Masterfade

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

2006-08-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Written in a Nazi prison camp, Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps- "Quartet for the End of Time"- is a set of seven meditations on eternity and religion, ranging from deeply disturbing to exaltant. The piece premiered to fellow prisnoers of war in 1941. Messiaen scored the piece to suit himself and three fellow prisoners, who together played piano, violin, cello, and clarinet. Each instrument gets a time in the spotlight; the third movement belongs to the solo clarinet; the fifth sees the cello in the lead role; the seventh, the piano; the eighth, the violin. The movements range from unsettling atonality to an almost Shostakovichian harmonic language, especially in the fourth and fifth movements.
The Quartet for the End of Time, appropriately, is especially innovative in use of time; notes retain their values (quarter note, eighth notes, etc.) but in some movements the time signature is absent, leading to a lack of a pulse. In other movements, the tempos are so slow that notes seem to be held forever. The End of Time could have a double meaning- the Apocalypse, and the end of conventional musical time signatures.

Messiaen: Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps
Luben Yordanoff; Albert Tetard; Claude Desurmont; Daniel Barenboim

Problems with Bartok- Solved!

2006-08-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bela Bartok- sonata for two pianos and percussion

Look here for information on the piece and its preformers.

Many thanks to Bishop.

Dmitri Shostakovich Part III

2006-08-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've mainly focused on the Shostakovich string quartets to celebrate his 100th birthday, but for today we'll take a little detour into one of his best symphonies, number eight, named the "Stalingrad" symphony by Soviet leaders. Written in 1943, its tragic, disturbing nature led top Soviets to ban it and for fellow Russian composer Prokoviev to speak out against it.
The first movement is of Mahleresque proportions, almost half an hour long. My personal favorite movement of this symphony is the third, in which the "war machine" can be heard in a heavy, driving, staccato line that is passed among the instruments, growing more and more powerful, until the timpani receives it in one of the most intense moments in music. Following that is a quiet, bleak passacaglia that conjures for me the image of dead bodies on the battlefield after the fight.
Solo winds feature prominantly throughout the piece, especially at the end of the last movement, where instead of ending triumphantly, the symphony fades away in a quiet C major.

Shostakovich Symphony No. 8- Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink

John Scofield: A Go Go

2006-08-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

I'll be frank: I can’t stand modern jazz guitar. (Sorry, Pat Metheny fans…) Perhaps it’s something in the tone of the persistent, excessive reverb, or perhaps it’s the self indulgent, showy style. That being said, I love John Scofield’s “A Go Go,” and have ever since I was a child when my mother would play it on near-constant rotation throughout the day.

John Scofield is at his absolute best, which means that fans of Steve Vai should skip this one. His guitar playing never overpowers anything and, though technically and musically inspired, is far from showy. “A Go Go” is not jazz. If anything, it’s funk. Simmering, instrumental funk. The album cover would have you believe that sole credit goes to Mr. Scofield, but just as much – if not more – credit belongs with the other three players on this album: John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass. These three players comprise, of course, the well-known jazz trio “Medeski, Martin, & Wood,” a veritable pillar of brilliant, funky music. When coupled with John Scofield on “A Go Go,” his sparse playing helps keep the sometimes frenetic playing of MMW in check, and in turn Medeski, Martin, and Wood help to elevate Scofield’s album out of “guitar jazz” status. Enjoy!

John Scofield: A Go Go

PS: I'm back, too! This is what I saw when I looked out my tent flap:

I'm Back!

2006-07-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

I could look out of the practice rooms and see this:

It was hard to leave.

But I'm back and posts will start again soon.

Alexander Borodin and an announcement

2006-06-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Though immensely talented as a composer, Alexander Borodin was a well-known chemist by trade, and saw composing as a fun little diversion. This is unfortunate, because Borodin's musical output is relatively small, leaving you wanting more. His most famous compositions are his second string quartet, the opera Prince Igor, and his second symphony.
Borodin was a member of the Mighty Handful of Russian nationalist composers, and this symphony is indeed very Russian, especially the first movement. He always had a flair for writing beautiful melodies- the first movement and nocturne from his second quartet come to mind- and one of the most beautiful appears in the third movement of this symphony, an altered folk tune with a gracefully shifting meter.

Alexander Borodin- Symphony No. 2
Rotterdam Phil., Valery Gergiev

There's a reason I posted the Borodin symphony. I will be playing this entire thing very soon, as part of the Northwestern High School Music Institute(I'm only 17). I'll be on the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Ill. for a good five weeks, starting Wednesday, so Masterfade will be on a rather long break. That is, unless anybody else decides to post again.

I will try and post once more before I leave, but if I don't, thanks for your support and interest in this little blog.

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

2006-06-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Once ignored by most, Cesar Franck is only now earning recognition for being an immensely talented Romantic composer. Franck, a Belgian who spent much of his life in France, was a proficient pianist and organist; he wrote many important works for the organ repertoire and gave up a virtuoso career to live a modest life as an organist for a Paris church. Characteristics of Franck's music include cyclic form, chromatic movement, and constant modulation. As a composer, Franck didn't mature until late in his career, and his fame is based on a relatively small batch of pieces: the most famous are his Wagneresque symphony, the epic Prelude, Chorale and Fugue for piano, and his Piano quintet of 1879.

This Piano quintet is very progressive and difficult for its time; the pianist at the premiere was the more conservative Camille Saint Saens, and he loathed the piece so much that he didn't even wait for applause at the end of the performance and stormed off the stage. Franck's own wife hated the piano quintet, which was nothing like normal delicate French music; this piece, especially the last movement, is as dramatic and intense as any of Wagner's works. I just recently bought the recording of this, and it is already among my favorite pieces of Romantic chamber music.

Cesar Franck- Piano Quintet
Ludwig String Quartet
Michael Levinas, Piano

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)

2006-05-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Paul Hindemith was among the greatest 20th-century composers, as well as a music theorist and renowned violist. While Bach provides the contrapunctal inspiration, Hindemith's harmonic language, especially in this piece, is more like early Schoenberg.

Mathis der Maler, an opera made into a symphony, is one of Hindemith's most popular works. The opera was about a master painter in the sixteenth century named Matthias Grunewald: "The painter abandons his studio to make cause with the Peasants' Revolt, thus turning against his patron and employer, the Cardinal Archbishop of Mainz. The difference between the ideals for which the peasants are fighting, and the reality of their behaviour in war, sickens the painter. He is beset with doubts, resolved only when the Cardinal makes it clear to him that by wholehearted devotion to his art can the artist best serve the cause of his people." (Andrew Porter)

Hindemith wrote this while living in Nazi Germany. The premiere of the symphony was in 1934, but due to the subject matter, the opera had to wait another four years for its premiere, in Zurich.

Hindemith: Mathis der Maler
von Karajan and the Berlin Phil.

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

2006-05-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Hungarian composer Bela Bartok the first to successfully combine Western classical music- his influences range from Brahms to Debussy to Schoenberg- with folk music from around the world, creating a very unique, rhythmic style. He wrote this in 1937, with himself and his second wife in mind to play the piano parts. The very dark mood of the first movement is juxtaposed with the bright and bouncy third movement, where the xylophone has a major role and where folk influences are most clear. The piece is very accessible for a Bartok, especially when compared to some of his seemingly impenetrable 12-tone works.

Bela Bartok: Sonata for 2 pianos and Percussion
John Simms, James Avery, Pianos
Thomas L. Davis, Percussion

War of the Romantics XII- Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)

2006-05-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

A pupil of Saint Saens and a mentor of Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure was a transitional figure in musical history; as Beethoven did with Classical and Romantic music, Faure similarly straddled the Romantic and Impressionistic labels. Claude Debussy and Ravel, the first full-fledged Impressionists, certainly pick up where Faure left off.
In these solo piano pieces, generally from the latter half of Faure's career, both the Romantic inspirations and the Impressionistic harmonies are evident. I am reminded of Brahms in Faure's use of "large scale syncopation" (Wikipedia), and of Mendelssohn in Faure's beautiful melodies- especially in his earlier Romances sans Paroles, a tribute to Mendelssohn's Songs without Words. But in Faure's nocturnes, influenced by Chopin, there are harmonies unlike any other in the Romantic era; ambiguous, hazy, and very Debussian. His Nocturnes No. 7 and 8 of 1898 are unbelievably radical for 19th century music, by any standard. Overall, Faure uses a romantic framework to advance his very forward-looking impressionistic ideas.

Included are:
Nocturnes 7-13
Preludes 3 and 9
Romances sans Paroles 1-3

Jean Martin- Faure Nocturnes Vol. 2

Via Crucis Re-upped

2006-05-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

I got a request for Via Crucis by Franz Liszt to be re-uploaded, since the link expired, so here is the album on rapidshare. If you missed this the first time around, I strongly recommend you check it out, as it is one of my all time favorite pieces.

Part One

Part Two

War of the Romantics Part XI. Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

2006-04-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Bruckner is a sort of missing link in the chain of German symphonic composers, who is now rarely mentioned because of the amazing capabilities of those who came before and after him. The line started by Haydn had evolved through Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, with radical composers like Berlioz and Liszt doing various other things. Bruckner followed the path of the former romantic composers, basing his compositions off of Beethoven's 4th, 7th, and 8th Symphonies; 4-movement works rich in romantic ideas and harmonies, but lacking the more descriptive programme-music favored by Liszt and Berlioz.

Brahms had based his 4 symphonies off of the model left by Beethoven, and changed a little from the existing model. Bruckner took what was left by Brahms, and again changed a little, this time making the orchestra larger, the harmonies more chromatic, the emotion more intense. He also adopted habits of Wagner in writing brass-heavy music and by including Wagner Tubas in some of his works. Needless to say, Brahms and his followers were irritated by this out of their hate for Wagner. Still, like Brahms, Bruckner was preoccupied by the greatness of his predecessors, and so he adopted a more conservative style. Just like Brahms tried to perfect what Beethoven created, Bruckner tried to perfect what Brahms created. The result is a well developed musical style stuck somewhere between Brahms, Wagner and Mahler.

