Classical Music

[hectorberlioz]

wow! that really sucks. thats what happens to brave classical music labels.
btw-yes, anecdotes are small little interesting music history stories (such as the tale about grainger running to the concert...).

[Grey_Wolf]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
wow! that really sucks. thats what happens to brave classical music labels.
btw-yes, anecdotes are small little interesting music history stories (such as the tale about grainger running to the concert...).

Neat!

[Grey_Wolf]

Despite the fact his father was a rich man Mozart died a pauper and thus got a pauper's funeral. (Perhaps a lot of people already know this, but I think it's rather interesting.)

[hectorberlioz]

this weeks composer is Jean Sibelius, a finnish composer of great status.
His famous overture "Finlandia" is among the most famous pieces of classical music ever written.
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/sibelius.html

[Lalaith_Elf]

I've got that CD - quite good actually.

[Grey_Wolf]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
this weeks composer is Jean Sibelius, a finnish composer of great status.
His famous overture "Finlandia" is among the most famous pieces of classical music ever written.
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/sibelius.html

I think they used it in the end of "Die Hard II" when all the planes land.

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
this weeks composer is Jean Sibelius, a finnish composer of great status.
His famous overture "Finlandia" is among the most famous pieces of classical music ever written.
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/sibelius.html

i love that piece of music, i have to keep getting new copies as i wear it out through over-playing!! Don't you think listening to classical on Vinyl is so much better than cd's?

My anecdote for the week:
Gustav Holst is often described as being one
of Sweden's greatest composers, despite
being born in Cheltenham!!

those of you who don't know, Cheltenham is a
large Town in Gloucestershire, England, a short
walk (11 miles) from its sister-town of Gloucester

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

Originally posted by galadriel
...Luckily, I didn't have to rely on public schools for my classical music knowledge - I'd be screwed if I had...

i just noticed your post on 1st page, galadriel,
do you mean UK or USA definition of 'Public School'?

in UK, a public school (also known as private school)
is where you pay around £1000 + for a term,
yet a state school is completely funded by the gov't

and is it true, that in USA a public school is the school you have
to go to, and you don't pay for it?

[hectorberlioz]

"Berlioz was reproached with the monumentalism of his "Grand Messe des Morts" (1837) calling for a main orchestra of 300 musicians, 4 side orchestras, and a big choir. At its first performance at Les Invalides in Paris 25 choir members fainted or had nervous breakdowns when choir, the main orchestra, and the side orchestras together with 16 drums and 10 cymbals striked in simultaneously to bring up a sound portrait of the end of the world."

[hectorberlioz]

Contributed by hectorberlioz
There is a funny story about josquin de prez. de prez had been under the service of a king for some time and he wanted a raise. the king promises him one. after a while though he still has not given it and de prez really needs it. one day the king commissions a cantata(a piece for the church to be sung as a praise to god) and de prez writes it and calls it "remember thy promise unto thy servant oh lord"(subtly reminding the king of his promise of a raise) the king gives him his raise and de prez writes a cantata entitled "we gives thanks oh lord" . I love that story.


~
Contributed by Elfhelm
Do you know the one about Mozart and Palestrina? The Pope was not allowing Palestrina's music to leave the Vatican. I guess he wanted people to have to visit there in order to hear it. When Mozart was a child his father took him to the Vatican. They performed a mass by Palestrina. He went back to the hotel room and wrote it down! Then his father took it back to the Vatican and showed it to them. This got them invited to meet the Pope, who asked him never to do it again!
~

Contributed by hectorberlioz
have you heard that while...
a concert of berlioz' requiem was bieng performed. the conductor took a break right at a crucial moment to take a snuff. berlioz grabbed the baton and finished conducting himself.
~

Contributed by hectorberlioz
"before he became a student at the conservatory,Hector(Berlioz) discovered that he might go to the library to study his beloved Gluck scores. He came into conflict with the school's teacher "Czar" cherubini, because he broke rules heedlessly, and helped himself to all the privileges to which he was not entitled, such as entering by doors forbidden to students, and taking home scores to study. He was in constant conflict with Cherubini, who once chased the boy around the tables in an effort to get him out of the building,probably after hours."
~

Contributed by B.Banner
i just discovered a new composer.his name is william vincent wallace he was irish.anyone heard of him ?well if you dont here is information he was born march 11th 1812 . he became a professional violintist at age 15 his most well known operas are maritana and lurline. his other famous music where piano stuff there names where la gondolo and tarantelle. well thats all i know.
~

