Calling all followers!

Dear all, I have started a new blog (in addition to this, so don't stop reading!) Please have a look - it's slightly more personal, but still in keeping with my favourite topic: music!

http://musicandmusingss.blogspot.co.uk/

Respighi's 'Pini di Roma'

Ottorino Respighi
1879 - 1936

After writing a review of the work for a university tutorial, I thought I would add my analysis of Respighi's 'Pini di Roma' to the list of posts for my blog.

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. One of his most famous works was his 'Roman Trilogy' which contains his 'Pini di Roma' - 'The Pines of Rome'. As you can guess from the title, the piece is based on the pine trees of Rome, and each of the four movements represents a different group of trees at a different time of the day. For instance, the first movement - Pines of the Villa Borghese - depicts the trees that are near a school - here, Respighi mimics the sound of children rushing and playing by using trills and runs in woodwind, as well as giving the movement a bright tone and mostly major tonality. In the second movement - Pines Near a Catacomb - the music suddenly becomes more subdued, as this movement was written to represent the catacombs in Rome. For this, Respighi completely changes the mood by arranging for the lower instruments of the orchestra, as well as using an organ for added effect. His use of parallel fifths was intended to represent the monks that would chant near the catacombs. 

The Janiculum Hill that looks over the city of Rome

The third movement - which is my personal favourite - is titled 'Pines of the Janiculum' - which references the Janiculum hill in Rome. Written as a nocturne, the music reflects the hill at night. The most striking aspect of this movement is definitely the fact that Respighi took inspiration from the sound of a nightingale singing in the pine trees. At the end of the movement, there is in fact a live recording (played on a gramaphone) of the bird singing. This was striking, as until then, use of live recordings with orchestral music had not been heard of. Until the entrance of the nightingale recording at the end of the movement, Respighi takes the listener through the entire orchestra as each of the instruments/sections depict the sound of the nightingale. This begins with a solo clarinet, then taken over by celli, then upper strings and so on until the development of the original theme reaches a climax which leaves us with a silence, only to be filled by the original solo voice of the clarinet again. Hearing this movement always makes me think of the typical golden age film music - as its impressionistic style really does paint a picture of the bird singing in the trees of the Janiculum.

The fourth movement 'The Pines of the Appian Way' represents the brilliance of the rising sun after the night. This is reflected in Respighi's use of ancient trumpets which are supposed to create a militaristic tone as if depicting the act of marching. Not only is this work an incredible example of detailed orchestration and innovative use of recording techniques - Respighi uses 'Pini di Roma' to take his audience through a whirlwind tour of some of the most beautiful areas of Rome - in only about twenty minutes!

Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

After about a month without posting - I'm back! It's been an exciting month for me, as I've started a new life at University. When thinking about possible pieces to write about - I was particularly struck by a piece that the university chamber orchestra are currently learning called 'Appalachian Spring' by Aaron Copland. Having already written about Copland's piano music, this will definitely be a contrast.

The ballet - which was composed in the early 1940s premiered in 1944, and won Copland a Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 1950 however, Copland rearranged the ballet as an orchestral suite. The extract of the piece that I enjoy the most is the introduction merely titled: 'very slowly'. Here in the ballet, we see each of the characters introduced one by one in a suffused light. Copland used these introductions to create a musical metaphor by setting each of the characters a line from various solo instruments, the first being a clarinet; followed by a flute, and so on and so forth, with each of the solo lines accompanied by the soft chords of strings and harp.

Appalachian Mountains

The harmonies in a lot of the suite are made up of stacked fourths, which make a particularly nostalgic and natural sound - mimicking the Appalachian mountains. This is actually completely ironic, as Copland was unaware of the title when composing the work, and is said to have found it amusing that so many critics admired his ability to capture the feeling of being in the Appalachians. As well as having arranged the work beautifully for all kinds of instruments, one of the smaller touches in this movement is that Copland instructed the strings that only half of them should play - giving a less intense and more delicate tone to the music.

The music that then follows the slow movement is much more upbeat, with the addition of the rest of the orchestra - that are given developed and repeated motifs - yet Copland still manages to keep a sense of peace and spring in the tone of the music. 