Bruckner's style did not really evolve like other composers, so his early symphonies are similar to his late ones(they were all equally horrible during his lifetime), but his late ones are the most well known, with the 7th, 8th, and unfinished 9th being the most popular. Though not as revolutionary as other composers, Bruckner's style did carry into the music of Richard Strauss and especially Gustav Mahler.

The sound quality of this recording is a touch too old for my taste, and it was most likely in some hall, and not in a good location for recording. Still it has some good things to offer, despite the sound quality.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major

Salzburg Festival, Wiener Philharmoniker, Szell - Sony Classical

Please comment, I can post Bruckner 9 if anyone out there is a Bruckner fan. If not, I'll just move on to other stuff.

Igor Stravinsky

2006-04-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Born into a world of Russian classical msuic, Igor Stravinksy made his mark in his homeland but left for France as a young man. His previous compositions won him a spot composing ballets for Serge Diaghilev's famed ballet company. The Firebird (1910), Stravinsky's first prooduction for the company was an imediate sucess and was soon followed by Petrushka (1911). His next work, however, has become infamous in its own manner. The audience attending the premiere of the Rite of Spring (1913) reacted rather violently to the new work and proceded to riot the streets of Paris.

I give you here the Firebird which follows the story Tsarevitch Ivan. Here is are the main points of the plotline as written by the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Tsarevitch Ivan, out hunting, spies the glittering Firebird in Kastchei's enchanted garden and, drawn to her cosmic energy, traps her. They dance a powerful pas de deux as she struggles in his grasp and finally wins her freedom, leaving him a magic feather with which he can recall her strength in his time of need.
A group of young Princesses—Kastchei's captives—enters the garden to dance in the moonlight, and Ivan and the loveliest Princess are drawn to one another. They communicate their new love as they perform a folk dance with her companions. With the approach of the dawn, the Princesses return to the castle, warning Ivan to escape before Kastchei appears.
Not yet understanding the power of the enemy, Ivan tries to follow. He is threatened by Kastchei's monsters, and incurs the wizard's wrath. The Princesses return, and Ivan realizes fully the danger to the woman he loves. Remembering the magic feather which will summon the Firebird to his aid, he waves it, and she reappears to help him drive off the monsters and Kastchei.
The exhausted Ivan and the Princess reconfirm their love, and the Firebird prepares them to face their last difficult task—the destruction of Kastchei's evil soul. As Ivan breaks open the egg that contains it, new life is liberated, and love triumphs over evil.
Her mission accomplished, the Firebird—somewhat sadly—relinquishes Ivan and the Princess to the future that awaits them. In the presence of well-wishers, children, and flowers, the new Tsar and Tsarevna are crowned as benevolent leaders of the regenerated world.

In 1919, Stravinsky wrote a suite of the music from the Firebird to be performed without the ballet accompaniment. While both versions are commonly used in performances today, I can only offer the 1910 version for your listening pleasure. There are few differences between the two with most of the music identical in each rendition.

The Firebird (1910)
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

2006-04-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the recent absence of posting. I think I can speak for all Masterfaders when I say we've been busy as hell. I expect posting to pick up again after next week.

The works that Johannes Brahms wrote for organ are not well known. His output for organ was small, but it spanned almost his entire composing career. The first preludes and fugues on here are from the mid 1850s, probably from around the time Brahms, still a young man, wanted to make a living as an organist. Brahms did not want these published, but they escaped destruction and are rare surviving examples of pieces that Brahms was not happy with; they show his amazing potential more than anything else.

The last work, the opus 122 11 chorale preludes of 1896, is the last thing Brahms ever wrote, and is among my favorite pieces of his entire output. Brahms wrote them partly as a reaction to his intimate friend Clara Schumann's death, and partly as a recognition of his own impending death. The conservative Brahms always drew inspiration from JS Bach, and on Bach's preferred instrument his influence is unmistakable. However, these melancholy, reflective pieces are most definitely Brahmsian; his characteristic 2-on-3 hemiolas and barline-transcending rhythms abound. It is obvious when one listens to these pieces, especially the final chorale, O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, that Brahms knew he hadn't long to live- as the organ drops to pianissimo at the end of the piece and sings one last beautiful F major chord, I picture a tearful goodbye from the greatest Romantic composer ever.

Robert Parkins- Brahms complete organ works

(To accompany his last musical work, the picture above is the last ever taken of Brahms, in 1896)

Erik Satie

2006-04-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Not many people can take credit for helping found three different artistic movements. The Dada, Impressionism, and ambient music movements all owe a great deal to Erik Satie, as you'll see. (The drawing to the right: Erik Satie, by Pablo Picasso)

Satie can be viewed as the complete opposite of Richard Wagner; his music, instead of being extremely grand, long, and climactic, is directionless and short. Satie's harmonic language is unlike anyone else. He would recieve lessons from well-known teachers, but if they told him to fix an unconventional element in his style, he would only ask, "why?" Many see Satie as a precursor to the Dadaists; his music and behavior could be very absurd. He wore only velvet suits for a period of time, and only ate white food. He titled the second piece he ever wrote "Opus 62" and hardly ever used bar-lines in his compositions. His works are full of ridiculous jokes, including a piece on this disc that begins "ending" about half a minute before the actual end of the piece (You'll know what I'm talking about if you hear it.)

Satie was a staunch anti-Wagnerian, and when he met a young Claude Debussy, he inspired him to avoid Wagner's path. Debussy and his contemporary Maurice Ravel heeded Satie's advice, started writing formless, quiet, Satie-esque pieces, and began the movement known as Impressionism.

Satie's anti-Romantic style can be best heard in his "furniture music," intended for nothing else but background music- Brian Eno credits Satie with being the first ambient composer. His Gymnopedies are considered by some to be furniture music, but were not meant to be; they are just beautiful examples of rhythm and melody taken to a bare minimum. Claude Debussy was so impressed with Satie's Gymnopedies that he famously orchestrated them, but I prefer the intimate solo versions on this disc.

Pascal Roge- Satie: Piano Works

More Wagner

2006-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is more Wagner, the winner of the poll. This is Wagner's popular opera, Die Walkure (The Valkyrie) made famous by the pictured Apocalypse Now scene. This opera premiered in 1870 as the second part of his massive Ring cycle of operas, which is based on old Germanic characters and legends. Unlike Beethoven, one Wagner piece is more than enough for a post; Die Walkure requires four discs to hold it.

Die Walkure: Act I

Act II, Part I (Disc II)

Act II part II (Disc III)

Act III (Disc IV)

Vienna Phil., Georg Solti

Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde
for more information on soloists, etc. check this amazon.com link

The Winner...

2006-04-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

The poll is closed, and the winner, surprisingly by no small margin, is Richard Wagner. I, personally, was betting on Tchaikovsky and hoping for Liszt, but Wagner won in a blowout. Thanks to those who voted, and we will begin to post Wagner soon.

Please continue to leave comments if you like what you hear or if you have requests.
Thanks.

2006-04-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Back in February, Sam was good enough to post the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor. Antonin Dvorak, however, wrote more for solo cello with orchestra. As Sam already wrote about Dvorak, I won't repeat his the basics.

In 1891, Dvorak went on a tour of Czechoslovakia, performaing in 39 cities with his good friends Ferdinand Lachner, violin and Hanuš Wihan, cello. Dvorak had written several pieces for violin but he badly needed cello music so he transcribed a piano duet from his Op. 6 toa solo for cello and piano. Klid ("Silent Woods") Piece for Cello and Orchestra was the result and eventually, Dvorak transcribed the piano part for orchestra.

Following this tour of his homeland, Dvorak left for the New World of America where he composed his 9th Symphony, "The New World Symphony" and a year later, the cello concerto. As he was working on the symphony, Dovrak was also writing another cello solo, entitlted, Rondo for Cello and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 94.

This post was originally intended to be an April Fool's joke. I had wanted to post Justified by Justin Timberlake for a long time, just as a joke and this seemed like the best time to do it. I coudlnt upload the entire album so I just put together a questionable pieces. Enjoy...

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

2006-03-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

The father of atonal music and developer of the twelve-tone system, Arnold Schoenberg is arguably the most influencial of any 20th century composer. After Schoenberg, the centuries-old necessity of a tonal base was thrown out the window. Schoenberg, however, began his career following the footsteps of Mahler and Strauss, and in 1898 created one of the most beautiful pieces of late Romantic music with Verklarte Nacht (Transfigued Night, inspired by a poem of the same name.) This piece was avant-garde without being atonal; the extreme modulations and heavy dissonances- sometimes flirting with atonality- make it clear that Schoenberg didn't intend to stay on Mahler's path. However, this piece for string orchestra is a lush, melodic, and profoundly lovely farewell to the Romantic world.

Op. 4- Verklarte Nacht- von Karajan and the Berlin Phil.

Schoenberg progressively began experimenting with atonality after Verklarte Nacht, and by 1908 was composing completely without key. This 1928 piece, Varitaions for Orchestra, is a perfect example of a twelve-tone work. Each of the nine short variations has a very different character to it, from sparse and hushed to bombastic and brash. It's never easy to listen to atonal music for the first time, but I think that this would be a good piece to begin with. It may be incomprehensible, but is not chaos.

Op. 31- Variations for Orchestra- von Karajan and the Berlin Phil.

Wotr- Poll #2

2006-03-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

A new update is below this.

You know the drill; we'll post tons of stuff from the winner of this poll. So who do you want this time?

The deadline will be next Sunday.

Shostakovich Quartets Two and Three

2006-03-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

These string quartets, written within two years of each other (1944 and 1946), are amazing examples of Shostakovich (Right, not to be confused with Harry Potter) in his prime. He was churning out amazing works like the piano trio around this time, and sadly, these early quartets are underappreciated, but in many ways, they are equals to his eighth and tenth. The quartets can be seen as reflections on World War II. The second movement of the second quartet is especially mournful and powerful; the long droning chords of the lower strings remind me of the chilling third movement of Bela Bartok's fourth quartet.

Fitzwilliam Quartet- Shostakovich String Quartets 2 and 3
*Note- the last movement of the second quartet sounds a little weird, with a few pops and scratches here and there; my computer didn't rip the CD properly. I'll get a good version of that movement up soon.

