loss | The Well-Tempered Ear

YOU MUST HEAR THIS: No piece captures the mixed emotions of Memorial Day better than Charles Ives’ “Decoration Day”

May 30, 2022
3 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

Today is Memorial Day, 2022.

It is the annual holiday to remember those who died in military service to the country. (Below are flags placed each year at the tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.)

If you want to honor survivors and current service members, that would be Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

All weekend long the radio has been playing music and the television has been showing war movies.

A lot of the music is familiar and repeated every year: Sousa marches and Morton Gould suites, elegies by Gustav Mahler, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein; requiems by Mozart and Fauré; a hymn by John Williams and other movie scores. This year has also seen the playlist include rediscovered works of homage by African-American composers such as William Grant Still.

But only this year did The Ear finally hear — thanks to Wisconsin Public Radio — the one piece that, to his mind, best captures Memorial Day with its blending of consonance and dissonance, its mix of major and major keys, of familiar or “found” music and original music.

It is called, simply, “Decoration Day” and it was composed in 1912 — but not published until 1989 — by the 20th-century iconoclastic and early modernist American composer Charles Ives (below, 1874-1954). It ended up as part of a work the composer called “A Symphony: New England Hollidays.”

See if you agree with The Ear.

Listen to the 8-minute performance by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Listen to the deep anguish and and sense of loss conveyed in the opening, when a solemn remembrance procession goes to a cemetery to plant flags and lay flowers and wreaths to “decorate” the graves of the fallen.

Listen carefully and you will hear a faint version of “Taps” and ringing church bells in the atmospheric music.

Then as so often happens in reality, life suddenly intrudes in the form of a celebration by a loud marching brass band as it leaves the cemetery for the celebratory marches, picnics and fireworks.

But at the end, the darkness briefly returns. The sense of loss lingers long after the actual death and long after the holiday has been celebrated.

There is no closure.

Just resignation.

Just living with loss.

Here is the background from Wikipedia about how the holiday started as Decoration Day after the Civil War and when it evolved into Memorial Day in 1970: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

And here is biographical background, with the actual sources and depictions of “Decoration Day” — just go down the page to compositions and click — about Charles Ives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ives

Did you know and like Charles Ives’ music?

Does “Decoration Day” impress or move you?

What music most embodies Memorial Day for you?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #African-AmericanComposer, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #BandMusic, #BlackAmericans, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassBand, #BrassMusic, #CharlesIves, #ChurchBells, #CivilWar, #DecorationDay, #FacebookPosting, #GabrielFaure, #GustavMahler, #JacobStockinger, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JohnWilliams, #LeonardBernstein, #MajorKey, #MemorialDay, #MilitaryService, #MinorKey, #MixedEmotions, #MortonGould, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewEngland, #OrchestralMusic, #OriginalWork, #SamuelBarber, #TheEar, #ThePresident, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UnitedStatesMarineBand, #USMarines, #VeteransDay, #WarMovies, #Wikipediaentry, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, 20th-century music, Aaron Copland, actual, African American, American, American Civil War, Ameriuca, anguish, annual, Arlington, Arlington National Cemetery, Arts, atmosphere, atmospheric, audience, background, band, band music, Barber, Bernstein, biographical, black, blog, bottom, brass band, brass music, celebration, celebratory, cemetery, Charles Ives, church, church bells, Civil War, Classical music, Classical Revolution, closure, compose, composer, Composition, Concert, consonance, Copland, darkness, dead, death, Decoration Day, deep, depiction, dissonance, early, Early music, Elegy, embody, emotion, evolution, evolve, Facebook, fallen, familiar, Fascebook, Faure, film, Fireworks, flag, flower, found, Gabriel Fauré, Gould, grave, Gustav Mahler, hear, Holiday, homage, honor, hymn, iconoclast, iconoclastic, impress, information, intrude, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, life, like, linger, listen, living, loss, loud, Mahler, major key, march, Marines, mark, Memorial Day, military, minor key, minute, mixed, modern, modernist, morph, Morton Gould, move, Movies, Mozart, nation, national, National Public Radio, New England, NPR, opening, orchestral, original, performance, picnic, piece, plant, playlist, post, posting, President, procession, psalm, publish, Radio, reality, rediscover, remembrance, repeat, Samuel Barber, score, sense, service, show, solemn, soundtrack, source, sources, Sousa, Still, suddenly, Suite, symphony, Taps, Television, thanks, The Ear, TV, U.S., United State Marine Band, United States, veterans, Veterans Day, video, war, war movies, weekend, Wikipedia, William Grant Still, Williams, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, wreaty, year, you, YouTube

Going live! Here are some links to newly announced summer concerts and 2021-22 seasons

June 15, 2021
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Get out your datebooks.

Now that the pandemic is fast abating, at least locally, music groups and music presenters in the Madison area have been announcing a return to live music and their new seasons and summer events in a relentless way.

The Ear had been out of commission since mid-May until this week. But in any case, The Ear was overwhelmed and just couldn’t keep up with a separate post for each one.

Still, he thought it might be helpful to be able to check the dates, performers, programs, tickets and other information in one place.

