figure | The Well-Tempered Ear

Library of Congress streams UW pianist Christopher Taylor’s online Liszt-Beethoven symphony recital for free this Thursday night

December 16, 2020
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

This Thursday night, Dec. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. CST, University of Wisconsin-Madison virtuoso pianist Christopher Taylor (below) will close the celebration of the Beethoven Year, marking the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth, at the Library of Congress. After the concert’s premiere, it will stay posted online.

For the past several years, Taylor has been performing the solo piano transcriptions by Franz Liszt of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies both in Russia and at the UW-Madison.

Here is more from the website of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music:

“It takes extraordinary skill as an orchestrator to condense an entire symphony by Beethoven (below top) into a version for a solo instrument, but that is just what Franz Liszt (below bottom) accomplished in his piano transcriptions. (You can hear a sample, along with a visual representation, of the Fifth Symphony transcription in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

“Hear virtuoso pianist Christopher Taylor perform three of these transcendent symphony transcriptions, works he describes as a “new perspective on something familiar.” (The Ear, who has heard Taylor’s impressive performances of almost all nine symphonies, finds that comparing the two versions is like looking at the same photograph in color and then black-and-white. Color emphasizes details while black-and-white emphasizes structure. You hear new things by comparing the two.)

The performance was pre-recorded in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center.

The program is:

BEETHOVEN/LISZT

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

You can find more details at: https://loc.gov/concerts/christopher-taylor.html

You can Register on Eventbrite

Hailed by critics as “frighteningly talented” (The New York Times) and “a great pianist” (The Los Angeles Times), Taylor has distinguished himself throughout his career as an innovative musician with a diverse array of talents and interests.

He is known for a passionate advocacy of music written in the past 100 years — Messiaen, Ligeti and Bolcom figure prominently in his performances — but his repertoire spans four centuries and includes the complete Beethoven sonatas, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and a multitude of other familiar masterworks.

Whatever the genre or era of the composition, Taylor brings to it an active imagination and intellect coupled with heartfelt intensity and grace.

Taylor has concertized around the globe, with international tours taking him to Russia, Western Europe, East Asia and the Caribbean.

At home in the U.S. he has appeared with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, the Madison Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony. As a soloist he has performed in New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, in Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia and Aspen festivals, and dozens of other venues.

In chamber music settings, he has collaborated with many eminent musicians, including Robert McDuffie and the Borromeo, Shanghai, Pro Arte, and Ying Quartets.

His recordings have featured works by Liszt, Messiaen and present-day Americans William Bolcom and Derek Bermel.

Throughout his career, Taylor has become known for undertaking memorable and unusual projects. Examples include: an upcoming tour in which he will perform, from memory, the complete transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies by Liszt; performances and lectures on the complete etudes of Gyorgy Ligeti; and a series of performances of the Goldberg Variations on the unique double-manual Steinway piano (below) in the collection of the University of Wisconsin.

Numerous awards have confirmed Taylor’s high standing in the musical world. He was named an American Pianists’ Association Fellow for 2000, before which he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1996 and the Bronze Medal in the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 1990 he took first prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition, and also became one of the first recipients of the Irving Gilmore Young Artists’ Award.

Taylor lives in Middleton, Wis., with his wife and two daughters. He is a Steinway artist.

For more biographical information — including his piano teachers and his education as well as his interest in mathematics and engineering — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/christopher-taylor-concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, #AliceTullyHall, #Americancomposers, #AmericanOrchestras, #AmericanPianistsAssociation, #AspenColorado, #AspenFestival, #AveryFisherCareerGrant, #BaroqueMusic, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BronzeMedalist, #CarnegieHall, #ChamberMusic, #ChristopherTaylor, #Contrast-and-Compare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DerekBermel, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphony, #DoubleManual, #EastAsia, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FifthSymphony, #FirstPrize, #FranzLiszt, #Goldberg"Variations, #GyorgyLigeti, #HamelMusicCenter, #HarvardUniversity, #HomeWebsite, #husband-and-wife, #InstrumentalMusic, #IrvingGilmoreYoungArtistsAward, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #KennedyCenter, #LibraryofCongress, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #NewThings, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #NewYorkTimes, #OlivierMessiaen, #OpusNumber, #PianoConcerto, #PianoSonata, #PIanoTeacher, #ProArteQuartet, #RaviniaFestival, #RobertMcDuffie, #RussellSherman, #ShanghaiChina, #ShanghaiStringQuartet, #SteinwayandSons, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #TranscendentalEtudes, #U.S.Congress, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VirtuosoPianist, #WesternEurope, #WilliamBolcom, #WilliamKapell, #WilliamKapellInternaitonalPianoCompetition, #YingQuartet, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, 250, accomplish, active, advocacy, Alice Tully Hall, American, American Pianists Association, anniversary, array, artist, Arts, Asia, Aspen Festival, audience, Avery Fisher Career Grant, awards, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Bermel, biographical, biography, birth, birthday, black-and-white, blog, Bolcom, Borromeo, bronze medal, bronze medalist, California, career, Caribbean, Carnegie Hall, celebration, centuries, century, Chamber music, channel, China, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, close, collaborate, color, Colorado, complete, composer, Composition, Concert, concertize, concerto, condense, conductor, Congress, contrast, coronavirus, daughter, Derek Bermel, details, Detroit, Detroit Symphony, distinguish, diverse, double manual, dozens, Early music, East Asia, Education, eminent, emphasize, engineering, era, etude, Europe, Eventbrite, extraordinary, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, familiar, festival, Fifth Symphony, figure, find, first prize, Franz Liszt, free, frightening, genre, Georgy Ligeti, globe, grace, hailed, Hamel Music Center, hands, Harvard, Harvard University, hear, heartfelt, Home, home website, imagination, impressive, information, innovative, instrument, intellect, intensity, interests, international, Irving Gilmore Young Artists Award, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kennedy Center, lecture, library, Library of Congress, Ligeti, Liszt, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mark, Masterworks, mathematics, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, memorable, memory, Messiaen, Middleton, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, multitude, Music, music critic, Music education, Musician, named, New Music, new things, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New York Times, Olivier Messiaen, opus, Opus number, Orchestra, orchestras, orchestrator, pandemic, passionate, performance, photograph, photography, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano sonata, piano teacher, post, posting, pre-recorded, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, program, projects, prominent, Ravinia Festival, recipient, register, repertoire, repertory, representation, Robert McDuffie, Russell Sherman, Russia, sample, setting, Shanghai, Shanghai String Quartet, skill, solo, soloist, Sonata, span, Steinway, stream, String quartet, structure, symphonies, symphony, talented, talents, Taylor, The Ear, tour, transcendent, Transcendental Etudes, transcription, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, UW, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, venue, venues, version, virtuoso, visual, Washington, Website, Western Europe, wife, WILLIAM BOLCOM, William Kapell, William Kapell International Piano Competition, Wisconsin, world, Ying Quartet, YouTube

Did Beethoven and his Fifth Symphony foster racism, exclusion and elitism in the concert hall? The Ear thinks that is PC nonsense. What do you think?

