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Saint-Saëns - Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) (1886)
Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) (1886)
I. Introduction et marche royale du lion (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion) [0:00]
II. Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters) [1:58]
III. Hémiones - animaux véloces (Wild Asses - quick animals) [2:42]
IV. Tortues (Tortoises) [3:22]
V. L'éléphant (The Elephant) [5:24]
VI. Kangourous (Kangaroos) [6:55]
VII. Aquarium [7:51]
VIII. Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with Long Ears) [9:58]
IX. Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods) [10:35]
X. Volière (Aviary) [12:40]
XI. Pianistes (Pianists) [13:52]
XII. Fossiles (Fossils) [15:15]
XIII. Le cygne (The Swan) [16:41]
XIV. Finale [19:40]
This is a famous musical suite by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), written while on vacation in Austria in 1886. It is scored for a chamber ensemble of flute/piccolo, clarinet (B flat and C), two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass - in this recording, a full orchestral string section is used, and instead of the glass harmonica, there is a glockenspiel. Saint-Saëns believed that the work was too frivolous to publish during his lifetime, and for this reason, he only gave private performances to his close friends. He left a provision for it to be published posthumously, so the Carnival of the Animals only received a formal premiere one year after the composer's death.
Each of the fourteen movements depicts a different animal, often with plenty of humour and wit. The first is the majestic march of the king of the animals - the lion - played by strings and pianos. The low, rumbling octave figure passed between the pianos is, of course, the lion's mighty roar. The second movement (for pianos, clarinet, violins and violas) sees hens and roosters squawking while pecking at grains on the ground. The distinctive theme played by the piano is the rooster's "cock a doodle doo" call. Next, Tibetan wild asses - portrayed by the two pianos in unison - gallop frenetically through the scene. In contrast, the next movement for strings and piano depicts the slow, laborious movement of tortoises. This satirical section takes its main theme from the famous Galop infernal (or the can-can) in Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld" - but it is played exceedingly slowly. Then, the double bass and piano play a pompous, heavy-handed dance for the elephant. The thematic material derives from the scherzo in Mendelssohn's incidental music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the ballet of the sylphs in Berlioz's "The Damnation of Faust". The brief sixth movement sees two pianos play an abrupt, bouncy figure depicting hopping kangaroos. Next, we find ourselves inside the shimmering water of an aquarium full of graceful fish. This movement is played by strings, pianos, flute, and glockenspiel. The pianos play a high rolling ostinato - one in decuplets and the other in sextuplets. There follows a short movement for violins that sound like braying donkeys; perhaps Saint-Saëns meant the donkeys to represent asinine music critics. Next, the pianos and an offstage clarinet play a slow movement where a cuckoo's call breaks the quiet of the woods. The tenth movement for flute, piano and strings depicts an aviary abuzz with quiet activity, over which a tropical bird (the flute) sings a melody full of trills and scales. Then, we see a very different type of animal - pianists (who, after all, are primates). The two pianists awkwardly practice scale patterns similar to those found in Hanon exercises. The whole time, they stumble over notes and break unison - evidently they need more practice. Three loud unresolved chords lead into the next movement for strings, pianos, clarinet and xylophone, depicting fossils. The hollow sound of the xylophone evokes bones clacking together. The melody is from Saint-Saëns' "Danse macabre", the dance of skeletons. Other musical allusions in this movement include "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (a.k.a. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"), "Partant pour la Syrie", the nursery rhymes "Au clair de la lune" and "J'ai du bon tabac", and a snippet from the aria "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". The series of allusions is itself a musical joke, since these old tunes are cultural fossils. The penultimate movement played by the cello and pianos shows the graceful gliding of a swan over a rippling lake. This very well-known section has become a stand-alone staple of the cello repertoire as well as the brief Fokine ballet "The Dying Swan". Last comes the finale for the full ensemble, where themes from previous movements are reprised and combined to close the suite with excitement and panache.
