Jaren Hinckley

TITLE: Armonia per un tempio della note (Harmony for a Temple of the Night)

It’s Antonio Salieri’s birthday today!  Salieri was born in Legnago, Italy on August 18, 1750, but spent the majority of his career in Vienna, Austria.  That would make him 263 years old today!  Happy Birthday, Salieri!

You might be somewhat familiar with his name if you have seen the film (or play) Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, in which he is portrayed as a bitter, jealous, single man, tormented throughout his life by Mozart’s fame and genius. In reality, he was married, happy, quite famous as a composer, and taught music lessons to Mozart’s son.  In fact, the only evidence of animosity between Mozart and Salieri is that Mozart was jealous of Salieri getting all the top jobs.  But when it comes right down to it, all their meetings were cordial and even friendly.  They even wrote a piece of music together (now lost).

Over the course of his career, Salieri taught composition lessons to many students who later became successful composers, including Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Liszt.  No slouch, this Salieri…

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE: a lovely, slow-tempo single-movement piece for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, and two horns.  I love the blended tone color of this particular combination of instruments.  It’s rich and lovely, like an organ, but better (no offense, organists).

I found a lovely live recording on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDDeAE1GMXc

HIGHLIGHT: The fact that there are so many melodically interesting things given to the clarinet.

When I was in Vienna in April of 2012, I spent the better part of a day in the Zentral Friedhof (Main Cemetery) tracking down graves of famous composers.  Here are two photos of Salieri’s grave.  One, a close-up of the plaque and the other, the entire monument with me popping out from behind.

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY SALIERI:  A lot, but now that I’ve heard this lovely piece, I’m much more inclined to seek out more.