The Well-Tempered Ear
Here’s music to mark Mother’s Day
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday is Mother’s Day 2024.
The holiday celebrating mothers, grandmothers and women whose are like mothers to us is celebrated around the world in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Mothers have long provided inspiration to composers, performers and listeners.
The Ear’s mom loved to hear him practice and play Chopin’s Waltz in E minor and Rachmaninoff’s popular Prelude in C-sharp minor (played by the composer in the YouTube video at the bottom), which dropped out of fashion for many years but now seems back in favor, especially as an encore.
Mom was proud of her pianist son and once even let the telephone sit near the piano when I was playing the Rachmaninoff for someone who had called her long-distance and wanted to hear more of what was until then just background noise to her conversation.
Anyway, here is one of the best pieces I have seen for you to read and listen to as you celebrate Mother’s Day. Some of the music is sure to be very familiar, other music less so.
Here are 20 pieces, with brief introductions and translations, about mothers from the website Interlude in Hong Kong:
Here’s to you, Mom.
Do you have a piece to dedicate to your mom?
Did your mother have a favorite piece she liked to hear?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Mother'sDay, #UnitedStates, #YouTubevideo, 2024, Africa, alto, Amy Beach, Android, Apple, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Bach, background, background noise, Baroque, beach, Benjamin Britten, Bing, blog, brass music, brief, Britten, Cavalleria Rusticana, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Charles Ives, Child, children, China, Chinese, Chopin, choral music, Christianity, church, Clara Schumann, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, concerto, conversation, cradle, daughter, dedicate, duckduckgo, Dvorak, encore, Europe, Facebook, Family, fashion, favor, favorite, female, God, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, Grainger, grandma, grandmother, hear, Holiday, Hong Kong, hymn, inspiration, inspire, interlude, introduction, IOS, Ireland, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Ireland, John Philip Sousa, John Tavener, Josef Suk, key, link, listener, long-distance, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, lullaby, Madison, Mahler, march, Mary, Mascagni, matriarchal, matriarchy, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, mom, Mother, Mother Goose, motherhood, Mothers Day, Mozart, Music, my, noise, North America, online, opera, Orchestra, Parent, Parenting, Paul Bunyan, Percy Grainger, performer, phone, Pianist, Piano, play, popular, practice, pray, Prelude, pride, proud, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Ravel, relic, Religion, Richard Strauss, Safari, Schumann, share, singer, soing, son, Sonata, song, soprano, Sousa, South America, Strauss, Suk, Sunday, Suor Angelica, symphony, tag, Tavener, telephone, The Ear, translation, Twitter, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, virgin, vocal music, Website, Well-Tempered, Well-tempered Ear, welltempered, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, WordPress, Wordpress.com, world, worldwide, X, years, you, YouTube
Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200 today
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Perhaps the only symphony more iconic than Beethoven’s Ninth is the Fifth Symphony by the same composer (below).
But today we celebrate the premiere of the pioneering Ninth Symphony that took place 200 years ago on May 7, 1824. Below is the original poster announcing the concert program with the premiere, which Beethoven conducted in his total deafness.
Here is a link to an anniversary story, with lots of historical background about the original performance, by the PBS affiliate WETA in Washington, D.C.:
https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/may-7-1824-200th-anniversary-premiere-beethovens-symphony-no-9
The 70-minute-long Ninth — also called the “Choral” Symphony — is a remarkable work in so many ways. It remains perhaps the most universal music ever written, meaningful to many different individuals and cultures.
Unlike most symphonies of the time, the opening does not immediately announce a theme. It seems to drift around until it finds a solid key and recognizable theme and rhythm. And then it takes off. It reminds The Ear of the depiction by Haydn, Beethoven’s teacher, in his oratorio “The Creation.”
The New York Times also has an essay by Daniel Barenboim about the meaning of Beethoven’s Ninth. No doubt that would be interesting and enlightening to read. But unfortunately the Times hides it behind a pay wall. Only subscribers get to see it right now.
Instead, here is a comprehensive look in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)
The famous choral setting of German poet Friedrich Schiller’s 1785 “Ode to Joy” of the last movement is also the official hymn of the European Union. This was the first use of a chorus in a symphony but would not be the last.
