The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Today is Sept. 11, 2020. Here is music to mark the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks during the coronavirus pandemic. What would you choose?
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CORRECTION: The Virtual Gala fundraiser for the Handel Aria Competition started last night, and will end on Thursday, Oct. 1 – NOT on Oct. 11, as mistakenly stated in yesterday’s blog headline. Here is a link with more information: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/classical-music-the-worldwide-virtual-and-online-gala-fundraiser-for-the-handel-aria-competition-starts-today-and-runs-through-oct-10-donations-will-be-matched-up-to-2000/
By Jacob Stockinger
Today marks 19 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
For the basic information, here is a Wikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
There are many ways to remember and honor the dead and the injured in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and Shanksvillle, Pennsylvania. And in past years, The Ear has offered many different ones.
There are the well-known requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure; passions by Bach; and other works.
There are also the pieces especially composed for the commemoration, including “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning work by John Adams that incorporates police tapes and phone calls, and Steve Reich’s “WTC 9/11.”
But this year there is the coronavirus to deal with and complicate the commemorations.
Here is a story from NBC News about how the official commemorations, both real and virtual, will be affected by the pandemic.
And somehow in such circumstances, it feels like back to basic is a good approach.
So here, in the YouTube video at the bottom, is the most universal piece of mourning that The Ear knows: American composer Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” as played by Leonard Slatkin conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
It serves to mark 9/11 but perhaps also the more than 190,000 American deaths so far from the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can find other versions and other pieces on YouTube:
What piece would you want to hear to mark this sad and solemn occasion?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Today is Sept. 11. What music would you listen to, to commemorate the terrorist attacks on that day
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By Jacob Stockinger
The news today will be filled with Hurricane Irma, Hurricane José and Hurricane Harvey as well as the wildfires raging out west.
But today is also Sept. 11, 2017.
That makes today the 16th anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in the Twin Towers in New York City (below top); the Pentagon in Virginia, close to Washington, D.C. (below middle); and that thwarted hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93, which passengers forced to crash in a field in Pennsylvania (below bottom) before it could reach the Capitol or White House.
During the September 11 attacks, 2,996 people were killed and more than 6,000 others wounded. These immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the 19 terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.
A lot of music could be played to mark the occasion.
At bottom, in a YouTube video, is “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a piece by the American composer John Adams that was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic specifically to mark the event. It ended up winning a Pulitzer Prize.
It uses both an orchestra and a chorus, and it incorporates voices and sounds, actual recordings and tapes, from the events of that day. It all makes for a moving tribute.
But other music, in smaller forms and in many other styles, would also be appropriate.
What piece would you suggest?
Tags: 9-11, 9/11, American, anniversary, appropriate, Arts, Capitol, choral music, chorus, Classical music, commission, Compact Disc, composer, crash, D.C., deadly, death, Flight 93, Harvey, hijacking, Hurricane, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane José, Irma, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Music, New York City, news, On the Transmigration of Souls, Orchestra, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, Pulitzer Prize, recording, reports, Sept. 11, soul, symphony, tape, terror, terrorism, tourist attack, tribute, Twin Towers, United Airlines, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Virginia, voices, Washington, west, White House, wildfire, Wisconsin, World Trade Center, wounded, YouTube
Classical music: The Festival Choir opens its season Saturday night with a light and music project devoted to peace
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Festival Choir of Madison (below, in a photo by Stephanie Williams), singing under its director Sergei Pavlov, will open its new season with a mixed arts event devoted to peace.
The concert is this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium Auditorium at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
“Da Pacem Domine” is a project of music and light dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
It will feature light design by Andrew Schmitz.
Tickets are $15 for general admission; $12 for seniors; and $9 for students.
For more information about this concert, tickets and the entire season with three more concerts, go to: http://festivalchoirmadison.org
Says Pavlov (below), who teaches at Edgewood College:
“Tonight the Festival Choir of Madison presents a project that goes beyond the concept of a traditional concert. With the help of compositions from all around the world, we recreate a day in the life of a nation. Yes, this day is September 11, 2015. But in fact, it could be any day in history, when humanity has faced profound grief caused by hatred and destruction.
“The concert comprises six parts: “Morning,” “Cries and Whispers,” “A Prayer for Peace,” “Interlude,” “The Memory of our Heroes” and “On Earth, as it is in Heaven.”