September 19, 2020
8 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Controversy has struck big among classical music critics and fans — just in time for the Beethoven Year that will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth this December. Plans call for celebrations by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, and others.

At question is what seems yet another fallout and dust-up from the Black Lives Matter movement and the current struggle to foster social justice and racial equality.

In some ways, it all seems inevitable.

Now the history-denying advocates of cancel culture are suggesting that Beethoven (below) and his music – especially the popular Fifth Symphony (you can hear the famous opening in the YouTube schematic video at the bottom) – fostered white privilege and the rise of racism, sexism and homophobia in the concert hall.

That seems like quite an accusation for a single composer and a single piece of music that was premiered in 1808.

The assertion is food for thought. But not much.

In the end The Ear finds it a stretch and a totally bogus argument. He thinks that Beethoven attracted far more performers and audiences than he repelled. Others, including famed critic Norman Lebrecht in his blog Slipped Disc and a critic for the right-wing newspaper The New York Post, agree:

https://slippedisc.com/2020/09/beethovens-5th-is-a-symbol-of-exclusion-and-elitism/

https://nypost.com/2020/09/17/canceling-beethoven-is-the-latest-woke-madness-for-the-classical-music-world/

The Ear also thinks it is political correctness run amok, even for someone who, like himself, advocates strongly for diversity of composers, performers and audiences – but always with quality in mind — in the concert hall.

Just because Beethoven was such a great creative artist is hardly cause to blame him for the inability of other artists to succeed and for non-white audiences taking to classical music. Other forces — social, economic and political — explain that much better.

Yes, Beethoven is a towering and intimidating figure. And yes, his works often dominate programming. But both musicians and audiences return to him again and again because of the originality, power and first-rate quality of his many works.

Beethoven himself was deaf. That would certainly seem to qualify him as inclusive and a member of an important category of diversity.

No matter. The writers are happy to blame Ludwig and his work for exclusion and elitism. They argue that people of color, women and LGBTQ people have all felt alienated from classical music because of Beethoven’s legacy.

Of course, there is elitism in the arts. People may be equal, but creative talent is not.

And clearly, Beethoven was a towering and intimidating figure – more for the quality of his music than for the simple fact that it exists. Such exclusion and elitism have to do with other factors than the composition of the Fifth Symphony.

If The Ear recalls correctly, when he died Beethoven was given the largest state funeral up to that time for a non-royal, non-politician or non-military person.

And how do you explain that Beethoven’s music, so representative of Western culture, appeals deeply to and attracts so many Asians and Asian-Americans, and became both banned and symbolically central to those opposed to Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China?

But these days being provocative can become its own reward.

You can read the analysis and decide about its merits for yourself, then let us know what you think in the Comment section.

Here is a link to the opinion piece in Vox Magazine, a free online journal: https://www.vox.com/switched-on-pop/21437085/beethoven-5th-symphony-elitist-classism-switched-on-pop

What do you think about the idea that Beethoven played a large and seminal role in fostering an elitist and exclusive culture in classical music?

Did you ever feel alienated from classical music because of Beethoven or know others who have?

What is your favorite Beethoven composition?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AsianHistory, #BeethovenYear, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CancelCulture, #ChairmanMao, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertHall, #CreativeArtist, #CulturalRevolution, #DigitalMedia, #DisabilityRights, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FifthSymphony, #FoodforThought, #GenderEquality, #JacobStockinger, #LGBTQrights, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaoTse-Tung, #MaoZeding, #MeadWitter, #MusicCritic, #NormanLebrecht, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #People'sRepublicofChina, #PianoSonata, #PieceofMusic, #PoliticalCorrectness, #ProArteQuartet, #RacialEquality, #RightWing, #SlippedDisc, #SocialJustice, #StateFuneral, #StringQuartet, #SymphonicMusic, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkPost, #TheOther, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #VoxMagazine, #WesternCulture, #WhitePrivilege, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, accusation, advocates, agree, alienate, alienated, amok, analysis, anniversary, appeal, applause, argument, artist, Arts, Asia, asian, Asian American, attract, audience, banned, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, being, big, birth, Black Lives Matter, blame, BLM, blog, bogus, cancel culture, category, cause, celebrations, Chairman Mao, Chamber music, China, choral music, civilian, Classical music, classicalmusic, clothing, comment, commentary, composer, Composition, Concert, concert hall, concerto, conservative, controversry, creative, Cultural Revolution, culture, days, deaf, death, December, decide, digital, disability, diverse, diversity, dominate, dust-up, economic, economics, elite, elitism, elitist, equality, exclusion, Facebook, fallout, famous, fans, favorite, Fifth Symphony, figure, first-rate, food, forces, foster, funeral, gender, gender equality, great, hear, homophobia, idea, inability, inclusive, intimidating, Jacob Stockinger, large, legacy, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGTB, like, line, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mao, Mao Tse-Tung, Mao-Zedong, Mead Witter School of Music, merits, military, mind, movement, Music, music critic, Musician, Newspaper, noise, non-military, non-royal, non-white, nonsense, Norman Lebrecht, online, Op-Ed, opening, opera, opinion, Orchestra, orchestral music, original, originality, other, PC, People, performer, Piano, piece of music, plans, political, political correctness, Politics, popular, post, posting, power, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, programming, provocative, quality, question another, race, racial equality, racism, racist, read, reader, recall, repel, return, reward, right-wing, rise, role, royal, schematic, seminal, Sexism, sexist, share, silence, single, Slipped Disc, social, social justice, Sonata, state funeral, story, stretch, String quartet, strong, subscriber, succeed, symbol, symbolically, symphony, tag, talent, The Ear, The New York Post, the other, think, thought, towering, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Vox Magazine, want, Western culture, white privilege, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, woke, work, year, you, yourself, YouTube

Classical music: The Madison Bach Musicians will perform its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert this coming Saturday night

December 1, 2019
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 7, the Madison Bach Musicians will present its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below, in 2014, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer).

