Can-Can by Jacques Offenbach

The scandalous and provocative dance ‘of prostitutes’, can-can was to traditional dancing culture of the 19th century what rock’n’roll was to music at its origins. The physically demanding dance was not accepted that easily by the conservative society and was often banned in public. People protested against seeing women’s underwear being revealed so obviously during the performance of the famous high kicks (What would they say to modern ‘twerk’, huh?).

Cancan dancers

In fact, the origin of the now popular French dance is not so naughty. It is believed that cancan could have derived from quadrille dance (final part) or the acrobatic tricks of the entertainer known as Charles Mazurier (1820s). Moreover, at the very beginning both sexes performed the dance and there were solely male cancan groups too. The famous cabaret of Paris – Moulin Rouge – brought to light the first female cancan star-dancers (La Goulue & Jane Avril) and the notion “French cancan” turned into a national peculiarity attracting tourists from abroad.

The catchy tune that most of us would associate with the popular dance was composed by the French cellist and composer born in Germany – Jacques Offenbach. His “Can-Can” is actually titled “Infernal Galop” and is a part of the classical operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” first performed in 1858. Just like the dance, this music work shocked the public at the premiere with too much satire in it. The entire work became a parody for the opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Christoph Gluck.

Offenbach’s ‘can-can’ was also arranged by the famous French composer Camille Saint-Saëns and appears in his renowned The Carnival of the Animals, where the piece is used for the tortoise part.  

Schubert's String Quartet "Death and the Maiden"

This quartet can by right be called one of the strongest pillars in the genre of chamber music. Most of the string quartets out there would necessarily have it in their repertoire. It might seem that the negative emotions in our life, be it anger, fear, despair and what not, are the best catalysts for creating art masterpieces, compared to the emotions of happiness that trigger fewer grand works.

Original manuscript of Schubert's "Death and the Maiden"

Schubert wrote the work in 1824, during a very hard period of life for him. He lived in poverty and his health was rapidly leaving him (assumable, syphilis). The moment he realized that death is soon and inevitable, is brightly depicted in this music work. Although death is the subject of the 2nd movement, one can note that it soars through the entire composition. The string quartet “Death and the Maiden” was not a completely new work. The composer took its theme from his earlier work of the same name, a lied based on a poem by Matthias Claudius that he wrote in 1817.

Reportedly, the first violinist to perform the quartet (Schuppanzigh) was not quite impressed with Schubert’s depressive composition. However, after being published 3 years after the composer’s death it promptly conquered its place at the concert stage. The work was soon transcribed by Robert Franz and Gustav Mahler and later, in the 20th century, versions for full orchestra appeared (J. Foulds, A. Stein). The memorable composition also inspired the creation of the play/film of the same name, as well as was used in a number of other films like “Sherlock Holmes” or Polanski’s “What?”, for example.

Personally, I like perhaps the only death-unrelated part of the work – the tarantella at the very end of the quartet. It is believed that tarantella dance used to be a traditional treatment for madness and a way of fighting off death (after a tarantula’s bite). Well, maybe this was the expression of the subtle hope that was still beaming in the heart of the dying composer.

Coldplay’s Magic Up & Up as Farewell Song

When it comes to rock music, one of the reasons for Britain to be proud in this regard is the fact that it’s homeland to one of the best alternative rock bands of today – Coldplay. Since 1996 when it was formed by Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, the band has released 7 studio albums, the latest being recorded in 2015. The good thing is that it’s a bright work, the bad thing – perhaps it’s a farewell studio work of the legendary music artists.

“A Head Full of Dreams”, that’s how it’s titled, is a set of 11 beautiful conceptual songs, the final being ‘final’ in many senses. It’s titled “Up & Up” (the sheet music is available here), and it’s a perfect way to make a pause in creating music, which is the band’s intention, according to their frontman Chris Martin. The song is dreamy, poignant but at the same time full of hope and encouragement. Ever a wider spectrum of emotions is caused after watching the impossible music video to this song.

It makes one’s mind expand because of the extraordinary surreal imagery used. A pop-corn erupting volcano, an underwater-flying eagle and Chris-Martin-the-Gulliver resting between the mountains and the ocean. The stunningly unusual perspectives are only part of the whole thing. The lyrics, accompanied by the speaking visuals, touch upon some of the most important social and political issues of today and call for fixing all that’s gone wrong with humanity.

I love works like that, truly. When music turns from a fun-to-listen thingy into a powerful tool of sending a message to the mankind. With the scale of influence Coldplay has on the hearts and minds of their broad audience, songs like that could hopefully change something.

Longest Piano Concert in the World (Chilly Gonzales)

They say that the more you practice the better. That practicing should be a never-ending process and you could spend your life doing it and still find a lot to master. There’s a very true-to-life tip as far as practicing goes:

Best Practicing Tip

But how much can a person actually play the instrument on end? I was curious to find the answer and did some googling recently. From tips of advice on the necessary amount of time to practice per day (a few hours is a must), I then go to the extremes of the matter.

