RELAXING with FIELD

Piano Sonata in E-flat op.1nr.1
 Field's three Piano Sonatas were published in London in 1801 as Opus 1 with a dedication to Clementi, seemingly marking the beginning of a possible career as a composer. The sonatas are each in two movements, lacking a central Adagio. They reflect contemporary influences, notably that of Clementi an of Dussek, who was in London in the 1790s. The sonata-form first movement of Sonata in E-flat major is followed by a lively Rondo, its principal theme accompanied by wide leaps in the left hand. 

Field - Piano Sonata Op.1 n.1

Allegro moderato




Rondo (Allegretto)

CLEMENTI
and his monferrines

According to Grove,

A country dance, Piedmontese in origin, popular in England in the early 19th century (sometimes called ‘monfrina’, ‘monfreda’ or ‘manfredina’). Typical examples, in 6/8 metre, appear in Wheatstone’s Country Dances for 1810 and Companion to the Ballroom (c1816). Clementi composed two sets, of 12 (op.49, 1821) and six (wo15–20).

 Unique little dances that shaped the pianistic craftmanship of Clementi, comparing to minuets, these dances deserved to be better known.

Monferrina WO15

Credits to Alex for contributing the score. Please note that this score is intended for educational purposes. Please respect existing copyrights.

Monferrina WO16

Credits to Alex for contributing the score. Please note that this score is intended for educational purposes. Please respect existing copyrights.

CLEMENTI
early piano sonatas#2

Piano Sonata in F major WO3

Clementi, like all composers for the emerging amateur
music market, needed to balance his own artistic
ambitions against the tastes and abilities of his intended
audience. In the sonatas of his middle London period
he often managed this very well. The unpretentious first
movement of the Sonata WO3 (‘WO’ means without opus
number) has an engaging, if disquieting, rhythm that
responds throughout to the accented second beat of the main theme.

Hyperion 

By examining the style of this sonata, its much complicated comparing to the former sonatas posted,  it used a theme that is leaning to the minor but falls back to the major instantly, a rather rare* style of Clementi sonatas. Here are 2 tracks played by Shelley.

*I was rather curious this sonata had been composed by Clementi or wrongly attributed.

1st:vivace

2nd:rondeau

Clementi
Early piano sonatas

Piano sonata in A-flat major WO13

Clementi’s earliest surviving composition is the three movement solo Sonata in A flat major, WO13 (‘WO’means ‘without opus’), composed in 1765 when the
thirteen-year-old was still in Rome. This piece and the sonatas of Op 1 (1771), while at points betraying their composer’s youth, show that he was fully conversant with the European keyboard practices of the time, while
also revealing some real strokes of originality. For the most part this music consists of a spare melody-plus accompaniment texture typical of what even then was called galant style. But a movement such as the appealing final Menuetto of Op 1 No 5, for all its simplicity, shows rather advanced rhythmic sophistication for a composer in his teens.

Hyperion

image details:This sonata comprises of 3 movement, namely Allegro ma non troppo, Larghetto and Allegro assai, whereas the 3rd and 4th pages of movements 1 and 3 and the entire 2nd movement had been omitted in this sample.

credits to Alex from PP for contributing the score.

Anyone who has keen interest in this sonata can have a look at Ut Orpheus website.

Track information: 1st and 3rd movements of this sonata played by Spada.(Shelley played a bit too fast in the 1st movement)

Allegro ma non troppo

Allegro assai

Clementi 
Early works for piano

Clementi, the name often heard of when playing the sonatina, one of his famous forms of works. Sadly, his large output seemed to have gone into oblivion after his death. He wrote mainly for piano, included sonatas, sonatinas and instructive works. He is a piano maker and owns a company, promoting piano superior to the harpsichord. What I want to promote here is an early piano work, believed to be a sub-movement to an opused sonata.

Allegro in G, WO14*

*this is originally titled sonata and has 2 movements, since all recordings has cut out the 2nd movt. (included in the score) so I would not post it out. WO means without opus - Clementi is an English.

