Looking through all of my past posts, I was very surprised to see that I had neglected one of my favourite Romantic composers: Frederic Chopin. Chopin is best known not only as a composer, but as a virtuosic pianist. Because of his talent - and the way he used it to create intricacy in his compositions - it was inevitable that Chopin's piano works would become some of the most loved pieces in the repertoire for the piano. Moreover, he is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music.
Chopin's love of the piano is obvious from the fact that most of his works are for piano, and any additional compositions at least feature the instrument. However, it is not only the current pianists of the world that appreciate his work, but also his contemporaries such as Schumann and Liszt, who described him as a: "gentle, harmonious genius". Some of Chopin's most well-known works include the 'Revolutionary Etude', the 'Minute Waltz' and the third movement of his Funeral March.
Arthur Rubinstein 1887 - 1982
I came across this piece whilst looking through my collection of piano music, and, after listening to a recording by renowned pianist Arthur Rubinstein, I completely fell in love with it. Typical of most of Chopin's Nocturnes, this work carries a distinctive melody in the right hand, which is one of the most important features of the whole piece. As well as this, Chopin pairs his effortless melody line with an accompaniment of broken chords to sustain rhythm and movement underneath the sometimes confusing and unexpected cross-rhythms of the melody. Finally, Chopin emphasises a need for the sustain pedal, which he believed emphasised the emotional expression of the music. It is clear that Chopin's Nocturnes made a lasting effect on the Romantic period, as they influenced the music of other Romantic composers such as Brahms, Wagner and Mendelssohn. One particularly obvious influence from this Nocturne is the similarity that the beginning has with Liszt's Consolation in Db major - have a listen here and see if you can spot the difference!
This recording is performed by one of the most incredible pianists of all time: Arthur Rubinstein. Not only is he considered to be one of the greatest Classical pianists of the twentieth century, but many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of his time - and, at the time of his death, the New York Times said: "Chopin is his speciality".
And now for something completely different! Recently I asked my piano teacher if I could try looking at something a bit more unusual and fun, and he immediately suggested Aaron Copland's 'The Cat and the Mouse' for solo piano.
Aaron Copland 1900 - 1990
Copland was an American composer and teacher, often referred to as 'the dean of American composers'. He is best known for his early works written in the 30s and 40s such as 'Billy the kid' and 'Rodeo'. Copland said that his earliest influences were Chopin, Debussy and Verdi. Despite his fascination with the new and exciting styles of the impressionistic composers such as Debussy and Scriabin, because avant-garde sheet music was not only difficult to come by - but also incredibly expensive - it limited the musical influences that he could gain from their works. However, Copland didn't forget the true pioneers of music, as he appreciated and admired the works of Bach, Mozart and Palestrina - even stating that the perfect piece of music would 'combine Mozart's spontaneity and refinement with Palestrina's purity and Bach's profundity'.
Tom and Jerry
For me, Copland was living at the peak of musical discovery, as he was surrounded by Ravel, Poulenc, Satie and Debussy, as well as Webern, Berg and Bartok. It was these more experimental composers that gave Copland the imagination to create his more unusual pieces such as 'The Cat and the Mouse' - he especially admired Schoenberg and his creation of the twelve tone system, even trying to adapt it to his own style. Despite this, Copland named Stravinsky as his hero, and his favourite 20th century composer. With all of these influences - paired with his love of jazz - Copland was able to create truly fascinating music.
'The Cat and the Mouse' was in fact Copland's first published work, and is a piano piece based on the fable by Jean de la Fontaine about the difference between the young and confident mouse, with the old and pitiful cat. When I first heard the piece, I immediately thought of the famous animation 'Tom & Jerry' which is famous for its literal music to mimic the two characters running into things, falling of surfaces and basically terrorising each other. This is obvious immediately as the sounds of piano glissandi and other effects paint a picture of a cat and a mouse running around after each other. As well as this, there is the obvious use of pitch to determine the difference between the lower tones of the cat, and the high-pitched twinkling of the mouse. Moreover, the tonal and rhythmic influences are evident from Copland's use of contrasting colour in pitch, as well as dissonant harmonies and unexpected chordal progressions.
On Tuesday evening, I arrived back from my school Choir Tour to Slovenia and Northern Italy. The tour is an annual event, however this year's was sadly my last as I'm off to university in October! We enjoyed the same activities that we do every year such as singing in incredible buildings like St Mark's in Venice, eating the local food (endless amounts of pasta and pizza) and - of course - spending a considerable amount of time on a coach with the rest of the choir: 45 children and 7 adults (along with our very patient tour guide and coach driver). As anyone who has been on long journeys will know, time goes quicker when you have an activity to pass the time. For us, this meant rattling through everybody's collections of classical music and playing 'name that tune'. During this, I came across the music for a ballet that I have always loved, yet had somehow forgotten about as it isn't part of my own collection of music: The Nutcracker.
'The Nutcracker' is a two-act ballet composed by Tchaikovsky, and premiered in 1982. Although the ballet itself was not a roaring success when it first opened, the music definitely was, and is one of Tchaikovsky's most famous works to this day, including the music for 'Sleeping Beauty' which was the reason Tchaikovsky was commissioned to compose for 'The Nutcracker' in the first place. While listening to several different movements of the ballet on a friend's ipod, I remembered where I had first heard the music: Disney's 'Fantasia'.
For anyone who doesn't know the 1940s film, 'Fantasia' is a production by Disney that incorporates the greatest classical works from various periods and sets them to suitable animations. Unfortunately, the release of the movie put off previous Disney fans who believed the movie to be too 'high-brow' because of its inclusion of classical music. However, in my opinion, I believe it to be one of the most original animations out there, and demonstrates the power of creativity and interpretation. Here is Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, set to the images of what the Disney animators saw when they heard the music:
For today's post, I wanted to share a video of the close harmony group that I direct along with some of the other members. On Tuesday, I performed at my last ever school concert, and it was unexpectedly quite emotional to think that I wouldn't be doing the same thing next year. We decided to name our group: 'Vocalicity' as we were sick of calling ourselves the: 'Emanuel School Close Harmony Group' which, I'm sure you'll agree, doesn't have much of a ring to it. The reason I love this group so much is because it is created and directed by students. Despite there being varied ages from 15-18, we are all good friends, and being in a group together has in fact pulled us closer together. At so many school concerts these days, the end of the concerts are filled with various speeches thanking the horn teacher, or the piano teacher, or the singing teacher. However, for us, there is a much bigger sense of achievement because we have no teacher to help us, merely a huge interest in all kinds ofvocal music, and a willingness to sing to the best of our abilities. Having sung with them for the last two years, I feel a great sense of sadness knowing that next year I will no longer be part of it. However - being the oldest in the group - I also feel so proud of all the members of Vocalicity for sharing my passion for classical music, and for gaining true friendship out of it as well. As well as that, we've sung with internationally renowned group Voces8, as well as singing in prestigious venues around London such as Fortnum & Masons, and St John's, Smith Square. As I'm sure you would have guessed, working with a group of 10 teenagers isn't always easy as there is a lot of gossipping, chatting and texting going on, but it also has advantages such as creativity, energy and most of all: very varied opinions. For instance, some of us have a passion for the Renaissance era, some for Polyphony, and some for more modern styles and composers such as Gershwin and Leighton. But, that's what makes our rehearsals more interesting, and our performances more inventive. Therefore, I dedicate this post to the members of Vocalicity to say well done for all the hard work, thank you for the memories, and goodbye - for now!
