Stephen Hough-Rach 3rd, 1st Movement excerpt

Sir Stephen Hough: The Composer

by Georg Predota, Interlude

One of the most distinctive artists of his generation, Sir Stephen Hough combines an international career as a pianist with those of composer, writer, and painter. The first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (2001), Hough is a true renaissance man, exceedingly gifted as a pianist, educator, writer, painter, and composer.

Sir Stephen Hough

While his achievements as a pianist are well-known and documented, Hough is also a respected author with four books and hundreds of articles to his name. In addition, a solo exhibition of his paintings was presented in London in 2012. It’s hardly surprising that The Economist included him in the list of “Twenty Living Polymaths.”

In addition, Hough is also a published and frequently commissioned composer, having crafted works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble, organ, harpsichord, and solo piano. He has received commissions from the Takács Quartet, the Cliburn, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, and the Gilmore Foundation, among many others. 

First Compositions

According to his father, Hough had memorised seventy nursery rhymes by the age of two. Be that as it may, singing was indeed his first form of musical expression, “especially as we had no classical music in my childhood home.” Hough sang hymns in primary school and church; later, he joined a choir in high school, and he joined the compulsory chorus at Julliard.

Hough started piano lessons at the age of six, and he began to compose at around the same time. He remembers writing a “Mass” in his teenage years, but Hough is generally dismissive of his juvenilia compositions. As he writes, “the Mass 

Transcriptions

Apparently, Hough composed a substantial number of works, but as he related in an interview, “mercifully, that pile of smudged sketches has disappeared.” These early efforts culminated in a viola sonata, the only early work that was actually published. However, for the next twenty odd years, Hough composed next to nothing, except an odd transcription or two. Hough related the story that after a recital in New York in the late 1990s, when he played his transcription of Rodger’s Carousel Waltz, he was chatting with the composer John Corigliano. 

Corigliano told Hough, “You should compose your own music. The only real difference between a transcription and writing your own pieces is using your themes rather than someone else’s.” This conversation became the starting point for a renewed engagement with compositions. Hough started to write little pieces for friends, and the bassoonist Graham Salvage from the Hallé Orchestra asked him to write a concerto. As Hough explained, “In a mad moment or reckless courage, I agreed to have a go and started sketching what eventually became The Loneliest Wilderness, my first serious piece in two decades.”

First Commissions

The Loneliest Wilderness was inspired by the poem “My Company” by Herbert Read (1893–1968), containing the following lines:

But, God! I know that I’ll stand
Someday in the loneliest wilderness,
Someday my heart will cry
For the soul that has been, but that now
Is scatter’d with the winds,
Deceased and devoid.

I know that I’ll wander with a cry:
‘O beautiful men, O men I loved,
O whither are you gone, my company?’

The work is based on two main musical ideas: the interval of a descending fourth and a rising chain of thirds. Introvert and restrained, this musical oration has a strong Jewish flavour to it, taking its inspiration from “the heart-breaking regret of an army officer as he looks back at the loss of the company of soldiers under his command.” 

Takács Quartet

Stephen Hough’s String Quartet No. 1

Dedicated to the Takács Quartet, Hough’s first string quartet premiered in December 2021. As it was commissioned as a companion piece to works by Ravel and Dutilleux, the composer set out to explore “not so much what united their musical language, but what was absent from them.” Although there are no quotes or direct references to the composers of Les Six, as captioned in the subtitle, the composer imagines unspecified places and memory where meetings might have taken place.

This string quartet “evokes a flavour more than a style,” according to Hough, “but a flavour rarely found in the music of Ravel and Dutilleux. In Les Six it’s not so much a lack of seriousness, although seeing life through a burlesque lens is one recurring ingredient; rather it’s an aesthetic re-view of the world after the catastrophe of the Great War. Composers like Poulenc and Milhaud were able to discover poignance in the rough and tumble of daily human life in a way which escaped the fastidiousness of those other two composers.”

