The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Today is the Fourth of July. Here are two extended playlists of American masterpieces

July 4, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

Today is Independence Day – the Fourth of July holiday.

It is a good occasion to listen to classical music by American composers (below), which you can hear much of the day on Wisconsin Public Radio.

But here are two other extended playlists of American classical music:

Here, thanks to a California radio station, is a list with complete performances of some of the best American masterpieces, including the “New World” Symphony by Antonin Dvorak, the “Afro-American” Symphony by William Grant Still (below), “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin and “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein:

https://www.capradio.org/music/classical/2019/07/04/playlist-american-classical-music-for-your-fourth-of-july/

And thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, here are four hours of patriotic music for the holiday: https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2018/06/29/celebrate-the-fourth-of-july-with-our-4hour-patriotic-classical-playlist

Finally, in the YouTube at the bottom is the “American” String Quartet by Antonin Dvorak (below), who summered in Spillville, Iowa. He loved hearing and tried to capture sounds of nature, including bird songs, traditional Black spirituals and music by Native Americans.

The Ear especially likes it because it is proof that just as Americans have been influenced by European composers, European composers, European composers have been influenced by American composers.

Do you have a special or favorite piece of classical music to help celebrate the Fourth of July?

What do you like about it?

Leave a comment with a YouTube link if possible?

The Ear wants to hear.

 


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Classical music: The Festival Choir of Madison will sing “Songs of Fate” this Saturday night. A FREE all-Brahms concert of violin, cello and piano music is Friday night

October 31, 2019
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ALERT 1: The concert on this Friday night, Nov. 1, by the UW-Madison Madrigal Singers has been POSTPONED. A future date will be announced.

ALERT 2: This Friday night, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. at Oakwood Village Woods, 6205 Mineral Point Road, UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp – joined by pianist David Abbott and clarinetist Christian Ellenwood – will perform a FREE all-Brahms chamber music concert. On the program are the Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99; the Violin Sonata No. 2, in A Major, Op. 100, arranged for cello by Karp; and the Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Festival Choir of Madison (below) will present its first concert of the season — “Songs of Fate” – this Saturday night, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave., in Madison.

Under artistic director and Edgewood College professor Sergei Pavlov (below top), the choir will perform “Gesang der Parzen” (Song of the Fates) and “Schicksalslied” (Song of Destiny, heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Johannes Brahms; “Stabat Mater” by Giuseppe Verdi; and Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances.” The concert will feature the Romanian pianist Samir Golescu (below bottom) accompanying the choir.

The concert  has general seating. Admission is $10 for students, $15 for senior citizens and $20 for adults. Tickets will be available at the door the day of the concert. Tickets can also be purchased online at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4383429

The Festival Choir of Madison is an auditioned, mixed-voice volunteer choir of over 50 experienced singers. The group performs thematic concerts of artistically challenging choral music from around the world for listeners who enjoy traditional, modern and eclectic works, and for singers who enjoy developing their talents with others.

To learn more about the Festival Choir, including other concerts this season, go to: www.festivalchoirmadison.org.


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Classical music: A busy week at the UW-Madison brings FREE concerts in new halls with an emphasis on new music for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band

October 6, 2019
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ALERT: Tonight’s performance by the a cappella vocal group Chanticleer is SOLD OUT.

By Jacob Stockinger

It’s going to be a busy week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music and especially in its new Hamel Music Center (below), 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art.

On tap is a variety of FREE concerts, with an emphasis on new music, including compositions for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band.

Earlier mistakes on dates and time have been corrected. To double check dates, times and venues as well programs, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/

Here is a schedule:

TUESDAY, OCT. 8

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below), conducted by director Scott Teeple and guest conductor Ross Wolf, will perform a FREE program of contemporary wind music.

The program includes works by Augusta Read Thomas (below top), Jake Runestad, Larry Tuttle, Xi Wang (below bottom) and Carlos Simon.

There will be one world premiere and two Wisconsin premieres.

For more information and the complete program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-wind-ensemble-5/

THURSDAY, OCT. 10

At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble will perform a FREE recital of new music, including two works — “Wet Ink” and ” Treetop Studio” — by the critically acclaimed UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below).

Also on the “Fall Notes” program are “Wing and Prayer” by Melinda Wagner (below top) and “Pentacle” by Irish composer Raymond Deane (below bottom) who will make his UW-Madison debut.

