Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young

by Georg Predota , Interlude

Robert Schumann

For the 7th birthday of his daughter Marie, Robert Schumann compiled a short album of “Little Piano Pieces.” Once he had gotten that process started, Schumann kept adding miniatures to the collection. His wife Clara Schumann wrote in her diary, “The pieces usually given to children at their piano lessons are so bad, that it has occurred to Robert to bring out a collection of such little works himself.” Schumann was on fire and reported to his friend Carl Reinecke, “I cannot remember ever feeling as content as when working on these pieces… I felt as though I were starting to compose all over again!” Schumann composed the 43 pieces of his Album for the Young in barely 2 weeks, but a good many more miniatures have surfaced in various manuscripts but were not included in the published collection. The set is subdivided into two parts, starting with pieces “suitable for younger players,” and concluding with pieces “appropriate for more mature players.” Clara Schumann prepared the final edition and tellingly wrote, “Never play bad compositions, nor even listen to them, unless absolutely obliged to do so.”

The Evening Star

You lovely star,
You shine from afar,
And so I hold you
Dearly in my heart.

How I do love you
So deep in my heart!
Your twinkling eyes
Look ever on me.

So I look to on you,
As you are there or here:
Your friendly eyes
Stand ever before me.

How you nod at me
In peaceful rest!
O lovely little star,
O were I like you!
(Translation © Gary Bachlund)

Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young

Six months later, Clara Schumann was expecting her fifth child, and Robert Schumann followed up his Album for young pianists with one for young singers. The inspiration for his Album of Songs for the Young might well have been pedagogical, as he considered singing a fundamental part of music education. As he recommended in his pamphlet Musical House and Life Rules, “Try, if you also have only a little voice, to sing from the page without the help of the instrument … But if you have a resonant voice, do not hesitate a moment in cultivating it, consider it as the finest gift that heaven bestows on you! He who wants to cultivate a complete musical personality should not only strive for instrumental virtuosity, as on the piano, but should not neglect singing.” In no time, Schumann had composed 25 solos songs and 4 duets, and he wrote to his publishers: “This collection will best express what I had in mind. I have selected poems appropriate to childhood, exclusively from the best poets, and have tried to arrange them in order of difficulty, progressing from the easy and simple to the difficult and complex. At the end comes Mignon, gazing into a more troubled emotional life.”

Butterfly

[Oh] butterfly tell,
Why do you flee me?
Why are you in such haste,
Now far and then near?

Now far and then near,
Now here and then there–
I shall not catch you,
I shall not harm you.

I shall not harm you:
O stay here always!
And I were a little flower,
I would say to you,

I would say to you:
Come, come to me!
I give you my little heart,
How fond I am of you!
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Clara and Robert Schumann

Scholars have suggested “for all their apparent simplicity, these songs need to be performed with loving detachment rather than wallowing sentimentality, and the singers who have been most successful with this repertoire are those who have not turned themselves into children.” The Album of Songs for the Young is not simply a loose collection of songs, but it should be considered a genuine cycle. Fundamentally, “it reflects Schumann’s understanding of the formal and substantial development of folksong into something more elaborate, and it also discloses an exemplary exegesis of a phenomenon by way of varied possibilities for interpreting a given poem in a musical setting.” Following the pattern established in his Album for the Young, Schumann divides the song collection into two sections “For the Younger,” and “For the Older.” The first section begins in the world of children and deals with animals, nature, and daily life. We also find songs of the gypsy lads and shepherd boys, as well as the sandman and the ladybird. The second section leads us into a world of wider experiences and feelings, from the pantheism of Goethe’s “Song of Lynceus the Watchman” to the yearning of “Mignon.”

The Sandman

I wear a fine pair of boots
with wondrously soft soles,
I carry a sack upon my back!
Hush, I scamper quickly up the stairs.
And when I enter the chamber
The children are saying their prayers:
Two little grains of my sand
I scatter into their eyes,
Then they sleep the whole night
Watched over by God and the angels.
Two little grains of my sand
I scattered into their eyes:
The good little children should be visited
By a beautiful dream.
Now rapidly and swiftly with my sack and my stick
back down the stairs!
I can no longer stand around idly,
I must still visit many [children] tonight.
You are already nodding off and laughing in your dreams,
And I barely opened my little sack.
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young, 29 May, 1849

In terms of music, Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young offers increasing levels of difficulties. In the opening “children’s songs” the melody is primarily supported by simple but delightful harmonic progressions in the piano. The harmonic accompaniment, sophisticated as it well may be, is simply intended to support a young singer. It has been suggested that Schumann here “follows the tradition of pedagogically oriented collections of songs for children from the 18th century, found in a variety of published sources.” These songs can also be performed together in the family circle. Mailied (May Song) has a second voice ad lib, some numbers are for two voices, while Spinnelied (Spinning Song) is for three, and in Weihnachtlied (Christmas Song), with the text attributed to Hans Christian Andersen, at the end a chorus can join in with the refrain ‘Hallelujah, Kind Jesus’ (Alleluia, Child Jesus).”

