Author Archives: Robert Jan Dukarm

Franz Schubert – Kupelweiser Waltz

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Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer. He composed piano sonatas, waltzes,various other dances, symphonies, string trios, piano trios, quartets, quintets, and more than 600 German Art Songs (or lieder). Today Schubert is known for his ‘Trout’ Quintet, his chamber music, and his more than 600 songs.

In 1826 Schubert was at Mr. Kupelweiser’s wedding. He played a waltz but never wrote it down. The waltz was passed down by ear for several generations. In the 20th century Richard Strauss (a friend of a distant relative of Kupelweiser) was asked to transcribe the waltz. He wrote down the melody and harmonized it adding a few of his own harmonic touches to the music.

Here is the ‘Kupelweiser’ waltz played by a pianist from a youtube recording. I don’t know the name of the pianist who is playing the waltz.

Mozart songs – Julianne Baird (soprano), Colin Tilney (fortepiano)

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W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy and composer. He played the piano, violin, viola, and organ. He began performing and composing at a very young age.

Mozart composed works for solo piano, violin and piano, organ, piano trio, string quartet, string quintet, concertos for piano, violin, songs, and many operas, and a requiem among other works. He had a gift for writing beautiful melodies. Mozart is especially well known for the many operas that he wrote and for his requiem which was left unfinished because of his death at the age of 35.

Here are four songs performed by soprano Julianne Baird and keyboardist Colin Tilney on the fortepiano. I hope you enjoy this music.

Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang – “I’ve Found A New Baby”

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“I’ve Found A New Baby”

I’ve Found A New Baby is a popular jazz standard. It was written by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams. Clarence Williams and his Blue Five were the first to record the tune in 1926. Since then it has been recorded by many musicians.

Joe Venuti (1903-1978)

Joe Venuti is considered by many people to be the father of jazz violin.  He is well known today for his recordings with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang.  Venuti also worked with Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, and the Boswell Sisters and Bix Beiderbecke as well as other jazz musicians.

Eddie Lang (1902-1933)

Eddie Lang is the father of the jazz guitar.  He worked primarily with violinist Joe Venuti (from 1921-1933).  Eddie Lang was a member of the Paul Whiteman orchestra.  He also worked with Louis Armstrong, blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, and later in his career he was Bing Crosby’s accompanist.

Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang were a major influence on Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.

Here is a recording of I’ve Found A New Baby by Joe Venuti (violin), Eddie Lang (guitar), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, baritone sax), Frank Signorelli (piano), and Joe Tarto (bass). It was recorded on November 12, 1930.

“My One and Only Love – Johny Coltrane

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“My One and Only Love” is a popular ballad. It was written by Guy Wood and Robert Mellin. Johnny Coltrane and his quartet recorded the ballad in 1963. The musicians are Johny Coltrane (saxophone), vocalist Johnny Hartman, and pianist McCoy Tyner. There is a drummer as well but I don’t know his name.

Johnny Coltrane (1926-1967)

Johnny Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Coltrane played in the be-bop and hard bop styles. He pioneered the use of modes in jazz and later in his career explored free jazz. Later on in his career his solos were very abstract and sometimes he seemed to try and fit in as many notes as is humanly possible at a fast tempo. Here is a recording of Johnny Coltrane and his quartet performing “My One and Only Love.” Coltrane’s solo doesn’t stray much from the melody and he isn’t trying to set any speed records. His playing has a beautiful tone. Enjoy!

Chopin Nocturne in F# Major op.15 no.2 – Jorge Bolet, piano

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Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Frederic Chopin was a Polish composer and piano virtuoso.  Chopin wrote almost all of his compositions for solo piano.  He wrote concertos for piano, etudes, preludes, nocturnes, waltzes, impromptus and mazurkas, polonaises, and much more.  Most of his music is simple in texture with an accompanied melody.  His music is often very expressive and full of ornamental flourishes.  There is always a slight melancholic emotion in Chopin’s music.

Jorge Bolet (1914-1990)

Jorge Bolet was a Cuban pianist that was born in America.  Bolet has been described by many pianists as a great pianist.  It took him a long time to get recognition as a pianist.  It wasn’t until a recital at Carnegie Hall in 1974 that Bolet got major recognition.  Bolet is especially known for his expressive interpretations of Franz Liszt’s piano music, but he recorded music by many other composers.  Here is a recording of Chopin’s Nocturne op.15, no.2 played by Jorge Bolet.  The playing is very expressive and full of emotion.  He gets colors out of the piano that many pianists (including great pianists) don’t always get in their interpretations (for example Vladimir Horowitz).  Jorge Bolet often performed on Baldwin pianos instead of Steinways.

