Classical Music

[hectorberlioz]

Well...if learning some piano counts as pplaying an instrument, then yes ...


anybody like Grieg's Peer Gynt? or Rachmaninov'sSymphonic Dances?

[Mercutio]

Peer Gynt yes.

[hectorberlioz]

Howthe heck do you pronounce that anyway? I always thought it was a different version of Pierre.

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
anybody like Grieg's Peer Gynt? or Rachmaninov'sSymphonic Dances?

yes i love the peer gynt suite
and you pronounce it as you see it

BTW i just got a brand new CD
Vivaldi: Four Seasons spring (1st movement Allegro
Boccherini: minuet from string Quartet in E
Mozart: Sinfonia Conertante in E flat for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn (3rd movement)
Mozart: Concerto in B flat for bassoon (1st movement allegro)
Schubert: Piano quintet in A ('trout' theme and variations)
Dvorak: Symphony No9 <from the New World> (2nd movement extract)
Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from 'Solomon'
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto (2nd movement Adagio)
Haydn: Andante Cantabile from String Quartet Op3
Traditional Spanish Romance
Bach: Violin Concerto in E flat (3rd movement)
Mendelssohn: Symphony No4 'Italian' (1st movement)

[hectorberlioz]

aha! too cheap to find the real stuff eh chrys? (just kidding).
Look for Berlioz's L'Enface Du Christ, a very beautiful oratario
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...236049-9715154

[Katt_knome_hobbit]

I just love Listz's Hungarian Rhapsody #2. That and Vivaldi's Concherto in B minor for Two Violins and and Orchestra.

Vivaldi is wonderful.

[brownjenkins]

my favorite classical piece is chopin's

Ballade No.1 in g, Op.23

it's almost like reading a story when you listen to it... i also love many of his preludes, but this one piece is definitely my favorite solo piano piece

[Mercutio]

Liszt was a crazy, show-offy, only in it to be famous/show-offy (again), not for the real music, etc, and a Hungarian. And he could've done more with his talent. Quite the "lady's man."

Sort of , in a sense--I'm not getting it quite right, but I think you understand anyway.

[Mercutio]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
Well...if learning some piano counts as playing an instrument, then yes ...

Absolutley! And you forgot that you're a tenor...hehe.

[Khamûl]

Originally posted by Mercutio
Liszt was a crazy, show-offy, only in it to be famous/show-offy (again), not for the real music, etc, and a Hungarian. And he could've done more with his talent. Quite the "lady's man."

Sort of , in a sense--I'm not getting it quite right, but I think you understand anyway.

I can play Libestraum decently except for the cadenzas. The first I could probably muddle through with a little practice, but the second one is absolutely insane. But it sounds pretty.

[Katt_knome_hobbit]

Originally posted by Mercutio
Liszt was a crazy, show-offy, only in it to be famous/show-offy (again), not for the real music, etc, and a Hungarian. And he could've done more with his talent. Quite the "lady's man."

Sort of , in a sense--I'm not getting it quite right, but I think you understand anyway.

Woo hoo! Go Liszt!!

Excentrics and loonies are always better artists.

[Count Comfect]

I'm in a play right now with a skit called "Philip Glass buys a loaf of bread." I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, since Glass isn't quite a classical composer (he did write an opera though!), but I've seen references to him in the thread, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about him?

[Katt_knome_hobbit]

Just google him.

I know next to nothing about my favorite composers.

[brownjenkins]

phillip glass is a twentieth century composer, classically trained, but known for pioneering his own unique style... kind of tonal, mood music

one of his best know works is called einstein on the beach... some people see him as part of the next great step in classical music (satie and poulenc have a somewhat similar style)... others see him as someone who helped to bring on the deconstructive-type music of composers like john cage... but unlike cage, his music can actually be pleasant to listen too, though a lot of it might seem more like background music than a piece that really enthralls you

[hectorberlioz]

Is phillip glass a classical somposer? hmm...nah. he has written some symphonies...but symphony only means a piece of music written for several instruments...a rock star could write something like that and call it a symphony, and it would be a symphony, but it would still be rock music...

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

i am really into Boccherini at the moment
not really an unknown, but there ya go!

[Mercutio]

This weeks composer is...(drum roll, please): Benjamin Britten.

This 20th century English composer is probably most familiar to you for his "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra."

Please see this website for more info on him.

P.S. He wrote a cool set of oboe pieces: "Six Metamorphoses After Ovid"


http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/britten.jpg
Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears

EDIT: ^ was a pic, but it doesn't appear to work right.

