Béla Bartók – Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, Orchestra

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– Composer: Béla Viktor János Bartók (25 March 1881 — 26 September 1945)
– Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
– Conductor: David Zinman
– Soloists: Nelson Freire and Martha Argerich (pianos), Jan Labordus and Jan Pustjens (percussion)
– Year of recording: 1985

Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, Sz. 115, BB 121, written in 1940.

00:00 – I. Assai lento – Allegro molto
13:31 – II. Lento, ma non troppo
20:45 – III. Allegro non troppo

The composition date given in the headnote is slightly misleading: yes, Bartók produced this effort in 1940, but it is an arrangement of the 1937 Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion. While for some time the chamber version may have been the preferred one, especially among critics, the orchestral rendition eventually became the more popular choice in concert halls and the recording studio.

Bartók had originally conceived the work for solo piano and percussion, but felt a second keyboard would supply sufficient sonic heft to provide the proper instrumental balances. Largely because of the work’s success at its debut on 16 January 1938, the composer decided to arrange it for orchestra, changing relatively small portions of the piano and percussion scoring.

– The first movement opens mysteriously (Assai lento), the pianos introducing the cryptic, terse main theme, or motif. As the music builds via intervallic accumulation, there are explosions from the percussion, and after an imaginative march-like episode on the pianos the tempo changes to Allegro molto. The colors brighten here and a brilliant, rhythmic theme, growing from the opening motif, is given by the pianos, later to be played colorfully by the xylophone. A second theme of less-aggressive character appears, and there follows an imaginative and complex development section. In the latter part of the first movement a brilliant fugue is given, wherein the piano writing is quite virtuosic, hands going in opposite directions on the keyboards, notes filling the air with tension and momentum. A dramatic coda, itself roiling in tension, closes the movement with emphatic resolution.
– The second movement is an elegy whose mesmerizing music, marked Lento ma non troppo, recalls the middle movement of the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from 1926 (uploaded on this channel), also a percussion-laden affair. The middle section here breaks from the elegiac mood of the opening and closing with agitated music, offering fine contrast to the nostalgic main theme.
– The third movement is a rondo, marked Allegro non troppo, that features two quite memorable themes. The first has an arched contour, rising and descending jovially on the keyboard, while the next one is presented emphatically by the xylophone, sounding humorous and intentionally stiff in its march-like manner. There is a brilliant but terse development of the main theme in a fugato episode, and the work ends with a subdued coda.

This concerto has attained a measure of popularity, but still remains largely on the fringes of the repertory, owing in part to the two-piano scoring. Relatively few virtuosos from any period devote their time to works like this unfortunately; this superlative performance by Freire and Argerich is one of the few.

Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 1 in Dm – Pianist Hélène Grimaud – Conductor Michael Gielen

Andy Granko

 

Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture – Conductor Valery Gergiev – London Symphont Orchestra

Adagietto

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, fantasy-overture for orchestra in B minor, 1880. Maestro Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Numerous composers have responded to Shakespeare’s timeless drama of forbidden and youthful love, but Tchaikovsky’s response (along with Berlioz’s and Prokofiev’s) is at the top of the list. It is the only one of the three to be intended as a number in a symphony concert, and, hence is by default the most famous of the lot.