Scott Joplin Rags – Itzhak Perlman (violin), Andre Previn (piano)

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Scott Joplin (c.1867/68 – 1917)

Scott Joplin was a black American pianist and composer. He is known today for the many piano rags that he composed. Pianists have recorded and performed his music during his lifetime and after his death continuing to the present day. Many people know about Scott Joplin’s music because of a few of his rags that have become famous. These pieces include the Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, and Easy Winners.

In 1975 violinist Itzhak Perlman and jazz pianist and conductor Andre Previn decided to record a few of the well known rags by Scott Joplin that Perlman arranged for violin and piano. Here are a couple of selections from that recording entitled “Easy Winners.”

Dedicated to You – Ella Fitzgerald

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Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)

Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer.  She has often been referred to as the “First Lady of Song,” “Queen of Jazz,” and “Lady Ella.”  Ella Fitzgerald was known for the purity of her tone, impeccable diction, fine phrasing and impeccable intonation, as well as a horn-like way of improvising when she was scat singing.

Early in her career Ella Fitzgerald performed with the Chick Webb Orchestra and had musical success performing across the country.  Her solo career began in 1942.  Ella Fitzgerald appeared in many movies and as a guest on many popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century.  Outside of her solo career, Ella was famous for her collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and the Ink Spots.

Ella Fitzgerald made some of her most famous recordings on the Verve label such as a recording of the Great American Songbook.

Here is an early recording (1937) of Ella Fitzgerald singing “Dedicated to You.”  She is accompanied by the Mills Brothers.

Nicola Porpora – Morte Amara – soprano Simone Kermes

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Nicola Porpora (1686-1768)

Nicola Porpora was an Italian composer and singing teacher.  He worked for the Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt and the Portuguese ambassador in Naples.  Porpora composed serenatas, cantatas, oratorios, sacred operas, over 100 other sacred works, several instrumental works, and vocalization exercises, and 50 operas.  Nicola Porpora had a great understanding of the art of singing and his melodic lines are often intricate and embellished.

Simone Kermes (1970-)

Simone Kermes is a German coloratura soprano.  She is well known for her singing of the baroque and classical operatic repertoire.

Here is a recording of Simone Kermes singing an aria from Act ll scene 10 of the opera Quinto Fabio by Nicola Porpora with Claudio Osele’s Le Musiche Nove ensemble.  Enjoy!

Ashkenazy plays Rachmaninov Preludes

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Vladimir Ashkenazy (1937-)

Vladimir Ashkenazy made his debut as a concert pianist in Moscow in 1945.  In 1955 he won second prize in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Poland.  In 1956 Ashkenazy won first prize in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels, Belgium.  in 1962 Vladimir Ashkenazy and John Ogdon both won first prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Ashkenazy is noted for his interpretations of Rachmaninov’s music.  He is also known for his warm and sincere playing of the Romantic piano repertoire and sensitive and clear playing of the music of W.A. Mozart.  In the middle of his career as a concert pianist he took up orchestral conducting.  He still makes solo piano recordings and performs on the piano but he is busy conducting orchestras.

Here are three preludes by Sergei Rachmaninov performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy.  The first is the Prelude in f sharp minor op.23, no.1.  The second is the prelude op.23, no.4 in D Major, and the third is the Prelude op.23, no.10 in G Flat Major.  I hope that you enjoy this beautiful music as much as I do.

 

Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang “Goin Places,” and “Stringing the Blues”

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Joe Venuti (1903-1978)

Joe Venuti is considered by many people to be the father of jazz violin.  He is well known today for his recordings with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang.  Venuti also worked with Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, and the Boswell Sisters and Bix Beiderbecke as well as other jazz musicians.

Eddie Lang (1902-1933)

Eddie Lang is the father of the jazz guitar.  He worked primarily with violinist Joe Venuti (from 1921-1933).  Eddie Lang was a member of the Paul Whiteman orchestra.  He also worked with Louis Armstrong, blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, and later in his career he was Bing Crosby’s accompanist.

 

Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang were a major influence on Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.  Here are two recordings of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti entitled “Goin Places,” and “Stringing the Blues.”  On “Goin Places” Arthur Schutt joins Lang and Venuti on the piano.