Beautiful music for the evening hours.
It is well known that classical music relaxes the mind, making it the perfect music to listen to as you wind down to sleep.
I was reading today an interesting article on the powers of classical music. The following is an exert .. you can read the full article on this link
The soothing power of music is well-established. It has a unique link to our emotions, so can be an extremely effective stress management tool.
Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet classical music. This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones.
As music can absorb our attention, it acts as a distraction at the same time it helps to explore emotions. This means it can be a great aid to meditation, helping to prevent the mind wandering.
I hope you enjoy these evening classics. You can find the full play list on our You Tube channel.
You Tube Playlist Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ueTfjAQ759gBxppK6xCd4QBan10iWdL
(Download as wallpaper https://www.reddit.com/r/wallpapers/comments/6705dy/night_time_blues/ )
Evening Classics with Music Academy ...
The Swan, is the 13th and penultimate movement of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. Originally scored for solo cello accompanied by two pianos, it has been arranged and transcribed for many instruments but remains best known as a cello solo.
The piece is in 6/4 time, with a key signature of G major and a tempo marking andantino grazioso. The slow cello melody is accompanied by almost constant broken chord figurations on the pianos. When performed as a separate movement, not in the context of The Carnival, The Swan is frequently played with accompaniment on only one piano.
This is the only movement from The Carnival of the Animals that the composer allowed to be played in public during his lifetime. He thought the remaining movements were too frivolous and would damage his reputation as a serious composer.
Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_cygne
Massenet's Meditation from Thais
Live in concert from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on September 24th, 2015, with Katherine Bryan on Flute and Scott Mitchell on piano.
"Méditation" is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thais by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra.
The Story
The opera premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894. In the first scene of Act II, Athanaël, a Cenobite monk, confronts Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan and devotée of Venus, and attempts to persuade her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection following the encounter that the Méditation is played by the orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the Méditation, Thaïs tells Athanaël that she will follow him to the desert.
The Music
The piece is in D major and is approximately five minutes long. The solo was written for violin but here is played beautifully by Katherine Bryan or flute.
The piece opens with a short introduction by the harps, with the soloist quickly entering with the motif.
After the soloist plays the melody twice, the piece goes into a section marked animato, gradually becoming more and more passionate (Massenet wrote poco a poco appassionato).
The climax is reached at a place marked poco piu appassionato (a little more passion) and is then followed by a short cadenza-like passage from the soloist and returns to the main theme.
After the theme is played twice, the soloist joins the orchestra while playing harmonics on the upper register as the harps and strings quietly play below the solo line.
Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9ditation_(Tha%C3%AFs)
Play List: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTRbweG0_Jz1UYhpgOZ1PhXvrUhDj6DT3
As promised, before the explosion in Manchester on Monday evening, a Chopin Nocturne. This performance is by Li Yundi. Li Yundi is a Chinese classical pianist. Li is most well known for being the youngest pianist to win the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition, in 2000, at the age of 18, and for judging it in 2015.
Chopin dedicated this work to his older sister, Ludwika Chopin, with the statement: "To my sister Ludwika as an exercise before beginning the study of my second Concerto".
First published 26 years after the composer's death, the piece is usually referred to as Lento con gran espressione, from its tempo marking. It is sometimes also called Reminiscence.
The piece was famously played by Holocaust survivor Natalia Karp for the Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth, with Goeth being so impressed with the rendition, that he spared Karp's life.
The composition is marked Lento con gran espressione and is written in common time. After a soft, sad introduction, the main theme starts at bar 5, with the left hand playing broken chords in portamento slurs throughout the section, imparting a haunting and continuous quality to the music.
The theme then shifts to a dreamy pianissimo in bar 21, before returning to the original theme in bar 47, and finally concluding with a Picardy third. The first two bars of the theme from the middle section (bars 21 and 22), resemble the main theme from the third movement of his own second piano concerto in F minor which was composed around the same time (1830). The next two bars (bars 23 and 24) resemble the second part of the secondary theme of the first movement from his second piano concerto. The passage in the middle section of the nocturne in 3/4 time starting in bar 33 resembles the scherzando section of the third movement of the second piano concerto starting in bar 145 in which the left and right hand are playing an octave apart.
