Cool stuff, Lilo. I was aware of Elizabeth's relation to The Godfather b/c I've heard TB and the guys talk about it in the GF forums, but I haven't seen it. I'm sure you're familiar with Milo Forman's Academy Award winning film from 1984, "Amadeus", a film that in addition to winning best picture, had a rare double nomination for Best Actors with Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham. It's a somewhat fictionalized account of Mozart's life, but is ranked as one of the top 50 movies of all time by AFI.
The movie's version of Mozart's life plays out with his death at the hands of his own creativity, as basically, he is commissioned (under false and malicious pretenses by fellow composer Antonio Salieri) to write the requiem, and b/c he so entranced himself into his art, life, and work, in order to write the perfect death score he would have to experience death himself - as if one would have to truly know death in order to write about it.
Very powerful:
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#560706 11/18/0910:00 PM11/18/0910:00 PM
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings The Merry Widow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jRkp6Ucho&NR=1# You Opera fans (Tb, dt, SB, Danito, etc.) will especially enjoy this one. One of the best mezzo sopranos ever performing (live) a song made famous in Classic Hollywood from the film "The Merry Widow," originally sung by Jeannette McDonald.
Claude Debussy - Sacred and Profane Dances http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k_JgPV2jGE Ditto. Amber Burdick plays harp with the Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra.
Charles Howells - Spotless Rose (Chorale) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWFKSWdWk4&feature=related "A hymm to the Virgin Mary" Performed by The Giltspur Singers (Conductor: Christopher Maxim) perform Herbert Howells's 'A Spotless Rose' (Baritone solo: Christopher Goodwin) at their Christmas Concert at St Clement Danes, The Strand, London;
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4bx4r1VeQ "...a parable attributed to Jesus that is reported only in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 16:19-16:31). It is also known as "The Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus." The wealthy man is traditionally called "Dives", after the Latin word for "rich man" (though in the Biblical text he is only referred to as the rich man).[1] The story has been a favorite for artists and theologians, as it is the most vivid account of the afterlife to be found in the New Testament."
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#560720 11/19/0902:16 AM11/19/0902:16 AM
Kiri Kanawa sings "Porgi Amor," from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.
Even if you're the type who thinks you could NEVER, ever stomach Opera, The Marriage of Figaro may very well change your mind. This is just one of those pieces where the acting and music come together so brilliantly that it becomes a must see for even the most casual spectator of the performing arts.
And Porgi Amor is really one of the ultimate all-time love songs:
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#560801 11/19/0911:13 PM11/19/0911:13 PM
We recently drove to a Scottsdale movie theater to see the Metropolitan Opera's live HD broadcast of "Turandot." This is a Franco Zeferelli production that we saw several years ago at the Met in NYC. "Turandot" is not one of Puccini's greatest operas, IMO, but Zeferelli's production is irresistably lavish and entertaining. Watching it in the theater, even though it was broadcast live, was more of a "movie" experience than "live." But the other side was that the camera work enabled us to see the close-up acting that you can't really focus in on when you're sitting in the audience at the Met. Plus, the backstage interviews were highly amusing. And the price was right. Overall, a very enjoyable experience. We plan to go back in May for Rossini's "Armida."
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#560804 11/19/0911:29 PM11/19/0911:29 PM
i'm not exactly well versed in classical music, but like is often the case, my love of movies gives me a little exposure. 'a clockwork orange' and '2001: a space odyssey' are both beautiful soundtracks and a get a good listen in my house.
in particular the space station scenes in 2001 with strauss' the blue danube playing are some of the best imagery/music combos i've ever seen.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: injektilo*]
#571727 04/13/1005:45 AM04/13/1005:45 AM
I really like the version that the Modern Jazz Quartet did with the Swingle Swingers but this one is also pretty good..
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#577692 07/19/1010:12 AM07/19/1010:12 AM
Very nice, Lilo. I hope to get as many types of music in this thread as possible!
