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Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - String Quartet Op. 76, n. 2 in re minore "Quinten" 1. Allegro (0:00)2. Andante o più tosto allegretto (6:50)3. Menuetto. Allegro ma non troppo (12:38)4. Vivace assai (15:56) Cleveland String Quartet
There is nothing like hearing a Late Beethoven String Quartet for the first time. Beethoven's late string quartets, Op. 127, Op. 130, Op. 131, Op. 132, and Op. 135, are among the 5 greatest pieces of music ever written for any combination of instruments. They reach a kind of cosmic understanding of the world that is unparalleled, and they remain the Mount Everest of every string quartet's repertoire. The quartet we're going to be talking about today, Op. 135, is slightly the outlier from the set, in that it is less expansive, slightly less complex, and as Misha Amory from the Brentano String Quartet says, “it is the work of a composer who seems to have suddenly attained some new, simple truth after miles of struggle.” Op. 135 is Beethoven's last completed work, and as this year begins, I thought I would check off number 2 of 5 Late Beethoven Quartets with this work that seems to exist on another plane of existence entirely. It is a piece of great depth and sadness, and also of ecstasy and lightness. It is a piece of great seriousness that is also full of a sense of humor that is rare in Beethoven. It contains one of the greatest slow movements ever written, a movement that would inspire one of Mahler's greatest symphonic movements, and it also features a zany and wild scherzo movement that could have been written two weeks ago. In short, Beethoven's Op. 135 has it all. Join us as we go through this masterpiece together!
Donald Macleod explores the key influences and music of Edvard Greig.Donald Macleod looks at the people and places that had a significant impact on Edvard Grieg's life and work, meeting Norwegian fiddlers, folksong collectors and nationalist firebrands along the way. From Henrik Ibsen, who commissioned Grieg to write his most famous work, to the composer's wife Nina, for whom he wrote all his songs, this week Donald explores the key influences on the composer's outlook and development.Music Featured:Holberg Suite: I. Praeludium Symphonic Dances (3rd & 4th mvts) Piano Concerto No 1 (2nd & 3rd mvts) Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Lyric Pieces Book 1: IV Elves' Dance Violin Sonata No 1 in F major (3rd mvt) In Autumn Funeral March for Richard Nordraak (arr for orch by Johan Halvorsen) Ballade Hjertets melodier: III Jeg Elsker Deg 6 Songs, Op 25 (No 2, En Svane & No 4, IV Med en Vanlilje) Violin Sonata No 2 (3rd mvt) Piano Concerto No 1 (1st mvt) 6 Songs Op 39 (No 4, Millom Rosor) 6 Songs Op 39 (No 5 Veng en ung Hustrus Bare) arr. for choir 6 Songs Op 48 (No 4, Zur Rozenheit & No 6, Ein Traum) Two Elegaic Melodies Springar after Kristian Lund Album Leaves, Op 28 (No 4) String Quartet Op 27 (3rd & 4th mvts) The Mountain Thrall 12 Melodies Op 33 (No 9) 19 Norwegian Folk Tunes Op 66 (excerpts) Norwegian Dances, Op 35 (Nos 3 & 4) Lyric Pieces Op 43 (No 3, In my homeland) Violin Sonata No 3 (1st mvt) Wedding Day at Troldhaugen Peer Gynt Suite No 2 Haugtussa (Nos 6-8) Stimmungen Op 73Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Megan Jones for BBC Audio Wales and WestFor full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001y2c0And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we've featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z
In 1806, the 36 year old Beethoven received a commission from the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky. Razumovsky wanted a set of string quartets for what would soon be his house string quartet which included some of the finest players Vienna had to offer. As part of his commission, Razumovsky asked Beethoven to include a Russian theme in each one of the quartets. Beethoven obliged him in 2 of the quartets, and the Razumovsky quartets, Op. 59 1, 2, and 3, were born. 1806 was near the height of Beethoven's astonishing so called Middle Period, where the scale of his music drastically expanded from his earlier works and he began writing in a so called heroic style, with much more brash and adventurous music. This all started in 1803 with his Eroica Symphony, but Beethoven did not limit his adventures and his expanding palate to his symphonies. Everything with Beethoven's music was expanding, including his string quartets. These middle quartets form part of the core of most string quartets repertoires. They are astonishing works in every regard, where Beethoven starts pushing limits we didn't even, or maybe he didn't even, know he had. From the expansive 59, 1, to the intensely felt and taut 59, 2, to the often fun loving 59, 3, Beethoven explores every facet of string quartet playing and brings that heroic and passionate new style to the genre of the string quartet. For today, we're going to go through Op. 59, 1, a remarkably expansive and brilliant piece that explores every facet of string quartet playing, pushing quartets to their technical and emotional limits in ways that were absolutely shocking at the time and still unbelievably challenging today. If you come to this show for symphonies, that's great, but for me and many other musicians, Beethoven's string quartets are the greatest collection of pieces by any composer in any genre. I hope that today's exploration will help convince you of that! Join us!