Contributed by Silme Christian
one thing I hate about Rusian composers is the fact that I can never pronounce their names!
~
Contributed by Elfhelm
Goethe felt that only Mozart could have done justice to it, but he died too young. Beethoven expressed an interest in setting it. It was Mephistopheles who they liked. He had that anti-heroic appeal that was similar to Milton's Satan. I guess they thought it took a lot of nerve to wager with God himself. This romantic figure, if I may turn into Commander Data (RIP), recurs in Byron's Childe Harold who less malicious, and Shaw's Devil. Mephisto also inspired some piano pieces and possibly even inspired the diablo violin tuning. (Enough Mr. Data!).
The ending of Goethe's Faust, as opposed to Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, is one of hope in salvation. And the second part of Mahler's 8th is a setting of that ending. So, it's the closest thing we have to a Mahler opera.
~
Contributed by hectorberlioz
someone once said: "The Magic Flute is the only opera that i've heard that could have concievably been composed by God."
~

Contributed by hectorberlioz
"Berlioz was reproached with the monumentalism of his "Grand Messe des Morts" (1837) calling for a main orchestra of 300 musicians, 4 side orchestras, and a big choir. At its first performance at Les Invalides in Paris 25 choir members fainted or had nervous breakdowns when choir, the main orchestra, and the side orchestras together with 16 drums and 10 cymbals striked in simultaneously to bring up a sound portrait of the end of the world."
~

Contributed by Last Child of Ungoliant
My anecdote for the week:
Gustav Holst is often described as being one
of Sweden's greatest composers, despite
being born in Cheltenham!!

those of you who don't know, Cheltenham is a
large Town in Gloucestershire, England, a short
walk (11 miles) from its sister-town of Gloucester.
~
Contributed by Grey Wolf
Despite the fact his father was a rich man, Wolfgang Amade Mozart died a pauper and thus got a pauper's funeral.
~
Contributed by Mercutio
There was a famous guy (lets call him A). A was going to direct another famous guy's (B) orchestra piece. A got to the stand, and on it was not B's work, but C's. The two (B's and C's) looked exactly the same from the outside. A directed the entire piece with no mistakes from memory . Impressive, huh?
~
Contributed by hectorberlioz
When the soprano Francesa Cussoni absolutely refused to sing a certain aria in the way it was supposed to be sung
-in a certain opera-the composer, Handel took her aside to a window(I imagine it was several stories up) and told her :
"Madam, if you do not sing this aria the way I want you to, I will throw you out this window".
she sang it the way wanted by the composer.
singers back then were infamous for adding and changing parts from the way the composer had set them.
~


More to be added soon!!!

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

VERY GOOD FUN TO READ, HECTOR!!

my anecdote for this week:
wagner often decribed the works of Haydn and Beethoven
as stupid and ridiculous, whilst Tchaikovsky was often
heard to describe Wagner as a 'fool who can't string 2 notes
together'!

[Mercutio]

Anecdote-- Vivaldi

Antoino Vivaldi grew up in Venice; after he came of age, he decided to enter the priesthood. This decision, plus his blazing red hair, gave him the nickname "The Red Priest."
But Vivaldi didn't last very long as a priest; stories of his misadventures abound. One day during Mass, for example, a great tune popped into his head. Without hesitation or apology, he stepped down from the altar and dashed into the next room to get the tune of paper. The congregation was stunned.
Vivaldi was brought before a tribunal to determine his punishment. Luckily, the Inquisition was in a good mood. Its verdict: Genius Gone Awry. The punishment: Vivaldi was not allowed to say Mass ever again. We have every reason to believe that this sentence was perfectly okay with him
And so the Red Priest became simply, Red.

[Mercutio]

Anecdote- JS Bach

The fact that some of his terrific organ pieces survive at all is remarkable for two reasons: First, compositions in those days weren't made to last. A composer would write a piece for a specific occasion, never expecting to hear it a second time. Some of Bach's immortal sonatas were rescued for posterity only moments before being used to wrap fish or butter (We shudder to think of how many of his compositions actually did get used to lock in freshness, never to be heard again.)

[Mercutio]

I found who A, B, and C were:

When the time came to conduct the first performance of St. Matthew Passion, Felix Mendelssohn walked up to the conductor's podium and opened the huge book of sheet music on the music stand. Only one little problem: As the audience members were settling into their seats, Felix discovered that he had the wrong music score! The book looked the same as the actual Bach piece, same thickness, same leather binding, but it was a completely different piece by a different composer. No matter. Mendelssohn lifted his baton and began to conduct Bach's piece, turing the pages of his impostor score every so often so as not to alarm the musicians. He managed to conduct Bach's entire Passion (which is almost two hours long) from memory, with no noticeable mistakes.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally posted by Last Child of Ungoliant
VERY GOOD FUN TO READ, HECTOR!!

my anecdote for this week:
wagner often decribed the works of Haydn and Beethoven
as stupid and ridiculous, whilst Tchaikovsky was often
heard to describe Wagner as a 'fool who can't string 2 notes
together'!