Edouard Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole

Edouard Lalo
1823 - 1892

Edouard Lalo (full name: Edouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo) was a French composer. My favourite of his works is the Symphonie Espagnole written for violin - and - I'm not the only one. Lalo's Spanish Symphony remains today to be a key work in any serious violinist's repertoire, and is even known simply as 'The Lalo'. His musical style is known for its powerful melodies and equally as powerful orchestrations.

Edouard Lalo's 'Symphonie Espagnole' was written in 1874 for violinist Pablo de Saraste. Although the piece is called a symphony, musicians today consider the work to be more of a violin concerto. I came across this piece when I was taking my grade 8 violin, as the fourth movement - andante - was on the list of recommended pieces. In the opening of the piece, we hear fragments of ideas from the violin melody throughout the orchestra in a much grander style. Similar to the piece, the orchestra in the introduction goes from minor to major, and back to minor again. Despite it's forceful and aggressive opening, the orchestra then diminuendos for the entrance of the violin - which is extremely delicate in comparison. However, from listening to this, one might assume the violin to be a gentle role in the movement. This is completely wrong, as the range of emotions that the instrument travels through in the music is enormous.

The recording of the fourth movement by violinist Maxim Vengerov is by far the best, as his playing sounds absolutely effortless and yet extremely precise - especially considering that all four movements are devilishly difficult. The technical difficulties in the piece are frequent, as the player has to conquer the huge intervals in the melody, endless trills, turns and other decorative techniques - as well as using the solo line to direct the orchestra. For this recording, I am completely in awe of both composer and performer - as both of their styles together create a crucial recording for all classical music lovers' collections. 

Listen here

John Tavener

John Tavener
Born 1944

As a young man, Tavener was described by many as a musical prodigy. Born and educated in London (with John Rutter as one of his peers) he then went on to study at the Royal College of Music - like all true london musicians. John Tavener is now one of the lucky few to be considered by many as one of the best contemporary Classical composers. A profoundly religious man, Tavener's music is heavily influenced by medieval music. Despite the fact his music is often considered to be quite conservative - I actually find the accessibility of his music to be one of the most appealing features of his compositional style. To persuade any critics further, Tavener has been knighted for his services to music, and has also won the Ivor Novello award.

The Lamb
One of his best pieces is perhaps his christmas carol: 'The Lamb'. This piece - although considered difficult to listen to - is one of the best pieces of contemporary classical music to use to educate anybody about the different compositional techniques used by contemporary composers, such as inversion, augmentation, diminution and retrograde. The piece is made up of a single phrase, that is transformed throughout the piece in every way possible, e.g. singing it in unison, in retrograde, in harmony etc. When the phrase is inverted, it creates a sound that is quite unnatural for the ear. However, like a lot of Tavener's music, this technique creates an eerie and beautiful atmosphere that distinguishes his music from other contemporary choral pieces.

Listen here

Song for Athene
Tavener's most well-known piece is his 'Song for Athene'. Composed for the Westminster Cathedral Choir, the piece was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 as her cortege departed from Westminster Abbey. This was indeed appropriate, as the piece was intended as an elegy. The inspiration for the music came from Tavener's description of Athene: "Her beauty, both outward and inner was reflected in her love acting, poetry, music and of the Orthodox Church". Similar to The Lamb, the piece is based around a repeated phrase sung by the tenors, as well as using similar techniques such as inversion. Although the piece is a little repetitive, the intentions of the composer bring a new level to the music. Moreover, its use in the funeral of Princess Diana will forever mark this short choral work as tragically beautiful.

Listen here

Hymn to the Mother of God

I first came across this piece on a choral course, and was pleasantly surprised by the religious tone that it created even when we were simply rehearsing it. Not only is the first chord haunting - but Tavener structures this piece by using a double choir effect with one choir singing a few beats after the first. By doing this, the second choir creates a sort of echo that emphasises the religious nature of the work. What I particularly like about this piece, is that Tavener includes unrelated modulations between the ends and the beginnings of phrases. For instance, at 1:25, we can clearly hear some sort of imperfect cadence. This is then followed by a silence, and then jumps straight back into the first chord of the piece. Although - like most of his pieces - Hymn to the Mother of God is very short, the message is simple - and it is the elaborate decoration of clashing harmonies that make it so meaningful. 