People love setting records and beating them. To try oneself, to push the limits, to prove something to people, to be the winner and realize one’s absolute uniqueness (on the planet!) – these are perhaps the major aims of such record-setters. I got curious what a musician can be capable of in terms of performing. There a lot of interesting music records in the Guinness Book of Records, like the longest career as performer/music teacher, the most prolific creative life, the loudest player, the fastest player, and so many more. But I was mostly interested in how long a person can spend at his/her favourite instrument.

Below you can see a video excerpt from the piano concert by the Canadian pianist and composer known as Chilly Gonzales. How long do you think a solo concert can last? 27 hours! Can you imagine? The musician spent all that time beside his piano, performing for the public. Of course, the entire experiment was performed under the guidance of a team of specialist including doctors, etc. However, it left me amazed by what humans can actually do if they do not lack ardor and motivation.

Chopin: Heroic Polonaise, Op. 53

The Piano has always been my major musical instrument and therefore there is a special list of piano solos that are either among my favorites to play or that make the so-called ‘goals’ as far as piano performance plans go.

Original music score of Chopin's Polonaise Op.53

Today I will dwell a bit on the second part of that list where my to-play pieces wait for their glory hour. And on of such pieces is Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53. It’s been on the list for 4 years already and it’s high time to settle this matter!

Chopin composed the piece in 1842 and dedicated it to his financial advisory during his stay in Paris – Auguste Léo. His lover George Sand strongly associated the composition with the French Revolution on hearing it. That’s where the title “Heroic” comes from, although the composer himself was not quite eager to give the piece such a nickname. However, the vigour and the expressive power of the polonaise was so dramatic that the sobriquet hitched too tightly until nowadays.

Featuring quite a number of really difficult techniques, this piano solo will not yield easily to an inexperienced piano player. The rapid octave scaling, wide-fingering chords, fast perfect fourths and weaker-fingers trills will make one stay in the practice room for hours on end. The brilliant Polonaise is admired by pianists worldwide but requires immense proficiency to play it brilliantly on your own.

Time has come to raise the piano skills to near-virtuosity, so I’ll put here one of the pro interpretations by a young girl in order to have someone to get inspired by. I will, Mr. Chopin, make you proud one day too!

Paganini's Caprice No. 24: Advanced Violinists Only

What’s the caprice anyway? 24 is number of the last caprice in Paganini’s set of 24 works for solo violin. All of those were composed in the period between 1802 and 1817 and are created in the form of etudes. Each of them was aimed at training an exact skill of a performer, be it fast switching of strings or other.

Each of the caprices had a certain dedication, most;y to famous musicians like, for example, Louis Spohr or Franz Liszt or Antonio Bazzini, among others.

As for the final caprice (24th), it became Paganini’s dedication to his own self. Or to be more precise, “to my self, regrettably buried”, according to the author. Up to now, No. 24 is considered to be one of the most technically difficult pieces for advanced violin performers only. A performer like should be skillful enough to rapidly shift the scales, possess the parallel octaves technique, left-hand pizzicato and not only.

Now look at one of the really good examples of such a gifted performance of this work. Below is Hilary Hahn's brilliant interpretation:

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6 From the Inside

In 1893, the great Russian composer Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's completed his Symphony No.6 that is commonly known as 'Pathétique'. So why was it ‘pathetic’ anyway?

Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

First of all, the symphony became composer’s last work. Petr Ilyich dies just 9 days after it was finally created. Luckily, within this short period of time, Saint Petersburg saw the premiere of the soon-to-become famous music work. This is another peculiarity, as a situation like this is a rare thing in the history of music. Too many outstanding composers never lived to the acclaim or even premier of their masterpieces. Moreover, Tchaikovsky not only saw it but took part in it – he led the first performance himself.

Another explanation of the ‘pathetic’ title for the symphony could lie in its music mood. It is well-known that Tchaikovsky frequently suffered from depression which could not but pour into some of his music compositions. The start of the work on the No.6 was not quite successful and the desperate composer tore up his draft manuscripts a few times.

The Symphony Pathétique as we know and love it today slightly differs from the one people listened to on the day of its premier. Right after the performance Tchaikovsky made a few more corrections in the score. Despite all the hardships on the way to creating that masterpiece, Tchaikovsky realized that it was to become one of his most decent works in a lifetime, he even mentioned in the letter to his brother.
The Russian title of the piece does not put any accent on the depressive mood of the work, however, musicologists agree on No. 6 being composer’s sort of a ‘suicidal note’.

Loved the video of the symphony performed in a 360-degree mode. How lovely it feels to ‘be part’ of the performance of such an important work!