Christmas Song

When the Christchild was brought to the world,
Who has rescued us from hell,
He lay in a manger in dark night,
Pillowed on straw and hay;
But above the hut there shone the star,
And the ox kissed the foot of the Lord.
Halleluja, Child Jesus!

Take courage, soul that is sick and weary,
Forget your gnawing pains.
A child was born in the city of David
As a comfort for all hearts.
Oh let us go to the little child,
And become children in mind and spirit.
Halleluja, Child Jesus!
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Clara and Robert Schumann’s children

Scholars have suggested that the songs of Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young hold only a marginal position in musical life today. “For young singers they seem in part overtaxing, but because of their pedagogic aims, on the other hand, they are artistically undervalued by adult singers. The first numbers in particular seem too childish for performance by a concert singer. It may be argued, however, that Schumann’s songs conjure up, not naively but in feeling, the innocent world of childhood.” Aesthetically, they seem close to his piano set “Scenes of Childhood,” which also present idyllic reflections of childhood by adults. That sense of childhood idyll is clearly seen on the title-page of the first edition, which portrays a group of children singing and making music in a paradise of a natural setting “of leafy tendrils with flowers, fruits and nesting birds.”

Watching over children

When good children go to sleep,
Two little angels stand by their beds,
They tuck them in and tuck them up,
And keep a loving eye on them.
But when the children get up,
Both the angels go to sleep,
If the angels’ strength is now not enough,
The good Lord himself keeps watch.
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young develops from children’s songs to pure art song in the Mörike setting “Er ist’s” (It is Spring).

Spring is here

Spring is floating its blue banner
On the breezes again;
Sweet, well-remembered scents
Drift portentously across the land.
Violets, already dreaming,
Will soon begin to bloom.
Listen, the sound of a harp!
Spring, that must be you!
It’s you I’ve heard!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

The piano and vocal part are quietly restrained in the first half of the song, possibly suggesting that spring can already be sensed, but that it has not yet arrived. However, after a delicate and light staccato arpeggio imitating the echo of a harp, the “protagonist loudly bursts forth with recognition of the season’s entrance; here, the vocal line simultaneously reaches its highest notes and its first forte crescendo within just two demanding measures.” The composer repeats segments of the text several times, varying each occurrence, especially in terms of dynamics, to emphasize the protagonist’s elation.

Critics have suggested, “Mörike-lovers may consider this song a witless travesty of a beautiful poem.” However, the music is certainly charming and effective, and Schumann has left the innocence of his early songs in this set behind and the music has “grown into the dancing pulse of a girl’s first love song.” Until recently, it has been fashionable to consider the songs of 1849 a decline. “Schumann never again reached or even approached the level of his 1840 masterpieces” a scholar writes. “Other composers of comparable stature are believed to mature in their music; Schumann appears to deteriorate. A favoured explanation is mental illness…and the musical evidence seems to support a theory of progressive disorder from 1849 onward. And while Schumann is still a fine songwriter in 1849, he is no longer a great one. Sometimes, as in Goethe’s text from Faust, he treats great poetry rather cavalierly.”

Song of Lynceus the Watchman

I am born for seeing,
Employed to watch,
Sworn to the tower,
I delight in the world.

I see what is far,
I see what is near,
The moon and the stars,
The wood and the deer.

In all these I see
Eternal beauty,
And as it has pleased me,
I’m content with myself.

O happy eyes,
Whatever you have seen,
Let it be as it may,
How fair it has been!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

Robert Schumann: Lieder-Album fur die Jugend, Op. 79 – No. 24. Spinnerlied (Christina Landshamer, soprano; Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Andreas Burkhart, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

Robert Schumann: Lieder-Album fur die Jugend, Op. 79 – No. 27. Lied Lynceus des Türmers (Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young – Mignon

It has been said that Goethe’s character “Mignon” beautifully embodied the virtues of Romanticism. “From her simplicity, to her unbreakable loyalty and strength of emotions, she simultaneously embodies youthful innocence and mature longing, helplessness as an abused child and an ambiguous relationship with her protector… She gave voice to those in society who were otherwise ignored or forgotten.” Schumann composed “Mignon” to conclude his Album of Songs for the Young in the summer of 1849 amidst the uproar and danger of the Dresden uprising.” In his reading of the poetry and his musical setting there is no audible suggestion of decline. It might be somewhat taxing for untrained voices, as the melodic line is disjunct and widely spaced. In addition, the phrasing of the vocal lines and their interlinking with the piano part certainly calls for trained interpreters. Assumed mental deterioration aside, Schuman thought highly enough of his “Mignon” setting to place it at the head of his “Songs of Wilhem Meister,” Op. 98a.

Mignon

Do you know the land where the lemons blossom,
Where oranges grow golden among dark leaves,
A gentle wind drifts from the blue sky,
The myrtle stands silent, the laurel tall,
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
I long to go with you, my love.

