Haydn - String Quartets, Hob. III - Lark - Music | History
Franz Joseph Haydn was among the creators of the fundamental genres of classical music, and his influence upon later composers is immense. Haydn’s most celebrated pupil was Ludwig van Beethoven, and his musical form casts a huge shadow over the music of subsequent composers such as Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Early Life
Franz Joseph Haydn was recruited at age 8 to the sing in the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he went on to learn to play violin and keyboard. After he left the choir, he supported himself by teaching and playing violin, while studying counterpoint and harmony.
Haydn soon became an assistant to composer Nicola Porpora in exchange for lessons, and in 1761 he was named Kapellmeister, or "court musician," at the palace of the influential Esterházy family, a position that would financially support him for nearly 30 years. Isolated at the palace from other composers and musical trends, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original."
The Mature Artist
While Haydn rose in the Esterházy family's esteem, his popularity outside the palace walls also increased, and he eventually wrote as much music for publication as for the family. Several important works of this period were commissions from abroad, such as the Paris symphonies (1785-1786) and the original orchestral version of "The Seven Last Words of Christ" (1786). Haydn came to feel sequestered and lonely, however, missing friends back in Vienna, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so in 1791, when a new Esterházy prince let Haydn go, he quickly accepted an invitation to go to England to conduct new symphonies with German violinist and impresario Johan Peter Salomon. He would return to London again in 1794 for another successful and lucrative season.
Already well known and appreciated in England, Haydn's concerts drew huge crowds, and during his time in England the composer created some of his most popular works, including the "Rider" quartet and the Surprise, Military, Drumroll and London symphonies.
Later Years
Haydn returned to Vienna in 1795 and took up his former position with the Esterházys, although only part-time. At this point, he was a public figure in Vienna, and when he wasn't at home composing, he was making frequent public appearances. With his health failing, his creative spirit outlasted his ability to harness it, and he died at age 77.
Haydn is remembered as the first great symphonist and the composer who essentially invented the string quartet. The principal engineer of the classical style, Haydn exerted influence on the likes of Mozart, his student Ludwig van Beethoven and scores of others.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#StringQuartets
#Haydn
Chopin - Nocturne in D flat major Op. 27 No. 2 - Music | History
The Nocturnes, Op. 27 are two solo piano pieces composed by Frédéric Chopin. The pieces were composed in 1836 and published in 1837. Both nocturnes in this opus are dedicated to Countess d'Appony.
This publication marked the transition from triplets of nocturnes to contrasting pairs.
David Dubal feels that the pieces are "more aptly described as ballades in miniature". Blair Johnson states that these two nocturnes are "two of the most powerful—and famous—nocturnes [Chopin] has ever penned" and that these nocturnes are "virtually unrecognizable" to the nocturne tradition of John Field.
The Nocturne in D-flat major is initially marked as lento sostenuto and is in 6/8 meter. It consists of two strophes, repeated in increasingly complex variations. The piece is 77 measures long.
Blair Johnston calls the main cadence, near the end of the piece, "one of the most glorious moments in Chopin's entire output". Johnston also calls the piece "one of [Chopin's] most graceful essays in fioritura ornamental practices". Huneker states that the piece "really contains but one subject, and is a song of the sweet summer of two souls, for there is obviously meaning in the duality of voices." He also claims that the piece is "harmonically most interesting". Friskin states that the piece contains "broken rhythms and slurs which require a delicate hand touch".
The piece occasionally has been featured in popular culture, such as in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, the 1998 Russian film The Barber of Siberia, and the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#Nocturne
#Chopin
Chopin - Nocturne in B major Op. 9 No. 3 - Music | History
The Nocturnes, Op. 9 are a set of three nocturnes written by Frédéric Chopin between 1830 and 1832, published that year, and dedicated to Madame Marie Pleyel. The second nocturne of the work is regarded as Chopin's most famous piece.
It is in ternary form A-B-A. The first section is marked allegretto. The main theme is chromatic, but filled with nostalgic energy. The second contrasting section, Agitato in B minor, is a very dramatic one with a combined melody and counter-melody in the right hand and continuous 8th note arpeggios in the left, which requires an amount of virtuosity. The piece is full of coloratura ornaments, and ends with a wide chord in the left hand accompanied with right hand triplets in a high octave to lead to a legatissimo smorzando adagio (senza tempo).
