Your Classical Coffee Break: Recent Episodes
Somers/Herron
We're taking a brief hiatus, and hope to be back by June. You can still contact us at mauriceriverpress.com. Thanks for your support. Stay well.
This coffee break wraps up the discussion on hidden messages or symbols in music. In a whirlwind, we check out the music of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Modest Mussorgsky, and Mr. Somers himself to investigate the story behind the music. Sometimes the message is an homage to another composer and sometimes it is a thumbing the nose to critics. We also check out some sudden and surprising endings. "Niagara Falls, slowly I turned, step by step..." contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break circles back to Bach, always a wonderful thing, to explore additional hidden signatures in his Mass in B Minor. We listen to the Credo, Gloria, 0 and Et in terra pax to hear how the structure of the composition reflects his religious beliefs. Mr. Somers switches focus to The Magic Flute to dissect how the composition reflects Mozart's belief in Freemasonry. We sample Mozart's Symphony #39 and investigate the significance of this piece written in E Flat. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues its discussion about composers hidden signals or messages (Easter Eggs) in their compositions. We take a close look at JS Bach and the Art of the Fugue and listen to his signature name in the piece. We question why he often used the numbers 14 or 41 as another way of identifying him as composer in St. Matthew Passion. Why was the note E so important to this piece? And why does he use the technique of "crossing voices" in the Passion? And what are all the hidden signifiers in his Mass in B minor? All questions will be answered...or at least some. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Was there a message hidden in a phrase of Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6 in B Minor? Was there a connection with this hidden phrase and the composer's death only 9 days after he conducted the piece? This coffee break tries to answer those questions as well as investigate the unique signature hidden in Sibelius' Finlandia and Symphony #2. Take a listen to the Hi-Phi Nation podcast that spurred this discussion: https://hiphination.org/season-3-episodes/s3-episode-9-the-illusionist-jun-8-2019/
This coffee break wraps up our discussion on the challenges of appreciating opera. This time we listen to music which helps underscore the action and see how it adds another layer to the opera experience by listening to excerpts from Bellini's Norma. We briefly discuss Wagner's philosophy of the balance of the orchestra and singers' voices before we hunker down with an except from Brunhilde's Immolation. We wrap up with 5 operas that opera haters should check out. Here's Renee Fleming in an aria from A Streetcar Named Desire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGOgXaTgbCw contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues discussing the challenges to opera attendance. On the list for this show--Ticket price. The overwhelming spectacle of opera can't be conjured on the cheap. We listen to the magnificence of Verdi's Don Carlos and Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurberg and discuss how to get a bang for your buck. check out Sing Faster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tPOQKRwdIM&list=PLiVY2xDbxwG_r_eJHUXacSXZHZZQ0Fnl9 contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
The length of time of a performance is one of many reasons to avoid opera in this day and age. After we sneak a peek at how opera is used in some movies, this coffee break examines the length of time that opera takes to perform. We look at Mozart's Don Giovanni and the scope and complexities of producing an opera. A dense and emotional script, the high level of difficulty in performance, and the large stage with dramatic, bigger than life staging are just a few. Can any of this be abbreviated and still deliver the punch? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Opera! Haters gonna hate. Mark Twain once said, "I know of no agony comparable to the listening to an unfamiliar opera… that sort of intense but incoherent noise which always so reminds me of the time the orphan asylum burned down.” Mr. Herron's response was not as fierce but he brought along a list of reasons why opera can oftentimes feel unapproachable. Mr. Somers, a fan, breaks down the mystery of opera, this time with examples of English language operas from Barber, Westergaard, and Copland. He even sneaks in a track of an English translation of The Valkyrie. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
We are going backwards in this coffee break. For the past few shows we have heard how composers have expanded the sound of previous composer's works. This time we start off with a larger version of Carmina Burana then go smaller. Orff's disciple Wilhelm Killmayer in 1956 created a reduced version for soloists, SATB mixed choirs. children's choir, two pianos and six percussion (timpani+5). This version, authorized by Orff himself, allowed smaller ensembles the opportunity to perform the piece. We also sneak in Mozart's and Goosen's variations of Handel's Messiah. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the exploration of how Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition launches the piece into a different realm of sound. But does Ravel's version really give the sense of claustrophobic catacombs or is he going after a whole new meaning? We also take a listen to different versions of the Baba Yaga piece and review the differences in sounds. Lastly we stop at the great gate of Kiev (Kyiv) and examine the power in both renditions. Seriously, how great is that gate?) contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break revisits the idea of composers reworking and revitalizing works of composers long-dead. More than 50 years after Offenbach's death, his Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann was reworked by Manuel Rosenthal for Diaghelev Ballet Russes. We check out both versions. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was orchestrated by Maurice Ravel in 1922 and gave it a grandeur and depth beyond the original. Take a listen. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break explores how composers update their own or other composers' work to expand on themes or sometimes change the piece completely. Mr. Somers discusses his piano work Christmas Pastorale and how 48 years later arranged it to include viola. Modest Mussorgsky rearranged his 1867's St. John's Eve of Bald Mountain to be included in his 1880 The Fair at Sorochynsti, Six years later Rimsky-Korsakov rearranged it into the more familiar Fantasy Night on Bald Mountain. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break wraps up the discussion on the use of silence and pauses to dramatically frame music. We delve into Carl Orff's Carmina Burana masterpiece which warns about the power of luck and fate. Mahler's 10th Symphony shows how the bass drum harkens death and the importance of silence at the ending of his 9th Symphony. But we end with the Sibelius' glorious silence. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues its wordy discussion about the power of silence in music. We listen to a Bach piece (CPE Bach, that is) that illustrates the importance of cadence points in creating drama and surprise. Is there a joke hidden in a Haydn composition when a breath is taken? We check it out. Can music be like a pointillist painting? There's a Haydn piano piece that says it's so. And we get the backstory on the Farewell Symphony. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Music grows out of the silence that precedes it, so says Mr. Somers in this discussion how silence, or hesitation, can make a piece of music extraordinary. We listen to the Mahler's Third Symphony to hear how pauses can make the musical experience so powerful. Beethoven was a master of using pauses as emphatic gestures, particularly in his 7th Symphony and Egmont Overture. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Read the New York Times story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/arts/music/silence-classical-music.html
This coffee break complete the exploration of how composers supported themselves while chasing their passion of music. Debussy lived in a Russia as a piano teacher in the house of a patron. Dvorak had to move to England to get fair compensation for his compositions. Wagner was chased by his creditors while writing his complex pieces. And after writing Findlandia, Sibelius received a lifetime stipend. A nice gig if you can get it. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
