The Bee by Schubert

Popularity of pieces named after humming insects is inexplicably curious: The Flight of the Bumblebee was played on any instrument you can imagine and has so catching motif that even bumblebees themselves croon the composition all the time. The Bee at the same time may be the most recognizable piece of Schubert. I know that there was a story when Britons mistook cheese balls for a composer during the survey (they were asked do they know such composer as Bocconcini, and they answered in the affirmative), and in this regard Schubert achieved much: even while there is a composer with sound-alike surname (Schumann), people still remember who is who.

Sheet music of the piece is available here: The Bee.

String Sextets of Brahms

When you accidentally stumble across something like a nearly hour-long performance of Brahms on YouTube, it definitely makes your day. My last – and quite recent, – great finding was The Art of Piano – a documentary about the greatest pianists of the 20th century, and now I encounter another inimitable video, which I can’t help but share.

String Sextet No. 2 was composed in 1866 and has four movements. Brahms often participated in performances of his own chamber music, and it would be great to catch him playing the piece if it wasn’t impossible. However, I think he would approve a SummerFest version of his opus - even if it was played without him, musicians did their best. And if you like Brahms’ sextets but don’t play stringed instrument yourself, you may download his first one, arranged for piano by Robert Keller: String Sextet No.1 in B Flat Major (Arrangement for Piano), Op.18.

Bagatelles by Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and, for some period, Haydn’s deputy – he replaced the latter on a kapellmeister position sometimes. Haydn was also his teacher, as well as Mozart, who discerned perspective pianist in him and wasn’t wrong – now we remember Hummel as virtuoso. He didn’t always play, however, and started touring again only after his wife told him to do so – at other times he was composing and giving lessons. Hummel had a lot of talented pupils – among them are Czerny and Mendelssohn. You can download his sheet music here: Bagatelles, Op.107. Watch a performance of one of the pieces below:

Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op. 1 by Berg

Alban Berg was an Austrian composer-expressionist. Born in 1885, he started studying music in the beginning of the 20th century - the time, when period of Romantic music was coming to an end. Hence his decision to use new music forms instead of moribund ones. His Piano Sonata, Op. 1, composed only a few years later after Berg started studying music disciplines with Arnold Schoenberg, is mature and wondrous work, admittedly one of the best debuts in history of classical music. The piece is available for download here: Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op.1.

Piano Concerto in E Flat Major, Op.36

Felix Draeseke, born in 1835, is a German composer, who, to my view, sounds unusually modern for his time. It is easy to explain why: he was playing the same game as Franz Liszt, Joachim Raff, Peter Cornelius, and others, who called themselves no other than musicians of the future. Draeseke’s innovative music was praised by contemporaries: aforementioned Liszt even considered his Sonata Quasi Fantasia the greatest work in the genre since Beethoven. Draeseke’s filigreed piano works deserve a close look; I especially like his Piano Concerto, which is available for download here: Piano Concerto in E Flat Major, Op.36

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy

If a piece was inspired by probably best French poem ever written (Mallarmé’s L'après-midi d'un faune) and was liked by King of Pop (yeah, Michael Jackson mentioned Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun as his favorite song!), you just can’t overlook it.

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is Debussy’s symphonic poem. Debussy had intended to complete Prelude with two more movements (Interlude and Final Paraphrase), but that never happened. If he had completed the suite, it would become event of universal significance, because even its third part was venturesome enough to influence modern music.

Sheet music of one of the most famous Debussy’s works is available here: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.