The concert, using period instruments and historically informed performance practices, is again at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., near Camp Randall Stadium. A pre-concert lecture by MBM founder and director Trevor Stephenson is at 7:15 p.m. followed by the concert at 8 p.m.

Advance-sale tickets are $35 at Orange Tree Imports and the Willy St. Co-op (East and West). Online advance-sale tickets are available at https://madisonbachmusicians.org. Tickets at the door at $38 for general admission and $35 for seniors. Student Rush tickets are $10 at the door and go on sale 30 minutes before the lecture.

The program features masterworks by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Torelli which, in their appealing Baroque way, explore the fusion of celebration, reflection and ultimate renewal often felt as the year’s end approaches.

MBM welcomes baroque trumpet virtuoso Kathryn Adduci (below), who will show how wonderfully vintage brass resounds in the magnificent Old World acoustics of the church.

Other performers are: Ariadne Lih, soprano (below); Lindsey Meekhof, alto; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; Michael Hawes, bass; Christine Hauptly Annin and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Micah Behr, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.

Here are a couple of fun facts, provided by Stephenson, about each piece on the program.

Sound the Trumpet, by Henry Purcell (1659−1695, below)
1. This piece was composed in 1694, the year before Purcell died at the age of just 36. It is part of a birthday ode — Come Ye Sons of Art, Away! — for Queen Mary II of England, wife of King James II.
2. There is no trumpet in it at all, but the two voices implore the trumpet to play and they emulate trumpet-style writing with long, swelling notes mixed in with brilliant decorative flourishes.

Trumpet Concert in D major by Giuseppe Torelli (1658−1709, below)
1. Torelli was one of the most prolific trumpet composers of all time.
2. The baroque trumpet has no valves and is designed to play in one tonality at a time. Favorite baroque keys were D major and C major.

Comfort Ye and Every Valley from Messiah, by George Frideric Handel (1685−1759, below)
1. After the instrumental Overture to Messiah, this Recitative and Aria are the work’s first sung pieces.
2. Handel was 56 years old when he composed Messiah in 1741 in London; the work was premiered, however, in Dublin in 1742, much to the chagrin of Handel’s librettist Charles Jennens.

Cantata BWV 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Exult in God in Every Land), by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685−1750, below)
1. Composed around 1730, this is one of the very few Bach cantatas requiring only one singer.
2. In Bach’s Leipzig church, where the work was probably first heard, the soloist would have been either a male falsettist (or castrato) or an exceptionally skilled boy soprano.

Contrapunctus XIX and Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before Thy throne I stand), from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, by J.S. Bach
1. According to Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel (CPE), this fugue is the last piece his father wrote — though scholars hotly contest this claim.
2. In measure 195, Bach’s own name appears suddenly as a musical motive: B (B-flat in the German scale) – A – C – H (B natural) and the fugue has no ending but simply trails off in measure 239.

Grosser Herr, o starker König (Great Lord, O Powerful King) from Christmas Oratorio,BWV 248, by J.S. Bach
1. It features dance-like melodic figures in dialogue between trumpet and solo bass voice. (Heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
2. Text celebrates the birth of the savior, which makes the powers of the Earth irrelevant.

Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord thinks of us),by J.S. Bach
1. With its textual focus on blessings (from Psalm 115), the work is likely a wedding cantata.
2. Written probably when Bach was only 22 years old, the work is absolutely perfect in its structure and easy concision; its high-energy but quiet final cadence has a curiously modern, neo-Classical charm that might have made Stravinsky smile.

Chorale: Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe (What joy for me that I have Jesus),from Cantata, BWV 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), by J.S. Bach
1. The famous opening figure in the strings is really just Bach’s ingenious obligato lead-in to a chorale tune that parishioners in his church would have instantly recognized.
2. This work has enjoyed tremendous popularity as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” since it was arranged for one and then two pianos in 1926 and 1934 respectively by English pianist Myra Hess. It has since been arranged for myriad combinations of instruments and voices.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AltoSinger, #AriadneLih, #ArtofFugue, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BassSinger, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoySoprano, #BrassMusic, #CampRandall, #CampRandallStadium, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #CharlesJennens, #CharlesJennins, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristmasHoliday, #ChristmasOratorio, #CPEBach, #DublinIreland, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist, #FourSeasonsofBuenosAires, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GermanComposer, #GermanLanguage, #GiuseppeTorelli, #GuestArtist, #HenryPurcell, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HolidayConcert, #HolidayMusic, #HolidaySeason, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalMusic, #italianComposer, #James Waldo, #JamesGiles, #JamesWaldo, #JesuJoyofMan'sDesiring, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #KathrynAdduci, #KingJames, #KingofEngland, #LeipzigGermany, #LondonEngland, #MadisonBaroqueMusicians, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MicahBehr, #MyraHess, #NathanGiglierano, #OldWorld, #PeriodInstruments, #QueenMary, #SeniorCitizen, #SopranoSinger, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheLord, #TrevorStephenson, #TrumpetConcerto, #TrumpetMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WillySt.Coop, #WillySt.CoopWest, #WillyStreetCo-op, #WillyStreetCoopEast, #YouTubevideo, acoustics, alto, appealing, aria, Ariadne Lih, arrangement, Art of Fugue, Arts, Bach, Bach cantata, Baroque, Baroque music, bass, biirth, birthday, blog, boy, boy soprano, brass, brass music, brilliant, British, Camp Randall, Camp Randall Stadium, Cantata, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, castrato, celebration, cellist, Cello, Charles Jennens, charm, choral music, Chorale, Christ, Christmas, Christmas Oratorio, church, claim, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, concise, conductor, contest, counterpoint, CPE Bach, decorative, deed, dialogue, director, Dublin, Early music, Earth, east, end, ending, energy, England, English, explore, Facebook, fact, falsetto, father, figure, First Congregational United Church of Christ, flourishes, forward, founder, fugue, fusion, George Frideric Handel, German, Giuseppe Torelli, God, guest artist, Handel, harpsichord, heart, Henry Purcell, historically informed performance practices, Holiday, holiday concert, Igor Stravinsky, ingenious, instrument, instrumental, instruments, Italian, Italy, J.S. Bach, Jacob Stockinger, James, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kathryn Adduci, key, keys, King, last, lecture, Leipzig, librettist, life, like, link, London, long, Lord, Madison, Madison Baroque Musicians, magnificent, male, Mary, masterwork, Mead Witter School of Music, Messiah, Micah Behr, modern, motive, mouth, Music, musical, Myra Hess, Nathan Giglierano, neo-Classical, notes, ode, Old World, online, opening, oratorio, Orchestra, Overture, parishioners, perfect, period instruments, Pianist, Piano, Pianos, play, popularity, post, posting, premiere, program, prolific, queen, Queen Mary, recitative, reflection, Religion, renewal, resound, rush, savior, scholar, Season, senior, senior citizen, share, singer, skill, smile, solo, soloist, son, soprano, Sound, Stravinsky, structure, Student, swelling, tag, tenor, text, The Ear, throne, ticket, tonality, Torelli, Trevor Stephenson, Trumpet, trumpet concerto, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, valve, valveless, vintage, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, vocal music, voice, websote, wedding, west, Willy Street Co-op, Willy Street Coop, Willy Street Coop East, Willy Street Coop West, Wisconsin, wrote, year, YouTube