Pianists: Vivian Troon, Roderick Elms
Conductor: Andrea Licata
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Magnificent Counterpoint in the Finale of Mozart's Jupiter Symphony
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Richard Atkinson analyzes the magnificent counterpoint in the finale of Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, no. 41 in C major, K. 551, culminating in the coda, during which 5 of the previously introduced themes are combined at once, in five-part invertible counterpoint. This is a fair use educational commentary that uses excerpts from a recording by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, directed by Sir Neville Marriner.
00:00 - Exposition section
06:46 - Development section
09:12 - Recapitulation section
11:54 - Coda section (with 5-part invertible counterpoint)
The Best of Tchaikovsky
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Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto Op. 35: https://youtu.be/NNrboKDmGno
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THE BEST OF TCHAIKOVSKY
1. Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 - Allegro non troppo 00:00
2. Eugene Onegin: Act III. Polonaise 08:56
3. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor "Pathetique": Adagio - Allegro non troppo 14:00
4. Violin Concerto, Op. 35: II. Andante 33:15
5. Slavonic March (Marche Slave), Op. 31 40:06
6. 1812 Overture 50:50
7. The Nutcracker: Miniature Ouverture 1:06:46
8. The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy 1:10:13
9. The Nutcracker: Valzer dei Fiori 1:12:04
10. The Sleeping Beauty Op. 66: Ouverture 1:18:43
11. Swan Lake: Dance of the Swans 1:21:31
12. Swan Lake: Waltz in A Major 1:30:17
13. Swan Lake: Scene from Act 2 1:37:51
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All the best classical music ever on Halidon Music Youtube Channel: The Best Classical Music Playlist Mix, The Best Classical Music For Studying, Classical Music For Reading, Classical Music For Concentration, Classical Music for Sleeping and Relaxation, Instrumental Music, Background Music, Opera Music, Piano, Violin & Orchestral Masterpieces by the greatest composers of all time.
The very best of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Schubert, Handel, Liszt, Haydn, Strauss, Verdi, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, Rossini, Ravel, Grieg, Ravel, Dvorák…
#classicalmusic #classical #tchaikovsky
The Best of Händel
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THE BEST OF HANDEL
Concerto Grosso Op. 6
No. 1, in G Major II. Allegro
No. 1, in G Major III. Adagio
No. 1, in G Major IV. Allegro
No. 1, in G Major V. Allegro
No. 2, in F Major I. Andante Larghetto
No. 2, in F Major II. Allegro
No. 2, in F Major III. Largo
No. 2, in F Major IV. Allegro ma non troppo
No. 3, in E Major I. Larghetto
No. 3, in E Major II. Andante
No. 3, in E Major III. Allegro
No. 3, in E Major IV. Polonaise, Andante
No. 3, in E Major V. Allegro ma non troppo
No. 4, in A Minor I. Laghetto affettuoso
No. 4, in A Minor II. Allegro
No. 4, in A Minor III. Largo e piano
No. 4, in A Minor IV. Allegro
Water Music
Suite No. 1, in F Major I. Overture
Suite No. 1, in F Major II. Adagio e Staccato
Suite No. 1, in F Major III. Minuet
Suite No. 1, in F Major IV. Aria
Suite No. 1, in F Major V. Minuet
Suite No. 1, in F Major VI. Bouree
Suite No. 1, in F Major VII. Hornipipe
Suite No. 1, in F Major VIII. Allegro
Suite No. 2, in D Major I. Allegro
Suite No. 2, in D Major II. Alla Hornpipe
Suite No. 2, in D Major III. Minuet
Suite No. 2, in D Major IV. Lento
Suite No. 2, in D Major V. Bouree
Suite No. 3, in G Major I. Allegro
Suite No. 3, in G Major II. Rigaudon 1:Corona
Suite No. 3, in G Major III. Minuet
Suite No. 3, in G Major IV. Minuet
Suite No. 3, in G Majo V. Allegro
Suite No. 3, in G Major VI. Allegro
Rinaldo, HWV 7: Act II "Lascia Ch'io Pianga"
Serse, HWV 40: Act I "Ombra Mai Fu"
Messiah, HWV 56: Chorus "For unto us a Child is Born"
Zadok the Priest, HWV 258 ( Coronation anthem )
Suite in D Minor, HWV 437: IV. Sarabande
Samson, HWV 57: Act III "Let their celestial concerts"
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Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5
- Composer: Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 -- 9 August 1975)
- Orchestra: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor: Yevgeny Mravinsky
- Year of recording: 1973 (Live in Tokyo, Japan)
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, written in 1937.