Remember that the Madison Early Music Festival is no more. It has been absorbed into the regular music curriculum at the UW.

Please know that many groups – including, but not limited to, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music (below is the UW Symphony Orchestra — masked, socially distanced and virtually streamed — during the pandemic), University Opera, Edgewood College, Just Bach, Grace Presents, the Salon Piano Series, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Bach Around the Clock, the Festival Choir of Madison, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and the Madison Bach Musicians – have not yet released details of their new seasons.

But most of their websites say that an announcement of their new season is coming soon.

There are also some trends you may notice.

Many of the groups are raising prices and persistently seek donations as well as subscribers, no doubt to help make up for the loss of revenue during the pandemic.

The Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra have reduced the number of concerts or start later.

Some have simply rescheduled events, like the Wisconsin Union Theater closing its season with soprano Renée Fleming. And the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new season is largely the same one they were planning to have to celebrate the Beethoven Year in 2020-21.

The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Middleton Community Orchestra and the Willy Street Chamber Players all have pop-up concerts and scheduled outdoor concerts in parks. Some have also scheduled individual mini-concerts or personal sessions.

If you look at programs, you will see an emphasis on Black composers and performers by almost all groups. (The Madison Symphony Orchestra has scheduled “Lyric for Strings” by George Walker, below. You can hear it performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

What is most disappointing is that no group seems to have announced a special concert or event to pay homage to the public ordeal, health care workers and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ear keeps thinking a performance of a suitable requiem (by perhaps Mozart, Faure, Brahms, Verdi or Britten) or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would have been an appropriate way to start the in-person season and, at the same time, acknowledge the more than 7,000 deaths in Wisconsin and almost 600,000 deaths in the U.S. and almost 4 million worldwide as of now. Maybe even Barber’s overplayed Adagio for Strings would suffice.

Finally, very few groups seem to be offering online virtual concert attendance as a possibility for those listeners who found that they actually enjoyed at least some the music in their own homes and at their own times.

IN ANY CASE, HERE IS WHAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE OR IS STILL ON TAP. CHECK IT OUT!

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in free live and for-pay recorded concerts: https://bachdancing.org

Middleton Community Orchestra’s summer concerts at Fireman’s Park (below) in Middleton: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org

Madison Bach Musicians summer workshops (below): https://madisonbachmusicians.org/2021-summer-chamber-music-workshop/

Concerts on the Square with limited paid admission at Breese Stevens Field (below): https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/concerts-on-the-square

Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/madison-symphony-orchestra-concerts/

Madison Opera and Opera in the Park (below): https://www.madisonopera.org/oitp21/; and https://www.madisonopera.org/21-22/

Wisconsin Union Theater: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/concert-series/

Willy Street Chamber Players (below) at Orton Park: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2021-summer-concert-series.html

If you know of more entries or have observations to make about these, please leave word and, when possible, a link in the comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #African-AmericanComposer, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BeethovenYear, #BenjaminBritten, #BlackComposer, #Blackcomposers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChristianChurch, #CollageNewMusic, #ConcertsontheSquare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #EdgewoodChamberOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FestivalChoirofMadison, #FiremansPark, #GabrieFaure, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GustavoDudamel, #HealthCare, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LiveMusic, #LosAngeles, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NinthSymphony, #OperaInThePark, #OrtonPark, #RecordedMusic, #RenéeFleming, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SamuelBarber, #ShannonHall, #SocialDistance, #SopranoSinger, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TakePlace, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, abate, absorb, acknowledge, Adagio for Strings, admission, African American, America, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Barber, Baroque, BDDS, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Benjamin Britten, black, black composer, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, Breese Stevens Field, Britten, celebrate, Chamber music, choral music, Christia, church, Classical music, comment, commission, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerts on the Square, coronavirus, COS, curriculum, death, deaths, details, donation, Dudamel, Early music, Edgewood College, enjoy, entry, Facebook, Facebook page, Facebook post, fast, Faure, Festival Choir of Madison, Firemans Park, for-pay, forward, free, funding, Gabriel Fauré, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, group, Gustavo Dudamel, health care, homage, Home, indoors, information, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Just Bach, later, like, limited, link, listener, live music, live-stream, local, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, loss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mask, MCO, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Music education, new, New Music, Ninth Symphony, notice, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, ordeal, Orton Park, outdoors, overplay, Overture Center, overwhelm, overwhelming, paid, pandemic, performers, persistent, personal, Pianist, Piano, pop-up, presenter, price, program, public, recorded music, Renée Fleming, Requiem, revenue, Salon Piano Series, Samuel Barber, schedule, Season, seating, seek, separate, Shannon Hall, share, singer, Singing, social distance, Sonata, soprano, start, stream, string music, String quartet, strings, subscriber, suffice, summer, symphony, tag, take place, tap, The Ear, ticket, tickets, times, trend, U.S., United State, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, Verdi, victim, Violin, vocal music, Website, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, workers, workshop, YouTube

Classical music: What composer or piece of music would you like to hear once the coronavirus is contained and concert halls open again?