Classical music: This Saturday and Sunday, the Token Creek Festival explores how an unrequited love for Clara Schumann helped make Brahms and his music autumnal

August 22, 2019
6 Comments

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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

Johannes Brahms (below) remains the only composer whose complete catalogue of chamber music is still in constant use. This is due to his fastidiously high standards, and to his ideal temperament for music played by smaller groups of players.

His music is universally admired for its combination of sheer craft and deep emotional impact, ranging from the most muted private conversation to the most passionate and revealing passages he ever composed.

But putting aside his own personal temperament as well as his melancholy melodies, his bittersweet harmonies, and his masterful use of strings and woodwinds, what gives Brahms’ music that quality of sadness that so many listeners and critics describe as “autumnal”?

No discussion of Brahms can take place without engaging with the most important person in his life — Clara Schumann (below, in a Getty photo), who was born Clara Wieck and became a virtuoso pianist and a composer whose 200th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year.

Brahms was deeply in love with Clara. But unfortunately she was married to Robert Schumann (below right with Clara), one of Brahms’ closest friends and most loyal promoters. Even after a mentally ill Robert Schumann died of suicide at 46, Clara remained loyal to his memory. For the rest of her long life, she performed, edited and promoted his music and rejected Brahms as a lover or second husband.

Almost overnight, Clara’s rejection seemed to cause Brahms to turn from a handsome young man (below top) to the more familiar figure of an overweight, cigar-smoking, bearded and prematurely old curmudgeon (below bottom).

Clara Schumann’s hidden presence is involved with all of the pieces on the Token Creek Festival program, which will be performed at 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 and 25, in the festival’s refurbished barn (below) at 4037 Highway 19 in DeForest.

The program includes the Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, illustrated with a performance of Brahms’ “Regenlied” (the “Rain Song” that precedes it and introduces the theme of the sonata); the Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano in E minor; and the Piano Quartet No 3 in C minor, a piece that retains its distinctive charge of unresolvable emotion. (You can hear that unresolved emotion in the beautiful slow movement of the Piano Quartet No. 3 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Performers are violinist Rose Mary Harbison, co-artistic director of the Token Creek Festival; violist Lila Brown; cellist Rhonda Rider; pianist Janice Weber; and Edgewood College mezzo-soprano Kathleen Otterson.

THE REST OF THE FEST

Upcoming programs include “Words & Music,” a belated 80th birthday tribute to artistic co-director John Harbison, on Wednesday night, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The intimate program will include readings by poet Lloyd Schwartz, the premiere of new Harbison songs, plus works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Arnold Schoenberg.

The festival closes with “The Piano” program on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, both at 4 p.m. The festival welcomes back pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang, playing together and as soloists.

Their program explores the question of the composer-performer, here composers who were also formidable pianists: Mozart, Maurice Ravel and Franz Liszt. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, arranged by the composer for chamber ensemble, and excerpts of John Harbison’s Sonata No. 2, written for Levin, complete the program.

For tickets ($32) and more information, go to www.tokencreekfestival.org or call (608) 241-2525.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ArnoldSchoenberg, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChristmasSong, #ClaraSchumann, #ClaraWieck, #ClassicaMusic, #ConcertProgram, #EdgewoodCollege, #EmotionalImpact, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzLiszt, #husband-and-wife, #JaniceWeber, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #KathleenOtterson, #LilaBrown, #LloydSchwartz, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MauriceRavel, #MentalIllness, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #NewMusic, #PianoConcerto, #PianoQuartet, #RhondaRider, #RobertLevin, #RobertSchumann, #RoseMaryHarbison, #StringMusic, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #UnrequitedLove, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #ViolinSonata, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Ya-FeiChuang, #YoungMan, #YouTubevideo, anniversary, Arnold Schoenberg, Artistic director, Arts, Autumn, autumnal, Bach, barn, Baroque, beard, bearded, became, Beethoven, bittersweet, blog, born, Brahms, catalogue, celebrate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, cigar, Clara Schumann, Clara Wieck, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, conversation, craft\emotion, curmudgeon, death, DeForest, died, Early music, Edgewood College, emotional impact, Facebook, farm, fastidious, festival, figure, forward, Franz Liszt, friend, groups, handsome, harmonies, harmony, hidden, highway, husband, ideal, impact, introduce, Jacob Stockinger, Janice Weber, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Harbison, Kathleen Otterson, life, like, Lila Brown, link, Lloyd Schwartz, Love, lover, loyal, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, married, Maurice Ravel, melodies, melody, memory, mental illness, mentally ill, mezzo-sorprano, Mozart, Music, muted, New Music, overweight, passages, Passion, passionate, performer, person, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Quartet, player, playing, poem, poet, Poetry, post, posting, presence, private, program, promote, promoter, question, Ravel, reader, reading, refurbished, rejection, Rhonda Rider, Robert Levin, Robert Schumann, Rose Mary Harbison, sad, sadness, Saturday, Schoenberg, Schumann, share, solo, soloist, Sonata, song, spread, standards, strings, subscriber, suicide, Sunday, tag, temperament, theme, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, United States, unrequited, unrequited love, unresolved, use, Viola, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, virtuoso, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwinds, Ya-Fei Chuang, year, young man, YouTube

Classical music: As Pride month comes to an end, let us proudly recall LGBTQ classical composers and musicians. Plus, you hear a concert of queer composers and performers

June 30, 2019
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

This past weekend, this whole past month, the Rainbow flags (below) have been flying openly and high.

We saw all sorts of major Pride parades for LGBTQ rights as well as the 50th anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City that eventually gave birth to a worldwide movement to ensure that queer people receive the human rights they deserve.