Tchaikovsky, a lawyer, was still developing as a composer at age 29 when Mily Balakirev (self-appointed father figure to Russian composers) persuaded him to write an orchestral work on the subject of the “star-cross’d lovers.” Balakirev outlined the form, planned the keys, and even suggested some of the actual music. After the 1870 premiere, he convinced Tchaikovsky to revise it. The work’s success in this form did much to transform the composer’s tendency toward crippling doubt into useful self-criticism. (Not that the transformation was ever total; Tchaikovsky suffered bouts of depression and self-doubt throughout his career.) The composer revised it again in 1880; this version is almost universally the one played. While the final version is probably the best one, the 1869 text is also a fine work and very much worth hearing. The earlier version begins with a charming tune that carries elements of the great love theme. In the first and second revisions Tchaikovsky eliminated this and replaced it with the benedictory theme representing Friar Laurence. The effect of this change on the overture’s structure is large. The first version seems to begin with Juliet still in a relatively childlike state, but with the potential for the great love present in the disguised premonitions of the love theme. The focus is, therefore, on the development of the drama as it unfolds. The later versions, beginning as it were with a prayer, seem to invite the hearer to look back on a tragedy that has already happened. Both versions proceed identically through depictions of the clashes between the houses of Montague and Capulet, and then unveil the great love music. After that, though, Tchaikovsky’s original idea seems to this writer to be superior: There is a great development, fugal-sounding and allowing for contrapuntal conflict based on the overture’s main rhythms and themes. It is tremendously exciting, more so than the music which replaced it. Justification for dropping it might be made along the lines that the original version has too much dramatic weight and overshadows the rest of the music. The main differences thereafter are in details of scoring, and in the finale, which in the original version is much too curt.

It is often instructive to see what a great composer has done at two different times with the same ideas and material. Whether or not it has greater musical merit, Tchaikovsky’s blessing of his final version served to ensure that it is the one that prevailed, and in that form it is accepted as one of the greatest programmatic pieces in the symphonic repertoire. The yearning love theme, in particular, is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest melodies ever written, while the exciting fight music and Tchaikovsky’s unfailingly clear and imaginative orchestration carry the listener through with hardly a misstep. But the original version is not far behind it in musical worth; it should be given more frequent revivals, if only for the sake of hearing the great fugato passage described above.

Keith Jarrett – Solo Improvisations

La Scala

The Wind

Endless

 

 

Soundtrack – The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe Soundtrack

IvvanMusicDude

0:00 – The Blitz
2:32 – Evacuating London
6:11 – The Wardrobe
9:06 – Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus
13:16 – A Narnia Lullaby
14:29 – The White Witch
20:00 – From Western Woods to Beaversdam
23:34 – Father Christmas
26:55 – To Aslan’s Camp
30:07 – Knighting Peter
33:55 – The Stone Table
42:02 – The Battle
49:10 – Only the Beginning
54:43 – Can’t Take It In
59:26 – Wunderkind
1:04:45 – Winter Light
1:08:59 – Where

Violin Virtuosity – Angelo Yu – Prokofiev Violin Concerto 1

New England Conservatory

Xiang Angelo Yu performs “Scherzo: Vivacissimo” the dazzling second movement from Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, with Hugh Wolff and the NEC Philharmonia. Please click here to see the entire Concerto: http://youtu.be/WSZTjvyj24s

Diana Ross – What a Diff’rence a Day Makes

LILY ALEX

Beethoven Egmont Overture – Conductor Hugh Wolff – NEC Philharmonia

New England Conservatory

On April 23rd, 2014 at Boston’s Symphony Hall, conductor Hugh Wolff and the NEC Philharmonia presented the culminating concert in New England Conservatory’s year-long “Music: Truth to Power” festival. The concert opened with this performance of Beethoven’s “Overture to Egmont, op. 84,” which Maestro Wolff prefaces with a brief statement of the Overture’s place in the festival and alongside the other works on the program. If you enjoy this performance, please these other works, also on on Youtube:
Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with soloist Xiang Angelo Yu:
http://youtu.be/WSZTjvyj24s
and Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 11, The Year 1905:
http://youtu.be/ED5-QGuxJs8

Music to Whose Ears – Music, Emotion, and Mind

helixcenter

Ragan Whiteside – Jazz Flute

 

 

Jazz Pianist Horace Silver – R.I.P.