Do you know the house? Columns support its roof,
Its great hall gleams, its apartments shimmer,
And marble statues stand and stare at me:
What have they done to you, poor child?
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
I long to go with you, my protector.

Do you know the mountain and its cloudy path?
The mule seeks its way through the mist,
Caverns house the dragons’ ancient brood;
The rock falls sheer, the torrent over it,
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
Our pathway lies! O father, let us go!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

The Greatest Composers of Film Music Saint-Saëns, Breil, Steiner and Korngold

 by Hermione Lai, Interlude

Auguste and Louis Lumière

I am just an ordinary city girl, and one of the greatest joys during the burning hot day of summer is a visit to my local cinema. Sitting in a comfy chair in a chilled air-conditioned room with a huge bag of popcorn in my hand while I look at a giant screen and listen to beautiful music on surround sound is one of my greatest joys. I certainly prefer it to looking at my computer or TV screen at home, with my mother or siblings interrupting me all the time. So I decided to write a little blog on the greatest composers of film music, and I’ll start with a bit of trivia.

Cinématographe

Do you know what extraordinary event took place in Paris on 28 December 1895? I give you a little hint by telling you that it involved the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière. Maybe you know that the Lumière brothers were manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their Cinématographe motion picture system. On that specific day in 1895, in what is considered the birth of cinema, they showed a series of short films to a Parisian audience. Even more remarkable is the fact that a pianist improvising on popular tunes accompanied this first screening. 

L’Assassinat du duc de Guise

It seems a bit funny, but the so-called silent film era wasn’t silent at all, but included music to establish a mood. As literally thousands of movie theaters sprang up in Europe and the United States, the solo piano was the most common instrument for musical accompaniment. “In a number of theaters, a percussionist was added to create special effects, and soon special theatre organs were built to produce a wide range of musical colors and effects, including gunshots, animal noises, and traffic sounds.” Larger theaters were known to feature ensembles, including chamber orchestras and occasional singers. We also know that the music played during screenings generally fell into three different types; borrowings from Classical music, arrangements of well-known popular, patriotic, or religious tunes, and newly composed music. Here then is the second trivia for today. Do you know who is generally credited with composing the first original film score? The answer is Camille Saint-Saëns, who wrote original music for the film “L’Assassinat du duc de Guise” (The Assassination of the Duke of Guise) in 1908. 

Sheet music of “The Perfect Song” from
The Birth of a Nation

For our next trivia question we turn to the United States and “the most controversial film ever made in the United States,” also called “the most reprehensibly racist film in Hollywood history.” The silent film in question was called “The Birth of a Nation” and featured a plot, part fiction and part history, that chronicles the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the relationship of two families in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. While Abraham Lincoln is portrayed positively, as a friend of the South, the film “has been denounced for its racist depiction of African American. The film portrays them, many of whom are played by white actors in blackface, as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women. The Ku Klux Klan is portrayed as a heroic force, necessary to preserve American values, protect white women, and maintain white supremacy.”

Joseph Carl Breil in 1918

It’s all pretty horrible and makes me cringe, and some critics say that it “caused an entire century of racism.” However, the reason I decided to feature this particular film in this blog has nothing to do with the subject. Rather, it seems that the director D.W. Griffith “elevated cinema to an art form with this classical Civil War spectacle, and Joseph Carl Breil composed a three-hours-long landmark score that featured music by Richard Wagner, patriotic tunes for the Civil War scenes, “and new music featuring a number of leitmotifs to accompany the appearance of specific characters.” “The Perfect Song” is regarded as the first marketed theme song from a film, with critics calling the score “a mix of Dixieland songs, classical music and vernacular heartland music; an early, pivotal accomplishment in remix culture.” 

Music 101 – A Foray into Understanding Classical Music

by Janet Horvath, Interlude 

Introduction to Classical Music

The Strings

I’ve been a professional classical musician for more decades than I care to disclose. By far the most common comment I’ve heard (other than, “Why, that cello is bigger than you are!) is— “I don’t know anything about classical music. I like it, but I just don’t understand it.”

I invite these doubtful audience members to relax and listen. I assure them that one doesn’t necessarily need to “know” anything to enjoy the music.

In an attempt to rectify this seemingly insurmountable obstacle for some people toward classical music, I’m embarking on a series for the uninitiated, which we will call Music 101. I will devise some interesting materials and quizzes so that people new to certain classical repertory will know what to listen for. I hope to cover, with the help of my fellow Interlude writers: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Music. Don’t be afraid to ask about particular questions you are burning to have explained.

Introducing the Orchestral Instruments

First, I thought we should start with the instrument families of the orchestra.