Since today is the last day of June, of Pride month, it seems fitting to recall the many LGBTQ composers and performers in classical music.

The gay rights movement has opened the closet doors not only of individual lives today but also of historical figures.

So here are several lists that may teach you something new about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer musicians.

Some of the calls seem iffy, unconvincing or overstated. Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin, for example, lived when homoerotic friendship did not necessarily mean a queer sexual identity. But one way or the other, historical proof and documentation can be hard to come by. And clearly there is much more to know about the past.

But take a look. At least you will see how scholars are undertaking new research and often undermining the heterosexual assumption that has wrapped so many historical and even contemporary figures in wrong or mistaken gender identity.

And if you find someone missing, please leave the name and appropriate information in the comment section.

Freedom, acceptance and respect are not zero-sum games in which one person or group can win only if another one loses. There is enough of each to go around. All can celebrate pride.

So enjoy the information, whether it is new or not, and the respect it should inspire for the central role of LGBTQ people in the arts both past and present.

Here is a pretty extensive and comprehensive list, in alphabetical order, from Wikipedia of LGBT composers, both living and dead. It includes Chester Biscardi (below) who did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Pauline Oliveros who did a residency at the UW-Madison several years ago. You don’t have to click on each name. Just hover the cursor arrow over the name and you will see a photo and biographical blurb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_composers

And here is a list, also in alphabetical order and also from Wikipedia, of LGBT musicians and performers, not all of them classical. It works by clicking on sub-categories that include nationality – though one wonders if musicians from extremely homophobic countries and cultures are included.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians

Here is a more selective list from The Advocate, an LGBTQ magazine, of 18 queer composers — including Corelli — who made history and you should know about:

https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/2/08/18-queer-composers-who-made-music-history?pg=full

And here is a similarly selective list from radio station WFMT in Chicago of 15 LGBT composers — including Handel and Lully — you should know about:

https://www.wfmt.com/2015/06/25/15-queer-composers-know/

And in the YouTube video at the bottom is a Pride concert — 1 hour and 43 minutes long — recently held in New York City at the Greene Space, and hosted and recorded by radio stations WQXR and WNYC.

It features music by queer composers and performances by queer artists. Metropolitan Opera star Anthony Roth Constanzo performs. Also playing are pianists Steven Blier and Sara Davis Buechner, who have performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, respectively. The New York Gay Men’s Chorus sings. The Ear found the concert timely and moving.

If you have questions, comments or additional names, please do leave word in the comment section.

Happy Pride!

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AlphabeticalOrder, #AnthonyRothCostanzo, #ArcangeloCorelli, #BaroqueMusic, #BenjaminBritten, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ChamberMusic, #ChesterBiscardi, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ContemporaryComposers, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrancisPoulenc, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #GayRights, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GianCarloMenotti, #GraduateStudent, #GraduateWork, #HumanRights, #Jean-BaptisteLully, #LeonardBernstein, #LGBTRights, #LivingComposers, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #NewComposers, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkGayMen'sChorus, #PaulineOliveros, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PrideFlag, #PrideMonth, #SamuelBarber, #SaraDavisBuechner, #SexualIdentity, #StevenBlier, #StonewallInn, #StonewallRiot, #StonewallUprising, #TheAdvocate, #TheGreeneSpace, #TheMet, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WQXRradio, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acceptance, alphabetical, anniversary, Anthony Roth Costanzo, arrow, Arts, assumption, audience, Baroque, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, biographical, birth, bisexual, blog, blurb, call, Camille Saint-Saëns, celebrate, central, Chamber music, Chester Biscardi, Chicago, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, click, closet, comments, composer, comprehensive, contemporary, Corelli, countries, country, culture, cultures, cursor, dead, documentation, door, Early music, Facebook, figure, flag, forward, freedom, friendship, game, gay, gay rights, gender, Gian-Carlo Menotti, graduate work, group, Handel, heterosexual, historical, History, homoerotic, homophobic, homosexual, Homosexuality, human rights, identity, iffy, individual, information, inn, Jean-Baptiste Lully, June, Leonard Bernstein, lesbian, LGBT, LGBT rights, LGBT rights in the United States, LGBTQ, like, link, list, living, living composers, Ludwig van Bethoven, Lully, Madison Symphony Orchestra, magazine, Mead Witter School of Music, member, Metropolitan Opera, mistaken, month, movement, Mozart, name, nationality, new, New York City, New York Gay Men's Chorus, opera, overstate, overstatement, parade, past, Pauline Oliveros, People, performer, person, photo, Pianist, Piano, Poulenc, present, pride, Pride flag, Pride month, proof, queer, questions, Radio, radio statio, reader, recall, research, residency, resident, respect, rights, riot, role, Samuel Barber, Sara Davis Buechner, scholar, scholarship, Schubert, selective, sexual, sexual identity, share, sing, Singing, solo, spread, star, Steven Blier, Stonewall, Stonewall Inn, Stonewall riots, straight, sub-category, subscriber, tag, Tchaikovsky, teach, The Advocate, the Met, timely, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, transgender, University of Wisconsin–Madison, uprising, vocal music, weekend, Wikipedia, WMFT, WNYC, word, worldwide, WQXR, WQXR-FM, wring, you, YouTube, zero sum

Classical music: Saturday at noon, Bizet’s “Carmen” airs in cinemas during “Live from The Met in HD” and on Wisconsin Public Radio. Saturday night, the Pro Arte Quartet performs a FREE concert of Haydn, Schumann and Shostakovich

February 1, 2019
6 Comments

FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like It IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

ALERT: This Saturday night, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet performs a FREE concert. The program offers the String Quartet in D Major, Op. 50, No. 6, “The Frog” by Franz Joseph Haydn; the String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat Major by Dmitri Shostakovich; and the String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3, by Robert Schumann. For more about the unusual history of the critically acclaimed Pro Arte Quartet, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-2/

By Jacob Stockinger

This Saturday, Feb. 2, the seventh production of this season’s “Metropolitan Opera Live in HD” series is Georges Bizet’s lusty, sultry and violent “Carmen,” one of the most popular operas ever composed.

Its successful world premiere was in Paris in 1875, which Bizet did not live to see. But Bizet’s masterpiece of the gypsy seductress who lives by her own rules has had an impact far beyond the opera house.

The opera’s beautiful melodies are as irresistible as the title character herself, a force of nature who has become a defining female cultural figure. (You can hear one of Carmen’s signature arias– “Love Is a Wild Bird” — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

“Carmen” was a scandal at its premiere but soon after became a triumphal success and has remained one of the most frequently staged operas in the world.

