June 11, 2012.A bountiful week.Richard Strauss, Edvard Grieg, Charles Gounod, and Igor Stravinsky were all born this week.Richard Strauss was born on June 11, 1864.He clearly deserves our full attention, but this week, so full packed with birthdays, we’d like to make just two comments. One is on his place in the musical Pantheon of the late 19th – early 20th century.Strauss said, with amazing self-deprecation, "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer."We’d like to disagree.The place of the composer is judged by his best output, not some abstract “average” weighted down by weaker pieces (think of the number of mediocre music written, for example, by Tchaikovsky).Strauss’ tone poems, such as Also sprach Zarathustra,Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, An Alpine Symphony are all first-rate.As are his operas, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, and other.And so is his Violin sonata, op. 18 (you can listen to it here, performed by Ilya Kaler, violin, and Eteri Andjaparidze, piano.He also wrote wonderful songs (here is Cäcilie, Op. 27, No. 2, sung by the soprano Janai Brugger-Orman, with Renate Rohlfing on the piano).He clearly was a great composer.And the other comment is to Strauss’ decency.Totally apolitical, he maintained relations with Jewish writers and artists when it was already considered inopportune in Nazi Germany.Here’s a great quote from his letter to the writer Stefan Zweig: “Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognize only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none.”
If we ever had some doubts about the accepted "rankings" of great composers, Edvard Grieg’s position would’ve been the one to question.But the overwhelming popularity of his Piano Concerto and incidental music to Peer Gynt clearly outweigh any snobbish pretenses.He also deserves additional points for being the only national composer in the modern history of Norway!But before our listeners start sending us indignant messages, here is In the Hall of the Mountain King, from the Peer Gynt suite, played byMcKeever Piano Duo.And here is Grieg’s wonderful Violin Sonata, op. 45.It’s performed by Gregory Maytan, violin and Nicole Lee, piano.And why are we writing about Grieg?He was born this week, on June 15, 1843 in the city of Bergen in what was then the Union of Sweden and Norway.The Union was dissolved in 1905, two years before Grieg’s death, so there are no questions about Grieg’s nationality!
Just one song from Charles Gounod, the oldest in this group: he was born on June 17, 1818.The young mezzo-soprano Rebecca Henry sings Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle?, Tom Jaber is on the piano (here).We’ll write about Igor Stravinksy (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971), who clearly was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century (but probably not as nice a person as Richard Strauss) some other time.
A bountiful week of 2012
June 11, 2012. A bountiful week. Richard Strauss, Edvard Grieg, Charles Gounod, and Igor Stravinsky were all born this week. Richard Strauss was born on June 11, 1864. He clearly deserves our full attention, but this week, so full packed with
birthdays, we’d like to make just two comments. One is on his place in the musical Pantheon of the late 19th – early 20th century. Strauss said, with amazing self-deprecation, "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer." We’d like to disagree. The place of the composer is judged by his best output, not some abstract “average” weighted down by weaker pieces (think of the number of mediocre music written, for example, by Tchaikovsky). Strauss’ tone poems, such as Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, An Alpine Symphony are all first-rate. As are his operas, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, and other. And so is his Violin sonata, op. 18 (you can listen to it here, performed by Ilya Kaler, violin, and Eteri Andjaparidze, piano. He also wrote wonderful songs (here is Cäcilie, Op. 27, No. 2, sung by the soprano Janai Brugger-Orman, with Renate Rohlfing on the piano). He clearly was a great composer. And the other comment is to Strauss’ decency. Totally apolitical, he maintained relations with Jewish writers and artists when it was already considered inopportune in Nazi Germany. Here’s a great quote from his letter to the writer Stefan Zweig: “Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognize only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none.”
If we ever had some doubts about the accepted "rankings" of great composers, Edvard Grieg’s position would’ve been the one to question. But the overwhelming popularity of his Piano Concerto and incidental music to Peer Gynt clearly outweigh any snobbish pretenses. He also deserves additional points for being the only national composer in the modern history of Norway! But before our listeners start sending us indignant messages, here is In the Hall of the Mountain King, from the Peer Gynt suite, played by McKeever Piano Duo. And here is Grieg’s wonderful Violin Sonata, op. 45. It’s performed by Gregory Maytan, violin and Nicole Lee, piano. And why are we writing about Grieg? He was born this week, on June 15, 1843 in the city of Bergen in what was then the Union of Sweden and Norway. The Union was dissolved in 1905, two years before Grieg’s death, so there are no questions about Grieg’s nationality!
Just one song from Charles Gounod, the oldest in this group: he was born on June 17, 1818. The young mezzo-soprano Rebecca Henry sings Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle?, Tom Jaber is on the piano (here). We’ll write about Igor Stravinksy (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971), who clearly was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century (but probably not as nice a person as Richard Strauss) some other time.