Manuel de Falla - His Music and His Life

Manuel de Falla, also known as Manuel María de los

Dolores Falla y Matheu, is a renowned Spanish composer of international acclaim. The Spanish composer infused his compositions with unique idioms from native folk songs and dance to create his music on nationalistic lines. His fusion of poetry, simplicity, and passion represented the spirit of Spain in its purest form. Just like Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina, Falla is deemed as one of Spain's most important musicians who contributed humongously the classical music of the first half of the 20th century. Manuel wrote several kinds of compositions including music for ballet, opera, chamber music, Spanish songs, piano music and zarzuelas. One of the most celebrated figures of Spanish music, Manuel de Falla has composed many pieces, which are considered as masterpieces of sorts. Noches en los jardines de Espana" ("Nights in the Gardens of Spain") is one of his major works of art. Also known for his ballet "El Amor brujo" (Love, the Magician) and opera "La vida breve" (The Short Life), Manuel de Falla really stands as a distinguished composer.

Manuel de Falla’s Childhood and Early Life

Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y Matheu was born on 23 November 1876 in the family home (3, Plaza de Mina) to José María Falla y Franco and María Jesús Matheu y Zabala. His early music teachers were his mother and grandfather. At the age of nine, he began his first piano lessons with Eloísa Galluzo. His relationship with Eloísa Galluzo soon ended after she chose to become a nun at the convent, Sisters of Charity. Then in 1889, Manuel went on to learn piano with Alejandro Odero, and harmony and counterpoint with Enrique Broca. He became interested in music and journalism and along with his friends, he created the literary magazine, “El Burlón”. At the age of 14, he displayed an aptitude for theatre, literature and painting and went about to create another magazine, “El Cascabel”, for which he was the "contributor" and, later, the "editor". At the age of 17, Manuel channeled his artistic tendencies towards music. He had frequent trips to Madrid in 1896, where he studied piano with José Tragó at the Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamación.

Beginning Of A Musical Career

In 1897, Falla composed “melodía” for cello and piano. His work was dedicated to Salvador Viniegra, in whose house Falla participated in performances of chamber music. As an external pupil of the Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamacíon in 1898, Falla passed with a distinction the first three years of music theory and the first five years of the piano course. He composed the Scherzo in C minor. By unanimous agreement, he won the first prize in piano at his institute “Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamación”, and he concluded his official studies in 1899. That same year he premiered his first works “Romanza para violonchelo y piano”, “Nocturno para piano, Melodía para violonchelo y piano”, “Serenata andaluza para violín y piano”, and “Cuarteto en Sol y Mireya”. In 1900, he composed Canción for the piano and some other pieces for voice and for piano. He also premiered “Serenata andaluza” and “Vals-Capricho” for piano and because of his family's unstable financial situation; he began to give piano lessons. Fallas’ first attempts at zarzuela, which include “La Juana y la Petra o La casa de tócame Roque”, date from this period. In 1901, he met Felipe Pedrell and composed “Cortejo de gnomos” and “Serenata”, both for piano. At the same time, he was working on the zarzuelas “Los amores de la Inés” and “Limosna de amor”. He then met the composer Joaquín Turina and saw his pieces “Vals-Capricho” and “Serenata andaluza” being published by the Society of Authors.

The composition of the “Allegro de concierto” was started in 1903 and was submitted to a competition organized by the Madrid Conservatoire. Enrique Granados eventually won the first prize, but the Society of Authors published “Tus ojillos negros” and “Nocturno”. Falla collaborated with Amadeo Vives on three zarzuelas of which only fragments survive. In 1904, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando announced a competition for a new "Spanish opera in one act". Falla decided to enter the competition and hence began to work on “La vida breve”. He won the first prize for this composition. In April 1905, he won another piano competition organized by the Ortiz y Cussó Company. His “Allegro de concierto” was premiered at the Ateneo in Madrid. Manuel was encouraged by the composer Joaquín Turina to move to Paris and showcase his talents.

