pretty piano music

made this for a friend, thought i'd share ~
the text file inside includes all performance information

basically this is for those who want some pretty classical music to listen to.

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Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku) OST

 2010; 19 tracks  Here is the soundtrack to Japanese drama film Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku), directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and released in 2010.

This is one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever had a chance to listen to. It is a beautiful and sad mix of songs of all genres. The Boris and Radiohead track(s) are my favorites.

01 渋谷 毅 (Shibuya Tekishi; arranged by Gabriele Roberto) - Milk
02 Radiohead - Last Flowers
03 Boris - 虹が始まるとき
04 cokiyu - Gloomy
05 渋谷慶一郎 (Shibuya Keiichiro) - Piano Concerto No. 5(J. S. Bach)
06 Boris - My Machine
07 AKB48 - RIVER
08 Boris - 斷片-Bit-
09 PoPoyans - When the owl sleeps
10 やくしまるえつこ&永井聖一 (Yakushimaru Etsuko & Nagai Seiichi) - The Meeting Place
11 ザ・エックス・エックス (The xx) - Fantasy
12 Boris - にじむ殘像
13 cokiyu - See the sun
14 Curly Giraffe - Peculiarities
15 Y.S.& The Sunshine Band - That's The Way (I Like It)
16 Boris - Feedbacker
17 choir - Long long Ago
18 Boris - 決別
19 渋谷慶一郎 (Shibuya Keiichiro) - Largo (G. Handel)

Now come inside me
Let me drink you all up

Aleksander Szram - Into the 21st Century

 2006; 10 tracksAleksander Szram, pianist

My mom was very kind and bought me a CD of modern classical piano music performed by a talented young pianist.

Comments by the composers:

01 Dai Fujikura - Echo Within (2003)

I find this piece very romantic, although it is imbued with a contrary atmosphere, more as though romanticism is experiencing claustrophobia; and I like that. It almost has the lyricism of Takeshi Kitano's film Hana-bi.

02 - 06 Basil Athanasiadis - Anamnisis (2003)

I composed Anamnisis (Greek for "memories") after reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (sidenote by allie: FUCKING YES!!). This title recalls the way in which the narrator of the novel embarks on his tale of twenty years past only after his memory is sparked by hearing a song on an aeroplane. I tried to convey the sense of memory in "Anamnisis" by using the opening 5-note melody as a recurrent yet ever-varying leitmotif in the rest of the piece.

07 Haris Kittos - Átropo (2001, rev. 2002)

"Átropo" means "with no mode/system." It was freely composed by ear and mainly on the piano. Of course there is a structure, a small development of the ideas and whatever I felt as being necessary to use for the production of an effective little piece...

08 Michael Spencer - The Eemis Stane - Hommage to Kakihosru Shapurji Sorabji (2001)

Helmut Lachenmann has referred to the notion of "sounds pointing away from themselves... towards the precondition of their production" (Lachenmann, Helmut, Seminar with Helmut Lachenmann - Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 2000).

Taking this as a starting point, "The Eemis Stane" begins with the sounds "pointing away from themselves" (the various extended performance techniques) and gradually develop towards the more familiar aural landscapes of the conclusion. On a poetic level, this concept related to the poem from which the title is taken: Hugh MacDiarmid presents the Earth of the future as an unfamiliar dead rock, covered by the lichen of time and the fog of history, yet underneath, the poet can sense the residue of mankind, the familiarity of something essentially human that is buried. The work is dedicated to Pete Mumford who commissioned it in 2001.

09 Dai Fujikura - Sleeping Ashes (2002)

"Sleeping Ashes" was written as a response to the Bali terrorist attack of the 12 October 2022. The episodes of tranquility are shattered by the sound of breaking glass.

10 Haris Kittos - Athrós (2001)

"Athrós" (from the Greek word árthrosis which means "articulation/joint") is someone/something whose purpose/function is to produce phrases/shapes/form/language and express him/itself. After a struggle which brings a state of chaos and mania, he/it finally relaxes, releases the tension and starts talking/singing, but exhaustion does not allow him/it to continue...


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Camille Saint-Saëns - Music for Violin and Orchestra

 2000; 8 tracks
Jean-Jacques Kantorow / Tapiola Sinfonietta In an effort to invite some much-needed culture back to my blog, here is Jean-Jacques Kantorow leading the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Camille Saint-Saëns' First Violin Concerto and other works for violin and orchestra.