This score is intended for educational purposes and promotion of obscure works by the composer, please do not use it commercially.

Divshare problem

Not posting any mp3 files since divshare server is down temporarily, will repost them as soon as divshare is back to normal.

A CD for promotion #4
best recording

Bach oboe concerts (first recordings)

Review from Amazon

There are many recordings of Bach works for oboe soloist on both modern and baroque oboe, and this one likely won't be easy to get hold of. Too bad, because it is such a fine recording, so enjoyable to listen to, and in my opinion is one of the best from the Bach Ensemble and its director, Joshua Rifkin. Dr. Rifkin's liner notes present the scholarly case for combining movements from Bach's cantatas to make oboe concertos, and they are clear, informative, and interesting. What really shines here though is the oboe playing by Stephen Hammer. It is flawless, beautifully phrased playing that has joy and confidence built in--so attractive to listen to again and again. I came to find this CD because I was looking for recordings on which Hammer plays, because I think very highly of his playing. This one provides an opportunity to hear him play the oboe d'amore too, which is a lower-pitched and lovely oboe that is called for in one of the three concertos on this disc. Listeners who appreciate baroque oboe playing will marvel at Hammer's ability to manage Bach's very long phrases in certain movements. Bach scarcely gave his players any point at which to breathe. Playing some of the solo parts here is like running a mile while holding your breath, but Hammer is a marvel. He manages it so beautifully. This disc is highly recommended for listening pleasure if you can get hold of it.

It's hard to find these recordings nowadays due to scarcity and market trend, classical music CDs deserved a pushup from the market. Anyway, in comparison with the 2 discs  
posted, this is the best recording that I have ever encountered. The Bach Ensemble produces the sound that is similar to the period instrument ensemble, as listed 'original instruments'. Stephen Hammer is a better oboist in handling such periodic instruments. 
Here is a sample track form the disc.

A CD for promotion #3

j.s.bach oboe concerts (BIS)

A new and distinguishable performance compared to the former post, the latter one has a better recording quality. This CD contains 2 whole oboe concertos that are reconstructed by surviving harpsichord concertos (last 2), identical to the former posted CD, the first 2, 1st from BWV49,169 while 2nd from BWV 35, 156. A movement from Easter oratorio was added in the middle, act as an intervention between the 4 oboe concertos.

Why reconstruct?

It is believed that J.S.Bach had (maybe) composed concertos for the oboe, this can be found by evidence for the oboe use in his sinfonias of cantatas and some of his Brandenburgs. But still, there is only one concerto that was believed to have been conceived the oboe part BWV1059, sadly it was only nine bars (identical to one of his cantata openings). From this point of view, reconstructions must be made to recover the purity of the concerto. It is thought that the harpsichord concertos are only drafts to the original ones(now lost) and oboe is the perfect instrument that Bach may have used to. There are alternatives such as recorder, viola, string ensembles but no other sounds so much Bach to me. Oboe was chosen by many recordings for the reconstruction is beacuse it was the only instrument that can instill the actual feel of Bach (just sounds perfect for me)

What does Bach feel to me?

Bach, as I can say was my favourite composer since childhood. I can recall the memory hearing the first Bach music - Brandenburg 3 as I hum along it wherever I go, the music is just so catchy and easy to memorize. I like to listened to others as well, Vivaldi, Handel but I like the Bachian style. His music, as I can say, was composed carefully that the music wouldn't be bored when heard a hundred times. As from this point, the reconstructions of those favourable melodies will never stop, for oboes, violins, recorders, as many instruments that could be found under the sun. These melodies will last forever. 

Baroque music is boring?

I have encountered with some of my friends said that baroque music is quite boring because the melodic structure is quite the same with every piece.No surprises. To me, baroque music is full of wonders, apart from keyboard suites, the orchestral music is much interesting, take Vivaldi, the oboe, cello, and bassoon concertos had its own style parted into the music, made it Vivaldish. Bach only wrote a relatively small number of concertos compared to his contemporaries, as the old phrase goes, quantity doesn't means quality, as Haydn 106 will not be comparable to Beethoven 9. Bach's relatively small concerto output is now reconstructed to several instruments, as the melodies are re-used itself and nowadays, it still tuned to our ear.