The strings are by far the largest group of instruments in the orchestra—the violins, the violas, the cellos and the double basses. All of the stringed instruments are played with a bow, strung with horsehair. The larger the instrument the lower is their sound. Their four strings get thicker and longer too of course. They are beautiful works of art, carefully hand crafted of wood. The older instruments are like fine wines that have aged, honing their beautiful sound. Some of the most coveted stringed instruments of a maker hailing from Cremona Italy, (and the most expensive), are those made by Italian master luthier, Antonio Stradivarius (1644-1737.) He is considered the most significant artisan in the field. It is estimated that Stradivarius made 1,000 to 1100 instruments— violins, violas, cellos and even harps and guitars—and today we are lucky that 650 instruments survive. The varnish that he used on the surfaces of the wood defies analysis even to this day.

Guarneri is the family name of distinguished luthiers also from Cremona, Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries whose standing is comparable to the Stradivarius family. Guarneri del Gesu (1698-1744) made remarkable violins. Many world-class violinists prefer the instruments of Guarneri to Strads! Anne Akiko Meyers owns the “Molitor” Strad and just recently Meyers received the lifetime use of the “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu, purchased for her by an anonymous buyer.

Among cellists, two names stand out. Dominico Montagnana (1686-1750) was an Italian master from Venice whose cellos are regarded as exquisite. Lynn Harrell has just announced that he is going to sell his beloved Montangana cello, an instrument he has played on for fifty years. Matteo Goffriler, also Venetian, is particularly noted for his cellos. His cello from 1733 belonged to the great cellist Pablo Casals, which he acquired in 1913 and played throughout his life until his death in 1973. From 1950-1965 Janos Starker played and recorded on the “Aylesford” Stradivarius. In 1965 Starker acquired a Goffriller cello made in Venice in 1705, which he owns to this day.

The Woodwinds

Now perhaps you can understand a string player’s reticence to allow anyone to even get near our instruments. Although most of us play instruments of lesser quality, it is like walking around with a priceless one-of-a-kind painting and they are beloved family members.

The woodwinds include the flute, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon and their relatives—the piccolo, the alto and bass flute, the bass clarinet, the basset horn, (clarinet family) the English horn (oboe family) and the contra-bassoon. Once again, the lower frequency instruments are larger. The oboe, clarinet and bassoon are played with reeds—pieces of painstakingly shaped and scraped cane. Usually the oboe and bassoon players shape their own reeds, as the behavior of the reed is the primary factor in the oboe’s quality of sound including the pitch, and the tone quality. The reed contributes to the ease of the production of the sound. Ask any oboe player and they will tell you that they spend unbelievable numbers of hours soaking, binding and scraping reeds, some specifically shaped for certain pieces of music, and even up to the moment before they play. An entire toolkit is required for this process.

The Brass

The brass instruments are easily identifiable. They are the loudest instruments and are made of the shiny metal— consisting of the trumpets, French Horn, trombone and tuba and their relatives: Piccolo trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn (trumpet family) the euphonium (tuba family) and the more rare Tuben or Wagner horn, which combines elements of the French Horn and the tuba. This instrument was created specifically for Wagner’s’ operatic Ring cycle. French horn players typically play the Wagner tuben. The tuben are finicky instruments, which also appear in the Bruckner Symphonies.

And the granddaddy is the cimbasso! This instrument is in the trombone family The cimbasso encompasses a similar range to the tuba or bass trombone and is played rarely.

Cimbasso

The percussion family includes any number of instruments to bang, scrub or scrape with mallets or sticks, or to shake and whirl. They are considered to be the oldest musical instruments after the human voice. The orchestra percussion section might include additional instruments that are not strictly percussion instruments per se, like whistles, sirens, bells, and tuned instruments such as the marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel and vibraphone. The timpani or kettledrums belong to their own subgroup as they are tuned to certain pitches. Usually a timpanist is hired in addition to the percussion players. When you see the timpanist lean down as if to put their cheek on the instrument it is to hear the tuning.

Keyboard instruments do make their appearance in the orchestra as well—the piano, celeste, harpsichord and organ.

And finally the harp is a multi-stringed instrument generally categorized in the stringed instrument group but it has its own category. Although there are many sizes of harps including folk, lap and Celtic instruments, the orchestral harp is a large instrument requiring heavy lifting. It has a frame, sound-board and pedals so the instrument can play in different keys. During contemporary music you will see a lot of fancy footwork from the harp player while both of their hands strum the strings.

Benjamin Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a wonderful piece, written to highlight each individual orchestral section separately.

Guide to Music Reading

Reading music is like learning another language. The markings in the sheet music include established symbols. In addition to signs that indicate the time signature, the clef and key signature, we have symbols to indicate length of notes, pauses, tempo markings and dynamic markings, as well as markings for the direction of the bow movements. The tempo marking at the beginning of a movement sometimes indicates speed as well as character. For example, andante means gently as well as slowly. Additionally, the composer often uses either Italian or German words within the piece of music to indicate mood, style or interpretation. We become adept at reading all of these indications simultaneously. Fingerings, though, are typically a matter of a player’s preference.

Of course this is secondary to the task of mastering our instrument! We must learn to coordinate our two hands and/or lips, mouth and fingers to produce a mesmerizing sound. Once we can do that and read the music, then the interpretation can begin. The conductor indicates the emotion and passion with his or her movements, stick technique and facial expressions, to produce one unified concept.