War of the Romantics Part X: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908)

2006-03-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Unlike many of our previous Romantic Composers, Rimsky-Korsakov did not begin composing immediatly. Although he did you considerable musical genuis in his early ages, he was shipped by his aristocratic parents to a Navy school in Saint Petersburg before eventually joining the Russian Navy. In his twenties he met a man named Mily Balakirev, who encouraged Nikolai to compose. Thus began the career of a great composer.

I have to be honest and say that I do not know much else about Rimsky Korsakov, only that I've had the privilage of playing two of his most famous works, Capricco Espanol and Russian Easter Festival Overture. Both pieces are fun to play and fun to listen to, Capriccio Espanol especially. His other really famous piece, the symphonic suite Scheherazade, is a piece that I do not know personally, but sounds nice from what I've heard so far.

Just as a side note ,Rimsky-Korsakov taught many composers who would later become famous, including Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky. Expect to see music from these composers very soon.

Happy Listening Everyone:

Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, and Russian Easter Festival Overture

Comments or Requests? Dont hesitate, email me at mattmasterfade@gmail.com

War of The Romantics Part IX. Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

2006-03-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

"I love Wagner...but even more, I love the sound a cat makes when it's hung outside a window by the tail, and it tries to stick to the glass with its claws." The poet Baudelaire said this about who was probably the greatest operatic composer of all time. Wagner revolutionized the realm of German music, taking it beyond where it was with the earlier romantic composers.

Wagner has been known for his extraordinarily long operas, large orchestras, and of course his strange personal life and bad case of anti-semitism (his music was banned in Israel for some time). His operas were often based on German mythology i.e. Tannhauser and Lohengrin, and he viewed them as part of a new music of the future, which he took credit for developing. His arrogance irritated virtually every composer who was alive at the time, and most did not like him or his music.

Still he made major contributions to opera such as the Leitmotif (short musical themes that go along with specific characters in an opera) and a new operatic form that dispatched with the aria-recitative-aria formula of other composers. There were also numerous developments in orchestral composition thanks to Wagner and his use of large orchestras, offstage instruments, new instruments such as the Wagner Tuba, and new theaters designed specifically for the performance of his operas.

The Prelude to Act One of Lohengrin is a work that does not fit the description of the composer, yet it is typical of Wagner's more lyric works. It is slow and beautiful, with not a hint of arrogance, anti-semitism, or tortured cats that may have been suggested by this introduction.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think! I have some more Wagner that I can post if you like.

Lohengrin, Prelude to Act I- Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti - Decca

Prelude to act III- New York Phil.

Much more conventional, catchy, and upbeat than the first prelude.

Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral - Chor der Bayreuther Festpiele; Orchester der Bayreuther Festpiele

You will recognize this one as the most popular wedding song "Here comes the bride"

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

2006-03-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

In another detour from the war of the Romantics, I take you now to a French great of the next generation to follow: the Impressionists. Maurice Ravel studied with the French masters of his era, (Faure, Satie and others) and the early 1900s, he had well established himself as a notable composer. His pieces are well varied, as any composer, from chamber music, to ballets, to concertos, to works for full symphony orchestra. I personally am most familiar with his chamber works, and thus this blog will focus mainly on two such pieces as well as one of his most famous pieces for symphony.

Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major was his one and only string quartet and while today, it is looked upon as his first great masterpiece (written at age 28), it was not as well received at first. The quartet was dedicated to Ravel’s teacher, Faure. Faure, however, was not so impressed. In his words, the fourth movement is “stunted, badly balanced, in fact a failure.” The judges of the Grand Prix de Rome, a prestigious French award rejected the quartet in another of his five failed attempts at the prize. Others at the time were more approving. Ravel’s friendly rival, Claude Debussy wrote to Ravel, pleading Ravel, “In the name of the Gods of music and in my own, do not touch a single note you have written in your Quartet.”

As I have heard it, the quartet is full of luscious melodies and harmonies, (my favorite being the pizzicato section in the second movement.) Today, it is heard in frequently in performance. An excerpt from the second first movement can also be found in “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and is one of the several classical pieces on the soundtrack. Others have incorporated the Quartet into their own music as well. Mike Marshall arranged part of it for guitar quartet. (This link will take you to the free downloads section of amazon.com. There are thousands of artists that have posted their work on Amazon for free downloads. There’s a huge variety of stuff so check it out, if you have some time. It’s a little hit and miss and not everything you download will be good.)

A few years after the somewhat failed quartet, Ravel debuted another chamber work that became an instant success. It is a septet for entitled Introduction and Allegro for Harp, String Quartet, flute, and clarinet. The harp becomes the star of the impressionistic work. I was astounded when I first heard it, at a live performance, to see the harp actually playing harmonics. The piece as a whole is practically a miniature harp concerto. The strings and winds are no less important, with equally beautiful melodies but the harp easily steals the show. Ravel blends the seven instruments seamlessly, using the harp particularly effectively both as a melodic instrument and to lighten the overall texture with its characteristic glissandi. The overall effect is magical. This is "impressionist" music without a hint of vagueness; it is bright, fresh, and never less than perfectly clear.

As a conclusion to this brief introduction to Ravel, I will leave you with his mesmerizing ballet, Bolero. Written as a joke, it is a simple Spanish melody repeated over and over again. The story goes that someone bet Ravel he couldn’t write a piece without music that everyone would love. The resulting work was Bolero. In many aspects, there is very little music to it. It is a repeated melody. Supposedly, it is a wonderful piece to listen to in concert but to play it can be the most boring fifteen minutes of your musical life if you aren’t a soloist. The melody bounces around soloists and employs several rare instruments such as the oboe d’amore and piccolo trumpet. For the accompanying orchestra, the music is less than pleasing. The snare drum, for example, repeats a two bar phrase for the duration of the piece. The effect is to create a hypnotically mesmerizing work that really is musicless music. The biggest irony is that audiences, unaware of Ravel’s bet, immediately fell in love with Bolero and it became an instant hit.

So there you have it, the short introduction to the music Maurice Ravel. And in a completely unrelated segment, here is my addition to the winner of our War of the Romantics poll. I have had some computer difficulties recently but finally, I have Beethoven’s First Symphony ready to download. And on another side note, the link to the Martinu quartets is finally up and working so I suggest you check those out as well.

Ciao.

A Couple of Encores

2006-03-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Bach Organ Preludes and Fugues, Volume 1- Anthony Newman

Includes the "Great" A minor fugue, Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor (Not the famous one. The better one.) and much more. Recorded on a monstrous Rieger organ similar to the one above.

Beethoven- six songs- Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano, Andras Schiff, piano

These are all Canzoni, or Italian songs. A very obscure set of Beethoven works; his lieder are hard to come by. Includes Op. 82 1-4, WoO 124 and WoO 133.

By the way, happy 20,000th hit to us! We've had visitors from 43 countries, and many seem to be coming back; it makes us glad to see such a large, and growing, community of masterfaders.

Dexter Gordon and Another AEoC

2006-03-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

I rediscovered an old best friend last night: Dexter Gordon. Though I've never met him, and he's not even an old friend in the sense that I've listened to his music for a long time, it feels like he plays his sax just to make me smile; like he's giving me a pat on the back and a warm smile every time he blows. A pioneer of the bebop movement, Dexter will never be mentioned as often as his contemporaries John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. It's appropriate, I suppose, because there is nothing revolutionary in the way Mr. Gordon plays, but it doesn't mean he's made music of any less caliber. The album I've uploaded for you masterfaders, "GO!" is simply irresistible. You'll notice the little lines Dexter quotes in his solos: the church bell notes, nurserey rhymes, etc. Normally, it'd be a little corny, but Dexter's huge tone and swing keep everything cooking.

Dexter Gordon: GO!

Also, just as a little bonus here's another Art Ensemble of Chicago record for ya'll. (See my earlier poast on AEoC below for "Les Stances A Sophie") It's a fantastic record for you fans of free jazz out there; pick it up if you're curious as to what a jazz basson solo sounds like. (It sounds cool).

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: Full Force

Just a reminder: none of us here have a rapidshare premium account, which means that if a file has been un-downloaded for 30 days, it will be deleted! So, if you're new here, please dive into our archives before the links start to die; we've got some great stuff back there.

Happy B- Day Johann!

2006-03-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the most famous and influential composers of all time: Johann Sebastian Bach. Born some 321 years ago in Eisenach, Bach's music has elevated him to be known to some as the "Immortal God of Composers". Any musician cannot go through his or her career without playing some Bach, and those who play violin or cello most likely will end up coming across either his Sonotas and Partitas for Violin or his Solo Suites for cello. These pieces, when played correctly, exibit incredible emotion unlike anything that has ever been written for a solo instrument. I have incredible recordings of both the Violin and Cello Suites; Nathan Milstein, arguably amoung the best who ever played, plays the Violin Suites, and Yo Yo Ma, of course one of the best, plays the cello suites.

Here is Solo Bach at its best; do yourself a giant favor and download both of these. You wont regret it.

Sonaten & Partiten for Violin, Sonata No.1 - Nathan Milstein

The Cello Suites - Inspired By Bach: Suite No 1 - Yo Yo Ma

If you want to know more about Bach and hear more Bach, look in our archives.
Oh, and like always, i hope you enjoy the music.

Questions? Comments? Anything? Email me at mattmasterfade@gmail.com

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928- )

2006-03-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

I'm happy that you Masterfaders like Stockhausen and want more music from the late 20th century, but the truth is, none of our libraries have enough of it to devote that much time to Stockhausen, Cage, Litegi, etc. I'll post what I have, which isn't a lot. But don't despair... there is a new music blog that seems to have what you want. Check out http://leroisamuse.blogspot.com/ for some good modern stuff.

One of the weirdest composers out there is also one of the most influencial in recent history. I believe that anyone who uses electronics in music is directly influenced by and indebted to Karlheinz Stockhausen. Stockhausen began composing in the early '50s with avant-garde compositions influenced by Stavinsky and Webern, and just kept getting more experimental. Among his eccentricities is a distaste for gravity; he arranges for performers to be swung from the recording studio ceiling when they record his works and he has written a string quartet to be played with each member in his own helicopter. And of course, you can't be avant-garde without being controversial. The latest row over something Stockhausen did was when he called the September 11th attacks "Lucifer's greatest work of art".