August 15, 2020
3 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The news can be confusing and even contradictory about some specifics, but the general direction of reports and statistics about the coronavirus pandemic and deaths from COVID-19 is clear.

It is going to be a long haul until we safely get to go hear live music in large crowds again, just as The Ear talked about earlier this week. (Below is a photo of conductor John DeMain and the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Overture Hall.)

Here is a link to that post: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/classical-music-its-clear-to-the-ear-it-will-be-at-least-another-full-year-before-music-lovers-in-the-u-s-can-safely-attend-live-concerts-what-do-you-think/

When performers finally get to play, and the concert halls finally get to open, and audiences finally get to listen in person, here is what The Ear wants to know:

What composer would you like hear?

Maybe Beethoven (below) because so much of the Beethoven Year – marking the composer’s 250th birthday this coming December – has been canceled or postponed?

Maybe Johann Sebastian Bach (below) because he just seems so basic, varied and universal?

And what specific piece of music would you like to hear?

Perhaps Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony “Choral” with its “Ode to Joy”? Or maybe the “Eroica” Symphony? Or one of the string quartets?

Perhaps the “St. Mathew Passion” or the Mass in B Minor? Maybe one or more of the cantatas?

Should the music pay homage to the suffering, loss and death – perhaps with Mozart’s “Requiem”? Or Brahms’ “A German Requiem”? Or Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony?

Or should the music be upbeat and joyous, like Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture” (below in the YouTube video)? Or some glittering and whirling waltzes by the Strauss family?

Is there an opera that seems especially relevant?

Would you prefer instrumental, choral or vocal music?

And what period, era or style would you prefer?

It will be great to be reacquainted with old and familiar friends. But it would also seem an ideal time to commission and perform new music.

Leave your suggestions in the Comment section with, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance to help us decide.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AGermanRequiem, #AntoninDvorak, #BaroqueMusic, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarnivalOverture, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralSymphony, #Classicalera, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertHall, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GustavMahler, #InPerson, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MassinBMinor, #ModernMusic, #NewMusic, #NewsReports, #NinthSymphony, #OdetoJoy, #OperaMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PublicHealth, #ResurrectionSymphony, #RomanticMusic, #St.MatthewPassion, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, A German Requiem, A German Requiem (Brahms), anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, audience, Bach, Baroque, basic, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, birthday, blog, Brahms, cancel, canceled, Carnival Overture, Chamber music, choral, choral music, cinfusing, Classical era, clear, comment, commission, commissioned music, composer, concert hall, conductor, contain, contained, contemporary, contradictory, coronavirus, covid, crowd, death, December, direction, Dvorak, Early music, era, Eroica Symphony, Facebook, familiar, forward, friend, fundamental, gliterring, Gustav Mahler, hear, ideal, in person, instrumental music, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, joyous, like, link, listen, live music, long haul, loss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mahler, Mass in B Minor, modern, Mozart, new, New Music, Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, old, open, opera, Orchestra, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, Overture Hall, pandemic, performers, period, piece, post, posting, postpone, postponed, prefer, Public health, reacquainted, relevant, reports, Requiem, Resurrection, Resurrection Symphony, Romantic, safely, safety, section, share, specific, specifics, St Matthew Passion, statistics, Strauss, String quartet, style, suggestion, syffering, symphony, tag, The Ear, time, universal, upbeat, varied, vocal, vocal music, week, whirling, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: The prize-winning critic Alex Ross grieves to Brahms. What composer and piece would you choose to mourn the tragedies of the past week?

May 30, 2020
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

This past week feels like a week that deserves mass grieving.

Of course, there was the life-changing, historic landmark of surpassing, in only a few months, more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

There were the spikes in new COVID-19 cases and deaths following the opening up from lockdowns and the mass gatherings over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, such as the party at the Lake of the Ozarks (below) in Missouri.

Then there was the tragic, racist death — an alleged murder — of George Floyd by the police and the ensuing rioting, violence and additional death in Minneapolis as well as the seven shootings among protesters in Louisville.

And depending of your political point of view, there were the incidents of White House threats against social media, especially Twitter, for simply telling the truth or at least directing viewers to it.

So what can one say about these sad events and sad times with music?

Well, not too long ago Alex Ross (below), the prize-winning and internationally respected music critic for The New Yorker magazine, wrote an engaging and moving essay about why he finds Brahms to be the perfect composer for grieving and mourning.

He mentions other composers as possibilities, including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

But Ross still finds Brahms more suited for several reasons. He even cites a favorite performance of a Brahms short, late Intermezzo by the Romanian pianist Radu Lupu. (You can hear that performance in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here is a link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/grieving-with-brahms

What composers – and what pieces or performances – do you find best for grieving? For marking loss?

Read the essay, listen to the music.