We can quickly identified a Bach piece rather quickly than any other baroque piece.

BIS 1769 SA Booklet.pdf 5c893b

A CD for promotion #2

j.s. bach - Oboe concertos (reconstructed)

When Johann Sebastian Bach, in May 1723, accepted the appointment made shortly before, with an official contract, signed and sealed, to the position of Cantor at the Leipzig Thomasschule, he made a decision that would have far-reaching consequences for the immediate circumstances of his life as well as for the main focus of his creative activity and for the handing down of his work. Bach himself clearly sensed the implications of this decision, since, in a letter to his old friend Georg Erdmann, he declares that it would be for him “at first quite unsuitable to change from being a Kapellmeister to being a Cantor and so I considered my decision for a quarter of a year.”

Since his time at Weimar, from 1708 to 1717, Bach had served first as organist and chamber musician, but then also as concert-master of a court orchestra, an occupation of which involvement with music for instrumental ensemble was a central aspect. This professional orientation was strengthened, after his time at Weimar, by his appointment as Kapellmeister to the court of Cöthen. That this position more than satisfied Bach’s expectations is clear from his later and certainly idealised account of that period: “There was a gracious prince, a lover and connoisseur of music, with whom I thought to spend my life.”

Bach found the situation in Leipzig brought very different working conditions. Now he had to see to the composition and organization of music in the principal churches of Leipzig, weekly duties that left almost no time for other activities. Only with great effort was he able to free himself from this overwhelming burden by, between 1723 and 1729, composing three complete annual cycles of church cantatas, providing a repertoire on which, in the following years, he could draw without great expense of time. After his cantata period Bach turned his attention again to instrumental music; he composed and published a series of demanding keyboard works and in March 1729 took over the direction of the student Collegium musicum. With this still semi-professional orchestra he was able, at least to some extent, to resume the activity he had carried out at Cöthen; as he had there, he could now, apart from his official duties, perform regular secular celebratory cantatas and, more particularly, purely instrumental compositions.

Nevertheless in his first years at Leipzig Bach must have come to a turning-point that would not have been easy to cross. He was able, now with a distance of years, to publish re-usable works from his time at Cöthen; much here needed modification, adaptation to the new circumstances and conventions. At all events Bach’s orchestral works have as a rule only survived in the Leipzig versions, while the artistic output of the period at Weimar and at Cöthen survives not even in outline. Apart from the cycle of Brandenburg Concertos, preserved only through fortunate circumstances, the body of concertos written for the court at Cöthen is now almost completely lost. Nevertheless there are clear indications that Bach, when, in the 1730s, he wrote his series of concertos for one, two or three harpsichords, as director of the Leipzig Collegium musicum, always fell back on early compositions; clearly those concertos for various melody instruments, which he had composed during his service at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, must have served him as originals.

From this has come the understandable desire to reveal the original versions of these works and, as far as possible, reconstruct them for modern performance. Such a project demands an element of courage in dealing with the numerous questions that arise and the few concrete indications. As long as the musical result remains plausible and no dogmatic positions are taken up, this seems a legitimate procedure, to bridge over the gaps in surviving sources – it is, nevertheless, always necessary to bear in mind that we will never know with absolute certainty how the original versions of Bach’s harpsichord concertos looked. In this sense the present release must be taken as a contribution to discussion; it is based on the latest researches into the concerto compositions of Bach, according to which it is suggested that these were originally concertos for oboe, an instrument of which Bach, in his vocal music, made full use, so that it is quite conceivable that he also gave it a prominent place in his ensemble music.

