An Idiot Listens to Western Music: Coll (2021)

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RoundTheBend
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  • #401
  • Posted: 08/16/2019 03:56
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Sorry for the short and sweet lately... been super busy.
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Fischman
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  • #402
  • Posted: 08/16/2019 14:08
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My ear never really took to the clarinet. I don't know why, I guess it's just a preference thing. Even going back to my first band experience in 6th grade, it just sounded like a silly instrument to me. Then I heard Mozart's clarinet quintet and all that changed. What a delightful piece of music!

I wonder if Mozart could have written a Concerto for Kazoo and Orchestra and made it sound good.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #403
  • Posted: 08/17/2019 18:19
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Fischman wrote:
My ear never really took to the clarinet. I don't know why, I guess it's just a preference thing. Even going back to my first band experience in 6th grade, it just sounded like a silly instrument to me. Then I heard Mozart's clarinet quintet and all that changed. What a delightful piece of music!

I wonder if Mozart could have written a Concerto for Kazoo and Orchestra and made it sound good.


Laughing

Probably.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #404
  • Posted: 08/17/2019 19:27
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Haydn: The London Symphonies Vol. 2: No... Orchestra

Era: Classical
Years: 1791-1793
Form: Symphony
Score: 88

These later ones really are top notch - thanks for the hope Fischman. I had heard the Surpise symphony before and the story behind Haydn tired of people falling asleep in his symphony so he put the surprise in to wake up the old lord who fell asleep... but I think that's an old wives tale. Who knows for sure.

Anyway, this is a fantastic collection and I look forward to the next set! (out of time for finding the samples, sorry).

Symphony No. 93 in D major, H. 1/93 (1791)

Quote:

The London-based concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon (1745-1815) was in Cologne when he heard of the death of Nikolaus Esterházy I, in September 1790; he immediately went to Vienna to secure an arrangement with Haydn, whom he had tried unsuccessfully to engage several times during the 1780s. Now freed from his commitments to the Esterházy family for the first time in 30 years, Haydn was finally prepared to seize this very lucrative and exciting opportunity. The first of Haydn's two subsequent excursions to London began in December of 1790 and was, by all accounts, a great success; he remained in London for two concert seasons, returning to Vienna in July 1792. The composer wrote six new symphonies for the concert series; these are now numbered 93-98, the first six of the so-called "London" symphonies.

The third of these, the Symphony No. 93 in D major, was most likely completed during the fall and winter of 1791; it was first performed on February 17, 1792 as part of Salomon's 1792 concert season. It is scored for two each of flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, and trumpet, with timpani and strings.

The introduction to the sonata-form first movement invokes a martial atmosphere that seems add odds with the waltz-like rhythm of the first main theme. This more quaint rhythmic quality wins out, however, and it also pervades the second theme. The highly modified recapitulation features solo passages for the bassoon.

The pastoral tone of the slow movement stems from the falling fifths in the opening violin melody and the relatively high tessitura of the solo bassoon part. In G major, the movement is marked Largo cantabile.

An aggressive minuet returns to D major with a forceful unison opening. Again, the bassoons have a prominent role. The Trio contrasts melodically static woodwind outbursts with a subdued theme in the strings.

Fits and starts pepper the Presto ma non troppo Finale; the second half of the theme halts abruptly before a minor mode presentation of the opening measures. Haydn's humor is at its best in this high-spirited movement: at the moment just before the reprise of the beginning of the movement, a fortissimo passage in which the full orchestra hammers away at the opening motive comes to an abrupt stop. A solo cello twice plays the same motive, piano, before being pushed aside by another fortissimo outburst from the full orchestra.
- Description by John Palmer, AllMusic


Symphony No. 94 in G major ("Surprise"/"The Drumstroke"/"Mit dem Paukenschlag"), H. 1/94 (1791)

Quote:


Franz Josef Haydn had served as Kapellmeister, or court composer, for Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy for 28 years by the time the Prince died in 1790. Nikolaus' successor, his son Anton, was not a great music fan and largely disbanded the family's musical establishment. Haydn moved to Vienna and quickly received many employment offers, the most exciting of which came from the violinist-impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who offered Haydn a considerable sum of money to come to England to present several new compositions in a series of concerts. Haydn arrived in England (his first trip ever outside Austria) on January 1, 1791, and the first of Salomon's three wildly successful concert seasons got started in March. The Symphony No. 94 was premiered under Haydn's direction on March 23, 1792, in the middle of the second season.