Injecktilo - some friends are I were discussing just the other day how classical music resonates into so many artworks you'd never suspect ranging from Bugs Bunny cartoons to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "A Clockwork Orange" as you said, which uses Beethoven's legendary 9th symphany for virtually it's ENTIRE score! -- And a fun little side-note I've often heard to Strauss' Blue Danube concerns the meaning of 'Blue,' which would most likely mean sad, or glum; but in fact, means blue as in "bubbly," or DRUNK!
TB - I got to see 'La Boheme' at opening night last year at the Austin Lyric Opera; it was very good, a strong performance considering it was opening night but I wasn't all to familiar with the story going in so it's hard for me to rate the opera as a whole. I'm glad you and your wife have a venue to view those amazing new HD live and up-close performances, perhaps even better than the real thing, ya? And now Opera season is just right around the corner!
*** Haven't updated this thread in ages, so I have to make up for lost time here. (And remember you can listen to classical music free at www.kmfa.org at any time of the day. In addition to regular programing the station offers various live performances from places like the Met, the Concertgebouw in Holland, amongst a bevy of other programs throughout the week--I'll post a schedule later.)
Franz Schubert - Ave Maria (Trinity College Cambridge Choir) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_AaMU3OME This is one of my favorite versions of Ave Maria I've heard in some time. It's a more tranquil and less "agitato" rendition than what usually accompanies this piece. This has a much more organic sound about it and I really think this version, sung by the Trinity College (Cambridge) Choir, is the way Schubert intended it to be sung.
Miserere Mei Deus - Kings College Chapel Choir http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL3POaATn8&feature=related Legend has it that Allegri's Miserere was so beautiful it was only allowed to be performed inside the walls of the Vatican (as were many of the works inside the Church) and any person taking the manuscript of the music outside its walls was subject to excommunication. The story goes that the 14 yr old Mozart, after only one hearing, was able to write it down entirely on memory and sent it to England to be published. The Pope was so amazed at Mozart's musical retention that he forgave him. And Allegri's miserere now belongs to the world because of Mozart.
Jan Lucker paints Arnold Bax http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVmLxOypgfE Love the music of Arnold Bax; and I like how this video shows a synthesis of two seemingly different art forms.
Aaron Copland's Our Town http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKimMVY7DXw Not the greatest version ever, but one of my favorites from one of America's best and most influential composers.
Gustav Holst - The Planets Op.32 Jupiter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NopU9K_8M My favorite of "The Planets." "The concept of the work is astrological[3] rather than astronomical (which is why Earth is not included). The idea was suggested to Holst by Clifford Bax, who introduced him to astrology; Holst became quite a devotee of the subject, and liked to cast friends' horoscopes for fun.[3][4] Each movement is intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the influence of the planets on the psyche, not the Roman deities."
Maurice Ravel - Pavane for Dead Princess (Gian-Philip Toro conducts from the Collégiale Notre Dame) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dckOerDVTa8&feature=related I can't decide if I love this music or just think it's so-so and unfulfilling to that which it sets out accomplish...and this seems to be the consensus among music fans. "Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court". The Pavane was warmly welcomed by the public, but received much more subdued reviews from Ravel's fellow musicians. Indeed, Ravel himself complained that it "lacked daring". Subsequent performances tended to be much too slow and plodding. In one instance, Ravel attended just such a performance, and afterward mentioned to the pianist that it was called "Pavane for a Dead Princess", not "Dead Pavane for a Princess". This is one of those works that remains up for debate on many points. What do you think???
For The Love of a Princess from the film "Braveheart" (Harp) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7mqjZEEO4 There's just something that's absolutely fascinating and enchanting about the harp.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No 17 in G major, KV 129 - 2. Andante http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8knFqzFMq6M&feature=related Light and airy Mozart; this song really captures that old South German-North Austrian sound at it's best.
