Happy birthday to Sir Edward Elgar!

From the crowd-pleasing Le tombeau de Couperin by Ravel, this is the fourth movement “Rigaudon”, a lively jaunt. Ravel’s signature proclivity for interesting orchestrations is on full display here.

Spotify track of Boulez and Cleveland at the end of this playlist.

An interesting documentary by Kate Imbach on the San Francisco based composer Christopher Fulkerson, who drives cabs for a living. Some strong opinions in this one, but things that make you take pause, nonetheless.

Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, which some say draws heavily on a Beethovenian influence (listen to this movement and then this, the Marche Funebre from Symphony 3, which is not quoted, but has moments of resemblance). 

Horowitz and Samuel Barber, left to right.

If you didn’t know any better, you might be fooled by this turn of the century Symphony in E-flat to think it was by any number of 19th century Russians. Instead, it’s the first work in Stravinsky’s opus, written under the tutelage of Rimsky-Korsakov (RK’s famous ladder of thirds makes a cameo appearance). Out of context and without the inevitable bias of knowing something about the composer, the work is not a masterpiece by any stretch, but it is, well, fun to listen to.

In some ways, Mahler can be viewed as among the composers that liberated the brass from chordal outlining, giving those instruments a considerably more melodic role in his symphonies. One of the most famous orchestral passages for a trumpet player in the canon is the opening and closing of the composer’s Symphony No. 5, which makes recurring use of the instrument.

Few individual players have given an identity to an orchestral section as Adolph “Bud” Herseth, who as the principal trumpet player would become the centerpiece of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s iconic brass section.

Here are both under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, arguably one of the 20th century’s best pure musicians. Listen for shades of the Three B’s, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms from time to time.

Spotify.

What an incredible art. Here’s to hoping that there will always be someone around who can do it, and do it this well.

(Side note: No wonder Henle editions are so expensive!)

leareth:

Music engraving on metal plates

Ever thought about how sheet music gets printed, or at least was printed before computers?

“I don’t make mistakes.” German precision FTW.

In honor of the great man himself.

Happy Birthday, Brahms.

8. To close out the week of violin concerti, here is the 2010 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music, Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto. Click here for the Pulitzer write-up. The above video is the final movement, subtitled “Fly Forward” for basically pictorial reasons. Though Higdon’s music is often criticized for its alleged lack of depth and its reliance on effects and flashy figures, it is nevertheless interesting music to listen to and certainly fun in that respect.