Sonatas and Beyond

Stephen Hough’s Broken Branches

The term “Sonata” had a multiplicity of meanings over the years, but for Hough “it has kept its wordlessness and its seriousness; a sonata, regardless of form, is a statement of unity, if not uniformity.” And although the composer is wary of words or descriptions attached to them, he argues that “music is neither a thought nor an emotion nor a person, but very much its own entity. His sonata “Broken Branches,” is an oblique tribute to Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path, and a passage from Scripture: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Cut off from me you can do nothing.”

The sonata is constructed of sixteen small and inconclusive sections, like branches from a single tree. “Broken branches” functions in three ways; fragments of fragility, related in theme but incomplete and damaged.” The work seems to grow naturally out of Hough’s style of playing, and it opens with a “Prelude” and ends with a “Postlude” of identical music, but the anguish of the opening G-sharp minor becomes a glowing G major at the end. “Branches beginning life anew in a new spring.” The climax of this sonata is a section called “non credo,” based on “material from the Credo of my Missa Mirabilis, which explores issues of doubt and despair in the context of the concrete affirmations of the Nicene Creed.” 

A Statement of Faith

Stephen Hough joined the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 19, and he considered becoming a priest, in particular joining the Franciscan Order. Hough has extensively written about his homosexuality and its relationship with music and his religion. As he wrote, “Catholicism is still home for me. And despite everything, I haven’t found anything that suits me better.” Hough is attracted to the idea that Catholicism doesn’t emphasise rich and powerful people, but embraces poverty and simplicity. “Christianity celebrates what is ultimately important about being human—community, and concern for the widows, the prisoners, the prostitutes, people who are outcasts. I find that very attractive.”

The Missa Mirabilis is connected with a highly personal experience. Hough had been working on the piece for about one year when he had a serious car accident, overturning his car on the motorway at 80 mph. “I stepped out of the one untouched door in my completely mangled car,” he remembers, “with my Mass manuscript and my body intact, then wrote part of the “Agnus Dei” in St. Mary’s Hospital, waiting for four hours for a brain scan. I was conscious, as I was somersaulting with screeching metallic acrobatics on the M1, of feeling regret that I would never get to hear the music on which I’d been working so intensely in the days before. Someone had other ideas.” 

The Partita was commissioned by the Naumburg Foundation for Albert Cano Smit in 2019. As Hough explains, “composing four sonatas of a serious, intense character, I wanted to write something different – something brighter, something more celebratory, more nostalgic.” Scored in five movements, the outer movements “Overture” and “Toccata” are inspired by the world of a grand cathedral organ. The short three inner movements, “Capriccio,” and “Canción y Danza I & II,” are based on the interval of a fifth and partially represent an explicit homage to Federico Mompou.

Stephen Hough’s Fanfare Toccata

In 2002, Hough was commissioned to write a work for the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, performed by all 30 competitors. Hough took his inspiration from a variety of toccatas he had learned over the years, including Scarlatti, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, Poulenc, Prokofiev and Samuel Barber. This inspiration accounted for the fanfare flourish complemented by a deeply romantic tune. It really does speak well of Hough’s composition that all 30 competitors have decided to make the Fanfare Toccata a part of their regular recital repertoire.