Then let us know in the comment section what music – perhaps Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings? – that you would want to listen to during sad occasions.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #AlexRoss, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ClassicalRecording, #COVID-19, #DonaldJ.Trump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LakeoftheOzarks, #LouisvilleKentucky, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MassGathering, #MemorialDay, #MinneapolisMinnesota, #MusicCritic, #NewYorkCity, #OpeningUp, #PianoMusic, #PoliceOfficers, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #PresidentTrump, #Prize-Winning, #PublicHealth, #RaduLupu, #SamuelBarber, #SocialMedia, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkerMagazine, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #WhiteHouse, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, Adagio for Strings, Alex Ross, alleged, American, Arts, audience, Bach, Barber, Beethoven, blog, Brahms, Chamber music, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, coronavirus, critic, death, engaging, essay, event, Facebook, favorite, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, gathering, grief, grieve, grieving, Haydn, historic landmark, History, Holiday, intermezzo, internationally, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, lake, Lake of the Ozarks, landmark, late, life-changing, like, link, listen, lockdown, loss, Louisville, Ludwig van Beethoven, magazine, mass, mass gathering, Memorial Day, Minneapolis, mourning, moving, Mozart, murder, Music, music critic, New York City, New Yorker, occasion, opening up, Orchestra, Ozark, pandemic, party, past, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piano music, police, post, posting, President, protester, Public health, racist, Radu Lupu, reason, recording, respect, riot, sad, sadness, Samuel Barber, Schubert, share, shooting, shootings, simple, simply, social media, spike, string, strings, surpass, tag, tell, The Ear, The White House, threat, tragedy, Tragic, Trump, truth, Twitter, U.S., United States, violence, Website, week, weekend, White House, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: On this Memorial Day, The Ear honors not only soldiers but also civilians, COVID-19 victims and all those responders and workers who serve the public

May 25, 2020
4 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Today is Memorial Day 2020.

It is of course a largely military holiday. Most of the planned public events will be to honor those who died in service to their country. That usually means fallen soldiers and deceased veterans.

It also means that military cemeteries – like Arlington National Cemetery, below — will be decorated with American flags.

But The Ear doesn’t think we should forget that there are many ways to serve your country and protect the public, many kinds war and self-sacrifice.

Let’s not forget civilians, especially since worldwide more than twice the numbers of civilians died in World War II than did members of the armed forces. Lives are taken as well as given.

A larger definition of “national service” also seems especially timely since this weekend the U.S. is likely to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic. They include many first responders and frontline workers (below) as well as grocery store workers and delivery drivers. Even “small” occupations have big heroes. There is no reason not to be more inclusive.

There are traditional kinds of music to honor the dead. They include requiems and elegies, military marches and funeral marches. And in the comment section you should feel free to suggest whatever music you think would be appropriate.

But The Ear found a piece he thinks is both unusual and ideal.

It is called “Old and Lost Rivers” by the contemporary American composer Tobias Picker (below). It is a beautiful, moving and contemplative piece, based on an actual place in Texas, that you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.

But you should know this about the work’s title.

With rivers, “lost” doesn’t mean forgotten or misplaced.

One dictionary defines it as “a surface stream that flows into an underground passageway” – and eventually often becomes part of a larger body of water such as a lake or the ocean.

It can also mean rivers that appear during heavy rain and then disappear when they evaporate during a drought.

Somehow, those images serve as fitting metaphors for our losses and that music seems a very appropriate way to honor those who sacrifice themselves and disappear in service to others.

The Ear hopes you agree.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #ArmedForces, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ContemporaryComposer, #COVID-19, #DecorationDay, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstResponder, #FrontlineWorker, #GroceryStore, #JacobStockinger, #MemorialDay, #NationalService, #NewMusic, #OldandLostRivers, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TobiasPicker, #TraditionalMusic, #WorldWar2, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, America, American, appropriate, Arlington National Cemetery, armed forces, Arts, audience, beautiful, big, blog, cemetery, civilian, composer, contemplative, contemporary, country, covid, dead, death, deceased, decorate, Decoration Day, delivery, die, disappear, driver, drought, evaporate, event, Facebook, fallen, first responder, first responders, fitting, flag, forgotten, forward, frontline, funeral march, give, grocery store, hear, hero, Holiday, honor, ideal, image, inclusive, Jacob Stockinger, lake, like, link, lives, loss, losses, lost, Madison, march, Memorial Day, metaphor, miliary, misplaced, moving, Music, national service, New Music, occupation, ocean, old, Old and Lost Rivers, Orchestra, pandemic, passageway, peformer, piece, planned, post, posting, protect, public, rain, Requiem, river, sacrifice, self-sacrifice, serve, service, share, small, soldier, suggest, surface, surpass, symphony, tag, take, Texas, The Ear, Tobias Picker, traditional, U.S., underground, United States, unusual, Veteran, war, way, weekend, worker, World War 2, World War II, YouTube

Classical music: This weekend, prize-winning pianist Joyce Yang solos in Prokofiev’s most popular piano concerto with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Works by Schumann and Aaron Jay Kernis round out the program

November 4, 2019
1 Comment

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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

This weekend, prize-winning pianist Joyce Yang (below) will return to Madison to join the Madison Symphony Orchestra in her local concerto debut and perform Prokofiev’s brilliant, bravura and tuneful Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26.

The concert opens with Kernis’ Newly Drawn Sky and concludes with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61.

Performances will be held in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on Friday night, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m.; on Saturday night, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday afternoon, Nov. 10, at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $19-$95 with discounts available. See below for details.

