Edvard Grieg’s One and Only Piano Concerto

The concerto composed by Edvard Grieg was meant to become not just one of the most popular compositions among his own pieces but also a world-class music work, one of the most outstanding and most-performed piano concerti in the world.

The Piano Concerto in A Minor (Op.16) is the only work that Grieg composed in this genre. It was born during his visit to Denmark in 1868, where composer headed to improve his health staying in a favourable climate. Apparently, the climate affected positively his creative skills too.

The concert is often compared to Schumann’s “one and only” Piano Concerto that is also written in the same key. And that’s no wonder: Grieg was a huge fan of Schumann’s talent and was taught piano by his friend (E. Wenzel). There are also clear references to the folk music of Grieg’s native country – Norway. The special motif (falling minor 2nd followed by the falling major 3rd) can be traced both in the concerto and in other works by Grieg, including his first string quartet.

Edvard Grieg could not be present at the premiere of his concerto, although he could easily play the piano part himself. This work became the 1st concerto ever recorded: it was done by Wilhelm Backhaus in 1909.

The version that we hear and enjoy today has gone through 7 major edits by Grieg who made over 300 changes to the original score all in all. The final exemplar of the score was ready just a few weeks before the composer’s death.

To me, this concerto is one of the most relaxing pieces of music ever written. So I gladly put it on when the mood longs for the calm and beautiful. Below is Julia Fischer’s interpretation (piano).

Frédéric Chopin's Signature Lullaby "Berceuse"

Literally, ‘Berceuse’ is translated as ‘lullaby’, or ‘cradle song’ and, to be honest, I would have been the happiest kid if such a lullaby had been played to me as a baby!

Frédéric Chopin had initially been planning to name the work “Variations” as it does consists of variations played in D-major flat. The title was changed to the present-day “Berceuse” at the moment of the piece’s publication in 1844. It was published by J. Meissonnier of Paris and officially dedicated to the lady Elise Gavard who was Chopin’s loyal pupil and admirer of his talent.

It was Chopin who elevated the specific genre of the cradle-song to an entirely new level. The simple harmony ornamented with 14 beautiful accompaniments make Berceuse a wonderful work of art, charming and elegant. Many composers including Franz Liszt later took it as a guide in this form of art song.

One of my favourite interpretations of this magnificent piece of music is the performance by the Brazilian pianist Guiomar Novaes who was among the best musicians of the 20th century.

The DA-DA-DA-DAH Symphony

Perhaps in all of the classical music ever written there is hardly a combination of notes more widely-recognized than the four famous ‘da-da-da-daah’ notes everyone’s ear has heard at least once in their lives. Maybe not everyone would name the title of the work at once, maybe not even the composer of the work, but the pattern is popular far outside the musical circle. Let’s re-live Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5!

Premiered in 1808 in Vienna, the symphony was greatly criticized: the size of the orchestra needed to perform the complex work was too big compared to the ‘norms’ and the symphony appeared very under-rehearsed by its debut. However, Beethoven’s composition genius could not but shine through these drawbacks and the public eventually could not remain indifferent charmed by the impressive scale of the Fifth.

As Schindler described the work, its first sounds were just like “death knocking upon the door”. And indeed, Beethoven’s Fifth was the symbol of victory at the time of World War II, hence the saying ‘V for Victory’. The Roman ‘V’ became a lucky and symbolically powerful coincidence with the symphony’s serial number.

The ”fate motif” excerpt (famous initial pattern) from the symphony in Beethoven’s favorite ‘heroic’ tonality – the key of C minor – was used in all possible spheres of human life, from pop culture, commercials and disco/rock covers to important social projects and events.

Below is a very entertaining vision of the Symphony No. 5 from the point of view of a ‘commentator’. The authors tried to elaborate the work just like a sport event so that the listener was aware of what is going on. Have fun!

Drawing Debussy’s Arabesque No.1

Claude Debussy is well-known to represent the art of impressionism in music, though composer himself did not like to be coined with the term. Labels aside, most of his music has the ability to evoke strong visual ties with the nature. Playing with keys and modes, the composer could skillfully draw the lines and shapes of nature in his pieces.

