Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

This concerto, dedicated to the great cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, as was Shostakovich's second Cello Concerto, is most noted by fans of the great Shostakovich, for the main motif, DSCH in German, which corresponds to Shostakovich's German initials. The motif, D, E Flat, C, B, as is used in many of Shostakovich's compositions, is first introduced by the cello, and the theme is reiterated as the movement progresses with an aggressive allegro. The horns bring another dimension to the movement as a strong interplay between the cello and the orchestra appears, the jarring sounds creating an image of strength within turmoil and without sacrificing the musicality of the Concerto.
This then moves into a more gentle, subtle Moderato which creates a disturbing unease through the flexible variations of the cello, contemplatively moving through the movement with ease as the themes grow, as again the orchestra compliments the cello, a wonderfully searching cry from the cello as the Concerto begins to once more become lively, moving into the Cadenza.
The Cadenza, is the shortest, and arguably the weakest movement, yet still involves an intriguing theme from the cello, as the DSCH motif hints at reappearing. In all, this movement serves mainly as an introduction to the finale, which enters without pause, the Allegro con moto, travelling into a more lively sequence as it begins to once more sing the DSCH motif. The cello moves gracefully through a movement of challenges as the orchestra interacts wonderfully with the soloist, before the motif ends the concerto in a most wonderful fashion, though not without leaving us with an unnerving feeling that not all is right in the world.
One of my favourite Shostakovich pieces, I must say that the first two movements are by far superior to the rest of the Concerto, yet it is well worth listening to the entire piece. For those unfamiliar with Shostakovich, here is a program that runs approximately 2 hours that gives a relatively thorough introduction to his more serious works.

Cello Concerto No. 1

Symphony No. 3

Piano Concerto No. 2

String Quartet No. 7

Symphony No. 1

Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death

I know that as a general rule, you people tend to despise song cycles, without mentioning the forbidden word Russian. However, you fail to see the beauty that comes from the mournful, tragic and yet enlightened lyrics that stem from this often peculiar dialect. I have chosen this as an example, as I don't want to spend all my time praising Shostakovich, otherwise I would have reviewed the arguably superior From Jewish Folk Poetry.
The Songs and Dances of Death, orchestrated by Shostakovich, (his orchestrative style was very effective in song cycles and really enhance the piece) is set in four movements, to the poems of Golenischev and Katuzov. The first, entitled Trepak, is about a drunken man lost in the forest as a blizzard rages, who is talked to and strangely comforted by Death. While most bizzare, yet this movement has a stunning quality of music, a searching and haunting lyrical content that creates moments of beauty that are lacking from the works of other European and American composers. The second movement, Lullaby, is a tragic song that sees us looking upon a mother, trying to comfort her sick child. Hush, she says, for sleep is the only comfort that will visit this scene. It is a moment of tragedy captured most excellently by Mussorgsky.
The third is the Serenade, as Death stalks a beautiful woman, whom he claims as his own, wishingto smother her. It is a strange piece, which again captures a strange scene that is translated into a rather interesting musical piece that progresses slowly, without great changes in tempo, just a rather medidative narrative that culminates in a sudden rise before coming to an abrupt end and rushing into the somewhat more lively The Field Marshal.
This tells of a man singing of battle, the rush and the horses charge. He speaks mainly of the inevitably of death however, and when you see Death upon the hill. It is an interesting composition, and I believe a worthy finale. It resembles the works of Wagner on occassions, finishing with a succession of crescendos and decrescendos before the singer, Boris Christoff to this day has done the most justice to Mussorgsky, signals the end with the tragedy of death resonating in his final notes.
An excellent song cycle, I would rate this among Mussorgsky's best works. Highly recommended, I personally own the most renowned version, the EMI recording of Boris Christoff singing his three major cycles as well as his shorter, and somewhat lighter pieces, including the brilliant Darling Savishna.

Bax Symphony No.2

Bax is, in my opinion, the most underrated composer that ever lived. He uses lush harmonies, but has the most beautiful second subjects and amazing contrasts in his symphonies. Only is it now that he has finally been recognized a bit.

Symphony No.2 is a masterpiece. The opening is full of dissonances, but a mood is very well projected: dark, disturbing, evocative and creepy. The allegro moderato section is a firey, stormy section, with the following second subject based on just a few notes being gorgeous.

