MusiLLection

Antonio Vivaldi's music is music full of health. The sounds he created hedonistically breathe the smells of the Mediterranean and capture the joy of life, causing constant bursts of spontaneous excitement and aesthetic enjoyment. The hearing of the Italian composer's music reveals a color richness that only a worthy painter could have imagined. His work, amazing in scope and depth, impresses with the inexhaustible variety of his inspirations, which are obvious even when the composer dares not be freed from the structural commitment of the almighty in the age of tripartite division: allegro, adagio, allegro. However, this traditional structure did not prevent him from revising the concerto grosso and proposing a new one for the era of the symphonic idiom, from which the personality of the soloist first emerged. Vivaldi first imagined and applied the concerto with one or more soloists, even defining the most unusual combinations of instruments. If this is not innovation, origina...

The epic melodies and rhythms of the "Moonlight" Sonata bring to the imagination vivid images of the reflection of the moonlight in calm waters, as well as clouds that portend the storm and threaten the peaceful scenery. Beethoven's genius as a composer radiates through the familiar themes of this famous sonata. He conveys to a single instrument the full emotional power of his symphonies. Beethoven composed this sonata in 1801, before losing his hearing. He is said to have dedicated it to his first love, Countess Julieta Guicardi, and the evolution of the feelings this sonata depicts, from serenity to agitation and tension, may reflect this relationship, which ended when she married someone else. Beethoven himself did not name the sonata "Moonlight" - this description later came from a German poet in which, the first part of the work recalled scenes of moonlight in the calm waters of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. From here comes, after all, the universally acce...

An image of Leipzig, the city that Mendelssohn promoted to the cultural capital of Europe and where his Violin Concerto in E minor was first presented. Mendelssohn spent the summer of 1844 touring for a series of concerts for the eighth time in England. His holiday followed at the end of July in the small town of Bad Soden, near Frankfurt. During his stay there, he composed this Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 . It premiered in Leipzig seven months later, on March 13, 1845. The concerto was performed by his friend, the eminent violinist Ferdinand David, who had assisted Mendelssohn in various technical details relating to the violin part. Mendelssohn was too ill to direct the concerto and ceded the director's job to Nils Wilhelm Gade's assistant. Movements : I. Allegro molto appassionato The first movement begins with a lively but simple melody where the violin hovers over the orchestra singing cheerfully -  unusual for a minor tone. The theme develops and passes to the ...

Claude Debussy 's handwritten score of the "Chansons de Charles d'Orléans".   Orchestra: Printemps, Suite Symphonique (Spring) Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) La Mer Nocturnes Images Rapsodie Fantaisie Piano: Deux arabesques Suite bergamasque Images I Images II L'isle joyeuse Children's corner Préludes, Book 1 Préludes, Book 2 Rêverie Estampes Pour le piano  En blanc et noir (piano duo) Chamber: Syrinx Première Rhapsodie  String Quartet in G minor Cello Sonata No.1 Solo voice with piano: Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé Ballades de François Villon Chansons de Bilitis Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire Chansons de Charles d'Orléans Stage: Pelléas et Mélisande

Liszt was first involved in this concerto in 1832, when he was young. However, his tours as a virtuosian pianist throughout Europe did not allow him to compose comfortably, so he managed to complete the concerto only in 1849. Even then, he kept revising the score. The premiere was given in Weimar in 1855, under the direction of another great composer, Berlioz . The concerto is romantic in every way. It moves away in form and style from Mozart 's and Beethoven 's most "classic" concertos with three parts. Its form is circular: the same musical ideas circulate throughout the work. Movements: I. Allegro maestoso The first part of the concerto, Allegro maestoso , begins with an imposing theme played by strings in unison, followed by two resonant chords in woodwinds and brass. This is a "pattern", i.e. an important idea that reverts to the whole project. The piano stands out soon before leading the music back to the original theme. Here is a noticeable change in...

In this Organ concerto, Handel reproduces the song of the birds that gives his work its famous subtitle. It was one of the few occasions where he used music as a means of imitation. Like Handel's other Organ concertos, this concerto No.13 was written as music played during the breaks of the acts of the oratories. It was first presented two days after its completion, at the Royal Theatre in London, on April 4, 1739, along with the oratorio Israel in Egypt . Many of these concertos, including the 13th, had large "ad libitum" sections. In them, the organist spontaneously improvised and the melody simply played the role of guide. Hendel himself was an excellent organist and surprised his listeners with his virtuosity improvisations. Movements: - Larghetto In the first part, Larghetto , the orchestra presents in a brief introduction the expressive theme. The Organt then interprets the same theme with high notes. The orchestra echoes the Organ's interpretation until the fi...

"The Chase" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard has a similar element of surprise to that of the Haydn "Surprise Symphony" . Joseph Haydn made two very successful visits to London, organized by the German-born violinist and impressionist Johann Peter Salomon.  The composer wrote six symphonies on each visit, which are his last and best. This symphonie belongs to the group of six he wrote on his first visit in 1791-2.  These twelve symphonies are also known as the "Salomon Symphonies" . Movements : I. Adagio cantabile - Vivace assai The first movement, with the inaugural Adagio cantabile , has a slow introduction with alternating parts between the woodwinds and the strings. It follows a Vivace assai, which   travels lightly with the original melody played by the violins, until the fast entrance of the entire orchestra. The second theme contains a syncopated rythm in bassoons, violas and second violins. The original theme is reissued, and then the central part introd...