“From the dream-like visions of Daniel Elder, through the biting dissonances of Hikaru Hayashi and the otherworldly sounds of Ēriks Ešenvalds, the Festival Choir of Madison and the light designer Andrew Schmitz will take you on a journey of compassion and hope.
“Experience the healing power of LIGHT AND MUSIC in a project inspired by choral works of Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Ēriks Ešenvalds (heard below in a YouTube video), Hikaru Hayashi, Daniel Elder, Rene Clausen and James MacMillan.”
There will also be cello music by Johann Sebastian Bach and bagpipe music performed by Rhys O’Higgins.
Tags: 9/11, Andrew Schmitz, Arts, Arvo Part, Bach, bagpipe, Baroque, Cello, choral music, Classical music, Daniel Elder, Edgewood College, Eriks Esenvalds, Festival Choir of Madison, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Hikaru Hayashi, Jacob Stockinger, James MacMillan, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Tavener, light, Madison, Music, René Clausen, September 11, September 11 attacks, Sergei Pavlov, Sound, terrorism, terrorist attacks, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music: Here is music to mark today’s 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
A lot of classical music – requiems, symphonies, chamber music, solo works – could be used to commemorate the event. You can leave your own suggestions in the COMMENT section.
But The Ear wants to post something specific to the anniversary – something well known and something relatively unknown.
First the well known work:
Here is a slide show with the music “On the Transmigration of Souls,” by the American composer John Adams (below), who was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to compose a work related to 9/11.
The composition mixes sounds from actual events with music, and it won the Pulitzer Prize.
When the Madison Symphony Orchestra performed it many seasons ago, it proved a deeply moving experience.
Here it is:
The events inspired other works too, including two by Kevin Puts (below), who was in Madison this summer for the premiere of a new song cycle and performances of his other instrumental works by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.
The Ear sure wishes there was a YouTube performance of the 16-minute work “Falling Dream.”
Here is a description by the composer:
“The piece was written in the months immediately after 9/11. Its composition was initially inspired by news footage I saw in which a couple leaped from one of the burning towers (below) holding hands.
“For months I was incapable of getting the image out of my head. It was so poetic in both its horror and beauty that I almost couldn’t justify a musical reaction to it.
“However I eventually found a way to illustrate the experience in extreme slow motion by creating a counterpoint of two slowly descending melodies, heard first at the beginning of the work. Episodes fade in and out of this slow descent like memories, but the illusion I wanted to create is that the falling never really ceases.
“The last section of the piece is, by contrast, a slowly building ascent that has no programmatic relevance but whose majestic quality functions as a message of hope.”
And here is a performance of Kevin Puts’ Symphony No. 2, which The Ear first heard on Wisconsin Public Radio. It too was informed by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Here is what Puts, who was educated at Yale and the Eastman School of Music and who now teaches at the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says about it:
“In the September 24, 2001 issue of The New Yorker writer Jonathan Franzen wrote, “In the space of two hours we left behind a happy era of Game Boy economics and trophy houses and entered a world of fear and vengeance.”
“My second symphony, while by no means a memorial, makes reference to this sudden paradigmatic shift. During the first eight minutes of the work, a slow orchestral build describes the unsuspecting climate pre 9/11, a naïve world aptly described by my mother as a metaphorical island.
“After a brief passage for solo violin, an upheaval of sorts effectively obliterates this opening sentiment and initiates another gradual crescendo which makes use of the same material as the opening, cast this time in darker and more ambiguous harmonic colors.
“Once the entire orchestra reaches the climax of the work, the solo violin returns in a more extended passage than before and subdues the turbulent orchestra. This leads to a reflective epilogue in which a clock-like pulse creates a mood of expectancy and uncertainty, interlaced with hope.”
Tags: 9/11, anniversary, Arts, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Baltimore, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Eastman School of Music, economics, Game Boy, instrument, instrumental, Jacob Stockinger, John Adams, Johns Hopkins University, Jonathan Franzen, Kevin Puts, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, On the Transmigration of Souls, Orchestra, Peabody, Pulitzer Prize, Requiem, Sept. 11, solo, symphony, terror, terrorisr, The New Yorker, Twin Towers, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, wisconsin public radio, Yale, YouTube
Classical music: The Festival Choir of Madison performs under famed choral conductor Joseph Flummerfelt this Saturday night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following timely and important announcement:
The Festival Choir of Madison (below) and its new artistic director Sergei Pavlov – who teaches at Edgewood College — will close the current season with a special concert this Saturday night, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Presbyterian Church, located at 944 East Gorham Street in downtown Madison.