Stockhausen has always been able to pick up on technological developments very quickly. He was among the first composers to arrange for his works to be recorded on CD, but more importantly, he was the first major musical figure to take advantage of the advent of electronics. The first noteworthy work of classical music that involves electronics is his Kontakte (1959) for piano, percussion and electronics. Not only does he successfully utilize tape loops to make otherwordly sounds that pan in and out, seemingly randomly, but he merges it with the acoustic instruments in such a way that it doesn't seem forced at all. The keyless, meterless, 34-minute piece has very sparse and unpredictable writing for the piano and the percussion; the electronics are certainly the star of the show. And it is amazing what sounds he was able to produce from such primitive equipment. Listen around 27 minutes through for a majorly intense electronic freak-out moment. If you are a fan of the avant-garde to any degree, or even if you want to learn more about the only composer that the Beatles put on the Sgt. Pepper's cover, please check out this highly important work of music.

Kontakte: James Avery-Piano, Steven Schick-percussion, Jaap Spek- electronics engineer
Spek has collaborated with Stockhausen so he knows what he's doing.

Feedback? Requests? Feel free to leave a comment.

War of the Romantics Part VIII: Tchaikovsky

2006-03-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

This will be Masterfade's third post on Tchaikovsky already, but if anyone deserves that much attention, it's Tchaik. I just hope you guys like him as much as we do.

Tchaikovsky was kind of a musical loner in the Romantic Era. Though his music could be very Russian in character, it was too European for him to be accepted by the "Mighty handful" of Russian nationalist composers. It was too Russian, though, for him to join any European school of music. And even if he was invited to join Brahms' school, he probably wouldn't. He hated Brahms' music and he thought Beethoven was just mediocre.

With his musical uniqueness, his severe depression, and his closeted homosexuality, it is an understatement to say that Tchaikovsky had a hard time fitting in. In 1893, with his torment becoming unbearable, and having already attempted suicide, Tchaikovsky wrote his greatest piece of music, the emotional behemoth of a symphony called the Pathetique. He dispensed with the traditional fireworks that open and close symphonies, opting instead for moments of total despair to bookend the piece. The modulations and harmonies in this piece are beyond anything else Tchaikovsky wrote; violent dissonances abound. Tchaikovsky loved this symphony, but the critics didn't. It recieved lukewarm reviews at its premiere. Nine days later, Tchaikovsky was dead.

Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique"- Evegny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Phil.

Feedback? Requests? Feel free to leave a comment

New Beethoven

2006-03-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Howdy, Masterfaders, here are more links to the poll's winner, Ludwig van Beethoven.

As requested- Piano Sonatas 28, 29 (The famous Hammerklavier is 28)- Richard Goode

Two outstanding overtures- Prometheus and Corolian overtures- Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Mp3 format

Heifetz plays the timeless Violin concerto in D

Piano Concertos 3 and 5- Alexander Sandler, piano ; Orchestra "New Philharmony", St. Petersburg ; Sergei Uruvayev, piano ; Orchestra "Classic Music Studio," St. Petersburg ; Alexander Titov, conductor.

If you download only one thing here, my recommendation is:
Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano- Mstislav Rostropovich; David Oistrach; Sviatoslav Richter; Berliner Philharmoniker; Herbert Von Karajan

This very interesting concerto is an earlier work, written around the time of his third symphony, and shows his mastery of writing for all three instruments. The first movement is 18 minutes long, reflecting Beethoven's use of "increasingly 'meaty' sonata-form structures" (From lvbeethoven.com)

Announcements

2006-03-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

First off, sorry about that little episode. You had caught me at a bad time. From now on, you respect me, I'll respect you, and we'll all be friends.

The War poll is closed. Thanks to those who voted. The winner: Beethoven

We have plenty of Beethoven on tap, so if you want anything in particular of Beethoven to be posted, let us know.

War of the Romantics VII - Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921)

2006-03-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here for the seventh installment of the War of the Romantics is one of my personal favorites: Camille Saint-Saëns. Like most of the composers we have covered, Saint-Saens' musical life started early, giving his first piano recital at age five.
His life nearly covered the whole period of Romanticism, and he began to see the early signs of the period's demise as he died in the early 2oth century.

I have not heard a good portion of Saint-Saen's repertoire, but I have liked all that i have heard so far. His concertos are beautiful, inspiring, and considered by many critics to be technically flawless. Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals", undoubtedly his most famous work ever, brings together both passionate melodies and fun melodies to create an amazing picture of, just that, a Carnival of Animals. The funniest part about the Carnival of Animals is that Saint-Saens hated it and thought it would damage his "serious" reputation.

However, I'm not going to post either his concertos or his Carnival of Animals tonight. Don't worry, you will see them soon, but I want to post a relatively unknown piece buy Saint-Saens: His Introduction to Rondo and Capriccioso for violin.
This piece is a showpiece, and like most of Saint Saens' music, is a perfect balance between fast and technically amazing passages and slow and passionate melodies. Like I said in my Bach post, single tracks do not come often, only when something truly special comes along. I hope that you agree that this piece is incredible.

And before i post the link there's just a few things I need to add:

Thanks to everyone who appreciates what we do here at Masterfade. We really enjoy this and we want you to enjoy it as well. However to further make this blog better and to your specifications we need you to do a few things:

1. Comment, Comment, Comment: There's nothing better to us then feedback, as long as it is put in a nice way. Sam always gives you guys his email and i will start doing so as well.
2. If you havent already, download the songs below. These links expire if they are not used within a certain amount of time. All the newcomers should take a look at the bottom, theres some really good stuff down there.
3. Vote in the poll below, its just one click of the mouse.

More votes and more comments means we have a greater chance of knowing what you guys want. We are all for requests and comments....it's just that lately we really have had little or none of either.

Enough of that, Here's what you really want: Introduction to Rondo and Capriciosso - James Ehnes

Hope you enjoy it.

Listen Up.

2006-03-09T18:56:00.001-07:00

The only comment on my Liszt post reads:

Anonymous said...

You do a disservice to the performers when you don't even mention them.

I could do a bigger disservice to you by not posting anymore. If the only comments we get scold us like we're little servant-children for making honest mistakes, this blog will not be fun for us anymore. We are not making money. We can quit anytime. Would you all like that?

War of the Romantics, Part VI- Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

2006-03-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

Before I get started, remember to vote in the poll from a couple posts ago- it will be open for a few more days. Beethoven is ahead by three votes as I write this.

Here is where the War gets interesting. Franz Liszt had a long and prolific career in which he met both Beethoven and Debussy; he had the last real connection to the old Classical style, but was the most radical of any of the Romantics at the end of his life. Liszt, a child-prodigy-turned-superstar, was perhaps the greatest pianist who ever lived, and his showmanship attracted audiences from across the world. Pieces like his Hungarian Rhapsodies and his famous Liebstraum had emotional climax after emotional climax, giving Liszt a chance to show himself off and impress the ladies. He also broke new musical ground, using the chromatic scale extensively and being one of the first to study and use folk melodies in his music.

Liszt and his friend Richard Wagner (Wagner married Liszt's daughter) were part of a group that rebelled against the conservative and classically structured nature of Brahms and his friends. They ceased to use sonata form, and gave their pieces backgrounds and incorporated other forms of art to help contextualize their music. Liszt created the symphonic poem and other program music to achieve this.

Personally, I can not get into early, showman-extrordanaire Liszt. However, as Liszt aged and became more reflective, he began to write what I believe was some of the most outstanding music of the 19th century. He abandoned the breakneck virtuostic passages of his early work, and instead focused on profoundly beautiful and avant-garde harmonies and melodies. Bela Bartok said Liszt was the first modernist, and the clear influence of his late works on Debussy, Schoenberg, and Bartok himself help prove that notion. I submit that late Liszts are the most underappreciated of any classical works.

This solemn masterpiece is called Via Crucis: Stations of the Cross, and it blows me away every time I hear it. It is a piece of subdued and sparse dialogue between a chorus and a piano that gives you something new each time you hear it. The chorus sings a single line of melody, like a Gregorian chant, for the first three minutes of the piece. When the harmony does appear, sometimes it verges on atonality, while at other times it reminds me of a sublime Bach chorale. If all you know of Liszt is his Liebstraum era, I highly recommend you try Via Crucis. This is not Liszt the rock star, but Liszt the master composer.

Liszt: Via Crucis- Reinbert de Leeuw and the Netherlands Chamber Choir
Sorry if Megaupload won't work where you live, but the file is too big for Rapidshare. Would someone be willing to split and upload this album on Rapidshare?

Feedback? Requests? Please leave a comment.

Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)

2006-03-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Martinu was born into a Czech village, the son of the village bell-ringer/watchman. From his youngest days, he spent time among the bells, high above the town in the watchtower. As a young boy, he was introduced to the violin and bounced between several music schools as an adolescent. He had always some interest in composition but generally lacked the funds for tuition and manuscript paper to study the craft. However, through he generosity of his townsmen, Martinu found himself sent off to the Conservatory in Prague to study composition. Martinu did not adjust to his studies very well and he was fialing several classes when he left the Cponservatory to continue his studies by himself. Eventually, Martinu learned to be a master of composition. His Czech Rhapsody for solo, chorus, and orchestra was given a performance by the Czech Philharmonic, (in which he played second violin) in 1919 and was favorably received.

From Prague, Martinu found himself drawn to Paris to continue his studies with Albert Roussel. During this time, Martinu continued to compose vast amounts of music: orchestral suites, operas, ballets and chamber music. But with the outbreak of the Second World War, Martinu’s time in Paris came to an end and he narrowly escaped to America. Even during these very trying times Martinu continued not only to compose daily, but also succeeded in writing music that is full of strength, vitality, hope, and joy.