YCCB continues its review of the economic life of composers and musicians. We look at Bizet who struggled financially most of his life and even was a music transcriber to support himself. Sadly for him, the popularity of his music came after his passing. Brahms made a good living from his piano performances, perhaps because he composed music that he could master. We delve into Brahms relationship with the Schumanns and find out that Robert Schumann edited a newspaper to pay the bills. And Borodin had to choose between being a chemist or composer. He chose to become a chemist! Mr. Herron regrets his error in stating that the song "Tonight We Love" was based on Borodin's music. It was taken from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the discussion of how the greats of classical music made a living. We discuss how the the size and complexity of the new compositions made the creation of the conductor a necessity--a new job was formed. Louis Spohr, a composer and violinist, became so frustrated with musicians' confusion with the Beethoven Symphony #9 that he helped create the the modern concept of the conductor and became one of the first. Mendelssohn, Berlioz, and Mahler followed suit and conducted their own pieces. Berlioz also became a tremendous marketer of his own works. And, we take the time to give a tribute to the great Jessye Norman, an American opera singer and recitalist. Here's the book about first night that Mr. Somers referred, First Nights: Five Musical Premiers by Thomas Forrest Kelly. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the discussion on how classical composers and musicians made a living. We followed the trail of patronage by the Church and by royalty, but support of artists developed in other areas. Arcangelo Corelli's Christmas Concerto was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni personally, not as an officer of the Church. Handel worked extensively on commission, his Coronation Anthem an example, and became an independent impresario, his opera Rinaldo, an example. Beethoven, too, accepted commissions and wrote pieces to generate income from sheet music sales, Six Bagatelles and the Lovely Lass of Inverness. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Your Classical Coffee Break returns to the topic of what artists must do to support themselves. We listen to Giovanni Gabrieli's Canon in 12 in Echo and discuss his success in working within the Church structure. Then we turn to JS Bach and discuss how he made a living through playing the organ and composing. We listen to a number of Bach's pieces (Cantata #150, Concerto for 2 Violins, and St. Mathew Passion) and explore the various patronage positions he took to keep afloat. Was Bach such a groundbreaking composer that potential patrons just didn't get it? Art isn't easy. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break begins the discussion on how artists support themselves as they pursue their passion. To explore this subject, at least pertaining to Western Culture, Mr. Somers goes back 1,000 years to see how artistry and the Church were intertwined, when secular music evolved and who supported that evolution. We listen to music spanning at least 400 years, from Gregorian chants to Guillaume Du Fay's Mass for St. Anthony. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break follows the evolution of the twelve-tone movement right into the post-Webern period. First off, we listen to Eliot Carter's Concert for Orchestra and a composition by Milton Babbitt to hear how abstract the sound had become in reaction to Webern. Then we explore Leaves are Falling by Warren Benson and other compositions which take the sound in a different, anti-post-Webern, emotional direction. Art Isn't Easy. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break we take a listen to Alban Berg's startling opera Wozzeck, called an "emblematic opera of the 1920s, a harbinger of the unease and aching void of the 20thcentury, haunted by war and death, the misery of the human condition set to a music," as per Opera Online. We also listen to the works of Anton Webern and contrast his style and impact versus Alban Berg's. Here is a clip from Alban Berg's Wozzeck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8WeX8MrThU
This coffee break tries to find it's way home in the twelve tone composition world by listening to music by Arnold Schoenberg, particularly pieces that seem like waltzes and marches, and particularly his highly influential Pierrot Lunaire. We explore how these compositions don't have the foundations provided by major and minor keys. We listen to Alban Berg's Violin Concerto and its stirring connection to the lose of a loved one. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
We put together two concerts of our choosing in this coffee break using Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Antheil's Ballet Mecanique as the main section. There are a number of factors to take into consideration: What other pieces of music do we include in the concert? Should the music be in the audience's comfort zone or should we challenge them with newer sounds? How do we keep the costs down especially if we are a per service orchestra? Do we have a budget for royalties for new music? How do we market to attract the most attendees? Nothing is easy. Welcome our new sponsor nKoda, 30 million pages of digital sheet music, at https://www.nkoda.com/ Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues its exploration of how different artists interpret the same music, starting out with the opera Verdi's Don Carlo, the scene -- Il Grande Inquistor! We hear how the scene is staged and what the artists emphasized to maximize the experience. We continue the analyses of artists' interpretation with three pieces composed by Mr. Somers and get a chance to dig deep and hear how individual musicians approach the works. Here's the staged Grande Inquistor scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pNxU4ck8BI Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
We change topics with this coffee break by listening to how the conductor and/or musician interprets the composition and how that interpretation changes the musical experience. First, we listen to two different performances of Sibelius' Lemminkäinen Suite to determine how speed affects how the listener perceives the music. We stay with Sibelius and check in on two versions of The Tempest and listen for differences in tone. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the exploration of music composed during the Third Reich by first listening to Werner Eck's ominous Waffentanz (Weapon Dance), a state-commissioned piece, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Hans Pfitzner's career was stifled because his opposition to antisemitism; we listen to a piece of Symphony in C. Paul Hindemith escaped to Switzerland and had a career; we hear a bit of his Mathis Der Maler. We close our exploration with Richard Strauss who was able to compose extraordinary music while living in the throes of Nazism and listen to Die Liebe der Danae and Sonatina #2 in E Flat. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This somber edition continues the theme of composing music under authoritarian regimes, this time under the Third Reich. We listen to pieces written by numerous composers, some who survived World War II and some who did not. We begin with with Pavel Haas's powerful Study for Strings and then Hugo Distler's God is Our Sure Defense; neither composer survived though for different reasons. Next we listen to Kleines Konzert by Alfred Uhl, a composer and soldier who survived the war by working at a POW camp. Karl Amadeus Hartman was completely unknown during the war and later emerged as a major musical figure. We listen to his Concerto Funebre, as well as Anton Webern's Langsamer Satz, a composer who survived the war, but was killed accidentally soon after. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break ventures back into the stressful world of music composition under the political oppression of Stalin's Soviet Union. We listen to Prokofiev's Zdravitsa (A Toast in Honour of Stalin's 60th Birthday), which rides the boundary between great music and political pandering. Shostakovitch gets out of the political doghouse by writing a tribute to reforestation in a Song About Trees. After Stalin died, Shostakovitch was able to tell the truth about the horrors of Babi Yar in his Symphony #13. We close the coffee break with the compositions of Georgi Sviridov who could seemed to be able to be true to his style throughout the regime. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break begins our investigation of music composed under Russia's Soviet regime beginning with a piece by Kabalevsky, a simple, open composition which might be the Soviet ideal. We battle on the ice with Prokofiev's composition for Alexander Nevsky, the epic movie by Sergei Eisenstein--another piece vaunted by the Kremlin. But Prokofiev ran afoul of Premier Stalin with the sometimes dissonant, ethereal Cantata on the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution. Shostakovitch, too, was chastised by Stalin for his opera Lady Macbeth, which lacked simplicity and was immoral, not up to Soviet standards, according to the Kremlin. After Stalin's death, Shostakovitch composed String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 which memorialized the terror under the Stalin regime. Listen to the full piece here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41HIXtBElH4 Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues with music infused with mechanical sounds beginning with Toccata for Percussion Instruments by Carlos Chaves. Then we veer into how traditional instruments can be used to make nontraditional sounds in the surprising String Quartet #1, "Protestation Quartet" by Gloria Coates. We push the sounds of artificially altered sounds in Christian Wolff's For Piano with Preparations. We sing the body electric with David Borden's hip moog-infused