• ludwig van Beethoven
    ​​    EGMONT OVERTURe

    DIVE IN
    Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), was a German composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.  His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. He composed Egmont Overture at the beginning of his middle period, during which he developed his trademark "heroic" sound.
    RESOURCES:
    A powerful live performance by Vienna Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein conducting.
    Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522-1568) — the subject of Goethe’s play and Beethoven's incidental music.
    ABOUT THE WORK
    In 1809, Ludwig van Beethoven was commissioned to compose the overture and incidental music to Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragic play, Egmont, about a martyred nobleman who stood against power structures of the day in favor of freedom and inclusion practices. The subject matter of the play - truth, individualism, and respect versus tyranny was a serious recurring topic for Beethoven. These themes of political protest against oppression are also evident in his lone opera Fidelio, and in his third “Heroic” or “Eroica” symphony.

    Egmont was a devout practicing Catholic, but for championing acceptance of Protestants and other non-Catholics during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, he was imprisoned and ultimately executed. In Goethe's play, during the very last moments, Egmont makes an impassioned final speech against tyranny and oppression.  Goethe then writes that the play ends with a victory symphony.  This theme of turning tragedy into triumph almost seems like a script taken directly from many of Beethoven’s works including his super famous 5th symphony, so it’s easy to understand how he was selected for this commission even though Goethe’s opinion of Beethoven was somewhat mixed, writing ”His talent amazed me; unfortunately he is an utterly untamed personality, who is not altogether wrong in holding the world to be detestable, but surely does not make it any more enjoyable by his attitude.”

    In the overture Beethoven goes for expressing an overall mood more than overt storytelling, beginning with dark heavy sounding chords and a slow inexorable tempo.  Later the writing becomes more heroic sounding, even under tension.  Toward the end there is a wailing from the violins followed by a somber mournful chorale moment in the winds, signifying Egmont’s execution.  Immediately after this we hear a burst of energetic optimism for the victory symphony and its triumphant message in the face of tragedy.

    A typical performance lasts about 8 minutes
    Enjoy Listening!

  • JOHN CORIGLIANO
    ​​CLARINET CONCERT

    ​DIVE IN!
    John Corigliano (1938– ) is an American composer of over one hundred pieces of music for stage and screen.  He has won the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and an Oscar.  His Clarinet Concerto and Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto are the only 2 American concerti of the 5 standard major concerti in the clarinet repertoire.  His father, John Corigliano Sr,. was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1943 to 1966.  Composer John Jr. carried his father’s name and dedication to music, but violinist John Sr., the son of Italian immigrants, could not accept his son’s queer identity.  This was a source of pain for both of them, and was never resolved.  The Clarinet Concerto was composed in 1977 just two years after his death, and the second movement carries a dedication to his memory.
    RESOURCES:
    ​1977 World Premiere broadcast recording, with Stanley Drucker and the New York Philharmonic
    A live performance, with Sergio Coelho and the American Youth Symphony
    A photo of John Corigliano, Sr. (on violin) posing with his brother, circa 190
    ABOUT THE WORK:
    The concerto is constructed in the traditional 3 movements, or musical chapters, but very atypically begins with a series of Cadenzas first in the solo clarinet and then throughout the orchestra.  This is unusual in two regards since cadenzas are usually showy technical breaks reserved only for the solo instrument, and are also usually embedded within a movement and reflecting themes from that movement rather than having its own singular identity. This basically means the concerto opens with multiple expressions of singular identities, all in close proximity to one another yet seemingly unrelated, and sets the tone for surprise — possibly even bewilderment — and ultimately a sense of striving for communication that comes and goes but never quite settles.

    The second movement, Elegy, carries the dedication “In Memory of My Father”.  This is some of the loneliest and most searingly achingly beautiful music you’ll ever hear.  In this movement the clarinet represents Corigliano the son and the high violins, particularly the solos in the concertmaster violin part, represent Corigliano the father having the conversation they could never manage to have in person about their differences.  In it we hear a simple melody expressed as a misty perfumed ghost of lost opportunity for connection, coming in and out of an austere texture throughout. The final two phrases of music are in just the clarinet and violin, ending on two very close adjacent notes but not meeting, as if to say the only acceptance possible here is agreeing to disagree.

    The final movement is called Antiphonal Toccata.  In this masterful last expression of the relationship, divided in spite of all their similarities, we hear antiphonal call and response on stage, in the heavens, and from stage to the heavens.  There are instruments positioned high up in the rings all around the hall so that you will find it impossible to escape total immersion in this piece and in Corigliano’s expression of grief, of self, of family, of society.  It is in turns wild, restrained, frustrated, and explosively hopeful.

    This program’s soloist, Jason Shafer, offers this insight:     “I’ll never forget the first time I listened to it.  I found a recording and thought ‘Oh, I’ll put it on and listen in the background’ but I was immediately taken by it and had to spend the next half hour just sitting there listening to what was happening.  I’ve been thinking about this and for me I think the reason for that is because the composition is written in such a way to make you always wonder what’s happening next.  There’s this incredible of tension and energy that, as a listener, you’ll be looking around the stage, off the stage, all over the place wondering ‘what instrument is playing’ and ‘what’s going to happen next’.  I think that amazing energy that’s deep in this incredible work is what gives it its status, in my mind, as a masterpiece.  You won’t be tapping your foot or humming along to it, but I think the way you’ll enjoy it is to let yourself go into this sense of loving the anticipation of wondering what’s happening next!”

