The Well-Tempered Ear
Should the 1812 Overture be played this Fourth of July?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear recently noticed that the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra has once again scheduled the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky (below) as part of the finale of its Fourth of July concert on the evening of July 6, 2022.
The performance is part of this summer’s FREE Concerts on the Square (COS) by the WCO that run on six consecutive Wednesday nights from June 29 through Aug. 3. Concerts start at 7 p.m. on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square in downtown Madison, and will be conducted by Andrew Sewell.
For more information about the series and individual performers and programs, go to: https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/concerts-on-the-square
An asterisk says programs are subject to change.
Which got The Ear to thinking: Should Tchaikovsky’s perennial favorite, the flashy and loud 1812 Overture, be played again this year?
It is a tradition that was started on Independence Day in 1974 by Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops, according to reputable sources.
But this year might be a very different case because of a quandary that might cause organizers, including PBS’ “A Capitol Fourth,” to rethink the program.
It is a choice that will confront many musical groups across the U.S., given the current unprovoked brutality and and war crimes being committed by Russia against Ukraine.
After all, many music groups, including the Metropolitan Opera, have already banned Russian performers who support Russian President Vladimir Putin and his unjustified war in Ukraine (below).
So here’s the question: Is it appropriate to play a favorite work celebrating a Russian military victory while Ukraine, the United States and Western allies, including NATO, are desperately trying to defeat Russian forces?
As you may recall, the overture was inspired by Russia’s victory over the invading forces of Napoleon who was attempting go conquer Russia. Like Hitler and the Nazis, Napoleon failed and the Russians prevailed. That is why, in the work, you hear the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” overcome by the chimes and cannons of the Russian victory hymn. (There was no Russian national anthem until 1815.)
Here is a link to more background in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture
Will the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra or other orchestras as well as radio and TV stations around the U.S. find a substitute piece? Perhaps it could be the Ukrainian national anthem that is performed (as in the BBC Proms concert in the YouTube video at the bottom and as many other orchestras around the world, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra and John DeMain, have done).
What else could the WCO and other groups play — especially since Sousa marches are already usually featured on The Fourth?
Do you have a suggestion?
The Ear will be interested to see how the quandary is solved — with explanations and excuses, or with alternative music?
Meanwhile, as comedian Stephen Colbert likes to say: What do you think?
Should the “1812 Overture” be played on this Fourth of July?
Why?
Or why not?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: COVID-19 pandemic forces more major changes for Concerts on the Square and a cancellation by the Mosaic Chamber Players
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ALERT: The Ear has received the following note from Jess Salek — the founder, director and pianist of the Mosaic Chamber Players: “Just a note to mention that the concert scheduled for this Saturday, June 13, is cancelled due to COVID-19. We are doing our best to stay positive during this difficult time for local arts groups, and we will resume our music-making as soon as is safe. Please be well!”
By Jacob Stockinger
Major changes are in store for the annual Concerts on the Square, which were already postponed with a change of dates, day and time, according to television WKOW-TV Channel 27 (you can hear the TV news report in the YouTube video at the bottom):
Here are details:
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) has unveiled a new plan for its 2020 Concerts on the Square series (below), which involves replacing the four postponed concerts with two drive-in performances.
Additionally, they’re planning for two live concerts at Breese Stevens Field if playing outdoors is deemed safe in late summer.
The revised approach was necessary to keep attendees safe, while adhering to state and county requirements that don’t allow for large gatherings, according to a WCO news release.
The WCO will follow Forward Dane Health Guidelines to determine if the live concerts can occur. A decision will be made in late July.
“We were optimistic in April that if we only delayed the start of Concerts on the Square to late July that we could still hold live performances downtown,” said Joe Loehnis (below), the WCO’s CEO. “But as the pandemic continues to affect us all in ways we never could have foreseen, we’ve decided to take creative steps now that will allow us to still share music with our community.”