The symphony opens tenderly, with a genial, gently rocking main theme that builds up quite a head of steam as it is developed. As is the case so frequently with Haydn, the recapitulation of the opening themes is really more of an extension of their development. There is a nice passage for the woodwinds just before the movement's ending.

The symphony's nickname derives from the justly famous second movement, which is a set of variations on a sweet, naïve little tune. As the melody spins itself out, it gets quieter and quieter, dying to near silence -- and then there is a sudden loud chord from the entire orchestra. There are several theories as to why Haydn inserted that "surprise" (which was actually an afterthought, and doesn't appear in his original manuscript). One account tells us that Haydn may have said, "This will make the ladies jump!" He may also have been thinking of the elderly gentlemen he saw in his audiences who, lulled by their heavy dinners and a few too many drinks, routinely dozed off once the music had begun. Also, with the overwhelming success of the Salomon/Haydn concerts, a rival concert series under the direction of composer Ignaz Pleyel (one of Haydn's former students) had begun. On one occasion Haydn admitted that he included the "surprise" not to startle the audience, but simply to make the work memorable in the face of his competition. Whatever the reason, the "surprise" is just one of the delights of this movement, which features a series of variations on the main theme -- one stormy and dramatic, another sweetly decorated by the woodwinds, another propelled forward by trumpets and timpani. The movement's quiet, poignant conclusion is rather a surprise in itself.

An aggressive little minuet follows, with a graceful middle section for strings joined by a solo bassoon. The symphony concludes with a sparkling Allegro di molto finale; this, and other finales in the 12 "London" symphonies, calls for truly virtuosic playing from the strings -- Salomon's players in London must have been a formidable group indeed.
- Description by Chris Morrison, AllMusic


Symphony No. 97 in C major, H. 1/97 (1792)

Quote:

The first of Haydn's two excursions to London began in December of 1790 and was, by all accounts, a great success. He remained in London for two concert seasons, returning to Vienna in July 1792. The composer wrote six new symphonies for the concert series; these are now numbered 93-98, the first six of the so-called "London" symphonies.

Despite its numbering, Haydn's Symphony No. 97 in C major (H. I:97) was the last of the six initial "London" symphonies he composed. It was first performed on May 3, 1792, in London.

It is the last in a long line of brilliant, festive "trumpet and drum" symphonies in C major. March-like rhythms and fanfare-like motives imbue the first movement with a martial atmosphere. Haydn creates a link between the first movement's slow introduction and the ensuing sonata-form structure by using the cadence from the beginning and end of the introduction to close the exposition, unifying what in other ways are decidedly disparate sections of the piece.

The slow movement, marked Adagio ma non troppo, is a set of variations in which subtle orchestral effects contribute as much to the variants of the theme as do changes in melodic shape and harmonic background.

Subtle alterations in orchestration are also a feature of the Minuet and Trio, in which none of the repeats is literal, allowing for changes in instrumentation and texture while following the traditional pattern of repetition characteristic of the minuet. Haydn's Allegretto tempo keeps the movement in the realm of the minuet as opposed to the quicker scherzo. At the close of the trio is a violin solo with the direction, "Salomon solo ma piano," most likely a gesture of thanks to the impresario who was responsible for the most fulfilling musical and professional experience of the composer's life. The isolation of this single line from the rest of the orchestra, supported by an "oom-pah-pah" accompaniment in the timpani and horns (an unusual use of tone color for the time), as well as the leaping grace notes in the horns and violins on downbeats, are evidence of Haydn's mastery of orchestration.

An amalgam of sonata and rondo forms, the Finale was originally marked Spirituoso, but after his arrival in Vienna in 1792, Haydn changed the direction to Presto assai. Section A is repeated and moves to the dominant, G major. Section B takes up the new key with horns pounding away on G naturals. After a few measures this stark accompaniment shifts to the trumpets and timpani -- another case of unusual scoring. A reference to the "A" theme rounds off section B, which ends on the tonic and is repeated. The central section contains not only new material, but developmental passages based on themes from the first two sections, after which both A and B return in their original forms without repeats. Because section B in its original form ends on C major, there is no reason for any modification at its reprise, but the ensuing coda's further confirmation of the tonic is necessary as the movement closes with snippets of the A theme. -Description by John Palmer, AllMusic


Symphony No. 99 in E flat major, H. 1/99 (1793)
Quote:


The first of the six symphonies Haydn composed for his second visit to England was the Symphony No. 99 in E flat major. It was first performed on February 10, 1794, in London.

