Maybe the Hardest Piece of Piano Music Ever Written

We think this might be the hardest piece of piano music ever written

By Daniel Ross, Classic FM London

Pianists everywhere, prepare yourself for possibly the most demanding piece of piano music ever written. *gulps*

image: http://assets1.classicfm.com/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466433188-article-0.jpg

This is a section of the score from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Opus clavicembalisticum. It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to play.

image: http://assets.gcstatic.com/u/apps/asset_manager/uploaded/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466431796-custom-0.png

For a start, it lasts for over four hours in total, spread across 12 movements. That would be bad enough if it was dead easy to play, but of course, it’s much worse. It’s  a fiend.

Don’t let the first bar fool you - here’s the opening movement:

And here’s the final one, about which the composer himself wrote: “The closing 4 pages are so cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything I've ever done—the harmony bites like nitric acid—the counterpoint grinds like the mills of God.”

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Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/instruments/piano/features/hardest-piano-music-ever-written/#9gefP6ORJuuh3Vam.99

Einaudi Plays Piano on an Iceberg ...

... as an Arctic glacier crumbles around him

By Tim Edwards, Classic FM London

Italian pianist premiered a new piece in Svalbard to publicise Greenpeace’s battle to save the Arctic.

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Greenpeace has persuaded Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi to play on a specially built ‘iceberg’ within 100m of a crumbling glacier as part of their campaign to save the Arctic.

Listen to the best of Einaudi on Composed >

In the video, Einaudi is seen performing his minimalist music in the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings of Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway. As he plays one descending scale, huge chunks of ice calve off the glacier. To get to the spectacular location, Einaudicaught a ride with the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise (you can see how the film was made in the video at the bottom of the page): 

Einaudi premiered his new composition, Elegy for the Arctic , as governments gathered in Tenerife to consider a proposal to protect 10% of the Arctic Ocean.

According to Greenpeace, three countries - Norway, Denmark and Iceland - oppose the measure. The Arctic is becoming vulnerable to exploitation for fishing and oil drilling because the extent of sea ice covering the ocean has fallen to record lows in recent years.

Einaudi performs 'Elegy for the Arctic' on 'iceberg'

Best Movie Adaptions of Books

 Andrew Collins showcases the best films inspired by literature.

This Saturday, Andrew Collins will be marking Independent Bookshop Week, which aims to celebrate independent booksellers in the UK and Ireland.

Andrew will be playing music on Saturday Night at the Movies from great film adaptations of books. And he'll be including many of your suggestions of works of literature that you think have most successfully made the transition to the big screen.

Among the classics, such as Rebecca , there's a chance to hear music from the recent Jane Austen movie, Love & Friendship . And modern literature gets a look in too, including Atonement , The English Patient and High Rise .

And then there's the whole world of fantasy literature to choose from, including a certain boy wizard and the exploits of the Bagginses of Bag End.

Giacomo Puccini - Opera Medley Instrumental

13-year-old Laura Bretan's NESSUN DORMA raises deep concerns

13-year-old Laura Bretan’s Nessun Dorma ‘raises deep concerns’ says singing teacher

By Elizabeth Davis, CLASSIC FM LONDON

A 13-year-old singer has wowed audiences with her performance of Puccini’s iconic aria – but some in the classical world have a very different view. Now opera singers and music specialists have voiced concerns over a promising young singer forcing herself to mimic much older voices

Since the clip of Laura Bretan singing Puccini’s famous ariaappeared online a few days ago it has been viewed millions of times. But it’s fair to say it has divided the classical music world.

Laura this weekend won Romania's Got Talent and is still in the running to win America's Got Talent.

Here's the clip that has caused such controversy:

While some cheered to see classical music reaching a mass audience – and to see millions of people sharing and enjoying Puccini’s music, others raised concerns over Laura’s technique and her choice of repertoire.

An open letter from an opera singer

Opera singer Heidi Moss wrote an open letter to the young singer on Facebook saying: “There are things I heard in your sound that concern me. True classical training takes years of hard work, and forcing a sound that isn’t truly your own is dangerous.

“Over time, the irritation of singing that way can cause swelling or even worse, nodes or popped vessels.”

 

A singing teacher's point of view on Laura Bretan

Claudia Friedlander, a voice teacher from New York, took a more positive approach in an article on her blog and soon to be published in Classical Singer Magazine . She said: “Bretan delivered an earnest, authentic outpouring of passion, and she allowed it to flow through her voice with steadfast courage and commitment…

“But a young singer’s instrument is not yet even a fair facsimile of the voice they will late access as an adult. Thus there can be no true operatic prodigies. The young voice simply has not physiologically matured to the point that it is capable of projecting a healthy, balanced sound over an orchestra.

“This is why Bretan’s performance raises such deep concerns for experienced opera singers and voice teachers. She possesses both a promising voice and strong musical instincts, but most of the sounds she is producing are the result of effortful, unsustainable manipulations of a body that is not yet mature enough.”

Are they just jealous?