References Immunol.2017 Aug 1; 199(3): 1096–1104. British J of Pharmacology. 2015. Volume172, Issue17: 4319-4330 Beethoven, L. 1826. String Quartet Op. 135 in F Major (#16) https://youtu.be/1hxpIQ3XhXA?si=65eTt7TlOZYCNsG8 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/support
On how to come back from the dead.Anonymous (2002). Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism. New York: Tarcher.Ludwig van Beethoven (1825). String Quartet Op. 132 in A Minor III Molto adagio, https://tinyurl.com/mw4c9nk5 (spotify.com). Accessed September 2023.Aldous Huxley (1928). Point Counter Point: A Novel. London: Chatto & Windus.Edna St. Vincent Millay (1921). Spring, https://tinyurl.com/2s3daw6c (poetryfoundation.org). Accessed September 2023.Wachowski, Lana & Lilly Wachowski, directors (1999). The Matrix. Warner Bros.Support the podcast and access additional content at: https://patreon.com/oeith. Buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you joined me last week, you heard about the severe intestinal illness that Beethoven suffered from during the year of 1825. Beethoven thought that he was near death; he was spitting up blood, in terrible pain, and regularly begged his doctor for help. Ensconced in Baden, a Viennese suburb known for its nature and calm, Beethoven slowly and miraculously recovered from the illness, giving him 2 more years to compose. These two years brought us the quartets Op. 130 Op. 131, Op. 135, a series of canons, sketches for a 10th symphony. and of course, Op. 132. Obviously, even as he suffered from this illness, Beethoven knew that he had much more in him left to compose. The 4 quartets he wrote upon recovery from this illness ALL rank in the top 10 of the greatest musical compositions ever written by anyone. During the slow movement of Op. 132, Beethoven takes the opportunity to thank the Deity, who or whatever that was to Beethoven, for his recovery. This 15-20 minute movement is, as I said last week, beyond superlatives, but I'll do my best to quell my enthusiasm and look at this movements structure, its fascinating harmonic language, and of course, its spiritual dimension. We'll then take apart the final two movements of the piece, two movements that teach us so much about Beethoven as a composer, as a person, and as a performer. No piece of Beethoven's struggles for so long before finally reaching a glorious conclusion, but don't worry, we'll get there in the end. Join us to explore part 2 of one of the greatest masterpieces of music ever written!
I had long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven's late string quartets. These are pieces that professional quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with. They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of. 5 quartets, Opus 127, Opus 130, Opus 131, Opus 132, and Opus 135, all written near or at the end of Beethoven's life, arguably representing the pinnacle of everything Beethoven achieved. They explore not only every conceivable emotion, but they dig down into the core of those emotions, defiantly refusing to skim the surface and daring to ask and then answer the fundamental questions of life and death. Everyone has a favorite Late Beethoven Quartet, but mine has always been Opus 132, and so this week I'm taking the opportunity to take the leap into Late Beethoven. We'll discuss Beethoven's situation as he recovered from a life-threatening illness which he was sure was going to be his end, the unusual 5 movement structure of the piece, and this week, the first two movements of the quartet, the first of which, to me, defines everything that Sonata Form can do to express emotion and a narrative in a piece of absolute music. Join us!