Following in the footsteps of another great Czech composer, Dvorak, Martinu did his best to to establish himself in the New World. In America, Martinu honed in his skills as a symphonist, if you will, writing a total of six symphonies in his career. After the war, he was able to return to Europe after spending time working at Tangelwood, Princeton and Curtis. He settled in Nice and later Switzerland where he died of cancer in 1959.

Martinu’s music has a distinctive sound; the harmonies and melodies take on a combination of modern and romantic ideals. I have had some experience playing a short set of Variations on a Slovakian theme for Cello and Piano. As a student cellist, it was unlike anything I had ever played. For example, the opening theme doesn’t have a time signature, it only says rubato. The measures are divided into segments of two or three beats each; but the total number of beats for each measure varies between seven, eight and nine beats. The remaining variations are filled with syncopations, haunting melodies and several changes of time signature within each movement. While the key signature remains constant throughout without any sharps or flats, the key modulates several times. For a student musician, it was an entirely new genre of music.

Martinu’s string quartets were written over a period of nearly twenty years. On this album, the Martinu Quartet has recorded his Fourth (1937), Fifth (1938), and Seventh (1947) quartets. In the Fourth, Martinu’s work has been described as “Drawing on Czech and Moravian sources of inspiration, absorbed in a musical language.” This quartet as well as the Fifth was lost and forgotten for nearly twenty years, only to be rediscovered in the late 1950s. Martinu’s Seventh and last quartet represents a further development of Martinu’s style, which now tended toward greater classical simplifications. It specifically has been seen as drawing from the works of Franz Joseph Haydn.

While you may disagree, I personally find his work to be fascinatingly beautiful and with any luck, I’ll get a hold of some of his non-chamber pieces to add to our here Masterfade.

Martinů: String Quartets Nos. 4, 5 and 7 -- The Martinu Quartet

The Kronos Quartet

2006-03-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

One of the most experimental string quartets around is the diverse and successful Kronos Quartet. Founded almost 30 years ago, the Kronos not only plays modern classical music from Glass, Gorecki, Riley, and others, but the works are often written especially for them. But the Kronos never confine themselves by playing one type of music; they have played international music, movie soundtracks, and they even covered the Jimi Hendrix song Purple Haze. Early Music is yet another direction the Kronos have taken. Half the CD is performances of what the title implies, some of the first polyphonic pieces in Western music. It includes transcriptions of medieval and Renaissance chants, early Baroque songs, and an interesting study on ancient Greek scales. The Greeks did not use the 12-tone scale, so in the piece the violin plays notes that you can't find on a piano. These early pieces are juxtaposed with modern music from John Cage and others, showing surprising similarities between the composing styles of the 10th century and of the 20th.

Beware though: this disc can be a difficult listen. Don't expect many exciting passages or memorable melodies. Some of the tracks are more valuable as a history lesson than as a great piece of music; when Seth heard the first piece, from the 1300s, he remarked "sounds like the guy was inventing music as he wrote this thing."

Kronos Quaret- Early Music

Due to the overwhelming positive response to our little minimalist series, I've also included a Terry Riley piece written for the Kronos called Requiem for Adam- Adam being the son of two members of the Kronos who tragically died. The first movement in particular is very beautiful, and sounds like it is indeed Ascending the Heaven Ladder.

Terry Riley, Kronos Quartet- Requiem for Adam

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to comment, or email us at grandpamoses@gmail.com.
And please remember to vote in the poll below- Brahms has a slight lead over Beethoven as I write this.

Jazz fans, don't worry. We haven't forgotten about you- Seth has some great stuff coming up, and we've invited a new jazz specialist to the crew.

War of the Romantics, Parts I-V Poll

2006-03-06T19:11:00.001-07:00

Sam came up with a very good idea the other day: to have a real War of the Romantics, we need the viewers to help us out. Here is how it works. Below there is a poll; we will count on you guys to vote for your favorite out of the first part of War of the Romantics. After a week or so we will take a look at who is the most popular composer, and we will post more music from that composer.

So here it is. Who do you want to hear more of?

Expect to see War of the Romantics, Parts VI- X, very very soon.

War of the Romantics: Part V --Niccolò Paganini, (1782 – 1840)

2006-03-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

Thought to be the first virtuoso violinist ever, Niccolo Paganini composed, played the violin, viola,guitar, and mandolin; however, he is mostly known for the violin. Paganini started playing violin at the age of seven, and began composing before he turned eight. 20 years later he had become one of the first ever touring solo artists, and made a fourtune throughout his lifetime doing so. Considered by many as the greatest violinist who ever lived, Paganini possesed perfect intonation and technique.

Here is one of the better stories about Paganini, taken from Wikipedia.org:
"A pervading myth about Paganini is that he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his fearsome technique, a rumor which he delighted in and may have even started himself. During a performance his eyes would roll into the back of his head while playing, revealing the whites. His swaying stance, long unruly hair and thin, gaunt stature would add to this rumor. He played so intensely that women would faint and men would break out weeping. "

Paganini's intensity and emphasis on intonation and techinque are expressed quite eloquently in both his first Violin Concerto and His famous 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. The Caprices, over the past 200 or so years, have become a popular choice for practicing advanced technique.

What some of you might be thinking now is, " Why would anyone want to listen to exercises?" I will tell you now that All 24 caprices(played on this album by none other than Itzhak Perlman) as well as his first violin concerto( played by Salvatore Accardo on this particular album) are definitley worth your time.

Im really pumped about this whole War of The Romantics. It gives us a chance to put our five extensive music libraries together to bring the best music ever written to your computers and you ears. But then again,that is what we have been doing all along...Come back in the near future for more on the War of the Romantics.

Happy Listening:

Niccolò Paganini, 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1

War of the Romantics, Part IV: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

2006-03-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Brahms has been considered one of the greatest composers of all time for his achievements in symphonic, chamber, and choral music. However, he has also endured a great deal of criticism regarding his work. (Graffiti in 19th century concert halls would sometimes say "Exit in case of Brahms") He is accused of being too dissonant, as well as a copier of Beethoven. This is likely due to the roamntic harmonies and difficult rhythms that give Brahms his distinctive sound.

In many respects, Brahms is a more conservative composer than others. His works are heavily influenced by Beethoven, and he is often considered to be "less confident" in composition than Beethoven was. When a composition had modulated into a bizarre key, Beethoven would do what he felt like doing, and possibly jump abruptly to a completely different key. Brahms on the other hand was compelled by his perfectionist nature to modulate back to the tonic, afraid to deviate from the classical norm. You may see this as a negative, but in my opinion, Brahms often has more flow to his works than Beethoven, making them easier to listen to.

This trio also exibits Brahms' use of the natural horn (waldhorn), that was limited to a certain set of pitches and movement of the right hand within the bell of the instrument, instead of the valved horn, which could play an entire chromatic scale without awkward hand movements. Though valved horn was used in the time of Brahms by composers such as Tchaikovsky and Mahler, he still used the natural horn in all his works, thinking valved horns were a passing fad. This trio is the result of a stay in the mountains, the horn reflecting the majesty of the mountains and forests, as well as the hunt.

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think; this piece is often overshadowed by his other chamber masterpieces.

Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano in E-Flat, Op. 40

Myron Bloom- Horn, Michael Tree- Violin, Rudolf Serkin- Piano, Marlboro Music Festival, Sony Classical

War of the Romantics: Part III -- Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

2006-03-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

As the newest member of this blog, I find myself delegated to provide Felix Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony, Op. 90, commonly known as the 'Italian' Symphony. Mendelssohn wrote the work in his early twenties inspired by a recent visit to, big surprise, Italy. As a German native, his work was highly influenced by the precedents set by his classical/baroque forefathers: Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mozart. However, by 1825 he had developed a "characteristic style of his own, often underpinned by a literary, artistic historical, geographical or emotional connection." The Italian Symphony is such, each movement representing a different experience from his trip to Italy.

I. The opening A-major movement paints the scenery of sunny skies and landscapes of the Italian countryside.
II. The andante D-minor movement depicts a solemn "Pilgrims' March," from a religious procession in Naples or Rome.
III. Ther third movement is a moderato, a light and airy dance dominated by lyrical strings, with horns, then somewhat more martial trumpets in the trio.
IV. The work concludes with a presto Saltarello, a Roman dance with a hopping step.

Mendelssohn conducted its premiere in London in 1833 but was unhappy with his work and intended to revise it. But not long after it was written, Mendelssohn went on to Leipig to serve as conductor and music organizer for the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He kept this position until his death in 1847 and never got around to revising the Italian Symphony. Thus, the symphony was never published during his lifetime. (And for some odd reason, recieved the number 4, even though it was actually written before his "Second" and "Third" but after the "Fifth.")

So here goes my first blog here. I'll be back in a few days with three quartets by Martinu, unrelated to the War of the Romantics...

Symphony No. 4 in A Major, op.90 'Italian' - Wiener Philharmoniker and Sir George Solti

Beethoven Updated

2006-03-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

The Beethoven post from a few days ago has been updated with his last three piano sonatas, numbers 30, 31 and 32, performed by Richard Goode. Please continue to leave feedback and requests in the comments, and I highly recommend that you download the beautiful Strauss sonata that Joey posted.

Thanks.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

2006-02-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

As a preview of what will likely be the final installment to the War of the Romantics series, here is the Sonata for violin and piano by Richard Strauss. Since most people view Strauss as a composer of tone poems, operas, and horn concertos, it is hard to grasp that he also composed a violin concerto, a string quartet, a cello sonata, and this piece. These are just a few of his lesser known works.

This was written while Strauss was 23 years old, at aproximately the same time that Brahms was writing his violin sonatas. It has the same melodic beauty as any Brahms sonata, but it shows some characteristics of Strauss in its structure and key (it seems as if Strauss was obsessed with the key of E-Flat, not a common key for violin music).

This piece is unfortunately played far too rarely. So, for a lover of Milstein, Stern, Oistrakh, and Menuhin like me, it was disappointing to find only one CD with the Strauss sonata and concerto on it. This is not to demean the great playing of Sarah Chang on this recording, I'm just disappointed that there aren't more out there. However, this CD does a good job of showing what a wonderful piece this is.

Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-Flat, Op. 18

Sarah Chang- Violin, Wolfgang Sawallisch- Piano, EMI Classics

War of the Romantics, Part II: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

2006-02-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Though he only lived one year longer than his hero Beethoven, he conservatively used classical forms, and he held Mozart in high regard, Franz Schubert is generally considered a Romantic composer, one of the first. He was only 31 when he died but had already made a great impact in the fledgling Romantic world. In his later works, Schubert's harmonic innovations- modulating to seemingly unrelated keys and using more experimental harmonies- paved the way for later Romantics. But Schubert's most important contribution was the concept of thematically linking a piece or a set of pieces together; in other words, going beyond the idea that each piece was a seperate entity that existed independently of anything else. Wagner and Liszt will pick up on this... more on that later, though. His Wanderer-Fantasie (1820) for piano is an example of this; it is a virtuostic sonata in cyclic form, based on an earlier song of Schubert's, with the theme recurring throughout the piece. The Wanderer is a character found in various Schubert pieces who can never seem to find happiness; perhaps it represents Schubert himself.

Schubert was most prolific in his songwriting for voice and piano, and Franz Liszt famously transcribed many of his songs for solo piano. This disc also includes four Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs, showing the brilliance of both composers.

A late-period fantasy by Brahms is also on this CD, but I won't talk about that. Much more on Brahms soon.

Evgeny Kissin- Schubert, Liszt, Brahms
(Kissin was still in his teens when he recorded this, but he is excellent)

War of the Romantics, Part 1: Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

2006-02-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

This is the first post in a new feature, War of the Romantics. The Masterfade crew will attempt to illustrate the rift in classical music in the 19th century between the Conservatives and the Radicals, the Brahmsians and the Wagnerians, the Leipzig school and the Weimar school, and we'll post some really good music along the way.

There is nowhere better to start than Beethoven, the cause of the war. Beginning as a high-quality Mozart imitator, Beethoven soon came into his own as a composer, and by the 1820s was making some of the most incredible music ever. His piano sonatas, string quartets, and symphonies set a new standard that composers strove to approach for decades.

Whether Beethoven himself was Classical or Romantic is debatable, but it is clear that he aimed to take music down a new road. After his death, people had different ideas about exactly what road he was taking, and thus began the war.

In my opinion, Beethoven ceased to be a Classical-era composer with the composition of his 13th string quartet with the Grosse Fuge. Anything as complex, difficult, and emotional as the Great Fugue cannot possibly be considered Classical. The Grosse Fuge, the massive double fugue of the final movement of the quartet, was so radical that Beethoven had to replace it with a movement that was easier to digest for the crowds of the time. After being exposed to the dissonances of 20th century music, I still find the Fugue harder to listen to and pick apart, even after several listens.

Juilliard String Quartet- Beethoven string quartets 13 and 16

More listenable but still very ahead of their time, Beethoven's late piano sonatas are things of perfection. The form of the piano sonata was all but abandoned for years after Beethoven's death; his were too intimidatingly flawless.

Beethoven Late Piano Sonatas

Stay tuned for part two, and see who carried on Beethoven's legacy.

Feedback? Requests? Feel free to comment.

Keith Jarrett (1945 - )

2006-02-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Some might say that it was George Gershwin who best merged jazz and classical music, but I believe Keith Jarrett did a much better job. As regular readers might know, Keith Jarrett was my longtime favorite jazz piano player until recently, when Brad Mehldau took the throne. (Scroll down for my earlier post on Brad Mehldau and pick up his album "Day is Done;" it's one you don't want to miss.) Keith Jarrett has and always will be known as a jazz pianist, but I think at heart he's more of a classical guy, really.

Jarrett always hated amplified instruments, leading him to quit his organ and electric piano position in Miles Davis' 1970 "Cellar Door Sessions" group. Starting in 1983 and continuing to this day, Jarrett plays with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock; a trio well respected both for their interpretations of jazz standards and their free-jazz group improvisations. Where Keith Jarrett really shines, however, is in his solo piano work.

Jarrett would walk onstage, sit down on a piano, and begin to improvise. He believed that he played best when he had no preconceived plan of what to do; at one concert, after walking onstage and taking his seat, Jarrett reportedly sat with no idea what to play for minutes as his audience grew more and more restless. Finally, someone shouted "D sharp!" and with a "Thank you!" Jarrett began to play. Some might call his solo piano recordings jazz, but I am hesitant to do so, mostly because they follow a much more baroque structure and rarely "swing." Often, his work will achieve an Indian drone-like quality, somewhat like the best minimalist pieces. Essentially, what Jarrett has done is revived the tradition of improvisation in classical music that pretty much died with J.S. Bach.

The "Paris Concert" is possibly the best example of his baroque tendencies; the first piece, titled simply "October 17, 1988" - the date on which it was performed - is essentially a 40 minute baroque improvisation. The remaining two tracks are just as good but more modern sounding.

Paris Concert

The "Koln Concert" is probably Jarrett's most popular and well-known piano work. It's less classically structured than the Paris concert, but I still wouldn't call it "jazz," at least not in the traditional sense I understand the word today. It was the first Keith Jarrett record I ever heard (a real vinyl record, to boot), and largely responsible for my discovery of jazz music; if this was jazz, where could I get more? I had never heard anything like it and was so moved that I bought every Keith Jarrett album I could afford off Amazon.com.

The Koln Concert

Try not to be put off by Jarrett's moaning, grunting and howling; some find it ruinous to the music but I find it kinda charming. If you're a fan of classical, minimalist, jazz, beautiful, or mesmerizing music, you'll want to check out Keith Jarrett.

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

2006-02-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Antonin Dvorak was a master of the melody; many say that he had the most natural talent for writing a good melody since Schubert, or even Mozart. If you hear any of his pieces even once, chances are you'll remember the theme well. His cello concerto (1895), which did more for the cello as a solo instrument than any piece before it, is no exception. I heard its first movement years ago, recently acquired a recording of my own, and remembered the theme note for note. Dvorak decided to write a cello concerto while working at the National Conservatory in New York. After hearing his friend Victor Herbert's second cello concerto, he realized the possibilities of such a piece, and immediately wrote his own. The piece was a great success from the start, with Dvorak's aging mentor Johannes Brahms saying "Why on earth didn't I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!"

Yo Yo Ma plays both the Dvorak and the Victor Herbert cello concertos on this disc. Don't dismiss the Herbert just because he wrote a lot of crappy operettas like Babes in Toyland. Herbert was a cellist himself and knew how to write well for the instrument; it's a legitimate and underrated piece.

Antonin Dvorak and Victor Herbert: Concertos from the New World

Feedback? Requests? Feel free to comment.
It makes us happy.

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

2006-02-21T22:19:00.001-07:00

Going from Bach, to the Minimalist composers, to Segovia, and now to Tchaikovsky is evidence enough that we want to expose people to all kinds of classical music. Sticking to one period of music is foolish, as you would be missing out on sooo much good music. Our goal is to get all kinds of music out to you guys, and so far, i think we are doing a pretty good job.
That being said, I have to be honest and say that when I listen classical music, I listen mostly to stuff from the Romantic Era. Romantiscm was all about the feeling you get from the art; not so much its practical purpose. This is especially present in Romantic Music, with it's smooth, flowing, and emotional melodies that captivate almost anyone who listens.

Among my favorite works not only of the Romantic Era but of classical music as a whole is the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major. He combines beautiful melodies and virtuosic violin to create amazing piece and an amazing listening experience. About a year ago I had the privilege of seeing Joshua bell play this concerto live,and it was one of the best concerts I've seen in awhile.

Anyways, ill try to keep up and post every few days. This week has been a busy one.

As always, I hope you Enjoy it: Violin Concerto In D

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

2006-02-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

It is hard to give an overall description of Mahler on a post like this, so I'll focus on the basics of his style, as well as the piece that is now uploaded (hopefully more will come later).

Mahler was the ultimate German late romantic. He based most of his ideas off of earlier romantic composers like Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, etc. and took them to the maximum level possible. His harmonies are far more modern, and the size of his works is far more immense than his counterparts, but his music is still rooted in the ideals of the Romantic Era.

His most well known works are his nine symphonies, and the third is an example of the massive scale that Mahler symphonies have both in physical size and in the amount of music performers must play. The 1st movement is posted, and it is the half-hour introduction to a two-part, six-movement symphony that lasts over an hour and a half. Mahler wrote what each movement is supposed to represent:
1. What rocks tell me, 2. What flowers tell me, 3. What animals tell me, 4. What man tells me, 5. What angels tell me, 6. What love tells me (love he believed to be a "supremely transcendental force")
The symphony contains a large string section along with 8 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, flugelhorn, 2 sets of timpani, 2 harps, various percussion instruments, alto solo, and boys chorus (voices are only in 4th and 5th movements), not to mention the large woodwind section. The brass is featured throughout, especially in the opening unison horn call, and a trombone recitative later on. Though a half hour epic about rocks may not seem exciting, it truly is.

Mahler- Symphony No. 3 in d minor, 1st movement

New York Philharmonic-Bernstein, Deutsche Grammophon

Allen Ginsberg and the Kronos Quartet

2006-02-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

2006 seems to be a great year for anniversaries. Mozart's 250th, Shostakovich's 100th, and of course, the 50th anniversary of the publication of Allen Ginsberg's epic and extremely important poem Howl. Howl was obscene, controversial, and as it turns out, timeless. It brought the Beats to national consciousness and foreshadowed the turmoil of the sixties.
This disc, Howl U.S.A., is perhaps one of the most unique and interesting in my collection, more important as a historical document than as a piece of music. It features the famous avant-garde chamber group The Kronos Quartet accompanying Ginsberg himself reading Howl. The music was written by Lee Hyla. The Kronos never steals the show, instead providing creepy and violent reactions to Ginsberg's reading, sometimes synching up with Ginsberg's profound words in powerful ways. Howl would be more than satisfactory for a disc, but Kronos also impressively backs three other spoken-word works. The most interesting is a darkly humorous accompaniment to a sample taken from a presentation to the American people by J. Edgar Hoover. He "assures" us that the FBI is "as close to you as your telephone" while the Kronos imitates air raid sirens.