The new plan for Concerts on the Square looks like this:
- The first four shows (July 28 – Aug 18) have been postponed until the summer of 2021.
- The WCO, in partnership with the Madison Mallards, will host two “drive-in” concerts on June 24 and July 22 (more information below). Each concert also will be live-streamed on https://wcoconcerts.org and https://pbswisconsin.org for free.
- The final two Concerts on the Square will be live concerts at Breese Stevens Field on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
- The WCO’s annual “runout” concert to Portage this summer has been canceled.
Drive-in Concerts on the Square
The two drive-in concerts will feature rebroadcasts of the most popular Concerts on the Square performances, thanks to a partnership with PBS Wisconsin.
The WCO expects to be able to have 115 vehicles at each concert. The goal is to make it accessible to as many people as possible without risking health and safety.
The basics for each program are:
Location: Warner Park, 2930 N. Sherman Ave., Madison
Cost: $25 per car
Time: 7-8 p.m.; 8:45-9:45 p.m. (two showings each night to allow more people to attend)
Additional information: To purchase tickets, visit:
- 8:45 p.m. concert: https://madison-mallards.nwltickets.com/Tickets/SelectPromoSeats?UserPromoCode=wco8
June 24 – “S Wonderful” with Amanda Huddleston, soprano, and Andrew Clark, tenor. Songs include: “The Sound of Music” Medley, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Armed Forces Salute” and “1812 Overture.” (2015 Performance)
July 22 – “Film Night,” featuring concertmaster Suzanne Beia. Songs include: “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Pink Panther,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List” and “E.T.” (2019 Performance)
“With two showings each night, we’re trying to make the concerts as accessible as possible,” Loehnis said. “Community partnerships are so important right now, and because of PBS Wisconsin and the Mallards, we’re able to bring this idea to life. We are grateful for these partnerships.”
Breese Stevens concerts are planned for late summer. If Dane County has entered Phase III of its Forward Dane plan by late August, 250 people will be allowed to gather for outdoor events.
For that reason, the WCO is planning to host two live Concerts on the Square at Breese Stevens.
The WCO will provide an update later in July on progress for this opportunity. Those shows currently are scheduled for Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
The WCO also is considering how it could broadcast the live performances to other venues such as the Alliant Energy Center, Warner Park or Madison parks, where others could view the concerts safely.
“We’re still working through the logistics, and we’re realists – understanding that the situation changes almost daily,” Loehnis said. “But we also want to be forward-thinking and we’re going to keep pushing ahead unless we don’t believe a live show can be held safely.”
To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wisconsin%20chamber%20orchestra&epa=SEARCH_BOX) and Instagram.
Tags: #AlliantEnergyCenter, #AmandaHuddleston, #AndrewClark, #ArmedForces, #ArmedForcesSalute, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChamberMusic, #Channel27, #CityofMadison, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #DaneCounty, #E.T., #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FilmMusic, #ForwardDane, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #JacobStockinger, #JessSalek, #JoeLoehnis, #JohnWilliams, #LiveConcert, #MadisonMallards, #MagnificentSeven, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #Music-Making, #NewRelease, #OnlineConcert, #PBSWisconsin, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PinkPanther, #PortageWisconsin, #PublicHealth, #RaidersoftheLostArk, #Schindler'sList, #September11, #SmokeGetsinYourEyes, #SopranoSinger, #SoundofMusic, #StevenSpielberg, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WarnerPark, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #YouTubevideo, 1812 Overture, 2020, @1812Overture, Alliant Energy Center, Amanda Huddleston, Andrew Clark, annual, approach, armed forces, Armed Forces Salute, Arts, arts groups, attend, audience, August, auto, Baseball, blog, Breese Stevens Field, Broadcast, cancel, car, CEO, Chamber music, change, changes, Channel 27, Classical music, community, composer, Concert, concertmaster, Concerts on the Square, conductor, coronavirus, cost, county, creative, Dane County, day, decision, deem, details, difficult, director, downtown, drive-in, Facebook, film, Film score, Forward Dane, founder, groups, guidelines, Health, Instagram, involve, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Joe Loehnis, John Williams, July, June, like, link, live, live-stream, local, location, Madison, Madison Mallards, Magnificent Seven, major, Mosaic Chamber Players, movie music, movie score, Music, news, night, online, optimistic, Orchestra, other, outdoors, pandemic, Park, partnership, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, People, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, phase, Pianist, Piano, Pink