Listen here

Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky

Although I've already written a post about one of Tchaikovsky's ballets, (Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker') I love the music of Swan Lake so much that I thought I would make a post about it anyway. A couple of years ago, the public were blown away by Darren Aronofsky's dark ballet film: 'Black Swan'. Having heard endless hype about the film from friends and critics, I went to go and see it. I was confident that I would enjoy the movie, as I love Natalie Portman, and I love the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky - what could possibly go wrong? Not only did I find that the film was poorly acted and frequently (although unintentionally) comical, but there were numerous plot holes and bonkers scenes throughout. Unfortunately - for me, 'Black Swan' murdered the music of Swan Lake by playing the same music cues again and again - almost as much as we had to watch Natalie Portman attempt her endless pirouettes.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1840 - 1893

Moving away from the film, Tchaikovsky's music for the ballet 'Swan Lake' is some of the most beautiful and recognised Classical music in the world. The music for the ballet was composed between 1875 and 1876. The story was pieced together from various Russian folk-tales, and tells the story of Odette - a princess turned into a swan by an evil curse. Although there was some controversy over the composer of the original ballet, Tchaikovsky proved that he had written the first, named: 'The Lake of the Swans', that contained various themes found in the ballet. Although Tchaikovsky is usually the first name a person gives when asked to name a composer of ballets, at the time, ballets were only commissioned to composers considered to be ballet writing 'specialists'. Aspiring to be one of them, Tchaikovsky studied the works of other specialists. This enthusiasm stuck with him, and is clear from his eagerness to write the score for 'Swan Lake' (a score that only took him one year). Now, Tchaikovsky is the best of all the ballet composers that ever lived.

My favourite of all the musical extracts from the ballet is the main theme, played by an Oboe, accompanied by the rest of the orchestra. Although Tchaikovsky starts the solo with a rather tender and restrained tone, the opening tremolando in the strings suggests that something much darker is on the horizon, and predicts the theme to be taken over by the brass. When the theme finally reaches the strings, the melody becomes slightly more tragic and romantic, leading up to the climax of the piece at 2:32. This extract really does tell the story of the cursed princess, and - although tragically abused by the makers of 'Black Swan', it is still just as beautiful every time I hear it.

The Blue Bird - Charles Stanford

Charles Villiers Stanford
1852 - 1924

Charles Stanford was an Irish composer, teacher and conductor. Not only did Stanford study at the University of Cambridge, he also studied music abroad in Berlin. As a teacher, he was one of the founding members of London's Royal College of Music - and taught composition there for the rest of his life. Many of his pupils became great composers as well, including Gustav Holst (Planets Blogpost) and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Although he wrote a lot of operatic works, Stanford is known for his choral music, and is often linked with British composer Hubert Parry (Parry Blogpost).

I first started to get to know the compositional style of Stanford in my secondary school choir, when we started learning his Magnificat in G. The Magnificat is mainly a treble solo (often sung by a very red-faced and out of breath 11 year old boy), accompanied by a full choir beneath. This is a good example of the kind of choral music that Stanford wrote for church. In particular, the harmonies and choral textures (frequently homophonic) demonstrate the kind of writing style that became comfortable for Stanford.

The piece that I wanted to post about is in fact very different to the grand, Parry-esque style of Stanford's Magnificat in G. Like all a capella pieces, Charles Stanford's 'The Blue Bird' is extremely difficult to hold in tune, and to balance the dynamics between each of the parts. However, when sung properly - it is one of the most beautiful yet simple choral pieces I have ever come across. One similarity to the Magnificat is the way the piece is structured with the sopranos carrying a sort of solo line, whilst the rest of the choir moves mostly together and as an accompaniment. I always find that the harmonies in this piece are extremely cathartic, and are a perfect representation of the words. The words are taken from a poem written by British poet: Mary Coleridge.

For me, the most striking thing about the piece is the way Stanford writes the soprano part; with occasional notes after the choral phrases simply to enhance the effect of the chords, then following this with a soprano melody that develops the choral accompaniment into so much more. Although repetitive, the serenity of the music is guaranteed to wash away any stress that I may have, and the ambiguous cadence at the end of the piece always leads me to imagine that the listener has fallen asleep,  and therefore needs no fancy cadence to signify the end of the piece.