In Japan, the same “Ode to Joy” is sung en masse with a chorus up to 10,000 in stadiums every New Year’s Day and on other special occasions, as you can see in the YouTube video at the bottom, an event that took place after a horrendous earthquake and tsunami. The idealistic music embodies the journey from despair to hope, and to brotherhood and solidarity with all people and all nations.
Leonard Bernstein directed it in Berlin to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall and the coming of German reunification.
As its theme, the nightly Huntley-Brinkley New Report on NBC used to use the percussive, pounding, rhythmically propulsive Scherzo movement — which is The Ear’s favorite movement.
The Ear also thinks that the soulful slow movement has strong suggestions of the lovely and well-known slow movement of Beethoven’s earlier “Pathétique” piano sonata. But it doesn’t seem to have been used as a theme or in a movie soundtrack. Does anyone know differently?
What does the Ninth Symphony mean to you?
What do you think of the Ninth and how do you rank it among other symphonies?
Do you have a favorite recording or performance?
What is your favorite movement of Beethoven’s Ninth?
What other uses of The Ninth do you know of?
The Ear wants to hear
Tags: #ClassicFM, 1824, 2024, America, American, Android, anniversary, anthem, Apple, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Beethoven, Beethoven's Fifth, Beethoven's Ninth, Berlin Wall, Bing, blog, Broadcast, brotherhood, CD, celebrate, chaos, China, Chinese, choral music, Choral Symphony, chorus, Classical, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, conductor, culture, Daniel Barenboim, deaf, deafness, depair, different, disability, drift, duckduckgo, earthquake, en masse, European Union, Facebook, fampus, favorite, Fürtwangler, fifth, film, Friedrich Schiller, German, Germany, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, Haydn, hearing disabled, hope, Huntley-Brinkley, hymn, icon, iconic, ideakistic, idealism, individual, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, journalism, journalist, key, Korea, Korean, Leonard Bernstein, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, May 7, mean, meaning, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, movement, movie, Music, NBC, New Year's Day, New York Times, news, ninth, Ode to Joy, official, opening, oratorio, Orchestra, original, OS, pathetique, Pathetique Sonata, PBS, perform, performance, Piano, pioneering, poem, Poetry, Poster, premiere, program, propulsive, recording, remarkable, report, reunification, rhythm, Romantic, Safari, Scherzo, share, solidarity, soloist, Sonata, soul, soulful, soundtrack, South Korea, South Korean, stadium, Student, suggestion, symphony, tag, take off, takeoff, Teacher, Television, The Creation, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, theme, tidal wave, today, Toscanini, tsunami, TV, Twitter, U.S., United States, universal, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, use, vocal music, wander, well-known, Well-Tempered, welltempered, WETA, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, WordPress, Wordpress.com, work, X, you, YouTube
What classical music is good for studying, reading and writing?
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It is about to be Finals Week here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in many other places.
Little wonder, then, that The Ear recently read a good story about the role of of music in studying.
It was written by a student journalist for The State Press at Arizona State University in Tempe. It covered more kinds of music than classical, but it had some good comments about the ability of music and its various components — melody, rhythm, tempo, text — to focus one’s attention or to distract from the necessary focus.
Here is a link to the story, which also includes 100 music selections from mixed genres:
It got me to wondering what classical music do you readers like for studying, reading and writing — if you like it at all for such serious and intense tasks.
The Ear tends to love listening to Baroque music — especially Vivaldi violin concertos and Bach harpsichord concertos such as the one in the YouTube video at the bottom — and to chamber music and solo piano music.
So, what music do you like to listen to when you are: studying? reading? writing?
Do you have a favorite style, or favorite composer, or favorite pieces?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, America, American, Android, Antonio Vivaldi, Apple, Arizona State University, Arts, Asia, asian, attention, audience, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Bing, blog, Cello, Chamber music, Chinese, Chiuna, choral music, Classical music, component, composer, concentrate, Concert, concerto, distract, duckduckgo, ear, Early music, Education, Europe, European, exam, Facebook, favorite, feature, final, final exams, finals week, Focus, genre, Google, Google Alert, Google news, Google Search, harpsichord, Harpsichord concerto, hear, higher education, hip-hop, instrumental, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, journalism, journalist, link, listen, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, melody, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, mixed, Mozart, Music, news, Newspaper, opera, Orchestra, OS, Piano, piece, pop, post, posting, rap, read, reader, reading, rhtyhm, Romantic, Safari, share, sing, singer, Singing, solo, Sonata, southwestr, story, student'journalism, study, studying, style, symphony, tag, Taiwan, Taiwanese, Tempe, text, The Ear, The State Press, The Well-Tempered Ear, Twitter, UK, United States, universities, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal, vocal music, week, Well-Tempered, Well-tempered Ear, welltempered, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WordPress, Wordpress.com, write, writing, X, you, YouTube
A biopic about Vivaldi is in the works
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The baroque master and violin virtuoso Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741, below) composed the most recorded piece of classical music of all time: “The Four Seasons.”