Droneland, then finish with the pulsating Piano Sonata no. 8 by Laurie Altman. Here is a discussion with the composer Laurie Altman with Clipper Erickson (the performer on the last piece) about the collaborative process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWh6u4zjAEk Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break uses Georges Antheil's Ballet mécanique as a springboard to an exploration about movement in music. We backtrack to Honegger's Pacific 231 then listen to snippets of the rest of his Mouvement Symphonique, one movement composed to recreate the experience of playing rugby. We end on a surprising piece honoring steel manufacturing written by the great Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Listen to the full piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Fi0TwTsMY Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Our journey continues on water by exploring the barcarolle, the traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style, listening to Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman and Wagner's Flying Dutchman. We come Down Jersey to listen to Mr. Somer's composition On the Cohansey then head out to the high seas with Britten's Billy Budd, Westergard's Moby Dick, and Richard Rodgers Victory at Sea. After we sail the Chesapeake (David Sampson) we take to the skies with Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries and Dello Joio's Air Power: Mission in the Sky. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Our transportation music journey hits its stride by climbing onto a trolley, taking Le Metro, and hurtling the turnstile to jump a subway with pieces by Jacques Ibert, Amanda Harberg, and Mr. Somers. But we catch up with modernity by traveling by automobiles propelled by Gershwin, Copland, and Frances White. A quick jump into the way-back machine takes us to The Battle of Trenton, James Hewitt's composition of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River. We're exhausted! contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Classic music and rail travel developed throughout the Western world in parallel so perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that there is so much music inspired by the steam engine. This coffee break takes us back to the rails with polkas by Eduard and Johann Strauss. We check in on the conceptual and influential Arthur Honegger's Pacific 231 and circle back to Copland's John Henry, a steel-driving man. The journey ends with a brief listen to David Borden's Fog, Stars, Train, West Hill Lights, Etc., an electronica homage to rail travel. Here is a link to the whole work-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTzdHxbwTHw Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the exploration of the music of travel, first by sleigh. We begin with a fun ride with Leroy Anderson and hear the similarities with Mozart's (Leopold) The Sleigh Ride. We tap into a Sibelius piece then travel into Mother Russia with Prokofiev and Sviridov. We put up our horses and continue the journey by steam engine with Revueltas, Dvorak,and Villa-Lobos with his wonderful O Trenzinho do Caipira. contact the show a yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Music is not about the destination, but the journey, and this coffee break is all about the journey. We listen to music that traveling by foot, caravan, and horse composed by Mussorgsky, Respighi, Händel, and Sibelius. Warhorses Gallop by Yaoching Chan, performed on an erhu, is a wonderful representation of riding a hard-charging horse. And we finally hear what it sounds like when we ride our horse out of the Land of the Dead. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com Listen to the full version of Warhorses Gallup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csDytjZQfaI
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tzu This coffee break unabashedly continues its exploration of love songs, serenades, duets, and more written by the great composers. We dip into operas from Wagner, Mozart, Rossini and other showing how love can be expressed in so many ways. We linger a bit on The Barber of Seville before we move to pieces from Weber, Berlioz, and Verdi among others. A coffee break full of the strength and courage of love. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” ― Dr. Seuss. This coffee break discovers that there are many ways to say "I Love You" as we continue our exploration in the dreamy world of love songs. We start with instrumental pieces--first, light and yearning, then move into some songs composed for the dream world the of the cinema--Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, North By Northwest, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The love continues with solo songs of Faure, Kern, and Bernstein, and a quick dip into a Mozart opera. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriver.com
This coffee break delves into love as a many splendored thing and a source of inspiration for wonderful music. We begin with Roy Harris' Symphony No. 4 sense of the longing love of the one not here. We hear Harry Burleigh's maternal love for the Little Mother of Mine. Then we go way, way back to some secular, but not quite romantic, love songs of the 13th and 14th Centuries with composers Adam de la Halle and Guillaume de Machaut. Next we hear a mixture of 15th Century poetry of Christine de Pizan updated by musician Claire Gignac. We jump into the 16th Century with a Pierre Passereau piece then into the 17th Century with romantic to Reinhard Keiser's opera Croesus--"Love, what are you beginning?" We listen to a quick piece from Don Carlo Gesualdo then a dirty little ditty Matona mir cara by Orlando Lasso, which has been properly censored by the always proper Mr. Somers. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break dips back in Bizet's Carmen, this time listening to the opera version rather than the orchestral version, the "Habanera" from act 1 and the "Toreador Song" from act 2, among the best known of all operatic arias, including a fast, fun quintet and the tragic last scene. We also listen to selections from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne and a piece called Children's Games. Lots of wonderful music from a composer who had a tragically short life. We again apologize for the Bizet puns and promise we won't make any more. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
YCCB apologizes for the Bizet pun, but we finally got it our of our systems. In this coffee break we explore the brief career of this French composer. Bizet struggled throughout his career to make a living. Berlioz hailed Bizet and said that he had a "masterpiece in him." He was right, but Bizet became famous weeks after his death. We listen to his long-lost symphony and, of course, selections of Carmen. What a great overture! We also learn a little bit about the origins of musical theater. contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Berlioz wrote to a friend: "If I were threatened with the destruction of the whole of my works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts." This coffee break explores the power and drama of the Berlioz Requiem, written for a massive orchestra and chorus. But it is the Trojans, his most ambitious work, that many consider the summation of his entire artistic career. Based on Virgil's Aeneid this five-act opera underscores the composer's love of literature and his ability to write grand music. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-4p4Nsh194
This coffee break digs deeper into the brilliant career of Hector Berlioz. A Shakeperean expert who read the Bard and English and French, he composed music for King Lear. But Hector was a wanderer and refused to be defined by any prexisting order of music. He delved into Lord Byron's Romanticism and produced the wonderful Harold in Italy, which reproduced his own travels in Italy. The piece, though lovely, was not virtuosic enough for Niccolò Paganini, for whom it was written. Yet it was cinematic before cinema. And what did Berlioz teach Wagner about leitmotif? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriver.com
It was only three years between Beethoven's last piece to Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique, but in many ways they were light years in mood, tempo, and technique. This coffee break explores Berlioz' free-flowing and emotional music. We follow his recurrent theme, his idée fixe that represented his love, into the fields to the guillotine to a witches' sabbath in this large orchestral piece which challenged the more conservative listener, but thrilled Franz List and other brilliant musicians. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
We continue training a young pianist to utilize full potential. We listen to a piece which requires a pianist to create two voices on the keyboard. How to toss the voices back and forth from each hand. How does one hand create two voices? We use a Mozart sonata to highlight the "sleight of hand" a master must utilize to hide the mastery. We talk about technique, practice, intelligence, memorization, textbook learning, and artistry and how they all combine to produce a performance of genius. We apologize for mentioning we have listeners in White House, England. The correct town is White Haven. Sorry. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com.