Mozart Symphony 38 D Major 'Prague Symphony' (1/4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IulPPkoU03k&feature=related "Although Mozarts popularity among the Viennese waxed and waned, he was consistently popular among the Bohemians and had a devoted following in Prague. A piece appearing in the Prager Neue Zeitung shortly after Mozarts death expresses this sentiment: "Mozart seems to have written for the people of Bohemia, his music is understood nowhere better than in Prague, and even in the countryside it is widely loved." The Prague Symphony was written in gratitude for their high esteem."..."Most classical period scholars acknowledge that 20th century tempi were much to slow in regards to the classical repertoire. This is borne out by writings and the metronome markings left to us in writings by contemporaries such as Spohr." That last statement explains exactly why it's so hard to find an accurate performance of a classical work. Today's musicians simply can't keep up with the speed that was played in those days. Which is why it's so very difficult to find an accurate playing of Mozart's Prague Symphony, but this performance is one of the best I've found on youtube.
Vaclav Talich conducts A.Dvorak Slavonic dance No. 11 F major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPpK84On2...t=1&index=9 There are two series of Dvorak's Slavonic dances. The first (op. 46) includes dances 1 to 8. The second (op. 72) includes dances 9 to 16. I love ALL of them for various reasons; some are very tranquil and meloncoly, others are loud and vivacious dances sound taken straight from the Bohemian forest. I like 11 the best probably b/c when I hear I can actually picture a Bohemian peasant couple shuffling around the dance floor.
Bedrick Smetana - Vltava (Moldau) by Czech PO & Ashkenazy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8G9qHNS68s&feature=related Written during a time when Czechoslavakia was under the rule of the Hapsburg Empire, struggling to maintain its sense of culture and language, this is a song from Smetana that is often synonymous with Czech pride and heritage.
Lorin Hollander-Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.5 3rdMovement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCyJ_13RrBM&feature=related This entire piece is one that I enjoy putting on in the evenings around dinner time, but this 3rd movement is my favorite. (And notice the Burgess Meredith-"Mick" from ROCKY-appearance in this video. Haha)
George Gershwin: An American in Paris (New York Philharmonic Orchestra in North Korea) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUfI6v6SwL4 An American in Paris performed in North Korea; speaks to the power of music.
Short Trip Home (Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell, Mike Marshall, & Sam Bush) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBBCF9hxBUI Not a huge fan of post-classical, but these guys are an exception.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#579422 08/18/1007:18 PM08/18/1007:18 PM
Dmitri Shostakovich - Waltz 2 Russian Waltz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX1fiE0U1qA&feature=related Haha this waltz from Dmitri Shostakovich is just entirely too much fun listening to and singing along with. Probably my favorite piece from my favorite Russian composer. (And Andre Rieu seriously has to be one of the best violinists in the history of the universe.)
"The Ludlow" from Legends Of The Fall (1994) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0nzi0QasKQ Another score from a film starring Brad Pitt, "The Ludlow" is part of the beautiful score that drew serious acclaim from classical music circles; truly a classic piece (the music, too).
Classical/guitar, Jim Greeninger, Recuerdos de la Alhambra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzKsNIRrV4 This is a classical guitar piece composed in 1896 by Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega that's really become one of the signature pieces of classic guitar -- fans of "The Sopranos" might recognize this one (6A I think, the scene where the Italian gunmen fly back to Italy after killing the Frankie Vallie character.)
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#579438 08/19/1006:59 AM08/19/1006:59 AM
I don't think I've heard Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring played at that tempo before? Do you know why they made that choice?
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#579532 08/20/1012:03 PM08/20/1012:03 PM
I always found these lyrics very amusing and very modern. The sergeant of police is supposed to be a bass voice, which it's often not in productions these days. Too much soy in the diet???
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#579535 08/20/1012:11 PM08/20/1012:11 PM
since we're updating, I'd add to my favorites all of Rossini's overtures, and almost anything by J.S. Bach, IMO the greatest musical genius for whom we have a record. Interestingly, Bach was famous in his time for being the greatest living organist, and his matchless keyboard compositions were viewed as accessories to his playing genius. Of all his interpreters, my favorite is the late, great, flamboyant Virgil Fox. He was also a brilliant interpreter of Caesar Franck's organ compositions. Fox's version of Franck's "Final in B Flat" is the tops.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#580592 09/07/1010:18 PM09/07/1010:18 PM
Lilo - The Pirates of Penzanze is absolutely one of my favorite operas as well. God, I haven't been to the theatre in ages.