The work was composed around 1720 and published in 1723, but because Vivaldi died in poverty and his music fell into obscurity, it was not rediscovered and recorded until 1939. And scholars are still finding manuscripts and rediscovering works by the prolific composer who has some 500 concertos and 40 operas to his credit.
The Roman Catholic priest with flaming red hair who was admired by J.S. Bach and who taught at an orphanage for girls in Venice, Italy, has been the subject of numerous biographies, critical studies and even novels, including mystery novels.
But now — after a 20-year delay since the script was completed and submitted — Vivaldi is about to hit the Big Screen in a biopic.
Last year saw “Maestro” about Leonard Bernstein and his wife. And a movie about opera diva Maria Callas is in the works with Angelina Jolie in the title role.
It seems a trend that might perhaps help attendance as concert organizations still are struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic. One wonders if we will see more Vivaldi programmed in response to his increased visibility and publicity his music will get thanks to Hollywood.
For more background and details, here is a link to the story on Classic FM:
Which is your favorite of the four violin concertos that make up “The Four Seasons”?
And what about Vivaldi’s other pieces, including the glorious “Gloria”?
The Ear particularly likes Vivaldi’s concertos for two violins. It is in A minor, RV 523, and you can hear the first movement played by Simon Standage and Collegium 90 in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Do you recommend a particular work by Vivaldi?
What is your favorite piece — choral, operatic, instrumental — by The Red Priest?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, academy, Android, Angelina Jolie, Antonio Vivaldi, Apple, Arts, attendance, audience, background, Baroque, biography, biopic, blog, British, Cello, Chamber music, Chandos, Chandos Records, choral music, Christianity, Classic FM, Classical music, Collegium 90, Collegium Musicum 90, composer, compsition, Concert, concerto, Concerto for Two Violins, covid, critical study, death, delay, details, die, director, double concerto, duckduckgo, Early music, Emmy, Emmy award, Facebook, fall, favorite, film, Four Seasons, girls, Gloria, glorious, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, hear, Hollywood, instrumental, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Ottman, Leonard Bernstein, link, Madison, Maestro, manuscript, Maria Callas, Master, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, movie, movie news, Music, music news, mystery, mystery novel, news, novel, obscurity, opera, operatic, Orchestra, orphanage, OS, Oscar, Overture Center, pandemic, particular, piece, popular, post, posting, poverty, priest, producer, program, prolific, publish, Radio, recommend, recorded music, recording, recover, red hair, Red Priest, rediscover, Religion, Roman Catholic, RV, Rwitter, scholars, screenplay, script, share, Simon Standage, Sonata, Spring, summer, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Venetian, Venuce, Viola, Violin, virtuoso, visibility, Vivaldi, vocal music, want, Well-Tempered, winter, Wisconsin, WordPress, Wordpress.com, work, works, X, YouTube
Today is World Piano Day — so play, listen, watch, celebrate
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
World Piano Day — established in 2015 — falls on the 88th day of the year because the standard piano keyboard has 88 keys.
Because 2024 is a Leap Year, World Piano Day is being celebrated a day later than usual — on today, March 28.
For more background and past playlists, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Day
There are lots of free celebrations online, to say nothing of just sitting down at a piano and playing or listening to someone else play or going to your library of CDs and LPs or using your streaming service.
Here is a list of live international events from March 12-April 7, complete with information links, to concerts and other events marking Piano Day around the world.
Some presenters have put together their own special celebrations. DG is offering a 30-day free trial to its Stage+ streaming site to mark the occasion.
Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s oldest classical record company, has a terrific stable of prize-winning, critically acclaimed pianists, includes Maurizio Pollini who died last Saturday, as well as Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Vikingur Olaffson, Maria Joao Pires, Seong-Jin Cho, Grigory Sokolov, Alice Sara Ott, Daniil Trifonov, Hélène Grimaud and Bruce Liu.
