Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at age 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical formation in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723 he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St. Thomas) in Leipzig. He composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.
Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular. He composed Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs. He wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ the genres of canon and fugue.
Throughout the 18th century Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including, for instance, the Air on the G String, and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
Suite No. 1 BWW 1007
1. Prelude 1:46
2. Allemande 6:47
3. Courande 3:16
4. Sarabande 3:13
5. Menuet I and II 4:29
6. Guide 1:23
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Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 1786 – 5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, and was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school.
Vogler recommended his 17-year-old pupil Carl Maria to the post of Director at the Breslau Opera in 1804, who was offered and accepted the mission. Weber sought to reform the Opera by pensioning off older singers, expanding the orchestra, and tackling a more challenging repertoire. His ambitious and dedicated work as director of the orchestra was acknowledged though his tempi were frequently critized as too fast. As the daily routine did not leave sufficient time for own creative work, Weber abandoned the prolongation of his two-year appointment.
After an interlude at the court of Duke Eugen (I.) of Württemberg, who resided in Silesia, Weber served from 1807 to 1810 in Stuttgart as private secretary to Duke Ludwig, brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg. Weber's time in Württemberg was plagued with troubles. He fell deeply into debt and became entangled in financial manipulations of his employer, e.g. the sale of confirmations of ducal service which exempted from military service. Carl Maria was arrested and charged with embezzlement and bribery. As he could disprove the allegations one restricted the case to civil law because one did not want to compromise the conjectured manipulator, the brother of the king. Weber accepted to pay his debts (last payment 1816) and was banished from Württemberg together with his father.
As sobering side effect Weber started to keep a diary to list his expences, sent and received letters and occasional comments of special events.
Nevertheless, Carl remained prolific as a composer during this period, writing a quantity of religious music, mainly for the Catholic mass. This however earned him the hostility of reformers working for the re-establishment of traditional chant in liturgy.
In 1810, Weber visited several cities throughout Germany; 1811 was a pivotal year in his career when he met and worked with the Munich court clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and composed the Concertino in E♭ Major, Op. 26, J. 109, and the two concerti J. 114 and J. 118 for him; from December 1811 through March 1812, Weber went on tour with Baermann playing the clarinet works, and it was some of the final concerts on this tour that changed public, critical and royal opinions of Weber's work, and helped him to mount a successful performance of Silvana in Berlin later that year; from 1813 to 1816 he was director of the Opera in Prague; from 1816 to 1817 he worked in Berlin, and from 1817 onwards he was director of the prestigious Opera in Dresden, working hard to establish a German opera, in reaction to the Italian opera which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century. On 4 November 1817, he married Caroline Brandt, a singer who created the title role of Silvana. In 1819, he wrote perhaps his most famous piano piece, Invitation to the Dance.
The successful premiere of Der Freischütz on 18 June 1821 in Berlin led to performances all over Europe. On the very morning of the premiere, Weber finished his Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, and he premiered it a week later.
In 1823, Weber composed his first (and only) full-length, through-written opera Euryanthe to a libretto by Helmina von Chézy, several passages of which (notably the music for the villainous couple Lysiart and Eglantine) anticipate the early, romantic operas of Richard Wagner. In 1824, Weber received an invitation from The Royal Opera, London, to compose and produce Oberon, based on Christoph Martin Wieland's poem of the same name. Weber accepted the invitation, and in 1826 he travelled to England, to finish the work and conduct the premiere on 12 April.
Weber was already suffering from tuberculosis when he visited London. He conducted the premiere and twelve sold-out performances of Oberon in London during April and in May, and despite his rapidly worsening health, he continued to fulfill commitments for private concerts and benefits.
He died in his sleep during the night on 5 June 1826 at the home of his good friend and host Sir George Smart; he was 39 years old. He was buried in London.
18 years later in December 1844 his remains were transferred to the family burial plot in the Old Catholic Cemetery (Alter Katholischer Friedhof) in Dresden at the side of his youngest son Alexander, who at the age of 19 had died of measles seven weeks before. The simple gravestone, designed by Gottfried Semper, lies against the northern boundary wall. The eulogy at the reburial was delivered by Richard Wagner.