Pb - "It's so sad. All your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons.."--Elaine to Jerry in 'Seinfeld'
Tb - how very interesting that the same composer considered the master of the liturgical pipe organ would also be the name most closely associated with "Baroque pop" (a style of music originated in the mid-1960s that brought elements of classical music into the writing and recording of rock 'n' roll songs). His matchless keyboard compositions and timeless melodies still resonate today and remain essential.
You guys have probably forgotten more than I know about class music and I want to correct myself when I earlier labeled Alexander Borodin's PRINCE IGOR a Russian ballet, b/c more technically it's a Ukranian ballet I think. It was written with Borodin's "Kazak Raz Peresekli Dunai?" or A Cossack Once Crossed the Danube. I've never been to the Bolshoi ballet but these dances are a standard performance.
The ballet tells the story of how the Cossacks mystified the Russian Empire as they integrated their Eastern, Cossack lifestyle into the world of Western Russian society. The beautiful, dreamy dance sequence of the Cossack princesses juxtaposed with the ferocious march and dance of the Cossack warriors -- it's quite a scene!
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#580593 09/07/1010:21 PM09/07/1010:21 PM
I've always loved the ballet, btw. I think the reason that so many professional football and basketball players take up ballet during and after their careers is because just like those respective sports, ballet and dance are all about spacing, footwork, and timing.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#580596 09/07/1010:31 PM09/07/1010:31 PM
We were lucky enough to see "Swan Lake" at the Met in the Sixties with Nureyev and Fontayne. Unforgettable.
Interesting (to me) sidelight: Martin Scorsese makes brilliant use of music in his films. He used the very familiar Intermezzo from "Cavalleria Rusticana" during the credits, then segued to Forties and Fifties pop. But he used music from two obscure (in America) Mascagni operas: The Barcarole from "Stefano" during the color films of some of his fights, Joey's wedding, throwing Vickie in the swimming pool; and the Intermezzo from "Guglielmo Ratcliff" in the opening of the scene where Joey meets Tommy Como. What's more, all three Mascagni pieces were played by Orchestra of Bologna Municop, conducted by Arturo Basile; and I haven't been able to find those pieces by them anywhere except on the "Raging Bull" double CD.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#580663 09/08/1003:53 PM09/08/1003:53 PM
We were lucky enough to see "Swan Lake" at the Met in the Sixties with Nureyev and Fontayne. Unforgettable.
SO jealous!!! I saw the Royal Ballet perform it at Lincoln Center in the 1980s. It was wonderful, but I would have given anything to see Nureyev and Fontayne.
President Emeritus of the Neal Pulcawer Fan Club
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#580767 09/10/1002:59 PM09/10/1002:59 PM
[quote=Lilo]I really like the version that the Modern Jazz Quartet did with the Swingle Swingers but this one is also pretty good.. [\quote] We were fortunate to see MJQ several times in the Village in the early '60's. They played with absolute Swiss-watch precision. My hero was bassist Percy Heath, who would take the stage with his music stand and bow. He anchored the group. They also had some notable collaborations, my favorite was with Laurindo Almeida.
[
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#580770 09/10/1003:35 PM09/10/1003:35 PM
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#580771 09/10/1003:39 PM09/10/1003:39 PM
Haha I love it. Mr. Turnbull was sporting his leather jacket and doing his best Brando in '54 when "The Wild One" came to his local movie house, then I guess he grew out his hair in the sixties and hung out with the 'hipsters' in Greenwich village. Oh, but ain't that America.