Musical Stint in Paris

Manuel de Falla travelled around France,Belgium, Switzerland and Germany as a pianist to a touring theatre company performing André Wormser's L'Enfant prodigue. He met a number of composers who had an influence on his style, including the impressionists Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. In 1908, he obtained a grant from the Spanish King Alfonso XIII to remain in Paris and finish “Pièces espagnoles”. He toured the north of Spain as the third member of a trio with violinist Antonio Fernández Bordas and cellist Víctor Mirecki and completed “Con afectos de júbilo y gozo”. The dramatist Paul Milliet translated the libretto of “La vida breve” into French, to have it performed in France. In 1910, Falla had his first encounter with Igor Stravinsky and he met Georges Jean-Aubry, Ignacio Zuloaga, Joaquín Nin and Wanda Landowska. On his first visit to London in 1911, he gave a recital in March. Then in 1912, he travelled to Switzerland and Italy and in Milan, Tito Ricordi negotiated him for his publication of La vida breve. In 1913, La vida breve was premiered at the Municipal Casino in Nice and later that year, his work was given “répétition générale” before the press and the public, at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique in Paris. Max Eschig published the score and became Falla's publisher. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Falla returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. It was at this stage that Falla entered into his mature creative period.

Return to Madrid

Manuel de Falla returned to Madrid at the outbreak of the World War 1. The Ateneo de Madrid, a private cultural association, paid homage to Joaquín Turina and Manuel de Falla in 1915. In the same year, he joined María Lejárraga (wife of Gregorio Martínez Sierra) on a trip to Granada Ronda, Algeciras and Cádiz. On his brief trip to Cau Ferrat in Sitges, he worked intensively on his well-known nocturne for piano and orchestra “Noches en los jardines de España”. In 1916, The Revista Musical Hispano-Americana published Falla's article "Enrique Granados: Evocación de su obra", and the newspaper La Tribuna published his "El gran músico de nuestro tiempo: Igor Stravinsky". During the spring and summer of this year, he gave concerts in Seville, Cádiz and Granada. The Revista Musical Hispano-Americana published a further article by Falla in its December issue: "Introducción al estudio de la música nueva". Fallas first performance of a version of “El amor brujo” for small orchestra was given in 1917. During this year he also wrote the prologue to Joaquín Turina's “Enciclopedia abreviada de Música”, and published "Nuesta música" in the June issue. In 1918, he worked on the comic opera Fuego fatuo, to a libretto by María Lejárraga. In April that year, he delivered a speech at a function at the Ateneo de Madrid to pay tribute to a French composer. The Princess de Polignac commissioned him to write a work for her salon in Paris, and Falla visioned the idea for El retablo de maese Pedro. In 1919, Manuel’s parents died. This really shook him. However, in the same year, his concert version of El sombrero de tres picos, a ballet, was premiered in London with choreography by Léonide Massine and sets and costumes by Pablo Picasso. This was amongst one of his most renowned works. In 1919 itself, Manuel visited Granada with his sister María del Carmen and Vázquez Díaz and his wife, to attend a tribute being paid in his honour by the Centro Artístico.

Stay at Granada

From 1921 to 1939, Manuel lived in Granada. Falla became closely involved with the cultural life of Granada, associating with personalities such as Miguel Cerón, Fernando de los Ríos, Hermenegildo Lanz, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz and, above all, Federico García Lorca. Here he organized the “Concurso de cante Jondo” in 1922. He wrote the puppet opera “El Retable De Maese Pedro” and a concerto titled Harpsichord Concerto. Both of these works were written with Wanda Landowska in mind. In Granada, Falla began work on the large-scale orchestral cantata “Atlàntida”. He considered Atlàntida to be the most important of his works. In 1924, Falla along with Ángel Barrios was unanimously elected permanent member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Granada. He also completed ‘Psyché’, a setting of a poem by Georges Jean-Aubry. In the same year, he was named an honorary member of the Real Academia Hispano-Americana de Ciencias y Artes de Cádiz. On Falla's initiative, the Orquesta Bética de Cámara was founded in Seville too. In 1927, on Fallas fiftieth birthday tributes continued and the Orquesta Bética de Cámara hosted concerts at the Coliseo Olympia in Granada. While in Granada, Falla received a lot of recognition for his work. However, by 1937, due to his fragile state of health, he was confined to his house. In 1939, he moved from Granada to Barcelona with his sister and then from Barcelona he embarked to Argentina to conduct a series of four concerts in the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

His Last Years

Falla continued to work on Atlàntida after moving to Argentina in 1939. He settled initially in Villa Carlos Paz, then, later, in Villa del Lago. He conducted a concert—Orquesta Sinfónica de Córdoba in aid of the victims of floods in the capital and received the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio. Later in 1940, he conducted two concerts on Radio "El Mundo". Manuel’s health had seriously started deteriorating and at the beginning of 1942, he moved to the chalet "Los Espinillos", near Alta Gracia in the province of Cordoba. This became his final residence. He rejected an invitation from the Spanish government to return to Spain. In spite of ill health, he continued to work on Atlántida and by 1945, he began to transcribe final versions of some sections of the work.

