: Not as much as you would assume.  He actually wrote relatively little.  I may have already listened to his complete oeuvre, but I’ll not consider myself “done” until I’ve created blog posts for each of his works.

I already did a post about Respighi’s “The Fountains of Rome” a few years ago after returning from a brief trip to Rome.  But now that I have re-visited Rome, I was able to ACTUALLY visit two of the fountains that I have never seen previously.  This is the one that inspired the first movement–it is located just a short walk from the front of the Galleria Borghese in the Villa Borghese park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6P0GgIyEJQ&feature=youtu.be

And here’s a link to a video of the fountain that inspired the 2nd movement–Triton Fountain on the Piazza Barberini.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcY3pSB34cM&feature=youtu.be

As for the third movement, well, the Trevi Fountain is surrounded by scaffolding due to a restoration project.  But I took a short video of it anyway.  Probably NOT what inspired Respighi.

 

watch?v=bu0LmBiBp_4&feature=youtu.be

And here’s an awkward selfie of me with the fountain that inspired the fourth movement.  It’s not much to look at, but imagine it at dusk (which, as you can sort of tell in the photo, is just starting to occur), ignore the sounds of traffic and the calls of vendors from the nearby Spanish Steps…and it comes to life in the way Respighi intended.

(1900-1950)

 

TITLE:  Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny)

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:

This is a nihilistic opera.  In a nutshell, it is about some people who decide to build a new city (sort of like Las Vegas) where people can drink and party and gamble.  It grows in popularity and becomes quite the city, then, when a natural disaster threatens it, some of the citizens pray and others state that there is no God.  When the threat is over, most of the people decide that life is short and there is no God, so they should just party even more.  (Note: to any purists reading this very haphazard summary, I realize I may be a bit off, but that’s the gist of it.)

 

Despite the storyline, it’s got some great music and when I was in Vienna a few years ago, I went to see numerous productions at the Staatsoper but this was my favorite one (in terms of theatrical interest/quality of production/overall effect); a number of our students also went and one of them listed it as his favorite as well.

 

My favorite elements within this opera are the unique instruments included in the orchestra, such as the banjo.  Here is a cool moment in the opening number in which the banjo first becomes apparent:

 

 

And continuing on from that, jazzy trumpets join in:

 

 

HIGHLIGHT:  The Alabama Song—This is sung by a madame of sorts and her fellow prostitutes as they express their life goals—drinking, money, and men.  It is one of two songs in the opera that are sung in English while the rest is in German.

Here’s the beginning of it, as performed by one opera company:

 

 

And here’s the second verse, performed by a different opera company:

 

 

Here’s a YouTube link of the whole song:

 

 

When I first saw this opera, the Alabama Song was my instant favorite.  In fact, when I got back to our apartment (in Vienna) I got online to find other versions of it and discovered that it has become a favorite of cabaret singers and pop singers.

 

Here’s a brief excerpt from a version by Marianne Faithful

 

 

And here’s a YouTube link to the best cover of this tune (in my opinion).  It’s a cover by The Doors.

 

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY WEILL?: A bunch.  I had seen his best-known theatre piece—“The Three-Penny Opera”—when I was an undergrad, but I hadn’t heard a lot of his classical works until I saw “Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.”

(1899-1963)

 

Listen to this sound:

 

 

There is something so chilling about that sound…  the sound of the guillotine.

 

This is from a certain recording of one of my favorite pieces of music.  Poulenc is one of those composers who is almost always in my “top ten favorite composers” list.  Part of the reason for that is the final scene of his best-known opera “Dialogues des Carmélites.”  I’ve never seen this opera live, but I just listened to it from start to finish (over the course of several days) and I loved it.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.

 

TITLE:  Dialogues of the Carmelites

 

The basic story line is as follows:

During the French Revolution, an aristocratic young woman decides to become a Carmelite nun (Sister Blanche) because she believes she will be safer there than in her home, despite the fact that the revolutionaries are not only anti-nobility, but are also anti-cleric.  The mother Superior explains to Blanche that she is not necessarily out of danger by joining the holy order.  But Blanche feels that she is in the right place.  As the revolution escalates, the nuns realize that they are indeed in danger and they decide to take a pledge of martyrdom (as opposed to hiding).  They all take the pledge, but Blanche runs away and takes a job as a servant (again, to hide).  The nuns are all arrested and condemned to death.  At the execution, the nuns are executed one by one.  At the last minute, Blanche shows up and takes her place with the nuns.  As she climbs up onto the scaffold, she sings the Catholic hymn traditionally used when taking vows in a religious community and offering her life to God.

 

HIGHLIGHT:  The final scene, of course.  I find the faith of the nuns inspiring, especially in the face of certain death.  And musically, it is amazing.  You hear the nuns begin to sing the “Salve Regina” as they, one by one, climb the scaffold to face the guillotine.  Each time the guillotine falls, one less voice is heard.  The choir gets smaller and smaller until only a few nuns are left, then two, then Blanche.  Depending on the recording, the effect is quite harrowing, especially if they include a convincing “blade” sound.