The symphony is scored for two each of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet, with timpani and strings. This is the first symphony in which Haydn's usual forces are augmented by a pair of clarinets, which certainly contribute to the overall mellow tone color of the entire piece. The piece's plangent expressiveness often obscures its contrapuntal detail.

After one of Haydn's characteristic slow introductions, the sonata-form first movement sprints ahead at a Vivace assai tempo, the main theme appearing in the strings only. A repeat of the first theme with the full orchestra leads to the transition, which, as in many late works by Haydn, is significantly longer than the first theme segment. When the dominant arrives, we are treated to the first theme again, but on B flat major, suggesting this will be a monothematic movement. A true secondary theme, however, appears much later. The development section tosses about the opening measures of the main theme, sometimes in inversion and combined with other elements. When the recapitulation arrives, we hear the full orchestra, with all the material of the exposition resolved to the tonic following a significantly shortened transition.

It is very likely that the melancholy Adagio is Haydn's musical response to the death, in January, 1793, of his close friend Marianne von Genzinger. With an unusually long development section for a slow movement in sonata form, the G major movement features some fascinating reorchestration during the recapitulation of the second theme.

In the E flat major Minuet, the first section modulates to the dominant. This harmony continues as the second section opens with a rising motive that counters the falling figure of the first section--a perfect example of Haydn's predilection for long-range melodic balance. A return of the opening material rounds out the Minuet and brings back E flat major. The Trio, in the striking key of C major, is built of melodies with a much narrower range than those of the Minuet.

The Rondo Finale blazes along in a Vivace tempo and 2/4 meter. The relentless pulse pauses for a poignant moment at the middle of the movement, containing a harmonic reference to a similar passage in the introduction to the first movement. After regaining its momentum, the Rondo pushes to powerful close.
-Description by John Palmer, AllMusic


Symphony No. 100 in G major ("Military") H. 1/100 (1793)
Quote:


In the wake of Haydn's glorious first journey to England in 1791-1792 (after three decades in Esterháza castle on a marshy plain in Western Hungary), he grew angry and dispirited back home in Vienna, where Prince Anton had moved the court. While he remained the official and fully-salaried Esterházy Kapellmeister, there were no duties. Newspapers took no notice of his return or the extraordinary success abroad. His cherished Mozart had died; his Xanthippean wife behaved more mulishly than ever; and there was an unpleasant year spent with brash young Beethoven -- come from Bonn to study with him -- who made it plain that were Mozart still alive, he would have been first choice.

And so, when Johann Peter Salomon invited Haydn back to England for two more seasons of concerts, he was primed. Managing to finagle permission from Prince Anton (who kept him on the payroll as a trophy), he left Vienna on January 19, 1794, accompanied by his copyist and devoted factotum, Joseph Elssler. Haydn had already composed Symphony No. 99 and portions of 100 and 101 (the latter nicknamed Clock by London audiences) for a new season of 12 concerts in the Hanover Square Rooms, where an expert orchestra now included clarinets. He and Salomon co-conducted -- from the harpsichord and the concertmaster's chair, respectively.

His Military Symphony was the 1794 season's third and final premiere, on March 31 -- Haydn's 62nd birthday -- and enjoyed a career-high success. The audience demanded an encore after the second movement, which introduced "Turkish" instruments (triangle, crash cymbals, and bass drum) heretofore heard only in the opera house. This scene was repeated at a second performance on April 7, and likewise after the repercussive finale. Conventional wisdom has held ever since that Haydn was commemorating the war-in-progress against France. But more likely he was remembering the Ottoman incursion of 1788-1790 into the Hapsburg Empire, during which Joseph II was taken ill at the front and subsequently died. Trumpet music in the second movement was an actual army call known as the Austrian General Salute.