Mozart: Requiem – Lacrimosa | SO & GC | CM Berlin

884,114 views Apr 22, 2023 BERLINER PHILHARMONIE

Symphony Orchestra & Grand Choir of the Collegium Musicum Berlin Conductor: Donka Miteva Wolfgang A. Mozart: Requiem – Lacrimosa & Amen newly edited and completed by Michael Ostrzyga ( @MichaelOstrzyga ) Recorded on July 1, 2022 at Berlin Philharmonic, Germany In the 1960s, a sketch by Mozart of an Amen Fugue surfaced. It can be assumed that it was intended for the Requiem when Mozart wrote it down: Not only is there a sketch for the Rex tremendae and the Magic Flute on the same page, written like the Requiem in 1791, but there are also striking compositional references to the Introit. Moreover, Mozart did not work on any other work during this period in which the word "Amen" appears. The arrangement of the reeds in Mozart's manuscript, as has sometimes been pointed out, does indeed leave far too little space for an extensive fugue at this point, but the exchange and insertion of further reeds was common and also occurred in Mozart's work. It is surely no coincidence that in the years immediately before his death Mozart devoted himself to Handel's Messiah, which concludes with an extended Amen fugue. For the overall architecture of the Requiem, such an Amen Fugue, roughly in the middle of the work, can form a supporting pillar which, together with the pillars at the beginning and end of the work, Kyrie and Cum sanctis tuis, forms a great arched architecture. In the Amen Fugue, which was realised for the new edition, Mozart's view of Bach is particularly evident, partly because it is also very clear in the Kyrie Fugue. It is impossible to imagine what Mozart would have invented, or perhaps had already invented. Nevertheless, the new addition was about the thought experiment of deducing the extent and nature of Mozart's instructions from everything that exists in someone else's hand. In this way, it is possible to derive - only incompletely, hypothetically, of course - instructions for completing the Requiem as a "whole", based on Mozart's presumed intentions in the form of general procedures, melodic material, contrapuntal constellations, harmonic progressions, instrumental accompaniments, concrete borrowings from older works by Mozart or Handel and Bach, and so on. Once I had uncovered this "composing backwards", I tried to compose the Requiem forwards again, starting from the music Mozart had written up to his death and the influences he bundled in the Requiem. ~ Michael Ostrzyga

Morissette Amon & David Foster ( 13/19) I Will Always Love You & I Have...

Diana Krall - So Nice (Live In Rio)

iana Krall has had a long time fascination with bossa nova, a type of music which perfectly suits her sophisticated yet sensual style. This culminated in her new studio album Quiet Nights (released by Verve in spring 2009) and in this stunning concert filmed in the home of the bossa nova, Rio de Janeiro, in November 2008. Accompanied by her band and an orchestra, Diana Krall delivers a superb set of standards in true bossa nova style but clearly bearing her unique stamp. This DVD captures Diana Krall at her scintillating best. Tracklising: 1) I Love Being Here With You 2) Lets Fall In Love 3) Where Or When 4) Too Marvellous For Words 5) Ive Grown Accustomed To His Face 6) Walk On By 7) Frim Fram Sauce 8) Cheek To Cheek 9) Youre My Thrill 10) Lets Face The Music And Dance 11) Every Time We Say Goodbye 12) So Nice 13) Quiet Nights 14) Este Seu Olhar 15) The Boy From Ipanema 16) I Dont Know Enough About You 17) SWonderful 18) Exactly Like You Someone to hold me tight That would be very nice Someone to love me right That would be very nice Someone to understand Each little dream in me Someone to take my hand And be a team with me So nice, life would be so nice If one day I'd find Someone who would take my hand And samba through life with me Someone to cling to me Stay with me right or wrong Someone to sing to me Some little samba song Someone to take my heart And give his heart to me Someone who's ready to Give love a start with me Oh yes, that would be so nice, nice Shouldn't we, you and me? I could see it would be nice Someone to cling to me Stay with me right or wrong Someone to sing to me Some little samba song Someone to take my heart And give his heart to me Someone who's ready to Give love a start with me Oh yes, life would be so nice, nice Shouldn't we, you and me? I can see it would be nice

Tony Bennett - Fly Me to the Moon (Official Audio)

Tony Bennett performing "Fly Me to the Moon" Listen to Tony Bennett: https://TonyBennett.lnk.to/listenYD

 

'La Donna E Mobile' 

Hiroyuki Ito/Hulton Archive / Getty Images

By 

Aaron Green

Updated on 01/05/19

The aria for lyric tenors known as "La donna e mobile" is the centerpiece of the opera "Rigoletto," Giuseppe Verdi's twisted tale of lust, desire, love, and deceit. Composed between 1850 and 1851, Rigoletto was adored by audiences when it first premiered at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851, and even now, over 150 years later, it is one of the world's most performed operas. According to Operabase, which gathers statistical information from opera houses around the world, Verdi's "Rigoletto" was the 8th-most performed opera in the world during the 2014/15 season.