[hectorberlioz]

I thought he was more famous for his "War Requiem"
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/britwar.html

"The Requiem is truly a large-scale work, calling for huge musical forces. It is scored for three soloists, a chamber orchestra, a full choir and main orchestra, and a boys choir and organ. The performers are divided into three distinct planes, often physically separated. Closest are the tenor and baritone soloists and the chamber orchestra. They portray the victims of war. The soloists sing the Owen poetry and communicate in the most personal manner of the three groups. One level removed is the orchestra and chorus, portraying the mass. The soprano soloist adds color to the voices in the chorus, but their Latin singing is less personal than that of the male soloists. Finally, the boys choir and organ present a sound that is almost inhuman. Britten recommended that a small organ be placed in the wings with the boys choir, to create a more distant sound."


I. Requiem aeternam
Chorus
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Chorus
Lord, grant them eternal rest;
and let the perpetual light shine apon them.

Boys
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion:
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem;
exaudi orationem meam,
ad te omnis caro veniet.

Boys
Thou shalt have praise in Zion, of God:
and homage shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem;
hear my prayer,
all flesh shall come before Thee.

Chorus
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Chorus
Lord, grant them eternal rest;
and let the perpetual light shine apon them.

Tenor
What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, --
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them at all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Chorus
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison

Chorus
Lord, have mercy apon them
Christ, have mercy apon them
Lord, have mercy apon them

II. Dies irae
Chorus
Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.
Chorus
This day, this day of wrath
Shall consume the world in ashes,
As foretold by David and Sibyl.
What trembling there shall be
When the judge shall come
To weigh everything strictly.
The trumpet, scattering its awful sound
Across the graves of all lands
Summons all before the throne.
Death and nature shall be stunned
When mankind arises
To render account before the judge.

[hectorberlioz]

Baritone
Bugles sang, saddening the evening air;
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.
Voices of boys were by the river-side.
Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.
The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.
Voices of old despondency resigned,
Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.

Soprano
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit
Quidquid latet, apparebut:
Nil inultum remanebit.
Soprano
The written book shall be brought
In which all is contained
Whereby the world shall be judged.
When the judge takes his seat
All that is hidden shall appear:
Nothing will remain unavenged.

Chorus
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronem rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
Chorus
What shall I, a wretch, say then?
To which protector shall I appeal
When even the just man is barely safe?

Soprano and Chorus
Rex tremendae majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Soprano and Chorus
King of awful majesty,
Who freely savest those worthy of salvation,
Save me, fount of pity.

Tenor and Baritone
Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death:
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland,-
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath,-
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.
Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death - for Life; not men - for flags.

Chorus
Recordare Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Quarens me, sedisti lassus:
Redemisti crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus:
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Inter oves locum praesta,
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis
Cor contritum quasi cinis
Gere curam mei finis.
Chorus
Remember, gentle Jesus,
That I am the reason for Thy time on earth,
Do not cast me out on that day.
Seeking me, Thou didst sink down wearily,
Thou hast saved me by enduring the cross,
Such travail must not be in vain.
I groan, like the sinner that I am,
Guilt reddens my face,
Oh God spare the supplicant.
Thou, who pardoned Mary
And heeded the thief,
Hast given me hope as well.
Give me a place among the sheep
And separate me from the goats,
Let me stand at Thy right hand.
When the damned are cast away
And consigned to the searing flames,
Call me to be with the blessed.
Bowed down in supplication I beg Thee,
My heart as though ground to ashes:
Help me in my last hour.

Baritone
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great gun towering toward Heaven, about to curse;
Reach at that arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse;
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!

Chorus
Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
Chorus
This day, this day of wrath
Shall consume the world in ashes,
As foretold by David and Sibyl.
What trembling there shall be
When the judge shall come
To weigh everything strictly.

Soprano and Chorus
Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus:
Huic ergo parce Deus.
Soprano and Chorus
Oh this day full of tears
When from the ashes arises
Guilty man, to be judges:
Oh Lord, have mercy upon him.

Tenor
Move him into the sun -
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Soprano and Chorus
Lacrimosa dies illa...
Soprano and Chorus
Oh this day full of tears...

Tenor
Think how it wakes the seeds -
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-acheived, are sides,
Full-nerved - still warm - too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?

Soprano and Chorus
...Qua resurget ex favilla...
Soprano and Chorus
...When from the ashes arises...

Tenor
Was it for this the clay grew tall?