Speaking about the program, music director and maestro John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) says: “November brings us another Madison Symphony debut, that of the amazing pianist Joyce Yang. She will perform the Prokofiev’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the great and most popular concertos, and certainly a favorite of mine.”

Adds DeMain: “I can’t wait for audiences to experience the hauntingly beautiful Newly Drawn Sky by Aaron Jay Kernis. And of the four symphonies by Robert Schumann, many regard his second as the greatest of them all.”

According to Aaron Jay Kernis (below), who has won the Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award and who teaches at the Yale School of Music, “Newly Drawn Sky” is “a lyrical, reflective piece for orchestra, a reminiscence of the first summer night by the ocean spent with my young twins, and of the summer sky at dusk.”

The chromatically shifting three-note chords that begin in the strings and transfer to the winds are a central element in the creation of this work. The works last approximately 17 minutes and was premiered at the Ravinia Festival in 2005 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

To read more about Kernis and his successful career, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Jay_Kernis

Sergei Prokofiev (below) himself played the solo part at the world premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 3 on Dec. 16, 1921 in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Although he started work on the composition as early as 1913, the majority of it was completed in 1921 and the piece didn’t gain popularity until 1922 when it was confirmed in the 20th-century canon. (You can hear Prokofiev play the first movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.) The Ear thinks that the work has much Russian Romanticism in it and if you like Rachmaninoff, you will probably like this Prokofiev.

Originally a composer for keyboard, Robert Schumann (below with wife Clara) began writing symphonies around the time of his marriage to his virtuoso pianist and composer wife Clara Wieck, who encouraged his compositional expansions.

The uplifting Symphony in C major was created while the composer was troubled with depression and hearing loss; a Beethovenian triumph over pessimism and despair, the creation of this symphony served as a healing process for Schumann.

ABOUT JOYCE YANG

Blessed with “poetic and sensitive pianism” (The Washington Post) and a “wondrous sense of color” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Grammy-nominated pianist Joyce Yang, who years ago played a recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater, captivates audiences with her virtuosity, lyricism and interpretive sensitivity.

Yang first came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest contestant at 19 years old, she took home two additional awards: Best Performance of Chamber Music (with the Takacs Quartet), and Best Performance of a New Work.

In 2006 Yang (below) made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut alongside conductor Lorin Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center along with the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea.

CONCERT, TICKET AND EVENT DETAILS

The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert.

One hour before each performance, Wisconsin Public Radio host Anders Yocom (below, in a photo by James Gill )will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticket holders.

The MSO recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the Prelude Discussion.

Program notes for the concerts are available online: http://bit.ly/msonov19programnotes.

Single Tickets are $19-$95 each and are on sale now at: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/joyce-yang-plays-prokofiev/through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
Flex-ticket booklets of 8-10 vouchers for 2019-20 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Subscriptions for the 2019–2020 season are available now. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/19-20

Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.

Major funding for this concert is provided by Madison Magazine, Stephen D. Morton, National Guardian Life Insurance Company, Scott and Janet Cabot, and Peggy and Tom Pyle. Additional funding provided by Foley & Lardner LLP, Howard Kidd and Margaret Murphy, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #20thCentury, #AaronJayKernis, #AcademicFestivalOverture, #AndersYocom, #AsianComposer, #AveryFisher, #BestPerformance, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra, #ClaraSchumann, #ClaraWieck, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FoleyandLardner, #Fridaynight, #GrammyAward, #GrammyNominations, #HearingLoss, #husband-and-wife, #JohnDeMain, #JoyceYang, #KeyboardMusic, #LifeInsurance, #LincolnCenter, #LivingComposer, #LorinMaazel, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelodicMusic, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicDirector, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NationalGuardianLifeInsurance, #NewMusic, #NewWork, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PianoCompetition, #PianoConcerto, #Pre-concertLecture, #PreludeDiscussion, #Prize-Winning, #ProgramNotes, #PulitzerPrize, #RadioHost, #RaviniaFestival, #RobertSchumann, #RomanticMusic, #RussianRomanticism, #SaturdayNight, #SeniorCitizen, #SeoulSouthKorea, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SilverMedal, #SouthKorea, #SouthKorean, #Sovietcomposer, #SovietUnion, #StateOfWisconsin, #StephenD.Morton, #StringQuartet, #StringSection, #StudentRush, #SubscriptionTicket, #SummerNight, #Sundayafternoon, #TakacsQuartet, #TheEar, #TheWashingtonPost, #TomPyle, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WindSection, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WorldPremiere, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, Aaron Jay Kernis, afternoon, Anders Yocom, Arts, Asia, audience, Avery Fisher, Avery Fisher Hall, award, beautiful, Beethoven, Beethovenian, best performance, biography, blog, box office, bravura, brilliant, Canon, career, central, Chamber music, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, children, chord, chords, chromatic, Clara Schumann, Clara Wieck, Classical music, classicalmusic, color, composer, Composition, Concert, concerto, conclude, conductor, contemporary, contestant, Creation, debut, depressing, depression, despair, discount, discussion, donor, drawn, dusk, early, element, experience, Facebook, favorite, favorite composers, Foley and Lardner, forward, Friday, funding, funds, Grammy Award, group, haunting, healing, hearing, hearing loss, hometown, husband, interpretation, interpretive, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Joyce Yang, Keyboard, kids, Korean, lecture, life insurance, like, Lincoln, LIncoln Center, link, listening, living, Living composer, lobby, local, Lorin Maazel, loss, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, lyricism, Madison, Madison Magazine, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, majority, Marriage, Mead Witter School of Music, melodic, modern, MSO, Music, Music director, musical, National Endowment for the Arts, National Guardian Life Insurance, NEA, New Music, new work, New York City, New York Philharmonic, newly, night, note, ocean, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, Overture Hall, perform, performance, performer, pessimism, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, piece, poetic, popular, post, posting, pre-concert, premiere, prize, process, program notes, Prokofiev, Pulitzer Prize, Rachmainoff, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Radio, radio host, Ravinia, Ravinia Festival, read, recital, reflective, reminiscence, Robert Schumann, Romantic, Romanticism, rush, Russia, Russian, San Francisco, Saturday night, Schumann, seats, security, senior, sense, sensitive, Seoul, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, silver medal, sky, Soviet Union, speak, State of Wisconsin, Stephen D. Morton, string music, String quartet, strings, Student, subscription, summer, summer night, Sunday, support, symphonies, symphony, tag, Takacs Quartet, The Ear, The Washington Post, tickets, Tom Pyle, tour, transfer, triumph, trouble, tune, tuneful, twin, understanding, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, uplifting, USSR, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, video, virtuosity, virtuoso, voice, weekend, wife, Wikipedia, wind section, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, world premiere, WPR, Yale, Yale School of Music, Yale University, Yang, young, YouTube, YouTube video

Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra honors retired music critic John W. Barker with a special performance of Brahms and a season dedication

September 11, 2019
7 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

How does an individual musician or musical group pay tribute and say thank you to a critic?

By performing, of course.

And that is exactly what 30 members of the Middleton Community Orchestra did, playing under guest conductor Kyle Knox (below top), last Friday night for the veteran music critic John W. Barker (below bottom).

The orchestra performed for him at the downtown Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, near the Capitol Square, where the ailing Barker lives with his wife Margaret.

Because of space limitations, word of the special performance never went public. But the large basement room was packed with affectionate and respectful fans and friends.

The MCO members played the lyrical and sunny Serenade No. 1, Op. 11, of Johannes Brahms. (You can hear the opening movement of the Serenade by Brahms in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The orchestra also announced that it would dedicate its upcoming 10th anniversary season to Barker as a gesture of thanks for all he has done over the past nine years to promote the mostly amateur orchestra — which opens its new season on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

“I’ve known this piece most of my life,” said Barker, who soon turns 86 and who started reviewing in his teens. “It’s lots of fun.”

And so was the unusual honor.

“An orchestra paying tribute to a critic? It’s unprecedented,” Barker quipped, as both he and the audience laughed. Barker also quoted the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius who once said, “A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.”

After the 40-minute performance, Barker spoke briefly to the players and audience.

“The job of the critic,” he said, “is to stimulate performers to play up to their best standards and to give readers some background and context. Being critical doesn’t mean being negative, although at times I have made some negative comments. But you never have to be nasty. I guess I’ve succeeded,” he said looking around at the players and the public, both of whom generously applauded his remarks.

Barker’s list of personal accomplishments is impressive. He has written local music reviews for The Capital Times, Isthmus and this blog.

But he is a participant as well as a critic. He has sung in many choirs, including 47 years in the one at the local Greek Orthodox Church, and has performed with the Madison Opera. He directed Gilbert and Sullivan productions for the Madison Savoyards.

Barker is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which may help to explain his general taste for the traditional. He also is a well-known classical music critic, with a national reputation, who has written for 63 years for the American Record Guide. For many years, he hosted an early music radio show on Sunday mornings for WORT-FM 89.9.

He also worked with Opera Props, the support group for University Opera, and was a member of the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival. And he frequently gave pre-concert lectures in Madison. He has published two books on Wagner and written a definitive history of the Pro Arte Quartet.

But this time even the voluble Barker had to admit, “I am grateful and thankful. I am very moved, even floored. But I’m afraid I’m finally at a loss for words.”

You can leave your own words of tribute in the Comment section.

To see the full “Barker season” schedule for the Middleton Community Orchestra and to read many of Barker’s past reviews of the MCO, go to: http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org

Thank you, John, for all you have done to enrich the cultural and musical life of Madison!