Here are some links to YouTube videos that are good (for different reasons):

 

In this one I really like the singers voices.  Plus, I think the stylized deaths are effective (but I prefer to see a little more literal interpretations).  Start it at about 2:50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ubBODy4N0

 

This one is definitely more literal in its depiction, the sound effect is good, but the light effect is not great.  Start it at 3:24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOK3aXzMpc
There are a few full length versions of the opera, but none had English subtitles.

 

Take a listen!  It’s totally worth it.  (My kids get mad at me when I play it in the car.  Last time I started it, one of them said, “Dad, I don’t want to hear a bunch of nuns get killed!”)

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY POULENC?:  Tons, but, since he’s in my top ten list of favorite composers, I’m sure I’ll succeed at listening to them all.

 

 

(1923-2006)

 

György Ligeti was born in Transylvania on May 28, 1923.  So…Happy Birthday, Ligeti! If he were alive today, he’d be 91.

 

Ligeti is best known for his unusual effects like this (from a piece called “Lux Aeterna”):

 

 

Of this type of music, he said:  “My idea was that instead of tension-resolution, dissonance-consonance, and other such pairs of opposition in traditional tonal music, I would contrast ‘mistiness’ with passages of ‘clearing up.’”

 

Here’s another example of this type of music, from his piece for orchestra entitled “Atmospheres.”

 

As a woodwind player, I first became acquainted with the music of Ligeti through his most-played wind quintet piece—

TITLE: Six Bagatelles

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:

This piece (composed about ten years before “Atmospheres” and “Lux Aeterna”) does not feature his “mistiness moving towards clearing up;” instead, it’s more traditional in terms of tone color usage.  However, the way he uses the tone colors of the wind quintet is quite interesting. Sometimes you forget that you’re listening to a mere five instruments.

 

Here is a link to a fantastic YouTube video of a group that understands the importance of appearance when performing.  Note, they are standing, they are active, they are not using music stands, they are choreographed—it is extremely engaging and exciting to watch.

I. Allegro con spirito (fast with spirit!)

This movement is fast and virtuosic and JUST about dissonant enough to offend the ear (if you abhor any sense of dissonance) but not quite dissonant enough to turn the average listener away.

II. Rubato. Lamentoso.

2^nd movement starts at 1:34 in the video.    Note at the ending we get a hint of what he achieved with his later works when the last dissonant chord “clears up” into a major chord.

III. Allegro grazioso

 

3^rd movement starts at 4:34 in video.  Note that the clarinet and bassoon begin by passing off septuplets (seven notes to a beat) while a lovely, almost Celtic-sounding melody floats on top.  The instruments switch roles here and there so that the overall effect is almost orchestral.  One of my favorite movements to listen to (Note: I said “listen to”; I don’t enjoy playing it—those septuplets are deadly).

 

IV. Presto ruvido

 

4^th movement begins at 6:54 in the video – fast and very difficult to put together as a group.  Every so often Ligeti changes the meter so that a single sixteenth note will be left out which means everyone has to be superb at changing meters, or very adept at “skipping” a note.

 

V. Adagio. Mesto – Belá Bartók in memoriam

 

5^th movement begins at 8:02 in the video – very much like a funeral march.

 

VI. Molto vivace. Capriccioso

 

Final movement begins at 10:24 in the video – another extremely difficult and fast movement for a group to put together.  Overall this is an astounding piece and the group in this video is amazing.

 

HIGHLIGHT:  As I mentioned above, I’m quite fond of the third movement.

 

As you may know about me, I enjoy taking photos of famous composers’ graves, statues, homes, etc.  And usually I like to be seen popping out from behind the tombstone in my photos.  That might sound irreverent or disrespectful, but I prefer to think of it as taking a candid playful photo with a friend.

 

When I first saw Ligeti’s grave in Vienna, Austria, I wasn’t sure how to hide behind the tombstone.  Here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I think I managed quite nicely.

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY LIGETI?:  A lot, but I’ll do it!

 

(1685-1759)

 

A few weeks ago was Easter, so I guess the resurrection was on my mind.  In addition, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had just broadcast a pretty great complete performance of Handel’s “Messiah.”  So I decided to check out another oratorio by Handel that he wrote earlier in his career.

 

TITLE: La Resurezzione

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:  This is one of Handel’s many oratorios (the most famous of them—“Messiah”—seems to have eclipsed all his other oratorios).  It is in Italian, which is already noteworthy since Handel spoke German and his best-known work is in English. This was the 2^nd oratorio Handel composed, written in 1708 when he was 23 years old.

This oratorio depicts the events occurring between, and including, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The characters in the oratorio are Lucifer (bass), Mary Magdalene (soprano), an Angel (soprano), St John the Evangelist (tenor), and St Mary Cleophas (alto).

 

There is a really cool YouTube video of the entire work (and if you click on the “See More” tab underneath the video, you’ll see a listing of all the individual sections within the oratorio with timings).  It appears to be using period instruments (recorders, gambas, etc.)