The performance features one of the legendary American choral conductors, Maestro Joseph Flummerfelt (below right, with Sergei Pavlov). You can hear a long Q&A interview with Joseph Flummerfelt in the YouTube video at the bottom.
The program with the Festival Choir includes music by German composers Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms, British composer Herbert Howells, Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, Polish composer Henryk Gorecki and Scottish composer James MacMillan. Sorry, no word on individual works to be performed.
Tickets for the evening concert are available at the door and cost between $9 and $15.
Since 1971, Joseph Flummerfelt (below) has been responsible for most of the choral work of the New York Philharmonic, working closely with its music directors Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel and Alan Gilbert. Until 2004 he was Director of Choral Activities in the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Joseph Flummerfelt (below) with the Westminster Symphonic Choir and New York Choral Artists has been featured in 45 recordings, including a Grammy Award-winning CD of the Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler with Leonard Bernstein. His collaboration with the great American composer Samuel Barber includes the Grammy Award-winning recording of Barber’s opera “Anthony and Cleopatra.”
In 2004 Flummerfelt was awarded a Grammy for the New York Choral Artists’ recording of “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning composition written by John Adams in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
A master teacher, Flummerfelt’s many former students occupy a number of major choral positions throughout the world. Yannick Nezet-Seguin (below) — the current music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, who, as a teenager, studied with Dr. Flummerfelt in two advanced conducting summer workshops — cites him as one of the two major influences in his life as a conductor. A 2009 New York Times article said, “Mr. Nezet-Seguin called those sessions with Flummerfelt the only significant conducting lessons he ever had.”
Flummerfelt has a special connection with Madison as well. As an undergraduate student in De Pauw University in Indiana, he was deeply inspired by a performance of a visiting choir, and the conductor of this group was Robert Fountain, the legendary Director of Choral Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
Also on Saturday, May 7 at 11 a.m. there will be a question/answer session for all who would like to meet the Maestro Flummerfelt. The host is Edgewood College, and the session will be at the Washburn Heritage Room in the Regina Building. This is a FREE event.
Tags: 9/11, Alan Gilbert, Anthony and Cleopatra, Arts, Brahms, Britain, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, conduct, Edgewood College, England, Felix Mendelssohn, Festival Choir, German music, Germany, Grammy, Great Britain, Gustav Mahler, Henryk Gorecki, Herbert Howells, Jacob Stockinger, James MacMillan, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, Joseph Flummerfelt, Kurt Mas, Kurt Masur, Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Madison, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, On the Transmigration of Souls, opera, Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, Poland, Polish music, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Robert Fountain, Russia, Russian music, Samuel Barber, Scotland, Scottish, Sergei Pavlov, singer, Singing, symphony, terrorism, terrorist attack, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, vocal music, Westminster, Wisconsin, YouTube, Zubin Mehta
Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs’ Winter Concerts this Sunday will explore links between science and music. Plus, the UW Wind Ensemble performs a FREE concert Thursday night.
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ALERT: Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble will perform a FREE concert. The program features “Concerto X” by Scott McAllister with clarinet soloist Wesley Warnhoff, adjunct professor of clarinet. It is a work based on grunge music that was born in the heavy metal music of the late 80s and early 90s, including a melody from Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Also on the program is “In Wartime” by David Del Tredici, which was inspired by the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; and the Second Suite in F Major for Military Band by Gustav Holst.
By Jacob Stockinger
A friend at Madison Youth Choirs writes:
On this Sunday, Dec. 13, the young singers of Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, seen below at the Winter Concert last year) will present the 2015 Winter Concert Series, “Inquiry: Science, Music, Imagination” at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Madison, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall.
Over 14 weeks of rehearsals in preparation for the concerts, the 330 young vocalists (ages 7-18) in MYC’s nine performing choirs have been learning to use the tools of observation, experimentation, and analysis to reach a deeper understanding of their choral repertoire.
Students have also begun to recognize the role that resilience plays in both scientific and musical fields, learning how to work through moments of frustration and uncertainty to reach new discoveries.