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmateurMusicians, #AmericanRecordGuide, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofAdvisors, #CapitalLakesRetirement Community, #CapitolLakes, #CapitolSquare, #CapTimes, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CriticalAcclaimed, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinnishComposer, #Fridaynight, #GilbertandSullivan, #GreekOrthodoxChurch, #GuestArtist, #HomeWebsite, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JeanSibelius, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnW.Barker, #KyleKnox, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSavoyards, #MedievalHistory, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #NationalReputation, #OperaProps, #OrchestralMusic, #ProArteQuartet, #RichardWagner, #SpecialPerformance, #StringQuartet, #SundayMorning, #ThankYou, #TheCapitalTimes, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #WORT-FM89.9, accomplishment, admit, affectionate, ailing, amateur, American Record Guide, anniversary, applaud, audeience, audience, background, basement, blog, board, Board of Advisors, Book, Cap Times, Capitol Lakes, Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, Capitol Square, Chamber music, choirs, choral music, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, comments, composer, conductor, context, critic, cultural, culture, dedicate, downtown, Early music, earlymusic, emeritus professor, enrich, erect, Facebook, fan, festival Madison Early Music Festival, Finnish composer, forward, Friday, Friday night, friend, fun, generous, gesture, Gilbert and Sullivan, grateful, gratitude, Greek Orthodox Church, group, guest artist, History, home website, honor, host, impressive, individual, Isthmus, Jean Sibelius, job, Johannes Brahms, John W. Barker, Kyle Knox, laugh, lecture, life, like, limitation, link, list, local, loss, lyrical, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Savoyards, Medieval, member, MEMF, Middleton Community Orchestra, morning, moved, music critic, music review, musical, Musician, nasty, national, negative, Newspaper, night, opera, Opera Props, Orchestra, orchestral music, past, pay, perform, performer, personal, piece, play, player, post, posting, pre-concert, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, promote, published, quip, quote, Radio, remarks, reputation, respectful, Retirement, Richard Wagner, room, schedule, Season, Serenade, share, show, sing, singer, space, special, special performance, standards, statue, stimulate, String quartet, sun, Sunday, sunny, tag, taste, teens, thank you, thankful, thankfulness, The Capital Times, traditional, tribute, university, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, unprecedented, unusual, UW-Madison, Veteran, voluble, Wagner, Website, well-known, Wisconsin, words, WORT-FM 89.9, written, years

Classical music: What music would you choose to honor Notre Dame de Paris and the loss from the fire that engulfed the historic cathedral on Monday

April 16, 2019
22 Comments

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

You’ve seen the heart-rending photos of the raging flames, the collapsed spire and the billowing smoke.

We have yet to learn a lot of details about the interior of the historic cathedral Notre Dame de Paris (below in a photo by Agence France-Presse and Getty Images) and how it fared.

But surely music is a fine way to honor such a world treasure.

Like many of you, The Ear has been to Notre Dame in Paris, several times in fact, both inside and outside. I have seen it and heard it.

While we wait for more news of what survived and what didn’t, here is a moving YouTube video of people in the cathedral listening to an improvisation on the mighty organ that is joined by singers.

One wonders: Did the organ survive? Is it usable?

When will services resume?

When will music once again shake the monumental interior?

Please leave a comment about what music you would play to honor Notre Dame de Paris. It doesn’t have to be French or religious – just suitable to the occasion.

Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players open their new “Vignettes” season with concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

September 14, 2018
Leave a Comment

A CORRECTION: The Ear wants to apologize for and correct an error he made in yesterday’s blog post. The correct time and address for the all-Schubert concert by the Mosaic Chamber Players is on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) will begin their 2018-2019 season series “Vignettes” with concerts on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m.

The concerts will both be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.

Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors 62 and over; and $5 students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com or call (608) 230-4316 for more information for individual and season tickets.

Once again, the group will explore largely new or unknown composers and neglected music.

Each program of the 2018-19 series will focus on how composers create specific themes to tell stories, and represent emotions, places or characteristics to enhance the listening experience.

Central to the program is poetry and narration paired with music that will feature Boston-based guest soprano Mary Mackenzie (below). She has been described by The New York Times as “a soprano of extraordinary agility and concentration,” and the Boston Globe as “sensational.”

Mackenzie is a passionate performer of contemporary vocal music, and has appeared with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, Collage New Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and The Knights.

American composer Byron Adams (below) was commissioned by renowned American clarinetist Yehuda Weiner to set Nightingales, a poem by British Victorian poet Robert Bridges, as a memorial to his brother. The composer chose a quartet of soprano, clarinet, cello and piano to evoke the breathtaking beauty of the natural world that is overlaid with a sense of loss and longing.

By contrast, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon (below, in a photo by Candace DiCarlo) set four poems that have titles that reference roses by James Whitcomb Riley for the combination of flute, soprano and piano.

Bentley Roses was written as a surprise tribute for the retirement of her former music teacher, Judith Bentley. The settings are sunny and accessible, the music weaves around the words with swirling energy, coy interactions, and graceful interplay.

The yearning Vocalise by conductor, composer and pianist Andre Previn conveys emotion using the voice without words as a chamber instrument. The combination of soprano, cello and piano carries the shifting harmonies and sinuous melodic line through a series of subtle yet powerful transformations. (You can hear Previn’s beautiful “Vocalise,” with soprano Barbara Bonney and the the composer at the piano, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

A second piece by Previn (below) piece puts the cello and soprano in conversation with his setting of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison’s poem Stones.