But Claudia goes on to say that jealousy may partly account for the classical world’s knee-jerk negative reaction to Laura’s performance – after all, this clip has made the news around the world precisely because it's rare to see an audience react so enthusiastically to a performance of an opera aria.

She asks: “Does our desire to correct Bretan’s fans about the nature of opera make us snobs?”

Meanwhile, one opera fan has started a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to ‘Send Simon Cowell to the Met’ …

Can You Solve These Fiendish Composer Riddles?

Can you work out the name of the composer from a set of picture clues?

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Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music-quizzes/composer-picture-puzzles/#WbH8f9MFi6fX9j1L.99

F. Buencamino - Mayon Fantasia - Bryan

How well do you know the words to "A Whole New World" from Alladin

By Elizabeth Davis, ClassicFM London

As Disney’s Aladdin hits the stage in London’s West End, we've put together the ultimate test of Aladdin-fandom… 

image: http://assets8.classicfm.com/2016/20/aladdin-a-whole-new-world-quiz-1463430388-article-0.jpg

It's one of Disney’s best-loved films and the music, written by Alan Menken, is an iconic film score.

In fact Menken won the Oscar in 1993 for Best Music – and it was this song, written with Tim Rice, that got the song-writing duo a double-header at the Academy Awards – with the Oscar for Best Original Song as well.

But how well do *you* remember the words, street rat (as Jafar might say…)?

This is an Epic Fugue on a Theme by Lady Gaga

By Kyle Macdonald, ClassicFM London

A truly monstrous piece of counterpoint.

A bit of a Prelude

It's worth starting this off with a bit of a doff of our music geek cap to the pop superstar. The music video to Lady Gaga's 2009 hit Bad Romance begins with Johann Sebastian Bach's Fugue in B minor from the Well-tempered Clavier Book I:

And, err... Fugue

So Gaga is clearly someone who likes a bit of Baroque point-on-point action. It's therefore quite appropriate that a YouTube notesmith has taken the theme to her 'Bad Romance' and turned it into a brilliant Bach-inspired fugue. 

And the pop superstar was lovely enough to get in touch with us and tell us how much she liked this contrapuntal rendering of her melody.

So that's nice. 

Let's close with a brilliant 'orchestration' of this fugue, cunningly assembled by another YouTuber. 

Here's Prince Casually Owning George Gershwin's "Summertime" in Rehearsal

By Daniel Ross, ClassicFM London

We know Prince was a master of many genres, but this video shows more.

The multifaceted singer-songwriter was known for skipping merrily through a whole variety of genres, sometimes in a single song, but this intimate (for a stadium) soundcheck shows that he knew his way around a Gershwin number too.

“Follow me…”

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Twelve Mind-Widening Pieces Taking You Beyond Classical Music

By Sarah Neufeld, ClassicFM London

Sarah Neufeld knows all about pushing the boundaries of her instrument: as a violinist with Canadian indie rock titans Arcade Fire and equally as an experimental solo artist, she's become a torchbearer for expanding listeners' minds. So who better than her to provide us with a superb playlist of modern works that will rewire your brain a bit?

Here's what she's picked for you:

1. Some - Nils Frahm

2. Atomos XII - A Winged Victory For The Sullen



3. Never The Way She Was - Colin Stetson, Sarah Neufeld



4. Parry: Interruptions (Heart And Breath Nonet): VI French Guitars -yMusic, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Richard Reed Parry



5. The Candlelight Vigil - Jóhann Jóhannsson



6. Harmonium - Max Richter



7. Part IV - Nico Muhly



8. High Above a Grey Green Sea - Colin Stetson



9. Nijùshichi - Sylvain Chauveau, Stéphane Garin



10. Where The Light Comes In - Sarah Neufeld



11. Ogives/Redisributed - Eluvium



12. Apreludes (In C Sharp Major) - Stars Of The Lid

Beethoven's Fifth Reworked in the Style of Chopin

It’s absolutely exquisite

By Joanna Peskett , Classic FM London

Trust us and take a listen - we reckon you’ll be converted by a bit of ‘Chophoven’.

image: http://assets8.classicfm.com/2015/08/chopin-beethoven-5-1425064667-article-0.png

We stumbled across this stunning arrangement of the exposition ofBeethoven’s famous 5th symphony, as you might hear it in a 19th century Parisian salon. This Beethoven/Chopin mix-up may be a touch surprising, but what’s not to like? 

Undoubtedly, the arrangement from YouTuber Syd R Duke has gone down a storm, but we still believe this is worthy of more views. One YouTuber commented, “It’s as if Beethoven and Chopin met in an alternate universe to create a lovechild.” We'll leave that image with you - but do take a listen to this gorgeous arrangement...

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/news/symphony-5-style-of-chopin/#MRLMFpYjVVGmOZJg.99

Franz Schubert Symphony No.8 "Unfinished" D 759, Leonard Bernstein

11 Лунный свет Клод Дебюсси Claude Debussy: Claire de Lune

Hugo Strasser (Germany) - Evergreens Medley R.I.P.