The choirs will perform a varied program, including works by Benjamin Britten, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Vincent Persichetti; a Peruvian lament, a Spanish villancico, and a newly-created arrangement of the oldest-known surviving English song.
Tickets for each of the three concerts (high school ensembles at 1:30 p.m., boychoirs at 4 p.m., girlchoirs at 7 p.m.) will be $10 for general admission, $5 for students age 7-18 and free for children under 7.
Audience members will need a separate ticket for each concert.
Here is the schedule:
1:30 p.m. High School Ensembles featuring a guest appearance by the MYC-Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir
4 p.m. Boychoirs
7 p.m. Girlchoirs
Tickets available at the door, $10 for general admission, $5 for students 7-18, and free for children under 7
This concert is generously endowed by the Diane Ballweg Performance Fund with additional support from the American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, the Madison Community Foundation, and the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Here is a repertoire list for the programs:
1:30 p.m. Concert (Featuring High School Ensembles)
Cantilena
Bel Tempo Che Vola ……………….Jean Baptiste Lully
Weep No More………………………..David Childs
Songbird…………………………………Sarah Quartel
Sound the Trumpet………………….Henry Purcell
When I Set Out for Lyonesse……Keith Bissell
Ragazzi (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Gregorian chant, ca. 10th century
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Song of Peace……………………………Vincent Persichetti
Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) …………Michael McGlynn
Cantabile
Utopia………………………………………………………..Moira Smiley
Lacrimoso son io (K. 555, sung in Italian)…….Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Gods Have Heard My Vows…………………….Thomas Weelkes
Palomita……………………………………………………..Traditional Peruvian lament
Hoj, hura, hoj!………………………………………………………..Omar Macha
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Apple-Tree Wassail………………………Stephen Hatfield
MYC/Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir and Combined Choirs
Forever Young……………………………..Bob Dylan
4 p.m. Concert (Featuring Boychoirs)
Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi
Intonent Hodie…………………………………..Anonymous (probably 12th century)
Sainte Nicholaes (sung in Latin)…………..Godric of Finchale
Purcell
Singt den Herrn (sung in German)…Michael Praetorius
Who Can Sail……………………………..Norwegian Folk Song, Arr. Jeanne Julseth-Heinrich
Rolling Down to Rio……………………Edward German
Britten (below with Purcell Choir in a photo by Karen Holland)
Rattlesnake Skipping Song……Derek Holman
Tit-for-Tat…………………………….Benjamin Britten
Jerusalem……………………………..Sir Hubert Parry, poem by William Blake
Holst (below with Pucell and Britten choirs in a photo by Karen Holland)
Riu Riu Chiu (sung in Spanish)….Anonymous, from Villancicos de diversos Autores
Anima Mea (sung in Latin)……….Michael Praetorius
The Sound of Silence…………………Paul Simon
Ragazzi
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Gregorian chant, ca. 10th century
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Song of Peace……………………………..Vincent Persichetti
Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) ……………Michael McGlynn
Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi
Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon
7 p.m. Concert (Featuring Girlchoirs)
Choraliers
Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon
You’ll Never Guess What I Saw………….Ruth Watson Henderson
Suo Gan…………………………………..Welsh Lullaby, Arr. by Alec Rowley
Tailor of Gloucester…………………..English Folk Song, Arr. by Cyndee Giebler
Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
Donkey Carol………………………….John Rutter
Mid-Winter…………………………….Bob Chilcott
Fancie……………………………………Benjamin Britten
Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)
Sound the Trumpet………………………………Henry Purcell
An die Musik (D. 547, sung in German, heard at bottom in a YouTube video with soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and pianist Gerald Moore)…..Franz Schubert
Palomita (sung in Spanish)……Traditional Peruvian lament, Arr. by Randal Swiggum
Niska Banja………………………….Serbian Gypsy Dance, Arr. by Nick Page
About the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC): Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community. Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self-confidence, personal responsibility and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.
