Cécile Chaminade - Concertino
HBG (Flute)
Cihan Yucel (Piano)

Cherubini 2020

This Week in Classical Music: September 14, 2020. Cherubini. Luigi Cherubini may have been born on this day in 1760, in Florence, or he may have been born on the 8^th, we’ll never know for sure. What we do know is that Beethoven held him in high esteem, proclaiming him to be the greatest composer – other than himself, of course. This is especially interesting considering that Cherubini, ten years his elder, openly disliked Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, which he heard during its premier in Vienna in 1805, and considered his piano music “rough.” And Beethoven was not his only admirer: Haydn and Rossini liked him too. Cherubini, who moved to Paris permanently in 1786, was for a time considered the premier opera composer. During his life he wrote almost 40 pieces in this genre, very few of which are performed these days. Later in his career Cherubini turned to church music, writing masses and two requiems (Beethoven greatly admired the first one, in C minor, written in 1816). As he grew older, Cherubini’s musical output diminished (at that time he wrote mostly instrumental music), but not his influence, as in 1822 he became the director of the Paris Conservatory. Cherubini died in Paris on March 15^th of 1842. Here are Introitus et Kyrie from Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor, which Beethoven enjoyed so much. Martin Pearlman leads the Boston Baroque.

Frank Martin, a Swiss composer who lived most of his live in the Netherlands, was also born this week, on September 15^th of 1890, in Geneva. He started composing at the age of eight but never went to a conservatory. He even started studying physics and mathematics, following his parent’s wishes, but eventually abandoned his studies. Martin’s music style was influenced by many, from Bach to Schumann to the modernists. Eventually he settled on a mostly harmonic approach, with some 12-tone technique thrown in for good measure. A bit like Cherubini, later in his career Martin wrote a number of sacred pieces, some choral, some for the organ, and, like Cherubini, he wrote a Requiem. He died in Naarden, Holland, on November 21^st of 1974. Here’s Frank Martin’s Petite Symphonie Concertante, from 1944. Armin Jourdan leads the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

The great conductor Bruno Walter was also born this week, on September 15^th of 1876. We celebrated him last year. And the incomparable Jessye Norman was also born on September 15^th, in 1945. In two weeks will be the one-year anniversary of her death. It was a great loss.

Purcell 2020

This Week in Classical Music: September 7, 2020. Purcell. Henry Purcell was born on September 10^th of 1659 during the last year of Interregnum: Oliver Cromwell, who ruled England as Lord Protector, died a year earlier, in 1658, and Charles II, the son of the executed King Charles I would return to London a year later and be coronated in 1561; Henry’s father, Henry Purcell Sr., a musician, would sing at the Westminster Abbey during the ceremony. Henry Jr’s uncle Thomas was a musician at the Chapel Royal and through him Henry was admitted there as a chorister. Purcell studied with noted musicians, first John Blow and Christopher Gibbons and later with Matthew Locke, who was "Private Composer-in-Ordinary to the King Charles II." Purcell started composing early, his first known composition dates around 1670. By 1677, when he replaced Locke as the court composer, he had written several “Anthems” and other sacred music (at that time, he was writing few instrumental pieces). Many of Purcell’s compositions were created for the Westminster Abbey, although the Abbey paid him mostly for his services as an organ tuner. In 1679 Purcell succeeded John Blow as organist at the Abbey and held that position for the rest of his short life (he died at the age of 36). In 1682 Purcell was admitted as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal where he performed as one of the organists. In 1685 Charles II died and his younger brother James II became king. For James’s coronation Purcell wrote the anthem “My heart is inditing of a Good Matter.” Here it is, performed by the Collegium Vocale Ghent under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. Under James, who was a Catholic, the court music was reorganized, and Purcell’s activities were reduced. In 1688 James was deposed during the Glorious Revolution. William III and Mary II ascended to the throne, but they weren’t interested in music as much as the preceding Stuarts. Purcell refocused his attention on music theater, though he continued to compose odes for Queen Mary. He wrote music for Dryden’s tragedy Tyrannick Love, a three-act opera Dido and Aeneas, for the then popular play The Fool's Preferment and several others. In 1692 he composed music to The Fairy-Queen, after Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream. He started working on another Dryden’s play, The Indian Queen, but never finished it: he died of an unknown illness on November 21^st of 1695. His younger brother Daniel completed the last act of the opera. Purcell was buried at the Westminster Abbey, next to the organ he played for many years. Purcell’s own Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary was played during the ceremony.

Several important composers were also born this week, among them Girolamo Frescobaldi (on September 13^th of 1583, in Ferrara). And isn’t it surprising that Arnold Schoenberg (September 13^th of 1874) was only 33 years younger than Antonin Dvořák (September 13^th of 1841)? Musically, they belong to different eras.

Cornucopia, 2020

This Week in Classical Music: August 31, 2020. Cornucopia. Last week was rather disappointing, we had to go back several centuries to find a composer of interest, but look how different it is this week. Of the first-rate composers, the oldest is . Yes, he was absolutely first rate: not just the author of the ubiquitous Canon but the composer of the influential Hexachordum Apollinis, a wonderful collection of tkeyboard music. Please check out our library, we have all six Arias with variations there. Pachelbel was born on September 1^st of 1653.

Pietro Locatelli, an Italian Baroque composer and violinist, was born on September 3^rd of 1695. Not a great figure in the history of music, but some of his violin sonatas and concerti were pleasant. And then, a very different figure, Anton Bruckner, one of the greatest composers of the 19^th century, sometimes underappreciated but at the peak of recognition these days – and rightfully so. Bruckner was born on September 4^th of 1824.

Jumping forward: Darius Milhaud. He was also born on September 4^th, of 1892. A member of Les Six, he wrote in many different styles, from jazz to polytonality. As a Jew, he had to flee France during the occupation and spent several years in the US. Here’s Milhaud’s Quartet no. 15, op. 291 performed by the Quatuor Parisii.

Moving on, or for the moment back, here’s Johann Christian Bach, the eighteenth (yes, eighteenth!) offspring of Johann Sebastian Bach; by the time he moved to England and became famous there (he would be called "the London Bach” or "the English Bach"), around 1766, only seven of his siblings were still alive. Johann Christian, born on September 5^th of 1735, was the youngest of Johann Sebastian’s composer kids. He did much to further the new “Classical” style.

And that’s not all: Giacomo Meyerbeer, Amy Beach, and John Cage were also born this week. That makes three centuries of music, from the late 17^th to the second half of the 20^th.

That is as far as the composers go, but then there are three conductors, Tullio Serafin, Leonard Slatkin and Seiji Ozawa, all born on September 1^st: Serafin, a great opera conductor, in 1878, Ozawa in 1935 and Slatkin in1944. But that’s not all: Itzhak Perlman also has his birthday this week. Can you imagine that he’s going to turn 75? Perlman was born on this day in 1945. You may have your qualms, but all in all he is one of the greatest violinists of the end of the 20^th century. Nobody matched the beauty of his tone when Perlman performed at his best. Here’s Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy playing Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23.