Personal Life

Manuel de Falla never married and had no children. His relationship with women did not last long and there were even rumors of homosexuality and misogynistic tendencies. His public image was ascetic and saint like. 

 

Death

On 14 November 1946, nine days before his seventieth birthday, Falla suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep at "Los Espinillos". The funeral took place in Córdoba Cathedral and in December, his sister María del Carmen embarked for Spain, with his remains. His body was finally entombed in the cathedral crypt of his native city.

24 Weird and Wonderful Classical Music Tattoos

From inexplicably burning Beethovens to awkward singing hamburgers, here's a selection of the most musical tats of all time.

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Anton Dvorak - His Music and His Life

 

Born:

September 8, 1841 - Nelahozeves, nr Kralupy

Died:

May 1, 1904 – Prague

Dvorak Quick Facts:

• Johannes Brahms once wrote a letter praising and exulting Dvorak’s music; they later became great friends.
• After moving to America in 1892, Dvorak spent his summer vacation in the small town of Spillville, Iowa in 1893, because of it’s mainly Czech population.
• Dvorak’s greatest musical success was achieved by the world premier of his New World Symphony in Carnegie Hall on December 3, 1893.

Dvorak's Family Background:

Dvorak’s father, Frantisek was a butcher and an innkeeper. He played the zither for fun and entertainment, but later played it professionally. His mother, Anna, came from Uhy. Antonin Dvorak was the oldest of eight children.

Childhood Years:

In 1847, Dvorak began taking voice and violin lessons from Joseph Spitz. Dvorak took to the violin quickly and soon began playing in church and village bands. In 1853, Dvorak’s parents sent him to Zlonice to continue his education in learning German as well as music. Joseph Toman and Antonin Leihmann continued to teach Dvorak violin, voice, organ, piano, and music theory.

Teenage Years:

In 1857, Dvorak moved to the Prague Organ School where he continued to study music theory, harmonization, modulation, improvisation, and counterpoint and fugue. During this time, Dvorak played the viola in the Cecilia Society. He played works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner. While in Prague, Dvorak was able to attend concerts playing works by Liszt conducted by Liszt himself. Dvorak left the school in 1859. He was second in his class.

Early Adult Years:

In the later summer months of 1859, Dvorak was hired to play viola in a small band, which later became the building blocks of the Provisional Theater Orchestra. When the orchestra formed, Dvorak became the principal violinist. In 1865, Dvorak taught piano to the daughters of a goldsmith; one of whom later became his wife (Anna Cermakova). It wasn’t until 1871 when Dvorak left the theater. During these years, Dvorak was privately composing.

Mid Adult Years:

Because his early works were too demanding on the artists who performed them, Dvorak evaluated and revamped his work. He turned away from his heavy Germanic style to a more classic Slavonic, stream-line form. Besides teaching piano, Dvorak applied to the Austrian State Stipendium as a mean for income. In 1877, Brahms, very much impressed by Dvorak’s works, was on the panel of judges who awarded him 400 guldens. A letter written by Brahms about Dvorak’s music brought Dvorak much fame.

Late Adult Years:

During the last 20 years of Dvorak’s life, his music and name became internationally known. Dvorak earned many honors, awards, and honorary doctorates. In 1892, Dvorak moved to America to work as the artistic director for the National Conservatory of Music in New York for $15,000 (nearly 25 times what he was earning in Prague). His first performance was given in Carnegie Hall (the premiere of Te Deum). Dvorak’s New World Symphony was written in America. On May 1, 1904, Dvorak died of illness.