Check it out. Here is a link to DG’s celebration:
You can also find many things to watch and hear — concerts, documentaries — for this year and from past year of YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=World+Piano+Day
And at the bottom, from World Piano Day 2023, is a YouTube video with 88 minutes of piano music from masters old and current — including Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein — to celebrate World Piano Day:
Will you celebrate World Piano Day?
Do you play the piano or did you take piano lessons?
Do you have a favorite pianist?
Do you have a favorite composer and favorite piece for the piano?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Prize-Winning, #YouTubevideo, 2023, 2024, 88, acclaim, Adfrica, African, Apple, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Arrau, Arts, Ashkenazy, asian, audience, Barenboim, Baroque, Beethoven, black, blog, Bruce Liu, CD, celebrate, celebration, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Cho, Chopin, Classical music, Columbia, composer, Concert, concerto, critic, critical, critically acclaimed, day, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, documentary, Early music, establish, Europe, European'Asia, event, Facebook, favorite, Fujita, Gilels, globe, Google, Google Search, Grigory Sokolov, Grimaud, hear, Helene Grimaud, Horowtz, Hough, Iceland, Icelandic, international, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, keys, Kissin, Korean, Lang Lang, Leap Year, Levit, liberty, library, Lim, link, listen, Liu, LP, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mao, Mao Fujita, Maria Joao Pires, Maurizio Pollini, Mozart, Music, music students, Naxos, ok, Orchestra, OS, Ott, Perahia, Philips, Pianist, Piano, piano lessons, piano music, piece, Pires, play, playlist, Polish, Pollini, popular, RCA, repertoire, repertory, Richter, Rubinstein, Russia, Russian, Schiff, share, Sokolov, Sonata, SONY, Sony Classical, South America, South American, South Korea, South Korean, stage, standard, stream, streaming, streaming service, symphony, tag, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, today, Trifonov, Uchida, United States, universal, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Van Cliburn, Vikingur Olafsson, Wang, Well-Tempered, white, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wong, world, World Piano Day, year, YouTube, Yuja Wang, Yunchan Lim
Is impromptuing the impromptu ok?
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Recently, The Ear heard an unusual version of the very familiar Fantaisie-Impromptu for solo piano by Chopin.
It was played by the 35-year-old, prize-winning Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov (below). You can hear his performance in the YouTube video at the bottom.
What made it unusual is that the pianist took liberties and added passing notes or runs and a melodic overlay to part of it.
It seemed odd at first.
Why mess with Chopin, who was such a meticulous crafter of beauty?
But when you think about it, it makes a certain sense.
It is, after all, an impromptu. And an impromptu is based on and suggests improvisation.
So why not impromptu the impromptu? Why not add some extra spontaneity or variation, since many impromptus take the form of a theme with variations and elaborations.
These days performers are even expected to elaborate the Baroque repertoire, especially Bach and Handel. And it is becoming standard practice to do so with Mozart’s piano sonatas and concertos.
Now the Fantaisie-Impromptu is by far the most popular of Chopin’s four impromptus, no doubt in part because its lovely middle section melody inspired the classic Vaudeville pop song “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.”
But the Fantaisie-Impromptu, the last composed, is The Ear’s least favorite of the four impromptus that Chopin wrote. And Chopin apparently didn’t like it much either. He wanted it to remain unpublished and destroyed.
It made me want to know: What might the same pianist do with the other three great impromptus by Chopin?
Or the famous ones by Schubert and the less famous ones by Fauré?
Listen to the 5-minute performance and tell The Ear what you think of the ornamented version that Kolesnikov plays?
Which one of four is your favorite Chopin impromptu?
What impromptus by Schubert and Fauré do you especially like? Would changing the score work with them?