Panther, plan, play, playing, popular, popular success, Portage, positive, post, posting, postpone, Public health, purchase, Raiders of the Lost Ark, realist, rebroadcast, release, requirement, resume, runout, safe, safety, Schindler's List, September, series, share, show, showing, singer, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, song, soon, soprano, Sound of Music, state, stay, steps, Steven Spielberg, summer, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, Television, tenor, The Ear, tickets, time, TV, United States, unveil, vehicles, venue, venues, virtual, vocal music, Warner Park, WCO, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Television, WKOW TV, WPT, YouTube
Classical music: Concerts on the Square begin this Wednesday night – and half of the six concerts feature classical music
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 36th annual FREE summer series of six Concerts on the Square, performed by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) and guest soloists, will begin this Wednesday night, June 26, at 7 p.m. on the King Street Corner of the Capitol Square in downtown Madison.
Each concert draws an average of 30,000 people.
But if you think it is largely a pops concert event, think again.
One of the many outstanding achievements that WCO music director Andrew Sewell (below) has brought to the event – billed as “the Biggest Picnic of Summer” — over the past 20 years is an increased emphasis on classical music, perhaps to help build new audiences for the WCO’s winter Masterworks concerts.
The opening concert, for example, has become a tradition, a chance to introduce to the public the latest winner of the WCO’s young people’s concerto competition – and this year is no different.
Three of the six concerts will be also all-classical – and that’s not counting Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” that will be featured on the Fourth of July program on July 3.
There will also be pops music of course, including a tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ iconic album “Abbey Road”; patriotic fare for Independence Day; and an evening of movie scores, most composed by John Williams, with concertmaster Suzanne Beia as violin soloist in the theme from “Schindler’s List.”
All concerts are on six consecutive Wednesday nights from June 28 through July 31. Performances begin at 7 p.m. on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square. They usually last about two hours.
To find out more, including the programs and biographies of performers for each program, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Once there, if you click on a specific date, on the right hand side you will also find information about concert etiquette, seating on the Capitol lawn, weather cancellations, catering menus, food vendor sales and other information, including details about volunteering and donating. Here is a link to general guidelines:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square/attending-the-concert/
Here are the three classical concerts:
JUNE 26
“East Meets West” features the WCO’s concerto competition winner pianist Sakurako Eriksen (below) – a Madison native now living in Milwaukee — in the popular and virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev.
Also on the program are “Francesca da Rimini” by Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; “Noble and Sentimental Waltzes” by French composer by Maurice Ravel; and an unnamed work by Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz.
JULY 10
“Finlandia” features the Russian-born and Moscow Conservatory-trained accordion virtuoso Sergei Belkin (below).
On the program are unnamed works by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak and Alexander Glazunov; “Oblivion” by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla; the “Sabre Dance” by Russian composer Aram Khachaturian; and “Finlandia” by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
JULY 31
“Rockin’ Rachmaninov” features Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev (below), a frequent WCO guest artist who teaches at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.
The program includes the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, by Sergei Rachmaninov; the Overture to the opera “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the 1944 “Cornish Rhapsody” piano concerto score, composed by English composer Hubert Bath for the World War II film “Love Story”; and a Suite from “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky.
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Classical music: Here is an NPR interview with British cellist sensation Sheku Kanneh-Mason and an encore presentation of his performance at the Royal Wedding last weekend
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By Jacob Stockinger
So far, at least in the United States, the 19-year-old British sensation Sheku Kanneh-Mason (below) has been more talked about than talked to.