In this episode, we discuss recordings of “Wranitzky: Orchestral Works, Vol. 6” (Naxos) by Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Pardubice / Marek Štilec, “Dvořák: String Quartet Op 106; Coleridge-Taylor: Fantasiestücke” (Hyperion) by Takács Quartet, “Fagerlund: Terral, Strings to the Bone, Chamber Symphony” (BIS) by Sharon Bezaly, Tapiola Sinfonietta / John Storgårds, “Anyone's Quiet: Let It Rain to You” (Fresh Sound New Talent) by Noah Stoneman, “Technocats: The Music of Gregg Hill” (Cold Plunge Records) by TechnoCats, “Organ Monk Going Home” (Sunnyside) by Gregory Lewis. The Adult Music Podcast is featured in: Feedspot's 100 Best Jazz Podcasts Episode 127 Deezer Playlist “Wranitzky: Orchestral Works, Vol. 6” (Naxos) Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Pardubice / Marek Štilec https://open.spotify.com/album/3qwz3DEu8oHgRKqPVcSKbK https://music.apple.com/us/album/wranitzky-orchestral-works-vol-6/1689803978 “Dvořák: String Quartet Op 106; Coleridge-Taylor: Fantasiestücke”(Hyperion) Takács Quartet https://open.spotify.com/album/5XR5n1yMFOeF52YwvzgxtM https://music.apple.com/us/album/dvořák-string-quartet-op-106-coleridge-taylor-fantasiestücke/1696231013 “Fagerlund: Terral, Strings to the Bone, Chamber Symphony” (BIS) Sharon Bezaly, Tapiola Sinfonietta / John Storgårds https://open.spotify.com/album/642PXnwWwRBNcDGomuB2F5 https://music.apple.com/us/album/terral-strings-to-the-bone-chamber-symphony/1679907168 “Anyone's Quiet: Let It Rain to You” (Fresh Sound New Talent) Noah Stoneman https://open.spotify.com/album/5Bzw6nguDXNOoVWtgVCLA6 https://music.apple.com/us/album/anyones-quiet-let-it-rain-to-you/1694755777 “Technocats: The Music of Gregg Hill” (Cold Plunge Records) TechnoCats https://open.spotify.com/album/1XV1sxgWffftGbV7YIzly0 https://music.apple.com/us/album/technocats-the-music-of-gregg-hill/1698437937 “Organ Monk Going Home” (Sunnyside) Gregory Lewis https://open.spotify.com/album/48lxntlzzOeOkOo49ATYvc https://music.apple.com/us/album/organ-monk-going-home/1695641229 Be sure to check out: "Same Difference: 2 Jazz Fans, 1 Jazz Standard" Johnny Valenzuela and Tony Habra look at several versions of the same Jazz standard each week, play snippets from each version, discuss the history of the original and the different versions.
DescriptionSamuel Osmond Barber II was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator. He's also considered one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. One of his best known works is Adagio for Strings. Take a minute to get the scoop!Listen to: The Dover Quartet plays the masterpiece by Samuel Barber in its original form, from the composer's String Quartet Op. 11 c/o YouTubeFun FactThe music critic Donal Henahan said of Barber, "Probably no other American composer has ever enjoyed such early, such persistent and such long-lasting acclaim."__________________________________________________________________About Steven, HostSteven is a Canadian composer & actor living in Toronto. Through his music, he creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his music website for more. Member of the Canadian League Of Composers.__________________________________________________________________You can FOLLOW ME on Instagram.
Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, sweet and bittersweet memories and experiences of classical musicians during the pandemic. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it's an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit. My guest in episode fourteen is Elaine Clark, violinist and co-leader of the National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland. Her bitter experience is the almost physical ache she felt due to the prolonged separation from her mother in Aberdeen. Her sweet was performing a live stream of Beethoven's String Quartet Op.131 on the stage of the National Concert Hall. On stage, at that moment, she felt “This is where I am meant to be!”. Her bittersweet was also the live streaming experience. While she loved playing and being back with her colleagues, the distance, the difficulty in communication, and the lack of an audience inhibited true, meaningful connection. Born in Aberdeen, Elaine studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she won several awards and prizes. After graduating with a First Class Honours Degree, she continued her studies with Viktor Liberman at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands. Since 1996, when she was appointed Co-Leader of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Elaine has made Dublin her home. She is a regular soloist with the NSO, most recently in performances of Bach Double Concerto and Deirdre Gribbens's Venus Blazing as well as performing as soloist in John Williams ‘Fiddler on the Roof' Suite in the presence of President Michael D, Higgins. She has also led many orchestras both home and abroad, including RTE Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.' Elaine has a deep love of chamber music and has been able to nourish this by being a member of the Ficino Ensemble, Ficino Quartet and Clarion Horn Trio, as well as performing numerous freelance chamber music concerts. She has also travelled extensively with the contemporary music ensemble Concorde and performed numerous world premieres. She has given masterclasses at Royal Irish Academy of Music, University of Limerick and Cork School of Music and sits on the board of UCD Symphony Orchestra. This interview was recorded in September 2021. GET IN TOUCH WITH ELAINE/LINKS Facebook Final Note Magazine Interview with Elaine National Symphony Orchestra Upcoming Concerts Ficino Ensemble Website GET IN TOUCH WITH BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY Instagram Twitter Facebook #bittersweetsymphony CREDITS Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards Violin || Cliodhna Ryan Production || Cliodhna Ryan Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland
Hear how Greek and Roman mythology have captivated composers with tales of betrayal, love and heroism. In Daphnis and Chloe, Ravel uses ravishing orchestral colors and a wordless chorus to depict this pastoral romance. Salonen finds inspiration in the epic struggles of the twin half-brothers Castor and Pollux, depicted in his two-piece orchestral composition, Gemini. Opening the program is Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte, a refreshing blend of traditional harmony and contrasting dissonance inspired by Haydn's String Quartet Op. 77, No. 2. Ticket holders are invited to a free preconcert conversation featuring Derek Matson in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. No additional tickets required. Learn more: cso.org/performances/21-22/cso-classical/salonen-conducts-daphnis-chloe
Synopsis On today's date in 1936, just one day after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1, the young American composer Samuel Barber attended the premiere of his String Quartet No. 1. Both premieres took place in Rome, where Barber was enjoying the benefits of the Prix de Rome, which included a two-year residency at the American Academy in the “Eternal City.” Barber found Rome a congenial place to compose but found writing a string quartet hard going: “I have started a new quartet,” he wrote back home in one letter, “but how difficult it is. It seems to me that because we have so forced our personalities on Music – on Music, who never asked for them! – that we have lost elegance, and if we cannot recapture elegance, the quartet form has escaped us forever.” It's perhaps debatable whether Barber recaptured “elegance” in his new quartet, but “eloquence” is another matter: The new quartet's slow “adagio” was described as being “deeply felt and written with economy, resourcefulness and distinction” according to one critic after a New York performance the following year. Barber later recast this movement for full string orchestra, and, as Barber's “Adagio for Strings,” it's become one of the best-loved pieces of modern American music. Music Played in Today's Program Samuel Barber (1910–1981) — String Quartet Op. 11 (Tokyo String Quartet) RCA/BMG 61387