This coffee break explores how to teach a promising student piano. Mr. Somers, a life-long teacher, discusses how he approaches teaching piano techniques and how his professional experience playing for the NJ Ballet helped expand his ability to teach others. We listen to some Bach and ask "How the music works?" Beyond the finger techniques, the teacher needs to direct the student to begin to understand the sense of the music and the composer's intention. Next we add complexity with a Robert Schumann piece. And the importance of the physical traits of the student's hands. And must we add that everyone who is "overnight success" must practice, practice, practice? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/
We listen to the YCCB's version of John Cage's 4'33". Is there underpinning music surrounding us all the time? We listen to John Cage's lecture Composition as Process where he states that contemporary music is music that is NOW! How recording music freezes it, perhaps kills it. We are not afraid of silence during this podcast. Mr, Cage would be proud. We finish up with a wonderful percussion piece that shows the rich playfulness of his sound (or lack of). Lou Reed once said that John Cage taught him that EVERYTHING IS MUSIC. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/
"I have nothing to say and I'm saying it," said John Cage. In this coffee break we listen to the compositions of the revolutionary John Cage. He used a a variety of every day objects--toy pianos, kitchen gadgets, metal sheets--to create "music." Chance and randomness were a part of his repertoire, even silence, all influenced by Asian influences and the harmony of nature. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfP5OMCfiZs
This coffee break takes a final listen to the extraordinary development of the use of percussion from the 1600s to the 20th Century. We listen to the coronation of Boris Godunov, thanks to Mr. Mussorgsky, then a hair-raising section from Verdi's Manzoni Requiem. Button up your windbreakers for a triple threat of storms blowing in: Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, and Peter Westergaard's Moby Dick. We close our survey with two wildly creative pieces, Antheil's Ballet Mechanique (with airplane engines as percussion) and Varese's Ionisation (fire engine sirens.) After this invigorating coffee break, you might have to switch to decaf. Let us know what you think. Contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/
This coffee break continues our survey of percussion, again listening to the avant garde sounds of Carl Neilson, this time his Symphony No. 6, a playful approach to nontonal music. We sample some wonderful compositions that use percussion in unique, exciting ways, particularly from composers Michael Torke, Derek Healy, and Warren Benson. We finish up with a lively piece from Malcolm Dagglish called Harmony of Earth and a piece for flute and marimba by Alec Wilder. Fun stuff. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/
This coffee break continues our look back at the history of percussion during the 1600s with the development of martial music. Royalty took over the art form to show, in some cases, how military-ready they were. We examine what music indicates in Shakespearean plays, how it sets the scenes for the audience, and lets them know the cast of characters, e.g. the use of flutes and lutes=the common folk. We also check in with Messrs. Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven and hear how their creative use of percussion changed music. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. casmusic.com/
In this coffee break Mr. Somers ushers us into the wayback machine to hear how percussion evolved from the 1300s. We listen to "In Pain He Said," a Middle Eastern piece featuring oud, drums, and clapping as independent rhythmic lines. Then we move into the Renaissance period and listen to a piece that could have been used as incidental music for Shakespearean plays. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your worldwide recording needs. https://casmusic.com/
Strap on your helmets because this coffee break comes on strong with timpani. Mr. Somers takes on a trip through the styles of timpani dynamics, including Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Symphony #9, as well as pieces from Haydn and Schuman. And we also discuss how the timps took over the parts written for the third trumpets. Those brass players can't get no respect. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Your Classical Coffee Break is partially sponsored by CAS Music. Contact Chris Orazi for all your recording needs. https://casmusic.com/
We celebrate our 100th coffee break with a discussion of some of our favorite moments of the previous 99. We listen to pieces by Copland and Robert Russell Bennett and the amazing Balinese Monkey Song. Some of our favorite topics included Richard Strauss and as an artist under the Nazi regime, Glenn Gould's remake of the Goldberg Variations, the importance of repetition, how Mendelssohn rescued the Beethoven Violin Concerto, among other subjects that make classical music an intriguing and rewarding art form. Help keep the show going and donate at: www,mauriceriverpress.com Thanks so much to Chris Orazi at CAS Music http://casmusic.com/
We spend this coffee break exploring Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, the 20th Century's Greatest Work (and we're sticking to it.) Britten uses his musical mastery and dramatic skill to infuse the Latin Mass of the Dead with the war poems of Wilfred Owen, in powerful and, sometimes, ironic ways. We listen to the Dies Irae to hear Britten's power use of tritones to drive the music forward, as well as the compelling Sanctus and Libera Me, the conclusion. The complex piece uses both a full and chambers orchestras, 3 soloists, 2 choirs (adult and children) to create a simple but awesome message about the horrors of war. Listen to the entire piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=625WOYzdvFw We need your help. Donate at www.mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the discussion of the 20th Century Crisis in classical music where atonality and electronic music divided listeners into separate camps. We listen to a piece by Milton Babbitt to illustrate how music became more academic. The music evolved in the later part of the century and reconnected with audiences in brilliant new ways, particularly in narratives such as Peter Westergaard's opera based on Moby Dick and Qiang Zhang's Nanking Nanking. We discuss Karel Husa's Apotheosis of This Earth (hear the piece by clicking below.) Help support Your Classical Coffee Break by donating at http://mauriceriverpress.com/html/yccb.html Listen to Karel Husa "Apotheosis of This Earth" https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=hG6HHExLDzY
This coffee break discusses Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight")and its effect on the direction of classical music. The piece, premiering in 1912, abandoned a tonal center, reflected the political controversy of the day, and become a essential piece of the Second Viennese School. We listen to a piece by his student Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern and discuss how the twelve-tone technique created a sharp divide with the audiences of the day. Listen to Pierrot Lunaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsIATAaR-X0 Help keep Your Classical Coffee Break serving up it delicious brew of classical music discussions and donate with PayPal at www.mauriceriverpress.com We appreciate the economic vote of confidence.
This coffee break continues the journey on the far reaches of what can be called music. We listen to a piece from composer Miguel Del Aguila then careen into a discussion of Frank Zappa playing bicycle on the old Steve Allen Show. Did Dvorak anticipate ragtime music? We listen to The American Suite and hear the familiar syncopation hidden into a standard classical composition. Wait, what! Airplane engines in an orchestra? What was George Antheil, the bad boy of music, thinking? Contact us at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Listen to a complete piece by Miguel Del Aguila https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=tppwijrN18o Here's Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MewcnFl_6Y
This coffee break explores music that pushes the limits of sound that can be called music--compositions that don't contain the balance of harmony, rhythm, and melody. We listen to pieces from the 18th Century William Billings, the recently passed composer Peter Sculthorpe, and others. We check out what it sounds like when the piano is played from the inside out, then ask the question, can environmental sounds be called music? Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break completes our retrospective on New Jersey-based composer and pianist George Walker's brilliant career. In 1996, Walker became the first black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize In Music for his work, "Lilacs" for voice and orchestra, premiered by the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting. Mr. Somers shares some of his personal experiences with Dr. Walker, then we listen to some wonderful pieces for small ensembles. We say farewell with a last listen to Lyric for Strings. Listen to Lilacs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ScgQUzMqhg contact the podcast at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This podcast celebrates the life and career of George Walker, a great pianist, composer, and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. Dr. Walker died on August 23, 2018. We explore his life then listen to one of his signature pieces, Lyric for Strings, a beautiful, elegiac composition that is his most performed. He rarely suggested a mood for the musician to perform in, but selected a specific tempo, perhaps allowing the performer to determine the mood. Here's a version with full orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2a1vRO_7aY Contact the podcast at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Nicholas Hopkins sticks around for another podcast to discuss his passion for Glenn Gould and examine Gould's two recordings of The Goldberg Variations. Gould recorded the piece first in 1955; world-wide acclaim followed. He rerecorded the piece in 1981, this time at half the tempo of the previous piece. Mr. Hopkins has spent considerable time analyzing the recordings and has arrived at some exciting theories. Here are hyperlinks to Nicholas' book and further info about these intriguing interpretations. https://www.amazon.com/Goulds-Goldberg-Variations-Nicholas-Hopkins/dp/1491149396/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536071701&sr=8-2&keywords=Nicholas+Hopkins+glenn+gould https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/10/25/559611543/the-gould-that-didnt-glitter-new-box-set-of-goldberg-variations-outtakes Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Otto von Bismarck said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” Seeing how music is made is not so distasteful, once the composer hands over the work. This coffee break discusses the challenging art of orchestration and how Robert Russell Bennett, who worked on top Broadway musicals, worked his craft. Nicholas Hopkins, music, engraver, comes back to explore how his craft brings music to life. contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.org
This coffee break continues the discussion of the forgotten Robert Russell Bennett compositions uncovered by Jan and Paul Somers and their attempts to bring the music to musicians and music lovers. Nicholas Hopkins, a music engraver, explains how the music is developed from raw form to the finished product on the sheet music. Although computer programs are heavily used in his craft, Mr. Hopkins explains how only the human touch can add beauty to the page. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
