Dr. Barry Cooper and Beethoven’s 10th Symphony

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Ludwig van Beethoven is known today by music lovers and the general public as the composer of the 5th Symphony and the 9th Symphony with its ‘Ode to Joy.’

Beethoven was a fussy composer.  Often he would be working on several compositions at the same time.  Scholars know about his compositional methods because they have sketch books full of compositions in varying stages of completion.

In the 1970s Beethoven scholars found sketches of an ‘unfinished’ symphony by Beethoven.  Beethoven had mentioned to a friend that he was working on a ‘new’ symphony.  Dr. Barry Cooper, an authority on Beethoven’s music has taken the sketches of the ‘new’ symphony and put them together.  He talks about how scholars discovered the sketches and how he put them together.  Enjoy!

Here is the first part of the symphony performed by the City of Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Walter Weller.

Weber – Piano sonata n°2 – Gilels London 1968

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Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)

Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer, music critic, virtuoso pianist, and Kapellmeister at the court in Dresden.  He is well known among musicians and music lovers as the composer of the opera Der Freischutz.

Weber only wrote 4 sonatas for solo piano.  They are not very well known.  The sonata no 2 in A Major is a long and very technically demanding piece.  Any virtuosic moments in the music are always written in a musically pleasing manner and not simply to show off the technical skill of the pianist.  The piece contains beautiful melodies and the accompanying harmonies are not always what the listener expects (this is what makes certain musical works a delight for both the musician and the listener).

Emil Gilels (1916-1985) is one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.  His playing is known for its incredible raw power.  Gilels had a large repertoire ranging from Bach to Bartok.  Many of his recordings were made live during recitals.  This recording of Gilels playing the Sonata no 2 in A Major by Weber was recorded during a live performance in London in 1968.  Enjoy!

 

Bolet – Liszt Deuxieme Annee V; Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

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Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer.  He was one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century.

Liszt composed three pieces based on sonnets by Petrarch.  The piece based on Petrarch’s 104th sonnet comes from a collection of pieces entitled “The Years of Pilgrimage.”  The 104th sonnet by Petrarch is one of three sonnets that describe Petrarch’s love for a woman named Laura.

The pianist in the recording I have selected for this post is the Cuban-born pianist Jorge Bolet.  Bolet is not as well known as other pianists, but I think he plays more expressively then a lot of other pianists.  Listen to the the different tone colours  Bolet gets out of the piano in this recording.  Some of the famous pianists don’t even get close to the level of this interpretation.  I hope that you enjoy the recording of this piece.

 

Charlie Parker with Strings

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Charlie Parker (1920-1955)

A jazz saxophonist, famous as one of the founders of “bebop.”  Parker usually performed bebop with a small quintet.  Charlie Parker also recorded jazz standards with a small section of stringed instruments and a jazz rhythm section instead of his standard quintet.  Parker said that his favourite recordings were the ones he made with strings.

Here is a recording of the jazz standard “April in Paris” played by Charlie Parker on saxophone. He is accompanied by a small group of stringed instruments and a jazz rhythm section.  Parker’s playing here is more subdued than usual and you can hear the melody.  A real bonus!

Rebel -〈Les Elemens〉1737 / 1. Le Cahos (Reinhard Goebel / Musica Antiqua Köln)

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Jean – Fèry Rebel (1666-1747)

Jean – Fèry Rebel was a French Baroque composer and violinist in the court of Louis XIV.  Les Élémens (a ten movement tone poem) was his final composition and his most striking.  The movement entitled Le Cahos  is a piece that is quite daring harmonically.  The piece has been compared to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring because it is so shocking for its time. It begins with an incredible cacophony of sound (in the beginning of the piece, all seven notes of the d minor scale are sounded at once as a harsh dissonant chord).  Les Élémens was first premiered at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on September 27, 1737.  Here is a recording of the first movement Le Cahos.  It is performed by Musica Antiqua Köln (a well known early music ensemble) conducted by Reinhard Goebel.