French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her acclaimed portrayal of opera’s ultimate temptress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances.

Opposite her is the impassioned tenor Roberto Alagna (below right, in a photo by Karen Almond for The Met) as her lover, Don José.

French native Louis Langrée (below, in a photo by Jennifer Taylor), who heads the Mostly Mozart Festival and is the artistic director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will conduct Sir Richard Eyre’s production, a Met favorite since its 2009 premiere.

The hi-definition broadcast of the live performance from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City starts at 11:55 a.m. and runs until 3:45 p.m. with two intermissions. (It will also air at noon on Wisconsin Public Radio.)

There will be encore HD showings next Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (“Carmen” is so popular that some cities will also host a second encore showing on Saturday, Feb. 9.)

The opera will be sung in French with supertitles in English, German, Spanish and Italian.

Tickets for Saturday broadcasts are $24 for adults, and $22 for seniors and children under 13. For encore showings, all tickets are $18.

The cinemas where the opera can be seen are two Marcus Cinemas: the Point Cinema on the west side of Madison (608 833-3980) and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.

Here is a link to the Marcus Theaters website for addresses and more information. You can also use them to purchase tickets:

https://www.movietickets.com/movies

Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s website where you can find the titles, dates, casts, production information and video clips of all Met productions this season:

https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/

Here is a link to a synopsis and cast list:

https://www.metopera.org/globalassets/season/in-cinemas/hd-cast-sheets/carmen_global.pdf?performanceNumber=15202

Here is a link to other information about the production of “Carmen,” including photos and audiovisual clips:

https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/carmen/

And here is a Wikipedia history of the broadcast series that gives you more information about how many cinemas it uses, the enormous size of the worldwide audience – now including Russia, China and Israel — and how much money it makes for The Met.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera_Live_in_HD

Posted in Classical music
Tags: "Scandal", #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CastList, #ChamberMusic, #CincinnatiOhio, #CincinnatiSymphonyOrchetsra, #ClémentineMargaine, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DmitriShostakovich, #EnglishLanguage, #ForceofNature, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FrenchLanguage, #Frenchsinger, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanLanguage, #Hi-Definition, #HomeWebsite, #ItalianLanguage, #LeadRole, #LiveFromtheMetinHD, #LouisLangree, #MarcusTheaters, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MillsHall, #MostlyMozartFestival, #MovieTheater, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #OperaHouse, #PalaceCinema, #ParisFrance, #PointCinema, #ProArteQuartet, #RichardEyre, #RobertoAlagna, #RobertSchumann, #SatelliteBroadcast, #SeniorCitizen, #SpanishLanguage, #StringQuartet, #SunPrairie, #TenorSinger, #TheMet, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VideoClips, #Wikipediaentry, #World-wide, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, acclaimed, adult, air, aria, Arts, audience, audiovisual, blog, Broadcast, Carmen, Cello, Chamber music, character, children, China, choral music, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, cinema, cities, city, Classical music, Clémentine Margaine, compose, composer, Concert, conductor, critically, cultural, culture, date, debut, Dmitri Shostakovich, drama, encore, English, event, favorite, female, figure, force, forward, France, free, French, Georges Bizet, German, gypsy, Haydn, hi def, History, impact, impassioned, information, Israel, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, lead role, like, link, live, Live From The Met in HD, Louis Langrée, lover, lusty, Madison, Marcus Theaters, masterpiece, melodies, melody, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, Mezzo-soprano, Mills Hall, money, Mostly Mozart Festival, music critic, nature, notes, opera, Orchestra, Palace Cinema, Paris, Passion, performer, Point Cinema, popular, portrayal, post, posting, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, production, remarkable, review, Richard Eyre, Robert Schumann, Roberto Alagna, rules, Russia, satellite broadcast, Saturday, Season, seduction, seductress, senior, series, signature, sing, singer, Spanish, stage, String quartet, sultry, Sun Prairie, supertitles, surtitles, symphony, synopsis, tag, tenor, the Met, theater, ticket, title, triumph, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, violence, violent, Violin, vocal music, Website, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, world, world premiere, worldwide, YouTube

Classical music: Prize-winning composer John Harbison has turned 80. In February, Madison will see many celebrations of his birthday, starting this Friday night with the Imani Winds

January 30, 2019
Leave a Comment

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

This Friday night, Feb. 1, a month-long celebration in Madison of the 80th birthday of critically acclaimed and prize-winning composer John Harbison (below) gets underway.

The festivities start with a concert by the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds (below), which will perform this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. – with a pre-concert lecture at 6 p.m. — in Shannon Hall at the Wisconsin Union Theater. The program includes Harbison’s popular Wind Quintet.

Here is a link with more information about the group, the program and tickets: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/imani-winds/

Among America’s most distinguished artistic figures, Harbison is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, among them a MacArthur ”genius grant’ and a Pulitzer Prize. His work encompasses all genres, from chamber music to opera, sacred to secular. (You can hear Harbison discuss his approach to composing in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

He has composed for most of America’s premiere musical institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera, the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York; and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

Institute Professor at MIT, Harbison serves as composer, conductor, performer, teacher and scholar. He divides his time between Cambridge, Mass., and Token Creek, Wis., where he co-founded and co-directs a summer chamber music festival with his violinist wife Rose Mary Harbison.

Other local birthday events include a performance by the Madison Symphony Orchestra; several chamber music and choral concerts at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, including one by the Mosaic Chamber Players; an exhibition of books and manuscripts at the Mills Music Library at UW-Madison’s Memorial Library.

There are also several concerts, including the world premiere of a new Sonata for Viola, and a composer residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music; and the world premiere of a new motet by the Madison Choral Project.

Harbison will also be featured in radio interviews and broadcast retrospectives by both Wisconsin Public Radio and WORT community radio.

National and international celebrations include other world premieres of commissions, many new recordings and the publication of Harbison’s autobiographical book about Johann Sebastian Bach, “What Do We Make of Bach?”

For more details about the many local celebrations, you can go to the following two links. Schedules, programs and updates – events are subject to change — will be posted at www.tokencreekfestival.org and www.johnharbison.com.