The Concerto BWV 1056 offers a number of problems. Sometimes it has been taken that for the harpsichord version individual movements were put together from different works, yet such an explanation is hardly satisfactory. The central movement may serve as a support for the identification of the original solo instrument, since it survives also as the introductory Sinfonia of Cantata BWV 156, there in a version for oboe and strings. The last movement of the concerto suggests in the idiom of the solo part the oboe, while this holds good for the first movement, given that Bach has made extensive additions to the figuration for the harpsichord version; yet it turns out that this movement too, with slight modifications, is playable on the oboe and is, in any case, not untypical of this instrument.

Bach planned the Concerto BWV 1059, in its surviving version, as a work for obbligato harpsichord and oboe, the realisation of this project, however, was unsuccessful from the first bar of the introduction. Luckily the outer movements survive in Cantata BWV 35 and allow the conclusion that this work was originally an oboe concerto. Unfortunately the form of the central movement is hard to uncover, since Bach arranged it in his cantata as an aria for alto, with organ obbligato and strings, a form that called for far-reaching changes. For this reason in the present release the slow movement used is taken from the oboe concerto by the Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello, which was transcribed by Bach for solo harpsichord.

The writing of the harpsichord part in the Concerto BWV 1055 leads soon to the conclusion that the original must have been a concerto for oboe d’amore, written some time after 1717, the earliest known appearance of this instrument. The reconstructed oboe version enjoys in the concert-hall today almost greater popularity than the harpsichord version. The work is among the most attractive that Bach wrote and the superb handling of the medium is especially evident in the setting with oboe.

The original form of the Harpsichord Concerto in E major, BWV 1053, is open to much speculation; from a technical point of view it has recently been argued that it was originally a D major concerto for oboe d’amore. The refinement and beauty of the work place it among the mature compositions of Bach’s time at Cöthen and could, with regard to the numerous stylistic indications (among theme the use of a Siciliana as a central movement, that was still inconceivable in the Brandenburg Concertos), have been written shortly after settling in Leipzig. It seems that Bach set great store by this work, since he used all three movements again in his early Leipzig cantatas.

The Concerto BWV 1060 only survives in a version for two harpsichords and orchestra, but today is generally accepted as an arrangement of a concerto for oboe and violin. Since both harpsichord parts reveal in many places the suspected original, the reconstruction in these circumstances causes no great difficulty. The work recalls especially the well-known Double Violin Concerto, BWV 1043. As with that work, the writing does not give prominence to instrumental virtuosity, but Bach treats the concerto principle as a conversation of equal partners, blurring the distinction between solo and tutti. This is particularly evident in the opening ritornello of the first movement, in which the soloists echo phrases as also in the first episode of the last movement, where the tutti strings repeat exactly phrases developed by the soloists. Particularly attractive, especially in the reconstructed version, is the filigree arch of melody in the slow movement of the work which reflects expressively Bach’s ideal of compositional technique, with harmony stemming from the combination of the two parts.

Naxos 

sample track:

LITHUANIAN Gem
Ciurlionis

A distinguished figure in the arts in Lithuania, Mikolajus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was born on 22nd September 1875 in the small southern Lithuanian town of Varena. Two years later his family moved to Druskininkai, where he spent his childhood and adolescence. A few years later another artist, the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, to be strongly influenced by Čiurlionis, was born in the same city. The latter studied piano and composition at the Warsaw Music Institute, followed by a period of tuition in composition at the Leipzig Conservatory. On his return to Warsaw in 1902 he entered first the Warsaw School of Drawing, moving, on its opening in 1904, to the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. There followed exhibitions of his paintings in Warsaw, Vilnius and St. Petersburg. At the same time he continued his parallel career in music, directing a Lithuanian choir in Warsaw and a choir in Vilnius, where he settled in 1907. He was the founder and director of the Union of Lithuanian Painters and international recognition of his work as a painter was assured by his membership of the Russian Mir Iskusstva, World of Art Society in St. Petersburg. His manifold activities were brought to an end by his untimely death in 1911 at the age of 35.