00:00 - I. Moderato
14:56 - II. Allegretto (Scherzo)
20:04 - III. Largo
33:09 - IV. Allegro non troppo
In 1936, the Soviet government launched an official attack against Dmitri Shostakovich's music, calling it "vulgar, formalistic, [and] neurotic." He became an example to other Soviet composers, who rightfully interpreted these events as a broad campaign against musical modernism. This constituted a crisis, both in Shostakovich's career and in Soviet music as a whole; composers had no choice but to write simple, optimistic music that spoke directly (especially through folk idioms and patriotic programs) to the people and glorified the state.
In light of these circumstances, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony (first performed in 1937) is a bold composition that seems to fly in the face of his critics. Although the musical language is pared down from that of his earlier symphonies, the Fifth eschews any hint of a patriotic program and, instead, dwells on undeniably somber and tragic affects -- wholly unacceptable public emotions at the time. According to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the government would certainly have had Shostakovich executed for writing such a work had the public ovation at the first performance not lasted 40 minutes. The official story, however, is quite different. An unknown commentator dubbed the symphony "the creative reply of a Soviet artist to justified criticism," and to the work was attached an autobiographical program focusing on the composer's metamorphosis from incomprehensible formalist to standard-bearer of the communist party. Publicly, Shostakovich accepted the official interpretation of his work; however, in the controversial collection of his memoirs (Testimony, by Solomon Volkov) he is quoted as saying: "I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat...you have to be a complete oaf not to hear that."
Regardless of its philosophical underpinnings, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 is a masterpiece of the orchestral repertory, poignant and economical in its conception. There is no sign of the excess of ideas so common in the Fourth Symphony. Instead, Shostakovich deploys the orchestra sparingly and allows the entire work to grow naturally out of just a few motives. Given some of his earlier works, the Fifth is conservative in language. Throughout the work he allows the strings to be the dominant orchestral force, making soloistic use of the woodwinds and horn especially effective.
- The Moderato begins with a jagged, foreboding canon in the strings that forms the motivic basis for the entire movement. The impassioned mood is occasionally interrupted by a lyrical melody with string ostinato, later the subject of a duet for flute and horn.
- The second movement (Allegretto) is a grotesque 3/4 dance which, at times, can't help but mock itself; the brass section is featured prominently.
- The following Largo, a sincere and personal outpouring of musical emotion, is said to have left the audience at the work's premiere in tears. Significantly, it was composed during an intensely creative period following the arrest and execution of one of Shostakovich's teachers.
- The concluding Allegro non troppo has been the center of much debate: some critics consider it a poorly constructed concession to political pressure, while others have made note of its possible irony. While the prevailing mood is triumphant, there is some diversion to the somber and foreboding, and it is not until the end that it takes on the overtly "big-finishy" character for which it is so noted.
Maurice Ravel - Bolero
A manificient crescendo of whole orchestra!
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Beethoven: Sonata No.21 in C Major, "Waldstein" (Pletnev)
This is one of Beethoven's most important works, often classed with the Appassionata and Les Aideux as one of the great sonatas of his middle period. There is too much to say about the structural/harmonic innovations of this piece, but I suppose the most notable features about it are the extended modulation to the mediant (E major) in the first movement (the same modulation also features prominently in one of the most important late sonatas, the Hammerklavier), the linking of the first movement's 1st and 2nd themes via a 5-note falling motif, and the daring (not to say virtuosic) textures of the final rondo.
Movement I: 00:00
Movement II: 10:30
Movement III: 14:14*
Pletnev's performance is incredibly lively and buoyant -- check out the Rondo, where he thankfully avoids the overpedaling that even other great pianists end up doing (Beethoven's long sustained pedal marks, which ignore changes of harmony, were appropriate on the dry instruments of his time, but are clearly out of place on the modern grand, with its rich sonorities and lush sustaining pedal.) It's always nice to hear a performance of a Beethoven sonata that its not wearingly overserious, and is willing to pull on the structure a bit to emphasise "in-the-moment" textures (see 20:40) -- although by any measure this is a very serious performance of a very important part of the piano literature.