Some Light in Darkness dlr LexIcon 29 November 2021 We are thrilled to bring you a series of four of Tim's very special Monday Morning Music sessions. He will introduce music which he has enjoyed during Lockdown – and some Christmas music too. These sessions took place in the Studio Theatre, dlr LexIcon. If you would like further suggestions by Tim, see last year's Darkness to Light booklet featuring Tim's recommendations: https://libraries.dlrcoco.ie/events-and-news/library-news/darkness-light-recommended-listening-tim-thurston dlr Libraries are enormously grateful for the many CD donations Tim Thurston has given to dlr LexIcon for all to borrow and enjoy. Uploaded at dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire on Thursday 2 December 2021. Some Light in Darkness Monday Morning Music with Tim Thurston 29 Nov 2021 1. Anon. Requiem Aeternam, In Paratisum. King's College, Cambridge – Stephen Cleobury. EMI CDC555096. 2. Thomas Tallis. Organ – Veni Redemptor, O Nata Lux. Dunedin Consort – John Kitchen - organ. Delphian DCD34008. 3. Claudio Monteverdi. Psalm 121 – Laetatus Sum. L'Arpeggiata – Christina Pluhar. DVD1. 545203-2 4. Johann Christoph Bach. Ich Lasse Dich Nicht. Vox Luminis – YouTube. 5. Johann Sebastian Bach. Ouverture from Orchestral Suite No. 1 – BWV1066. Le Concert Français – Pierre Hantal. Mirare MIR017. 6. Joseph Haydn. From Allegro from String Quartet Op. 74 No.3 - Rider. London Haydn Quartet. Hyperion CDA68230. 7. Arr. Ludwig Bohme. Maria Durch, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Calmus Ensemble. Carus 83511. 8. Jaakko Manty Jarvi. Ave Maria, O Magnum Mysterium. Trinity College, Cambridge – Stephen Layton. Hyperion CDA68266. If anyone has any questions or comments, Tim will be delighted to respond from timthurston1610@gmail.com A Gloria listener has persuaded RTÉ to make available many of past Gloria programmes. They may be found at https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/gloria/episodes/?page=1
It's the second week of lockdown, which means it's the second week of our best ofs! Join host Teddy Darling and relive performances by cellist Ji Woo Yoon (2nd Prize, Season 1 2019), multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lynch (Season 1, 2018) and catch up with Invictus Quartet (Audience Prize, Season 2 2017) as they chat about what they've been up to since being on The Talent.Ji Woo Yoon performed:- Rossini: Una Larme- Casado: Dance of the Green DevilRyan Lynch performed:- Elena Kats-Chernin: Frosted Windows- Katia Beaugeais: Re-Emerging: for Soprano Saxophone- Ross Edwards: UlpirraInvictus Quartet performed:- Haydn: Mvt 4 "Finale", String Quartet Op. 33 No. 1- Beethoven: Mvt 1 "Allegro" String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59--The Talent credits:Host: Teddy DarlingGuests: Invictus Quartet (Rebecca Wang, Nyssa Sanguansri, Jin Tong Long, Annika Cho)The Talent is made possible with generous support from the Robert Salzer Foundation.
Luna's in Taurus and Sol enters Pisces - there's a super-positive signal being broadcast... transcripts, as always, are available at: http://kristo.com/ (kristo.com) and please take a listen to my other podcasts at: https://kristo.art/ (kristo.art) and The Hansel and Gretel Code @ https://betweenthelines.xyz/hgcode-podcast (betweenthelines.xyz) Music and Sound credits: Haydn - https://musopen.org/music/5261-string-quartets-hob-iii63-68/ (String Quartet Op. 64 no. 1 in C Major) - III. Menuetto Allegretto - performed by the https://musopen.org/music/performer/musopen-string-quartet/ (Musopen String Quartet) courtesy of http://museopen.org (museopen.org) https://freesound.org/people/Nighteller/sounds/196263/ ("ciao ciao") courtesy of https://freesound.org/people/Nighteller/ (Nighteller) and https://freesound.org/ (freesound.org) - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License)
3 Elgar - String Quartet, Op. 83, Extract From 2nd Movement by Ruach Breath of Life
Luna's in Cancer - it's déjà vu day... transcripts, as always, are available at: http://kristo.com/ (kristo.com) and please take a listen to my other podcasts at: https://kristo.art/ (kristo.art) and The Hansel and Gretel Code @ https://betweenthelines.xyz/hgcode-podcast (betweenthelines.xyz) Music and Sound credits: Haydn - https://musopen.org/music/5261-string-quartets-hob-iii63-68/ (String Quartet Op. 64 no. 1 in C Major) - III. Menuetto Allegretto - performed by the https://musopen.org/music/performer/musopen-string-quartet/ (Musopen String Quartet) courtesy of http://museopen.org (museopen.org) https://freesound.org/people/Nighteller/sounds/196263/ ("ciao ciao") courtesy of https://freesound.org/people/Nighteller/ (Nighteller) and https://freesound.org/ (freesound.org) - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License)
This Thursday Heritage concert on 15 October 2020 was presented at the Auckland Central Library by Ensemble East in celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birth year. Spanning from the beginning of Beethoven’s development into a revolutionary composer to his connection with the transcendental in his later years, they called this programme Struggle and Hope. Violinist Yid-Ee Goh and pianist Lisa Chou present his Violin Sonata No. 7 in c minor and then are joined by fellow musicians Dickson Fung and Vanessa Tam for the 3rd movement of String Quartet op. 132.