Selected Works by Dvorak:

Symphony

• Symphony No. 1, c minor - 1865
• Symphony No. 2, B flat Major - 1865
• Symphony No. 3, E flat Major - 1873
• Symphony No. 4, d minor - 1874
• Symphony No. 5, F Major - 1875
• Symphony No. 6, D Major - 1880
• Symphony No. 7, d minor - 1885
• Symphony No. 8, G Major - 1889
• Symphony No. 9, New World Symphony, e minor - 1893

Choral Works

• Mass in D Major - 1887
• Te Deum - 1892
• Requiem - 1890

Gaetano Donizetti - His Music and his Life

A native of Bergamo (born November 29, 1797), Donizetti was, for nearly a decade after the early death of Bellini in 1835, the leading composer of Italian opera. He had his first success with Zoraida di Granata in 1822. There followed a series of nearly sixty more operas and removal to Paris, where Rossini had been induced to settle to his profit. His final illness confined him to a hospital in France for some 17 months, before his return to Bergamo, where he died in 1848. Donizetti was not exclusively a composer of opera, but wrote music of all kinds, songs, chamber music, piano music and a quantity of music for the church.

The opera Anna Bolena, which won considerable success when it was first staged in Milan in 1830, provides a popular soprano aria in its final Piangete voi? Deserto in terra, from the last opera, Dom Sébastien, staged in Paris in 1843, has been a favourite with operatic tenors from Caruso to Pavarotti. The comedy Don Pasquale, staged in Paris in 1843, is a well-loved part of standard operatic repertoire, as is L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), from which the tenor aria Una furtiva lagrima (A hidden tear) is all too well known. Mention should be made of La Favorita and La Fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), both first staged in Paris in 1840 and sources of further operatic recital arias. Lucia di Lammermoor, based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott, provides intense musical drama for tenors in the last act Tomba degl’avei miei (Tomb of My Forebears).

Donizetti passed away on April 8, 1848 also in Bergamo.

Claude Debussy - His Music and His Life

Claude Debussy was born into a poor family in France  on August 22, 1862, but his obvious gift at the piano sent him to the Paris Conservatory at age 11. At age 22, he won the Prix de Rome, which financed two years of further musical study in the Italian capital. After the turn of the century, Debussy established himself as the leading figure of French music. During World War I, while Paris was being bombed by the German air force, he succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 55.

Quotes

"Music is the space between the notes."

– Claude Debussy-

Achille-Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the oldest of five children. While his family had little money, Debussy showed an early affinity for the piano, and he began taking lessons at the age of 7. By age 10 or 11, he had entered the Paris Conservatory, where his instructors and fellow students recognized his talent, but often found his attempts at musical innovation strange.

In 1880, Nadezhda von Meck, who had previously supported Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, hired Claude Debussy to teach piano to her children. With her and her children, Debussy traveled Europe and began accumulating musical and cultural experiences in Russia that he would soon turn toward his compositions, most notably gaining exposure to Russian composers who would greatly influence his work.

In 1884, when he was just 22 years old, Debussy entered his cantata L'Enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son) in the Prix de Rome, a competition for composers. He took home the top prize, which allowed him to study for two years in the Italian capital. While there, he studied the music of German composer Richard Wagner, specifically his opera Tristan und Isolde. Wagner’s influence on Debussy was profound and lasting, but despite this, Debussy generally shied away from the ostentation of Wagner’s opera in his own works.

Debussy returned to Paris in 1887 and attended the Paris World Exhibition two years later. There he heard a Javanese gamelan—a musical ensemble composed of a variety of bells, gongs and xylophones, sometimes accompanied by vocals—and the subsequent years found Debussy incorporating the elements of the gamelan into his existing style to produce a wholly new kind of sound.

The music written during this period came to represent the composer's early masterpieces—Ariettes oubliées (1888), Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; completed in 1892 and first performed in 1894) and the String Quartet (1893)—which were clearly delineated from the works of his coming mature period.

Debussy's seminal opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, was completed in 1895 and was a sensation when first performed in 1902, though it deeply divided listeners (audience members and critics either loved it or hated it). The attention gained with Pelléas, paired with the success of Prélude in 1892, earned Debussy extensive recognition. Over the following 10 years, he was the leading figure in French music, writing such lasting works as La Mer (The Sea; 1905) and Ibéria (1908), both for orchestra, and Images (1905) and Children's Corner Suite (1908), both for solo piano.