To receive “Harbison Occasions,” an intermittent e-newsletter, write to arsnova.artsmanagement@gmail.com

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ArtisticWork, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #CambridgeMassachusetts, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra, #ChoralMusic, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #GeniusGrant, #GrammyAward, #GrammyNominations, #HomeWebsite, #husband-and-wife, #ImaniWinds, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #LincolnCenter, #LivingComposer, #LosAngeles, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #MacArthurFellow, #MacArthurFoundation, #MadisonChoralProject, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialLibrary, #MetropolitanOpera, #MillsMusicLibrary, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #OperaMusic, #PopularMusic, #Prize-Winning, #PulitzerPrize, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SacredMusic, #SantaFe, #SantaFeChamberMusicFestival, #SeattleSymphony, #SecularMusic, #ShannonHall, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheMet, #TokenCreek, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaSonata, #WindQuintet, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WorldPremiere, #WORT-FM89.9, 80, acclaimed, America, artistic, Arts, audience, autobiographical, autobiography, Bach, Baroque, birthday, blog, Book, books, Boston, Boston Symphony, Broadcast, Cambridge Massachusetts, celebration, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Choir, choral, choral music, Classical music, commission, community, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, conductor, Early music, email, Facebook, festival, figure, First Unitarian Society of Madison, forward, Friday, genius grant, genre, Grammy, group, Imani Winds, information, international, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John Harbison, like, LIncoln Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, link, Living composer, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, MacArthur Fellow, MacArthur Foundation, Madison, Madison Choral Project, Madison Symphony Orchestra, manuscripts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Library, Metropolitan Opera, Mills Music Library, MIT, month, Mosaic Chamber Players, motet, Music, music critic, national, new, New Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, newsletter, NPR, opera, Orchestra, performer, popular, post, posting, professor, program, Pulitzer Prize, Radio, recording, residency, retrospective, Rose Mary Harbison, sacred, sacred music, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, schedule, scholar, Seattle Symphony, secular, secular music, Shannon Hall, share, Sonata, summer, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, Teacher, the Met, ticket, Token Creek, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW-Madison, Viola, viola sonata, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Website, wife, Wind quintet, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, world premiere, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube

Classical music: A FREE concert of Polish piano music is on this Sunday afternoon at the UW-Madison

October 20, 2018
1 Comment

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

On this Sunday afternoon, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m., University of Oklahoma Professor Igor Lipinski (below) will perform a solo piano recital with commentary at Mills Concert Hall of UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Mills Hall is located at 455 North Park Street in the George Mosse Humanities Building.

At this FREE CONCERT, Lipinski will perform music by 19th through 21st century Polish composers: Fryderyk (Frederic) Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, Grazyna Bacewicz and Pawel Mykietyn. (Editor’s note: Sorry, no titles of specific works are listed.)

Since classical music from Poland has been rarely performed in concert halls in Madison, this recital will be a unique occasion to experience Poland’s musical heritage and diversity.

This concert also commemorates the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence at the conclusion of World War I, after 123 years of its partition and disappearance from the map of Europe.

Please join our local Polish community in celebrating this joyous occasion through appreciation of beautiful and captivating music from some of the Poland’s most important composers.

This event is organized by the Polish Student Association of UW-Madison and Mad-Polka Productions, with cooperation and financial support provided by Lapinski Fund (UW-Madison German, Nordic and Slavic Departments) and the Polish Heritage Club of Madison as well as the Sounds & Notes Foundation from Chicago.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER:

Prof. Igor Lipinski is native to Poland and currently teaching at the University of Oklahoma. At the age of 12, he won a Grand Prize at the Paderewski Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Poland.

He is a musician, piano teacher, performer and also a magician, sometimes surprisingly combining all of his interests during his performances.

He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from Northwestern University and since then performed over 100 concerts, both solo and with orchestras, all over the U.S.

This will be his debut in Madison.

For more information, go to: www.igorlipinski.com

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS:

Fryderyk (Frederic) Chopin (1810-1849, below): He was born in Poland, but also composed and performed in Germany, Vienna and France. Probably the most prominent Polish composer as well as pianist and performer. Much of Chopin’s inspiration came from Polish village music from the Mazovia region. Chopin composed 57 mazurkas – the mazurka being one of his most beloved type of compositions. He also composed numerous polonaises, concertos, nocturnes and sonatas. (You can hear famous Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein perform Chopin’s famously nationalistic “Heroic” Polonaise in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937, below): Part of “Young Poland” group of composers at the beginning of 20th century, Szymanowski composed operas, ballets, sonatas, concertos, cycle of songs, string quartets. Many of his compositions were also inspired by Polish folk music, including the famous ballet “Harnasie” based on the culture of Polish highlanders which he experienced while living in Zakopane.

Ignaz Jan Paderewski (1860-1941, below) was a remarkable figure in Poland’s turn-of-the-century history. He was a pianist, composer, statesman, politician, philanthropist, actor, businessman, patron of the arts and architecture, wine grower and humanitarian. As a pianist, he was praised for his interpretations of music of Chopin, Liszt, Bach and Beethoven. He successfully toured western Europe before eventually setting off for the USA. Starting with his first 1891 tour he crossed U.S. about 30 times in his 50-year career.

He was a very popular, charismatic and somewhat extravagant figure, which eventually resulted in “Paddymania” phenomenon. He was largely influenced by Chopin in his composition of sonatas, concertos, polonaises, Polish dances, symphonies, mazurkas, krakowiaks, minuets and even one opera. He also relentlessly supported and lobbied for Poland ‘s independence as World War I unraveled. He influenced U.S. politicians and played a crucial diplomatic role in Poland regaining its independence in 1911.

Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969, below): Violinist, pianist, teacher, writer and composer, she was one of the few female classical music composers at the time in Poland and in the world. Thanks to a generous grant from Ignaz Jan Paderewski, she was able to study music in Paris. She composed numerous concertos, string quartets, sonatas, symphonies.

Pawel Mykietyn (1971-, below in a photo by Oliva Soto): Composer, clarinetist, member of Nonstrom Ensemble. In 1995, he won a first prize in the young composers category during the UNESCO composers competition in Paris. Mykietyn’s composing style is at times aggressive and postmodern, incorporating sharp rhythms to create a vivid and provocative sound. He has composed concertos, sonatas, symphonies, preludes and string quartets.