Performers for “Fall Notes” will feature UW-Madison musicians, including clarinetist Alicia Lee, cellist James Waldo, violist Sally Chisholm, pianist Christopher Taylor and student performers.

FRIDAY, OCT. 11

At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) will open its season with a FREE concert under its new conductor Oriol Sans, a native of Catalonia, Spain, who studied at the Barcelona Conservatory and  who came to Madison from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

The program is: “aequilibria” by contemporary Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); “Death and Transfiguration; by Richard Strauss; and “Symphonic Dances” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

For more information about conductor Oriol Sans (below), go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/oriol-sans/

For more information, from Wikipedia, about composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_S._Þorvaldsdóttir

SUNDAY, OCT. 13

At 2 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the University Bands will perform a FREE concert under conductor Darin Olson (below), the assistant director of bands at the UW-Madison.

No program is available.


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Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players will play music by Russian, British, Canadian and American composers this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

March 1, 2019
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ALERT: If you attend the concert by the Cuarteto Casals tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater, you night want to read local writer and amateur cellist Paul Baker’s interview with the Chicago-born violist who analyzes the interpretation of each piece on the program. Here is a link to Baker’s blog “Only Strings” where you can find the interview: https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/author/pbaker/  

For more information about the group and the concert, go to yesterday’s post:  https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/02/28/classical-music-this-friday-night-the-wisconsin-union-theater-presents-a-world-class-spanish-string-quartet-and-will-also-announce-the-special-programs-for-its-centennial-anniversary-next-season/

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming weekend, the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continue their season theme of Vignettes with compositions that depict concepts and stories.

The program includes dances from Panama, a string quartet from Russia and interpretation of the natural world woven into a composition by an American composer.

Performances will take place Saturday night, March 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, March 3, at 2 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side not far from West Towne Mall.

Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors, and $5 for students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com or call (608) 230-4316 for more information.

Five Novelettes for string quartet by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov (below) showcase the composer’s imagination and romantic writing. From the opening elegance in the Spanish style to the spirited Hungarian character in the finale, each of the five contrasting movements is graceful and captivating.

Red Hills Black Birds was composed by American composer Libby Larsen (below) for clarinet, viola and piano after she viewed contrasting paintings of New Mexico by Georgia O’Keeffe. Many of O’Keeffe’s works embody a sense of perspective, color and horizon. Larsen’s music uses her impressions of O’Keeffe’s art as her compositional focus. She reimagines six paintings of the southwest and shapes her composition to concepts of breadth and timelessness.

Dash for flute, clarinet and piano by American composer Jennifer Higdon (below) is a riotous musical chase. The composer chose these three instruments specifically for their capability of velocity. The unrelenting pulse creates a breath-taking technical sprint for the players.

O Albion by British composer Thomas Adès (below) is excerpted from his string quartet Arcadiana. The music has an ethereal quality and mesmerizes with its slow beauty and simplicity. (You can hear “O Albion” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon is an upbeat piece written by Canadian composer, bassoonist and jazz pianist Bill Douglas. His writing brings together both classical and jazz influences.

The concert concludes with Danzas de Panama by William Grant Still (below) for string quintet and flute. A noted 20th century African-American composer, Still based this piece on Panamanian folk tunes collected in the 1920s. He used the lushness of the songs and compelling rhythms with great success. He was a talented orchestrator and it is hard to resist the panache and charm of the four movements: Taborita, Mejorana, Punto and Cumbia y Conga.

Oakwood Chamber Players members are Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szyczs, bassoon; and Maggie Townsend, cello. They will be joined by guest artists Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, violin; Ariel Garcia, viola; Brad Townsend, bass; and Satoko Hayami, piano.

This is the fourth of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players’ 2018-2019 season series entitled Vignettes. Remaining concerts will take place on May 18 and 19.

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years. They have also played in other local groups, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.


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Classical music: Spend a week in the Age of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I when the 17th annual Madison Early Music Festival is held, starting this Saturday. Part 1 of 2.

July 5, 2016
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By Jacob Stockinger

Starting this Saturday, the 17th annual Madison Early Music Festival will take place on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

The theme this year focuses on music in the work of William Shakespeare and the Age of Queen Elizabeth I.