The music is about conveying a mood or emotion. Our response is always subjective as with other art. As individuals what it may conjure up for me might be different for you and even that of the composer. Think of the last movie or theater production that you went to. The music assists in depicting the emotions in the movie—it may inspire feelings such as agitation, apprehension, remorse, bitterness, and elation. It may evoke memories. Just let it wash over you so that you and it will allow you to create your own visual images.

Beethoven’s Für Elise sounds surprisingly enchanting when ‘twisted’ upside down

Beethoven’s music gets turned upside down in this creative reimagining. Picture: S.P.’s score videos

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

@sophiassocials

 

Written 212 years ago by Ludwig van Beethoven, ‘Für Elise’ gets a whole new makeover when you flip the piece upside down... 

For April Fools Day 2021, the online community of score video makers were challenged with creating “twisted versions” of Beethoven’s solo piano work, Für Elise.

Videos ranged from turning the piece from a 3/8 time signature to 4/4, to nonsensical scores which placed each hand of the performer in different keys.

However, for Italian composer and video score maker, Stefano Paparozzi, his take came one year later... and his version was definitely worth waiting for.

In Paparozzi’s ‘twisted’ version of Für Elise, the score is turned upside down and transposed, so that the left hand now carries the melody. It’s a darker, brooding score, with a disturbing sense of mystery – have a listen below. More tongue-in-cheek viewers have also expressed their delight that Beethoven can “finally be played in Australia!”.

The more creative among the comments section have detailed how this bittersweet imagining of one of Beethoven’s most famous works, would work well as part of a film.

Inverting melodies or turning normally major melodies into minor is a common trick used in film scoring to highlight a change in tone during a story.

Paparozzi’s YouTube channel S.P.'s score videos has over 13,000 subscribers, and his videos of around 1,000 scores range from Baroque to early-20th Century music.

Since the success of his take on Für Elise, the composer has set up a dedicated YouTube channel for his Upside-Down Scores. So far he has taken on the challenge of creating upside-down versions of works by Bach, Chopin, and Mozart.

¡ʇxǝu op noʎ ʇɐɥʍ ƃuᴉǝǝs oʇ pɹɐʍɹoɟ ʞool ǝM

Pianist continues to play Schubert ‘Impromptu’, as Russian police break up concert of Ukrainian music

Russian pianist, Alexei Lubimov, defied Moscow authorities by continuing to play. Picture: Telegram / Getty

By Sophia Alexandra Hall, ClassicFM

@sophiassocials

 

Police broke up a concert in Moscow which featured music by the Ukrainian composer, Valentin Silvestrov. 

A concert in Moscow by Russian pianist, Alexei Lubimov, and Russian soprano, Yana Ivanilova, was broken up by police last night.

The performance, titled ‘Songs against the times’, featured works by Franz Schubert, and Ukrainian composer, Valentin Silvestrov.

Police arrived at the Moscow cultural centre, DK Rassvet, to break up the concert. Almost every member of the audience had their phones out to record the unfolding situation as police entered the room. The policemen walked onstage to stand next to Luminov as he played the piano, and told him to stop.

However, Lubimov, who was playing the final bars of Schubert’s Impromptu No.2 Op.90, defied the authorities’ wishes and continued playing.

As he played the final chords, the 77-year-old pianist was met with loud cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd, who had stayed seated as the police tried to usher them out prior to the end of the musician’s performance.

Authorities were allegedly called to the concert venue following an anonymous tip-off of a bomb threat. However, unofficial reports suggest that the programming of the concert may be the real reason authorities arrived to break up the recital.

Lubimov is a good friend of Ukrainian composer, Silvestrov, who recently became a refugee, fleeing to Berlin after the invasion of Ukraine.

Silvestrov’s music has echoed around the world since the war broke out, in particular his composition, ‘Prayer for Ukraine’ which has become a symbol of solidarity performed by multiple internationally renowned orchestras and choirs. This work was one of the centrepieces of the Metropolitan Opera’s benefit concert for Ukraine last month.

During the course of his musical career, Silvestrov’s music was periodically banned by the former Soviet Union for “being too modern”. The composer also stood up to the former communist state by walking out of a composers meeting to protest the Soviet Union invasion of Czechoslovakia, during the late 1960s.

According to various posts on social media, a member of the audience may have actually alerted the police to come and shut down the concert after a composition by Silvestrov was performed.

While this may be the case, what happened at the concert after the audience turned their cameras off is still currently unknown. What we do know, is the bravery it took for Lubimov to not only programme Silvestrov, but to finish performing his music in defiance of the Russian authorities.

Harrison Birtwistle, ‘giant’ of contemporary classical music, dies aged 87

Harrison Birtwistle, ‘giant’ of contemporary classical music, dies aged 87. Picture: Alamy

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

Harrison Birtwistle was one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary classical composers.