If you check out Robert Russell Bennett in Wikipedia you will see that he "was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers." But that's not the whole story. A treasure trove of Bennett's unpublished and uncopyrighted compositions were discovered and published by Maurice River Press. Special guests flutist Jan Somers and engraver Nicholas Hopkins help tell the fascinating story. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com. Purchase the Bennett CDs at http://mauriceriverpress.com/
Leonard Bernstein said, "Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable." This coffee break wraps up our extended discussion of the prolific, inspired, and diverse career of Leonard Bernstein. Born in 1918, Bernstein was a central figure in American arts and culture from the 1940s until his death in 1990. We listen to music written in the later part of his career-- the dances from West Side Story, his controversial Symphony #3 "Kaddish," Chichester Psalms, and the amazing theatrical piece "Mass"--all powerful and challenging pieces. And we end our coffee break on perhaps his most important work as a conductor--his interpretation of Beethoven's Symphony #9. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IInG5nY_wrU contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This podcast continues the celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday and briefly discusses his published letters and his personal life. We listen to the ending of his musical Candide, another example of his big, life-affirming ethos. Just for fun we listen to Candide's Overture, a short piece that exemplifies Bernstein's breadth and depth as a composer. The piece he wrote for his wife shows his ability to write small, exquisite pieces. His Serenade shows his eagerness to grapple with weighty topics. Plus giving us one of the most virtuosic violin pieces. Listen to a complete performance of Serenade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp868n6rem8 contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break explores Leonard Bernstein's importance to the culture as well as the amazing scope of his compositions. We listen to some of his smaller compositions, many that were composed as notes or thank yous to friends, but then move on to his more robust sounds for theater and film. His wide range can be heard from his compositions for the brassy On the Town to the powerful ending music of movie On the Waterfront, written to celebrate the redemption of a fallen man. Here is the Symphonic Suite from 'On the Waterfront' www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwvsV5cAks contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break delves in the extraordinary career of Leonard Bernstein, We begin with the rarely heard, clever, complex, and outright fun Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, then move into his brooding, searching Symphonies #1 Jeremiah and #2 Age of Anxiety. We listen to music that shows his passion for community and his desire to elevate the human spirit. Watch a Bernstein's Young People's Concert, "What Does Music Mean?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxwWlQNGeKE Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues it exploration of Samuel Barber's music, beginning with his incomparable Violin Concerto. Although many of Barber’s works make literary allusions, his music is not programmatic in the strict sense. His range was impressive from composing solo piano pieces (in slow blues tempo)to opera to the nostalgic Knoxville:Summer of 1915, inspired by Pulitzer Prize winner James Agee's essay. His opera Vanessa, with libretto by longtime partner Gian Carlo Menotti was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Barber’s Piano Concerto brought him new international success and another Pulitzer Prize. Some critics, when comparing him to Copland or Leonard Bernstein, said of his classic style, "With audiences clamoring for novelty, all Barber could offer them was honesty." contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break explores the work of Samuel Barber, an American composer who did not pursue big American themes, as Aaron Copland did. Instead, Barber's Adagio for Strings, written when he was in his 20s, was "celebrated for its fragile simplicity and emotion," (National Public Radio) We explore the wide landscape of his music, as well as its power and depth. Called a post-Romantic, Barber said he had no particular musical style, but stated "I just go on doing, as they say, my thing. I believe this takes a certain courage." contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break circles back to take a different perspective on the French composer Claude Debussy--his compositions for solo instruments. We begin with the piece for the clarinet, Syrinx, but quickly move on to his extraordinary piano compositions. Mr. Somers discusses Debussy's great technical ability to write music that sounded so airy and in the moment, as well as his connection with Russian composers. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Debussy said, "The primary aim of French music is to give pleasure." The coffee break explores the concept that Debussy's music captures the emotion and power of the moment--being mesmerized by clouds or thrilled by a festival--rather than being taken on a journey. We talk a bit about how he achieves this technically(shifting chords and not using half steps)but mainly we listen to Debussy's dreamy, colorful music that celebrates the precious present. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break explores the later works of Philip Glass. We listen to his 2nd Symphony and analyze the layered aspects of his composition, where he relies less on minimalism than broader sounds, using multiple keys. In many cases, his music seems "unresolved," as if it's a perpetual motion machine. Does Glass create a "sonic environment" that a listener can dip in and out off, rather than a presentation piece? Mr. Glass, just what are your intentions? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break takes a quick trip to Bali to hear the Frog Song and the Monkey Chant then circles back to Steve Reich and more contemporary music to show how repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern. We dip into some jazz with Take Five and So What to show how, in the hands of jazz masters, repetition can be downright cool. We dissect Mr. Somers' minimalist piece, Meditations on Jacob Wrestling. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
"There is chaos without repetition," says Mr. Somers as this coffee break continues its examination of repetition in music. We go way back to the Ars nova period, in the 1300s, to listen to fascinating vocal music similar to the minimalists that came centuries later. We jump up to Mozart's Don Giovanni to hear how a repeated rhythmic pattern holds together the Act II sextant. What!? Beethoven, a minimalist? We explore his Symphony #6 to find clues, then listen to the longest e flat chord on record. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Wherein Messrs. Somers and Herron discuss the controversial works of Philip Glass and the challenges musicians face when playing his music. This coffee break dips into Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" to begin the discussion on minimalism and repetition in music. Does each piece of music have to take the listeners on a journey? Is there a journey in minimalist music or does it illuminate the moment? And how the heck did we end of listening to Gregorian chants? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Here's some music from Mr. Glass' film score from The Hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-vrNaIWPZQ&list=PL3PK8kjprT5W0u99qmS4g75e3tfPRHOeK
We wrap up the retrospective on the influences on Mr. Somer's career by listening to, of course, a bit of Bach's b minor Mass. We go a little brass crazy and listen to a wonderful piece by Giovanni Gabrieli, then pivot to the work of de Falla, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mozart, and Ralph Vaughan Williams in a whirlwind tour of meaningful music in our esteemed friend's life. A truly heartfelt coffee break of tender memories and powerful music. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues exploring Mr. Somer's career and his compositions for the theater. Even though he had access to an early version of the MOOG synthesizer, he decided to use acoustic instruments for background music for The Scottish Play. We also discuss how Charles Ives, Benjamin Briton, and spiritual music have influenced his work. And maybe, just maybe one of Mr. Somer's pieces was the inspiration for John William's Jaws Theme. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break goes on a trip through memory to discover the pieces of music that were crucial to Mr. Somer's love of music and his career as a musician, composer, and critic. We travel back with Samuel Barber to "Knoxville: Summer of 1915," go a train trip with Villa-Lobos' "The Little Train to Caipira," and sing along with Norman Dello Joio's A Jubilant Song. We even dip in Dave Brubeck's "The Riddle" and taste some Dixieland jazz. Contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This is a special coffee break where we go back to hear the music that was important to Paul Somers as he began his career in classical music. Offenbach was an early composer he remembers. Love of music was instilled by his family when he was very young, In fact it was Bach's B minor Mass that brought his grandparents together in a large concert in Bethlehem, PA. And many years later the Mass became important to him as well. We also listen to some Mendelssohn and Beethoven pieces that helped form his perspective on music. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break takes a quick look at the War of the Romantics where Franz Liszt was the radical progressive in a shift against the older order of absolute music. As he aged he composed more religious-based, dramatic music, even began to dress as monk. We explore his piece "Sonata," a important work that creates chromatic tunes that can be challenging as to what key it's in. A ground breaking composer, an extraordinary performer, Liszt pushed boundaries, yet seemed to have a sense of sadness about him. He was quoted as saying, "Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist." Contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
How much of Franz Liszt's music is bling, how much is great? This coffee break signs on in the "great" category as it delves into the music of Franz Liszt. He was a composer of grand orchestral music, wrote the first composition to be called a "tone poem," as well as numerous works based on literary pieces An extraordinary pianist, Liszt wrote pieces that showed off his great skill but ultimately went for bigger and grander sounds. He toured extensively and brought opera music to the masses, although in a scaled down version. A creator of extraordinary and varied music, Liszt is an all-time great. contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.org