Kronos Quartet- Howl, U.S.A.

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to comment.

Andres Segovia (1893-1987)

2006-02-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sadly, our minimalist parade stops here, but stay tuned. There are minimalists awaiting you in the future.

Few soloists in any instrument stand as tall over the others as Andres Segovia. Few can debate that he wasn't the greatist classical guitarist of all time. His lifelong ambition, according to Wikipedia, was to "elevate the guitar from a gypsy dance instrument to a concert instrument," and he succeeded in doing so; the classical guitar is now a widely accepted performance instrument. Segovia, besides brilliantly transcribing pieces such as Bach's violin partitas, helped revolutionize the actual design of nylon-stringed guitars to produce more volume. This album has no typical flamenco or Spanish guitar; rather, it's a collection of transcribed Romantic pieces by Mendelssohn, Debussy, Grieg, and many others. The transcriptions, mostly from piano, are pulled off very nicely, and Segovia plays, as always, with virtuosity and emotion. It makes for a serene, beautiful, and calming listen, and any fans of classical guitar or Romantic music should give it a try.

Andres Segovia- The Segovia Collection, Volume 9- Romantic Guitar

Terry Riley

2006-02-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Since we're on a roll already, might as well go for the minimalist triumverate. Here are links for two lesser-known works by Terry Riley, most famous for In C. If you've never heard of Riley, you've probably heard his influence in The Who's keyboard work- it's not a coincidence they named that song Baba O'Riley. He also wins the award for Best Composer Facial Hair. Riley began his minimalist work back in the 50s, but also branched out into other types of music. He was among the first to experiment with tape loops, and makes use of electronics in many of his works. Riley also brought improvisation back to classical music, which was all but extinct since the baroque era. The first of these two albums, La Secret de la Vie (1975) shows many of Riley's influences, including jazz, Indian, and even some blues. And while you can see the similarities between Philip Glass and Steve Reich's albums, I am reluctant to group this album with them. Riley's instrument of choice in La Secret de la Vie is the organ, sometimes with tabla, saxophone, or synthesizer accompaniment, sometimes with tape delay. The second album, No Man's Land (1985), is much more closer to the conventional definition of minimalism. Riley likes the piano on this one, but the tablas and sitar can be heard on almost every track, along with some voice and what sounds like electronically altered instruments.

La Secret de la Vie

No Man's Land

Seth Says: Here's Terry Riely's "In C," performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars. The way this piece works is interesting: 53 simple phrases, all in the key of C, are slowly rotated in and out by the musicians at their own pace and choosing. So, In C is really little more than an outline for the music, and therefore every performance of it is different.
In C

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to comment.

Philip Glass

2006-02-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it's unprofessional of me to post about another giant of minimalism on the heels of Steve Reich, but Phillip Glass is agruably the OTHER greatest living composer, and is equally responsible for modern minimalism. His music, though technically in the same genre as Steve Reich, sounds strikingly different. Phillip Glass takes a few chords, a rhythmic pattern, and a simplistic melody and repeats them, in a sort of droning "theme and variations" structure. Some people find him boring, but there are many who find his works beautiful and thought-provoking. Personally, I can't get into his more experimental works - like arpeggiated fifths for almost 30 minutes - but his best records achieve a sort of lyrical hypnotism; the melody is repeated so many times that it's almost shocking when the variation comes.

Here is Glass's "breakout" record; the one most people are familiar with and a cornerstone of the minimalist movement: Glassworks

This is my favorite Philip Glass album, just him and a piano. I had the good fortune of seeing him perform several pieces from this album live. Solo Piano

Steve Reich (1936- )

2006-02-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

The greatest living composer and one of the founders of minimalism, Steve Reich's music is never as, well, boring, as Philip Glass, in my opinion. Instead of endless repetition with a few arpeggiating variations, Reich takes a pulsing, staccato beat and subtly makes it grow with slowly shifting meters, chords, and instrumentation. If you're familiar with Sufjan Stevens (if not, see Seth's post), Reich is his major classical influence. In Reich's most famous work, Music for 18 Musicians (1974), considered the definitive minimalist piece, he creates amazing, hypnotic soundscapes with conventional instruments. A cello, a violin, three female voices, three marimbas, two clarinets, four pianos, two xylophones, a vibraphone, and maracas are able to collectively sound like something Radiohead made on a computer. And Music for 18 Musicians is a great piece to begin exploring the minimalist genre with; it is nowhere near as repetetive as other pieces. Reich himself says that the first five minutes of the piece had more harmonic movement than any other piece he'd written.

Steve Reich- Music for 18 Musicians

(Thanks to themiserablist for the music)

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to leave a comment.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

2006-02-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Like Sam said, all that can be said about Johann Sebastian Bach has been said. However, I thought I might say some of these things again. Robert Schumman once said of Bach: "Music owes as much to Bach as religion to its founder." No statement could ever be more true. Bach's music is the epitome of perfection, balance and order. He wrote with a melodic genius that captivates almost anyone who hears his music. The Chiaccone from Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor is no exception. It amazes me that a solo piece for violin can deliver such an intense feeling of excitement and passion. If you don't believe me, click below and experience it for yourself.

I wont be posting single tracks all that often, only when I come across pieces as special as this one. Check back soon for more of Bach's solo pieces, both cello and violin. I think you will find, if you haven't already, that his music is some of the greatest ever written.

Here it is: Partita No. 2 in D-minor/V. Ciaccona

Enjoy.

Art Ensemble of Chicago

2006-02-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to say that I actually know very little about The Art Ensemble of Chicago - my exposure to them has consisted entirely of one recently acquired album and Wikipedia - but I can tell you this much: The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant garde jazz group known for their experimentation with non-traditional jazz instruments. The one album I own, Les Stances a Sophie, features vocals by Fontella Bass, timpani, flute, African and symphonic percussion, vibraphone and bagpipes. The first track, "Theme de Yoyo" is amazing; it's like a funk anthem of the 70's mashed with the screamy saxophone solos of late Coltrane. The bass thumps, the horns scream, Fontella Bass wails, and the song moves from grooving solid to avant-garde intensity seamlessly. The album was originally recorded as the soundtrack to director Moshe Misrahi's movie of the same name, but was never used in the film. It's a good thing the music was never discarded, because this is an album that fans of more experimental jazz will not want to miss.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

2006-02-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Regarded by many as one of the best (second only to Mozart) child prodigies who have ever lived, Felix Mendelssohn began taking piano lessons and composing at a very young age. Phil G. Goulding, in his book "Classical Music", ranks Mendelssohn as the 11th greatest composer of all time. Generally, Mendelssohn's music is not extremely passionate, instead it is elegant, melodic, and to many people, flawless.

Here's what The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music says about Mendelssohn's Music:

"With its emphasis on clarity and adherence to classical ideals, Mendelssohn's music shows alike the influences of Bach (fugal technique), Handel (rhythms, harmonic progressions), Mozart (dramatic characterization, forms, textures) and Beethoven (instrumental technique), though from 1825 he developed a characteristic style of his own, often underpinned by a literary, artistic historical, geographical or emotional connection; indeed it was chiefly in his skilful use of extra-musical stimuli that he was a Romantic."

While he wrote a lot of great stuff, today I want to share my personal favorite, his 2nd String Quartet. So sit back, click on the link below and enjoy classical music at its greatest.

String Quartet No. 2

By the way, thanks to Sam and Seth for letting me Join this Blog.

Nick Drake (1948 - 1974)

2006-02-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Many of you, the readers of this blog, come here because you share our love of classical and jazz music. From time to time, though, I'll be taking the liberty of featuring an artist I think is especially deserving of attention, whether he be classical or not. So with that, allow me to introduce Nick Drake. My hope is that those of you who find this blog looking for Nick Drake will take the time to download a classical album or two, and those of you who find this blog looking for Debussy will take the time to download some Nick Drake or Sufjan Stevens.

Before his tragic and early death from an anti-depressant overdose, Nick Drake was one of the most creative guitar players of the 60's and 70's folk scene. His innovative tuning and technique made his guitar sound more like a string quartet than a simply-strummed voice accompaniment. He was an incredibly shy person; he avoided playing live and even recorded facing the wall to escape eye-contact. Only making three proper albums before he died, Nick Drake's music is sincere and beautiful, and should be heard by everyone.

Nick Drake's last - and best - album: "Pink Moon" (The files are in AAC; I hope that dosen't bother anyone)

Requests or feedback? Leave a comment or email the Masterfade team at grangpamoses@gmail.com

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

2006-02-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Overshadowed by Mozart's 250th, this year is also Dmitri Shostakovich's 100th birthday. Shostakovich was one of the most brilliant composers of the past century, and his normal composing style- always seemingly on the verge of descending into atonal chaos, but ultimately staying intensely tonal- is instantly recognizable. Living and working in Soviet Russia, where he was constantly pressured to write tributes to Stalin and the gang, could have been creatively crippling. But he was able to subtly and sarcastically undermine their authority until Stalin's death, when he was given more creative freedom. Although he is very well known for his symphonies, he was also an amazing chamber music composer. In honor of his birthday, I will eventually post all 15 of Shostakovich's string quartets, which are the best since Bartok's. Today, we will begin with two Shostakovich links: His relatively straightforward but mature first quartet (1935) and, in response to a request, a little-known, very funny and parodic opera called Cheryomushki.

Shostakovich Quartet 1- Fitzwilliam Quartet
By the way, all of the quartets are recordings by the Fitzwilliam Quartet, who worked with Shostakovich himself and premiered at least one of his quartets.