The current standard for this piece is grade 8 or above.
The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie.
These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopédies are regarded as an important precursor to modern ambient music.
The first few bars of Gymnopédie No. 1 consist of an alternating progression of two major seventh chords, the first on the subdominant, G, and the second on the tonic, D.
The melodies of the pieces use deliberate, but mild, dissonances against the harmony, producing a piquant, melancholy effect that matches the performance instructions, which are to play each piece "painfully" (douloureux), "sadly" (triste), or "gravely" (grave).
Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnop%C3%A9dies
The current standard for this piece is grade 5 or above.
Back with piano for the Evening Classic tonight, a personal favourite as I am currently re-learning it, and one of my favourite pianists, Yundi.
Chopin Prelude no.15 ‘Raindrop’, op.28
The Prelude Op. 28, No. 15, by Frédéric Chopin, known as the "Raindrop" prelude, is one of the 24 Chopin preludes. Usually lasting between five and seven minutes, this is the longest of the preludes. The prelude is noted for its repeating A-flat, which appears throughout the piece and sounds like raindrops to many listeners
The prelude opens with a "serene" theme in D flat. It then changes to a "lugubrious interlude" in C sharp minor, "with the dominant pedal never ceasing, a basso ostinato".
The repeating A flat, which has been heard throughout the first section, here becomes more insistent. Following this, the prelude ends with a repetition of the original theme.
Frederik Niecks says,
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, and hopefully it will bring us some much needed rain :)
Image and information from Wikki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude,_Op._28,_No._15_(Chopin)
Current standard: Grade 7 and above
Tonight's Evening Classic is the ever beautiful Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as Sonata quasi una fantasia, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement in the Classical period of fast–slow–[fast]–fast. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement.
The first movement, in C♯ minor, is written in an approximate truncated sonata form, especially considering the "introduction" function of mm. 1–5. The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation", mostly by the right hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is mezzo forte or "moderately loud".
Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)
Current standard: Grade 7 and above
EVENING CLASSICS TONIGHT IS FROM DEBUSSY ...
The Two Arabesques, is a pair of arabesques composed for piano by Claude Debussy when he was still in his twenties, between the years 1888 and 1891.
Although quite an early work, the arabesques contain hints of Debussy's developing musical style. The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music, following the French visual art form. Debussy seems to wander through modes and keys, and achieves evocative scenes through music. His view of a musical arabesque was a line curved in accordance with nature, and with his music he mirrored the celebrations of shapes in nature made by the Art Nouveau artists of the time. Of the arabesque in baroque music, he wrote:
“that was the age of the ‘wonderful arabesque', when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself.”
Arabesque No. 1. Andantino con moto
This arabesque is in the key of E major. The piece begins with parallelism of triads in first inversion, a composition technique very much used by Debussy and other Impressionists which traces back to the tradition of fauxbourdon. It leads into a larger section which begins with a left hand arpeggio in E major and a descending right hand E major pentatonic progression.
The second quieter B section is in A major, starting with a gesture (E-D-E-C♯), briefly passing through E major, returning to A major and ending with a bold pronouncement of the E-D-E-C♯ gesture, but transposed to the key of C major and played forte.
In the middle of the recapitulation of the A section, the music moves to a higher register and descends, followed by a large pentatonic scale ascending and descending, and resolving back to E major.
Arabesque No. 2. Allegretto scherzando
The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo. It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills. The piece makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano. Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale. It closes in a similar fashion to the first arabesque. The style more closely resembles some of Debussy's later works.
Info from Wikki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deux_arabesques
Current standard: Grade 8 and above
EVENING CLASSICS ...NIGHT PIECES
The suite of consists of ‘Snow, Moon and Flowers’, three short pieces of about grade 4-5 standard, followed by ‘Moon’, and then ‘Stars’, which are technically more challenging.
This unique set of pieces provides a moonlit pathway into 20th century music for those who wish to explore, should you wish to play then please speak to reception.
