Mozart Horn Concerto no. 4, II and III -Radek Babora'k

Happy Labor Day '17 to all --  Here's a post from a Blog I kept a couple of years ago, the often under-rated horn. Enjoy!



Amy's Post-Worthy-Nesses: Traditional Tuesday: Mozart Horn Concerto no. 4, I...: This post is a continuation of last Tuesday (10/20/15) Movement II: Romance (through 4:20) Opening with horn followed by orchestra imitat...

Shostakovich: Fugue No. 7 in A major (ca. 1950)

Tonight I will share a short piano piece with something very interesting going on. If you read the anything about this piece, you can easily find its interesting quality. I am withholding the information in case you're interested in guessing yourself.

-Tyler

Tallis: Spem in alium (ca. 1570)

Nels heard me listening to this piece and thus commissioned this post.

I know little about Renaissance music, and will simply share the words along with translations:

Spem in alium nunquam habui

Praeter in te, Deus Israel

Qui irasceris et propitius eris

et omnia peccata hominum

in tribulatione dimittis

Domine Deus

Creator caeli et terrae

respice humilitatem nostram

I have never put my hope in any other

but in You, O God of Israel

who can show both anger and graciousness,

and who absolves all the sins

of suffering man

Lord God,

Creator of Heaven and Earth

be mindful of our lowliness

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Movement 2 (1801)

Whenever I think about Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata I think mainly about the opening movement (this could be due to many episodes of Peanuts).  If we stop only at the first movement then this piece gives a mysterious feel.  However, after listening to the movement all the way through I was surprised to hear the joyfulness displayed in the second piece.  Furthermore, in many pieces the fast, upbeat sections are toward the beginning while here the fast, upbeat sections do not begin until the 2nd movement (and continue on into the final movement). 

 If I were to write a story about this piece, it would be about two lovers whose love is forbidden (think Anakin Skywalker and Padme or Romeo and Juliet).  In the first movement, the male character comes calling for his girl under the moonlight in order to prevent her parents from knowing about their forbidden love.  The girl escapes her room and joins her man.  As the first movement transitions, they both become more comfortable that they are out of reach of those who try to prevent their love.  The second movement is the part of the movie that makes us feel good inside.  The girl and the guy get a few happy and joyous moments of time together frolicking in the woods under the moonlight before one of them turns to the dark side and breaks the others heart on a fiery planet in the third movement.

Ravel's Bolero (1928)

I apologize for my tardiness in posting this piece. I hope everyone is enjoying Merry Making as you hopefully are spending time with those you hold dear.

I associate this piece with the pairs Ice Dancing Gold of the 1984 Olympics.
I love the slowness of the tempo, the repetitive/calming of the snare, tympani and brass. The tune is haunting, majestic, and as the tonic modulates I too am transformed.

Meet the Authors

Nels Anderson:
I am a first year grad student in Chemistry at the University of Illinois. I met Tyler during my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University and am now his roommate. I played in the percussion section for four years in high school and spent two years as a bass drummer in Northwest's marching band. Additionally, I have experience playing the drum set in several praise bands. The depth of my classical music knowledge springs solely from conversations I have had with Tyler and have done little outside research myself. I don't have a favorite composer because of my limited experience, but I do enjoy listening to pieces in the context in which they were written. I am also a big fan of pieces that have clear stories associated with them (Ex: The Carnival of the Animals or The Planets)

Mike Counihan:
I'm a first-year grad student at UIUC in Materials Chemistry. In undergrad, I played trombone and got a BA in Music (along with BS in Chemistry); I had an incredible aural skills/theory professor so now I love analyzing music aurally. My favorite composer is Brahms, with Shostakovitch being a close second. I also enjoy modern/experimental jazz music.

Berlin Elgin:
I am a second-year grad student in African Studies at the University of Kansas. I did my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University, where I met Tyler and many of you, but also where I played tuba in various ensembles. I got my tuba cleaned for the first time since buying it (which is truly shameful) this summer, and have enjoyed messing around on it every once in a while. Although I have been away from classical music recently, Josh Garrels has begun occupying a place in my heart.

Amy Haddock:
I am Tyler's mom. Thankfully my parents inspired my love for performing music from day one as they financed my flute lessons, went to my many concerts over the years, sang in the car and other family gatherings, and never wavered in their encouragement. In 1990 I earned a BA in flute performance in 2005 I earned an MSEd in teaching music. Since late October of 2005 I have been teaching music and band to students from K-12th grades. I'm not a big listener of serious music, I really enjoy it when I take the time to listen to classical music but it doesn't come as a natural pull for me. I have been teaching dual credit music appreciation for the last 5 years and thankfully this forces me to know a number of pieces well enough to present them to my HS students. I can't really say that I have a favorite composer but I love Beethoven's 5th Symphony mostly because I am familiar with it and because last year we got to see it performed by the Chicago Symphony and it was everything!

Tyler Haddock:
I am a first-year graduate student in chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Through my parents, I grew up in a musical environment and played trombone in various ensembles in college. These days, I play a lot of guitar and piano, which is sufficient to please myself. I became interested in classical music in high school. Trivially, my favorite composer is Beethoven, which has been reinforced many times.

Greg Haddock:

Zachary McCoy:

Ryan Vandivert:

Aram Khachaturian: Gayane Ballet Suite - Adagio (1939)

I first heard this piece as a part of the amazing soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It might interest you to watch the scene it was used in the movie. I've never listened to the entirety of Khachaturian's ballet suite, but I'm keeping with only the Adagio as to start our experiment with a short piece.

It sounds to me as if it was composed for the emptiness of outer-space. This might be why James Horner seemingly "copy and pasted" the theme into his score for James Cameron's Aliens. And then again in Patriot Games. And yet again in Clear and Present Danger (theme starts at 16:00).

-Tyler