 

Paul Hindemith – Concerto for Trumpet, Bassoon, String Orchestra

Vedran Kocelj·27 videos

Hindemith Concerto for Trumpet, Bassoon and String Orchestra part 2
André de Ridder – Conductor
Vedran Kocelj – Trumpet
Croatian radio television symphony orchestra
Conceret hall Vatroslav lisinski, Zagreb, Croatia
15-3-2007

Petar Križanić – Bassoon

Sergei Rachmaninov – Cello Sonata

Jorge Bolet, Pianist – Chopin, Ballade No. 4

 

Recommended Listening – Jeff Fuhrer @ Soundcloud – Really Great Compositions For Chorus, Various Instruments

 

Link To Jeff Fuhrer’s  Soundcloud Page

NOTE:  This was sent to me via Comment.  Please listen to Jeff Fuhrer’s Music  @  Soundcloud.  His music will make you feel really good.  Definitely bookmark for further listening.

 

George Antheil – Jazz Symphony

GreggaryPeccary·291 videos

A light-hearted ditty, for a change

Written in 1925, it was premiered at his infamous 1927 Carnegie Hall Concert which also debuted the Succès de scandale Ballet Mécanique. It was originally intended to be used in Paul Whiteman’s Experiment in Modern Music (which famously premiered George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue) concerts, but was deemed too radical. Scored for a massive instrumentation of 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, various percussion, 2 banjos, 3 pianos (including one soloist), and full string section.

For convenience, he reorchestrated the work in 1955 for a much more conservative ensemble, a version which also rids itself of the many dissonances and noises of the original.

It was performed by the Harlem Symphonietta conducted by W.C. Handy, and was complimented by the likes of Gershwin and Aaron Copland. Despite this critical success, it was overshadowed by the spectacle of the main work, Ballet Mécanique. The work can be seen with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde as one of the first classical works with a successful and overt jazz influence. Furthermore, while Gershwin’s piece is more influenced by big band and swing, Milhaud’s and Antheil’s works can be seen as reinterpretations of the large freeness of Creole and New Orleans and cutting-edge New York jazz.

The Juilliard String Quartet – Exploring Beethoven with a New Voice

ecmotherwell·4 videos

In a preview for an upcoming full-length documentary, the Juilliard String Quartet performs selections from Beethoven’s Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 130, with the Grosse Fuge.
Joseph Lin, the new first violinist of the ensemble, and Samuel Rhodes also speak about studying and performing the great work.

Mozart Clarinet Concerto – Julian Bliss

Frys Lan·141 videos

Wikipedia article about this piece.

 

 

Naomi Wachira – African Girl

nabema32·5 videos

Director, Cinematographer and Editor: Miriam Agwai – http://videogirlandotherstories.com
Music & Lyrics: Naomi Wachira (ASCAP) – http://naomiwachira.com
Photo Credit: Eratosthenes Fackenthall – http://eratosthenes.me/ Meg Stacker – http://megstacker.com

“African Girl” is about embracing all of who you are… your past, your present, your future… being proud of your heritage, your family and community because they influence who you become. It’s about having a vision for your life that chooses to overcome adversity with grace and dignity, while building up those around you.

Veljko Nenadic – Balkan Suite – Serbian Composer – Golden Key Music Festival

Dragan Nenadić·44 videos

Veljko Nenadic is the winner of the Piano Composition Competition, Golden Key Music Festival – 2013, United States Of America, in the junior category (under 14 years). The winning composition has three movements: Vortex, Legend and Labyrinth. The inspiration for this composition was found in the rich traditional music heritage of Serbia, the Balkans and Byzantium.
Veljko Nenadic – Piano – Music School “Kosta Manojlovic” Smederevo, Serbia
Camera – Ljuba Zlatanovic, Editor – Dragan Nenadic

Veljko Nenadić je pobednik takmičenja za klavirske kompozicije, Golden Key Music Festival — 2013, , Sjedinjene Američke Države, u kategoriji juniora( do 14 godina). Pobednička kompozicija ima tri stava: Vir, Legenda i Lavirint. Inspiracija za ovu kompoziciju nađena je u bogatom tradicionalnom muzičkom nasleđu Srbije, Balkana i Vizantije.
Veljko Nenadić – klavir – Muzička škola “Kosta Manojlović” Smederevo, Srbija.