You can check out all the details of the festival at: http://www.madisonearlymusic.org

The co-directors of the festival – the wife-and-husband team of singers Cheryl Bensman Rowe and Paul Rowe (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot and signaled in the answers by the initials CBR and PR) took time out from the hectic preparations to answer an email Q&A with The Ear:

Paul Rowe and Cheryl Bensman Rowe 2016 CR KATRIN TALBOT

How successful is this year’s 17th annual weeklong festival (July 9-16) compared to others in terms of enrollment, budgets, performers, etc.? How well established is MEMF now nationally or even internationally?

CBR: Enrollment is up this year, with over 100 people enrolled in the workshop. Shakespeare (below) and the Elizabethan era is a great draw.

Other exciting news it that MEMF is one of five organizations that was chosen to be part of the “Shakespeare in Wisconsin” celebration, which includes the touring copy of the first Folio of Shakespeare’s plays from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. It is The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, and it will be at the Chazen Museum of Art this fall. https://shakespeare.library.wisc.edu/

MEMF is definitely on the map in the early music world due to our great faculty and our concert series that features musicians from all over the country, Canada and Europe.

We are also excited to be a part of the Arts Institute on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The institute is bringing us into the modern world of Facebook, e-letters, Twitter and so much more. We also have a new program director, Sarah Marty, who is full of fresh ideas and has many new contacts in the UW and the Madison community.

shakespeare BW

What is new and what is the same in terms of format, students, faculty members and performers?

CBR: Our format has stayed the same because, after 17 seasons, it seems to be working. We are excited about everything that will be happening during the week. https://artsinstitute.wisc.edu/memf/concerts.htm

New to MEMF this year is the ensemble New York Polyphony (below). They will be performing their program “Tudor City,” featuring the music of the Church, including the sacred music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, Christopher Tye and Walter Lambe. Their recording of this program, Tudor City, spent three weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard classical album chart. You can read more about them on their website: http://www.newyorkpolyphony.com/

To get a preview of what you will hear please visit: http://www.newyorkpolyphony.com/media2/

new york polyphony

MEMF goes to the Movies! The Newberry Violin Band (below top) will be performing as a live accompaniment to the silent film, Elizabeth I, made in 1912. Sarah Bernhardt is the star, even though she was 68 years old when the movie was made. The music is a great sampler of many of the most famous Elizabethan composers. Ellen Hargis (below bottom) will also be singing some classic John Dowland songs. An early movie with early music! http://newberryconsort.org/watch-listen-2/

Newberry Violin Band

ellen hargis 2016

Also, we have several unique programs that have been created just for this 400th “deathaversary” year.

The Baltimore Consort (below) is returning to MEMF with a program created especially for this anniversary year, The Food of Love: Songs, Dances and Fancies for Shakespeare, which has musical selections chosen from the hundreds of references to music in the works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare had directions in his plays for incidental music used for dancing, interludes and ceremony.

Specific songs are included in the text of the plays, and these texts were set to the popular songs of the day. Very few of these were published, but there are some early survivors which were published and from manuscripts.

Watch the YouTube video “From Treasures from the Age of Shakespeare” by the Baltimore Consort.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soqw5oSdkVs

Baltimore Consort

On Friday night we have a very unique program, Sonnets 400, a program that actor Peter Hamilton Dyer, from the Globe Theatre, conceived to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

The program is a pairing of Shakespeare’s words with Anthony Holborne’s music. Holborne was one of the most respected lutenists of his and Shakespeare’s time. Madison actor Michael Herold (below) will be reciting the narrative arc of the selected sonnets, and the music of Holborne will be played as interludes, or softly under the narration.

Recorder player and MEMF favorite, Priscilla Herreid, brought this program to our attention. Several years ago she performed with Peter in the Broadway production of “Twelfth Night,” and he told her about this pairing of music and sonnets from the Elizabethan era. Lutenists Grant Herreid and Charles Weaver will be joining Priscilla on Friday, July 15, at 7:30 p.m. The pre-concert lecture –“Repackaging Shakespeare’s Sonnets” — will be given by UW-Madison Professor of English Joshua Calhoun.

Michael Herold

Tomorrow: Part 2 of 2 — What makes Elizabethan English music special and what will the All-Festival wrap-up concert include?

 


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