What other impromptus by other composers do you suggest listening to and playing — and perhaps even ornamenting?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Prize-Winning, #YouTubevideo, Apple, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, beauty, Beethoven, blog, Cello, change, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, Craft, Early music, elaboration, eloaborate, Facebook, famous, Fantaisie-Impromptu, Faure, favorite, Google, Google Alert, great, Handel, hear, impromptu, improvisation, improvise, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, kliberty, liberties, link, listen, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, melody, mess, Mozart, Music, odd, opera, Orchestra, ornament, ornamentation, OS, Pavel Kolesnikov, performance, Pianist, Piano, play, pop music, popular, publish, repertoire, repertory, Russia, Russian, Schubert, score, sense, share, solo]performer, Sonata, spontaneity, symphony, tag, The Ear, theme, think, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unpublished, variations, Vaudeville, version, Viola, Violin, vocal music, want, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, you, YouTube
Gramophone critics name their favorite recordings of 2023
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Based in London, Gramophone Magazine — below is the December cover celebrating the centennial of opera legend Maria Callas — is probably the best known and most highly respected magazine to focus on classical music.
The monthly features and reviews are usually quite illuminating. And the year-end wrap-ups or seasonal holiday guides are often excellent for purchasing CDs and LPs, or for simply finding out and sampling the new releases of the past year on a streaming service.
Below are the the favorites by various critics for Gramophone.
The Ear finds it particularly interesting and telling that the critics refer to their “favorite” recordings — not the “best” recording — of the past year. I find “favorite” more honestly subjective than the falsely objective “best,” which takes no account of personal taste or preference.
Unfortunately, unlike many other similar lists the Gramophone story does not include samples from YouTube or the actual recordings. (You can hear one sample in the YouTube video at the bottom where Andras Schiff plays Bach on a rarely heard clavichord.)
But each selection has a link to the full review that appeared in Gramophone.
You should know that Gramophone has the reputation of favoring British composers, artists and labels. And that nationalistic bias shows in some of this year’s selections.
Nonetheless, many of the choices —across many different genres from instrumental and vocal soloists to chamber music to orchestral and choral music — are informative and intriguing.
Check them out for yourself via this link:
To see any crossovers in British and American year-end lists, you can check out this year’s Top 10 from Tom Huizenga on National Public Radio (NPR):
What do you think of the selections?
Do you agree with any? Which ones?
Do you have your own suggestions about the best or favorite recordings you heard this year?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, 100, 2023, acting, America, American, András Schiff, Android, app, Apple, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Arts, audience, Bach, ballet, Baroque, Bartok, best, bias, blog, British, Cello, centennial, Chamber music, choral music, Christian Tetzlaff, Classical music, clavichord, composer, Concert, concerto, critic, critical review, crossovers, diva, drama, dramatic, Dvorak, Early music, England, English, Facebook, favorite, genre, gift guide, Google, Gramophone, Great Britain, Haydn, hear, Holiday, honest, Idagio, informative, instrument, interesting, intriguing, Jacob Stockinger, Janacek, Johann Sebastian Bach, label, Lars Vogt, legend, link, list, London, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, magazine, Maria Callas, Mozart, Music, nation, National Public Radio, nationalistic, NPR, objective, Oklahoma, opera, Orchestra, OS, Otto Klemperer, partita, period instruments, periods, personal, Piano, Piano Trio, preference, Presto Music, Record label, recorded music, recording, respect, respected, review, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Romeo and Juliet, Schubert, Season, selection, Shakespeare, share, singer, Singing, solo, Sonata, soprano, Spotify, streaming, subjective, subscription, symphony, tag, taste, Tchaikovsky, telling, The Ear, UK, United States, US, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Warner Classics, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, you, your, YouTube
What is the best classical Halloween music?
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
There is a lot of spookily appropriate classical music to mark Halloween, which is this Tuesday.
The British radio station ClassicFM has published its choice of the “20 scariest Classical music pieces” for Halloween. Here’s a link to the website, which has links to performances of the pieces:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/scary-classical-music-halloween/
But much has been left out from J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor to Beethoven’s “Ghost” Piano Trio, from the finale of Chopin’s “Funeral March” sonata to Philip Glass’s film score for “Dracula” (below):
At the bottom is a YouTube video that has another selection that offers 2.5 hours of Halloween music, maybe something you want to play while you pass out goodies to trick-and-treaters.