The groundbreaking British composer Harrison Birtwistle, who won international acclaim for his 1972 composition The Triumph of Time and 2008 opera The Minotaur, has died aged 87.

Birtwistle’s publisher Boosey & Hawkes confirmed that the composer died at his home in Mere, southwest England on Monday 18 April. No cause of death was given.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra described Birtwistle as a “true musical colossus” whose “music shook the Earth”.

Birtwistle wrote in a plethora of musical forms, including chamber pieces, operas and one film score, The Offence (1973) starring Sean Connery, and had works staged by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House and English National Opera.

His opera The Minotaur, which premiered at the Royal Opera House, was hailed by The Guardian in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century.

The Queen receives Sir Harrison Birtwistle to invest him with the Insignia of a Companion of Honour at Buckingham Palace. Picture: Alamy

Born in Accrington, Lancashire in 1934, Birtwistle went on to study clarinet and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now Royal Northern College of Music) alongside his contemporary, Peter Maxwell Davies. In 1965, Birtwistle sold his clarinets and turned his attentions solely to composition.

The great modernist became musical director of the Royal National Theatre in London from 1975 to 1983, was knighted in 1988 and made a Companion of Honour in 2001, after seven years spent as Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King’s College London.

Birtwistle, whose musical influences included Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen and Erik Satie, was uncompromising and utterly unique in his compositional style. His best-known works, which include the 1998 Exody premiered by Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, employ complex rhythms and unconventional harmony, which both delighted and divided listeners.

Staunchly non-conforming in both his music and his manner, Birtwistle once told a room of pop musicians at the Ivor Novello awards: “Why is your music so f****** loud?”, while accepting his 2006 award. “You must all be brain dead. Maybe you are. I didn’t know so many cliches existed until the last half-hour. Have fun. Goodbye.”

Pierre Boulez, one of the modernist’s greatest admirers, said: “Birtwistle’s music has a great power to convince.”

In tribute to the late musical great, British composer Thomas Adès cited the composer, saying: “Harrison Birtwistle once said of Messiaen ‘when he dies the whole house of cards will fall down’. I feel a bit like it has fallen today.”

The English National Opera, which staged Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus in 1986, said: “Everyone at the ENO is heartbroken to learn of the death of Sir Harrison Birtwistle. His musical influence was unparalleled and we were proud to recently collaborate with him on The Mask of Orpheus.”

In 2014, Birtwistle was awarded his fifth Royal Philharmonic Society music award, making him the most RPS-honoured musician in history. “There was force and potency in every note he wrote,” the RPS wrote. “We will listen in awe to his works for decades to come.”

Birtwistle’s wife Sheila Duff died in 2012, and he is survived by his three sons and six grandchildren.

10 Greatest Easter Movies

by Hermione Lai, Interlude  April 12th, 2022

Easter is the most important holiday for Christians around the world. But you don’t have to be seriously religious to enjoy that particular time of year, as the coming of Spring, at least in the Northern hemisphere also signals a sense of renewal. Many of our modern Easter celebrations actually reflect non-Christian traditions. The name “Easter” comes from “Eastre,” a Saxon goddess of fertility and spring. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the spring equinox, and modern Easter is also tied to the vernal equinox. Springtime fertility probably explains the two most popular Easter traditions, the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. The Easter bunny was originally a hare, and as a symbol of new life, painted eggs have been around for a very long time. So, Easter can actually be both a deeply religious celebration and a secular festivity “with ancient pagan or modern commercial origins.”

I think that most everybody has a favourite Easter tradition or two, and I tend to get in the mood for this special holiday by watching a marathon of Easter-themed movie. Here then is my personal list of the 10 greatest Easter movies ever made, starting with the 2006 biographical drama “Miss Potter. 

I just love historical costume dramas, and the story of this fantastic film is based on the life of children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, who created one of the most loveable and endearing Easter characters in “Peter Rabbit.” Starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, the film features animated sequences with characters from her stories.

Nigel Westlake

Beatrix is trying to convince a publishing house to publish her “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” The publishers think her book is ridiculous, but agree because they promised their younger brother Norman, a project. In the event, the book becomes a huge success and Beatrix and Norman fall in love. Beatrix’s parents are decidedly unhappy about their daughter marrying a tradesman, and they simply won’t consent to the union. They threaten to cut her off financially, but Beatrix soon finds out that the royalties from her book have made her a very wealthy woman. Her parents finally relent under the condition that Beatrix and Norman will spend the summer apart, and if she still wishes to marry him at the end of that period, they agree that they will not object to the marriage. Sadly, Norman dies and overcome with grief, Beatrix turns to her drawing but discovers that her characters disappear off the page. The award-winning Australian composer Nigel Westlake, famous for his Omphalo Centric Lecture for percussion quartet, sensitively scored “Miss Potter” in the wide-flowing manner of a romantic historical drama. 