Donald Macleod explores the triumphs, friends and foes of Beethoven’s ‘heroic’ phase. This week, Donald Macleod follows Ludwig van Beethoven through the years of 1804-1806; the beginning of what many commentators have called his ‘heroic’ phase. Having weathered a profound psychological crisis, triggered by his failing hearing, Beethoven now throws himself into his composing with renewed energy and strength of spirit. However, that same passionate nature also leads to frequent conflicts. Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. Music Featured: Variations on an original theme, Op 35 ‘Eroica Variations’ Symphony No 3 'Eroica' String Quartet, Op 59 No 1, 'Rasumovsky', Violin Sonata in A major, Op 47 ‘Kreutzer’ Romance in F, Op 50 Piano Sonata No 13, Op 27 No 1 An die Hoffnung, Op 32 Piano Sonata No 15, Op 28 ‘Pastorale’ Piano Concerto No 4 Leonore (1806 version) Act 1, “O wär ich schon mit dir vereint” Piano Sonata No 22 in F, Op 54 Leonore (1806 version) Act II, Quartet “Er sterbe!” Violin Sonata Op 12 No 1, II. Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto Leonore (1806 version) Act II, Duet “O namenlose Freude!” Leonore Overture No 3, Op 72b Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op 102 No 1 Bagatelle in B minor, Op 126 No 4 String Quartet in F, Op 59 No 1 Piano Sonata No 23, Op 57 ‘Appassionata’ Violin Concerto, Op 61 6 Ecossaises, WoO 83 Piano Concerto No 3, String Quartet Op 59 No 3 Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Wales For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Hero https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k28m And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z
In the third episode of Ghost Echoes, the secret rules direct us towards a reluctant radical in Robert Wyatt. The eclectic English musician is in good company, though, and you'll find out why as we twist and turn through a number of historical similarities and coincidences. Along the way, we'll also learn that a revolution is not a dinner party. Music and Sound Notes: - The music in the first section about Robert Wyatt includes “Marchides” by Matching Mole, and “Alifib” by Robert Wyatt. - The following section about Cornelius Cardew includes the first movement from Haydn's String Quartet Op. 54, No. 1 performed by Marlburo Music. - “Brandy As In Benj” by Matching Mole starts the next section about Wyatt. Three more songs from Little Red Record close out the section: “Righteous Rhumba,” “Gloria Gloom,” and “Starting in the Middle of the Day We Can Drink Our Politics Away.” - The next Cardew section contains "Paragraph 7" of The Great Learning performed by the Scratch Orchestra, a repeat engagement by AMMMusic, and Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontakte. The recordings of Cardew's propaganda songs appear on the CD Consciously: “Song for the British Working Class,” “Founding of the Party” and “The Workers of Ontario.” - The following sections contain “Foxy Lady” from a Jimi Hendrix bootleg from a 1967 show in Stockholm. And a recording of Cardew's Thälmann Variations by Frederic Rzewski. (This recording is all the more poignant considering that Rzewski was a friend of Cardew's, and a colleague in radical politics, though he did not escape censure by Cardew in Stockhausen Serves Imperialism). - Finally, the ending is set to two Robert Wyatt songs: “Sea Song” and “Shipbuilding.” Further reading, listening: - My two main sources for biographical information were Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished by John Tilbury and Different Every Time: The Authorized Biography of Robert Wyatt by Marcus O'Dair. This piece by Edward Fox was useful for some details surrounding Cardew's death. -Clips of Wyatt speaking come from the BBC's The Voices Of… and the short clip of John Tilbury comes from this video.