Do you have a favorite piece of classical music that particularly expresses the mood or atmosphere of Halloween?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ClassicFM, #FacebookPost, #YouTubevideo, Arts, atmosphere, audience, Bach, Baroque, Bartok, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bernard Herrmann, blog, British, Cello, Chamber music, choice, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, Copland, Dracula, Dukas, Early music, English, express, Facebook, favorite, Film score, FM, Frankenstein, ghoist, goodies, grave, graveyard, Grieg, Hitchcock, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Williams, link, Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, magic, Mahler, Maurice Jarre, mood, Mozart, Music, Mussorgsky, opera, Orchestra, Orff, Overture Center, performance, Philip Glass, Piano, Piano Trio, piece, play, Prokofiev, Psycho, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Radio, Requiem, share, Sonata, sorcerer, spook, spooky, symphony, The Ear, toccata, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, trick or treat, Trick-or-treating, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wagner, Website, werewolf, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Why do we like sad music?
6 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Why does sad music — or sad art — appeal to so many of us?
One psychologist and brain researcher — Matthew Sachs of Columbia University (below) — says it serves an evolutionary and social purpose by eliciting empathy for other humans and purging us of negative emotions, according to a story and interview on NPR (National Public Radio).
To The Ear, the explanation sounds a lot like the ancient Greek philosophy of catharsis that was the cornerstone justification for the public staging of great ancient tragedies by writers such as Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and of course the famous tragedies of Shakespeare such as “Romeo and Juliet,” Hamlet” and “King Lear” that were famously popular dramas as well as great masterpieces of Western literature.
Consider the case of Samuel Barber’s often-played “Adagio for Strings,” analyzed at length in a book called “The Saddest Music in the World.” Or perhaps the “Pathétique” piano sonata by Beethoven and the “Funeral March” piano sonata by Chopin. Or the requiems by Mozart and Brahms.
Or consider the music “Beautiful Sadness” by the contemporary composer Cliff Masterson (below). You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Here is a link to the NPR story that discusses “the rules of musical melancholy.”
You can read it, or take four minutes to listen to it:
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1173993223/understanding-the-joy-that-many-find-in-sadness
Do you find solace in sad music?
Does sad music make you feel better?
Do you have a favorite piece of sad music?
Or maybe a favorite tragic play, opera or work of art?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, Adagio for Strings, Aeschylus, Ancient Greece, appeal, arranger, Art, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, blog, Brahms, Brain, Britten, catharsis, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, Cliff Masterson, Columbia University, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, contemporary, cornerstone, discuss, Early music, emotion, empathy, Euripides, evolution, evolutionary, explanation, Facebook, favorite, feel, funeral march, great, Greek tragedy, Hamlet, happiness, happy', Hollywood, human, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, journalism, Joy, justification, King Lear, link, literature, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Matthew Sachs, melancholy, movie, Mozart, Music, National Public Radio, negative, news, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, pathetique, philosophy, Piano, play, pleasure, popular, psychologist, psychology, purge, purpose, Radio, Requiem, research, rid, Romeo and Juliet, rule, sad, sadness, science, scientist, score, Shakespeare, share, social, solace, Sonata, Sophocles, soundtrack, story, symphony, tag, The Ear, tragedy, Tragic, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Western, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work of art, Writer, YouTube
Italian opera diva Renata Scotto dead at 89
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
World-famous soprano and opera director Renata Scotto (below) died yesterday — Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023 — in her home town in Italy. She was 89.
As an opera diva, Scotto was popular with both the public and the critics. She was known for a fiery temperament and for outstanding acting as well as singing. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Scotto singing the well-known and sublime Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” from “Gianni Schicchi” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.)
Here is an obituary for the Associated Press:
https://apnews.com/article/renata-scott-soprano-death-39a56fb590f69073ef0d892f61e3c189
And here is a Wikipedia entry with more specific history and background plus extensive lists ion her recordings and videos:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renata_Scotto
Did you ever hear Renata Scotto in a live performance?
What did you think of her singing and acting?
Did you have a favorite role that you liked her in?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, act, acting, AP, aria, Arts, Associated Press, audience, background, Bellini, blog, Cherubini, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, critics, dead, death, die, director, diva, Donizetti, drama, Facebook, famous, favorite, fiery, Gianni Schicchi, History, honor, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, link, live, Madison, Mascagni, Metropolitan Opera, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Music, New York, New York City, O mio babbino caro, opera, Orchestra, performance, popular, public, Puccini, Recordings, Renata Scotto, Respighi, role, Scotto, share, sing, singer, Singing, soprano, sublime, tag, temperament, the Met, United States, Vderdi, Verdi, videos, vocal music, well-known, Wikipedia, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
 | Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 