American film composer and bassoonist Charles Fernandez (below) wrote Quatuor Parisienne (Parisian Quartet) for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. It consists of three movements: a tongue-in-cheek march; a gracefully flowing reflection: and a farcical musical conversation with a dash of merriment.

Budapest-based clarinetist and composer Endre Szervanszky (below) wrote his Quintet No. 1 in 1953. Audiences will hear some characteristics similar to the writing of Kodaly and Bartok. It is a pleasing four-movement work that shows his strong understanding of each of the instruments, demanding both melodic expressiveness and technical panache.

The program concludes with poetry by British writer Roald Dahl, known for his darkly humorous children’s stories. Composer Martin Butler (below, in a photo by Katie Vandyck) incorporated The Pig, The Tummy Beast, and The Crocodile into his piece Dirty Beasts for narrator, piano and woodwind quintet. Butler mirrors the acerbic wit of the text with clever effects, closing out the program with some unexpected twists and turns.

Guest performers are soprano Mary Mackenzie, pianist Joseph Ross (below top) and oboist Laura Medisky (below bottom).

They join Oakwood Chamber Players members Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szczys, bassoon; Anne Aley, horn; and Maggie Darby Townsend, cello.

This is the first of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players’ 2018-19 season series entitled Vignettes. Remaining concerts will take place on Nov. 24 and 25; Jan. 12 and 13; March 2 and 3; and May 18 and 19. For more information about the Oakwood Chamber Players and their new season, go to: https://www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.

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

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AndrePrevin, #BarbaraBonney, #BelaBartok, #BlogPost, #BostonGlobe, #BritishPoet, #BudapestHungary, #ByronAdams, #CampRandallStadium, #ChamberMusic, #ChameleonArtsEnsemble, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #CollageNewMusic, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #DaCapoChamberPlayers, #EndreServanszky, #FilmComposer, #FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist, #FranzSchubert, #FulcrumPointNewMusicProject, #JamesWhitcombRiley, #JenniferHigdon, #JesusChrist, #LivingComposer, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MartinButler, #MaryMackenzie, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MusicTeacher, #NaturalWorld, #NewMusic, #OakwoodCenterforArtsandEducation, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OakwoodVillage, #OakwoodVillageWest, #OperaMusic, #PianoQuintet, #PulitzerPrize, #RoaldDahl, #RobertBridges, #TheKnights, #TheNewYorkTImes, #ToniMorrison, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VictorianAge, #VictorianPoet, #WestTowneMall, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WoodwindQuintet, #YehudaWeiner, #YouTubevideo, #ZoltanKodaly, accessible, American, Andre Previn, Arts, audience, Barbara Bonney, Bartok, Bassoon, bassoonist, beast, beauty, blog, Boston, Boston Globe, British, Budapest, Byron Adams, Camp Randall Stadium, Cello, Chamber music, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, chapel, children, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical music, Collage New Music, composer, conductor, conversation, coy, crocodile, Da Capo Chamber Players, emotion, Endre Servanszky, energy, England, ensemble, experience, expression, expressive, film, film composer, First Congregational United Church of Christ, flute, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, harmony, Horn, Humor, Hungary, Jacob Stockinger, James Whitcomb Riley, Jennifer Higdon, Jesus Christ, Kodaly, listening, longing, loss, Lutheran, Lutheran religion, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Martin Butler, melodic, melody, Mosaic Chamber Players, movement, movie, music teacher, Musician, narrator, natural world, nature, New Music, Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, Oboe, opera, panache, Paris, Parisian, Passion, passionate, performer, Pianist, Piano, pig, poem, Poetry, post, professional, project, Pulitzer Prize, Quartet, quintet, reflection, Retirement, Roald Dahl, Robert Bridges, Schubert, singer, soprano, stories, story, Teacher, techique, technical, text, The Knights, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Victorian, Violin, vocal music, vocalise, West Towne Mall, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wit, woodwind, Writer, Yehuda Weiner, YouTube

Classical music: YOU MUST HEAR THIS: “Madrigal” for cello and piano by Enrique Granados

August 27, 2018
4 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

One of the great losses to classical music was the premature death of the Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867-1916, below).

Chances are that if you know the work of this composer, who died in the sinking of the Sussex during World War I, it is probably through his beautiful and lyrical piano works such as “Goyescas” and Spanish Dances,” many of which are frequently heard through transcriptions, especially for guitar.

But his great gift for lyricism found many outlets that remain unknown, including chamber music.

Here is one you should hear: the Madrigal for Cello and Piano (1915).

It was recently played on Wisconsin Public Radio and it reminds The Ear of the “Elegy” by Gabriel Faure.

Listen to it yourself in the YouTube video at the bottom and then leave word what you think of this work and of Granados in general.

Also let us know if there are other works of Granados that you recommend listening to, with a YouTube link if possible.

And if you like it, why not forward a link to a friend or share it on Facebook?

	Bill Lane on The new Apple Music Classical…
	welltemperedear on The new Apple Music Classical…
	welltemperedear on The new Apple Music Classical…
	Bill Lane on The new Apple Music Classical…
	Augustine on The new Apple Music Classical…

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: