Alert icon
We're changing our privacy policy. This stuff matters.  Learn more  Dismiss
Alert icon
Alert icon
Alert icon
Alert icon
Alert icon
Lukecash12

The Library

516 subscribers
0 video views

Alfredo Casella plays Bach Trio Sonata from "Musikalisches opfer" (1936) 181

by goodmanmusica 3 months ago

Featured Playlists

Favorite videos      Play all 1,327 videos Play all(1327)
Frederic Francois Chopin Quote: "Born near Warsaw in 1810, the son of a French émigré and a Polish mother, Chopin won early fame in the relatively limited circles of his native country, before seeking his fortune abroad, in Paris. His departure from Warsaw coincided with the unsuccessful national rising against Russian domination and Chopin found himself in Paris in the company of a number of other Polish exiles. He was able to establish himself as a pianist and as a teacher of the piano, primarily in fashionable society. For some ten years Chopin enjoyed a liaison with the writer George Sand, but broke with her during the last years of his life, brought to a close by the tuberculosis from which he had long suffered. His compositions, principally for the piano, make a remarkable use of the newly developed instrument, exploring its poetic possibilities while generally avoiding the more obvious ostentation of the Paris school of performers. Orchestral Music As a young musician embarking on a career as a pianist, Chopin provided himself with half a dozen works for piano and orchestra, a form for which he later found no necessity. These include two piano concertos, three works based on Polish themes, a Fantasia, a Krakowiak and a Grand polonaise, and a set of variations on a theme by Mozart. Chamber Music Chopin wrote an Introduction and Polonaise for cello and piano for an early patron and towards the end of his life a Cello Sonata. His G minor Piano Trio is a valuable addition to recital repertoire. Piano Music Chopin created or developed a number of new forms of piano music, vehicles for his own poetic use of the instrument, with its exploration of nuance, its original harmonies and its discreet but often considerable technical demands. He used the popular form of the Waltz in a score of such compositions, of which the so-called Minute Waltz is probably the best known of many of almost equal familiarity. The Polish dance, the Polonaise, elevated from village to ball-room, provided the basis of another characteristic form, in sixteen such works, written between 1817, when Chopin was seven, and 1846. The best known, among generally familiar works, are the Polonaise in A major, Opus 40 No. 1, the Polonaise in A flat, Opus 53, and the Polonaise- Fantaisie, Opus 61. Other Polish dances used by Chopin include the 62 Mazurkas. The four Ballades are supposedly based on patriotic poems by Chopin's friend Mickiewicz, evocative narrative works with no precise extra-musical association. The 21 Nocturnes continue an evocative form initiated by the Irish pianist John Field. Chopin wrote 26 Preludes, 24 of them completed during an ill-fated winter with George Sand in Mallorca and 27 Studies, of which the Revolutionary Study is perhaps the best known. Other compositions include four Scherzos, expansions of the earlier form into a more extended virtuoso piece, three Sonatas, a Berceuse, a Barcarolle, four Impromptus and a number of other works. The whole body of Chopin's music is of the greatest musical and technical importance, melodies often of operatic inspiration and harmonies and forms of considerable originality. "      Play all 180 videos Play all(180)
George Frederic Handel Quote: "Born in Halle (50 miles from Eisenach, Bach's birthplace) in the same year as Bach, Handel studied with Zachau, and became a friend of Mattheson. In 1703 he was appointed violinist-composer for Hamburg's German opera. Handel sojourned in Italy in 1706 where he met Corelli, and both Scarlattis (Alessandro and Domenico). His return to Hanover, four years later, was to assume the post of Kapellmeister to the Elector (soon to become king George I of England). In 1712 Handel moved to London where, upon the accession of the house of Hanover, two years later, he gained immediate access to the royal circle of England. In 1717 Handel succeeded Pepusch as chapel master to the Duke of Chandos. Handel's London years were occupied primarily with the writing of Italian operas. After suffering a stroke and the failure of his operas (largely because of the success of the Beggar's Opera), Handel wrote oratorios, including "Messiah" (1741). Handel's eyesight failed him in later years and he eventually became completely blind. In addition to operas and oratorios, Handel wrote Psalms, motets, anthems, passions, cantatas, instrumental chamber works, and works for keyboard (primarily harpsichord). In 1719 Handel returned to his birthplace, Halle, for eight days. At that time Bach lived in Cöthen, twenty miles away. Bach's admiration for Handel is evident from his having copied, with the help of his wife, a passion and other works by Handel. Knowing that Bach wanted to meet Handel, Prince Leopold lent Johann Sebastian a horse. For reasons that remain a mystery, the meeting never took place. Spitta indicates that Bach's admiration for Handel was not reciprocated. In one of the curious ironies of music history, both men would be afflicted with cataracts in their old age and undergo surgery at the hand of the same oculist, John Taylor. By today's standards, this surgery was extremely crude, and any improvement to the visual impairment would have been minimal at best. It involved physically shoving the cataract-covered lens back into the eyeball in an attempt to allow a little more light to enter. (Bach would die from septicemia induced as a consequence of contaminated instruments). As this surgery was done without anesthesia, the courage and physical constitution of both men must have been amazing! Bach owned a copy of Handel's Brockes Passion, "Armida abbandonata" and the Concerto grosso in F minor. Thematic similarities in some of Bach's cantatas suggest that he may have been familiar with Handel's opera, "Almira". Handel is mentioned in a letter (1775) from Carl Philip Emanuel to Forkel as one whose works his father had especially valued in later years. "      Play all 129 videos Play all(129)
Aleksandr Nikolajevič Skr'abin Quote: "Alexander Nikolayevich Skriabin, the noted Russian composer, was born on Christmas Day and died at Eastertide — according to Western-style calendrical reckoning, 7 January 1872 14 April, 1915. No one was more famous during his lifetime, and few were more quickly ignored after his death. Although he was never absent from the mainstream of Russian music, the outside world neglected him until recently. Today, there is worldwide resurgence of interest in his music and ideas. Skriabin wrote five symphonies, including the Divine Poem (1903), the Poem of Ecstasy (1907), and the Poem of Fire or Prometheus (1909). His ten piano sonatas are staples of many pianists repertoire, with the Fifth being perhaps the most popular, while the Seventh (White Mass) and Ninth (Black Mass) follow close. Vladimir Horowitz in his late sixties began playing the Tenth, and it remains today in vogue among more daring virtuosi. Skriabins style, like Beethoven and Schönberg and unlike Mozart or Brahms, changed enormously as he progressed. The early pieces are romantic, fresh and easily accessible, while his later compositions explore harmonys further reaches. It is thought by scholars, that had Skriabin lived beyond his brief 43 years, he would have preceded the Austrian school of duodecaphony, and Moscow would have become the center of atonality. Immediately upon Skriabins sudden death, Sergei Rachmaninoff toured Russia in a series of all-Skriabin recitals. It was the first time he played music other than his own in public. In those days Skriabin was known as a pianist and Rachmaninoff was considered only as a composer. Skriabin, thus, was posthumously responsible for his friend and classmates later pianistic career in Europe and America. Skriabins thought processes were immensely complicated, even tinged with solipsism. "I am God," he once wrote in one of his secret philosophical journals. He embraced Helen Blavatskys Theosophy. In London he visited the room in which Mme. Blavatsky died. Skriabin considered his last music to be fragments of an immense piece to be called Mysterium. This seven-day-long megawork would be performed at the foothills of the Himalayas in India, after which the world would dissolve in bliss. Bells suspended from clouds would summon spectators. Sunrises would be preludes and sunsets codas. Flames would erupt in shafts of light and sheets of fire. Perfumes appropriate to the music would change and pervade the air. At the time of his death, Skriabin left 72 orchestral-size pages of sketches for a preliminary work Prefatory Action, intended to "prepare" the world for the apocalyptic ultimate masterpiece. Alexander Nemtin, the Russian composer, assembled those jottings and co-created the Prefatory Action. Its three vast movements have been performed with great acclaim under conductors Cyril Kondrashin in Moscow and Vladimir Ashkenazy in Berlin with Alexei Lubimov at the piano. "      Play all 143 videos Play all(143)
Achille-Claude Debussy Quote: "Achille Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Borne to a family of meagre standings, Claude Debussy was borne on 22 August, 1862, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. Debussy showed talents as a pianist by the age of nine. His gift was encouraged by Mme. Mauté de Fleurville, who was associated withe Chopin. In 1873, he entered the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied the piano and composition. Further, he eventually won, in 1884, the Grand Prix de Rome withe his cantata entitled L'Enfant prodigue. During his early year, Debussy was exposed to many extremes. One such extreme was his living conditions. His parents could only afford to reside in a poor French suburb. The world of the upperclass had opened to him when he, unexpectedly, came under the patronage of a Russian millionairess, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck. She engaged him to play duets withe her and her children. During his long summers at the Conservatoire, he travelled withe his patron to her palatial estates across Europe. At this time, in Paris, Debussy fell in love withe a beautiful singer, Blanche Vasnier, the young wife of an architect. During this time in his life, she inspired many of his works. As the winner of the Grand Prix de Rome, Debussy was given a three year stay in the Villa Medici, in Rome, where he was to pursue his creative work. Debussy fled from the Villa Medici, only after two years, and returned to Blanche Vasnier in Paris. During the early years of his life, Debussy was associated withe many women--some of doubtful reputation. One of his mistresses, Gabrielle Dupont, threatened suicide. His first wife, Rosalie Texier, whom he married in 1899, did shoot herself, though not fatally. Also, as is sometimes the case with artists of passionate intensity, Debussy held many thoughts of suicide. In 1905, Debussy's illegitimate child was borne. He had divorced Rosalie, in 1904, only to marry his daughter's mother, Emma Bardac. The scandal, gossip, and rumours drove him to seek refuge, for a time, in Eastbourne, England. In 1908, for his daughter, nicknamed Chouchou, he wrote the piano suite Children's Corner. The sensitive nature of his perception coupled withe his spontaneity facilitated his acute understanding of the child mind. Debussy's enquiring mind challenged the traditional orchestral usage of instruments. Hence his development of the "21-note scale" designed to drown the sense of "tonality." Nevertheless, his method was never adhered to in the inflexible manner that was Schoenberg's 12-note scale. During the latter part of his life, Debussy created an alter ego, "Monsieur Croche," with whom he carried on imaginary conversations about the nature of art and music. Debussy died of cancer in Paris on 25 March, 1918, while the city was being bombarded withe German guns. It is certain that he would have taken part in the leading movements in composition of the years following the first World War, had his life not ended."      Play all 80 videos Play all(80)
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Quote: "Biography Tchaikovsky was born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia, to a Ukrainian mining engineer and his second wife, a woman of French ancestry. His last name derives from chayka (чайка) which means gull. Musically precocious, he began piano lessons at the age of five. He went on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1861 to 1865. In 1866, he was appointed professor of theory and harmony at the Moscow Conservatory, established that year. He held the post until approximately 1878. Tchaikovsky married Antonina Milyukova, who had written to him declaring her love, on July 18, 1877. The marriage was hasty, and he quickly found he could not bear his wife. First, the composer made an attempt at suicide two weeks after the wedding, then he fled to Saint Petersburg a nervous wreck, and was separated from his wife after only six weeks. The couple never saw each other again, although they never divorced and Tchaikovsky died a married man. This episode only served to confirm Tchaikovsky's homosexuality, which he was apparently trying to conceal through the marriage. (Kamien, p. 253) A far more influential woman in Tchaikovsky's life was a wealthy widow, Madame Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he corresponded from 1877 to 1890. At her insistence they never met; they did encounter each other on two occasions, purely by chance, but did not converse. As well as financial support of 6000 rubles a year, she expressed her interest in his musical career and admiration for his music. However she abruptly cut off her support for the composer. It is widely believed that she did so because she found out about Tchaikovsky's sexual preference. It is possible she was planning to marry off one of her daughters to Tchaikovsky, as she also tried unsuccessfully to marry one of them to Claude Debussy, who had lived in Russia for a time as music teacher to her family. It was during this period that Tchaikovsky achieved success throughout Europe and as well as in the United States in 1891. Just nine days after the first performance of his Sixth Symphony, Pathétique, in 1893, in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died. It is generally accepted that his death was by suicide, although the manner (commonly claimed to be from cholera brought about by drinking infected water, although arsenic poisoning is more likely) and circumstances are uncertain. One suggestion is that a group of his former classmates encouraged him to commit suicide to avoid the scandal of an alleged affair with the nephew of a member of the Russian aristocracy. Tchaikovsky was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg. His life, somewhat embroidered, is the subject of Ken Russell's motion picture The Music Lovers."      Play all 121 videos Play all(121)
Advertisement

Featured Channels

0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more