Today, this symphony, with the exception of the slow movement, sounds exuberant, even buoyant, with characteristic flashes of humor. Yet Haydn quite seriously evoked war, as he did several years later in the Masses In tempore belli and In angustiis (aka "Lord Nelson"), and as Beethoven did thereafter in Fidelio, in the "Agnus Dei" of his Missa solemnis, and in the finale of the Ninth Symphony. It bears noting, beyond the percussive novelty, that the Military Symphony has a monothematic finale; that the exposition of the first movement (after an Adagio introduction) assigns the main theme to a flute and two oboes -- unprecedented in concert music before 1794; and that the trio of the minuet has a loud, dotted ostinato passage underscored with timpani (could Giordano have remembered this in the opening scene of Andrea Chénier?). The Military Symphony has even more surprises than the so-called Surprise of 1791, plus greater finesse and a total mastery of means.
- Description by Roger Dettmer, AllMusic


Symphony No. 101 in D major ("Clock"), H. 1/101 (1793)

Quote:


After the overwhelming success of his first London trip in 1791-2, Haydn returned to Vienna, where he bought a new house for his family and settled into a comfortable domestic life, while continuing to compose and giving some music lessons (including a few to the young Beethoven). But the lure of the excitement he had experienced in England was strong, and when Johann Peter Salomon invited him to return to London for some more concerts, Haydn didn't hesitate. He arrived in England in February 1794, and over the next few months presented another series of concerts with Salomon, including the premieres of his Symphonies Nos. 99-101. No. 101 was first performed under Haydn's direction at the Hanover Square Concert Rooms on March 3, 1794.

The first movement's opening is dramatic and hushed. When the tempo speeds to Presto, it is in a lively, rollicking 6/8 meter (very unusual for the first movement of a symphony).

The symphony's nickname comes from the "tick-tock" accompaniment that pervades much of the second movement (Andante). Bassoons and pizzicato strings provide the tick-tock at first, accompanying a graceful, slightly coy tune. There is a stormy interlude at the movement's center; then the tick-tock returns, this time played by the flute and bassoon two octaves apart.

With the third movement, probably the longest and most complex of Haydn's minuet movements, the symphony's nickname becomes doubly appropriate. Back in 1793 in Vienna, Haydn had given his patron Prince Esterházy the gift of an elaborate musical clock, for which he also wrote a set of 12 short pieces; one of those 12 pieces became the basis for this grand, ceremonious movement. The slightly comical trio section seems to evoke a not-very-talented village band, whose "wrong" notes and other quirks were often "corrected" by the symphony's later conductors and publishers. This trio may have provided some inspiration for Beethoven in a similar passage in the third movement of his "Pastoral" Symphony almost 15 years later.

The Finale is based on a lively tune that is subjected to a very complex development, even including a vigorous fugue at one point. As is characteristic of the London symphonies, the string section is called upon to play some extraordinarily difficult passages.
-Description by Chris Morrison, AllMusic
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
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  • #405
  • Posted: 08/17/2019 20:37
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I've had time to listen in car or when I'm trying to isolate at work, but not much at night this last week or so... anyway, before I write anything on Mozart's last two I've listened to this week, I wanted to show my ratings/rankings of his works. These aren't final, rather some are initial reactions/some being those I've liked already: (sorry for formatting)

Rank Release/Work (Conductor) Release Year Rating
1 Die Zauberflöte (Otto Klemperer / Philharmonia Orchestra And Chorus) 1791 95
2 Requiem (Sir Colin Davis / London Symphony Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra) 1792 95
3 Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35-41 (Herbert Von Karajan / Berliner Philharmoniker) 1782 92
4 Piano Concertos No. 20, K466 & No. 27, K595 (Mitsuko Uchida / The Cleveland Orchestra) 1785 92
5 Great Mass In C Minor K.427 (Leonard Bernstein / Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks) 1773 90
6 Serenade No. 10 For Winds 'Gran Partita' (The London Symphony Orchestra Wind Ensemble) 1781 90
7 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) 1776 89
8 Le Nozze Di Figaro (James Levine / The Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) 1786 87
9 Clarinet Quintet, K. 581 & Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 (Jean-Claude Malgoire / La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy) 1789 87
10 Symphonies Nos. 25, 28, 29 & 35 "Haffner" (Bruno Walter / New York Philharmonic) 1773 86.5
11 Piano Concertos (Jeffrey Tate / English Chamber Orchestra / Mitsuko Uchida) 1777 86.5
12 The Flute Quartets (Jean-Pierre Rampal / Isaac Stern / Salvatore Accardo / Mstislav Rostropovich) 1777 86.5
13 The Piano Sonatas; Piano Music For 4 Hands (Christoph Eschenbach / Justus Frantz) 1784 86.5
14 Don Giovanni (Riccardo Muti / Vienna Philharmonic) 1787 86.5
15 Horn Concertos (Nicholas McGegan / Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Lowell Greer) 1783 86
16 Violin Concertos 1 & 5 • Sinfonia Concertante (Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen / Vilde Frang) 1773 85.5
17 The Violin Concertos; Sinfonia Concertante (Yuri Bashmet / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Anne-Sophie Mutter) 1775 85
18 Flute Concert No. 1 - Flute And Harp Concerto - Andante (Susan Palma / Nancy Allen / Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) 1778 85
19 Piano Concertos Nos 10, 14 & 17 (Various Artists) 1779 85
20 5 Masses (Stephen Cleobury / The Choir Of King's College / Wiener Staatsopernchor) 1780 85
21 Symphony No. 28 In C Major, K. 200/189k; Symphony No. 34 In C Major, K. 338 (Karl Ristenpart / Chamber Orchestra Of The Saar Radio) 1774 84
22 Bassoon Concerto / Oboe Concerto / Clarinet Concerto (Johannes Wildner / Vienna Mozart Academy) 1777 84
23 Così fan tutte (René Jacobs / Concerto Köln / Kölner Kammerchor) 1790 75
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #406
  • Posted: 08/18/2019 03:10
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Mozart: Die Zauberflöte by Otto Klempe...And Chorus