“Bach is like an astronomer who, with the help of ciphers, finds the most wonderful stars . . . Beethoven embraced the universe with the power of his spirit . . . I do not climb so high. A long time ago I decided that my universe will be the soul and heart of man” - Chopin. We continue our discussion of Chopin and listen to more of his elegant, yet passionate music. We answer a few questions, like How did Chopin name his compositions? Why we can't hear Chopin's music today the way it was performed in his time? What Chopin tune might you hear at a baseball game? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break explores the composition and music aesthetic of Frederic Chopin, a genius of the keyboard. Did his compositions emulate the "bel canto" Italian operas of the time? What was his impact on classical music? And, for Chopin, was it all about that base? For all of his beautiful, textured music, he strove for simplicity and was quoted as saying, "After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break focuses on the bright, inventive music of Trent Johnson, a composer and organist who lives in Montclair, NJ (Montclair seems to attract numerous American composers). Why current composers have to be flexible in writing all genres of music to be successful. We listen to an e minor piano sonata of Florence Price, the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. In closing our series on composers of African descent, we listen to "Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed," Adolphus Hailstork's extraordinary homage to Martin Luther King. contact the show at yccb@Mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break discusses how some classical pieces became the Classical Canon, and other great music did not break through. Is it just the quality of music? Or are politics or race reasons why some pieces never find an audience. We listen to more extraordinary music from composers of African descent, including William Levi Dawson, Henry Thacker "Harry" Burleigh, and George Walker. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break listens to extraordinary, but rarely heard classical music written by composers of African descent. Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was a virtuoso violinist, and conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris. His mother was an African slave. Louis Moreau Gottschalk composed music with an African-Caribbean flavor. Born in New Orleans in 1829 – Gottchalk was best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. José Silvestre White was an Afro-Cuban violinist and composer born in Cuba in 1836, studied in Paris, was director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before returning to France to end his career. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, born in England in 1875, was an Afro-British composer, conductor & professor. Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" at the time when he had three tours of the United States in the early 1900s. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriver press.com
This coffee break goes under the hood of the allegro sonata form to hear how it hums. The form was developed long before recording instruments were invented so composers used repetition to ensure their tunes were heard and appreciated. We pull apart Mozart's F Major Piano Sonata to better understand the piece's structure and power. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Your Classical Coffee Break takes its last lap on our world-wide journey. This time we go back in time as well to travel to the Brandenburg Gate with Dave Brubeck, Old California with William Grant Still, visit The Cloisters, and march down the Appian Way with Respighi and the Roman Army. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Your Classic Coffee Break agrees with the Buddha in believing that it is better to travel well than to arrive. In that spirit, we continue our world-wide journey exploring natural wonders through music, visiting a babbling brook in Connecticut, the Central Steppes of Russia, the Plains of North America, the Artic, and back to New England. Whew! But what road music! Mr. Somers sneaks in a beloved, well-known piece to finish this leg of our trip. contact us at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Kurt Vonnegut stated, "Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God." This coffee break takes us on a whirlwind musical tour of Rome, Ithaca (NY), Japan, China, then back to New Jersey to hear Frances White's fascinating piece which uses the sound of traffic over a bridge as a foundation, Along the way we listen to Respighi's Fountains of Rome, as well as Henry Cowell's Snows of Fujiyama and explore how Nature's wonder serve as a muse for composers. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
(Turn up the volume a bit, the first piece starts out softly.) This coffee break puts on its hiking boots, dons scuba gear, and packs a thermos of java to begin a journey around the globe. Natural wonders and their topography have always inspired composers to recreate the Earth in music. Grab your passport and enjoy the celebration of Mother Earth. (FYI--as of this posting Pulitzer Prize-winning George Crumb is very much alive.) contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
In this freewheeling coffee break, clarinetist Dr. Christopher DiSanto, Associate Professor of Music, Stockton University, shares his perceptions on how artists approach virtuosic, as well as less technical, more emotional compositions. We talk about how a clarinet can play a cello solo, tempo and Beethoven's metronome, and can "showing your chops" ruin musicality? We also listen to some exceptional clarinet performances. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break with Professor Christopher DiSanto, Associate Professor of Music, Stockton University, has a Viennese flavor. Dr. DiSanto, a professional clarinetist, discusses how he approaches performing Brahms, especially understanding the technical and emotional aspects of the pieces, even how he determines what kind of clarinet to use. We listen to some exquisite clarinet music, as well as discuss how to hire musicians for orchestras and the excellence of regional orchestras. contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
A special guest visits this coffee break. Dr. Christopher DiSanto, Associate Professor of Music, Stockton University, shares his unique insights on classical music from his perspective as a professional clarinetist, orchestra personnel manager, and university professor. We hear some wonderful ensemble pieces performed by Dr. DiSanto and dig into how an artist approaches a new (or familiar) musical composition. contact us at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee breaks ends the examination of music that represents death by listening to extraordinary works by two great composers, music that takes us through the darkness into the afterlife. Sinfonia da Requiem was Benjamin Britten's antiwar piece that was structured similarly to the Roman Catholic Mass for the dead. Britten's War Requiem brings choir, soloist, poetry and two orchestras together to create an amazing vision of life and death. Death and Transfiguration is Richard Strauss's tone poem about a dying man's thoughts on his life's experience and he finally receives his transfiguration "from the infinite reaches of heaven." Powerful ideas and music. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break continues the journey to the dark side through music. Our first take is from Verdi's Don Carlos, a powerful sound of religious retribution, with a mighty chorus of the Spanish Inquisition. Then we hear Bach with his spiritual, reflective composition on the death of Jesus, in his B minor Mass. Ultimately our journey leads us to Tuonela, the Finnish Hades where we hear glorious spirits rising up into the heavens. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break tackes a BIG Topic--how music interprets death and mourning. But it's not a gruesome journey because we listen to some gorgeous music, especially Mozart's Don Giovanni and Beethoven's Egmont. Mr. Somers discusses the structures composers use to denote passing away, particularly the use of half-notes. Benjamin Britten's use of groaning in his opera Billy Budd can be startling, but generally we listen to some perfectly lovely dirges. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers leads us on a journey of American folk music, exploring the partnership between Dvorak and the great American musician Harry Burleigh. Burleigh was an African American composer, arranger, and singer of spiritual and sacred music who later arranged these pieces in a more classical form. We listen to Roy Harris and Aaron Copland, and attempt to answer the question What is American Music? Contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues our exploration of how folk tunes were the basis of much classical music. Some composers went into the fields to hear the music of the common folk and transform it into high art, including, believe it or not, The Cricket is Getting Married, Ethnomusicology was born. Lindeman often used Norwegian folk music. Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky used Russian. This coffee break is a wonderful reminder of the wide palette of sounds composers use to compose great music. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Beethoven, a Folkie? Maybe not in the Woodie Guthrie sense, but his use of folk songs supported numerous works, especially Wellington's Victory. He even arranged some lyrical, classic Welsh tunes. Tchaikovsky was a great adapter of classic Russian folk tunes. This coffee break goes way, way back to hear a very early recording of Tchaik #4, then back later still to Hungarian fields to find the source material for a Kodaly piece. contact the show at yccb@gmail.com
The coffee break finishes its exploration of the Brahms Symphony #4. Mr. Somers gets into the nuts and bolts of musical construction with an analysis of Brahms powerful, yet subtle construction of the 4th movement. We compare Brahms and Bach and their use of half-steps, then unpack Brahms' toolbox to see how he constructed his musical maze. This is a deep listen to one of the great symphonies. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
During the first part of our Brahms Symphony #4 journey, we listened to less than 30 seconds and found powerful depth and passion. We continue the Brahms exploration by discovering how he created the sounds of elation and anxiety through his use of chord changes, especially through the use of half steps and surprising instrumentation. We hope that this discussion helps you enjoy this amazing symphony. contact the the show at yccc@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break comes out of the sunlight discussions and delves into the complicated genius of the Brahms Symphony #4. We look at the game Brahms is playing in the composition. What is home? And what is our journey that makes us yearn for home. contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
For our final coffee break about sunrises, we revisit Hadyn's The Creation and the Big Bang, just because it's so amazing. We listen to how the human voice recreates the sunrise in a contemporary work, Dazzle of Day. Then we step back in time to Charles Ives' Decoration Day to hear the melancholy, layered sound of memory, then listen to the mystery of the first Easter morning. For our last sunrise, we hear Louis Spohr's invocation of the dawn after the Apocalypse. Contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break continues the exploration of music depicting sunrise, this time from a spiritual perspective. We listen to a variety of music from the Native American (Deer Spirit Welcomes the Dawn) and Moravian traditions, as well as contemporary music. We talk about what techniques composers use to depict lightness and even check in on the Alpine Symphony to hear how night falls. Conatct the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
In continuing our investigation on how composers interpret dawn and sun shine, we listen to Mendelssohn's composition for Shakespeare's Mid-Summer's Night Dream in 1842, particularly the magical moment when night becomes day. Another unlikely collaboration is Grieg's composition for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, perhaps the most recognizable classical music rendition of morning. Ravel's Rise of Day, a more impressionist piece, shows a depth of the morning sound that entrances. We even get a chance to hear one of Mr. Somer's composiitons.