Peter Rabbit

Beatrix Potter first introduced Peter Rabbit in 1902, and it became such a huge hit that she wrote five more books on the subject. Peter Rabbit recently came alive in a 2018 3D live-action/computer-animated comedy film. The subject matter is still based on Potter’s book, but this 21st-century take features a much tougher and probably less likeable Peter Rabbit.

Set in the Lake District of England, Peter Rabbit, his cousin Benjamin Bunny and the sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, are stealing vegetables from Mr. McGregor, who had killed and eaten their father. After McGregor suddenly dies of a heart attack, Peter invites all the local animals to take over McGregor’s manor. The manor is inherited by Thomas McGregor, who kicks out Peter and the other animals and upgrades the security of the garden. Peter and Benjamin sneak back in, and an enraged Thomas buys and electric fence and dynamite to keep out the rabbits. Meanwhile, Thomas falls in love with Bea, a local resident who has been kind to Peter and all rabbits. Things get predictably out of control, but in the end Thomas and Bea resume their relationship and they allow wildlife to take from the garden. The soundtrack to the movie features 28 soundtrack songs, including a version of the song “Steal My Sunshine” by the band Len with the lyrics rewritten to be about Peter Rabbit. And just in case, in 2021 the sequel “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” was released, and now Thomas and Bea are married and live with Peter and his rabbit family. Bored at home, Peter goes to the big city, where he meets shady characters and ends up creating chaos for the entire family.

A more loveable version of Peter Rabbit became the subject of an animated television special in 1971. The young Easter Bunny Peter Cottontail lives in April Valley together with his fellow Easter Bunnies. They make Easter candies, sew bonnets, and they decorate and deliver Easter eggs. But trouble starts brewing when Peter Cottontail, who is somewhat unreliable and gossipy, is supposed to be appointed Chief Easter Bunny. An evil rabbit named January Q. Irontail also wants the job, but his motivation is a little different. He wants to ruin Easter for children as revenge for a child roller-skating over his tail. Now he has to wear an artificial tail, and he is not a happy bunny. After much intrigue, scheming, and treachery, Irontail does become the new Chief Easter Bunny. He quickly passes various laws to make Easter a disaster. Eggs have to be painted brown and gray, candy sculptors become tarantulas and octopuses, and instead of Easter bonnets, he orders that Easter rubber boots be made. Of course, things do work out in the end, and Cottontail, all reformed and reliable becomes the official Chief Easter Bunny. It is one of my favourite animated films, and the song “Here comes Peter Cottontail,” written by Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson, became a huge hit.

Ben-Hur

Let’s depart the world of animation for some seriously epic drama. And when it comes to epic, the 1959 film Ben-Hur comes in at the top of the class. Based on a novel by Lew Wallace, it tells the story of a fictitious aristocratic Jew living in Judaea who incurs the wrath of a childhood friend, now a Roman tribune. He is falsely accused of attempting to assassinate Roman governor Valerius Gratus, and is forced into slavery on a galley and compelled to witness the cruel persecution of his family. Plotting his revenge, Ben-Hur’s life intersects with that of the Biblical Jesus, and compassion eventually overrides Ben-Hur’s thirst for revenge.

Miklós Rózsa

The film won a record 11 Oscars, and everybody loves the most memorable sequences of the sea battle and the chariot race. The film score was composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, a Hungarian-American composer who had trained in Germany and worked in France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Rózsa had made his name composing concert music, with his compositions championed by such major artists as Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and János Starker. Rózsa became an American citizen in 1946 and composed the music for nearly one hundred films, with the score to Ben-Hur considered to be his best. In preparation for the film Rózsa researched Greek and Roman music, searching for musical authenticity in a track of over three hours of music. “While the score contains no leitmotifs, the music always transitions from full orchestra to pipe organ whenever Jesus Christ appears.” This particular soundtrack was hugely influential well into the mid 1970s, and spawned a huge film music following.

The Last Temptation of Christ

Easter films have long delighted children and adults alike. In some cases, however, they have also courted controversy. The great film director Martin Scorsese shocked many Christian religious groups with his The Last Temptation of Christ of 1988. The film depicts the life of Jesus Christ and his struggle with various forms of temptation including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust. Christ is tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities as he had an undisclosed prior relationship with Mary Magdalene, a Jewish prostitute. While on the cross, Jesus is in a state of hallucination and he perceives that God wants him to be happy. An angel brings him down off the cross and, invisible to others, takes him to Mary Magdalene, whom he marries. They are soon expecting a child and living an idyllic life, but she abruptly dies. Next he takes Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, for his wives. He starts a family with them, having many children, and lives his life in peace. When he finds himself on the cross once more, he has overcome the last temptation of escaping death.

Peter Gabriel: Passion

The film decidedly departs from the gospel narratives, especially in a scene when Jesus and Mary Magdalene consummate their marriage, and it drew vocal and violent protest and boycotts. The famed Peter Gabriel composed the soundtrack and the CD released under the title Passion won a Grammy in 1990 for Best New Age Album. Gabriel brought together a lineup of international artists, including Pakistani Musician and vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Egyptian Kanun player Abdul Aziz, Turkish Ney flute player Kudsi Ergüner, Armenian Doudouk players Antranik Askarian and Vatche Housepian. It became a path-breaking score as it popularized world music.