Snow, Moon and Flowers is taken from the phrase
Setsugetsuka (雪月花せつげつか Setsugetsuka, lit. "Snow, Moon, and Flowers"), or Setsugekka (雪月花せつげっか Setsugekka)'s,
Image: Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828) Sun, Moon and Flowers
The Chinese phrase, 雪月花時最憶君, from the old Chinese poem, "A Poem Sent to Yin Xielu" (寄殷協律), written by the Chinese Tang Dynasty poet and government official, Bai Juyi. Setsugetsuka is a topic of the three-fold theme of the seasons of the year:
snow; winter,
moon; autumn, and
flowers; spring, in art and design that was borrowed from old China.
It is referred to as "the three white objects" which refers to each of the three symbols,
snow; white, or blue-white,
moon; white, or yellow-white, and
cherry blossoms'; white, or pink-white, colour of being white.
Here are Sculthorpe’s own programme notes –
The moon one circle; stars numberless; sky dark green. Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)My Night Pieces, apart from Stars, were first performed at the 1971 Festival of Perth, for which they were written. The opening bracket of pieces is based on a Japanese concept known as setsugekka, which means, literally, ‘snow, moon and flowers’. This concept is concerned with metamorphosis: moonlight, for instance, may make snow of flowers, and flowers of snow; and the moon itself may be viewed as an enormous snowflake or a giant white flower. The music of these three pieces, and of Stars, is concerned with transformations of similar harmonic and motivic structures. Night, on the other hand, is a free transcription of a part of my orchestral work Sun Music I (1965). It is related to the other pieces in its gong-like punctuation and its harmonic usage. Snow, Moon and Flowers is dedicated to Michael Hannan, Night to Anne Boyd and Stars to Peter Kenny. Peter Sculthorpe
I hope you enjoy this step into 20th Century music, personally this is a piece I love to play.
Information mostly from https://notesfromapianist.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/night-pieces-peter-sculthorpe-1929-2014/ & http://unbreakable-machine-doll.wikia.com/wiki/Setsugetsuka
EVENING CLASSICS .... SYRINX
Syrinx, L. 129, is a piece of music for solo flute which Claude Debussy wrote in 1913. It generally takes three minutes or less to perform. It was the first significant piece for solo flute after the Sonata in A minor composed by C. P. E. Bach 150 years before (1763), and it is the first such solo composition for the modern Böhm flute, perfected in 1847.
Syrinx is commonly considered to be an indispensable part of any flautist's repertoire. Many musical historians believe that "Syrinx", which gives the performer generous room for interpretation and emotion, played a pivotal role in the development of solo flute music in the early twentieth century. Some say Syrinx was originally written by Debussy without barlines or breath marks.
The word Syrinx is more commonly used in medical terms as a vocal organ, but here it is, in my opinion, used to reflect the sound of a pan flute or bird sound.
A beautiful piece.
EVENING CLASSICS ... Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings
Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11
Adagio for Strings begins softly with a B-flat played by the first violins. The lower strings come in two beats after the violins, which, as Johanna Keller from The New York Times put it, creates "an uneasy, shifting suspension as the melody begins a stepwise motion, like the hesitant climbing of stairs." NPR Music said that "with a tense melodic line and taut harmonies, the composition is considered by many to be the most popular of all 20th-century orchestral works." Thomas Larson remarked that the piece "evokes a deep sadness in those who hear it". The work is largely in the key of B-flat minor.
(Note the time signature and use of the Breve)
The Adagio is an example of arch form and builds on a melody that first ascends, then descends in stepwise fashion. Barber subtly manipulates the basic pulse throughout the work by constantly changing time signatures including 4/2, 5/2, 6/2, and 3/2. After four climactic chords and a long pause, the piece presents the opening theme again, and fades away on an unresolved dominant chord.
Music critic Olin Downes wrote that the piece is very simple at climaxes, but reasoned that the simple chords create significance for the piece. Downes went on to say: "That is because we have here honest music, by an honest musician, not striving for pretentious effect, not behaving as a writer would who, having a clear, short, popular word handy for his purpose, got the dictionary and fished out a long one."
Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adagio_for_Strings
Personally I do not agree with Thomas Larson, I find the piece hauntingly beautiful reminding me of forest mists in the twilight hour with the first signs of light encroaching and the beautiful glow of the moon being taken over with the light of day. The shafts of light coming through the forest's leafy cover as the mists from the morning due rise and settle ending with the expectant stillness that harbinger of the rising of the sun again.