Soprano and Chorus
...Judicandus homo reus.
Soprano and Chorus
...Guilty man, to be judged.

Tenor
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?

Chorus
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.
Amen.
Chorus
Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them rest.
Amen.

III. Offertorium
Boys
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni,
et de profundo lacu:
libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas
tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.
Boys
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
deliver the souls of the faithful
departed from the pains of hell,
and the bottomless pit:
deliver them from the jaw of the lion, lest hell
engulf them, lest they be plunged into darkness.

[hectorberlioz]

Chorus
Sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam:
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.
Chorus
But let the holy standard-bearer Michael
lead them into the holy light
as Thou didst promise Abraham
and his seed.

Tenor and Baritone
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenched there,
And streched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! and angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so,
but slew his son, -
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Boys
Hostias et preced tibi Domine
laudis offerimus; tu suscipe pro
animabus illis, quarum hodie
memoriam facimus: fac eas, Domine,
de morte transire ad vitam.
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
en semini ejus.
Boys
Lord, in praise we offer to Thee
sacrifices and prayers, do Thou receive them
for the souls of those whom we remember
this day: Lord, make them pass
from death to life.
As Thou didst promise Abraham
and his seed.

Chorus
...Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
et semini ejus.
Chorus
...As Thou didst promise Abraham
and his seed.

IV. Sanctus
Soprano and Chorus
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
Dominus Deus Saboath.
Pleni sunt ceoli et terra gloria tua,
Hosanna in excelsis.
Sanctus.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Sanctus.
Soprano and Chorus
Holy,holy,holy
Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy.
Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy.

Baritone
After the blast of lighning from the East,
The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot Throne;
After the drums of time have rolled and ceased,
And by the bronze west long retreat is blown,
Shall life renew these bodies? Of a truth
All death will He annul, all tears assuage? -
Fill the void veins of Life again with youth,
And wash, with an immortal water, Age?
When I do ask white Age he saith not so:
"My head hangs weighed with snow."
And when I hearken to the Earth, she saith:
"My fiery heart shrinks, aching. It is death.
Mine ancient scars shalls not be glorified,
Nor my titanic tears, the sea, be dried."

V. Agnus Dei
Tenor
One ever hangs where shelled roads part.
In this war He too lost a limb,
But His disciples hide apart;
And now the Soldiers bear with Him.

Chorus
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Chorus
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.

Tenor
Near Golgatha strolls many a priest,
And in their faces there is pride
That they were flesh-marked by the Beast
By whom the gentle Christ's denied.

Chorus
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Chorus
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.

Tenor
The scribes on all the people shove
and bawl allegiance to the state,

Chorus
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi...
Chorus
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world...

Tenor
But they who love the greater love
Lay down their life; they do not hate.

Chorus
...Dona eis requiem.
Chorus
...Grant them rest.

Tenor
Dona nobis pacem.

VI. Libera me
Chorus
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda:
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra:
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
Chorus
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death
in that awful day
when the heavens and earth shall be shaken
when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Soprano and Chorus
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo
dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna.
Quando coeli movendi sunt i terra.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis
et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde.
Libera me, Domine.
Soprano and Chorus
I am seized with fear and trembling,
until the trial shall be at hand and the wrath to come.
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death.
When the heavens and earth shall be shaken.
That day, that day of wrath, of calamity
and misery, a great day and exceeding bitter.
Deliver me, O Lord.

Tenor
It seems that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
"Strange friend," I said, "here is no cause to mourn."

Baritone
"None", said the other, "save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
Or, discontent, boil boldly, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress,
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Miss we the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even from wells we sunk too deep for war,
Even from the sweetest wells that ever were.
I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark; for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now..."

Boys, then Chorus, then Soprano
In paridisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam
Jerusalem. Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam
habeas requiem.
Boys, then Chorus, then Soprano
Into Paradise may the Angels lead thee:
at thy coming may the Martyrs receive thee,
and bring thee into the holy city
Jerusalem. May the Choir of Angels receive thee
and with Lazarus, once poor,
may thou have eternal rest.

Boys
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Boys
Lord, grant them eternal rest,
and let the perpetual light shine upon them.

Chorus
In paradisum deducant etc.
Chorus
Into Paradise, etc.

Soprano
Chorus Angeloru, te suscipiat etc.
Soprano
May the Choir of Angels, etc.

Tenor and Baritone
Let us sleep now.

Chorus
Requiescant in pace. Amen.
Chorus
Let them rest in peace. Amen.




~
that rounds off the complete text for the War Requiem...