The second movement contains one of the most beautiful melodies, weeping violins, questioning flute and harp ostinato and a bit of work for the brass too.

The finale is brilliant, powerful and strong, with such a terrifying climax at the end.

I highly recommend that you listen to this work.

Ligeti's Requiem

I'm so bored that I'm going to review Ligeti's requiem.

The first movement, Introitus, is actually quite interesting. It mostly consists of low notes and dissonances, particularly on bassoon, horn, and the choir. The choral slides however, sound very... um... sick, and the horns sound like moaning ghouls, but being the crazy musician that I am, I quite like this, for some reason. Towards the end of the movement, some of the higher pitched instruments and voices join in with the moaning and dissonance. This is used to a good effect, although not one that would be widely enjoyed.

The second movement, Kyrie, is similar in manner to the first movement. The choir sounds like moaning, but this time, the intruments are often quite strong, and not always dissonant. The effect is good, although rather disturbing. It is reminiscent of video game and movie music, although far more dissonant. There is a very loud section about 2 minutes in, which is basically just loud moaning. Again, I did enjoy this, although at times, the dissonance was overwhelming. Unfortunately, this movement crashed my computer halfway through. Damn acers.

The third movement... well... the THIRD MOVEMENT IS HILARIOUS. It is so ridiculous it makes me laugh every time I hear it. It is full of random dissonance and general randomness. The less said here, the better.

The fourth movement again returns to the "moaning ghouls" idea, this time with solo female ghouls. Well, actually, the ideas are probably different, they just sound the same. It is again interesting, but like movement 1, it does drag on a bit. Still interesting though.

I give it a surprising 6.75/10. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th movements were actually fairly good, just the 3rd was ridiculous and had way too many random leaps and loud dissonances.

Shostakovich's 3rd Symphony

Hi. My first blog entry. My mum didn't want me blogging but I managed to pursuade her otherwise. And I don't care whether Shostakovich was 20th Century, I'm blogging about him so don't try and stop me. Oh, and will you jokers kindly tell me when you're going to change the blog address, I had to access it through Matthew's profile.
Anyway, on to what I consider to be one of Shostakovich's greatest masterpieces, and easily one of the most underrated compositions in the classical world, the third symphony, subtitled 'The First of May.' This is of course in reference to the International Labour Day, as it is commonly known in Australia, a celebration of the working class, most notably evident during Shostakovich's lifetime, as a composer in a supposedly socialist country. It is set out in four movements, the final movement being the vocal Moderato entitled 'V pervoye Pervoye Maya,' which sings about the very first May Day.
I have not the time to give a complete review, however I will quickly highlight my favourite movement, the first 'Allegretto - Allegro,' delving into the feelings and suggestions that the music makes. This movement begins in contemplation, before expoloding in a triumphant burst from the strings. This then gives away to a subtle study of the forces at play, a brilliant interplay between the strings and the brass section, the ebb and flow giving away to what can almost be seen as a tragic motif from the string section. The symphony does not dwell on a subject of pessimism for long however, rushing persistenly back into the slightly hectic environment that is developing, before once more exploding in an uneasy cry of achievement from the horns, that is underplayed by the worried tirade of the strings. The drums then sound a march like section that is highlighted by the horns before the woodwind plays an almost whimsical melody. A sense of true achievement is now reached before fading away into serenity, before the haunting cry of the strings open the second movement.
As I said, that is all i can add for now, but again I highlight, this symhpony is superior to Mahler's 6th. The biggest tragedy about that symphony is that such a well structured symphony was let down by such a haphazard finale.

Glazunov's Concerto For Saxophone And Strings

Well, surely this blog isn't strictly romantic. This concerto was written in 1934, but in a fairly romantic style. You'll probably find that I review a lot of 20th century classical music with romantic influences (For example, Shostakovich, Bourgeois).