Weber's unfinished opera Die drei Pintos (The Three Pintos) was originally given by his widow to Giacomo Meyerbeer for completion; it was eventually completed by Gustav Mahler, who conducted the first performance in Leipzig on 20 January 1888.
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Johannes Brahms
Sixteen Waltzes (German; Sechzehn Walzer), Op. 39, is a set of 16 short waltzes for piano written by Johannes Brahms. They were composed in 1865, and published in 1866, dedicated to the music critic Eduard Hanslick.
These waltzes were written for piano four hands, and were also arranged for piano solo by the composer, in two different versions – difficult and simplified. The three versions were published at the same time, and sold well, contrary to the composer's expectations.
The waltzes were written while the composer lived in Vienna, a city where he would permanently settle in 1872. They were intended as a tribute to the waltz dance form which had become especially fashionable in his adopted city.
In the solo versions, some of the keys were altered from the original duet version (the last four in the difficult version and No. 6 in the easy version). Waltz Number 15 in A major (or A♭) has acquired a life of its own. An arrangement of five of the waltzes (Nos. 1, 2, 11, 14, and 15) for two pianos, four hands was published after the composer's death.
Almost all of the waltzes are in a recapitulating binary form. For each waltz, the first half moves to the dominant, the relative major, or a substitute key. Then, the second half begins with a developmental passage that leads back to the main theme and the tonic.
In 1984, critic Edward Rothstein said that Joseph Smith "made a compelling case for taking them seriously as a unified cycle."
16 Waltzes Op. 39
1. em Si Maior 0:55
2. em Mi Maior 1:29
3. em Sol Sostenido Maior 0:58
4. em mi Menor 1:16
5. em Mi Maior 1:21
6. em Do Sostenido Maior 1:02
7. em Do Sostenido Menor 2:12
8. em Si Bemol Maior 1:35
9. em Re Menor 1:24
10. em Sol Maior 0:35
11. em Si Menor 1:46
12. em Mi Maior 1:35
13. em Si Maior 0:42
14. em Sol Sostenido Menor 1:21
15. em La Bemol Maior 1:35
16. em Do Sostenido Menor 1:21
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Johann Strauss - Klange aus der Raimundzeit Op. 479
as Werk entstand vor dem Hintergrund einer Denkmalsenthüllung für Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1836). Am Vorabend der eigentlichen Enthüllung des Denkmals fand im Deutschen Volkstheater in Wien ein Festakt zu Ehren des 1836 verstorbenen Dichters statt. Für diese Veranstaltung hat Johann Strauss diese Komposition geschaffen. Es handelt sich bei dem Werk im wörtlichen Sinne um eine Komposition, nämlich um eine Zusammenstellung von Musikstücken aus der Zeit des Dichters. Dabei wurden unter anderem Kompositionen von Josef Lanner und Johann Strauss (Vater) und Motive aus Bühnenmusiken zu Raimunds Werken verwendet. Für Johann Strauss (Sohn) war das Werk auch ein Rückblick in seine eigene Jugendzeit. Viele der zitierten Werke waren damals (in seinen jungen Jahren) noch aktuell. Das Werk wurde das Letzte, das in dem Werkeverzeichnis von Johann Strauss (op. 479) aufgelistet wurde. Dazu passend sind die beiden letzten in diesem Werk zitierten Lieder (Brüderlein fein einmal muß geschieden sein bzw. So leb' denn wohl, du stilles Haus). Beide Lieder thematisieren den Abschied. Ob das von Strauss als Hinweis auf seinen eigenen Abschied verstanden werden wollte sei dahingestellt. Rückblickend würde es passen. Er hatte mit dem Werk sein letztes Opus verfasst und er starb etwa ein Jahr nach der Uraufführung dieses Werkes am 3. Juni 1899.
Die Spieldauer beträgt auf der unter Einzelnachweis angeführten CD 7 Minuten und 46 Sekunden. Je nach der musikalischen Auffassung des Dirigenten kann diese Zeit etwas variieren.
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Antonio Vivaldi
Juditha triumphans devicta Holofernis barbarie (Judith triumphant over the barbarians of Holofernes), RV 644, is an oratorio by Antonio Vivaldi, the only survivor of the four that he is known to have composed. Although the rest of the oratorio survives completely intact, the overture has been lost. The Latin libretto was written by Iacopo Cassetti based upon the Book of Judith.
The exact date of composition and performance of Juditha triumphans are not known, but the allegorical treatment of the Venetian defense of Corfu dominated public discussion in Venice throughout 1716. This work was an allegorical description of the victory of the Venetians (the Christians) over the Turks in August 1716. The work was commissioned to celebrate the victory of the Republic of Venice over the Turks during the siege of Corfu: in July 1716, the Turks had landed on Corfu and set siege to the island. The population resisted the occupation and, in August, Venice signed an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor. On 18 August, under the leadership of count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, the decisive battle was won and the Turks abandoned the island.
Although widely reported to have been performed at the Ospedale della Pietà in November 1716, the victorious General Schulenburg could not have been in the audience of any performance prior to January 3, 1717.
Juditha Triumphans RV 644
01 - Chorus militum pugnantium in Acie cum timpano bellico: Arma, caedes
02 - Recitativo Holofernes: Felix en fausta dies
03 - Aria Holofernes: Nil arma, nil bella
04 - Recitativo Vagaus et Holofernes: Mi Dux, Domine mi
05 - Aria Vagaus: Matrona inimica
06 - Recitativo Holofernes et Vagaus: Huc accedat Matrona
07 - Aria Juditha: Quo cum Patriae me ducit amore
08 - Recitativo Abra: Ne timeas non
09 - Aria Abra: Vultus tui vago splendori
10 - Recitativo Abra et Juditha: Vide humilis prostrata
11 - Vagaus et adstantium militum chorus: O quam vaga
12 - Recitativo Vagaus: Quem vides prope
13 - Aria Vagaus: Quamvis ferro
14 - Recitativo Holofernes et Jutitha: Quid cerno!
15 - Aria Juditha: Quanto magis generosa
16 - Recitativo Holofernes et Juditha: Magna, o foemina petis
17 - Aria Holofernes: Sede o cara
18 - Recitativo Juditha et Holofernes: Tu Judux es
19 - Aria Juditha: Agitata infido flatu
20 - Recitativo Holofernes: In tentorio supernae
21 - Aria Vagaus: O servi volate
22 - Recitativo Vagaus et Abra: Tu quoque hebraica ancilla
23 - Aria Juditha: Veni, me sequere
24 - Recitativo Abra: Venio Juditha
25 - Aria Abra: Fulgeat sol frontis decorae
26 - Recitativo di Abra: In urbe interim pia
27 - Chorus virginum psalentium in Bethulia: Mundi Rector
28 - Recitativo Ozias: Summi Regis in mente
29 - Aria Ozias: O Sydera, o stellae
30 - Recitativo Ozias et Holofernes: Jam saevientis in hostem
31 - Aria Holofernes: Nox obscura
32 - Recitativo Holofernes et Juditha: Belligerae meae sorti
33 - Aria Juditha: Transit aetas
34 - Recitativo Holofernes et Juditha: Haec in crastinum serva
35 - Aria Holofernes: Noli o cara te adorantis
36 - Recitativo Juditha et Holofernes: Tibi dona salutis
37 - Chorus: Plena noctare non mero
38 - Recitativo Holofernes: Tormenta mentis tuae
39 - Aria Juditha: Vivat in pace
40 - Recitativo Juditha: Sic in Pace inter hostes
41 - Aria Vagaus: Umbrae carae
42 - Recitativo Vagaus: Quae fortunata es tu
43 - Aria Abra: Non ita reducem progeniem noto
44 - Recitativo Abra: Jam pergo, postes claudo
45 - Recitativo accompagnato Juditha: Summe Astroum Creator
46 - Aria Juditha: In somno profundo
47 - Recitativo accompagnato Juditha: Impii, indigni tiranni
48 - Recitativo Juditha et Abra: Abra, accipe munus
49 - Aria di Abra: Si fulgida per te
50 - Recitativo di Vagaus: Jam non procul ab axe
51 - Aria Vagaus: Armatae face
52 - Recitativo Ozias: Quam insolita luce
53 - Aria Ozias: Gaude felix Bethulia
54 - Recitativo accompagnato Ozias: Ita decreto aeterno
55 - Chorus exultantium Virginum pro Judithae triumpho: Salve invicta Juditha formosa
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Maurice Ravel - Dafnis e Cloe Suite No. 2
Daphnis et Chloé is a ballet in one act with three parts (scenes) by Maurice Ravel described as a "symphonie chorégraphique" (choreographic symphony). The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from a romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD. Scott Goddard published a contemporary commentary that discussed the changes to the story that Fokine made to prepare a workable ballet scenario.[1] The story concerns the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé.