The Context of "La Donna e Mobile"

The Duke of Mantua sings this unforgettable aria in the third act of Verdi's Rigoletto as he flirts with Maddalena, the sister of the assassin Sparafucile. Rigoletto, the Duke's right-hand man, and his daughter, Gilda, who has fallen in love with the Duke, pay a visit to Sparafucile. Rigoletto is very protective of his daughter and wants to have the Duke killed since he is a man that cannot be trusted with women.

When they reach the inn in which Sparafucile is staying, they hear the Duke's voice bellowing within singing "La donna e mobile" ("Woman is fickle") as he puts on a show for Maddalena with hopes of seducing her. Rigoletto tells Gilda to disguise herself as a man and escape to a nearby town. She follows his instructions and sets out into the night while Rigoletto enters the inn after the Duke leaves.

When Rigoletto makes a deal with Sparafucile and hands over his payment, a calamitous storm rolls in for the night. Rigoletto decides to pay for a room at the inn, and Gilda is forced to return to her father after the road to the nearby town becomes too dangerous to traverse. Gilda, still disguised as a man, arrives just in time to hear Maddalena make a deal with her brother to spare the Duke's life and instead kill the next man that walks into the inn. They will bag the body together and give it to the duped Rigoletto. Despite his nature, Gilda still loves the Duke deeply and resolves herself to put an end to this dilemma.

Italian Lyrics of "La donna e mobile"

La donna è mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
Muta d'accento — e di pensier.
Sempre un amabile,
Leggiadro viso,
In pianto o in riso, — è menzognero.
È sempre misero
Chi a lei s'affida,
Chi le confida — mal cauto il cuore!
Pur mai non sentesi
Felice appieno
Chi su quel seno — non liba amore!
La donna è mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
Muta d'accento — e di pensier,
E di pensier,
E di pensier!

English Translation

Woman is fickle
Like a feather in the wind,
She changes her voice — and her mind.
Always sweet,
Pretty face,
In tears or in laughter, — she is always lying.
Always miserable
Is he who trusts her,
He who confides in her — his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels
Fully happy
Who on that bosom — does not drink love!
Woman is fickle
Like a feather in the wind,
She changes her voice — and her mind,
And her mind,
And her mind!

Giuseppe Verdi, Và pensiero (Nabucco)

Giuseppe Verdi, Và pensiero sull'ali dorate (Nabucco) Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice Maestro del Coro Claudio Marino Moretti Direttore - James Conlon La pubblicazione di questo video non intende violare nessun copyright e/o di essere usato a scopo di lucro. In caso contrario siamo a disposizione per l'eventuale rimozione

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 • Volker Hartung • Cologne New Philharmonie

Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, originally written for solo piano comes to much life in its orchestral version in this fiery performance by the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Volker Hartung. Recorded live at Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Germany

MSO celebrates 98 years of music with grand concert

Guest conductor Olivier Ochanine and Filipino violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr.

By MANILA TIMES

Embarking on the illustrious journey towards its centennial milestone, the Manila Symphony Orchestra joyously commemorates its 98th anniversary with a captivating concert gala that will bring together the elegant and graceful sound of the violin and the majestic but lyrical timbre of the MSO.

Titled "Peña, Nielsen, & Tchaikovsky: The MSO 98th Anniversary Concert," this performance is scheduled on January 31 at 7 pm at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza.

Headlining the concert is esteemed Filipino Violinist, Diomedes Saraza, Jr., a distinguished Juilliard graduate and the first Filipino violin soloist to grace Carnegie Hall. Saraza currently serves as the concertmaster of the MSO.