In the inaugural episode of Ghost Echoes, a suffragette reinvents a bawdy theatre, a professor locks his students in a classroom to see what happens, and a piece of avant-garde music with clearly delineated rules inspires a music history podcast with secret rules. Music and Sound Notes: - The music that starts this episode and recurs later is "Paragraph 7" of Cornelius Cardew & The Scratch Orchestra's The Great Learning. The full piece is a huge work in many parts (“paragraphs”), but this record contains only paragraphs two and seven. - The Emma Cons section features the first movement from Haydn's String Quartet Op. 54, No. 1 performed by Marlburo Music (in the section about the Old Vic) and the March from Holst's Second Suite for Military Band performed by the USAF Heritage of America Band (in the section about Morley College). Also, there's a quick snippet of “Mars” from Holst's The Planets, plus cameos from Graham Chapman and John Cleese in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Fawlty Towers, respectively. - The strident bit of noise that repeats for comedic effect is not straightforwardly by Cardew—it is an extract from AMMMusic, the debut record by the free improvisation group AMM, of which Cardew was a member. - The section about Cardew's classes at Morley College contains cameo appearances by John Cage's Variations I as recorded by the Motion Ensemble, and Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel from the Houston Chamber Choir's 2016 recording. (Cardew's students probably didn't actually perform Rothko Chapel, but they did study music by Feldman and this is a representative example.) -Later, there's a brief incursion of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen, performed by the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln with three conductors: Bruno Maderna, Michael Gielen and Stockhausen himself (it's a very complicated piece).
On this week's lecture, resident lecturer Bruce Adolphe discusses Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59, No. 3. Featuring a performance by the Solera Quartet (Miki-Sophia Cloud, Tricia Park, violin; Molly Carr, viola; Andrew Janss, cello).
Donald Macleod looks for clues in Beethoven’s early life that point towards the great man he would become. All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world. This week, Donald looks at Beethoven’s humble beginnings as a child born into a family of court musicians, working for the Archbishop-Elector’s retinue in Bonn, Germany. He showed musical talent early and followed his father and grandfather into the Elector’s employ as soon as he reached his teens. Would he continue to follow the family pattern and retire there too? Music featured: Piano Sonata No 24 in F# major, Op 78 (2nd movement) Fugue in D for organ, WoO 31 Symphony No 6 (movts. IV & V) Violin Sonata Op 30 No 2 (2nd movement) String Quartet Op 18 No 4 (1st and 3rd movements) String Quartet No 13 in Bb, Op 130 (2nd movement) Piano Sonata No 2, Op 2 No 2 (1st and 2nd movements) Symphony No 4 (4th movement) Sonata for cello and piano, Op 102 No 1 (2nd and 3rd movements) Piano Quartet, WoO 36 No 3 Piano Sonata No 19, Op 49 No 1 (2nd movement) Piano Trio, WoO 38 (arr. Alec Frank-Gemmill) Der Mann von Wort, Op 99 24 Variations on "Venni Amore" by Righini, WoO 65 Piano Trio, Op 70 No 2 (3rd and 4th movements) String Quartet, Op 95 (Serioso) (1st movement) Fidelio: Act I (finale) Musik zu einem Ritterballett, Woo 1 12 Variations on 'See the conqu'ring hero comes' by Handel for cello and piano, WoO 45 Rondo a capriccio in G major (Rage over a lost penny) for piano, Op 129 7 Variations on 'Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen', WoO 46 Resignation, WoO 149 String Quartet, Op 59 No 1 (1st movement) Violin Concerto (2nd and 3rd movements) Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Wales For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dpzm And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z
This week we're diving into one of the great movements ever written in Western Music with the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 132 quartet. This is a movement that explores Beethoven's contradictory religious beliefs, his core optimism despite all that happened to him during his life, and his fascination with religious music. We'll then look at how Beethoven concludes this epic piece, using sketches of music that started out as being part of his 9th symphony, but not in the way you might expect. Enjoy!