Tags: 9/11, analysis, Art, Arts, band, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, Bob Dylan, boychoir, chant, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, concerto, dance, David DelTredici, Donkey Carol, England, English music, experiment, folk song, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, girlchoir, Gregorian chant, grunge, gypsy, Hebrew, Henry Purcell, high school, Holst, Hubert Parry, intergenerational, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Baptiste Lully, John Rutter, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Praetorius, Mozart, Music, Nirvana, Norway, Norwegian, observation, Palestrina, Paul Simon, Persichetti, Peru, Piano, science, Scott McAllister, September 11 attacks, Serbia, solo, song, Spain, Spanish, Suite, terrorism, traditional, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, vocalist, winds, winter, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Here are four for the Fourth.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Yesterday The Ear asked readers for suggestions about classical music that would be appropriate to post and play today, which is Independence Day or the Fourth of July.
I got some good answers.
Some of the suggestions were great music but seemed inappropriate like “On the Transmigration of Souls” by the contemporary American composer John Adams. It won the Pulitzer Prize. But it deals with the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and strikes The Ear as a bit grim for this holiday.
So, here are four others for The Fourth:
Ann Boyer suggested the Variations on “America” by Charles Ives, who was certainly an American and a Yankee original. The original scoring for organ was transcribed for orchestra by the well-known American composer William Schuman and it is performed below in a YouTube video by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the famous composer-arranger Morton Gould, who seems to specialize in Americana:
Tim Adrianson suggested Aaron Copland’s great Third Symphony. It is long but the most famous part of the symphony is “Fanfare for the Common Man,” played here by Metropolitan Opera artistic director James Levine and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. And that seems a perfectly fitting piece of music to celebrate the birth of American democracy:
Reader fflambeau suggested anything by Howard Hanson, but especially Syphony No. 2 “Romantic.” Here is the famous slow movement — performed by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra — that is also the appealing theme of the Interlochen Arts Academy and National Summer Music Camp:
Finally, The Ear recently heard something that seems especially welcome at a time when there is so much attention being paid to matters military.
It is also by Aaron Copland and is called “A Letter From Home.” It was dedicated to troops fighting World War II but it strikes me for its devotion to the home front and to peaceful domestic life, which is exactly what the Fourth of July should be about. Be sure to look at the black-and-white photographs that accompany the music:
And The Ear reminds you that you can hear a lot of American composers and American music today on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Have a Happy Fourth of July and Independence Day, everyone!
Tags: 9-11, 9/11, Aaron Copland, America, American Indian, Arts, Charles Ives, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Classical music, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Gerard Schwarz, Homeland security, Howard Hanson, Independence Day (United States), Interlochen Arts Academy, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Morton Gould, Music, My Country T'Is of Thee, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra, Pulitzer Prize, Romantic, Romanticism, Seattle, Seattle Symphony, Sept. 11, terrorism, terrorist attacks, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, William Schuman, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, World War II
Classical music: Today is the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. What music will you play or listen to in order to commemorate the tragic events and loss of life?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today marks the 13th anniversary of 9/11 and the tragic events during the terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States, in New York City on the Twin Towers; on Washington, D.C,, and the Pentagon; and on United Airlines Flight 93, which passengers made crash into a Pennsylvania field before it could destroy the U.S. Capitol or White House.
There is a lot of great classical music that one could play to commemorate the event and loss of life. There are, of course, requiems by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, Giuseppe Verdi and Gabriel Faure.
There are masses and other choral works by them and also Ludwig van Beethoven and others. And there are a lot of opera arias and choruses as well as art songs.
There are large-scale symphonic and choral work as well as more intimate chamber music and solo works, especially the solo cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of which, thanks to cellist Vedran Smailovic (below) in 1992, became am emblem of the awful and bloody siege of Sarajevo by the Serbian army. Chamber music by Franz Schubert — such as the slow movement of the Cello Quintet — would at the top of my list.
Then there is the contemporary work “In the Transmigration of Souls” by the American composer John Adams. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was written specifically, on commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, to remember 9/11 and which uses actual tape recordings of the events and responses of that awful day. And another work by Steve Reich.
Myself, I tend towards the tried-and-true, the pieces of music that never fail to take me to the appropriate place in memory and sorrow.
So today, at the bottom, I offer a YouTube video of the last movement of the profoundly beautiful and moving “German” Requiem by Johannes Brahms. It is more secular than religious, and it asserts that “Blessed Are the Dead … for They Rest from Their Labors and Their Works Shall Live After Them.”
Hard to disagree, don’t you think?
So here it is.