Claude Debussy ‒ Images (Complete)
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918), Images I L105 & Images II L105 (1903 & 1907)
Performed by Pascal Rogé
00:00 - No. 1 Reflets dans l'eau
05:02 - No. 2 Hommage à Rameau
11:57 - No. 3 Mouvement
15:16 - No. 4 Cloches à travers les feuilles
20:08 - No. 5 Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
25:47 - No. 6 Poissons d'or
The six Images were in Debussy’s mind in some form as early as December 1901, when he played versions of two of them (Reflets dans l’eau and Mouvement) to the pianist Ricardo Viñes, but the complete list of titles was not fixed until July 1903, when he sent these to the publisher Fromont. He had just completed the Estampes, and the Images, the first book of which was published in October 1905, can be heard as a development along the same colouristic lines, following earlier intimations in various pieces by Chabrier and in Ravel’s Jeux d’eau. The technique has been called one of illusion—what you see on the printed page is often not at all what you get, depending largely on your use of the sustaining pedal—but equally Debussy shared the concerns of such ‘colourful’ composers as Berlioz and Liszt that overtly descriptive music should also work in purely structural terms.
The small wave forms of Reflets dans l’eau and its key of D flat major might suggest it was a spin-off from La mer, except that the above chronology points, if anything, to the relationship being reversed. Debussy jokingly referred to the piece as being written ‘according to the most recent discoveries in harmonic chemistry’. While this is perhaps a trifle exaggerated, what is disturbing is the way the dreamlike opening, a standard eight-bar phrase, is immediately interrupted by chromatic chords: throughout the piece, the reflections in the water go on being unsettled by pebbles thrown from an unseen hand. The essential circularity of this piece is echoed in the final Mouvement, which is almost an early Étude (‘Pour les triolets’?). Marked to be played ‘with a fantastical but precise lightness’, it achieves an extraordinary rapprochement between academic note-spinning and imaginative atmosphere, with a few fanfares added for good measure. The central Hommage à Rameau, while outwardly placid and monumental, partakes of more traditional rhetorical structures and of the effortless internal dynamism that is so much a part of the genius of Rameau, ‘without any of that pretence towards German profundity, or to the need of emphasizing things with blows of the fist’, as Debussy put it when reviewing a performance of the first two acts of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in 1903—which possibly inspired his piece, although searches for direct quotations from the earlier composer have so far proved fruitless.
Heavy pounding is even further banished in the second book of Images, published in October 1907. In Cloches à travers les feuilles, apart from two forte chords in the middle, the dynamics are set at piano and below. Within these narrow confines, Debussy explores the idea of bells sounding through leaves, or at least through some substance that flickers and undulates. Although the title of this piece was, as noted above, already fixed in 1903, it is at least possible, given his rivalry with Ravel, that in composing the piece Debussy took note of the younger composer’s La vallée des cloches, published in early 1906, even if only in the determination to write something as different as possible. The demands on the pianist, in the balancing of lines, are extreme: again, the piece could almost be an Étude—‘Pour les lignes superposées’? The second panel of the triptych, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, leads on from Pagodes in the Estampes in its exploitation, not so much of Oriental sounds like the gamelan, though these are certainly present, as of an Oriental stillness and stasis. The first chord belongs, in the Western tradition, as part of a sixteenth-century cadence, achieved through part-writing: Debussy gives it a quite new feeling by treating it as a non-cadential chord with no sense of part-writing whatever, just as a sound in itself. Like the ruined temple, it has survived, but in a new world and with a new function. Finally, Poissons d’or charts the imagined swoops and twitches of two large carp as featured on a Japanese plaque in black lacquer, touched up with mother-of-pearl and gold, that hung on the wall of Debussy’s study. Here indeed we do find him enjoying ‘the most recent discoveries in harmonic chemistry’, and taking the static ‘well motif’ from Pelléas and investing it with piscine acrobatics.
Prokofiev - Dance of the Knights
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