    A typical performance of Clarinet Concerto lasts just under 30 minutes.
    NERD ASSIGNMENTS!
    Start with a Conversation:
    A concerto is a type of musical form that creates dialogue and drama between a single instrument or small group of instruments, and a much larger group of instruments.  What exactly is dialogue? How is dialogue made? Think about constructing a brief dialogue between two people. What can you do to alter this dialogue so that one participant becomes a whole group of people? What are some examples of this type of dialogue you can think of in your every day life? [call and response in pep rallies, a religious service, etc.] Now imagine what it might be like if each person in the large group had an individual response in this dialogue. Would we be able to understand all the responses simultaneously? In music, many different sounds (often called ‘voices’) can be processed simultaneously by the human ear. Because of this it’s possible to have a two part musical dialogue with many individual voices!  

    Try an Activity!
    Go ahead and dive down that internet rabbit hole!  Listen to at least three different recordings of John Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto for comparison and contrast.  How do you find the interpretation of different soloists and orchestras affect the overall piece of music?  What specific things do you notice?  Do you have any favorite interpretations or moments?  What draws you toward some and/or turns you away from others?

    Listening for dialogue and interpretation
    Listen to the performance live and again via recording if possible. Try to listen carefully for musical dialogue and dramatic interpretive elements in this composition. How did the conversation and comparison/contrast activities help you to better engage as a listener?

    More to consider...
    Listen to Snapshot: Circa 1909, composed 25 years after the concerto and inspired by the photograph of Corigliano Sr. as a young boy.  Consider the much different character present in this work versus the second movement of the concerto.  Read Corigliano Jr’s description for further reflection.

    “The picture has never ceased to move me.  My father looked about eight years old, wearing knickers and earnestly bowing his violin…

    In the short quartet inspired by the photo, the second violin plays a nostalgic melody, while the other strings pluck their instruments in a guitar-like manner.  This solo is obviously the boy violinist singing through his instrument.

    After the melody is completed, however, the first violin enters, muted, in the very highest register.  In my mind, he was playing the dream that my eight-year-old father must have had — of performing… high, virtuosic, musing passages that were still impossible for him to master.

    This young violinist great into a great soloist — my father, John Corigliano, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for over a quarter century.  He, as an adult, performed the concerti and solos that as a child he could only imagine.
    ​
    The two violins, boy and dream, join together at the end as the guitar sounds play on.” 
    ​— John Corigliano, 2002

  • PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
    SYMPHONY #6 “THE PATHÉTIQUE”

    DIVE IN!
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era.  He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally.  In addition to his symphonies he wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the long form acoustic music repertoire.  Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky’s life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. Contributing factors included the untimely deaths of his mother and later of his close friend and colleague, the collapse of his 13 year association with a commissioning patron, and being unable to be openly queer in a deeply intolerant society.  Tchaikovsky’s sudden death at the age of 53 just 9 days after the premiere of his Symphony #6 is surrounded in misinformation and controversy to this day. Various accounts include cholera and poisoning, and there is evidence to support a claim of a state sentenced “honor execution” by suicide.

    This work is one that captures the imagination, hearts, and minds of listeners everywhere.  There is something universal in the emotional heft of Tchaikovsky’s expressions which resonates with anyone who struggles with their human flaws, whether perceived or real.
    RESOURCES:
    A recording of the full symphony with score to follow along!
    ​A fun version of the score for audience participation.  🤓😂
    About The Work:
    The symphony is constructed in the traditional 4 movements, or musical chapters, that form an arch.  It bucks tradition by shaping the arch differently though.  Typically there would be an up tempo first movement, often with a slow introduction, followed by two inner movements that form a dance and something contemplative, and then bookended by a 4th movement in a quick and/or majestic tempo.  Instead Tchaikovsky seems to swap the contemplative and final movements so that this symphony is bookended with extended material from the slow first movement introduction.  Many audiences applaud at the end of what sounds like the final movement but is actually the third movement.  Hence the funny meme above.  😎

    Tchaikovsky gave the symphony the title “The Passionate Symphony”, using a Russian word meaning “passionate” or “emotional”.  This word was translated differently into French as pathétique which means more “solemn” or “emotive” and into English as pathetic, moving even further away from its original intent.   It’s easy to understand how these slight but important mistranslations stuck, since the piece begins and ends with such darkness, loneliness, and longing. 

    Despite the arch shape outer movements suggesting suffering or even death, the inner movements are lively, graceful, and powerful sounding even with periodic injections of tension.  Possibly the best example of this is the second movement.

    The second movement, marked Allegro con grazia (quick, with grace), is an apparent waltz although it’s arranged in beat groupings of 5 rather than the expected 3.  This could have an effect of making the dance seem off kilter but Tchaikovsky masterfully sets us swinging and swaying by inserting the “2, 3” accompaniment to the melody in such a way as to cause the swinging sensation even when it may fall on unexpected beats.  In this way, he seems to have created an elegant dance space that he doesn’t quite completely fit into — a space that he is expected to occupy in a certain way but isn’t allowed to be his complete authentic self.  You might not notice the mood shifting to more tension if you don’t listen carefully for the timpani striking all 5 beats in the pattern throughout the middle section and again toward the end of the movement.  This, in effect, steals some of the swing from the dance and makes it just a fraction more foreboding.  It’s also the reason I highlighted the similarities of Holst’s Mars, also in 5/4 meter, in the mashup video above.  I’ll likely burn in classical music hell for making that mashup... but... #worthit!

    A typical performance of “The Passionate Symphony” lasts around 45 minutes.
READY TO ENGAGE!
Please share your experience with ​me – [email protected]!  
​​I’d love to hear about it or see any of your ​activities,  journaling, or creations!
Catherine Beeson © 2023