MusiLLection

Johann Strauss II , celebrated for his waltzes and lively dance music, followed a distinctive creative approach. He consistently sought contemporary and recognizable themes as the inspiration for his compositions, ensuring that his music remained fresh and closely connected to the everyday experiences of his audiences. A characteristic example of this approach can be found in Vergnügungszug (Pleasure Train), a fast polka ( Polka schnell ) composed in 1864. The work was written for one of the famous summer concerts Strauss conducted in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, where he spent several seasons presenting new compositions. For this particular piece, Strauss drew inspiration from a symbol of modern progress at the time: the steam locomotive. The composition vividly captures the energy and motion of a train in full operation. Its driving rhythm evokes the steady chugging of a steam engine, while short, repeated figures suggest the mechanical movement of the wheels along the tracks. Str...

The recording techniques were unfortunately not invented when Franz Liszt conquered Europe with his fascinating pianistic performances. Thus his juggling interpretations enjoyed only the ephemeral and we are limited to the written testimonies, which describe him as a pianist with unconventional virtuosic gifts. His recitals amounted to a performance that provoked furious excitement and exaggerated manifestations of worship. His emphasis on virtuosity and the long-term focus of his creative disposition on the pianistic compositions of "demonstration" but also on the transcriptions - for piano of course - of works by other composers, prevented his immediate acceptance as an inspired composer. However, no careful observer of evolution and researcher of his contribution can question the incisions he caused in the musical expression of his time. His symphonic poems herald new forms of the art of sounds, his instrumentals paving the way for the musical commandments of Wagner , Mah...

Although Requiem was a religious work, it was presented more in concert halls than in churches. Giuseppe Verdi wrote the famous Requiem in honour of his close friend, Alessandro Manzoni, the great Italian poet, writer, and humanist, who died in 1873. It is a powerful fusion of intense drama and passion, with moments of reverent simplicity. Verdi conducted the first performance at St. Mark's Church in Milan on May 22, 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. Revolutionary composition Verdi's Requiem has been revolutionary in two respects: First, because while the traditional requiem is a prayer of the living for the dead, Verdi's work was a function as much for the living as for the dead. As Verdi would expect, it's a dramatic, theatrical play. Written for four solo voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass) with full choir and orchestra, it follows the typical Roman Catholic Latin mass for the dead. The "libretto" certainly comes from the dram...

Strauss often played in the glittering Imperial balls, conducting the orchestra and playing the first violin at the same time.   The majestic launch of this fascinating waltz presents the backdrop of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the hegemony of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in 1888. Johann Strauss II was Music Director of the Dance Hesperides of the Imperial Court from 1863 to 1872 and composed on occasion for the celebration of an imperial anniversary. The ingenuity of the melody of the Emperor Waltz, which was originally orchestrated for a full orchestra, is such that it was easily adapted for the four or five instruments of a chamber ensemble by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1925. This waltz is a tender and somewhat melancholic work, which at times turns its gaze nostalgically to the old Vienna. The waltz praises the majesty and dignity of the old monarch, who was fully devoted to his people. It begins with a majestic, magnificent march, which soo...

Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, in the small fishing village of Ciboure in the Basque region, near the Franco-Spanish border.  His father, Pierre-Joseph, was a Frenchman of Swiss descent. Pierre-Joseph, a distinguished engineer, met and fell in love with his future wife, a young and beautiful Basque, Marie Delouart, at the time she worked on the Spanish railways.  A few months after Maurice's birth, the family moved from Ciboure to Paris. The parents of Maurice Ravel, Pierre-Joseph Ravel and Marie Delouart. Maurice had a happy childhood. The parents encouraged their two children - Edouard was born in 1878 - to follow their vocation. Maurice's inclination was music. He started music lessons at the age of seven.  Unlike the parents of other composers, Pierre-Joseph viewed positively the prospect of a musical career and sent Maurice to the France's most important musical college, the Conservatoire de Paris in 1889. In the same year, the Paris Exhibition brought tog...

Carl Maria von Weber composed the opera Euryanthe  during the period 1822-23 and first presented it in Vienna on October 25, 1823. The work was based on a French medieval history of 13th century.  The year Euryanthe was presented was marked by Vienna's interest in Italian operas, particularly those of Rossini . Although the initail reception was enthusiastic, the opera lasted only twenty performances, with complaints about the libretto and the length of the opera. For the failure of the play, the somewhat wordy libretto of the poet and writer Helmina von Chézy was blamed. Franz Schubert also commented that "This is not music". Nevertheless, the introduction is an excellent example of orchestral writing and remains one of the best. The Overture begins with an extremely lively and cheerful phrase. Oboe and clarinet, supported by horn and trombones, then present a theme of three emphatic notes, followed by a shorter ascending group of notes (with a stressed rhythm). Soon t...

  A page from the score of Handel's Water Music written in 1717. This work is the most popular and most beloved of all his numerous compositions. Handel's Water Music, one of the composer's most popular and beloved works, was first presented on the evening of Wednesday, July 17, 1717. An orchestra of fifty musicians sailed next to King George I and several aristocrats, as the royal yacht led a huge fleet of boats on a tour of the Thames toward Chelsea. As the royal procession passed majestically between Lambeth in the east and Chelsea in the west to return, the King was so fascinated by Handel's music that he ordered the orchestra to replay the play three times. The exhausted musicians got permission to stop at two o'clock in the morning! Suite I in F major (HWV 348) 1. Overture (Largo – Allegro)  2. Adagio e staccato  3. Allegro – Andante – Allegro da capo  4. Passepied  5. Air  6. Minuet  7. Bourrée  8. Hornpipe  9. Andante  10. Allegr...