But on Saturday afternoon, NPR interviewed him for “All Things Considered.”
Some interesting facts about him and his blossoming career and his inaugural recording for Decca Records (below) came out of the six–minute discussion and questions by host Michel Martin.
Especially impressive was how all the children in his family are accomplished classical musicians. Here is a video of them playing music by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev together:
And in case you missed it the first around, also included is an encore presentation of the three pieces he played last Saturday at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and American Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Here is a link to the interview and the encore performance:
And here is a YouTube video of Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing his own cello transcription of a the song “No Woman No Cry” by reggae legend Bob Marley, who was a mentor and inspiration to the young musician:
Tags: #AllThingsConsidered, #BBCYoungMusicianoftheYear, #BobMarley, #DeccaRecords, #DmitriShostakovich, #DukeandDuchessofSussex, #GabrielFaure, #GreatBritain, #MeghanMarkle, #MichelMartin, #NationalPublicRadio, #NoWomanNoCry, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PeterTchaikovsky, #PrinceHarry, #ReggaeMusic, #RomeoandJuliet, #RoyalWedding, #SergeiProkofiev, #ShekuKanneh-Mason, #SwanLake, #UnitedKingdom, #UnitedStates, 1812 Overture, @1812Overture, afternoon, America, American, Arts, BBC, BBC Young Musician of the Year, Bob Marley and the Wailers, British, career, Cello, Chamber music, children, Classical music, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, discussion, facts, Family, Faure, Franz Schubert, host, inspiration, interview, Jacob Stockinger, legend, link, Madison, mentor, Music, Musician, National Public Radio, NPR, Orchestra, Prokofiev, question, Romeo and Juliet, Saturday, sensaton, Swan Lake, talk, transcription, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: What is your favorite Sousa march for the Fourth of July? What other classical music celebrates the holiday?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day, when we mark the day and the Declaration of Independence when the U.S officially separated from Great Britain to become not a colony but its own country.
Over the past decade The Ear has chosen music from many American composers to mark the event – music by Edward MacDowell, Charles Ives, William Grant Still, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, William Schuman, Joan Tower, John Adams and so many others.
And of course also featured around the nation will be the “1812 Overture” by Peter Tchaikovsky.
You will probably hear a lot of that music today on Wisconsin Public Radio and other stations, including WFMT in Chicago and WQXR in New York City.
Here is a link to nine suggestions with audiovisual performances:
http://www.classical-music.com/article/nine-best-works-independence-day
But The Ear got to thinking.
It is certainly a major achievement when a composer’s name becomes synonymous with a genre of music. Like Strauss waltzes. Bach cantatas and Bach fugues. Chopin mazurkas and Chopin polonaises.
The Ear thinks that John Philip Sousa is to marches what Johann Strauss is to waltzes. Others have done them, but none as well.
So on Independence Day, he asks: Which of Sousa’s many marches is your favorite to mark the occasion?
The “Stars and Stripes Forever” — no officially our national march — seems the most appropriate one, judging by titles. “The Washington Post” March is not far behind.
But lately The Ear has taken to “The Liberty Bell” March.
Here it is a YouTube video with the same Marine Band that Sousa, The March King, once led and composed for:
And if you want music fireworks in the concert hall to match the real thing, you can’t beat the bravura pyrotechnical display concocted and executed by pianist Vladimir Horowitz, a Russian who became an American citizen and contributed mightily to the war effort during World War II.
Horowitz wowed the crowds – including fellow virtuoso pianists – with his transcription of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” in which it sounds like three or four hands are playing. Judge for yourself. Here it is:
Of course, you can also leave the names of other American composers and works to celebrate the Fourth. Just leave a word and a link in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear!
