Tamezō Narita(1893-1945) was a Japanese composer of classical music. Today he is best known for his song Hamabe no Uta (Song of the Beach) which he composed in 1916. The song became popular among flute players in the West because of a recording that James Galway made in 1979. In 2007 the song was named one of the 100 best songs of Japan. It is still very popular today. Tamezō Narita was born in Akita, Japan and died in Tokyo, Japan.
Here is an arrangement of Hamabe no Uta for cello and piano played by cellist Masatoshi Hirano and pianist Maria Mikulić Śtimac. This is a very beautiful little piece. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.
Johann Strauss Sr. (1804-1849) was the first musician in his family to be famous for composing Viennese Waltzes and German Dances. During the 1830s and 1840s, Johann Strauss Sr. became one of the most famous dance composers in Vienna. With his own orchestra he toured France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, England and Scotland. In 1845 his son Johann Jr. made his debut as a composer of waltzes and other dances and became his father’s competitor. Strauss Sr. became jealous of his son and refused to play at Dommayor’s Casino where he had played many times, and where his son made his debut. In 1848 Johann Strauss Sr. composed his most famous orchestral piece called the Radetzky March (which was dedicated to Austrian Field Marshal Radetzky.) Whenever this piece was played the soldiers would clap and stomp their feet. Today in Vienna that tradition has continued and people clap and stomp their feet whenever the piece is played.
Jonathan Scott
Jonathan Scott is an English organist and pianist. He has travelled all over Europe and Asia playing the organ, and also performs with his brother Tom Scott (a pianist) as part of the Scott Brothers Duo. He has a very popular YouTube channel where he plays his own organ arrangements and well known organ pieces. His brother Tom (when he isn’t performing with his brother Jonathan) does an excellent job making attractive videos of the organs and churches where Jonathan plays in his videos. Here is an organ arrangement by Jonathan Scott of Johann Strauss Sr’s Radetzky March. I hope that you enjoy it.
Ernesto Nazareth was a Brazilian composer and pianist. He is known today for his Brazilian Tangos, but he also wrote waltzes, polkas, habaneras, fox trots, sambas, and other types of dance music for the piano.
Here is a polka by Nazareth called Ameno Reseda. It is played by famous Brazilian pianist Arthur Moriera Lima (who won the 2nd prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition, the 3rd Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition, and the 3rd prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.) I hope that you enjoy this beautiful music.
Edward Elgar was an English composer who (along with other composers) helped bring about a resurrection of English classical music in the 20th Century. English music suffered after the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 and England didn’t have a native born English composer of the importance of Purcell until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton, and Benjamin Britten came along in the 20th Century. Elgar is known for his Enigma Variations, Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Land of Hope and Glory, and a few violin/piano pieces. One of his most famous violin/piano pieces is La Capricieuse.
Here are two very different performances of La Capricieuse by Edward Elgar. The first is by Canadian Grammy award winning violinist James Ehnes and pianist Eduard Laurel, and the second is by famous Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis and pianist Tasso Janopoulo. The James Ehnes performance was released on a DVD called Homage which features him playing various pieces on violins from David Fulton’s collection of expensive violins and violas. Unfortunately the video of James Ehnes seems to have been taken down from YouTube. The Ivry Gitlis performance with pianist Tasso Janopoulo was filmed in 1962. I won’t say anymore because I want people to listen and hear how different the two performances are and decide for themselves which performance they like more.
Sergei Rachmaninov was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor. Rachmaninoff and his family left Russia in 1917 during the Russian Revolution and came to the United States. Rachmaninoff had a busy career as a virtuoso pianist and conductor and composed music in his spare time when he wasn’t busy performing piano concertos with orchestras, doing piano recitals, or conducting.
Rachmaninov composed 24 preludes for the piano. One of his most well known and most beautiful preludes is his Prelude Op. 32, No. 5 in G Major. This prelude with its gently flowing left hand part and beautiful soaring melody is a favourite of many pianists. The great pianist Vladimir Horowitz (a friend of Sergei Rachmaninov) was famous for his interpretations of Rachmaninov’s piano music and often performed it in recitals.
Here is a live performance of Rachmaninov’s Prelude Op. 32, No. 5 in G Major played by Vladimir Horowitz from his famous 1986 recital in Moscow, Russia. I hope that you enjoy this beautiful music.
Johannes Brahms was a German Romantic composer and pianist. He was one of the greatest composers of the 19th Century. Brahms composed music for solo piano, 4 symphonies, chamber music, organ chorale preludes, violin and viola sonatas, and many other works. His first compositions were for the pipe organ. Brahms final compositions were a collection of chorale preludes for the organ. He is most well known for his 21 Hungarian Dances which he originally wrote for orchestra but later arranged for solo piano and four hand duet. Joseph Joachim (a famous violin virtuoso friend of his) later arranged the Hungarian Dances for violin and piano.