Ravel began work on the score in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev. It was premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris by his Ballets Russes on 8 June 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloé. Léon Bakst designed the original sets.
At almost an hour long, Daphnis et Chloé is Ravel's longest work. In spite of the ballet's duration, four discernible leitmotifs give musical unity to the score. The music, some of the composer's most passionate, is widely regarded as some of Ravel's best, with extraordinarily lush harmonies typical of the impressionist movement in music. Even during the composer's lifetime, contemporary commentators described this ballet as his masterpiece for orchestra. Ravel extracted music from the ballet to make two orchestral suites, which can be performed with or without the chorus. The second of the suites, which includes much of the last part of the ballet and concludes with the "Danse générale", is particularly popular. When the complete work is itself performed live, it is more often in concerts than in staged productions.
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Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák's Requiem in B♭ minor, Op. 89, B. 165, is a funeral Mass scored for soloists, choir and orchestra. It was composed in 1890 and performed for the first time on 9 October 1891, in Birmingham, England, with the composer conducting.
Requiem Op. 89
1. I Requiem aeternam 10:37
2. II Graduale 5:08
3. III Dies irae 2:09
4. IV Tuba mirum 8:35
5. V Quid sum miser 6:02
6. VI Recordare 6:59
7. VII Confutatis maledictis 4:15
8. VIII Lacrimosa 6:11
9. IX Offertorium 11:12
10. X Hostias 11:14
11. XI Sanctus 5:58
12. XII Pie Jesu 5:12
13. XIII Agnus Dei 10:49
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Johann Sebastian Bach
The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a largely lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach's autograph manuscript. The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander).
The work belongs to a group of three oratorios written in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the other two works being the Ascension Oratorio (BWV 11) and the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249). All three of these oratorios to some degree parody earlier compositions. The Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest and most complex work of the three.
The Christmas Oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.
The first part (for Christmas Day) describes the Birth of Jesus, the second (for December 26) the annunciation to the shepherds, the third (for December 27) the adoration of the shepherds, the fourth (for New Year's Day) the circumcision and naming of Jesus, the fifth (for the first Sunday after New Year) the journey of the Magi, and the sixth (for Epiphany) the adoration of the Magi.
Weihnachts Oratorium BWV 248
Part I 'For the First Day of Christmas'
Part II 'For the Second Day of Christmas'
Part III 'For the Third Day of Christmas'
Part IV 'For the Feast of the Circumcision'
Part V 'For the First Sunday in the New Year'
Part VI 'For the Feats of Epiphany'
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) K 620
The Magic Flute (K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work was premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death.
In this opera, the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the hand of his ideal female companion, Papagena.
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Ludwig van Beethoven - Mass In C Flat Opus 86
Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. The mass, scored for four vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, was premiered that year by the Prince's musical forces in Eisenstadt. Beethoven performed parts of it in his 1808 concert featuring the premieres of four major works including his Fifth Symphony. The mass was published in 1812 by Breitkopf & Härtel.
While the Prince who commissioned the mass was not pleased, the contemporary critic E. T. A. Hoffmann appreciated the "expression of a childlike serene mind", and Michael Moore notes the music's "directness and an emotional content".
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