Tags: 1812 Overture, Aaron Copland, America, Arts, audiovisual, Bach, band, Baroque, brass, Cantata, Chamber music, Charles Ives, Classical music, colony, composer, concert hall, country, Edward MacDowell, England, Fireworks, Fourth of July, freedom, fugue, genre, George Gershwin, Great Britain, Holiday, Horowitz, independence, Independence Day, Jacob Stockinger, Joan Tower, John Adams, John Philip Sousa, July 4, Leonard Bernstein, Liberty Bell, Madison, march, Marine, mazurka, Music, National Public Radio, NPR, Orchestra, Piano, polonaise, pyrotechnics, Radio, Russia, Samuel Barber, Sousa, Stars and Stripes Forever, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, U.S., UK, United Kingdom, United States, United States Declaration of Independence, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, virtuoso, Vladimir Horowitz, Waltz, Washington D.C., Washington Post, WFMT, William Schuman, Willian Grant Still, wisconsin public radio, World War II, WQXR, WW II, YouTube
Classical music: Your warhorses are my masterpieces — and I want to hear them
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ALERT: This Sunday afternoon from 12:30 to 2 p.m., “Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen” will feature Madison keyboard artist Trevor Stephenson performing on a restored 1855 Boesendorfer grand piano. The program includes music by Chopin, Granados, Brahms, Wagner, Bartok, Debussy, Schoenberg and Satie.
You can attend it live for FREE in Brittingham Gallery No. 3 of the UW-Madison’s art museum. But you can also stream it live using the link on this web page:
By Jacob Stockinger
It’s that time of the year again when music groups announce their new seasons.
And it seems to The Ear that the word “warhorse” is again being tossed around a lot, especially by experienced listeners who use the term pejoratively or disapprovingly, in a snobby or condescending way, to describe great music that is performed frequently.
But more than a little irony or inaccuracy is involved.
For example, a some people have referred to the Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms – scheduled next season by both the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — as a warhorse.
Yet The Ear has heard that symphony performed live only once – perhaps because programmers wanted to avoid the warhorse label.
The same goes for the iconic Fifth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven, which will be performed next year by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below). It was a revolutionary work that changed the course of music history, and it is a great piece of engaging music. (You can hear the opening movement, with an arresting graphic representation, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here’s the irony: I have heard the Piano Quintet by Brahms, the Cello Quintet by Franz Schubert and the String Octet by Felix Mendelssohn – all great masterpieces — far more often than I have heard those “warhorse” symphonies by Brahms and Beethoven. Can it be that connoisseurs usually seem more reluctant to describe chamber music masterpieces as warhorses? (Below in the Pro Arte Quartet in a photo by Rick Langer.)
The Ear is reminded of a comment made by the great Russian-American musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky (below): “Bizet’s opera “Carmen” is not great because it is popular; it is popular because it is great.”
So yes, I don’t care what more sophisticated or experienced listeners say. I still find the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Peter Tchaikovsky to be a beautiful and thrilling work that rewards me each time I hear it. It never fails.
Add to the list the popular symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms, the “New World” Symphony by Antonin Dvorak, several piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff (below), the Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach, the “Jupiter” Symphony and Symphony No. 40 in G minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. And one could go on and on.
They are all great masterpieces more than they are warhorses.
Plus, just because a piece of music is new or neglected doesn’t mean that it is good or that it merits a performance.
Otherwise, you could easily spend the rest of a life listening to second-rate and third-rate works out of curiosity and never feel the powerful emotional connection and deep intellectual insight that you get with a genuine masterpiece that rewards repeated hearings.
Of course, some warhorses do leave The Ear less than enthusiastic The “1812 Overture” comes immediately to mind. Boy, do the crowds like that potboiler — on the Fourth of July, of course, when it has a traditional place.
But often enough your warhorse is my masterpiece, and I want to hear it without being thought of as a philistine.
It might even be that playing more warhorses — not fewer — will attract some new audience members at a time when music groups face challenges in attendance and finances?
It may not be cool to say that, but it might be true, even allowing room for new and neglected works that deserve to be programmed for their merit — not their newness or their neglect.