Era: Classical
Years: 1791
Form: Opera
Score: 95

I feel this might be actually Mozart's greatest work... it encompasses all the great things he ever did into a single thing... the silliness, the seriousness, the powerful, the whimsical, I could go on... also this isn't your typical opera... there's nearly half a symphony here to (imo) from form alone. It's an incredibly powerful work in my opinion.

Here's some bullshit I wrote in college on this very piece: (for a learning journal)
Quote:
Similar to the synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism, Mozart’s The Magic Flute allowed for the synthesis of Enlightenment (pure reason) and Sturm und Drang (genius), to finally come to a movement mixing of reason with nature, to make wisdom, as shown in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and notably through influence of the Free Masons.
Free Masonry’s key concept that influenced this piece is that of gender. It was their belief that man and woman were only half parts of a whole, as described in the book of Genesis when and a woman should “cleave one to another” and become one. Such symbolism is throughout the opera. The dichotomy of Tamino and Pamina, Papageno and Papagena, and especially the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, along with the elements that play along with them like the three ladies and three boys, are all symbolic of the man/female, good/bad, etc. dichotomy which when they come together become something better.
There is also scenes were there are three knocks, which is also used to in the ceremony of the Free Masons and a meeting amongst priests, that seems similar to what possibly a meeting of free masons would be like.
Another symbol is the Temple of Wisdom itself. During the opera, the temple is made of two pillars, labeled Nature and Reason respectively. Those are the two pillars that support the temple, the door, however is called Wisdom. While Nature and Reason have their part, it isn’t until they are combined to build the Temple of Wisdom until their “full potential” is conceived. The combining of Nature and Reason is what brings wisdom.



My Synthesis
The correlation of Free Masonry in Die Zauberflöte seems to me to be similar to the synthesis of Empiricists and Rationalists that Kant did, but with Enlightment and Sturm und Drang. It is the through the combination of Reason and Nature (emotion/Sturm und Drang ideals, etc.), that we can see the world in a clearer picture. If we were only emotional or denied the institutions of men for our learning as the idea of genius suggests out of the Sturm and Drang movement, we would be lacking the things that “book smarts” have to offer. On the other hand, if we are too heavy in the books, there is that famous saying that “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, we lose sight on other parts of life, and become dull. My father used to always say before he passed, that you “have to sharpen the saw.” If the saw just keeps working, it too will get dull and not work as well. If the saw is not rubbed on wood, but something to sharpen it, it not only becomes “bright,” but also “sharp.” All of these are similar ideas to synthesizing Reason and Nature.
Being informed of this correlation between Die Zauberflöte and Free Masonry, also makes me want to understand their ceremonies and beliefs more. I am familiar that all that were involved in this opera were Free Masons, and so were many other influential people of our time. As someone who grew up LDS, and have heard that much of the LDS temple ceremony is similar to the ceremonies by the Free Masons, I wonder how much has changed, etc. It also reminds me of a statue I saw in Vienna once, which had a man and a woman getting married… I mistook it for a LDS sealing ceremony, because much of the clothing and gestures were the same. Now I understand the influence of Free Masonry better, and realize it most likely was a statue done by a Free Mason, and that is why there are so many similarities. - Seth Madsen, not published piece of crap