I'm with Tchaikovsky on this one . Wagner, though a great master, seems a bit crippled in the area of "stringing 2 notes together", and Haydn and Beethoven were far from bieng stupid and ridiculous.
Wagner was a very detestable man. He was Adolf Hitler's role model. He was always having affairs with other mens wives (namely, some of his best friends' wives, i.e. Hans von Bulow's wife, who later divorced him and married Wagner). He was racist, anti-semitic (most of his music is banned in israel), rude, and was often cruel to performers who might mis-read something of his in a performance.
He was fiend/ friend of Berlioz', who's grand opera (and certainly more great) "Les Troyens competed with Wagner's "Tannhauser" which was a big flop, was booed by everyone who attended the premiere, and especially hated by Berlioz, whos opera was not performed because of Wagner's.

[hectorberlioz]

Contributed by Mercutio
When the time came to conduct the first performance of St. Matthew Passion, Felix Mendelssohn walked up to the conductor's podium and opened the huge book of sheet music on the music stand. Only one little problem: As the audience members were settling into their seats, Felix discovered that he had the wrong music score! The book looked the same as the actual Bach piece, same thickness, same leather binding, but it was a completely different piece by a different composer. No matter. Mendelssohn lifted his baton and began to conduct Bach's piece, turing the pages of his impostor score every so often so as not to alarm the musicians. He managed to conduct Bach's entire Passion (which is almost two hours long) from memory, with no noticeable mistakes.

~
Contributed by Mercutio

JS Bach, The fact that some of his terrific organ pieces survive at all is remarkable for two reasons: First, compositions in those days weren't made to last. A composer would write a piece for a specific occasion, never expecting to hear it a second time. Some of Bach's immortal sonatas were rescued for posterity only moments before being used to wrap fish or butter (We shudder to think of how many of his compositions actually did get used to lock in freshness, never to be heard again.)

~
Contributed by Mercutio
Antoino Vivaldi grew up in Venice; after he came of age, he decided to enter the priesthood. This decision, plus his blazing red hair, gave him the nickname "The Red Priest."
But Vivaldi didn't last very long as a priest; stories of his misadventures abound. One day during Mass, for example, a great tune popped into his head. Without hesitation or apology, he stepped down from the altar and dashed into the next room to get the tune of paper. The congregation was stunned.
Vivaldi was brought before a tribunal to determine his punishment. Luckily, the Inquisition was in a good mood. Its verdict: Genius Gone Awry. The punishment: Vivaldi was not allowed to say Mass ever again. We have every reason to believe that this sentence was perfectly okay with him
And so the Red Priest became simply, Red.
~
Contributed by Last Child of Ungoliant
my anecdote for this week:
wagner often decribed the works of Haydn and Beethoven
as stupid and ridiculous, whilst Tchaikovsky was often
heard to describe Wagner as a 'fool who can't string 2 notes
together'!
~
Conributed by hectorberlioz
Once Upon A Time,
Mr. Grainger was going to attend a concert in south africa. Just before the concert he thought it wouldnt hurt to takle a quick run through a small jungle.
a lookout at the concert hall was waiting for him, and finally he saw a big cloud of dust. It seemed the mr grainger made friends with some bushman and wanted to take them to the concert!
~
Contributed by Grey Wolf
The fact that Beethoven was deaf didn't hinder him from making marvelous music. (Short and obvious. But an anecdote nevertheless.)

[Grey_Wolf]

The fact that Beethoven was deaf didn't hinder him from making marvelous music. (Short and obvious. But an anecdote nevertheless.)

[hectorberlioz]

Here's a link to site where you can find some great quotes by composers

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ty..._composer.html

[hectorberlioz]

I know you guys havent even heard his name (until now), but he is a norwegian composer, and was a good friend of Edvard Grieg's.
Just so interesting to find out this stuff, isnt it?

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=57520
~
http://nb.no/assets/images/nordraak.jpg
~

[Mercutio]

Another 'anecdote' about Gustav Mahler

Born in Bohemia, the son of a Jewish liquor distiller, Mahler got started early on a life of anguish. "And what do you wnat to be when you grow up, little boy?" asked a kindly passerby. "A martyr," he replied.

He got his wish; his life was dominated by tragedy. Mahler's daughter died of scarlet fever (for which the superstitious Mahler felt guilty; he had just composed a set of songs called "Songs on the Death of Children"). And Mahler himself had a very weak heart, making him obsessed with death. From the beginning, Mahler felt alienated: "I am three times homeless: as a Bohemian native in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew all over the world."

His upbrining was full of disturbing moments. His father, a cruel man, regularly abused the family, especially his mother. After one particularly painful episode of abuse, the young Mahler ran from the house, unable to take it anymore. Just as he got to the street, a hurdy-gurdy was playing a popular Viennese drinking song. Later, in a psychotherapy session with Sigmund Freud, Mahler realized that this episode had caused thim to associate happy, trivial music with great tragedy.

So sad...but that explains his music.