The opening of the concerto isn't particularly interesting, merely stating the main theme with the strings in unison. This leads into a more polyphonic section, when more themes are stated. The saxophone enters with a more virtuosic variation on the opening theme. This leads to a modulation to the dominant key of Bb Major. The Bb major section follows the simple development of a motif based on the opening theme. This modulates from Bb to D, to what appears to be Db. Glazunov achieves this without sounding ugly or dissonant. This all resolves back into Eb, with a restatement of the opening theme this time with accidentals, and leading into a section full of virtuosic runs on the saxophone.
Many writers of this blog may recognise one of the main motifs. 1, b2, M7, 1. (Or in G minor, G,Ab,F#,G). Wow! It's from Harry's 1st! However, Glazunov uses this motif to a far greater effect than the inexperienced Harry Sdraulig (No offence Harry, but you were inexperienced at the time, and even you'll admit that that symphony was crap).
This virtuosic section is essentially a buildup to a dramatic chromatic run on the saxophone from a high E down to the E 2 octaves below that. Throughout this, the tempo is increasing, moving from Allegro Moderato (crotchet = 92) to a speedy Vivo.
After this, the main theme is again restated, this time with a less happy ending, modulating to what looks like Eb Minor.
The next tempo marking is marked tranquillo, and is a second subject. The Eb Minor is effectively modulated to Eb major, and then to B major, after a long series of triplets. The themes are virtuosically developed before a cadenza. The cadenza is rather flawed, mostly just restating the "Harry's 1st theme" over and over. This theme is however, stated in a more interesting manner after the cadenza, with stuttery stacatto quavers on the saxophone, and frequent modulations and effective octave leaps.
Well, by this point i'm not even halfway through my score, so, I think I'll just sum up the rest of the concerto. The main themes are developed, with many rather dramatic runs, aswell as a few interesting time signature changes into 12/8 (sometimes with only half the orchestra!) The concerto ends dramatically, but in a major key, with the saxophone trilling on a high E, and then almost glissandoing down to a low C. The saxophonist then shows off altissimo with the last note, a very VERY high C.
The concerto is certainly mildly Jazz influenced, like many classical saxophone works, but is nonetheless romantic, and makes excellent use of the saxophone and the strings. I give it 9/10 (The only marks lost are on the cadenza).
On another note, I can play part of it! Woot!

Mahler's 6th Symphony

My personal favourite composer as many of you would know is Mahler, because the melodies are brilliant, and the orchestration really brilliant.

Therefore the first symphony I will look at is Mahler's Symphony No. 6, in A minor. The 'Tragic'
It is easily the most structured of the Mahler symphonies and has the traditional 4 movements. It is a work of titanic proportions, and requires a mammoth orchestra to perform. All four movements are brilliant, with a furious opening, a diabolical scherzo, a beautiful andante and a fiery finale. Unlike all other Mahler symphonies, and the radiant dying moments, this ends in a minor key, with a sudden crash. Brilliant orchestration is evident throughout, and I have never heard themes

Although it is such a negative work, Mahler wrote it while going through the best times of his life.

My favourite recording of this work is the controlled Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic recording.

Dvorak's 9th Symphony

If you have read my other blog, you would know that I KNOW that Dvorák is the best composer ever, and his best known work is his 9th Symphony or otherwise known as the New World Symphony.
The first movement is probably my least favourite, but is still brilliant. The second movement would be my third favourite, and the fourth movement my second favourite, with the Scherzo being my favourite movement.
The whole symphony under its simple surface is actually very clever. Dvorak modulated to widely spaced harmonic keys without sounding disjointed or ugly. The chord progressions are subtle yet amazing, and he has actually used repetition very well.
Another interesting fact about it is that it was believed that he stole the cor anglais theme from a spiritual. This was rumour was created by one of his students who arranged the theme into a song, and this song became rather well known, and people thought that he stole that theme, but he wrote it! I would hate that to happen to me!
The whole thing is much better than Rachmaninov's Paganini Variation's (which will be the subject of an upcoming review), which we are playing in orchestra.
Dvorak's music isn't overly complex, but not incredibly simple, and this makes it a better piece on the whole I think.
Today's music is either super simple or overly complex, so it provides a nice relief from most of the CRAP today. Oooh! I just called modern popular music crap! I just did it again! How true though!
And now for a lighter note, each of my blog entries shall have a silly meaning for a musical term. Today's is rubato, with the definition by my conductor in school orchestra.
Rubato-Play out of time.