September 1, 2014.Pachelbel, Bruckner and more.Had he been alive, Johann Pachelbel would probably be very upset with the enormous popularity of his Cannon in D.A prolific composer, he wrote a large body of music, both secular and sacred, which these days is completely overshadowed by this one piece. During his lifetime, though, Pachelbel was famous as a composer but also as an organist and music teacher.He was born on September 1st of 1653 in Nuremberg, Bavaria.From a young age he studied music with different local organists, and then attended the famous University of Altdorf (Leibniz studied there).At the age of 16 he was made an organist in the St. Lorenz church.In 1673 he went to Vienna and was appointed a deputy organist at the St-Stephen’s Cathedral, the main church of Austria.He stayed in Vienna for the next five formative years, during which he met with many leading composers and musicians.In 1677 he moved to Eisenach (Johann Sebastian Bach would be born there eight years later) as a court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach.While there he became a good friend of Johann Sebastian’s father, Johann Ambrosius.Pachelbel’s story is intertwined with that of the Bach family: in 1678 Pachelbel moved to Erfurt were many of the Bachs lived; he became a godfather to one of Johann Sebastian’s sisters, lived in the house of another member of the Bach family and taught music to Johann Christoph, J.S’s oldest brother.Pachelbel stayed in Erfurt till 1690 and then left seeking better employment.In 1694, during the wedding celebration of his former pupil, Johann Christoph Bach, he met, for the only time, the nine-year-old Johann Sebastian.For a while Pachelbel moved from one city to another and 1695 returned to his native Nuremberg, as a famous composer invited by the city council.He lived in Nuremberg for the rest of his life; Pachelbel died on March 3rd of 1706.In 1699, in Nuremberg, he composed one of his most important pieces,Hexachordum Apollinis ("Six Strings of Apollo"), a set of six arias followed by variations, which, according to Pachelbel himself, could be performed either on the organ or the harpsichord.Variations were a somewhat new musical form in the 17th century, and Hexachordum was by far the most interesting set of variations written to date.Pachelbel dedicated the work to the German-Danish composer Dieterich Buxtehude who hugely influenced the young Johann Sebastian Bach.We’ll hear the organ version of the first Aria, Aria Prima, followed by six variations.The organist is John Butt.
Anton Bruckner was born on September 4th of 1824.Last year we wrote about his Symphony no. 5; this year we’ll go back several years, to Bruckner’s Symphony no. 1.This symphony was the first one deemed by Bruckner to be good enough to be published: he wrote a Study Symphony in F minor before that, but didn’t like it.The symphony was written between January of 1865 and April of 1866, so Bruckner was already 41 when its first version was completed.At the time he was living in Linz and working as the organist at Stadtpfarrkirchen, the parish church of the Assumption.During that time Bruckner, already a composer of some renown, undertook very unusual studies with Simon Sechter, a Viennese specialist in music theory, to better learn the counterpoint.Most of the teaching was done by correspondence, plus Bruckner’s infrequent visits to Vienna.The very first version of the symphony was performed in 1868, with Bruckner conducting.Bruckner famously lacked any confidence in his talent and was susceptible to opinions of critics and even students.That led to numerous revisions of his works.The First symphony was no exception.In 1877 and then in 1884 he created what is called the Linz Version (even though by that time Bruckner was already residing in Vienna).He returned to the work in 1891 (the so-called "Vienna version") and then again in 1893.We’ll hear the "Linz version," the one that is recorded most often.The conductor is Bernard Haitink, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.This live 1974 recording runs about 45 minutes.
Three more very talented composers were born this week: Pietro Locatelli on September 3rd of 1695, Darius Milhaud on September 4th of 1892, and Johann Christian Bach (the “London Bach”) – on September 5th of 1735.We’ll have to write about them another time.
Pachelbel, Bruckner and more, 2014
September 1, 2014. Pachelbel, Bruckner and more. Had he been alive, Johann Pachelbel would probably be very upset with the enormous popularity of his Cannon in D. A prolific composer, he wrote a large body of music, both secular and sacred, which
these days is completely overshadowed by this one piece. During his lifetime, though, Pachelbel was famous as a composer but also as an organist and music teacher. He was born on September 1st of 1653 in Nuremberg, Bavaria. From a young age he studied music with different local organists, and then attended the famous University of Altdorf (Leibniz studied there). At the age of 16 he was made an organist in the St. Lorenz church. In 1673 he went to Vienna and was appointed a deputy organist at the St-Stephen’s Cathedral, the main church of Austria. He stayed in Vienna for the next five formative years, during which he met with many leading composers and musicians. In 1677 he moved to Eisenach (Johann Sebastian Bach would be born there eight years later) as a court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. While there he became a good friend of Johann Sebastian’s father, Johann Ambrosius. Pachelbel’s story is intertwined with that of the Bach family: in 1678 Pachelbel moved to Erfurt were many of the Bachs lived; he became a godfather to one of Johann Sebastian’s sisters, lived in the house of another member of the Bach family and taught music to Johann Christoph, J.S’s oldest brother. Pachelbel stayed in Erfurt till 1690 and then left seeking better employment. In 1694, during the wedding celebration of his former pupil, Johann Christoph Bach, he met, for the only time, the nine-year-old Johann Sebastian. For a while Pachelbel moved from one city to another and 1695 returned to his native Nuremberg, as a famous composer invited by the city council. He lived in Nuremberg for the rest of his life; Pachelbel died on March 3rd of 1706. In 1699, in Nuremberg, he composed one of his most important pieces, Hexachordum Apollinis ("Six Strings of Apollo"), a set of six arias followed by variations, which, according to Pachelbel himself, could be performed either on the organ or the harpsichord. Variations were a somewhat new musical form in the 17th century, and Hexachordum was by far the most interesting set of variations written to date. Pachelbel dedicated the work to the German-Danish composer Dieterich Buxtehude who hugely influenced the young Johann Sebastian Bach. We’ll hear the organ version of the first Aria, Aria Prima, followed by six variations. The organist is John Butt.
Anton Bruckner was born on September 4th of 1824. Last year we wrote about his Symphony no. 5; this year we’ll go back several years, to Bruckner’s Symphony no. 1. This symphony was the first one deemed by Bruckner to be good enough to be published: he wrote a Study Symphony in F minor before that, but didn’t like it. The symphony was written between January of 1865 and April of 1866, so Bruckner was already 41 when its first version was completed. At the time he was living in Linz and working as the organist at Stadtpfarrkirchen, the parish church of the Assumption. During that time Bruckner, already a composer of some renown, undertook very unusual studies with Simon Sechter, a Viennese specialist in music theory, to better learn the counterpoint. Most of the teaching was done by correspondence, plus Bruckner’s infrequent visits to Vienna. The very first version of the symphony was performed in 1868, with Bruckner conducting. Bruckner famously lacked any confidence in his talent and was susceptible to opinions of critics and even students. That led to numerous revisions of his works. The First symphony was no exception. In 1877 and then in 1884 he created what is called the Linz Version (even though by that time Bruckner was already residing in Vienna). He returned to the work in 1891 (the so-called "Vienna version") and then again in 1893. We’ll hear the "Linz version," the one that is recorded most often. The conductor is Bernard Haitink, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. This live 1974 recording runs about 45 minutes.
Three more very talented composers were born this week: Pietro Locatelli on September 3rd of 1695, Darius Milhaud on September 4th of 1892, and Johann Christian Bach (the “London Bach”) – on September 5th of 1735. We’ll have to write about them another time.