I would have loved to have seen a Leonard Bernstein conducted symphony at the Met back in the 60's, btw. There's something about Orchestra Conductor that absolutely fascinates and bewilders me. It's really one of the only positions in the world that is still a sort-of medieval craft, like that of an apothecary or something, one that can only truly be learned if studied under instruction from someone who's 'in the club' so to speak. It's been passed down through the generations and Bernstein was really one of the last of the true 'old masters' who learned under the same tutelage and hierarchy of instructors that were put in the place by the original masters of music from the late medieval and dark ages. He represented a synthesis of the old and new though I think, and he was really one of the great 'troubled artists' of the age. Does anyone have a Bernstein story to share? He's really one of the reasons I got into classical music.
And I recommend giving a listen to some of these great voices of classical music and opera that Turnbull mentioned in another thread:
Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Among opera singers (no particular order): Jussi Bjoerling Leontyne Price Renata Tebaldi Joan Sutherland Beniamino Gigli Anna Moffo Mario Sereni Victoria de los Angeles The young Luciano Pavarotti
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#580795 09/10/1009:17 PM09/10/1009:17 PM
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#581076 09/15/1001:20 PM09/15/1001:20 PM
Tb - how very interesting that the same composer considered the master of the liturgical pipe organ would also be the name most closely associated with "Baroque pop" (a style of music originated in the mid-1960s that brought elements of classical music into the writing and recording of rock 'n' roll songs). His matchless keyboard compositions and timeless melodies still resonate today and remain essential.
Ice, there's a famous (for its day) story about Bach's prowess:
In 1717, Louis Marchand, considered the greatest keyboardist in France, was visiting Saxony and agreed to take part in an organ improvisation contest with Bach. The night before the contest, he sneaked into the church where Bach was practicing. After a few minutes of listening, he fled back to France. No contest!
I have a theory about Jesu and other of Bach's (and other classical organists') religious music:
The pipe organ is "the king of instruments." And, in Bach's day and afterward, the masters of the organ were the greatest and most famous musicians of their day. But, all the organs were in churches--and the local bishops controlled access to the king of instruments. So, my theory goes, Bach and others may or may not have been religious, but in order to get access to the organ, they had to put churchy titles on their compositions. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" may have been Bach's equivalent of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," but "Jesu" rang the bishop's chimes. Similarly, Marchand's "Grand Jeu" would have made a perfect processional for his bishop on Easter Sunday.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#581244 09/18/1006:53 AM09/18/1006:53 AM
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" may have been Bach's equivalent of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," but "Jesu" rang the bishop's chimes. Similarly, Marchand's "Grand Jeu" would have made a perfect processional for his bishop on Easter Sunday.
I'm pretty sure that Bach really was very religious. On the other hand he hardly came into contact with non-religious literature. He owned very few books, most of them religious. His non-religious works are based on simple folk-style lyrics, even the modern-topic coffee-cantata.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Danito]
#581422 09/21/1002:42 PM09/21/1002:42 PM
Yes, Bach probably was quite religious,though I don't think his best known organ work, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, has anything churchy about it. I agree about the folk melodies--especially the "little book" he composed for his wife.
Then again, the brilliant Caesar Franck was the house organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, but saved his creative energies for evening sessions with his friends and admirers, including Aristide Cavaille-Coll, the master organ builder. I always heard a distinctly Art Nouveau quality in his major organ works.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Turnbull]
#581467 09/22/1005:46 AM09/22/1005:46 AM
This almost sounds like a clavichord or harpsichord instead of an ukulele.
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Danito]
#582659 10/08/1001:22 PM10/08/1001:22 PM
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" may have been Bach's equivalent of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," but "Jesu" rang the bishop's chimes. Similarly, Marchand's "Grand Jeu" would have made a perfect processional for his bishop on Easter Sunday.
I'm pretty sure that Bach really was very religious. On the other hand he hardly came into contact with non-religious literature. He owned very few books, most of them religious. His non-religious works are based on simple folk-style lyrics, even the modern-topic coffee-cantata.
Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Yes, Bach probably was quite religious,though I don't think his best known organ work, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, has anything churchy about it. I agree about the folk melodies--especially the "little book" he composed for his wife.