So-called “warhorses” have usually survived a long time and received many performances because they are great music by great composers that speak meaningfully to a lot of listeners. They deserve praise, not insults or denigration, as well as a secure and unapologetic place in balanced programming.
Of course, it is a matter of personal taste.
So …
What do you think?
Are there favorite warhorses you like?
Are there warhorses you detest?
Leave word in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Concerts on the Square start this Wednesday and feature a lot of classical music. Plus, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra announces its impressive 2016-17 indoors Masterworks season
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Wednesday night at 7 p.m., on the downtown Capitol Square, marks the opening of what has been billed as “The Biggest Picnic of Summer” — the six annual outdoor summer Concerts on the Square (below) by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists.
They are big because each concert, under the baton of WCO artistic director Andrew Sewell, last year averaged a weekly crowd of more than 42,000 people, up from 35,000 the previous year, according to the Capitol Police. (The highest was 50,000; the lowest 28,000.)
You should also know that this year the Concerts on The Square will include a generous — maybe, The Ear suspects, even an unprecedented — amount of classical music on June 29, July 6, July 17, July 27 and Aug. 3.
On the programs you will find music by Felix Mendelssohn, Joaquin Turina, Aaron Copland and Ottorino Resphighi (this Wednesday); by Leo Delibes, Peter Tchaikovsky (including the annual and traditional Fourth of July or Independence Day performance of his “1812 Overture”) and Jules Massenet (with famed local Metropolitan Opera singer, mezzo-soprano Kitt Reuter-Foss on July 6); by Paul Dukas, Jean Sibelius, Niels Gade and Antonin Dvorak (on July 13); Ludwig van Beethoven (July 27); Arthur Honegger and Peter Tchaikovsky (Aug. 3).
Here is a link with more information including links to tickets, rules about behavior and seating, and food options:
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Even as it prepares for this summer’s six Concerts on the Square, which start Wednesday night, June 26, and run through August 3, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra has announced its 2016-27 indoor Masterworks season of five classical concerts. It is an impressive lineup that features a local violist who has made it big, Vicki Powell, and the very young violin sensation Julian Rhee, who won the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte with a jaw-dropping reading of the Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms, as well as a guitarist and duo-pianists.
Here is a link to more information:
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performance-listing/category/masterworks
Tags: 1812 Overture, Aaron Copland, Andrew Sewell, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, Capitol, Capitol Square, Cello, Classical music, concerto, Concerts on the Square, crowd, Delibes, Dukas, duo-pianists, Dvorak, Final Forte, Fourth of July, Gade, guitar, Honegger, Independence Day, Jacob Stockinger, Joaquin Turina, Johannes Brahms, Julian Rhee, Kitt Reuter-Foss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn, Metropolitan Opera, Mezzo-soprano, Music, opera, Orchestra, Ottorino Respighi, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano, police, Sibelius, symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vicki Powell, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin State Capitol
Classical music: Tell The Ear what music he should post on the Fourth of July?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today, the stock markets, banks and many businesses are closed in observance of the Fourth of July.
But Saturday is the real Independence Day for the United States of America.
Now, The Ear has some ideas about what classical music to celebrate the event -– and the choices do NOT include the “1812 Overture” by Peter Tchaikovsky or the “Marseillaise,” the French national anthem that started during the French Revolution. Maybe one of the overtures by Ludwig van Beethoven or an aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Giuseppe Verdi would do. Try and see if you can convince me.
But the Ear thinks it would be much more patriotic to have something by an American composer – say Charles Ives (below top) or Aaron Copland (below bottom), William Schuman or Samuel Barber.
Or maybe Roy Harris or Leonard Bernstein, Joan Tower (below top) or Jennifer Higdon (below bottom) -– would be appropriate and a good choice.
But here is your choice to play DJ.
Leave your choice -– with a YouTube link, if possible -– in the COMMENT section.