Cheryomushki (English version)- Pimlico Opera

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to leave a comment.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

2006-02-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

I think that everything that ever needs to be said about Bach has been said, so I'll go right to introducing the CD. Die Kunst Der Fuge, or the Art of the Fugue, is one of the last things Bach ever wrote- some say he dictated the unfinished last section from his deathbed. Bach's farewell work is a flawless example of what he did best, with everything unnecessary kept out. This set of pure fugues is not typical Bach; it was meant for students of music, not for churches or kings. Therefore, there are no flowing pretty melodies. There were not even instruments assigned by Bach to the four parts; the string quartet is an obvious choice for modern performance, though the second violin occasionally must play viola so it can reach all the notes Bach wrote. These fugues are examples of counterpoint at its absolute perfection. The basis for every fugue in the set is just one 8-note theme, but it is sped up, slowed down, inverted, reversed, and everything in between. And the Art of the Fugue is about as daringly dissonant as music got, at least until the mid-1800s. Die Kunst der Fuge is a must-have for any Bach fan, or for anyone interested in music composition at all.

Juilliard String Quartet- Die Kunst Der Fuge- Discs 1 and 2
New link- this one'll work.

Requests? Feedback? Feel free to leave a comment.

Andrew Bird

2006-02-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, Masterfade is, or at least tries to be, a very diverse and eclectic blog. Finding a single artist that best defines our blog's 'sound' is near impossible, but we believe the best match is Andrew Bird. A classically trained violinist, Andrew went on to fiddle for the neo-swing band The Squirrel Nut Zippers, and then went solo. His latest album, Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs, has about as many influences as Masterfade; quirky Beck-esque lyrics, creative arrangements, lovely string interludes, and a couple jazzy violin solos are packed into this little CD. My (Sam's) favorite song on this disc is (surprise) Masterfade, and Seth's is the more upbeat A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left. Download one of the best albums of 2005 below, and you can decide your favorite for yourself.

Andrew Bird- Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs
*** LINK FIXED; FULL ALBUM NOW ***

Apparently, the first album linked to was missing tracks 5 and 6. The link above now leads you to the full album, but here are those two tracks for those of you who already downloaded the partial album.

Measuring Cups (Track 5)

Banking on a Myth (Track 6)

Classical requests? Feel free to leave a comment.

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

2006-02-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

My personal favorite of the Russian composers is also one of the most outstanding composers of all time: Peter Tchaikovsky. His life was one big tragedy; Tchaikovsky was homosexual, and he was tormented by this from adolescence until it drove him to attempt suicide. But, like many of the masters, he was able to translate this anguish into intimate and beautiful music. Included on this disc is his popular piece, Serenade for Strings (which is my favorite Tchaikovsky piece) and the Mozartiana Suite. This fairly obscure Tchaikovsky work is based on melodies from his hero, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but the orchestration and harmony is distinctly Tchaikovsky; it's the best of both worlds. The last movement, in theme and variations form, has an extended virtuostic violin solo that reminds me of his earlier violin concerto. As a bonus, the disc also includes his moving Elegie for Strings and two movements from his ballet The Sleeping Beauty.

John Doig, Scottish Chamber Orchestra- Tchaikovsky Serenade and Mozartiana Suite
Alternate download if the other one's acting slow-

If you have comments, requests, etc. leave a comment or email me at grandpamoses@gmail.com
And be sure to visit our friends Regnyouth (all kinds of rock) and Charivarious (jazz, rock, hip-hop)

Brad Mehldau

2006-02-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Unseating the great Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau has recently become my all-time favorite jazz pianist. His style is actually quite similar to Jarrett's; they share the same meditative tendencies and some of the same rhythmic patterns. Bill Evans is another pianist Mehldau is often compared to. You can hear Mr. Evans from time to time in Mehldau's chord voicings: dense, but never so dense as to overwhelm the melody.

Though Mehldau draws heavily on his influences, he has a sound all his own. The most striking aspect of his playing, in my opinion, is his left hand technique: a near-constant avalanche of sound, a little like the old "stride piano" technique - think Ragtime on speed. When he really gets going Mehldau can sound chaotic and urgent, but rarely will he abandon the basic structure of the song and head off into avant-garde territory; you can always hear where Mehldau is going.

The bassist and drummer he regularly plays with, Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy respectively, form the Brad Mehldau Trio - an amazing group not just for their musical talent, but for the songs and artists they choose to cover: Radiohead, The Beatles and Nick Drake on almost every album.

There's a lot of Beatles covers out there, but "She's Leaving Home," off their latest album "Day is Done," kicks the pants off 'em all. You can almost hear the lyrics as Mehldau plays.

A Radiohead cover, from the album "Largo:" "Paranoid Android."

From the album "Places:" "Los Angeles II" This is a great example of that persistent left hand I was talking about.

"Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover," from "Day is Done" is an unusual cover: the melody doesn't properly come in until the end. Perhaps my favorite Mehldau Trio track, it's worth the wait; when everything finally kicks in I can't help but dance.

Here's the full album "Day is Done," if you're already familiar with Brad Mehldau or were just really impressed with the sample tracks.
*** I fixed the link; now it's on rapidshare and should work just fine ***

The Impressionists: Debussy (1862-1918) and Ravel (1875-1937)

2006-02-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Claude Debussy (left, with an excellent beard) and Maurice Ravel were at the forefront of France's Impressionist movement of about 1890-1920. This era, although one of the shortest in musical history, brought us beautiful, adventurous, and intelligent music. As Stravinsky, Schoenberg and company veered into complete dissonance, the Impressionists stayed tonal but tested the limits of scales and harmony like no one else before. Many of the great jazz pianists and soloists (especially Bill Evans and Django Reinhardt) studied these guys religiously for their unique chords and daring melodies. One of the first great pieces of the Impressionist era was Debussy's only string quartet (1893,) which marks the breakthrough of Debussy as we know him. Whole-tone scales are used with other uncommon modes throughout, and the slow movement is one of my favorites in the quartet repertoire. Maurice Ravel's quartet (1903) is on here too- you might recognize the second movement, full of pizzicato, from The Royal Tennenbaums.

Emerson Quartet- Debussy and Ravel String Quartets

**By the way, if anyone has any classical requests, I will try to fulfill them. If you want me to post a certain composer, piece, etc., just email me at grandpamoses@gmail.com**

All Things Go

2006-02-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Sufjan Stevens (pronounced SOOF-yan) has recorded some of the best music in the last decade. Intimate and charming, sometimes veering dangerously close to cutesy territory, his music is easy to fall in love with. Sufjan is hard to classify; his instrumentation is acoustic - pianos, banjos, and guitars - but often an oboe, flute, or orchestra will carry the countermelody. It's far from minimalistic, but his melodies and song structures remind me of the repetitition of Phillip Glass' music. His lyrics are hopelessly corny and nostalgic, yet poingient and unexpectedly religious.

Sufjan has undertaken the ambitious task of recording an album for every US state. So far, he's done Michigan and Illinois, with Rhode Island rumored to be on the way.

This song, from his CD "Greetings from Michigan" is one of my very favorites: "Romulus"

If Sufjan had a single, "Chicago" would be it. It's his most popular song, and though it's no longer one of my favorites, I think that's more because I listened to it every day for three weeks in my dance class than anything else.

The song "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!", from his little-known Christmas CD, is the best example of Sufjan's unique style. It's all there: the banjo, the waltz time, the lilting chords, the cute yet affecting lyrics, the christian imagery.

John Wayne Gacy, Jr., from the album Illinois, is one of the most beautiful and disturbing songs I've ever heard. Wikipedia John Wayne Gacy, Jr. if you don't know anything about him before you download the song.

The next song is great, but Sufjan has this thing with song titles; they're either perfectly normal or so long as to be beyond ridiculous. Example: "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Part I: The Great Frontier/Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now", and if you think that's long, it's nuttin' compared to this one: "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue To Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'" It takes longer to scroll through the title on my iPod than it does to play the song.

I think we'll see Sufjan again on this blog, but that's all for now, folks.

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.

2006-02-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of those love-it-or-hate it movies, and the soundtrack is very much the same. Combining the simple, bouncy waltzes of Johann Strauss, the dramatic Wagneresque music of Richard Strauss- no relation to Johann- and the very difficult and avant-garde contemporary music of Gyorgy Litegi makes for an uneven, but enthralling, listen. Litegi's contribution "Adventures" is meterless, keyless, and involves harsh barks, pants, and laughs from the chorus and sparse, angry, commentary from the orchestra. It's unlike anything else out there, and needs to be heard. Litegi's other piece on the disc, "Atmospheres," is atonal droning that becomes more and more powerful until it reaches a severe climax. It had me rocking back and forth in my chair, holding my head from the sheer intensity of the piece. There's also an audio compilation on the disc: sort of a "best of Hal 9000."
(This is not a complete disc because I left out the pieces that were repeated on the CD.)

2001- A Space Odyssey Soundtrack

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

2006-02-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

One thing that this beautiful Internet severely lacks is classical music. Many of my posts will focus on introducing some of my favorite pieces and composers to y'all.
As of now, I have been listening to Robert Schumann's piano quintet nonstop. This is considered by many to be the first great piano quintet, and one of the landmark pieces of the Romantic era. Schumann is relatively unknown and very underrated, but he was the man who discovered Brahms and was a major influence on late Romantics and modern music in general. Schumann was a tormented, depressed, and literally insane man (he died in a mental institution,) and he was able to channel all his desperate feelings into this piece perfectly. Listen to the second movement in particular for beautiful harmonies, powerful melodies and poignant interplay between the piano and the strings. It also doesn't hurt that one of the best string quartets is teamed with the top-notch pianist Emmanuel Ax in this recording.

Schumann piano quartet and piano quintet- Emmanuel Ax and the Cleveland Quartet

Sun Ra, Al Kooper, and Batman?!

2006-02-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

Found this little gem on the interweb today, on the radio station WFMU's blog, concerning an old "Batman and Robin" record released back when the TV show was going strong:

"The music on the LP was credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale," but in fact the band was one of the greatest uncredited session combos of all time, including the core of Sun Ra's Arkestra and Al Kooper's Blues Project. To keep the music licensing fees to a minimum, all the tracks were based on public domain items like Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53, the horn theme from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the love theme from Romeo and Juliet..."

All the pieces are all avaliable for download here, but make sure to get "Robin's Theme." It's the only track with vocals, and so far as I can tell the only lyrics are: "Robin HEY I said-a-Robin HEY!"

Pick Your Favorite!
	Ludwig Van Beethoven
	Franz Schubert
	Felix Mendelssohn
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	Niccolò Paganini

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