01 Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 20, I. Allegro
02 Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 20, II. Andante espressivo
03 Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 20, III. Tempo I
04 Introduction et rondo capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28 for violin & orchestra
05 Romance in C major, Op. 48, for violin & orchestra
06 Havanaise in E major, Op. 83, for violin & piano (or orchestra)
07 Sarabande Op. 93, No. 1, for string orchestra
Solo violin: Tero Latvala
08 Morceau de concert in G major, Op. 62, for violin & orchestra

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Robert Schuman - Davidsbündlertänze and Fantasie

 2011; 21 tracks
Mitsuko Uchida, pianist

This is an extremely important post not only for me, but for those who are interested in hearing piano music of a truly heavenly quality.

Mitsuko Uchida is a Japanese/British pianist renowned for her interpretations of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Bach, Schumann, Chopin, and others. It has been more than 15 years since her last release of Schumann works, which included the Carnval and Kreisleriana. This recording was released in 2010, which marked the bicentennial birthday of both Chopin and Schumann.

I have honestly never heard a single Robert Schumann piece before these. Believing him to be, maybe, a poor man's Chopin, I had no idea what incredible depth and translucence there was to be found in this man's music. The combination of these two works, Davidsbündlertänze being slightly lesser known while the Fantasie is an esteemed piece of piano repertoire, yields an unprecedented experience of the finest piano music and piano playing that I've ever heard. He was a German composer of Romantic music, as well as a firm upholder of aestheticism. Much of his music is internal and personal, which might have turned me off before, but someone I know described a certain quality of Schumann's (he might not have meant for it to apply to him, but I believe that it does apply): "It is a kind of music, for example, where duration and feeling are in mutual exploration."

Davidsbündlertänze, or Dances of the League of David, is a composition consisting of eighteen short pieces written in 1837. Though I am not as of yet very familiar with Schumann, I have heard that there are two masks that he wore as a composer, and these two characters have names - Florestan and Eusebius. Uchida, in her interview, explains that Florestan represents the impetuous, passionate side, while Eusebius represents the quiet and timid nature of Schumann. It is noted that many changes had been made by Schumann to the original manuscript, as each of the eighteen pieces had originally been marked with either Florestan's or Eusebius' name or both to distinguish the particular character the piece would project, so that in the end one must make the decision himself. Uchida remarks that during her exploration of the piece she had come to the realization that both Forestan and Eusebius might be present all the time - one can never be sure. Eusebius might be peeking through Florestan's act, or maybe while Eusebius trembles in the background it is Florestan who mocks. Davidsbündlertänze does seem to be one of the greatest and most complex mysteries in the piano world.

Schumann's Fantasie in C, Op. 17, is a three-movement work completed in 1836 and dedicated to Franz Liszt. In the interview, Uchida mentions that the piece is practically spilling over with homage to Beethoven and his musical style. The Fantasie was, in fact, written to raise money to erect a statue of Beethoven in Bonn. The piece was not accepted to be published with any large firm, however, and was not officially issued until 3 years after it's composition. The Beethoven monument was, eventually, completed. Uchida says that at the very end of the second movement there are a number of nearly impossible leaps that Schumann asks the performer to make - both hands rapidly leaping in opposite directions! She says that to play the Fantasie perfectly, you must play it with one wrong note. If you play a difficult piece absolutely perfectly, the audience will not believe that it is difficult. But, if you play a difficult piece with an obvious mistake, the audience will believe the difficulty of the piece, and respect it more. Throughout this period in Schumann's life when he wrote not only the Fantasie and Davidsbündlertänze but many other works imbued with longing, passion, and influences of Beethoven and others, Schumann was struggling to be married to his love, Clara. They were married in 1840 after years of attempting to gain her father's consent, but after she became of legal age to wed, they no longer had to worry about him. She was an integral part of Schumann's musical vision, but I won't tell you more about that as Uchida explains that in detail during the interview.

This recording comes with a half-hour long interview with Mitsuko Uchida herself, and I am just as in awe of her as I am the piano works. She is a remarkably passionate woman - highly intelligent and fluid in her explanations of all that she knows, all of the knowledge and passion that she conveys through her piano playing. She has a heavy accent, but it is a voice that I might dream of reading bedtime stories to me. I was enthralled by the information that poured out of her, the experiences she has gained, and how deeply she connects with the music. She doesn't just play it, no. Uchida understands Schumann, exactly what his capabilities as a pianist and a man were, and this only heightens my admiration for her. She has such a deep understanding of what makes a great pianist, and this understanding can only come from years of studying, studying, studying, and also playing. She believes that the oddness of the music does not come from happiness, but from tragedy, something Schumann experienced all throughout his life.

In the interview Uchida says maybe one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. To her, the greatest moments of music do not lie merely in beauty, but in a far rarer human emotion, and that is forgiveness. Eusebius forgives Florestan - forgiveness is shown, and this is what allows him to win. Throughout the musical dialogues of the Davidsbündlertänze you might notice that the nature of Eusebius defeats that of Florestan all because of the beauty of his forgiveness.

I am in love with Schumann now, and I want to hear everything he has ever written. I want to learn all I can about him. And not just him, but the dynamics of his relationship with Clara, and her lover, who I also love, Johannes Brahms. Schubert, Chopin, and Beethoven also play a huge role in the life of Schumann, according to Uchida. Ugh how could I have been so blind for all of these years?

01 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 1, Lebhaft (Florestand and Eusebius)
02 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 2, Innig (Eusebius)
03 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 3, Etwas hahnbüchen (Florestan)
04 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 4, Ungeduldig (Florestan)
05 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 5, Einfach (Eusebius)
06 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 6, Sehr rasch und in sich hinein (Florestan)
07 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 7, Nicht schnell. Mit äußerst starker Empfindung (Eusebius)
08 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 8, Frisch (Florestan)
09 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 9, Lebhaft (Florestan)
10 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 10, Balladenmäßig. Sehr rasch (Florestan)
11 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 11, Einfach (Eusebius)
12 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 12, Mit Humor (Florestan)
13 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 13, Wild und lustig (Florestan and Eusebius)
14 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 14, Zart und singend (Eusebius)
15 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 15, Frisch (Florestan and Eusebius)
16 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 16, Mit gutem Humor
17 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 17, Wie aus der Ferne (Florestan and Eusebius)
18 Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, No. 18, Nicht schnell (Eusebius)
19 Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17, I. Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen; Im Legenden-Ton
20 Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17, II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch
21 Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17, III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten.

Davidsbündlertänze and Fantasie
Mitsuko Uchida talks about Schumann in each and every age
joy and sorrow are mingled

Kalevi Aho - Symphony No. 3 / Songs & Dances of Death (Mussorgsky)

 2003; 8 tracks
Osmo Vänskä / Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Jaakko Kausisto, violin
Matti Salminen, bass  Kalevi Aho is a Finnish composer who studied under the great Einojuhani Rautavaara and composed his Symphony No. 3 for violin and orchestra between 1971 and 1973. Songs & Dances of Death is a song cycle by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, but here Kalevi Aho has orchestrated it into 4 songs for voice and piano. I thank Cliff Skoog for bringing the work of this composer to my attention.

01 Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Concertante), I. Andante

02 Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Concertante), II. Prestissimo
03 Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Concertante), III. Lento
04 Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Concertante), IV. Presto
05 Songs & Dances of Death, I. Cradle Song
06 Songs & Dances of Death, II. Serenade
07 Songs & Dances of Death, III. Trepak
08 Songs & Dances of Death, IV. The Field Marshal


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Manuel de Falla - Complete Piano Music

 2004; 21 tracks, 2 discs
Benita Meshulam, pianist  Manuel de Falla was a Spanish composer of classical music. This collection of his complete piano pieces, played by Benita Meshulam, is truly incredible.

Disc 1

01 El Sombrero de Tres Picos, I. Danza del Molinero
02 El Sombrero de Tres Picos, II. Danza de la Molinera
03 El Sombrero de Tres Picos, III. Danza de los Vecinos
04 Danza de la Vida Breve
05 Homenaje de Claude Debussy
06 Serenata
07 Mazurka
08 Serenata Andaluza
09 Nocturno
10 Cancion
11 Fantasia Baetica

Disc 2

01 Cuatro Piezas Españolas, I. Aragonesa
02 Cuatro Piezas Españolas, II. Cubana
03 Cuatro Piezas Españolas, III. Montanesa
04 Cuatro Piezas Españolas, IV. Andaluza
05 Ritual Fire Dance (from El Amor Brujo)
06 Cortejo de Gnomos
07 Vals vapricho
08 Allegro de concierto
09 Canto de los remeros del Volga
10 Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas

Disc 1
Disc 2

Edvard Grieg - Cello Concerto & 8 Songs for Cello and Orchestra

2001; 11 tracks
Vernon Handley / London Philharmonic Orchestra
Raphael Wallfisch, cellist

01 Sonata for cello & piano in A Minor, Op 36, I. Allegro Agitato (1883)
02 Sonata for cello & piano in A Minor, Op 36, II. Andante molto tranquillo
03 Sonata for cello & piano in A Minor, Op 36, III. Introduzione - Allegro
04 Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34, No. 1, The Last Spring
05 Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34, No. 2, The Wounded Heart
06 Peer Gynt Suite No. 2 for orchestra, Op 55, No. 4, Solvieg's Song
07 Peer Gynt Suite No. 2 for orchestra, Op 55, No. 1, Ingrid's Lament
08 Melodies for string orchestra, Op 53, No. 1, The first meeting
09 Melodies for string orchestra, Op 53, No. 2, Norwegian
10 Melodies of the Heart for voice & piano, Op. 5, No. 3, Jeg elsker Dig (I Love but Thee)
11 Lyric Pieces for piano, Book 3, Op. 43: No. 6, To Spring

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Rachel's - Music for Egon Schiele

1996; 12 tracks

This is the second album by the American post-rock/classical/instrumental group Rachel's. I found it to be simply beautiful and full of incredible passion and intimacy, the pianist and cellists especially. Favorite tracks: "First Self-Portrait Series," "Wally, Egon, & Models in the Studio," and "Promenade.

It was written for the play Egon Schiele, by Stephan Mazurek, about the life of Austrian painter Egon Schiele.

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Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Violin Concerto in E minor

 2002; 9 tracks
Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra
Rudolf Serkin, pianist
Isaac Stern, violinist  Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer of classical music during the Romantic period. I'll admit I am not very familiar with him or many of his works, but I still very much appreciate these three pieces.

This is one of the greatest recordings of Mendelssohn's two piano concertos, the first of which being quite nice and the second slightly simplistic, and the violin concerto which continues to be performed at a highly frequent rate.

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Jean Sibelius & Arthur Sullivan - The Tempest

2008; 10 tracks
Michael Stern / Kansas City Symphony

Arthur Sullivan was an English composer popular for his operas/collaborative works and theater-related music. The Tempest, Op. 1, a set of movements for Shakespeare's play, was Sullivan's first published music, as well as his graduation piece in conservatory. Along with these pieces, Stern also conducts the incidental music to the same play by the incredible Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. I am not familiar with much of this composer's music, but his final three pieces included in this CD are worth all of the classical music in the world put together (possibly). Imaginative and rich, I cannot think of anything more brilliant.

A biggg thank you to Andrew (check out his awesome classical mixes) for sharing this with me. Enjoy!


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Georges Delerue - The Conformist

1970; 12 tracks



Georges Delerue was a French film score composer with an immense amount of work under his name. The Conformist, or Il Conformista was an Italian political drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Among softer classical melodies (the title track "Il Conformista") some tracks rattle away in a more... exotic manner. I don't know any precise technical terms for this, but it's an enjoyable soundtrack.



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The Best of Shostakovich (1906-1975)

1999; 14 tracks



My piano teacher gave me this CD almost 6 years ago when I was still very innocent of not only Soviet music but most great classical music and composers. I am eternally grateful for this present, even if it is a slightly small compilation of the masterpieces he created, as I am now one of the biggest lovers of Shostakovich's music and story. This is a collection of various Shostakovich pieces and movements that may or may not be familiar. If you like a certain track I encourage you to seek out the full piece as these things are best appreciated in context...



P.S. I really love the second movement of the second piano concerto, but I think everyone does.



01 Festive Overture, Op. 96 (Christopher Lyndon-Gee / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)

02 The Gadfly, Film Score Suit, Op. 97a - Interlude (Theodore Kuchar / National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine)

02 The Gadfly, Film Score Suit, Op. 97a - Barrel-Organ Waltz

04 The Gadfly, Film Score Suit, Op. 97a - Galop

05 The Gadfly, Film Score Suit, Op. 97a - Romance

06 Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 - Allegro (Ladislav Slovák / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava)

07 The Age of Gold, Ballet Suite, Op. 22a - Adagio (Christopher Lyndon-Gee / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)

08 The Age of Gold, Ballet Suite, Op. 22a - Polka

09 Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 - Andante (Michael Houstoun - piano, Christopher Lyndon-Gee / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra)

10 Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10 - Allegro (Ladislav Slovák / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava)

11 String Quartet No. 4 in D Major, Op. 83 - Andantino (Éder Quartet)

12 Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70 - Allegro (Ladislav Slovák / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava)

13 Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 - Largo (Stockholm Arts Trio)

14 Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 - Allegro non troppo (Ladislav Slovák / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava)



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The Magic of the Guitar

 1993; 18 tracks
Turíbio Santos, guitarist  Here is a collection of various guitar pieces, some arranged for the guitar and some composed specifically for the instrument. I posted some of Villa-Lobos' guitar music a little while back (link here), but most of the composers on this release were unknown to me. There is quite a mix of styles here - some are Bach-like in textures and progressions, while others are gentle and sweeping (especially the Granados piece, which was originally written for piano and is incredibly lovely), and still others exude the sensual, dance-like rhythm of Spanish orient. It is very easy, enjoyable listening. A little more information on the performer...

"One of the most important Brazilian classical guitar performers, Turíbio Santos has recorded over 40 LP's, deserving a special mention his efforts to bring popular music, and specifically the choros by João Pernambuco, to the realm of classical execution. Son of an amateur guitarist, Santos started at the guitar at three, and, after he was ten, he took as his mentor Oscar Cáceres. Debuting in 1962 in a concert in São Luís (Maranhão), he performed in Rio de Janeiro in the same year, meeting Arminda Villa-Lobos (Heitor Villa-Lobos' second wife), by whose request he recorded Villa-Lobos' 12 studies for guitar. In the next year Santos realized the world debut of Villa-Lobos' Sexteto Místico."

01 Isaac Albéniz - Cantos de España, Op. 232, No. 1, Preludio (Asturias, Op. 47 No. 5)
02 Heitor Villa-Lobos - Chôros No. 1 for Guitar
03 Heitor Villa-Lobos - 12 Etudes for Guitar, W 235: No. 1 in E minor
04 Antonio Lauro - Valses venezolanos for Guitar, No. 3, Natalia/Criolla
05 Guido Santorsola - Suite all'antica: Prelude No. 1
06 Fernando Sor - Leçons progressives, Op. 31, No. 5 in B minor, Andantino
07 Fernando Sor - Etudes for Guitar, Op. 6, No. 12 in A major - Andante
08 Fernando Sor - Etudes for Guitar, Op. 6, No. 17 in E major
09 Fernando Sor - Etudes for Guitar, Op. 6, No. 9 in A minor - Andante allegro
10 Heitor Villa-Lobos - 12 Etudes for Guitar, W 235: No. 11 in E minor
11 Heitor Villa-Lobos - Suite populaire brésilienne, W 20: No. 3, Waltz Chôro
12 Agustín Barrios Mangoré - Prelude for Guitar in G minor, Op. 5, No. 1
13 Joaquin Rodrigo - Piezas españolas for Guitar, No. 3, Zapateado
14 Joaquin Rodrigo - Piezas españolas for Guitar: No. 1, Fandango
15 Isaac Albéniz - Recuerdos de Viaje, Op. 71, No. 8, Rumores de la caleta
16 Isaac Albéniz - Barcarola for Piano, Op. 202 "Mallorca"
17 Enrique Granados - Danzas españolas for Piano, Op. 37, No. 5, Andaluza
18 Manuel de Falla - Homenaje "Le tombeau de Claude Debussy"

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Frédéric Chopin - Essential Chopin

2003; 2 discs, 27 tracks
Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist

Some of the most popular Chopin piano pieces all put in one place, all played by one of the world's most favorite pianists. Pretty nifty.

Disc 1

01 Grande Valse Brillante, Op. 18
02 Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66
03 Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2
04 Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2
05 Mazurka in D Major, Op. 33, No. 2
06 Scherzo in B-flat minor/D-flat Major, Op. 31
07 Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No.1
08 Nocturne in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2
09 Waltz in B Minor, Op. 69, No. 2
10 Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23
11 Mazurka in B-Flat Major, Op. 7 No. 1
12 Waltz in G-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1
13 Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32 No. 1
14 Polonaise in A-Flat Major, Op. 53

Disc 2

01 Ballade in A-flat Major, Op. 47
02 Prélude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
03 Waltz in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1 "Minute"
04 Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2
05 Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12 "Revolutionary"
06 Étude in G-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Key"
07 Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1
08 Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1 "Military"
09 Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60
10 Prélude in D-flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15 "Raindrop"
11 Étude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11 "Winter Wind"
12 Étude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3 "Tristesse"
13 Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 39

Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 in D minor & Ballet Suite No. 5 from The Bolt

1989; 12 tracks
Neeme Järvi / Scottish National Orchestra

The young Dmitri Shostakovich was very much the revolutionary who wanted his music to serve the socialist state. "I am a Soviet composer, and I see our epoch as something heroic," he wrote, later adding "I consider that every artist who isolates himself from the world is doomed." He came to maturity during that artistically fruitful and highly active period in Russia immediately after the death of Lenin. A career as a concert pianist looked a strong possibility, for his graduation recital in 1923 was a sensation. But it was his First Symphony, written at the age of 19, while he was a pupil of Maximilian Steinbnerg at the Leningrad Conservatoire, that gave him an international reputation. It was quickly taken up by Bruno Walter, Stokowsky, and Toscanini among others. Two further symphonies followed before the end of the twenties, both at first enormously popular in the USSR. The second, his October Symphony, written for the tenth anniversary of The Revolution when he was only 21, was simultaneously premiered in four Russian cities. Such works exemplify his youthful revolutionary fervour, their technique coloured by his aptitude for writing for the popular media of the stage and the screen, into which he put his considerable energies up to about the age of 35. The latter include his opera The Nose, the ballets The Age of Gold and The Bolt, music for pioneering plays and films, and, at the age of 27, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

However, the opera was to be the young composer's undoing, for in January 1936 Stalin attended a performance. The climate of the time strongly advised a concept of 'Socialist Realism,' and the work was immediately condemned in and editorial in Pravda, as was his ballet Bright Stream. It was a time of danger for the composer, and he suppressed his Fourth Symphony after rehearsals had started and responded with his Fifth to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Revolution, with its now well-known tag 'A Soviet Artist's Reply To Just Criticism.'

Shostakovich's Fifth was first performed in Leningrad on November 21, 1927, and it was received with tremendous enthusiasm. Shostakovich's friend, the cellist and conductor Rostropovich, has suggested that it was only the forty-minute ovation that greeted the first performance that saved Shostakovich from the same fate as his mentor, the celebrated producer Meyerhold, who disappeared.

How should we see Shostakovich's Fifth? Before its first performance in Moscow, the composer was quoted as defining it as a 'lyro-heroic symphony.'

"Its main idea is man's emotional experiences and all-conquering optimism. I wanted to show how, overcoming a series of tragic conflicts arising in the intense struggle which rages in one's soul, optimism is born as a world-outlook." He has also admitted that "any work of art contains autobiographical traits" and on another occasion added "the theme of my symphony is the making of a man."

The Ballet Suites 1 to 5 present a variety of movements from Shostakovich's youthful ballet, theatre and film scores, and the fifth of these comprises eight movements from his three-act ballet The Bolt, written in 1930-31 and first performed at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre, Leningrad, on April 8, 1931. The setting is a Soviet factory: drunken workers are sacked and in revenge one tries to sabotage a lathe by persuading the operator to drop a bolt into the machine. At the last minute the machinist repents and the saboteur is arrested. The music is extremely vivid in the composer's headlong rhythmic poster pantomine style, satirizing the bourgeois.

Since Shostakovich's death it has become clear that he put into his music sentiments that in any other art would have resulted in direct opposition of the Soviet State.

Your business is rejoicing.

Alan Hovhaness - Mysterious Mountain / And God Created Great Whales

1994; 8 tracks
Gerard Schwarz / Seattle Symphony

There are places in the imagination where journeys unfold, where serenity and truth reside. In these places, the spirit responds to softly beckoning institutions, which in turn become pathways to summits of peace and profundity. And along the pathways, exquisite details vibrate with color, ephemeral and fragmented, the mindscape fertile and enigmatic. Alan Hovhaness is just such a traveler, a seeker of that which is spiritual and true, and his vehicle is music.

Alan Hovhaness' 2nd Symphony, Mysterious Mountain (1955), is just such a place, imaginary. It is of no importance that the title was added later and that it does not describe a particular place. One can still journey there, and by a path of one's own choosing. Of an early performance of the symphony, critic Claudia Cassidy wrote in the Chicago Tribune:

"It seems to remind everyone of something... and it reminds me of the Alhambra. I don't expect you to take the same journey, but there it is for me in its rich textures, its formalized designs, its serenity of scrolls and arabesques, its sudden sounds - harp sounds - of water spilling with a glint of the metallic into a hidden pool."

Even if the particular journey is open to interpretation, the composer's intention is clear: to create an aural impression steeped in his own spiritual philosophy. Namely, that "Mountains are symbols, like pyramids, of man's attempt to know God. Mountains are symbolic meeting places between the mundane and spiritual worlds. To some, the Mysterious Mountain may be the phantom peak, unmeasured, thought to be higher than Everest, as seen from great distance by fliers in Tibet. To some it may be the solitary mountain, the tower of strength over a countryside - Fujiyama, Ararat, Monadnock, Shasta or Grand Teton."

That imaginary place where the "mundane and spiritual worlds" meet is the logical quest of an artist such as Hovhaness. Early in his eclectic education he developed a passion for the mysticism of sound, which was first fed by exposure to Armenian and Indian cultures, and later by those of Japan and China.

Also included in this recording is Prayer of Saint Gregory, a simple, homophonic string chorale supporting a plaintive trumpet solo. Prelude and Quadruple Fugue is an example of Hovhaness' compositional style, the most prevalent of which being the contrapuntal techniques of the Baroque. If portions of Mysterious Mountain evoke Renaissance choral writing, the "Alleluia" of Alleluia and Fugue (1941) does so even more. Both modal and imitative, the piece seems to intone the syllables of the title, and the composer giving testimony to his faith.

And God Created Great Whales (1970) is unique among the compositions on this disc. It is, in fact, less "composed," even at times aleatoric. Players are instructed to "continue repetition, rapidly and not together in free non-rhythm chaos" for a given period of time; and later, "very wild and powerful!" From the din, a pentatonic melody emerges, preparing the way for four recorded songs of the great humpback whale. (For musical purposes, the third song has been slowed down to lower the pitch, but the low pitch of the fourth remains at actual speed.) The result is a hauntingly portentous depiction of earth as it emerges from its primordial chaos. The composer writes: "Free rhythmless vibrational passages, each string player playing independently, suggest waves in a vast ocean sky. Undersea mountains rise and fall in horns, trombones and tuba. Music of whales also rises and falls like mountain ranges. Song of whale emerges like a giant mythical sea bird. man does not exist, has not yet been born in the solemn oneness of Nature."

There is a center to everything that exists.

Gustav Holst - The Planets

1973; 7 tracks
Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic
Born in Cheltenham, England, on September 21, 1874 (the autumnal equinox and the first day of the ancient Egyptian New Year), Gustav Holst was a Virgo (The Hermit; an Earth Sign) and possessed of a decided propensity to Idealism and Truth. Young Holst neither drank nor smoked. He was a strict vegetarian, often subsisting on dried nuts. He was completely single-minded about everything. Naïve and idealistic, he abhorred profanity, never lost his temper, and was shy and solitary. He was a Mystic and obscurantist, more at ease in the silence of the library than the drawing room. He became immersed in the Hindu epics and learned Sanskrit in order to read them in their original texts. He would always maintain his belief in "Dharma" - one's natural path in life. 

For Holst, the search for Wisdom became more important than the search for Beauty. Holst surrendered completely to involvement: When he worked, he overworked, and his delicate healthy offered little reserve capacity. Invariably, he was forced to recuperate from nervous and physical exhaustion. Understandably, for an Englishman, he adored warm climates and, whenever time and fortune would permit, he traveled to the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. He once decided to go to Algeria, to recuperate by riding his bicycle in the desert. This absurdity is matched only by the fact that he actually did so.

Even in old age, Holst pursued the course of gathering information on everything. He read incessantly. Simple events became highly significant to him. In 1934, at the age of 60, he died: The cause, bleeding ulcers. His most valued possessions were Beethoven's tuning fork and his master key to St. Paul's music school. He was surrounded by the countless books he indiscriminately devoured: Jane Austen and Leon Trotsky lay side by side.