Jesus Christ Superstar 

The story of Easter also made it into the 1971 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The plot is loosely based on the Gospel accounts of the Passion, but it explores and interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centering on Judas. Judas is really unhappy with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Religious groups condemned the initial Broadway show and subsequent productions, and the rock opera was banned in Hungary. Andrew Lloyd Webber, frequently called the “most commercially successful composer in history,” composed the musical score.

Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade in the West End and on Broadway, and surely you know such hit songs as “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Evita, and “Memory” from Cats. Jesus Christ Superstar was one of his earlier projects, and audiences were rather shocked by the controversial portrayals of Mary Magdalene, and her unrequited love for Jesus. Yet, many of the most popular tunes from this rock opera have gained independence and stormed the pop hit charts.

Risen 

For a number of years, audiences were glued to their Netflix accounts in order to watch the unfolding dramas offered by “Game of Thrones.” If you throw “Game of Thrones” in a blender and mix it with the 2000 epic historical drama “Gladiator,” the outcome is something like the 2016 biblical drama film “Risen.” Directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Joseph Fines, and Tom Felton, it is a historical detective story as the Roman Centurion Clavius is on the hunt for Jesus’ body after it mysteriously disappears following his crucifixion.

Roque Baños

The disappearance is a PR nightmare for the Romans, specifically as there is talk throughout the land of a miraculous return. Pilate initially treats it as a management problem, as the emperor is set for a visit. As Clavius gets deeper drawn into the story, he starts to wonder if he is actually on the wrong side. We all know how this story has to end, but “Risen” provides us with a gritty sense of Jerusalem as an occupied territory that could soon slip from the master’s grasp. The Spanish composer Roque Baños provides a swelling orchestral score that takes us on an even deeper emotional level.

Easter Parade

Irving Berlin

For our next selection, we change gears a little and look at the long tradition of Easter Parades. They are said to date back to the early days of Christianity, but they really got going in New York City in the mid-1800s. It was an entirely social event, actually the biggest social event of the year. After the upper crust of society attended Easter services at various churches alongside Fifth Avenue, they strolled outside to show off their new spring outfits and hats. They soon attracted ordinary onlookers wanting to see what the rich and famous were up to, and the tradition of the Easter parade was born. It was highly popular during the mid-20th century, and it even inspired the very popular film “Easter Parade” in 1948.

The film features Broadway star Don Hewes played by Fred Astaire who has just lost his dancing partner Ann Miller. So he declares that he can make a hit performer out of the next dancer he sees. This turns out to be the inexperienced Hannah (Judy Garland), who bristles as Don tries to make her into his old partner. But as he realizes that he is falling in love with Hannah, Don knows that he must let her grow into her own kind of dancer if he wants her to reach her full potential. With the music composed by Irving Berlin, there are plenty of popular tunes and hits on offer.

The Prince of Egypt

When it comes to animation, my favorite Easter-themed movie has to be “The Prince of Egypt.” It tells the story of the Book of Exodus in a very entertaining way as it follows the life of Moses. Essentially it depicts the first Passover, a holiday that regularly overlaps with Easter. In the event, Moses, Miriam, Aaron and Tzipporah lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. At the Red Sea, the Hebrews discover that a vengeful Rameses is pursuing them with his army, intent on killing them. However, a pillar of fire blocks the army’s way, while Moses uses his staff to part the sea. The Hebrews cross the open sea bottom; the fire vanishes and the army gives chase, but the sea closes over and drowns the Egyptian soldiers, sparing Rameses alone. Moses sadly bids his brother farewell and leads the Hebrews to Mount Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments.

The story of Moses’s deliverance of the Israelites is generally considered a biblical foreshadowing that parallels the death and resurrection of Jesus. Composer Stephen Schwartz wrote the songs for the film, and they were arranged and produced by Hans Zimmer for the film score. Various tracks feature contemporary artists such as K-Ci & JoJo and Boyz II Men, and also include the fabulous Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet “When You Believe,” a Babyface rewrite of the original Schwartz composition, sung by Michelle Pfeiffer and Sally Dworsky in the film.

Hank and Mike 

To conclude this little blog on the 10 Greatest Easter Movies let’s get a little silly and look at the hilarious comedy “Hank and Mike.” Mike and Hank are two blue-collar Easter Bunnies and things get dicey when the corporation that owns all holidays decides to make some serious cutbacks. Hank and Mike get fired, and try to find different jobs with devastating result. As they miserably fail at everything they touch, they are fighting depression, debt and eventually each other. Finally, they make it their mission to get their jobs back, get the girls they love, and settle the score. Talking about score, the funky music was provided by the eclectic Phil Electric. Whatever movie tickles your fancy, I hope you will enjoy a Happy Easter!