Guiding the orchestra with expertise is guest conductor Olivier Ochanine, the acclaimed winner of the 2015 Antal Dorati International Conducting Competition in Budapest, Hungary. Ochanine is also recognized as the former musical director of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, which previously performed at Carnegie Hall alongside Saraza. The event promises to be an exciting and memorable musical experience that will leave concert-goers enthralled.

The repertoire for the evening includes Angel Peña's "Trinity," Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 1, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto No. 1, all masterpieces poised to elevate the senses and transport the audience to new musical heights.

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me ( 1966 ) - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - Lyrics

Sorry for a mistyping: at 1:16, it's "you don't have to stay for ever" and not "you don't have to say". Thank our fan. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me ( 1966 ) - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - Lyrics When I said I needed you You said you would always stay It wasn't me who changed but you and now you've gone away Don't you see that now you've gone And I'm left here on my own That I have to follow you and beg you to come home You don't have to say you love me just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever I will understand Believe me, believe me I can't help but love you But believe me I'll never tie you down Left alone with just a memory Life seems dead and quite unreal All that's left is loneliness there's nothing left to feel

Aaron Copland; Appalachian Spring Suite

Johann Strauss II: Emperor Waltz op. 437 | Musikverein Vienna

Alfred Eschwé, conductor | Conductor Viennese Johann Strauss Orchestra Recorded live on October 26, 2016 in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein. Synopsis: In the fall of 1889, Johann Strauss (Sohn) was invited to conduct a number of his own compositions at several festivals on the occasion of the opening of the new Berlin establishment "Königsbau" in the former "Poduktenbörse".

He was granted generous terms and provided him with an orchestra of 100 men. It tempted the Waltz King to perform once again in the metropolis on the Spree and, moreover, in such a noble setting. Strauss (Sohn) therefore wrote a new composition for these concerts, for which he chose the title "Hand in Hand". This should probably point to the good relations between Vienna and Berlin. Corresponding to the festive occasion, Johann Strauss (Sohn) wrote a large-scale waltz with an introduction, the beginning of which was perceived as "Prussian." All the more Viennese was the following waltz. Before the work was played for the first time, an important political event took place in Berlin: Emperor Franz Joseph paid a visit to Kaiser Wilhelm II. On this occasion, the alliance between Austria-Hungary and the German Reich was solemnly summoned. Probably this imperial meeting in Berlin offered the suggestion to give the new waltz by Johann Strauss (son) the title "Kaiser-Walzer". The premiere of the work took place under the direction of the composer on October 21, 1889 in Berlin's "Königsbau". The Vienna premiere followed on 24th November in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. Johann Strauss (Sohn) performed his masterpiece even in the hometown itself to the audience. In both cases, there was a complete success. The special rank of the festive composition was immediately recognized, and at the same time it remained in the future. Text: Prof. Franz Maile

