THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022 - MUSIC CONTINUED

 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022 - MUSIC CONTINUED

This week I’ve written about music - in particular MY music, the music I like, and my experiences playing music.

Today is a final look.

Some of my favorite pieces (random order)

Dialogue between mother and counselor:

Counselor:  “So, which child is your favorite?”

Mother: “I don’t have a favorite child.  I love them all equally”.

*****

Two Shostakovich Symphonies:

The Fifth Symphony is grand - but I listen to the finale to hear (and to pretend that I’m a tympani player).

The Seventh Symphony - subtitled “The Leningrad Symphony”. I love the first movement.  About 1/3rd of the way through the symphony, after a calm pastoral section, you first hear a subtle theme.  This theme (through most of the rest of the symphony) grows as the German army presses in towards Leningrad (now back to St. Petersburg).  In some of the last iterations, you can hear the planes and the bombs being dropped.  Seemingly Shostakovich was a volunteer firefighter in Leningrad. 

The finale is boring for about halfway through, and then a grand development starts.

Mahler Symphonies:

The First Symphony (Titan) finale movement is amazing. As the finale develops about 2/3rd of the way through the key changes.  And about 90% of the finale, the same development returns in the original key.  (And, in the First Symphony, listen for the Cuckoos!!)

In the Second Symphony (Resurrection) the last three sections reflect the resurrection - rising from the dead.  

In the Third Symphony, there is a nice children’s chorus (fifth movement), and a lament (sixth movement), and a pastoral finale.

The Fourth Symphony uses jingle bells (I can picture a sleigh in the German winter)

The Sixth Symphony (Tragic) has a percussion box (literally a huge box) that is struck three times during the finale.

The Eighth Symphony (Symphony of a Thousand) does have a huge chorus and vocal soloists.

Tchaikovsky Symphonies:

I think about having the finale of the Sixth Symphony for my funeral.  It is so somber, you can hear the music trying to get out of a depression - and failing.  The third movement is a delightful scherzo.

Fourth Symphony's first movement is upbeat and brilliant

In the second movement of the Fifth Symphony, I somehow coined the words “Going to the Flowers, Flowers on the Hill, Going to the Flowers, Grass is greener still”.  The finale has a flute run that is like a sword cutting through the orchestra.

Of mention, the second and third symphonies are lyric; the seventh symphony maybe isn’t quite a Tchaikovsky Symphony - but a rephrasing of Tchaikovsky’s Third Piano Concerto with some editing of other pieces of Tchaikovsky (by Borodin).  (I liked its cover when I got music from the Cedar Rapids Public Library).  Even the Manfred Symphony is very listenable. 

The Nutcracker Suite, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty are all melodic. And, don’t forget Romeo and Juliet and the 1812 Overture. (Note, our team went to a performance of Swan Lake in Kazakhstan when we did an accreditation review there).

Prokief 

I first loved Prokief’s Fifth Symphony and then listened to the Seventh Symphony and loved it too.  (I laugh at Prokief’s First Symphony - the classical symphony - as a bit of a parody of older works).

Sibelius

The finale to Sibelius’s Second Symphony is in ¾ time and the bass line picks up and moves this more extended symphony to its fantastic conclusion.

Sibelius's Fifth Symphony has an amazing French Horn part (that must drive French Horn players mad).  The First and Third are nice pieces as well.

Wagner

I don’t think there are any Wagner Symphonies and most of his work is operatic in nature.  But, most operas have brilliant orchestra parts and prelude parts.  The procession of the MasterSingers is a grand entrance or Elsa’s Procession in the Cathedral (I can picture the bridge walking down the long center aisle in a huge Gothic Cathedral)..  (It isn’t over until the fat lady sings!!!)

Bruckner

Bruckner's Fourth Symphony is subtitled “Romantic” and it is.  Mahler supposedly worked under Bruckner.  The Fifth and Seven symphonies are long and sometimes a little repetitive but worth hearing.  The Ninth Symphony has a delightful scherzo.

Saint Saens

I can’t list symphonies without mentioning Saint Saens Third Symphony (subtitled Organ Symphony).  I played that with the Chester Symphony Orchestra and sat in front of the organ.  Awesome.

(There are other Saint Saens pieces like Carnival of the Animals (especially the swan), Samson, and Deliah.)

Franck

Cesar Frank only wrote one symphony (most of his work is organ pieces).  That symphony is in three movements.  The second movement doesn’t have brass, but the first and third makeup for that.  I read that of all the common symphonies, this is the one that has the most fortissimo measures (aka - it is loud - meaning lots of tubas)

Brahms

It took me a while to like Brahms.  He didn’t use a lot of tubas - but the music is good.

Beethoven

I have a friend who is a Beethoven fan (fanatic?).  I just haven’t gotten into Beethoven that much.  Yes, I like the Fifth Symphony (especially the finale - where trombones (and later tubas) were first used.

Mendelsohn 

The Italian Symphony and the Reformation Symphony are both good.  

Mozart 

Maybe I’d include the 40th symphony in my list.

Mussorgsky

Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition are noteworthy.  (And  you must listen carefully to the finale to hear one particular note on the tuba!!!)

*****

Okay, there are no violin concertos (or other concertos) on my list, and only a few piano concertos don't get skipped when they randomly show up (Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and maybe Rachmanikoff). They are good music - but not to my taste. (Like Brussel Sprouts are good food - but rarely get on my table!!)

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There are others.  I have been blessed to play many of the pieces listed as an orchestra member.  

Music excites me.

*****

LOVE WINS - and Music can create LOVE!!!

Karen White, October 6, 2022, ©