Claude Debussy passed away on March 25, 1918.He lost his battle with rectal cancer at his Paris home. Aged 55, Debussy was universally acknowledged as one of the most important musicians of his time. His harmonic innovations had a profound influence on subsequent generations of composers, and by creating new genres and revealing a range of timbre and color he developed a highly original musical aesthetic. 

Arcangelo Corelli - His Music and His Life

Arcangelo Corelli was born February 17, 1653, in Fusignano, Italy. He studied violin with Bassani at the Music school in Bologna. In Rome he studied composition under Matteo Simeoni, the singer of the pope's chapel. Corelli established himself as composer and violinist in the 1670s. In 1672 he made a sensational debut in Paris, then successfully toured Euripean capitals. In 1678-1680 Corelli was in the service of Queen Christina of Sweden, who had taken up residence in Rome after her abdication. In 1681 Corelli was the court musician for the Prince of Bavaria.

Back in Rome Corelli composed and dedicated music to his aristocratic patrons, such as, Queen Christina, Cardinal Pamphili, Francesco II the Prince of Modena, Cardinal Ottoboni, who was Pope Alexander VIII from 1689-1691. Corelli gained recognition for the nice tone of his playing and for his elegant presentation. He was very attractive, well-mannered, and known for his talent for creating a special ambiance. Corelli was well received in the highest circles of the aristocracy. He was the permanent leader of the famous Monday concerts at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni, where he also resided for the most part of his life.

His rivalry and partnership with Georg Friedrich Haendel was legendary. Corelli was a great musician, but not a virtuoso. As it may be seen from his writings he never wrote or played above D on the highest string. Once Corelli refused to play the melody to the high A in the Handel's oratorio. Then Handel himself played the melody to the highest A, making Corelli very upset. Handel made a visit of respect to the great Corelli, as they both resided at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in 1708-1710. Handel also continued the tradition of Corelli's Concerti Grossi.

Corelli developed Concerto Grosso into a form of secular entertainment for the aristocracy. He used the idea of a musical competition between two groups of musicians during the Concerto. A smaller group has only two violins and a cello, while the larger group is the full orchestra. At the beginning of concerto each group presents their beautiful theme with arrangements. During the course of the concerto both groups develop musical interaction and their melody lines become intertwined until they reach mutual culmination in the climax of the grand finale.

Many of Corelli's Concerti Grossi were based on the beautiful flowing melodies from his own violin sonatas. Corelli composed violin sonatas for his solo performances before his high patrons. Corelli's dynamic markings in all of his written music show his use of traditional terrace method of forte and piano dynamics. While unmarked, crescendo and diminuendo were left to be played intuitively between the extremes of piano and forte. Corelli also liberated the accompanying parts from restrictions of the counterpoint rules.

Corelli was a highly reputable teacher of music and composition. Besides giving music lessons to his aristocratic patrons, he taught such composers as Francesco Geminiani and Pietro Locatelli. His strong influence was recognized by Antonio Vivaldi who became Corelli's successor at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni. Johann Sebastian Bach studied Corelli's compositions. A remarkable tribute to Corelli was made by Serge Rachmaninoff in his concerto for piano and orchestra titled 'Rhapsody on a theme of Corelli' (aka.. Corelli Variations, Opus 42,1931).

Arcangelo Corelli died on January 8, 1713, in Rome and was laid to rest in the Pantheon of Rome.

Corelli's Concerti Grossi may be heard in film soundtracks as well as in numerous recordings of the Baroque music and in live concert performances.

Domenico Cimarosa - His Music and His Life

The Italian Domenico Cimarosa was born on December 17, 1749 in Naples as a bricklayer's and laundry helper's son.

At the age of 12, Cimarosa became an intellectual student of Francesco Durante (1648-1755), Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), Antonio Sacchini (1730-1786), and Nicola Piccini (1728-1800). Especially spiritual compositions dominated in Cimarosa's life.

Suddenly charming insrumental works showed a master of compositions. In 1772, Cimarosa published his first opera comique - indisputable a masterwork. That opera has been remained as untitled and as a stage play without title role. Unbelievab he coule, but true!