Thanks to all the sponsors and community support, this concert is FREE and open to the public.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #19thCentury, #20thCentury, #21stCentury, #ArthurRubinstein, #ArtsPatron, #BalletMusic, #Beautifulmusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CommunitySupport, #ConcertHall, #CulturalDiversity, #DoctoralDegree, #FemaleComposer, #FinancialSupport, #FirstPrize, #FolkDance, #FolkMusic, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #GeorgeMosse, #GermanDepartment, #GrandPrize, #GrazynaBacewicz, #HeroicPolonaise, #IgnazJanPaderewski, #JohannSebastianBach, #KarolSzymanowski, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #Mad-PolkaProductions, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicalDiversity, #MusicalHeritage, #MusicalInterpretation, #NewMusic, #NonstromEnsemble, #NordicDepartment, #NorthwesternUniversity, #OpentothePublic, #OperaMusic, #PaderewskiPianoCompetition, #ParisFrance, #PawelMykietyn, #PianoCompetition, #PianoConcert, #PIanoRecital, #PIanoTeacher, #PolishComposers, #PolishDance, #PolishHeritageClub, #PolishIndependence, #PolishMusic, #PolishStudentAssociation, #PostmodernMusic, #PostmodernStyle, #SharpRhythm, #SlavicDepartment, #SongCycle, #SoundsandNotesFoundation, #StringQuartet, #Turn-of-the-Century, #UnitedNations, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofOklahoma, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #VillageMusic, #WesternEurope, #WomanComposer, #WorldWarI, #YoungComposer, #YoungPianists, #YoungPoland, #YouTubevideo, 19th century, 20th-century, 21st century, Actor, aggressive, anniversary, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Bacewicz, Bach, ballet, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, blog, businessman, captivating, career, chaismatic, Chamber music, charisma, Chicago, Chopin, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical music, community, composer, concert hall, concerto, diplomancy, diplomatic, disappearance, diversity, doctor, Europe, famous, female, figure, financial support, first prize, folk dance, Folk music, France, Franz Liszt, George Mosse, German department, Germany, grand prize, Grazyna Bacewicz, Harnasie, Heroic Polonaise, History, humanitarian, humanities, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, independence, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Karol Szymanowski, krakowiak, Liszt, Living composer, lobby, lobbyist, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mad-Polka Productions, Madison, magician, map, mazurka, Mead Witter School of Music, minuet, Mosse Humanities Building, Music, musical heritage, Musician, nationalistic, native, New Music, nocturne, Nordic department, Northwestern University, Nostrum Ensemble, occasion, open to the public, opera, Orchestra, Paderewski, Paderewski Piano Competition, Paris, partition, partriotism, patriotic, patron, Pawel Mykietyn, performer, phenomenon, philanthropist, Pianist, Piano, piano competition, piano teacher, Poland, Polish, Polish dance, Polish Heritage Club, Polish music, Polish Student Association, politician, polka, polonaise, popular, post, posting, postmodern, postmodernism, Prelude, professsor, provocative, recital, sharp rhythm, sing, Slavic Department, solo, Sonata, song, song cycle, Sound, Sounds and Notes Foundation, sponsor, statesman, String quartet, symphony, Teacher, tour, UNESCO, United Nations, United States, University of Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, USA, Vienna, violinist, vivid, Western Europe, Wine, winegrower, Wisconsin, woman, World War I, Writer, Young pianists, Young Poland, YouTube

Classical music: Today is the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. The murdered civil rights leader has become a character in opera, oratorios and musicals as well as popular songs

January 15, 2018
3 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Today is the holiday to celebrate the 89th birthday of Martin Luther King (below), the American civil rights pioneer who was born on this day in 1929, won the Nobel Peace Prize and was assassinated in 1968, when he was 39.

For more biographical information, here is the Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

There will be many celebrations, including the 38th annual one at noon in the State Capitol of Wisconsin in Madison, which will be broadcast live and recorded by Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and Wisconsin Public Television (WPT).

Music is always an important art of honoring King. There will be spirituals and gospel choirs.

But King himself has become a musical, and dramatic, figure.

Maybe you knew that.

The Ear didn’t.

So here are some links to sample from YouTube, which has many of King’s speeches and much of the music done to honor King over the years.

MLK is a character is the opera by Philip Glass called “Appomattox,” which deals with civil rights from The Civil War onwards and was commissioned and performed by the Washington National Opera.

Here is part of it in rehearsal:

And in performance:

And here is the one-hour video called “I Have a Dream”:

Do you know of any other musical works in which Martin Luther King Jr. actually figures and plays a role?

What piece of classical music would you choose to honor King?- Perhaps the poignant aria “Give Me Freedom” from Handel’s opera “Rinaldo” (performed in the YouTube video at the bottom) or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with its “Ode to Joy” finale about universal brotherhood.

Let us know in the COMMENT section.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: America, American, Appomattox, Arts, assassination, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, biographical, biography, birth, birthday, brotherhood, Capitol, celebration, Choir, choral music, civil rights, Classical music, drama, dream, figure, finale, Franz Schubert, freedom, George Frideric Handel, gospel, gospel choir, Handel, Holiday, honor, I Have a Dream, information, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Martin Luther King Jr, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mozart, Music, musical, Ninth Symphony, nobel, Nobel Peace Prize, Ode to Joy, opera, Orchestra, peace, performance, Philip Glass, Piano, pioneer, prize, rehearsal, Rinaldo, role, Sonata, speech, speeches, spiritual, spirituals, state, symphony, the Civil War, United States, universal, universe, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, vocal music, Washington National Opera, Wikipedia, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, WPR, WPT, YouTube

Classical music: Robert Mann, a founder and longtime first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, has died at 97

January 4, 2018
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

On New Year’s Day, Robert Mann, a founder and longtime first violinist of the famed Juilliard String Quartet died at 97.

He had played with the group from its beginning in 1946 until his retirement in 1997.

He was in every way a complete musician – an esteemed teacher who was also an acclaimed performer.

Mann and the quartet proved to be pivotal figures in the post-World War II rise of chamber music in America, performing both classic repertoire such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms as well as modern works such as Bartok and contemporary works or new music.

Here is a link to the obituary in The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/obituaries/robert-mann-dead-juilliard-string-quartet-violinist.html?_r=0

Here is a link to the quartet’s website:

https://www.juilliardstringquartet.org

And here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for the Juilliard String Quartet (below, in a 1996 photo by Ruby Washington for The New York Times, with Mann on the far left followed by second violinist Joel Smirnoff, cellist Joel Krosnick and violist Samuel Rhodes.)

The entry includes comments on its significance in live performance and recordings as well as repertoire and changes in its personnel over the years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juilliard_String_Quartet

It is hard to choose the right piece of music as a memorial.

But in the YouTube video below is a the gently gorgeous and exquisite slow movement of Claude Debussy’s only string quartet with Mann playing with other veteran members of the original quartet, including violist Samuel Rhodes, who has often come to Madison to play with the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet.

	Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a…

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: