Olivier Messiaen

Wikipedia (1908-1992) [French. Modern.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: O Sacrum Convivium

Background

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, and a mostly self-trained musician. Two things that make Messiaen interesting are his love of birdsong and his appreciation for tuned percussion instruments.

Piano & Organ

• Fantasie Burlesque (Piano)
• Diptyque (Organ)

Orchestral

Messiaen composed a large work called the Truangalîla Symphonie, which is a ten-movement megawork that is much like a piano concerto. When performed, it usually comprises the entire concert schedule, and contains some birdsong elements in the sixth movement.

[NOTE: There will be a preview lecture on Turangalila at the Seattle Public Library on 1/24.]

When Seattle Symphony staff were asked what concerts in the 2012-2013 season they were most excited about, many said they looked forward to Turangalîla, which will be performed at the end of January and beginning of February 2013.

Birdsong examples

• Cataloge d'Oiseaux, XIII
• Cataloge d'Oiseaux, XII

Chamber Music

Messiaen's most famous chamber work is called Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the end of time). While he was detained in a German camp during World War II, he found himself in the company of other French musicians (a clarinettist, aviolinist, and a cellist), and they wrote this piece to pass time and help them forget about their horrid conditions.

• Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Hugo Alfvén

Wikipedia (1872-1960) [Swedish. Romantic.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Midsommarvaka (Swedish Rhapsody #1)

Background

Alfvén is another composer who falls into the Nationalist category, and is Sweden's best-known composer. He was a central figure in Swedish culture for many decades, and was also an accomplished painter and writer.

The last composer I talked about here was Alban Berg, who was born just thirteen years after Hugo Alfvén. While Alfvén falls squarely in the late Romantic period, Berg is modern, and the difference is quite notable in their compositions...

Orchestral

Alfvén wrote a handful of symphonies and a few pieces he called Swedish Rhapsodies, along with one-two dozen other symphonic pieces. The most famous of these, Swedish Rhapsody #1 (sometimes called Midsommarvaka, and often just called the Swedish Rhapsody), is one of the best known classical compositions in Sweden.

• Swedish Rhapsodies: #1 (Midsommarvaka) | #2 (Uppsala Rhapsody) | Swedish Rhapsody #3
• En Skargardssagen (symphonic poem)
• Symphony #4 (#4 is particularly beautiful; full videos of other symphonies can be found on YouTube...)

Other

Other compositions include a few pieces for chamber combinations, some songs, and a handful of works for voice and orchestra. Recordings of his works focus on his symphonic works, though, and it is that style for which he is best known.

Alban Berg

Wikipedia (1885-1935) [Austrian. Modern.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Piano Sonata

If you like modern music, you'll love this guy...

Background

Alban Berg studied composition under Arnold Schoenberg, and the two of them (with Anton Webern) comprised the Second Viennese School. What does that mean? Schoenberg was developing new ways of thinking about music -- sounds which were a distinct departure from the Romantic tradition of the time. The twelve-tone technique these three composers used created what sounds like modern music to most of us.

Before meeting Schoenberg, Berg was mostly a self-taught composer. By the time he started publishing his works, he had considerable experience. His Opus 1 (the piano sonata listed above) is significantly more sophisticated than most works with opus number 1.

Violin Concerto

Berg's Violin Concerto combines the twelve-note system with standard tonality, and has become part of the violin concerto repertoire. The piece is dedicated to "the memory of an angel" - a daughter of friends who had died. The piece is expressive and moving (like Romantic music), but also modern.

- Violin Concerto (Anne-Sophie Mutter)
- Violin Concerto (Ivry Gitlis)

Chamber

A String Quartet (samples: mov. 1 | mov. 2) by Berg is frequently performed, and Berg scholars have found in it (and in his Violin Concerto) "cryptological and numerological" references to his mistress. Berg was apparently obsessed with codes and numbers, and found ways to hide references to the under-the-radar parts of his life (including a child he had with a servant of the Berg household when he was young) in the music he composed. Berg's Lyric Suite is another chamber piece that is performed regularly.

Songs

Berg's Seven Early Songs are beautiful:

- Im Zimmer
- Traumgekrönt
- Sommertage

Opera

Berg wrote two operas: Wozzeck and Lulu. Wozzeck is intense ("the inevitability of hardship and exploitation for the poor"); Lulu is the story of a woman whose life proceeds from rich widow to prostitute.

Modest Mussorgsky

Wikipedia (1879-1936) [Russian. Romantic.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Pictures at an Exhibition (Bogatyr Gates)


Background

Mussorgsky is a composer we can describe as part of the Nationalist movement. He was, with four other Russian composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Borodin, & Cui) called The Five - a group of composers who led the way creating a uniquely Russian style of classical music. His music definitely has a Slavic sound, as evidence by his most popular works...

Pictures at an Exhibition

Most people have heard this piece, as it's probably his most performed work. Originally composed for solo piano, Ravel created a version for orchestra which is what most people think of when they think of this title:

Piano: Evgeny Kissin | Gintaras Janusevicius | Sviatoslav Richter
Orchestra: BBC

There are so many performances of this piece, and they're all so interesting and different.

Night on Bald Mountain

Mussorgsky's other widely-heard piece is usually called Night on Bald Mountain. This version of his composition (originally called St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain) was reworked by Rimsky-Korsakov after Mussorgsky's death into the version of this piece usually performed. (Sadly, this piece was never performed at all during Mussorgsky's lifetime, and only came to be known in the version altered by Rimsky-Korskakov. The original version is gaining popularity now, though, and can be heard in performances with nearly as much regularity as the altered version.)

- Original Mussorgsky version
- Rimsky-Korsakov version

You have probably heard this piece if you've ever watched the Disney movie Fantasia or the Wizard of Oz.

- Fantasia
- Wizard of Oz - Dorothy's rescue (just the music)
- Wizard of Oz - Dorothy's rescue (with film)

Sadly, Mussorgsky died at a relatively young age. Artists of the time were seen as legitimate only if they participated in a drinking and partying lifestyle, which he did. He proved his anti-establishment credibility, but also set himself up for an early, alcoholism-related death.

If you love Mussorgsky's music, he wrote one opera (Boris Godunov), which is part of the standard opera repertoire. He was also a talented composer of songs, though he is best known for the two works highlighted above.

Ottorino Respighi

Wikipedia (1879-1936) [Italian. Romantic.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Notturno


Background

Respighi is another composer who was part of the Nationalist movement during the 19th century. His most enduring compositions are three orchestral pieces, together known as the "Roman Trilogy" -- Pines of Rome will be performed this weekend as part of the Seattle Symphony's first normal (non-gala) performance of the season...

- Fountains of Rome
- Pines of Rome
- Roman Festivals


Music for Soloist & Orchestra

Adagio con Variazione (cello)
Poema Autunnale (violin)


Other Orchestral Music

Symphonia Drammatica
La Boutique Fantasque

Part of Respighi's nationalism was a tendency to really love the sounds and works of the old Italian Baroque masters. He reused and reworked some of their pieces and themes into works of his own, some of which have a unique Romatic-infused Baroque style to them:

Birds
Ancient Dances & Airs - there are three suites of this music... Example: Suite 1, Movement 2

William Byrd

Wikipedia (1540-1623) [English. Renaissance.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Ecco Virgo Concipet


Background

Like lots of people from more than five centuries ago, there's not a ton of historical information about William Byrd. What we do know is that he studied with Thomas Tallis, another of England's best-known Renaissance composers. We also know that he was a proud lifelong Catholic during one of the most violent period's of England's religious history, and this certainly cost him money and career advancement. Many of his most expressive compositions were written for the Latin rite, even though it was difficult for him to be a Catholic at that time. His numerous masses and motets and other sacred pieces form the main body of his work that exists today...

Mass for 4 Voices

Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei

Other Sacred Music

Ave Verum Corpus
Tristitia et Anxietas
Ave Maria

Byrd also wrote some music for keyboard/harpsichord and "consort music," which is the precursor to what we think of as chamber music.

Consort Music

Fantasia #2 in G minor (Viol)
Diliges Dominum

And here's a link to an NPR story showcasing Stile Antico, performing four Renaissance works, two of which were by Byrd.

Gustav Holst

Wikipedia (1874-1934) [Brittish. Romantic.]
If you're just gonna listen to one: Jupiter


Background

Gustav Holst was a composer whose acclaim did not come during his lifetime. While he was alive, his works were not performed much, except by the musicians at the girls' school in London, where he worked most of his professional life.

Some compositions that he created for those students are performed now (example: St Paul's Suite); but Holst is mostly known for one work: The Planets.

The Planets

Multiple movements of this work will be familiar to people (especially Jupiter), as it has become part of the standard orchestral repertoire.

• Mercury (the Winged Messenger)
• Venus (the Bringer of Peace)
• Mars (the Bringer of War)
• Jupiter (the Bringer of Jollity)
• Saturn (The Bringer of Old Age)
• Neptune (The Mystic)
• Uranus (The Magician)

Other Orchestral Music

Edgon Heath
Brook Green Suite