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#Nocturne
#Chopin
Anton Rubinstein - The Demon Opera - Music | History
Demon is an opera in three acts (six scenes) by Russian composer Anton Rubinstein. The work was composed in 1871. The libretto was by Pavel Viskovatov, based on the poem of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov.
Lermontov's poem was banned as sacrilegious until 1860. Its popularity and its lurid story made it an excellent candidate for an opera libretto, and Rubinstein himself worked out the scenario from which Viskovatov produced the final text. The opera was premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, on 25 January [O.S. 13 January] 1875, conducted by Eduard Nápravník. The stage design was by Mikhayil Bocharov, Matvey Shishkov, and Lagorio. The Moscow premiere was in 1879 at the Bolshoi Theatre, conducted by Enrico Bevignani.
The opera was published by V. Bessel and Co., St. Petersburg, in 1876. A further edition was in 1968 by Muzgiz, Moscow.
Rubinstein invited several musicians of the group known as The Five, including César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as the critic Vladimir Stasov to a private hearing of the opera in September 1871, where the guests did not regard the work favourably. However, melodic motifs from The Demon inspired comparable motifs in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.
The opera received 100 performances in the first decade following its premiere. Its first performance in Paris was in May 1911, where the critics considered the opera to be old-fashioned.
Whilst it is still quite frequently performed in Russia, the opera has become a rarity in the West.
Demon was performed in a semi-staged version at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow in 2015 with Dmitry Hvorostovsky in the title role and Asmik Grigoryan as Tamara. The performance was directed by Dmitry Bertman of Helikon Opera and broadcast live on Russian television. The final scene of the opera also appears on his 2016 CD Dmitri Hvorostovsky Sings of Love, Peace, War and Sorrow. A fully staged production of the opera, also directed by Bertman, was performed in the original Russian at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in April–May 2018. The Liceu production was originally intended for Hvorostovsky, who died from a brain tumor in 2017. In his stead the role of the Demon was taken the Latvian bass-baritone Egils Siliņš.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#TheDemonOpera
#Rubinstein
Vivaldi - Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor, RV 522 - I. Allegro - Music | History
L'estro armonico (The Harmonic Inspiration), Op. 3, is a set of 12 concertos for stringed instruments by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, first published in Amsterdam in 1711. Vivaldi's Twelve Trio Sonatas, Op. 1, and Twelve Violin Sonatas, Op. 2, only contained sonatas, thus L'estro armonico was his first collection of concertos appearing in print. It was also the first time he chose a foreign publisher, Estienne Roger, instead of an Italian. Each concerto was printed in eight parts: four violins, two violas, cello and continuo. The continuo part was printed as a figured bass for violone and harpsichord.
The concertos belong to the concerto a 7 format, that is: for each concerto there are seven independent parts. In each consecutive group of three concertos, the first is a concerto for four violins, the second for two violins, and the third a solo violin concerto. The cello gets solistic passages in several of the concertos for four and two violins, so that a few of the concertos conform to the traditional Roman concerto grosso format where a concertino of two violins and cello plays in contrast to a string orchestra. L'estro armonico pioneered orchestral unisono in concerto movements.
Vivaldi composed a few concertos specifically for L'estro armonico, while other concertos of the set had been composed at an earlier date. Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described the set as "perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the eighteenth century".
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#Concerto
#Vivaldi
Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Music | History
The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention).
The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi's works. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera Il Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos is not the countryside around Mantua, as initially supposed, where Vivaldi was living at the time, since according to Karl Heller they could have been written as early as 1716–1717, while Vivaldi was engaged with the court of Mantua only in 1718. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires.
Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke. The concerti therefore stand as one of the earliest and most detailed examples of what would come to be called program music—i.e., music with a narrative element. Vivaldi took great pains to relate his music to the texts of the poems, translating the poetic lines themselves directly into the music on the page. For example, in the middle section of "Spring", when the goatherd sleeps, his barking dog can be heard in the viola section. The music is elsewhere similarly evocative of other natural sounds. Vivaldi divided each concerto into three movements (fast–slow–fast), and, likewise, each linked sonnet into three sections.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#FourSeasons
#Vivaldi
Chopin - Bourrée No. 1 & No. 2 - Music | History
The bourrée originates in Auvergne in France. It is sometimes called the "French clog dance" or a "branle of the sabots". First mentioned as a popular dance in 1665 in Clermont-Ferrand, it still survives in Auvergne in the Massif Central and in the department of Ariège and is danced during bals folk in France and in other countries. The present-day dance in lower Auvergne, also called Montagnarde (Montanhardas), is in triple time while that of high Auvergne called Auvergnate (Auvernhatas) is in double time. Modern variants termed bourrées are danced as partner dances, circle dances, square dances and line dances.