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Despite its whimsical libretto and obviously emblematic characters, Mozart's singspiel The Magic Flute is regarded as one of the greatest operas of the entire repertoire. In fact, as music historian Philip Downs has noted, many hold that The Magic Flute is among the greatest human documents, worthy to stand beside Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. In this story about good and evil, Sarastro, the high priest of an enlightened brotherhood, abducts Pamina, whose mother is the evil Queen of the NIght. The Queen sends Prince Tamino to save Pamina. Tamino not only falls in love with Pamina, but also accepts Sarastro as the incarnation of truth and goodness. Tamino's counterpart is Papageno, the Queen's bird catcher, whose earthiness counterbalances Tamino's idealism. Predictably, love and goodness triumph, Sarastro overcomes the Queen of the Night, Tamino and Pamina are united after many trials, and Papageno finds Papagena, a female version of himself. The possible sources of Emanuel Schikaneder's libretto include Jakob August Libeskind's story "Lulu or the Magic Flute," published in Wieland's Dschinnistan, a collection of fairy tales.

The Magic Flute was written in 1791, the year of Mozart's death. Although overwhelmed by many adversities, Mozart found great joy in working on an opera for Schikaneder's Theater auf der Wieden, in the suburbs of Vienna, which catered to unsophisticated audiences. The Magic Flute has been called a Masonic opera: both librettist and composer were Masons, and the opera abounds with Masonic symbolism, culminating in the triumph over light over darkness. Although the Masonic flavor of The Magic Flute is undeniable, what makes it a great work of art is Mozart's unique ability to translate his humanistic ideals into music of extraordinary beauty and evocativeness. The fundamental theme of this opera is love, a theme to which Mozart fully dedicates his entire genius. To the listener, Mozart's ode to love brings eighteenth century opera in its full splendor. Not only is the music, which includes sparkling arias, charming buffo scenes, and ensembles of transcendent beauty, enchanting and invigorating, but it also effectively coalesces with the story to create a powerful, convincing work of art.
-Description by Rovi Staff
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



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  • #407
  • Posted: 08/18/2019 20:13
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Mozart: Requiem by Sir Colin Davis / Lo... Orchestra

Era: Classical
Years: 1791 (published in 92?)
Form: Requiem Mass
Score: 95

It seems slightly unclear how much of this is actually Mozart and how much of it was Süssmayr -sometimes I'm reading Mozart had the full skeleton and Süssmayr just filled out what was already there with the orchestration and less on the arrangements and other times I'm reading he added full movements, but the end result is regardless conjures awe. It clearly is a very powerful work and so much mysticism surrounds the piece it, there's a little bit of haunting it feels like. The mysticism is one of the greatest composers of all time works himself to death on a death mass... of course this isn't entirely true... but intriguing nonetheless. Some of this is clearly Mozart's (Süssmayr's?) best work.

Quote:

E.T.A. Hoffmann once wrote that "[Mozart's] Requiem is the sublimest achievement that the modern period has contributed to the church." Mozart's deathbed composition held a high appeal for the nineteenth century; in the supposedly more rational twentieth, it ascended to truly iconic status. It did so despite fundamental mysteries of its composition and even its authenticity, mysteries still unsolved in the twenty-first century. Something in the music's gravitas and subtlety touches each successive generation.

A tangled skein of myths and fairy tales imagine the deathbed genius collapsing upon his manuscript (myths powerfully reinforced by the 1984 film Amadeus), but many facts about the piece are clear. The Countess von Walsegg passed away in February 1791. The Count commissioned a requiem mass from Mozart via a clerk (the "Grey Messenger" of Requiem-mythology). Mozart accepted the job for his unknown patron, having desired to compose some "higher form of church music" (his Ave verum corpus reflects the same wish). After working on the Requiem through October and Novmeber, however, Mozart fell ill and died without completing it. Mozart's widow, needing money, arranged for his friends and pupils to complete the other movements. The Count eventually received a complete Requiem, which he tried to pass off as his own composition; the bulk of this copy derives from the hand of Franz Süssmayr. Scholars have diligently attempted to distinguish Mozart's work from Süssmayr's mishandling of his intentions.