Then I will decide which choice is most appropriate and best, and post a YouTube video of the work on Saturday to mark the real Fourth of July, the real Independence Day.
Thanks for your help.
I know I have some very knowledgeable readers, so I am looking forward to the seeing and hearing their suggestions.
Tags: 1812 Overture, Aaron Copland, aria, Arts, Beethoven, Beethoven piano sonatas, Charles Ives, choral music, Classical music, Independence Day (United States), Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, Joan Tower, La Marseillaise, Leonard Bernstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart, Music, national anthem, Orchestra, Overture, patriot, patriotic, patriotism, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Samuel Barber, United States, William Schuman, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music education: Classical music can help students study for final exams. Plus, the WYSO Harp Ensemble and Youth Orchestra perform Saturday afternoon.
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ALERT: Just a reminder that tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 13, at 1:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, on the UW-Madison campus in the George Mosse Humanities Building at 455 North Park Street.
The Youth Orchestra (below) and the Harp Ensemble of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will perform.
The orchestra’s program includes The Roman Carnival Overture by the French composer Hector Berlioz; three excerpts from Act 3 of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” by the German Opera composer Richard Wagner; and the first, third and fourth movements from the Symphony No. 1 in D Minor by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The Harp Ensemble will perform the traditional tune “Be Thou My Vision” as well as “Grandjany, Eleanor and Marcia”; and a medley of music by the Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini.
Call the WYSO office at (608) 263-3320 for up-to-date concert and ticket information. Or visit http://wyso.music.wisc.edu
Tickets are $10 for adult, $5 for young people 18 and under; and they are available at the door 45 minutes prior to each concert.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is officially the last day of classes for the first semester at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The next two weeks are devoted to a study period and to final papers and exams.
That means classes are also ending at a lot of other public and private universities and colleges around the nation, The Ear suspects. And elementary schools, middle schools and high schools will not be far behind.
So it is a timely time to post the results of research that shows that classical music -– not just any music, but specifically classical music, which lowers rather raises blood pressure –- can help students study and prepare for final exams.
It was published in advance of two radio stations’ scheduling of useful classical music in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California and in San Francisco.
Apparently, the secret is that it has to do with the embedded structure of the music itself.
The researchers, which range from the cancer center at Duke University and the University of San Diego to the University of Toronto, even mention some specific composers and musical genres or forms that exhibit that sense of structure in outstanding ways.
The composers cited include such Old Masters as Johann Sebastian Bach (below top), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below middle) and Johannes Brahms (below bottom). Richard Strauss and George Frideric Handel also were mentioned. Surprisingly, no mention was made of music by Antonio Vivaldi, Franz Joseph Haydn or Franz Schubert.
But students should avoid loud and more scattered music, the research suggests. No “1812 Overture,” complete with cannons, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky! Such music is actually disrupting and counterproductive.
Hmmmm.
Maybe that same sense of structure and regularity — especially noticeable in Baroque music as well as the Classical period and early Romantic music — also explains why those composers have appealed to so many people for so long.
It may also explain why student who study music and go through formal music education often go on to high achievement in other fields.
And the preferred forms include solo music, including the piano and the lute, and string quartets. That makes sense to me since they are more intimate and less overwhelming forms. Solo French piano by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré and Francis Poulenc come in for special mention. (I would also add the 550 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.)
The Ear suspects that what works for final exams also works for other studying and homework in general and other intensive intellectual tasks.
And maybe what is good for college students is also good for high school or even middle school or elementary school students.
I do have some questions: Did the researchers take the conflicting evidence about multi-taking into account? But I assume they probably gave that some thought. Still, you have to wonder.
Here is a link to the story:
http://news.usc.edu/71969/studying-for-finals-let-classical-music-help/
Do you have favorite music to study by? (One of my favorites is the Waltz in C-Sharo minor by Frederic Chopin as played with great discernible structure, repetition and variation — listen to inner voices — as well as incredible color and nuance by Yuja Wang in a popular YouTube video at the bottom.)