However bourrées have been composed as abstract musical pieces since the mid-16th century. Michael Praetorius mentions it in his musical compendium Syntagma musicum and introduces it as a dance in his Terpsichore. However, there is no early dance notation and it is impossible to assess the early interaction of the folk dance and the courtly dance. Musically, the bourrée took on the common binary form of classical dance movements, sometimes extended by a second bourée, the two to be played in a grand ternary form; A–(A)–B–A.
Marguerite de Navarre, who was sister to the King of Sweden, introduced the dance to the French court in 1565 and it was popular until the reign of Louis XIII (1601-1643) and opened many balls, but the bourrée took some time to appear in the early ballet dance notation of the French baroque theatre. The step with two movements is not illustrated by Feuillet but appears in Rameau as the "true" pas de bourée, the simpler step, with one movement, is identified with the fleuret. The basic step, with one initial movement (i.e. a plié on the supporting leg) and three subsequent changes of weight in a measure, can be performed in a great many variations, and varieties of this step appear commonly throughout the notated dances that were published in the eighteenth century, starting with Feuillet in 1700.
The minuet step is a pas composé, a step composed of more basic steps. The pas de bourée of one movement is the second half of the most common minuet step, the minuet step of two movements, or "one and a fleuret", as the English master Tomlinson described it. The rare pas de bourée of two movements, mentioned above, occurs as a graceful variation in some recorded passapied, as part of a minuet step of three movements.
As later formalised in classical ballet the skipping step of the bourrée became a quick, gliding step, often en pointe or demi-pointe, one of the most-used step sequences of ballet. A pas de bourrée, more commonly known as the "behind side front" or "back side front", is a quick sequence of movements often taken in preparation for a larger step. In one account it begins with an extension of the first leg while demi plié, closing it to the second as both transit to relevé, extending the second leg to an open position and again closing first to second in demi plié , or with legs straight if quick or as the final step of an enchainement. There are several variants. A pas de bourrée piqué picks up the feet in between steps.
In his Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739), Johann Mattheson wrote of the bourrée, "its distinguishing feature resides in contentment and a pleasant demeanor, at the same time it is somewhat carefree and relaxed, a little indolent and easygoing, though not disagreeable".
Johann Sebastian Bach often used the bourrée in his suites as one of the optional dance movements that come after the sarabande but before the gigue, and he also wrote two short bourrées in his Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. That in his Lute Suite in E Minor (BWV 996) is especially popular.
Handel wrote several bourrées in his solo chamber sonatas (for example the fourth movement of his Oboe sonata in C minor); however, perhaps his best-known is the seventh movement of the Water Music (Handel) suite.
In the 19th century Frédéric Chopin and Emmanuel Chabrier wrote bourrées for the piano (such as the latter's Bourrée fantasque, composed 1891). The Victorian English composer, Sir Hubert Parry included a bourrée in his Lady Radnor Suite (1894).
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#StayHome
#Chopin
Tchaikovsky - Concerto No. 2 in G Op. 44 - Music | History
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44, was written in 1879–1880 and dedicated to Nikolai Rubinstein, who had insisted he be allowed to perform it at the premiere as a way of making up for his harsh criticism of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. But Rubinstein was destined never to play it, as he died in March 1881, and the work has never attained much popularity.
The premiere performance took place in New York City, on 12 November 1881. The soloist was Madeline Schiller, and Theodore Thomas conducted the New York Philharmonic orchestra.[1] The first Russian performance was in Moscow in May 1882, conducted by Anton Rubinstein with Tchaikovsky's pupil, Sergei Taneyev, at the piano.
The piano concerto consists of three movements:
• Allegro brillante e molto vivace
• Andante non troppo (in D major)
• Allegro con fuoco
The second movement contains prominent solos for the violin and cello, making the work in effect a concerto for piano trio and orchestra briefly, though a once-popular edition by Alexander Siloti removed large sections of the work, including those solos. Siloti initially proposed a number of changes to the score, but Tchaikovsky resisted these ideas. As time progressed, however, he did agree to certain changes. However, the version that Siloti published in 1897, four years after Tchaikovsky's death, included cuts and transpositions with which Tchaikovsky had strongly disagreed. Nevertheless, the Siloti version became the standard version for many years.