I've always found fascinating studying the relationship between the church and the music that came to be associated with church liturgy. Some composers like Mozart were bound to the archbishop of the region no matter what their own personal thoughts on religion might have been, while composers like Schubert (Ave Maria) and Bach seemed to perhaps have had a natural penchant for the ecclesiastical in a time when the Church obviously played a huge role in daily life especially in Germany and Austria during time of Hapsburgs.
Bach's Toccata indeed sounds like something one would hear at a haunted house at Halloween time more so than in a church setting, but then again I guess they're not so different and it's completely conceivable that the church simply absorbed the music within the walls of the vatican with all of the other beautiful melodies that were supposedly divinely inspired.
Bach's Toccata is arubaly still one of the most recognizable sounds in music, though. Last year one of my local concert halls did a Halloween special completely based on pipe organ music, mostly from Bach. The story-high collection of pipes and tubing is still truly a modern marvel IMO.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Lilo]
#582660 10/08/1001:22 PM10/08/1001:22 PM
Anne Akiko Meyers performs Autumn in New York http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZP6WdRjFv0 A classic tune set to violin; this is one of the best performances I've ever heard. Anne Meyers is simply amazing.
Antonin Dvorak "Song to the moon" Rusalka Gala http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLUY2HEgIc&feature=related Possibly the most beautiful piece of music I've ever heard, you'd be hardpressed to find a better rendition than that of Milada Subrtova singing in her native Czech. So pretty.
If You Were Coming In The Fall (Music set to the poetry of Emily Dickinson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqB7lVvd2t0&feature=related Combining classical music with poetry is a common practice in the arts world, often with the poetry of masters such as Emily Dickinson. This is a collaboration done by a friend of mine who actually won the poetry-classical music competition at his school last year...'If you were coming in the fall, I'd brush the summer by With half a smile and half a spurn, As housewives do a fly. If I could see you in a year, I'd wind the months in balls, And put them each in separate drawers, Until their time befalls.'
Theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Elmer Bernstein) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t98LWNwUhI I love how classic music, literature and film often come together. This is one of my favorite scores ever and one of my favorite stories as well. At the story's end when Scout says "Boo Radley (played by Robert Duvall) finally came out of his house that summer" as the music hits its peak, is one of my favorite moments in Cinematic and Literary history. All enhanced by the power of the music.
Re: Classical Music Symposium
[Re: Ice]
#584897 11/04/1001:10 AM11/04/1001:10 AM
One of Turnbull's favorites passed away a few weeks ago The most "colorful" soprano of all-time.
Soprano Joan Sutherland dead at 83
A soprano called "La Stupenda" by her Italian fans, Miss Sutherland was acclaimed from her native Australia to North America and Europe for the wide range of roles she took on during a career that spanned four decades. But she was particularly praised for her singing of operas by Handel and 19th-century Italian composers.
Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who joined with Marilyn Horne in Miss Sutherland's farewell gala recital at Covent Garden in London on Dec. 31, 1990, called her "the greatest coloratura soprano of all time."
The term, derived from "color," refers to a soprano with a high range and the vocal agility to sing brilliant trills and rapid passages.
Miss Sutherland's purity of tone and brilliant vocal display made her pre-eminent in the revival of Italian bel canto operas, taking on the mantle of Maria Callas.
Miss Sutherland started singing as a small child, crouching under the piano and copying her mother, Muriel Alston Sutherland, "a talented singer with a glorious mezzo-soprano voice," according to Miss Sutherland's biographer, Norma Major, wife of former British Prime Minister John Major.
"I was able from the age of 3 to imitate her scales and exercises," she wrote in her autobiography. "As she was a mezzo-soprano, I worked very much in the middle area of my voice, learning the scales and arpeggios and even the dreaded trill without thinking about it. The birds could trill, so why not I?
"I even picked up her songs and arias and sang them by ear, later singing duets with her — Manrico to her Azucena. I always had a voice."
This is one of those works that remains up for debate on many points. What do you think??? 