Sadly, this video does not have subtitles, but who needs ‘em.  Just sit back and enjoy the music.  It’s pretty astounding.  Here’s the link for the video:

 

 

And if you like to follow along with the score, try this link:

 

http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/0/0c/IMSLP18901-PMLP44669-HG_Band_39.pdf

 

It opens with an overture that features quite a bit of imitative polyphony and there are moments in it that sound like Vivaldi (but maybe I’m just thinking that way, since the oratorio is in Italian), but there are also definite moments that sound very much like Handel.

 

The first aria is quite amazing; here’s just a brief clip:

If you liked that, you’ve got to watch the entire aria.  Use the YouTube video link I provided above; start the video at 4:45.  She sings the extremely fast melismas effortlessly and when the da capo occurs (at 7:30) she sings the same melismas AND she improvises extra notes, different melodies—it’s great.  She’s great.  Seriously, watch this number, then continue to watch the entire oratorio. It’s worth it.

 

HIGHLIGHT:

One of my favorite arias in this oratorio is sung by Mary Magdalene.  Here is the English translation of the words:

 

Fold thy wings, and o’er my eyes fly not, unwelcome sleep!

If thou wouldst presume to dry my tears of sorrow let me first weep as full a stream as that shed by my God in blood when He died for me.

 

It’s a lovely message of the atonement that Christ undertook for us all.

 

So here is the first A section (follow along with the score—link above; p. 18 in the score/p. 36 in the pdf)

 

And here’s the second A section.  In the Baroque Era, it was important for the singer to improvise extra notes, ornamentations, trills, runs, etc. during the second A section.  In this example, she doesn’t do much (you can follow along with the score again to see what she DOES add);

 

She didn’t do much beyond a few tiny little ornaments/grace notes.  But then I found another recording in which the singer does a LOT with the second A section.  Check it out (and follow along with the score to see how much she adds!).

Amazingly cool!  If you’d like to hear a third version, check out the YouTube link (above) at 22:53.  This performance is at a faster tempo and she does do some cool improvising on the 2nd A section.

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY HANDEL?  Oh my, tons.  But I’ll do it!

(1881-1945)

 

TITLE: The Wooden Prince

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:  This is a short ballet (about an hour) with a fairly normal fairy-tale story.  Here it is: while walking through the forest a handsome prince spies a princess dancing and falls in love.  A fairy nearby doesn’t want him to fall in love with the princess, so she causes the various parts of the forest to come to life—trees, the river, etc.—to convince the prince to stay. When the prince can’t get the princess’s attention, he builds a wooden dummy that looks like him.  It comes to life and she falls in love with it.  Then it breaks and she sees the real prince, who is sad that she fell in love with the dummy and not him.  She consoles him and the ballet ends with the two of them falling in love.

 

Yep, it’s a tad odd.  But when you think about it, it’s not outside the realm of normal fairy tale weirdness either.

 

In the “Dance of the Waves” section, there is a moment where the saxophone plays a soloistic role (something relatively rare in classical music).  Most professional orchestras don’t even bother to keep a saxophonist on their roster—they just hire them as needed–that’s how rare saxes show up in classical music.

Here’s the part featuring alto sax and tenor sax in octaves:

 

 

I also enjoyed the “Dance of the Princess and the Wooden Prince.”  I enjoy the rapidly changing moods throughout.  Here’s an excerpt (you’ll hear at least five or six different themes/moods):

 

 

The opening of that excerpt reminded me of another ballet—“Gayaneh” by an Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian.  See what you think…This excerpt first plays the part from Bartok’s ballet, then Khachaturian’s, then back and forth one more time.

 

 

Hmmm…I wonder which one came first?

 

HIGHLIGHT:  For me, the opening few minutes are enchanting and magical.  Then again, perhaps I always feel that way with any quality piece of music when I’m listening to it for the first time.  In this case, the hushed strings, plucked harp chords, and mellow trombone solo, make me feel as though I’m right there in the enchanted forest. Here’s an excerpt:

 

 

The music is so lovely throughout, I’m not sure why this isn’t performed more frequently.  Seek it out and listen to the entire thing.

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY Bartók?: a lot, but I’ll do it!

 

(1899-1963)

 

Happy Birthday, Francis Poulenc!  Born 115 years ago today!

 

I’m a huge Poulenc fan.  Here I am at his grave in Paris.

 

His slow movements often bring me to tears because there’s such a strong sense of melancholy and loss or joy and love.  His fast movements are shocking and filled with energy.  When I was a young player first learning Poulenc’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, I found it dissonant and jarring, but exciting.  Now it remains one of my favorite pieces for clarinet, period!  However, I have to say that my favorite work by Poulenc is his…

 

TITLE: Sonata for Oboe and Piano.

 

Here’s a link to the entire work:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY1j_DJDOf8

 

Even if you only listen to the first 60 seconds or so, I predict you’ll hear the immense beauty in this work.

 

The fast and exciting 2^nd movement begins at 5:09.

 

HIGHLIGHT:  For me the opening of the first movement is the highlight.  I melt upon hearing it every time.  The other highlight is the third movement.  Skip ahead to 9:05 on the YouTube clip and listen to the first 60 seconds and hopefully you will weep with joy.

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY POULENC?:  Tons, but, since he’s in my top ten list of favorite composers, I’m sure I’ll succeed at listening to them all.