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His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was determined that Gustav become a musician. So he studied. By the age of 18, his impact upon was limited to appointment as a village organist. By 20, his first major compositions were already performed. Encouraged, he applied for a scholarship at the Royal College of Music. He tested eight successive times before he finally succeeded. Frequently, he was unable to even hold a pen: His hand became so crippled from neuritis that he devised a special pen nip, fitted to his finger, so that he could notate his compositions. In 1903, he began teaching music, eventually becoming music director at Morley College and at St. Paul's Girl's School - the only positions that he truly loved and that he held until his death. Students loved him.

By 1908, he had already experimented with two operas based upon the Hindu writings that so fascinated him. He became a fairly prolific composer, who preferred writing for the voice - thus, he left considerable choral music, operas and songs. He achieved slow but steady recognition, and, with this increasing fame, came relative financial stability. He also became well-regarded as a conductor. However, aside from a small coterie of friends and well-wishers, Holst's reputation grew without creating any real general enthusiasm. But them, he was very, very susprivious of too much recognition. When people asked for his autograph, he would hand them a typed slip of paper that stated that he didn't give autographs.

Interested in eternity, Holst studied astrology and learned to cast horoscopes. He also studied astronomy, and learned computation of light-years in order to understand the Space-Time continuum. His composition The Planets became the most popular and enduring example of his mystical mindplay. Listening to the relentless, threatening, mecahincal march that opens "Mars, The Bringer of War," audiences were sure this was Holst's personal statement about World War I. (After all, the horror was so fresh.) But Holst never heard a machine gun. In fact, he had finished the sketch for "Mars" just before the war - in 1914. A friend gifted him with a semi-private performance of the work, on September 28, 1918, by the London Symphony Orchestra. The effect upon the small audience was intense - and in the halls, during the playing of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity," char-women were said to have set aside their scrubbing to dance with each other.

The Planets requires large orchestral forces, and its wordless chorus adds further dimension. It made Holst famous, and, by 1921, he was internationally known. The work is cast into seven musical sections. Each is a self-contained tone poem. While not exactly elaborate program music, each section does convey an easy means for dreaming along somewhat prescribed paths. The titles are Holst's own.

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Gustav Mahler - The 10 Symphonies

2007; 58 tracks
Simon Rattle / Berliner Philharmoniker

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic composer of Austrian / Bohemian descent.

I'd like it if I knew more about him, but at the moment I am at a loss of clever, insightful information regarding one of classical music's most famous contributor. Here are the 10 symphonies, no choral works can be found here.

The tenth symphony was Mahler's final work before his death, but he never fully completed the piece. Quite a few others have tried to finalize the work, tying up loose ends and such, but there is one attempt that has become a sort of standard for performances and recordings, and that is the revision of Deryck Cooke. There is much more information to be found on the subject here, and I'm only so interested in it because it is my favorite out of the ten.

Symphony No. 1 in D Major, "Titan"
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection"
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Symphony No. 4 in G Major
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic"
Symphony No. 7 in E minor, "Song of the Night"
Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major, "Symphony of a Thousand"
Symphony No. 9 in D Major
Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp minor

Heitor Villa-Lobos - The Complete Solo Guitar Music

2003; 23 tracks
Fabio Zanon, guitar

Heitor Villa-Lobos was Brazilian composer of modern classical music, as well as a leading composer of Latin American music. His style is derived from Brazilian folk traditions, as well as the classical European sounds of early 20th century classical music. After Villa-Lobos met with Darius Milhaud in 1917, a French composer who experimented with polytonality and jazz, the two influenced each other greatly. Milhaud gave to Villa-Lobos the a spectrum of new possibilities in the music of Debussy and Satie, and to Milhaud Villa-Lobos showed Brazilian folk and street music. Perhaps this is what prompted Milhaud to create his amazing Saudades do Brazil for piano.

This recording includes his Suite Populaire Bresilienne, Five Preludes, and Twelve Etudes.

Villa-Lobos' guitar music flourishes with colorful chords and tones, but it also is quiet - meditatively so. It is constantly changing, transmogrifying into new shapes and sounds as the landscape changes as well. From verdant hillsides to lulling cities above the clouds, I can actually feel myself melting away as I listen. In these pieces by Villa-Lobos, beauty is given a whole new meaning.

My favorite piece is the third of the Five Preludes, in A minor.

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