Category Archives: classical

ANTONIO SOLER: Fandango in D minor – Scott Ross harpsichord

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Antonio Soler (1729-1783)

A Catalan composer and organist.  Studied with the famous Italian harpsichordist and composer Domenico Scarlatti.  Soler is best known for his 120 keyboard sonatas.  He also wrote six quintets for organ and strings, concertos for two organs, solo works for organ, over 300 vocal works, and a treatise on modulation.

A Fandango was a courtship dance of Castille and Andalusia.  Fandangos were written in triple time and were moderately fast.  The Fandango was a popular dance in the 18th century and was used in dramatic music.  Many composers wrote fandangos.  Domenico Scarlatti, Boccherini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Albeniz, Granados, and de Falla composed Fandangos.

Scott Ross (1951-1989)

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist.  He won first prize at a competition in Bruges in 1971.  Scott Ross was also a music teacher and taught at the University of Laval, Quebec.  He recorded music by Francois Couperin, G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, G, Frescobaldi, d/Anglebert, and D. Scarlatti.  Scott Ross was the first to record all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord sonatas.  He died in 1989 from Aids.

Here is a recording of a Fandango by Antonio Soler.  It is played by Scott Ross.

 

Felix Mendelssohn – Violin Sonata in F minor, Op. 4

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Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Felix Mendelssohn is a German 19th century composer.  Mendelssohn was a prolific composer.  He composed dramatic music, choral music, Vocal music, orchestral music, chamber music, and piano music. Today he is known among music lovers for his Violin Concerto in e minor, oratorio Elijah, Octet, Symphony no 4. ‘Italian’, and Songs without Words for piano solo.

The Violin Sonata in f minor, op.4 is one of three sonatas that Mendelssohn wrote for violin and piano.  It was written in 1823 when the composer was in his early teens.

Shlomo Mintz – violinist (1957 -) Shlomo Mintz is one of the 20th century’s greatest violinists.   He has performed with many of the great orchestras and great conductors.  He also performs quite regularly in chamber music concerts and recitals.

Paul Ostrovsky – pianist

Paul Ostrovsky has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls and has appeared at important music festivals including Tanglewood and the Salzburg Festival.

Enjoy!

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!

 

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.

 

W. A . Mozart : Fantasie in F minor for organ

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known as a child prodigy (as a performer and as a composer). He played the piano, viola, violin, harpsichord, and organ. Mozart began composing around the age of 5.  He is known today for works such as the “Eine Kliene Nachtmusik” suite, the “Jupiter” Symphony, his piano sonatas, and his Requiem among other works.

Mozart also composed pieces for the pipe organ.  Mozart only wrote a few organ compositions, and among those compositions the Fantasie in f minor is a masterpiece.  The Fantasie is a massive piece that can hold its own alongside the great organ works of J.S. Bach.  It is a very difficult piece to play musically.  Listen to all the changes  of mood and the various tonal colours the organist in this recording gets out of the organ.

Here is a recording of Mozart’s Fantasie in f minor for pipe organ.  I am not sure who is playing the piece in this recording.  I hope you enjoy this piece.

Johann Schobert – Piano Concerto

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Johann Schobert (c.1735-1767) was a harpsichordist, fortepianist, and composer. He was an important influence on the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart borrowed melodies from movements of Schobert’s harpsichord sonatas and used them in some of his earliest piano concertos. He also borrowed other musical ideas from Schobert and built on those ideas in his earliest piano sonatas.

Here is a recording of Johann Schobert’s Piano Concerto in G major.

Horowitz plays Joseph Haydn Sonata in F major Hob. XVI 23

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Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was an Austrian composer.  He has often been referred to as the the “Father of the Symphony” and the “Father of the String Quartet.”  Haydn wrote about 104 symphonies and 80 string quartets.  He also wrote music for the church, large scale works for orchestra, soloists, and choruses (such as masses and oratorios), and around 50 piano sonatas.  It has been said that when he had an idea for a composition (whatever the instrumentation) he would sit down at the keyboard and improvise and work out musical ideas.

For over 30 years Haydn worked for the Esterhazy family.  In 1790, Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy died.  Haydn was invited to go to London, England by the impresario J.P. Salomon.  It was only once he was out of the Esterhazy court and in London that Haydn received his first real recognition, and gratitude from people for all the fruits of his labour.

Works by Joseph Haydn and his brother Michael Haydn (also a composer) have been unjustly neglected and overshadowed by other composers such as W.A. Mozart.

Some of the music by Joseph Haydn and Michael Haydn is very interesting and in some ways better than some of W.A. Mozart’s music.

Here is a recording of two movements of a Haydn Piano Sonata played by the famous Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz live in Carnegie Hall in 1966.

Horowitz plays Haydn (1):

Horowitz plays Haydn (2):

Beethoven – Fünf Stücke für Flötenuhr

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer and piano virtuoso.  He is known by many classical music lovers as the composer of the famous 5th Symphony and the 9th Symphony with its ‘Ode to Joy.’

After Beethoven’s death, musicologists discovered five pieces by Beethoven for musical clock or mechanical organ.

Musical clocks were very popular in the 18th and 19th century among aristocrats.  J. Haydn, W.A. Mozart, and G.F. Handel also wrote music for musical clocks.

Here is Beethoven’s suite, Fünf Stücke für Flötenuhr:

  1. Allegro non più molto
  2. Allegretto
  3. Adagio assai
  4. Scherzo, allegro
  5. Allegro

Joseph Boulogne – Violin Concertos

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Joseph Boulogne (1745-1799), was a black violin virtuoso, swordsman, equestrian, composer and conductor who was an important musical figure in Paris during the second half of the eighteenth century.  He wrote music similar in style to his contemporaries W.A. Mozart and J. Haydn.  He was also known as le Chevalier de Saint-Georges.  Marie-Antoinette was very fond of his music.

Here is a recording of Joseph Boulogne’s Violin Concerto in D Major.  It is performed by the renowned early music ensemble Tafelmusik.  The violin soloist is Linda Melsted. This recording is from a DVD and CD set entitled “Le Mozart Noir, The Life and Music of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges.” The first audio file is the first movement of the concerto.  The second audio file is the 2nd and 3rd movements of the concerto.