Brahms began his music career playing the piano in the red light district of Hamburg, Germany (where he was born.) He had dreams of being an organ virtuoso but discovered early on that the organ is a much harder instrument to master than the piano. Brahms abandoned any dreams of becoming an organ virtuoso and became a piano virtuoso instead.
Here are two very different performances of the Hungarian Dance No. 5 for violin and piano. The first recording of the piece is by classical violinist Aaron Rosand and pianist Hugh Sung. The second recording is a live performance done in a radio station studio by Hungarian Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos and pianist Frantisek Janoska. Roby and Frantisek play the piece in a fiery Hungarian Gypsy style. I will leave it up to you to decide which performance you prefer more. Enjoy.
Claude Debussy was a French composer and pianist. He developed an original system of harmony and musical structure. Debussy’s music has often been referred to as impressionistic (although the composer disliked the term impressionism.) Debussy’s most famous compositions include: Clair de Lune, La fille aux cheveux de lin, The Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun, La Mer, and his opera Pelléas et Mélisande.
Here are two recordings of Claude Debussy’s piece Clair de Lune. The first recording was made by Claude Debussy himself in 1913 on a piano roll. The sound quality is so good it sounds as if it could have been recorded yesterday. The second recording was from a live performance in 1956 by the celebrated interpreter of Debussy’s piano music, Walter Gieseking. Ironically the sound quality in the second recording done by Gieseking is not as good as the sound quality on the piano roll recording. I won’t say any more about the performances featured in this post as I want people to listen to both performances and come to their own conclusions as to which performance they like best. Enjoy.
Ernesto Nazareth was a Brazilian composer and pianist. He is one of Brazil’s most popular composers. Nazareth composed Brazilian tangos, waltzes, polkas, and choros (a popular type of instrumental music that was invented in Rio de Janiero in the 19th Century.) Nazareth had a gift for composing beautiful melodies. His best dance music has an infectious rhythmic drive that makes you want to get up and dance.
Arthur Moreira Lima (1940 -)
Arthur Moreira Lima is a Brazilian classical pianist. In 1965 Arthur won second prize in the International Chopin Competition. He also won the audience prize and a prize for the best sonata performance. He also won prizes in two other major piano competitions: third prize at the 1969 Leeds International Piano Competition, and third prize in the 1970 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has recorded the complete piano music of Chopin, Nazareth, and Cunha. In this post, Arthur Moreira Lima plays Ernesto Nazareth’s Brazilian Tango called Carioca.
Helmut Walcha was a blind German organist, harpsichordist, and composer who played the works of Dutch and German Baroque masters. He is best known for his recordings of the complete organ works of J.S. Bach. Walcha learned music by hearing his wife or someone else play the notes. He then memorized what he heard and worked on it until he could play it and sing each part. He taught his students that to truly know music you have to be able to not only play it but also sing it.
Helmut Walcha composed and published 4 volumes of chorale preludes for the organ (and arrangements of orchestral pieces or organ pieces.) Here is a recording of two Christmas chorale preludes by Helmut Walcha:
Zu Bethlehem geboren (Born in Bethlehem), and Den die Hirten lobten sehre (Whom the Shepherds Praised Dearly) played by organist Wolfgang Rübsam.
Dieterich Buxtehude was a Danish-German Baroque composer and organist. He composed a wide variety of vocal music and instrumental music. Today he is best known for his organ music (which is a major part of the standard organ repertoire.) Buxtehude’s style of composition influenced many composers (especially Johann Sebastian Bach.) Bach famously travelled about 250 miles to learn from Buxtehude and to hear him play.
Buxtehude composed chorale preludes based on German hymn tunes for the church. He also composed organ preludes written in the form of fugues (and it is for these organ preludes that he is best known.) Buxtehude’s organ preludes are the pinnacle of the North German style of organ composition during his time. They are composed in what is known as stylus phantasticus (a style of composition that sounds like an improvisation and is characterized by short contrasting episodes and a free form.)
Harald Vogel – organist (1941 -)
Harald Vogel is a German organist, author, and expert on Renaissance and Baroque keyboard music (especially North German Baroque music and North German Baroque pipe organs.) In 1983 Harald Vogel recorded the complete organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude. Here is a recording of Buxtehude’s Prelude in C Major (BuxWV 138). I hope that you enjoy listening to it.
Musical Treats 