But be sure to let us know what music you will be playing and what piece or pieces you favor to commemorate 9/11.
Tags: 9/11, arias, art song, Arts, Bach, Beethoven, Capitol, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, D.C., Flight 91, Flight 93, Gabriel Fauré, German Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi, Haydn, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, lieder, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, opera, Orchestra, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, Pulitzer Prize, requiems, Sarajevo, Schubert, September 11, September 11 attacks, Serb, Solo Cello Suites, terrorist, United States, Verdi, Washington, White House, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: What music will you listen to on Memorial Day? The Ear offers several stirring stories about music and Memorial Day, from Walt Whitman and the Civil War through World War II to the Twin Towers and the War of Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Memorial Day, 2014
My Mom always referred to it as Decoration Day
I liked that name. It seemed to fit the occasion better.
To be honest, The Ear has always liked the idea of honoring military service, but is much less inclined to celebrate unabashed militarism with parades and flag-waving (below is a photo of a Memorial Day parade in Chicago).
I think of Memorial Day as a sadder, more introspective and memory-driven holiday, as well as the traditional start of summer -– which, especially after a Wisconsin winter like the last one, is nothing to apologize for.
In any case, here is a link to an informative but very accessible history of the holiday that also highlights the important difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
But putting history aside for a moment, how would you celebrate the holiday artistically, especially musically?
That is what The Ear wants to know.
Every year, the excellent blog “Deceptive Cadence” on NPR offers its musical take on Memorial Day. This year is no different and NPR has chosen some moving words and music that you should check out:
But over the past years, The Well-Tempered Ear has also offered previous blog posts – some offering suggested listening, others seeking it — that still seem relevant and still invite readers to participate.
Here is one from last year:
And here is a link to memorable 2011 posting, which made a lot of suggestions for composers and specific works, then asked for reader feedback and also featured the moving version of Sir Edward Elgar’s beautifully poignant “Nimrod” Variation from the “Enigma” Variations (heard in the original orchestration at the bottom in a YouTube video that has almost 2,5 million hits and features Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and Norah Jones in her “Hymn to America,” both used convincingly and touchingly in Ken Burns’ mammoth documentary film “The War”:
Finally, here is a stirring story, much of it previously unknown to me, about the history of “Taps” that appeared on NPR:
What music comes to your mind and heart when you think of Memorial Day?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: 9/11, Afghanistan, Arts, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Civil War, Classical music, Daniel Barenboim, Decoration Day, documentary, Edward Elgar, Gulf War, Iraq, Jacob Stockinger, John Adams, Ken Burns, Korean War, Korrean War, Memorial Day, Music, Naval Hymn, Norah Jones, NPR, On the Transmigration of Souls, Second World War, Taps, The War, Twin Towers, United States, Veterans Day, Vietnam War, Walt Whitman, Wars, Wisconsin, World Trade Center, World War I, World War II, YouTube
Classical music: What classial music do you like to hear to commemorate 9/11? This Sunday promises a lot of UW-Madison opera and chamber music by both alumni as well as current students and faculty. Plus, Edgewood College singer Kathleen Otterson’s recital is SUNDAY at 2:30 p.m., NOT Saturday as was mistakenly stated yesterday.
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TODAY IS 9/11: WHAT PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC DO YOU LIKE TO HEAR TO MEMORIALIZE THAT TRAGIC DAY IN 2001? LET THE EAR KNOW IN A COMMENT WITH A LINK TO A YOUTUBE VIDEO, IF POSSIBLE.
AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION: Yesterday The Ear mistakenly said that Edgewood College mezzo-soprano Kathleen Otterson will give a recital on this Saturday – which was WRONG. The concert is SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT 2:30 P.M. Otherwise the story and the details are correct. I apologize for the error.
Here is a link to the corrected story:
By Jacob Stockinger
True, the new concert season at the University of Wisconsin School of Music officially opened up over a week ago with the 36th annual Labor Day Concert by the Karp Family.
But this is a reminder that this Sunday – really the first busy weekend of the academic year the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music – promises to have a lot of music.
Here are the various concerts, as described in press releases:
— Sunday, Sep. 15, 2013 at 1 p.m. in Mills Hall.
UW Professor Les Thimmig will give the first Faculty Concert
Thimmig (below) will present “The Feldman Trios,” Part One. Three lecture-performances of the late-period work of American composer Morton Feldman (below). The other sessions are on October 27 and February 2, 2014.