Mozart's Requiem contains five sections, each capped by a fugue: Requiem/Kyrie, Sequence ("Dies Irae"), Offertory, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Throughout, choral writing drives Mozart's music; even the four soloists rarely sing alone. The darkly colored orchestra supports the choir with often vivid motives. This pictorial aspect is most evident in the Sequence: "Tuba mirum" (solo trombone), "Rex tremendae" (regal dotted-rhythms), "Confutatis" (fiery accompaniment), and "Lachrymosa" (sighing strings). Not only do individual movements display an extraordinary level of motivic unity, Mozart carefully creates motivic relationships across the entire Requiem. The very first melody sung by the basses ("Requiem aeternam"), for instance, is repeated at the very end and also echoes throughout the work; the opening melody of "Dies irae" translates into major mode to open the "Sanctus." Mozart is never afraid, however, of acknowledging his debt to earlier traditions of church music. His fugues deliberately reference Bach, and in the first movement alone he quotes from Michael Haydn's Requiem, Handel's funeral anthem for Queen Caroline, Messiah, and the Gregorian chant known as the "Pilgrim's Tone." -Description by Timothy Dickey


My favorite movements being Nos. 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 11, but it's all incredible:


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Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster


Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment
United States

  • #408
  • Posted: 08/19/2019 01:00
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RoundTheBend wrote:


These later ones really are top notch - thanks for the hope Fischman. I had heard the Surpise symphony before and the story behind Haydn tired of people falling asleep in his symphony so he put the surprise in to wake up the old lord who fell asleep... but I think that's an old wives tale. Who knows for sure.

Anyway, this is a fantastic collection and I look forward to the next set! (out of time for finding the samples, sorry).



Glad you found these to your liking. I think it's partly that these are simply better works to begin with and partly the interpretation. I think the Royal Concergebouw handles Haydn far better than The Academy of St Martin in the fields. However, I personally have a preference (usually) for The Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under the direction of Adam Fisher.
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Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster


Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment
United States

  • #409
  • Posted: 08/19/2019 01:14
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RoundTheBend wrote:

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte by Otto Klempe...And Chorus

Era: Classical
Years: 1791
Form: Opera
Score: 95

I feel this might be actually Mozart's greatest work... it encompasses all the great things he ever did into a single thing... the silliness, the seriousness, the powerful, the whimsical, I could go on... also this isn't your typical opera... there's nearly half a symphony here to (imo) from form alone. It's an incredibly powerful work in my opinion.



Magic Flute was the last opera I saw. I think I actually enjoyed it more than my wife and mother-in-law.

The cool thing was, two hours prior to the performance, those with special tickets got a seating with the director, a local college music prof, and a few of the principal cast for a half hour presentation followed by an hour of Q&A. It really helped both my understanding and my appreciation of the work. Part of it was the academic experience, but part of it was allowing myself to be swept along in the passion these musicians had for this music.

btw, bullshit element aside, I liked reading the excerpt from your college paper. I remember writing shit like that myself.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #410
  • Posted: 08/20/2019 04:14
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Fischman wrote:
RoundTheBend wrote:


These later ones really are top notch - thanks for the hope Fischman. I had heard the Surpise symphony before and the story behind Haydn tired of people falling asleep in his symphony so he put the surprise in to wake up the old lord who fell asleep... but I think that's an old wives tale. Who knows for sure.

Anyway, this is a fantastic collection and I look forward to the next set! (out of time for finding the samples, sorry).



Glad you found these to your liking. I think it's partly that these are simply better works to begin with and partly the interpretation. I think the Royal Concergebouw handles Haydn far better than The Academy of St Martin in the fields. However, I personally have a preference (usually) for The Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under the direction of Adam Fisher.


I originally actually was going to use that for my project (their 36 hour Haydn: The Complete Symphonies) as that's what I found on Spotify and liked what I heard... but that was going to be a lot of data entry into BEA and then also, I ain't got 36 hours just for his symphonies... so I decided on the ones you see here... I think I'm going to give those recordings and Haydn another shot... I liked the later symphonies more, but neither did I fall in love with anything... I mean it was all fine and nice, but anything really intriguing I just didn't find it. Maybe it was because I didn't give time to breath... I'd listen to 2.5 hours of Haydn symphonies in all one go.

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

Bookmarked for later:
(https://open.spotify.com/album/0hGIxoEdLYnLsm0DAUFlsL?si=-HWxKMzGRueMPGRaMEEkZw)
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