Thanks to Denise for a fine report on English composer Benjamin Britten. Known for his choral music and operas, Britten also composed symphonies, chamber music, songs, and large-scale works. Using a language that remained essentially tonal yet experimented with chromaticism and atonality, Britten's music has a shimmering energy and sophistication that makes his music some of the finest of the 20th century. We listened to a small part of Peter Grimes, parts of Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra--Variations on a theme of Purcell, and a song cycle. Quite gripping at times and emotionally satisfying, his music continues to be catalogued and we expect more works to be revealed over time. Yet aside from a few works and some of his choral pieces, I worry that his genius will be overshadowed by other composers from the 20th century. Time is not always kind to the "traditionalist" who avoided the experimental. In 100 years, will Britten's music still be performed? No way to know but I suspect not.
We then jumped backwards for a brief discussion of the Classical period with an aim toward the music of Mozart. The classical period was a response to the excesses of the Baroque and aimed for a simpler construction of the music. We have less polyphony and more emphases on melody and accompaniment. Short phrases, repetition, and strict adherence to form, define much of the music of this time. Ironically, in the area of choral music we see more Baroque influence than we do instrumental music.
We moved through Haydn, discussed the influences and oddities of the Rococco music, and quickly landed on Mozart. While I am admittedly prejudiced toward the music of Mozart, at the same time there is no denying his brilliance and remarkable achievements. We will spend a little more time on his operas and instrumental music.
Favorite classical work?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This was really hard considering I don't listen to a lot of classical pieces. I went through my library on iTunes and kept finding stuff that was Romantic or Beethoven which I had to figure out if it was classical or Romantic. After about an hour I remembered that I sang a Beethoven piece that was obviously more classical than romantic and I had my answer. Adelaide by Beethoven. I sang this in my recital and it was one of my of my entire recital and it will probably stick with me the rest of my life.
ReplyDeleteI think that my personal favorite classical piece would have to be Mozart's Symphony No. 40. I have always enjoyed listening to the opening theme that just appears within a matter of beats at the beginning rather than measures.
ReplyDeleteI also performed the entire symphony as a duet with my piano teacher in high school and fell in love with the energy in the piece. It has such a great lyrical line for its melody and the accompaniments are rich, but not over the top harmonically. One of the greatest orchestral pieces I've heard.
I would have to say that Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor would have to be my favorite. To me it really shows off Mozart's dark side, but he still showed off his genius. His use of chromaticism is amazing.
ReplyDelete