The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Today is the first day of Spring. What piece of music best suits the season? Then take a quiz to see what composer and which spring music best suits you
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the Vernal Equinox – the first of day of Spring 2018.
It arrives at 11:15 a.m. CDT.
A lot of classical composers have written works inspired by Spring, which often appears in the title.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with almost two hours of Spring music – including works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Grieg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe3MUMdWKQ
But recently a close friend reminded The Ear that spring-like music doesn’t have to allude specifically to spring. And the friend said that the “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert fits the bill perfectly.
So the Request Line is open, and here, for The Ear’s good friend, is the “Trout” Quintet, with pianist Yuja Wang, in the YouTube video at the bottom. It does indeed seem ideally Spring-like with its freshness, liveliness and bubbliness.
What music do you think best celebrates the coming of Spring?
Leave the composer, the work’s title and, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance, in the COMMENT section.
Why do you like it?
Moreover, did you choose correctly?
Here is a fun quiz, from the famed radio station WQXR in New York City, that can help you determine which composer’s piece of music about spring best fits you and your personality:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/quiz-which-spring-themed-classical-music-piece-are-you/
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #EdvardGrieg, #FranzSchubert, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #NewYorkCity, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #TroutQuintet, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YujaWang, Arts, Bach, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, bubbly, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, double bass, Early music, equinox, Franz Schubert, fresh, fun, Grieg, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, link, lively, Madison, Mozart, Music, New York City, Orchestra, past, personality, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano, quintet, quiz, Radio, Sonata, Spring, station, Strauss, symphony, title, Trout Quintet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernal equinox, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Waltz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, WQXR, WQXR-FM, you, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: Spring arrives today. What is your favorite music celebrating spring?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Has March’s proverbial lion finally yielded to the lamb?
Here is Madison there is still some snow on the ground. But it should all be gone by the end of today, which, like yesterday, will reach into the 50s.
Just in time.
Today is the Vernal Equinox, bringing the first day of spring. It arrives at 5:29 a.m. this morning.
Spring has been an inspiration to many composers. So there is a lot of music to choose from when you want to celebrate season musically.
The Ear is fickle and his choice changes from year to year.
But lately, his favorite has been the “Spring” Sonata in F Major for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. (You can hear the opening of the famously tuneful and upbeat sonata, performed by violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Of course there are violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli; choral works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Joseph Haydn; chamber music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; orchestral music by Robert Schumann, Peter Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky; piano pieces by Felix Mendelssohn and Edvard Grieg; songs by Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms. And there is more, so much more.
Yesterday, Wisconsin Public Radio programmed a lot of spring music, and The Ear expects the same for today’s programming.
But you can be your own DJ if you want. Here is a list of almost two hours of spring-related music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe3MUMdWKQ
And here is a springtime puzzler, or quiz, about flowers in opera from NPR or National Public Radio:
Plus, there are plenty of other guides and anthologies to music for spring that you can find online.
So here is what The Ear wants to know: What is your favorite piece of music to greet spring with?
Leave words in the COMMENT section along with a link to a YouTube performance if possible.
And a Happy Spring to you!
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, Corelli, Early music, equinox, flowers, Franz Schubert, Grieg, Haydn, Itzhak Perlman, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, lamb, lion', Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Music, National Public Radio, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Perlman, Piano, quiz, Radio, snow, Sonata, Spring, Stravinsky, symphony, Tchaikovsky, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernal equinox, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: What is your favorite piece of music to greet Spring with? Plus, British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has died at 81
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SURVEY: This is the first day of Spring. The vernal equinox just arrived here in Madison, Wisconsin and the Midwest about a half-hour ago, on Saturday, March 19, at 11:30 p.m. CDT.
What is your favorite piece of music to greet the season with? Antonio Vivaldi‘s “Four Seasons”? Robert Schumann‘s Symphony No. 1 “Spring”? A miniature piano piece by Felix Mendelssohn or Edvard Grieg? A song by Franz Schubert? Leave word in the COMMENT section, with a link to a YouTube performance if that is possible.
Here is a link to a similar post from 2011:
The Ear especially loves the “Spring” Sonata for Violin and Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. Here is a link to a YouTube video with the first movement played by pianist Arthur Rubinstein and violinist Henryk Szeryng.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcWGVC4Nqc
By Jacob Stockinger
He was a contrarian who was widely accepted and valued.
He was an iconoclast who achieved the height of respectability when Queen Elizabeth II of England named him to an honorary knighthood.
And he was an eclectic composer, whose style could be charmingly simple, melodic and tonal, or knottily atonal, difficult and complex.
The British composer and conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (pronounced Davis, below) died this past week at his island home off the coast of Scotland. He was 81 and had been ill with leukemia. (You can hear his “An Orkney Wedding With Sunrise” in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The year is early yet, but it has not been a kind one to classical music. We have already lost the avant-garde French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, the German-Austrian conductor and early music pioneer Nikolaus Harnoncourt and now Davies.
Here are obituaries about Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with video and audio clips:
From BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35802564
From the Deceptive Cadence blog on NPR (National Public Radio):
From the New York Times:
From The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/14/sir-peter-maxwell-davies-obituary
And from Classical-music.com:
http://www.classical-music.com/news/sir-peter-maxwell-davies-dies-aged-81
Tags: art song, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, BBC, BBC News, Beethoven, British, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, composer, England, English, Fours Seasons, Grieg, Henryk Szerying, Jacob Stockinger, lieder, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mendelssohn, Midwest, Music, New York Times, NPR, Orchestra, Orkney, Peter Maxwell Davies, Piano, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II, royal family, Schubert, Scotland, Sonata, song, Spring, Spring sonata, sunrise, The Guardian, The New York Times, United Kingdom, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernal equinox, Violin, Vivaldi, Wisconsin, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Spring arrives today. Here is music to lift your spirits. What music do you like to greet spring?
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ALERT: All events, including worship, are canceled at Luther Memorial Church “until further notice,” and that includes the monthly free Just Bach concert scheduled for noon on next Wednesday, March 25. Organizers say they hope the church reopens in time for the Just Bach concert scheduled for April 15.
By Jacob Stockinger
Spring arrives today – Thursday, March 19 – at last!
The Vernal Equinox will occur at 10:49 p.m. CDT.
Given all the fear and anxiety, isolation and discomfort caused by both the coronavirus and self-quarantining at home, maybe some music inspired by spring will lift your spirits.
At the bottom is a two-hour compilation – with more than a million hits – from YouTube with bright and upbeat, tuneful and melodic spring-like music.
The composers are Baroque, Classical and Romantic and include Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi; Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky; waltzes by Strauss; and songs without words by Mendelssohn and Grieg.
But the choice of spring music is endless, as you can no doubt also hear by listening to Wisconsin Public Radio today.
Is there a special piece you like to hear when you greet the arrival of spring?
Please leave the composer, title, performer and, if possible, a YouTube link, in the Comment section.
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