Teddy Wilson – School for Pianists (10 solo piano recordings)

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Teddy Wilson (1912-1986)

Teddy Wilson was an American jazz pianist.  His playing was known for its elegance and grace.  Teddy worked with many of the great jazz musicians including Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne, Billy Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald.  He worked a lot for various jazz bands but also led his own groups from the 1920s until the 1980s.  Teddy Wilson was one of the first black musicians to appear prominently with white musicians.  Teddy Wilson was one of the great pianists of the swing jazz era.

Here is an audio recording of Teddy Wilson playing some jazz standards.  Enjoy!

Rosenberg Trio – For Sephora

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Rosenberg Trio

The Rosenberg  Trio is a “gypsy” jazz ensemble of two guitars and a double bass.  The Rosenberg Trio was founded in 1989.  It was inspired by the gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.  The musicians are Stocholo Rosenberg (guitar soloist), Nous’che Rosenberg (rhythm guitarist), and Nonnie Rosenberg (double bass player).

For Sephora is a latin flavoured tune with a lot of passion.  It is a very good tune to improvise on, and if played well it can sound exciting.

Here is a clip of the Rosenberg Trio playing For Sephora.

 

Horszowski – Chopin nocturne in Eb major & Etude in F minor

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Mieczyslaw Horszowski (1892-1993)

Mieczyslaw Horszowski was a Polish-American pianist.  He had one of the longest performing and teaching careers in history.  As a pianist, Horszowski was known for producing an unforced, beautiful singing tone, and for his skill in balancing the intellectual and emotional qualities of the music he was playing.

His repertoire was very diverse and extensive.  It included composers as diverse as Honegger, d’Indy, Martinu, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Villa-Lobos, and of course Chopin.

Mieczyslaw Horszowski was also a very respected teacher.  Anton Kuerti was one of Horszowski’s students.  Horszowski taught piano until a week before he died at the age of 100.

When Horszowski was 97 years old he gave a solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall.  Here is a clip of him playing a Chopin Nocturne and Etude from that Carnegie Hall recital.  Enjoy!

 

Duruflé: Quatre Motets

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Maurice Duruflé

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Maurice Duruflé was a French composer and organist.  He didn’t write very many works.  Duruflé is most well known as a composer for his Requiem.  He was also a well known performer on the organ and toured internationally.

Duruflé’s four motets are based on gregorian chants taken from the Liber Usualis (a book of prayers, lessons, and chants for important  offices used in the Roman Catholic Church).  The motets are written in a modal style because the chants themselves were written in modes (these are old scales that were used in church music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance period and folk song long before major and minor scales and modern harmony existed in music).

Here is a recording of Maurice Duruflé’s four motets performed by the Laurens Collegium in Rotterdam.  The conductor is Wiecher Mandemaker.

Leonid Kogan – Paganini Sonata for Violin and Guitar, Op 2a

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Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840)

Italian violinist, guitarist, and composer.  Paganini was famous as a violin virtuoso and a composer who helped expand violin technique through works such as the 24 Caprices and 6 violin concertos.  Paganini also composed close to a 100 duets for violin and guitar.  Sadly the duets for violin and guitar have been neglected because most people only know about the 24 Caprices for solo violin and the violin concertos of Paganini.  Paganini’s caprices and concertos were the only works of his published during his lifetime.

Leonid Kogan (1924-1982) was one of the great Soviet violinists of the 20th century.

Here is a recording of Leonid Kogan (violin) and Alexander Ivanov Kramskol (guitar) playing Paganini’s Sonata in A Major, op.2.  Listen how the violin melody cascades in between the guitar chords.  What a beautiful tone that Kogan produces on the violin!

I decided to post this piece because it is a Paganini piece that most people have not heard.  It is also very simple and beautiful.  This music also shows a different side of the composer and virtuoso.  It is not simply virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity, but real music.