May 26, 2014.Albeniz, Marais, Elgar.And also Korngold, and Glinka – all were born this week, but we just don’t have enough space to celebrate them all.Isaac Albénizwas born on May 29th, 1860.A wonderful composer, the oldest of the trio that transformed Spanish classical music at the end of the 19th century, he wrote mostly for the piano and guitar.His music got more and more interesting toward the end of his short life – he composed his masterpiece, Iberia, between 1905 and 1909, and died that year, 10 days short of his 49th birthdayWe wrote about him extensively before (for example, here and here), so this time we’ll just play one of the pieces from Book I of Iberia, Fête-dieu à Seville, which is sometimes called “El Corpus Christi en Sevilla.”It depicts, so to speak, a Catholic procession celebrating the real presence of body and blood of Jesus Christ.Fête-dieu isperformed by the great Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha.The cubist picture of the feast is by the Portugese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso.It was painted in 1913.
Marin Marais was born on May 31st, 1656 in Paris.He became better known since the release of the French film Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World) in 1991, than at any time since his death in 1728.Marais studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully and the bass viol with the composer and viol virtuoso Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, the subject of Tous les matins.In 1685 Marais was appointed Ordinaire de la Musique de la Chambre du Roi, a member of King Louis XIV’s private orchestra.He stayed in that position for many years, serving Louis XV after the Sun King’s death.Most of his work was for the viol (viola-da-gamba): between 1686 and 1725 Marais wrote five books of music, around 550 pieces altogether.He also wrote several operas but those are rarely performed these days.Here’s a late composition, Sonnerie de Ste. Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris (The Bells of St. Genevieve); it was written in 1723.Jordi Savall, probably the most famous viola da gamba player of late, is supported by Fabio Biondi on the violin and Pierre Hantaï on the harpsichord.And here is Marais’s rendition of the famous La Folia or Les folies d'Espagne.Again, Jordi Savall on viola da gamba, this time with Anne Gallet on the harpsichord and Hopkinson Smith on theorbo, a type of a lute.
Are we terribly amiss if we value the compositional talents of Edward Elgar not quite as highly as the British public seems to do?Yes, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches are arousing and, in parts, unexpectedly witty.The Enigma Variations, if perhaps not as enigmatic as the title would suggest, are very well crafted.And the Cello concerto, especially when performed by Jacquelinedu Pré, is wonderful.But one has to consider that Elgar’s active career covered the last decade of the 19th and the first two decades of the 20th centuries, a time of revolutionary changes in classical music, and in that perspective his contributions may appear somewhat limited.Elgar was born on June 2nd, 1857 in a small village outside of Worcester in the West Midlands, England.His father had a music shop and tuned pianos.Elgar was mostly self-taught, studying music in his father’s shop.He started composing at the age of 20, but it was not till 1890s that his work became noticed.In 1899 he wrote the Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra ("Enigma"), Op. 36, commonly called Enigma Variations.It consists of a theme and 14 variations.Each variation is dedicated to a friend or, in the case of the first variation, his wife.Variation IX, dedicated to August Jaeger, a music publisher and close friend, was subtitled “Nimrod” (Jaeger is hunter in German, and the Biblical Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord").This variation became especially popular, and for a good reason: it’s one of the best pieces of music ever written by Elgar.We can hear all Variations in the performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton conducting.
Albeniz, Marais, Elgar 2014
May 26, 2014. Albeniz, Marais, Elgar. And also Korngold, and Glinka – all were born this week, but we just don’t have enough space to celebrate them all. Isaac Albéniz was born on May 29th, 1860. A wonderful composer, the oldest of the trio that transformed Spanish classical music at the end of the 19th century, he wrote mostly for the piano and guitar. His music got more and more interesting toward the end of his short life – he composed his masterpiece, Iberia, between 1905 and 1909, and died that year, 10 days short of his 49th birthday We wrote about him extensively before (for example, here and here), so this time we’ll just play one of the pieces from Book I of Iberia, Fête-dieu à Seville, which is sometimes called “El Corpus Christi en Sevilla.” It depicts, so to speak, a
Catholic procession celebrating the real presence of body and blood of Jesus Christ. Fête-dieu is performed by the great Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha. The cubist picture of the feast is by the Portugese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. It was painted in 1913.
Marin Marais was born on May 31st, 1656 in Paris. He became better known since the release of the French film Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World) in 1991, than at any time since his death in 1728. Marais studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully and the bass viol with the composer and viol virtuoso Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, the subject of Tous les matins. In 1685 Marais was appointed Ordinaire de la Musique de la Chambre du Roi, a member of King Louis XIV’s private orchestra. He stayed in that position for many years, serving Louis XV after the Sun King’s death. Most of his work was for the viol (viola-da-gamba): between 1686 and 1725 Marais wrote five books of music, around 550 pieces altogether. He also wrote several operas but those are rarely performed these days. Here’s a late composition, Sonnerie de Ste. Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris (The Bells of St. Genevieve); it was written in 1723. Jordi Savall, probably the most famous viola da gamba player of late, is supported by Fabio Biondi on the violin and Pierre Hantaï on the harpsichord. And here is Marais’s rendition of the famous La Folia or Les folies d'Espagne. Again, Jordi Savall on viola da gamba, this time with Anne Gallet on the harpsichord and Hopkinson Smith on theorbo, a type of a lute.
Are we terribly amiss if we value the compositional talents of Edward Elgar not quite as highly as the British public seems to do? Yes, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches are arousing and, in parts, unexpectedly witty. The Enigma Variations, if perhaps not as enigmatic as the title would suggest, are very well crafted. And the Cello concerto, especially when performed by Jacquelinedu Pré, is wonderful. But one has to consider that Elgar’s active career covered the last decade of the 19th and the first two decades of the 20th centuries, a time of revolutionary changes in classical music, and in that perspective his contributions may appear somewhat limited. Elgar was born on June 2nd, 1857 in a small village outside of Worcester in the West Midlands, England. His father had a music shop and tuned pianos. Elgar was mostly self-taught, studying music in his father’s shop. He started composing at the age of 20, but it was not till 1890s that his work became noticed. In 1899 he wrote the Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra ("Enigma"), Op. 36, commonly called Enigma Variations. It consists of a theme and 14 variations. Each variation is dedicated to a friend or, in the case of the first variation, his wife. Variation IX, dedicated to August Jaeger, a music publisher and close friend, was subtitled “Nimrod” (Jaeger is hunter in German, and the Biblical Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord"). This variation became especially popular, and for a good reason: it’s one of the best pieces of music ever written by Elgar. We can hear all Variations in the performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton conducting.