The First concert is: “Why Patterns?” It features Prof. Les Thimmig on flutes; Jennifer Hedstrom on keyboards; and Sean Kleve on percussion. (See the YouTube video at the bottom.)
American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987, below in a New York Times photo from 1985) was first noted for his inclusion in the “Cage School,” a group of four composers, the others being Earle Brown and Christian Wolff, associated with the composer John Cage. The three trios for flute, piano, and percussion included in this series were written for the members of this group during the last nine years of Feldman’s life. During this period, his works radically increased in length, lasting from 30 minutes to multiple hours of single-movement, very slowly unfolding development. At issue were the distinction of “form” and “scale.”
— Also on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 3:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall is the Second Annual “School of Music Alumni Association Showcase.” For more information, go to http://uwsomaa.org/and click “alumni recital.”
The program features:
Hornist Alex Weaver playing: Concert Etude for Solo Horn by Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958) and Suite for Horn and Piano by Alec Wilder (1907-1980).
Flutist Kristine Rominski (below) playing: “Tenderness of Cranes” by Shirish Korde
Percussionist Michael Mixtacki (below) playing: “Uma Mulher” by Seu Jorge, arr. Mixtacki and “Obbatalá,” Traditional Afro-Cuban, arr. Mixtacki.
Kristine Rominski and Michael Mixtacki playing duets: “Piedra en la Piedra” by Ricardo Lorenz and “Kembang Suling” by Gareth Farr
Singer Sam Handley (below, in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago) performing: “L’air de Sancho” from “Don Quichotte” by Jules Massenet (1842-1912); “Bin ich nun frei?” from “Das Rheingold” by Richard Wagner (1813-1883); “Her Face” from “Carnival!” by Bob Merrill (1921-1998); and “La Calunnia” from “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).
— The third concert, the Opera Props Showcase, on this Sunday will held at 3 p.m. NOT on the UW campus but instead at the historic landmark and Frank Lloyd Wright Unitarian Meeting House (below), 900 University Bay Drive. For information, visit:
http://cpanel101.mulehill.com/~uwoperap/
Opera Props annual fall Showcase Concert will introduce University Opera’s extraordinary singers in a program of celebrated arias. This benefit event includes several new singers who will be featured in the upcoming season’s productions.
University Opera Director William Farlow has selected eight young singers and a program of favorite arias for Opera Props’ fall Showcase Concert this year.
It includes several new singers who will be featured in the upcoming season’s productions. Opera Props is a booster group for the UW School of Music’s opera program, and acts as liaison between the program and the local community. So a valued part of this annual event is the reception, which follows the concert: Singers and their teachers enjoy sharing discussion with the audience, along with lavish chocolate and other treats.
Tickets are $25 per person ($10 for students) and may be purchased at the door. Proceeds will help recruit and fund young artists for the University Opera program.
Here is more information: The student singers (below is a photo of Opera Propos singers in 2011) will sing arias by George Frideric Handel, Jules Massenet, Giocchino Rossini, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, accompanied by pianist Thomas Kasdorf.
One of the singers is mezzo-soprano Lindsay Metzger (below), who will sing the aria “Parto, ma tu ben mio” from Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito.”
Metzger hails from Chicago, where she studied with Jane Bunnell at DePaul University. Last year she was an Apprentice Artist with the Des Moines Metro Opera, and this past summer she sang the role of Cherubino in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” with Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy.
Metzger is now completing the second year of a Master’s degree at the UW-Madison where she holds a Paul Collins Fellowship. She already is rehearsing the title role of “Ariodante” for this semester’s production on campus of George Frideric Handel’s opera. Next semester she is scheduled to sing Béatrice in Hector Berlioz’s opera “Béatrice et Bénédict.”
For more information about Opera Props and University Opera productions and events, visit:
http://cpanel101.mulehill.com/~uwoperap/
Tags: 2001, 9-11, 9/11, Benjamin Britten, Bob Merrill, Chamber music, Edgewood College, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frank Lloyd Wright, George Frideric Handel, Jacob Stockinger, Jules Massenet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Midsummer Night's Dream, Morton Feldman, New York Times, opera, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sept. 11, Seu Jorge, Sunday, The Ear, The New York Times, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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