I’ve long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven’s late string quartets. These are pieces that quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with. They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of. 5 quartets, Opus 127, Opus 130, Opus 131, Opus 132, and Opus 135 - all written near or at the end of Beethoven’s life, these pieces represent the pinnacle of everything Beethoven achieved, yes, even far beyond his symphonies in this conductors opinion. They explore not only every conceivable emotion, but they dig down into the core of those emotions, defiantly refusing to skim the surface and daring to ask and THEN ANSWER the fundamental questions of life and death. Everyone has a favorite Late Beethoven Quartet, but mine has always been Opus 132, and so this week I’m taking the opportunity of getting a Patreon sponsor request from Maria for a piece of chamber music to take the leap myself into Late Beethoven. We’ll discuss Beethoven’s situation as he recovered from a life-threatening illness which he was sure was going to be his end, the unusual 5 movement structure of the piece, and this week, the first two movements of the quartet, the first of which, to me, defines everything that Sonata Form can do to express emotion and a narrative in a piece of absolute music.
Erica Jeal recommends recordings of Schumann’s String Quartet Op. 43 No. 3 in A Major
Introduction to Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3
Analysis of the third movement from Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C
Analysis of the fourth movement of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C
Full performance of the third movement of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C
Analysis of the fourth movement of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C
Helen Wallace recommends a recording of Haydn's String Quartet Op. 20 No. 3 in G minor.
Open rehearsal. Beethoven String Quartet op.130, with Grosse Fuge. The Doric String Quartet will rehearse and discuss with Murray Perahia one of the works in their concert on 20 January.
Takács Quartet violinist Edward Dusinberre coaches the Linden Quartet on different techniques to make notes speak clearly in Haydn's String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5, fourth movement (Final: Presto).
Takács Quartet violinist Edward Dusinberre coaches the Linden Quartet on different techniques to show the music's character in Haydn's String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5, third movement (Menuetto: Allegro).
Takács Quartet violinist Edward Dusinberre coaches the Linden Quartet on matching their playing style to create a uniform sound in Haydn's String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5, first movement (Allegretto—Allegro).
Martin Cotton compares recordings of Beethoven's String Quartet Op.131 in C# minor and makes a personal recommendation
Here's a hint: a birthday present valued “more than all else”…
Here’s a hint: a birthday present valued “more than all else”…
The Heath Quartet: Oliver Heath, 1st violin Cerys Jones, Gary Pomeroy, violia, and Christopher Murray, cello.
This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features a follow-up interview with bassist Barry Lieberman, double bass faculty at the University of Washington and artistic director of The American String Project, an ensemble that specializes in performing string chamber orchestra arrangements of quartet literature. Barry was previously interviewed on Contrabass Conversations in 2008, and on that occasion we discussed his early years on the instrument, his career in the Los Angeles Philharmonic and subsequent move to Seattle, and many other topics. We focus on recent developments with The American String Project in this episode, including their recent selection as “Pick of the Month” for all North American releases of classical music discs in the August issue of the BBC Music Magazine (more details on the String Project website). This fascinating and virtuosic ensemble also recently produced a documentary detailing what happens behind the scenes each year with the String Project, and it is a well-produced and highly engaging glimpse into the workings of some of the world’s finest leaders in the string world in a rare collaborative setting. You can see it now on the TASP website, and we will be releasing the entire video on the podcast next week as well. One of our most popular offerings on Contrabass Conversations since its inception has been Barry’s interview with Gary Karrfor his Barry Lieberman and Friends series at the University of Washington. You’re in for a real treat if you haven’t seen this in the past–check it out! We’ve featured a great deal of String Project music on both the blog and the podcast–so much in fact, that I decided to put together a PDF listing everything that we’ve used (in some fashion) here: American String Project music featured on doublebassblog.org.pdf Today’s episode features an excerpt from the String Quartet Op. 18, No. 4 Mvt. 4 (Allegro) by Beethoven and the complete Allegro Non Troppo movement from the String Quartet #3 In F, Op. 73 by Shostakovich. You can also check out all the works that the String Project has performed on their page within doublebassblog.org.
Full performance of the fourth movement of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C