(Morning twilight begins when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and ends at sunrise. In the evening, it begins at sunset and ends when the Sun reaches 6 degrees below the horizon.)
EVENING CLASSICS with a CANON IN D
Pachelbel's Canon is the common name for a canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel.
The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. Hans-Joachim Schulze, writing in 1985, suggested that the piece may have been composed for Johann Christoph Bach's wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. Johann Ambrosius Bach, Pachelbel, and other friends and family provided music for the occasion. Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a pupil of Pachelbel.
Pachelbel's Canon, like his other works, although popular during his lifetime, soon went out of style, and remained in obscurity for centuries. A 1968 arrangement and recording of it by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra gained popularity over the next decade, and in the 1970s the piece began to be recorded by many ensembles; by the early 1980s its presence as background music was deemed inescapable. From the 1970s to the early 2000s, elements of the piece, especially its chord progression, were used in a variety of pop songs. Since the 1980s, it has also been used frequently in weddings and funeral ceremonies in the Western world.
The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue. Both movements are in the key of D major.
Pachelbel's Canon combines the techniques of canon and ground bass. Canon is a polyphonic device in which several voices play the same music, entering in sequence. In Pachelbel's piece, there are three voices engaged in canon (see Example 1), but there is also a fourth voice, the basso continuo, which plays an independent part.
Ground bass of Pachelbel's Canon made of two bars and eight notes being the ground of the eight chords of the canon.
Text and image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel%27s_Canon
EVENING CLASSICS takes us to POLAND
Alexandre Tansman (12 June 1897 – 15 November 1968) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of Jewish origin. He spent his early years in his native Poland, but lived in France for most of his life, being granted French citizenship in 1938. His Polish identity influenced several orchestral and chamber works, such as Rapsodie polonaise and Quatre Danses polonaises, and some guitar works, such as Hommage à Lech Walesa and Hommage à Chopin. His music is often said to be primarily neoclassical, drawing on his Polish Jewish heritage as well as his French musical influences.
Tansman was not only an internationally recognized composer, but was also a virtuoso pianist. From 1932–33, Tansman performed worldwide for audiences including Emperor Hirohito of Japan and Mahatma Gandhi; he was regarded as one of the greatest Polish musicians.
Many musicologists have said that Tansman's music is written in the French neoclassical style of his adopted home, and the Polish styles of his birthplace, drawing on his Jewish heritage. Already on the edge of musical thought when he left Poland (critics questioned his chromatic and sometimes polytonal writing), he adopted the extended harmonies of Ravel in his work and later was compared to Alexander Scriabin in his departure from conventional tonality.
information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Tansman
EVENING CLASSICS from FRANCE
The Suite bergamasque is one of the most famous piano suites by Claude Debussy.
"Prélude"
The first piece in the suite is entitled "Prélude", in the key of F and marked tempo rubato. It is full of dynamic contrasts with a vigorous beginning and ending. It is a festive piece, which holds much of the Baroque style that is commonly found in preludes.
"Menuet"
The second part of the Suite bergamasque is the "Menuet", in A minor. Its playful main theme contrasts with an alternatively mysterious and dramatic middle section. This piece is particularly original, as it does not conform to the particular style that most minuets share. Rather than being very airy and dainty, it shows much more raw comedy. Again, Debussy sets a very novel piece in the guise of an old dance style.
"Clair de lune"
The third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque is "Clair de lune", in D♭ major. Its name comes from Verlaine's poem Clair de lune, "moonlight" in French. It is written in 9/8 meter, marked andante très expressif, and to be played mostly pianissimo. Musically, Debussy's "Clair de lune" belongs to French Impressionism.
"Passepied"
The final movement is "Passepied" in F♯ minor, allegretto ma non troppo. A passepied is a type of dance, which originated in Brittany. Debussy's "Passepied" is a happy, strangely medieval piece, which is surprisingly faster than its Baroque counterparts. Throughout most of its duration, the piece is played with staccato arpeggios in the left hand.
text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_bergamasque