Later, also in Rome,Milan, Vienna and Dresden/Germany, Cimarosa published innumerable operas and put even Nicola Piccini in the shade. In 1787, Climarosa moved to Saint Petersburg, but he couldn't survive the harsh Russian climate.

In 1792 - eight years after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death - the Austrian capital Vienna celebrated the premiere of "Il matrimonio segreto" (The Secret Marriage). That opera became Cimarosa's greatest success. In Naples, "The Secret Marriage" has been on stage 167times.

An Italian cheerfulness and preciousness composition with a solo of the wrong-headed Cimarosa was "Il Maestro di Capello".

In 1799, Cimarosa was sentence to death because of plot participation. He passed away in Venice on January 11, 1801 alegedly because of poisoning. But even today, nobody knows the reall story of his death.

Luigi Cherubini - His Music and His Life

Born on September 14, 1760 in Florence, the great Italian composer Luigi Cherubini receceives his first teaching by his father. The Earl of Toscana, Italy, later the Emperor Leopold II, sent Cherubini to Venice, where he studied together with Guiseppe Sarti (1729, Faenza - 1802, Berlin).

Since 1780, Cherubini composed innumerable operas. He received incredible appreciations in most of all places in Italy. 1784 London followed. 1786 Pisa in Italy. The opera "Demophoon" (1789) became a great success after Napoleon's regency.

"La doiska" (1791), "Eliza" (1794), "Medee" (1797), and "Les Deux Journees" (The Two Journeys, 1800) came into being. Many more beautiful compositions followed. The "Oratorio f-major" has been composed 1808. The opera "Ali Baba" got its premiere only in 1963 (!) in Essen/Germany.

The native born Italian Cherubini lived most of the time in France - connected mostly with German classical music. He passed away in Paris on March 15, 1842.

Anton Brucker - His Music and His Life

Anton Bruckner, born near Linz on September 4, 1824, is known chiefly as a symphonist. He trained as a school-teacher and organist, and served in the second capacity in Linz until moving in 1868 to Vienna to teach harmony, counterpoint and organ at the Vienna Conservatory. His success as a composer was varied in his lifetime, his acceptance hampered by his own diffidence and his scores posing editorial problems because of his readiness to revise what he had written. He was nine years the senior of Brahms, who outlived him by six months. Bruckner continued Austro-German symphonic traditions on a massive scale, his techniques of composition influenced to some extent by his skill as an organist and consequently in formal improvisation. 

Orchestral Music

 

Bruckner completed nine numbered symphonies (10 if the so-called Symphony ‘No. 0’, ‘Die Nullte’ is included). The best known is probably Symphony No. 7, first performed in Leipzig in 1884; the work includes in its scoring four Wagner tubas, instruments that were a newly developed cross between the French horn and tuba. Symphony No. 4 ‘Romantic’ has an added programme—a diffident afterthought. All the symphonies, however, form an important element in late-19th-century symphonic repertoire

Choral Music

Bruckner wrote a number of works for church use, both large and small scale. Among the former are the Te Deum, completed in 1884, and various settings of the Mass, including the well-known Mass No. 2 in E minor.

The premiere of Bruckner's 9th symphony was 1903 (after his death on October 11, 1896 in Vienna), "dedicated to our Beloved Lord".

“It is to God that I must give account”

Anton Bruckner, 1889

125 years ago, on 11 October 1896, Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) died from acute heart disease brought on by persistent alcoholism. His funeral took place in the Karlskirche in Vienna on 14 October, and his remains were transferred to the crypt in the monastery of St. Florian near Linz, Austria. Even after his death, Bruckner took center stage in the cultural wars of late 19th-century Vienna. “Admirers described him as an unpretentious, modest man and a daring innovator who shied away from no enterprise.” While his detractors did recognize his originality, “they found nothing of value in the work of a modest Viennese church musician who lived a solitary dreamlike existence without ambition and who had been dragged into the limelight by an excessive Wagnerian cult.” Today, Bruckner is primarily remembered for his symphonies and sacred compositions, and as the “master-builder of cathedrals in sound,” we recognize him as a composer having exerted a lasting and crucial influence on the works of Gustav Mahler. Son of a schoolmaster and church organist, Bruckner was born in the village of Ansfelden—near the city of Linz—on 4 September 1824. The eldest of 11 children, he was admitted to the Augustinian monastery of St. Florian as a chorister, where he participated in its rich musical activities.

St. Florian not only imparted a solid musical education, it also firmly established his devotion to Roman Catholicism. Throughout his life, Bruckner was a devoutly religious man who kept a log of his daily devotions, and prayed before each performance. He is even thought to have experienced religious visions. It is said “there is no composer in the 19th century who was rooted so firmly in a lived, heart-deep devoutness, to whom prayer, confession, sacrament, and profession were vital elements.” His faith in the spiritual journey towards the afterlife became a process that decisively shaped his compositional imagination as he channeled profound spiritual messages that elevated music to the level of an undistracted prayer. His initial career path, however, had nothing to do with music, as he became a teaching assistant in Windhaag near Freistadt. An additional teaching appointment saw him at Kronstorf an der Enns, but eventually he returned to St. Florian for 10 years to work as a teacher and an organist.

St. Florian Monastery Bruckner Organ

As a composer, Bruckner was largely self-taught and only started to composing seriously at age 37. He took composition lessons from the German cellist and conductor Otto Kitzler, who introduced him to the music of Richard Wagner. He also became a student of the famous Vienna music theorist Simon Sechter, who instructed him in music theory and counterpoint.

Anton Bruckner

When Sechter died in 1868, Bruckner reluctantly took up the appointment of professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Vienna Conservatory, and subsequently as the Emperor’s court organist. His complete admiration for Richard Wagner elicited deep-seated resentment within Vienna’s musical and critical circles, and for a while, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra refused to perform his works. Habitually plagued by debilitating periods of low self-esteem, Bruckner was ill prepared for the acidic and highly competitive musical environment of imperial Vienna. He presented a wide and easy target for music critics, journalists and composers alike. Bruckner’s highly idiosyncratic and expansive musical style was mercilessly criticized, with a critic claiming, “Bruckner simply composes like a drunkard!”

Anton-Bruckner-Museum

Given such harsh professional assessments, it is not surprising that Bruckner was prone to suffer from devastating insecurities that made him endlessly revise and correct his compositions. He allowed outside influences to shape the content of his music and relied for editorial assistance on a number of former students. Their “authorized” involvement with his scores has become one the thorniest issues to haunt the composer’s legacy. Bruckner never felt at home in Vienna. He retained his peasant speech and social clumsiness throughout, and had the disastrous inclination to fall in love with teenage girls. His distracting compulsions ranged from obsessive preoccupation with financial security to a morbid fascination with corpses. Bruckner was painfully unaware of the intellectual and political currents of his day, and he exhibited a “Neanderthal male chauvinism that even his admirers found remarkable.”

Otto Böhler: Anton Bruckner arrives in heaven

Bruckner composed music that was simultaneously naïve and complex. Yet, once he had found his compositional path, the musical world did not know what to do with it. The conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler pointedly stated, “Bruckner did not work for the present. In his art he thought only of eternity and he created for eternity. In this way he became the most misunderstood of the great musicians… Bruckner is one of those geniuses who have appeared but seldom in the course of European history, whose destiny it was to render the transcendent real and to attract, even to compel, the element of the divine into our human world.”

Ferruccio Busoni - His Music and His Life (II)

His own composition "Fantasia contrappuntistica" (1910), remains as idealism confession to Johann Sebastian Bach.

The "Comedy Overture" (1904) shows Mozart's cheerfulness. Classical dance compositions reminded us of Domenico Scarlatti (Italy, 1685-1757). The "Piano Concerto" from 1892 shows influences of Johannes Brahms.

Stringquartets from 1886 and 1889 as well as the '"Violin concerto" from 1899 captivate because of Beethoven's studies.

Busoni also loved the opera. "Die Brautwahl" (The bride's choice, 1912), "Arlecchino" (Commedia dell'arte, 1917) or "Doktor Faust" (1925) are great examples and evidences of operalistic composer handwork.

Busoni passed away on July 27, 1924 in Berlin/Germany.

Ferruccio Busoni - His Music and His Life

The Italian Ferruccio Busoni was born in Florenz on April 1, 1866. His father was also an Italian, but the father of Busoni's mother was a German.