Favorite composers, favorite kinds and favorite pieces?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: 1812 Overture, Ancora String Quartet, Antonio Vivaldi, arias, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, cancer, cannons, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical era, Classical music, college, composer, Debussy, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Domenico Scarlatti, Duke University, elementary school, exams, Faure, final exams, France, French music, George Frideric Handel, German music, Germany, Giacomo Puccini, Handel, harp, harp ensemble, Haydn, high school, instrumental, Italian music, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, K-12, Los Angeles, Ludwig van Beethoven, lute, Madison, Middle school, Music, Music education, opera, Orchestra, Overture, Piano, Poulenc, private education, public education, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Roman Carnival Overture, Romantic music, Russia, Russian music, San Francisco, Schubert, solo, symphony, Tchaikovsky, Toronto, university, University of San Diego, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vivaldi, Waltz, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, or Independence Day in the U.S. So how did Russian music such as the “1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky – which will be featured at tonight’s patriotic Concert on the Square by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and at the competing Rhythm and Booms celebration — become such a popular and all-American event?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight, Wednesday, July 3, at 7 p.m. on the King Street corner of the downtown Capitol Square in Madison, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s second Concert of the Square (below), under conductor Andrew Sewell — a native New Zealander who is now a naturalized American citizen — will celebrate the Fourth of July.
Also tonight, with fireworks beginning at 9:30 p.m., the radio-broadcast soundtrack for the gigantic regional celebration Rhythm and Booms show (below) in Madison’s Warner Park will no doubt include the same piece, or at least its finale.
For more information about that event, including the official traffic plans, here is a link: http://www.rhythmandbooms.com
And tomorrow night, Thursday, July 4, at 7 p.m., Wisconsin Public Television will also broadcast PBS’ live coverage of “A Capitol Fourth,” the Fourth of July concert from Capitol Hill and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Here is a link with information about the event and the performers, who include singers Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow and Jackie Evancho as well as composer John Williams conducting the National Symphony Orchestra.
http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/bios.html
And like Fourth of July concerts all over the country, all of those concerts or musical celebrations will likely once again end with a rousing version of the “1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky (below) with cannon shots booming and church bells ringing – perhaps with a Sousa march for an encore. (At bottom is the most popular YouTube video of The 1812 Overture that has more than 1.5 million hits.)
The rest of tonight’s Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s “Red, White and Blue” program features piano soloist Michael Mizrahi (below) playing what The Ear calls The Gershwin Card. (Next spring, the Madison Symphony Orchestra will also play The Gershwin Card to close its upcoming season that will mark the 20th anniversary of maestro John DeMain‘s tenure.)
I use the term The Gershwin Card to mean a kind of appealing crossover programming of the tuneful and jazzy music by George Gershwin (below) that draws big audiences like pops and is easy to digest like pops, but also has a more serious side and is closer to having a classical pedigree than being pops.
In particular, the WCO concert features Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “I Got Rhythm” Variations as well as Robert Lowden’s “Armed Forces Salute.”
So far, so American!
But how did music celebrating a Russian victory over Napoleon (below, seen in painting retreating in defeat from Moscow) and the French army in 1812 become so emblematic of the Fourth of July and American independence?
Well, like the American Revolution itself, the musical tradition started in Boston.
Only much, much later.
Care to take a guess?
Here is a link to the story as told to NPR’s Scott Simon on last Saturday morning’s “Weekend Edition”:
For more information about this second Concert on the Square go to this page, which also has information about the entire series and the remaining four concerts:
http://wcoconcerts.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square/59/event-info/
Tags: 1812 Overture, American Revolution, Barry Manilow, Capitol Fourth, George Gershwin, Independence Day, Jackie Evancho, John DeMain, John Williams, July, Madison Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Neil Diamond, PBS, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Rhythm and Booms, Warner Park, Washington, Washington D.C., Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin-Madison, YouTube
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