Welcome back, everyone, to another installment at For the Love of Tunes. This entry will likely be slightly different as I’m not as familiar with the material as other entries on the blog. Before we get into the history and structure of the work, let me first say that there is literally something for everyone…
Category: Music Appreciation
A Picture-perfect Memorial for a Dear Friend – Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” was written as a tribute to his deceased friend, artist Victor Hartmann. The piece, composed originally for piano in 1874 and inspired by Hartmann’s art display, consists of musical representations of ten artworks, connected by a recurring ‘Promenade’ theme. Mussorgsky’s raw and self-taught musical style was less appreciated during his lifetime than after his death. His work, particularly the opera “Boris Godunov,” is now recognized as pioneering. “Pictures at an Exhibition” saw newfound fame through Maurice Ravel’s renowned orchestration in 1922, made exclusively at Serge Koussevitsky’s request. Various other arrangements have since been attempted, but Ravel’s remains the most celebrated. Live performances offer a unique experience of the piece’s power, as remembered by the author from a Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert. Upcoming performances include one by Erie Philharmonic, alongside Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2. The author also reviews notable recordings of the composition, highlighting interpretations by The Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel and George Szell, Claudio Abbado with the Berlin Philharmonic, and a recent take by the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra. Video performances by Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, and Sir Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, showcase the thrilling impact of watching the piece come to life onstage.
Francesca da Rimini – Musical Musings for Valentine’s Day
The blogger, a self-proclaimed lifelong bachelor, begins a Valentine’s Day (V-Day) post with a disdain for the holiday, yet introduces a medley of tragic romantic music as a centerpiece. The post transitions to focus on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his musically interpreted literature, including works inspired by Shakespeare and Dante’s “Inferno.” Highlighting the tragic story of Francesca da Rimini, a noblewoman from “Inferno” who was murdered by her husband, the blogger delves into Tchaikovsky’s symphonic poem—Francesca da Rimini: Symphonic Fantasy after Dante, Op. 32. The piece has four parts, vividly depicting Francesca’s story and its infernal setting. It’s noted that Francesca’s tale inspired both Tchaikovsky and his brother, with the former creating a symphonic poem and the latter, a libretto for Rachmaninoff’s opera. The blogger passionately recounts a live performance of Tchaikovsky’s work by the Erie Philharmonic, blurring the line between the onstage story and the inclement external weather, before recommending recordings of the piece, particularly by Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. The post concludes by encouraging live orchestral experiences and with a sly nod to Singles Awareness Day.
A Universe Unto Itself – Mahler’s 3rd Symphony
“It has almost ceased to be music; it is hardly anything but sounds of Nature. It’s eerie, the way life gradually breaks through, out of soulless, petrified matter. (I might equally well have called the movement “What The Mountain Rocks Tell Me.”) And, as this life rises from stage to stage, it takes on ever more highly developed forms: flowers, beasts, man, up to the sphere of the spirits, the “Angels.” Once again, an atmosphere of brooding summer midday heat hangs over the introduction . . . ; not a breath stirs, all life is suspended, and the sun-drenched air trembles and vibrates. I hear it in my inner ear, but how to find the right notes for it?” – Gustav Mahler
Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, the “Resurrection”
DISCLAIMER: For those that are new to my little music appreciation blog, I want to make sure you know that I am not a musician, historian, or musical scholar. I do a lot of reading to prepare one of these articles, and I freely admit that I don’t always draw the correct conclusions. However, I…
When Fate Comes Knocking…
I’ve often been told [regarding live orchestral concerts], and told others, that it won’t matter much if for some reason the rest of the concert wasn’t that great so long as the orchestra finishes strong. A good ending outweighs a good (or bad/meh) beginning. To this end, ok… some pun intended, most concert programs end…
Copland’s Third and the Fanfare for the Common Man
The year was 1942, and the United States had recently entered World War II. The attacks on Pearl Harbor had shocked the nation, and Eugene Goossens, the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the time, decided to reprise an idea he came up with in England during World War I to raise the spirits…
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
It’s hard to believe that someone who has been described as a “Six and a half foot tall scowl” could have written something so gorgeous. I think I can safely say that Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” is among the most recognized pieces of classical music in the concert repertoire today, and…
Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony
For the new year, I decided that Music Appreciation sessions needed to take a step back from my usual weekly routine of introducing a new piece of music to the group and then providing some interesting tidbits on the background of the piece, the recording, etc. It seemed like a good time to delve into…
An Introduction
Hi there! Welcome to my blog, For The Love of Tunes! It would have been “For the Love of Music”, but the domain was already taken *sigh* O well. I should start by saying, that I am not a music professional. I am an IT (Information Technology – you know, the group of people that…
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