At the age of 7, the child prodigy Busoni performed on stage for first time. At the age of 9, incredible piano performances in Vienna followed. When hes was 12, he conducted a symphony orchestra. At 15, Busoni became the youngest member of the Bologna Music Academy in Italy.

Busoni has been remembered as restless and have been all over the world. The cosmopolitan composer's biography shows really all colors of life: piano teacher in Leipzig,Germany; he married in Sweden; be became a chairman in Mosow; Boston followed; an artistic trip to Berlin; he became a General Director of Liceo musicales in Bologna, and much more... .

During World War I, Busoni lived in Switzerland. His glory and fame came through an incredible virtuoso. Bach's organ compositions had been arranged for piano by Busoni.

(To be continued!)

Max Bruch - His Music and His Life

 

The German Max Burch was born on January 5, 1838 in Cologne. His mother was his first emotional music teacher.

At the age of 11, Bruch composed his first classical piece, simple entitled as OPUS 1. When he became 14, his first symphony premiered in Cologne. 

After his father's death, Bruch got an insatiable thirst to travel around the whole world, which facilitated him many important and fruitful meetings with society personalities from politic, culture and clergy.

His ever best stage play, the opera "Lorely", premiered 1863 in Mannheim, Germany. Melodic and tuneful folksong atmosphere and E. Geibel's soft-emotional script are the reasons of this never forgotten highlight of Max Bruch.

Bruch's most valid orchestral works have been his "First violin Concerto in g-minor" from 1868; "The Scottish Fantasy" and -one of my favourites- "Variations Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra".

He received innumerabe honors, praises and musical awards. Even being very contrapuntally, Bruch remains as a very special classic composer in the hearts of real music lovers.

Bruch passed away in Berlin on October 2, 1920.

Francois Adrien Boildieu - His Music and His Life

Born on December 16, 1775 in Rouen, the Frenchman Francois Adrien Boildieu was a son of an Archdiocesan secretary. At the age of 18, he started composing cheerful and amusing lyrical dramas and operas.

In Paris, the piano constructor Sebastian Erard (1752-1831) became Boildieu's mentor. Etienne Nicolas Mehul (1763-1817) and Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) were Boildieu's very closed friends.

He composed 38 operas, which remained as pearls of the so-called Opera Comique. I like to mention just only a few such as "Der Kalif von Bagdad" from 1800 (a kalif was an Arabian governor and Mohammed's follower), "Johann von Paris" (1812), and, especially "La Dame Blanche" (The White Lady, 1825) - just aired in my show last Sunday.

Boildieu's piano compositions amuse through wonderful but superficial gleam.

The great composer passed away in Paris on October 8, 1834.

Leo Blech - His Music and His Life

The German Leo Blech was born in Aachen on April 21, 1871. He was a real great opera composer and conductor, who is perhaps most famous at his works from 1893-1899, when be became a conductor in his home town Aachen. Later he moved to Prague in the former CSSR. In 1906, Blech became First Conductor of Berlin's Royal Opera House (Koenigliches Schauspielhaus) - later the Berlin State Opera (Staatsoper Unter den Linden).

In 1925 in Vienna State Opera, then in Berlin 1936-1941, Riga in Lativa, then Stockholm in Sweden - what a career and what a fulfilled life for Leo Blech, who was known for his reliable, dear and elegant performances and for his sensitivity as an accompanist.

Besides apt and practical children's songs, Blech's comic operas deserved sympathy: "Das war ich" (That was me, 1902) and "Versiegelt" (Sealed, 1908).

Leo Blech passed away in Berlin on August 24, 1958.

The Magic of the Stradivarius

What makes Stradivarius violins so special? Made by Antonio Stradivari and his family, these instruments are among the most valuable violins in the world, highly regarded by performers and audiences. Take a look at pictures from the Stradivarius exhibition at Oxford's Ashmolean museum, uncovering the beauty of these musical works of art.

The Alard Stradivarius

Antonio Stradivari is one of the most famous makers of stringed instruments (otherwise known as luthiers) of all time. His instruments are highly regarded and often sell for six figure sums at auction thanks to their unique sound and esteemed history. Created in 1715, in Stradivari's 'golden period' this violin takes its name from French violinist Jean-Delphin Alard, its most famed owner. The instrument sold at auction in 1981 to a collector in Singapore for $1.2 million. Look at the ornate carving on the tailpiece.