Perhaps one of the brightest examples of composer’s early impressionistic pieces is the two arabesques he composed in 1888 – 1891. The slower and more melodic Arabesque No.1 and the faster in tempo No.2 are the beginning of Debussy’s distinctive style: this is where he starts using a special impressionistic technique – parallelism of triads and the pentatonic scale.

Classical music is something for our ear and mind. But in case of Debussy, the eye is longing for an image too. Therefore, his works of impressionism, like the two arabesques, are very-well perceived when accompanied with quality visuals. I personally enjoyed listening to the piece watching the vid below. Hope you’ll enjoy it as well!

The Problem of Modern Film Music

We all have a few favorite movies that are remembered and loved not only by the plot but also for some other important components of a good film. Every carefully selected phrase, characteristic acting manner and memorable sound make us sometimes almost forget the movie but keep remembering a saying from it, a behavioral pattern or a song.

Music is by far one of the most important elements that can become key to the success of a certain film work. But as time shows, old film music was way more sophisticated compared to what is offered by the modern cinematography. And the problem to this is what is referred to as ‘temp music’. A notion that makes all major scenes in different film sound almost same and thus not memorable.

Let’s say you are asked to sing some tune from the Pink Panther. No doubt, the first thing you’d remember and reproduce would be the famous to-do, to-do, to-do, to-do, to-doo, the theme composed by Henri Mancini. Or, asked to sing something from a James Bond movie, you would unmistakably come up with the few recognizable notes of the theme.

However, if we take some of the contemporary films like those made by Marvel studio (great films, though!), we might find ourselves at a loss, since hardly anyone would remember a popular brand piece of music from them. Symphonic music is getting widely sampled and is roaming from one film to another, losing the power of its influence on the viewer. The video below describes this problem in detail and I would like you to watch it too. I think that but for it, I would not pay any attention to this issue, for so smooth and unnoticeable this transition has been made.

Wagner’s Tannhäuser in the Scanner

Science is a curious madam. She wants to know where you’ve been, what you’ve done and how you did it. She just has to!

Here’s a pretty amazing video on how this curious madam decided to see what happens to the vocal chords of a professional singer on the inside. Well, rather say from the side. Michael Volle, a German operatic baritone, went inside of the MRI scanner for another performance. He sang the popular yet challenging aria from Richard Wagner’s opera “Tannhäuser” and his moves were carefully watched and analyzed.

Experts say that this experiment might help to solve some of the mysteries concerning the way operatic singers belt out sounds and will also provide more information on the mechanisms and special features of the vocal tract in general.

Amazing Grace: Important Symbol of Christian World

Amazing Grace is among the music compositions most loved by the English language world, particularly by the Americans. It can be heard in most churches, beautifully sung by mixed choirs, it is performed by solo performers at various occasions – contests, auditions – at stage, it can be heard at the homes of common people at festive holidays, religious and not. And it could be even heard sung by the President of the U.S. Barack Obama in public (which was later featured by Coldplay in their song Kaleidoscope). All in all, they say the approximate number of times the hymn is performed annually reaches 10 million. Why so?

Barack Obama sings Amazing Grace (2015)

Digging into the history behind the piece, I realized that it has some of the elements that could not but make it popular among the people. Based on the words and story of the English poet John Newton, the hymn has become a universal work to encompass what people value in life. According to the author’s experience where he passed the way from sinning to redemption (J. Newton was in slave trading for a long time), it becomes obvious that even the toughest hardships in life can be resolved with the help of God and faith. The moment Newton begged for God’s mercy in a violent storm became the start of his spiritual conversion.

The message of the spiritual is so emblematic that the composition crossed the line of religious music pretty fast and welled over into the secular genre. Thousands of all possible music arrangements appeared with time and the interest to Amazing Grace has not run out of steam yet. Arrangers tried adding most unusual and unexpected elements to the hymnal, making it sound a bit jazzy, or a bit soulful, for example. The variety of instrumental combinations for which the piece was score is also surprisingly extensive. Some things will always be valued, it seems.