Also noteworthy is the degree of segregation of orchestra and soloist, especially in the opening movement. Tchaikovsky had told his close friend Hermann Laroche many years earlier that he would never write a piano concerto because he could not tolerate the sound of piano and orchestra playing together. Though he handled this well enough in the First Piano Concerto, he would increasingly intersperse cadenza-like passages for the soloist in the movements of his later works for piano and orchestra. For listeners trying to orient themselves through this concerto, those passages, with their abrupt switch between piano and supporting instruments, make it easier.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#StayHome
#Tchaikovsky
Josef Wagner - Under the Double Eagle - Music | History
"Under the Double Eagle" (German: Unter dem Doppeladler), Op. 159, is an 1893 march composed by J.F. Wagner, an Austrian military music composer. The title is a reference to the double eagle in the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary.
It was published in the United States in 1902 by Eclipse Publishing Co., a branch of Joseph Morris Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This piece is in E-flat major, though the Trio is in A-flat major. It is written in ternary form. "Under the Double Eagle" has been recorded by country music guitar and banjo players, several identified with the bluegrass style.
Josef Franz Wagner (20 March 1856 – 5 June 1908) was an Austrian military bandmaster and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "The Austrian March King".
He is best known for his 1893 march "Unter dem Doppeladler" (Op. 159) or "Under the Double Eagle", referring to the double eagle in the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary. The march became a favourite part of the repertoire of American composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa, whose band recorded it three times. The piece was the official regimental march of Austrian Artillery Regiment Number 2 until its dissolution in 2007.
he tune was parodied in the Benny Goodman recording "Benjie's Bubble" and was also used for the well-known Monty Python's Flying Circus animation segment "Conrad Poohs And His Dancing Teeth".
"Under the Double Eagle" is well known in country music, having been recorded by a number of guitar and banjo players, several of them identified with the bluegrass style.
Wagner is also known for the march "Tiroler Holzhackerbuab'n" (Op. 356), or "Tyrolean Lumberjacks". In 1895, his only opera, Der Herzbub, premiered in Vienna.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#StayHome
#Wagner
Bach - Air on the G String - Music | History
"Air on the G String" is August Wilhelmj's arrangement of the second movement in Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068.
The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first violins is transposed down so that it can be played entirely on a violin's lowest string, i.e., the G string. It is played by a single violin (instead of by the first violins as a group).
Bach's third Orchestral Suite in D major, composed in the first half of the 18th century, has an "Air" as second movement, following its French overture opening movement. The suite is composed for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings (two violin parts and a viola part), and basso continuo. In the second movement of the suite however only the strings and the continuo play. This is the only movement of the suite where all other instruments are silent.
The music of the "Air" is written on four staves, for solo violin, violins, violas, and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrasts with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass.
In the late 19th century, violinist August Wilhelmj arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, piano or organ (harmonium). On the score he wrote auf der G-Saite (on the G string) above the staff for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname.
In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original key (D major) to C major. Then the part of the first violins is transposed further down an octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string. The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are more in line with a romantic interpretation than with the baroque original.
As a violin can't play very loudly in its lowest register, all the other parts of Bach's music were firmly reduced in Wilhelmj's version: the keyboard part is to be played staccato and pianissimo, causing the effects of interweaving melodies and of drive in the bass part to get lost. The accompanying violins and violas play muted (con sordino), and the bass part for cellos and double basses is to be played pizzicato and sempre pianissimo, with the same change in effect compared to Bach's original.
Later, a spurious story circulated that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone. The solo violin part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello. As a result of the popularity of the piece, on the G string remained in the name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string was involved. Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the material of the other parts of Bach's piece, although occasionally versions that stay more in line with Bach's original can go by the same name.
We are a educational channel specializing in history of classical music.
Our goal is to spread classical music to the greatest number of people.
Explore our channel and listen to more works by Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Haydn, Schumann, Schubert, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Debussy and more! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Subscribe. 🎧
🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopClassicalMusic
🔴 WebSite: http://www.melhoresmusicasclassicas.com
#MusicHistory
#StayHome
#Bach