Sir Georg Solti was born on this date in 1912. Among many other career highlights, he was Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969-1991, arguably one of the orchestra’s greatest periods. Sadly, I never got to see the maestro in person, but fortunately he left behind a rich legacy of recorded works. Here is a performance from 1979 of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with the CSO at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.
Of special note in this performance: the gorgeous lyrical playing of clarinetist Larry Combs and oboist Ray Still in the 2nd movement.
Students will recognize this portrait that hangs on the wall of the studio.
But who is this lovely woman? She is none other than the great Rosalyn Tureck. Rosalyn was a genius whose primary focus was the work of J.S. Bach. Although she is remembered above all for her brilliant recordings of the Goldberg Variations, Partitas, and both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Tureck was also a brilliant intellect and wrote much about Bach, music, and a host of other topics. A catalog of her writings can be found here:
Enjoy this clip of Rosalyn discussing the contrast between the compositional styles of Bach and Chopin, which she demonstrates on a Steinway as well as a super cool Polymoog synthesizer!
It’s curious that for all the vast multitudes of music written for the Winter holidays, there’s hardly any to help us celebrate Thanksgiving. But that certainly isn’t because music isn’t appropriate for giving thanks.
One of the best Thanksgiving songs I can think of doesn’t pertain specifically to the American holiday, but to the greater idea of thankfulness and gratitude. It’s the so-called “Heiliger Dankgesang” (Song of Holy Thanksgiving) from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132
Prior to composing the quartet in 1825, near the end of his life, Beethoven had been suffering a terrible illness. In fact, he was fairly certain he was going to die from it. But he made an unexpected recovery and was able to finish the quartet. Over the third movement, he wrote the words “Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode”.
The reverent, heavenly, hymn-like music that begins the movement gives way after a few minutes, shockingly, to an exuberant and nostalgic dance-music, suggestive of Earthly experience. The contrast between heavenly and Earthly plays out again before settling into the broad, otherworldly hymn-song texture to close out the movement.
We are accustomed to saying that music evokes emotions like happiness, sadness, love, or fear. But why don’t we hear music described as ‘grateful’? It’s not that gratitude is more personal or subjective than fear or love. Perhaps it’s because gratitude is a complicated and more subtle emotion. It’s a close cousin of humility, mixed with happiness as well as sadness. Whatever the exact cocktail, the feeling of gratitude is certainly predicated upon honesty and transparency, which is where Beethoven’s Thanksgiving Song begins and ends.
…ok, maybe it was just 50 :) The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964, and in the process kicked off the British Invasion. Enjoy this lovely and hilarious rendition of “Can’t Buy Me Love”, performed in the style of a 16-century madrigal by The King’s Singers.
And here’s just a taste of the original performance:
Here’s a creepy little number for your Halloween listening pleasure: Erik Satie’s Vexations. It’s a little two line piece of music, but the composer makes this important note at the end:
“In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities”
That’s right, the performer is supposed to repeat this short piece 840 times in a row – what a nightmare!!
Check out this super-cool edition of the Liszt Sonata in b minor in which themes are color coded for easy identification. (click the picture above for a larger version)
A very happy 200th to the mad genius Richard Wagner, whose immense contributions to art remain fresh and relevant today. Wagner wasn’t just a composer. He was a conductor, a dramatist, a librettist, even an architect. Few artists in history have possessed such all-encompassing vision for their work. Click the portrait above to enjoy a ‘Bicentennial Roast’ assembled by Alex Ross of The New Yorker.
And if you have 4 or 5 hours to spare, enjoy this complete performance of Parsifal from the Beyruth Festspielhaus, the theatre Wagner conceived and built for his Ring Cycle.