Contact the podcast at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The coffee break goes back to the very beginning, the darkness-before-the-big-bang beginning to explore how composers interpret sunrises. We listen to Haydn's The Creation and hear what the very first morning might have sounded like. We investigate sunlight as a story-telling event and shine a light on Wagner, Sibelius, and Strauss. A very illuminating coffee break. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
French composer Edouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole didn't fit the "norms" of what was called a concerto--it was sprawling, had 5 movements, and explored new forms and rhythms. With its French flair and Spanish flavors. it was certainly not of the Germanic school. Inspired, perhaps liberated, by Lalo, Tchaikovsky let his Russian flag fly and composed his extraordinary Violin Concerto allowing himself to express with all the passion and freedom his artistic soul would allow. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
How did two of the greatest violin concerti reach the concert hall? Mr. Somers explains some of the background of the Brahms and Dvorak concerti as we listen to some amazing "fiddle" music. Was Brahm piece "enhanced" by the brilliant violinist Joseph Joachim, the wunderkind who brought the Beethoven violin concerto to life? Was Dvorak a victim of prejudice because of his Czech heritage? Did Brahms come to the rescue to open the door to the music world for Dvorak's work? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Why the lackluster response to Beethoven's Violin Concerto when it premiered in 1806? Was the violinist showboating and unprepared to play or was the piece too complex and difficult for that era's audience to appreciate? Almost 40 years later, Felix Mendelssohn recused the piece from the dustbin of history and conducted a performance in London with Joseph Joachim, an 11-year-old boy, as soloist. Only then did the world recognize yet another work of Beethoven's genius that pushed the limits of the form. Contact the show at yccb@mauricereiverpress.com
We close our exploration of Sibelius by examining his 2 versions of his Symphony #5, This serves as an example on how the exceptional composer constantly refined his ideas and sound until he came up with something startling and new--like his use of brass and the bold new ending of his #5. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The Pauls explore Finlandia, Sibelius' brilliant, powerful tone poem which became a symbol of Finland's constant struggle for freedom from Russian domination. But the piece also shows his devotion to his big sound that drove him to compose some of his greatest symphonies. Through his Violin Concerto and later work, we hear Sibelius refine and simplify his sound as he developed into a focused, disciplined artist. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This Coffee Break explores Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' powerful music. His complex sound can be lush and romantic, but often can be spare and full of melancholy. Prolific in the early part of his career, Sibelius was inspired by Scandinavian myths, composing symphonies, operas, and tone poems. But inside the structure of the Finnish composer's music, Mr. Somers found the Sibelius brand, the recurring "S" motif that runs from his earliest creations to his final works. Contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The Coffee Break continues to look at the tumultuous year of 1859. Many new inventions prepared the way for a modern world. Music reflected the major changes in politics and culture. "The Nationale" fueled a political movement. Verdi wrote a piece featuring a political assassination, then later wrote the great opera Aida commissioned to celebrate the building of the Suez Canal (digging began in 1859). How the song "Dixie" was highjacked to be used as a Confederate anthem. contact us at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
1859 was a year full of dynamic breakthroughs in technologically (particularly transportation), the arts, and philosophy. Darwin, Marx, Wagner, and Brahms produced some of their greatest works, ushering in a new world of bold ideas that disrupted the old ways of thinking. Musically, the Tristan chord initiated the move away from traditional tonal harmony, and even toward atonality. And in Gounod's Faust, evil becomes commonplace, and Mephistopheles is shown as just a regular guy. Contact the podcast at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The American composer and arranger Robert Russell Bennett was best known for orchestrating hit Broadway and Hollywood musicals, but he also wrote numerous compositions that were rarely played and never recorded. Paul Somers, and our special guest his wife Jan Somers, acquired the rights and began publishing and recording these uncovered musical gems through Maurice River Press. Listen to music that has not been played in decades and was never previously recorded. Discover a piece of American music long forgotten in this very special coffee break. For information about the Robert Russell Bennett recordings, contact: YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break discusses how classical music is used in advertising (and some movies) to put people in the mood to purchase products or services. Mr. Somers challenges us to match the well-known classical pieces with the ads (or purchase impulses) that they inspire. We also briefly circle back to review the musical structure of Thus Spake Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. Contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break journeys beyond Aaron Copland's music and explores the powerful, open sounds of three other important American composers: Walter Piston, Roy Harris, and Norman Dello Joio. Although their music is rarely played in the symphony hall, these three composers stand alongside Copland as essential American artists. Mr. Somers shares Dello Joio's wonderful choral piece, "A Jubilant Song." Here's a link to the entire piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i8kxRallMk contact us at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break revisits the exuberant American sound of Aaron Copland with another hearing of his powerful The Tender Land, but it quickly veers off to check out some "unCopland-like" sounds. During his 52-year career, Copland composed a wide variety of powerful music from small dissonant pieces, movie scores, Marine Corps anthems, and even a soundtrack for an industrial film for the 1939 World's Fair. Copland's score for the movie North Star shows how he revolutionized how soundtracks were written. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers shares the powerful music of the great American composer Aaron Copland from an early piano piece (which he describes as "big hands full of notes") to the later better known pieces such as Fanfare for the Common Man. He discusses how Copland's American sound was created, spare but powerful, like a Remington painting. We briefly hear a piece from his heartbreaking opera, The Tender Land. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Ludewig Spohr is another genius of the 1800s who has dropped out of fashion. A composer of more than 300 works for symphony, chamber ensemble, violin, clarinet, and voice, his excellent works are rarely heard today. Mr. Somers also gives us a taste of another great composer Walter Piston, and the classical base of an old radio/TV theme song. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The towering music of Johann Sebastian Bach was not in fashion during his lifetime; he was known mainly for his exceptional organ playing. But it was his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach who were the megastars and paved the way for the Classical period of Mozart and Haydn. JSB must have been a proud poppa. Also, how silence can break your heart. And what did Miles Davis mean when he said, "Never play the root"? contact the show at: YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com The Miles Davis reference comes from a Mark Maron WTF podcast interview of Paul Schaefer. Caution--the language is explicit. http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-797-paul-shaffer
Before dying at a young age from tuberculosis, Jan Vaclav Vorisek wrote one great symphony. Franz Schubert also died young but was extremely prolific, while his compatriot Vorisek spent much of time studying and practicing law. Some compositions we now consider great were unheard or unappreciated during the composers' lifetime. Was it politics or fashion that Shubert never heard his 9th Symphony and Beethoven's Violin Concerto was revived after Ludwig's death by a 12-year-old violinist? contact Your Classical Coffee Break at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The Pauls continue their discussion on the barriers to fame for brilliant classical composers. It wasn't until Haydn went to Vienna and opened up his repertoire (instead of writing music for the obscure string instrument, the baryton) did he get the recognition he deserved. Luigi Boccherini, the originator of the string quartet, become obscure when he moved to to Spain. Gender is also a strong barrier to fame, as Mr. Somers shares the brilliant, yet woefully underappreciated work of Teresa Carreno. email the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com Check out this newsletter on Boccherini: http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/bocc_mark.htm