Church music classics from the Baroque to modern times

3,732 views Jan 14, 2024 ST.-BAVO-KATHEDRALE

Enjoy some highlights of spiritual choral and organ music from the Baroque to the modern era. The Collegium Vocale Gent under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe performs motets, mass movements and organ pieces by Monteverdi, Bruckner, Pärt and Messiaen. On the organ: Maude Gratton. The concert took place on September 22, 2020 at Saint Bavo’s Cathedral Ghent. (00:00) Coming on stage (00:22) Arvo Pärt: Annum per annum (09:09) Claudio Monteverdi: “Kyrie” from Missa a quattro voci da cappella (12:55) Anton Bruckner: Locus iste (15:43) Claudio Monteverdi: “Sanctus-Benedictus” form Missa a quattro voci da cappella (16:17) View of Jan van Eyck's “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” (17:12) View of the Ghent altarpiece (19:24) Claudio Monteverdi: “Agnus Dei” from Missa a quattro voci da cappella (21:59) Anton Bruckner: Os justi (26:19) Arvo Pärt: For Jan van Eyck (29:12) Olivier Messiaen: Dieu parmi nous Maude Gratton | ORGAN Philippe Herreweghe | CONDUCTOR COLLEGIUM VOCALE GENT Annelies Brants | SOPRANO Magdalena Podkascielna | SOPRANO Joowon Chung | SOPRANO Cécile Pilorger | ALTO Alexander Schneider | ALTO James Hall | ALTO Tore Denys | TENOR Benedict Hymas | TENOR Vincent Lesage | TENOR Jimmy Holliday | BASS Robert van der Vinne | BASS Bart Vandewege | BASS This concert is not dedicated to a great musician, but to a great painter, with selected church works from the early Baroque to modern times. The Collegium Vocale Gent under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe sings in Saint Bavo’s Cathedral Ghent, where the world-famous monumental altar by the van Eyck brothers stands with its central painting “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”. In 2020, the first year of the Covid pandemic, the Belgian city of Ghent celebrated the Flemish master of the late Middle Ages Jan van Eyck (born around 1390-1441). A commission in his honor went to the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. His work “For Jan van Eyck” was inspired by the 18 biblical scenes on the altarpieces. Pärt studied the music of the Middle Ages extensively. He wrote his well-known mystical organ work “Annum per annum” (Year by Year) in 1980 for the 950th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of Speyer Cathedral. This five-part work refers to the sequence of the Holy Mass, which includes Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. It is played at the opening of the concert. “Kyrie”, “Sanctus-Benedictus” and “Agnus Dei” are taken from the four-part mass “Missa a quattro voci da cappella” by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). The Italian composer is considered the “inventor” of opera and wrote world-famous vocal works. His “Missa a quattro voci da cappella” was published posthumously in 1650 in a collection of spiritual music. The exact year of composition is unknown. Two works by Anton Bruckner are on the program: his Latin motets “Locus iste” (This place), in C major and “Os Justi” (The mouth) in the church key of “Lydian”. He composed the four-part motet “Locus iste”, in 1869 for the inauguration of the votive chapel in the “Mariä-Empfängnis-Dom” in Linz, where he worked as organist for 10 years. It is a “gradual” prayer that is sung after the first reading in the Catholic liturgy. Today, this simple piece of music is very popular with choirs. Ten years later, he composed his motet “Os justi” with Gregorian chants. Bruckner himself played the organ at the premiere in 1879. Arvo Pärt’s world premiere “For Jan von Eyck”, the penultimate piece in this concert, is actually intended for 40 singers and organ. However, due to Covid restrictions in 2020, the founder and director of Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe, had to make do with twelve singers, meaning he only had three singers for each voice part, which presented a particular challenge for the choir. Olivier Messiaen’s “Dieu parmi nous” (God among us) is the last movement of the organ work “La Nativité du Seigneur” (The Birth of the Lord) from 1936. This part of the “nine meditations” once again summarizes the stages of Jesus’ life from his birth to the resurrection and concludes the concert.

Bert Kaempfert - Wonderland By Night (1960) 4K

Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra performing "Wonderland By Night", released originally in 1960. It reached #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #1 in New Zealand Charts, and #5 in the US Billboard Hot R&B Sides. "Wonderland By Night" is an instrumental song that served as the theme of a film about Germany. Bert Kaempfert was a German-born multi-instrumentalist who worked with popular artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles. He produced the Beatles' first session in 1961, in which the Beatles backed Tony Sheridan, and Kaempfert's influence continued to inspire them. Kaempfert started to achieve success with "Wonderland by Night," and his rise to the top began in 1959, when he was hired as a staff producer for Polydor Records in Germany. The song was particularly appealing to more mature listeners, and Decca Records, which made an agreement with Polydor to distribute Kaempfert's releases in America, worked to assemble an album around the song. As a result, many of the tracks that rounded out the album, including the Kaempfert original "Lullaby for Lovers" and his version of the standard "La Vie En Rose," were filler. Bert Kaempfert continued to chart albums through 1971. He died at the age of 56 in June 1980 in Switzerland.