Could it be that some geniuses are never discovered because of where they live? Okay, today the Web allows everyone to share music, genius or not, but back in the day Johann Wilhelm Wilms might have written symphonies as powerful as Beethoven's but, because he lived in Amsterdam, nobody heard. Mr. Somers shares some powerful music by, perhaps, the greatest composer you never heard of. email the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers rolls out the blackboard to dissect the inner workings of the modern symphony form, using Joseph Haydn's "Surprise Symphony" as an example. Written before the invention of recording devices, most listeners only had one chance to hear this great music at a live concert. We examine the structure of the thematic material to understand how the music was composed to be memorable and "stick" in the listeners' heads," email the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.org
Mr. Somers goes back to The Creation of the World by Darius Milhaud to see how classical music and jazz first merged, even before Gerschwin. We listen to Dave Brubeck and Leonard Bernstein as they "trade fours" in their attempt to merge the forms. We finish our search for genius and improvisation with a jazz piece by Bill Smith, with eight movements, based on an old folk tune. Email the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
We follow the trail of improvisation in Baroque music to New Orleans and the beginnings of Jazz with Jelly Roll Morton, then onto Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Dave Brubeck. Then we mix it all up with fascinating pieces where classical and jazz create a Third Stream. We end up in Spain where we hear Miles' Sketches where he incorporates an ancient musical technique with Jazz. Minds might be blown. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Continuing their pursuit of understanding genius, the Pauls discover music from Spain, Soweto, and Mars to understand how music can be improvised within a structured format. We find that genius can be found even within a piano. A coffee break with some beautiful and far out sounds. And a taste of Gershwin too. contact the show at: yccb@mauricerivepress.com
Mr. Somers shows how brilliant musical structure can disappear in the immediacy of the performance, using the fugue and the passacaglia as examples. We listen to some excerpts of powerful works by Benjamin Britten. And how to play what's not there in Brahms Symphony No. 4. contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
How much improvisation was there in performing Baroque music? A lot! says Mr. Somers as he discusses how Harmony was the springboard to improvisation. We take a quick zip through Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to explore the structural genius in creating a classic piece of music. Make sure you bring a coat. Winter can get pretty icy. contact the show at: yccy@mauriceriverpress.com
The Pauls continue to consider the nature of genius with a discussion of how the play and movie "Amadeus" treats the creativity of Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Perhaps Salieri wasn't such a slouch after all. We listen to some of his works and compare them to Mozart's and Beethoven's and discover that Salieri could stand toe-to-toe with the legendary heavyweights. For background, listen to: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah Contact Your Classical Coffee Break at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Messrs. Somers and Herron discuss the nature of genius and how music and art are created. Drawing from a Malcolm Gladwell's "Revisionist History" podcast, the discussion compares the slow style of Beethoven versus the quick-on-the-trigger style of Schubert. And, by the way, is Shubert's "Trout" Quintet, the first anti-industrial, "green" composition? Listen to the Malcolm Gladwell podcast: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah Contact us at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
This coffee break is full of mystery as Mr. Somers plays a game with us all. He plays a series of exceptional music and we must guess who are the composers. A free CD of Mr. Somers' original music to the first person who emails the right answer, contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The conversation continues regarding Tchaikovsky's BIG SOUND and BIG TUNES, with a focus on the ballet Romeo and Juliet and the 1812 Overture (heard with a choir.) We close the talk with the great composer's final symphony, "Pathetique," and tragic, controversial death. Did Tchaikovsky conduct his very own suicide note? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
A troubled artist pushes the boundaries of creativity as he finds his unique voice in a turbulent world. The Pauls finish the discussion on Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, "Fate," and explore the brilliance of his ballet scores, such as The Nutcracker. And what is the BIG TUNE all about, anyway? contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
One final trip to Mars and otherworldly music before the two Pauls travel to Mother Russia to discuss the great composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Mr. Somers explores the contrast between the structured Europen compositions and the folk-based, heart-on-the-sleeve tradition of Russian composers. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers shows the ever-expanding complexity of sacred music as it evolved, went quadrophonic, and found, perhaps, its greatest form in Bach's St. Matthew Passion. And how JSB used numerology in his spiritual composition. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
How the building of the great cathedrals helped classical music develop, when echoes are important to sacred music, and why ancient music sometimes sounds like it comes from Mars. Mr. Somers samples amazing music that transports to other worlds. contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
We have one last discussion on Richard Strauss and his amazing work, "Thus Spake Zarathrustra," used in the opening of Stanley Kubrick's "2001, A Space Odessey." Then we journey back to the beginning of classical music, explore early sacred music, and listen to the work of the very first woman composer. Contact us at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Your Classical Coffee Break presents a holiday discussion of Christmas Concerti, a specialized, rich genre of sacred music of the 18th century. We listen to how Handel adapted the genre for "Messiah." contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers concludes the extraordinary story of Richard Strauss' courageous struggle as an artist living in Nazi Germany. He shares Strauss' later work, including "Metamorphosen," a heart-rending piece that reflects on the destruction WWII brought to Germany, and his inspirational works composed just before he died. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
The Pauls continue the discussion regarding Richard Strauss and his courageous personal and artistic stand while living and composing under the realm of the Third Reich: how he safeguarded his family from the SS, continued to work with Jewish artists, and attempted to release concentration camp prisoners. Mr. Somers shares the stunning and rarely heard anthem for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com.
The coffee break discussion focuses on the career of Richard Strauss, German composer of the late Romantic era, and his great operas and tone poems. The talk leads to the dilemma of the artist who lives in a police state. Strauss composed during the Third Reich and had to steer through a difficult poltical path to survive and create. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriver.com
Mr. Somers discusses his first lessons in composition and why and how composing music is like a game. We get to hear and explore some of Mr. Somer's own pieces. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers and Mr. Herron further explore how music is composed and how repetition is used in creating tunes and melodies using a Haydn minuet and trio as examples. And why does Beethoven sound like Beethoven? We listen to Beethoven's last string quartet for answers. The discussion refers to Aaron Copland's book, "What to Listen for in Music." Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com.
Mr. Somers and Mr. Herron discuss how music is composed by analyzing JS Bach's inventions and answer the questions raised by a Beethoven string quartet. Contact the show at: yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers and Mr. Herron finish their discussion on Romanticism by investigating Schubert's passionate compositions and the political reason for the popularity of chamber concerts. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com
Mr. Somers and Mr. Herron talk about the musical term "Romanticism" and how composers express their personal emotions in their music. Mozart a romanticist? We listen to the overture of Wolfgang's "Don Giovanni," then take a trip to a deep, dark German forest. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com.
Paul Somers and Paul Herron finish out their discussion about Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and how the great Master was able to complete this symphony in TRIUMPH. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com.
Paul Somers and Paul Herron begin their first coffee break with a discussion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, a great entry point for people who want to learn more about classical music. Mr. Somers is a classical music composer, critic, and musician, and owns, with his wife Jan, Maurice River Press. Mr. Herron is a non-profit administrator who worked at a small symphony orchestra for ten years but is still eager to learn about the great art form. Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com. (Sorry about the cicadas in the background in the beginning. It just happened to be that time of year in southern New Jersey. They get quieter.)