 The work of Čiurlionis was based on the view that all arts stem essentially from the same source, however different they may seem. Several of his paintings were based on musical structures, classified as cycles of fugues, sonatas, and so on. A poem by Čiurlionis has the form of a sonata, while much of his music is pictorial. His compositions include two symphonic poems, In the Forest and The Sea, a string quartet and a variety of pieces for piano or organ and choral works. His piano pieces are mostly short and lead from the romanticism of the 19th century to a more modern idiom, influenced by expressionism, serialism or neo-classicism, all of which may be found.

SAMPLE PIECE:

Prelude VL182a

A Forgotten Genius
frederic kuhlau

Piano Sonata op.46 nr.2

composed in 1822, it exemplifies his much easier compositions for piano. It is a work marked with brevity and more extensive use of thinner textures. It consists of a slow introduction, adagio patetico(reminiscent of Beethoven's Pathetique), followed by a rondo, allegro agitato. What distinguishes this sonata (sonatina) to others is the emotional depth and intensity of feeling on a more grandiose scale. Secondly, the technical difficulties, though less taxing than most sonatas, are by no means on the elementary level of a sonatina. The introduction begins with thick, arpeggiated chords in dotted rhythm marked by sudden dynamic contrasts where Kuhlau once again, utilizes the orchestral capabilities of the piano. A lyrical plaintive melody shoots out with a quiet accompaniment in later measure. The movement followed complements the intro, in a favour of an unusual rondo form. The final section is cast in two parts, each repeated, consists mainly of rapid scale passages punctuated by broken chords supported by sustained bass notes, marks an energetic conclusion to the sonata.

Sheet music available from IMSLP.

Rare Polish Gems
meeting Zelenski

Zelenski is considered to be a chief operatic composer of the post-Moniuszko era. He wrote 4 operas, including 3 based on literary works penned by the greatest coryphaei of the Polish literature:Adam Mickiewicz, Julius Slowacki and Josef Ignacy Kraszewski. Goplana was Zelenski's second opera. Its premier performance took place in Krakow in 1896, and two further years it was staged in Warsaw. Here Zelenski juxtaposes grotesque folk dances with a coloratura waltz and the peasant's mazur. The waltz is a highly sophisticated piece of music. It opens with a four-bar passage introduction. The main theme proceeds with a simple melody, supported by a conventional accompaniment. After it has faded away, there appear two subsequent thematic sequences, more waltzes, ushering in textural variety (changes of the accompanying formula into a figurative one, octave shouts in the high register). Before the main theme comes back, there is a typically operatic linking passage with some illustrative tremolando chords. The leading theme of the waltz returns in a different, richer textural robe, strengthened with octaves an chords. The ornamental passages, four times linking the melodic themes, are the same coloratura progressions that were mentioned above.

sample of the waltz

 not given permission of original uploader to upload whole piece

Apologies.

Music from Polish label

LIGHT Classics
with John Field

Rondo 'Speed the plough'
dates from his early youth, this rondo is based on a lively tune by John Moorehead, contains a little more invention than some of his early piano works, but hardly to suggest a genuine creative talent. Field's early Speed the Plough rondo is in B-flat major. This Rondo ecossais in B, is a much accomplished piece of work. The Scottish flavour, such at it is, reflects the general enthusiasm for what was considered to be the quaint exoticism of Scottish folk music, the fashion for which had spread throughout Europe and reached Russia some years before.

Below is the original second version - Rondo ecossais in B

Title page

Below is the music played by Spada

Tears
to be expressed 

Scriabin wrote an etude in his youth (15)
a significant work of his first period
 Indeed evocative of Chopin (perhaps of Chopin's Op.10, No.3), it is, nevertheless, a brooding, masterful piece that foreshadows Scriabin's genius. This study and his two pieces for left hand (Op.9) may be considered "model" compositions, perfect melodically and harmonically, entirely self-contained, and thematically complete: world-class output of a musical giant.

~Naxos

Sheet music extracted from Scriabin etudes edited by Baylor, serves as an example of the composer's music

Here is the music played by Lang Lang..

Noon classics
on Haydn's keyboard

Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major 

(Hob. XVIII:11) is his third and final 

concerto for the harpsichord or pianoforte. 

Though doubtless one of his most 

familiar works, it raises a number of unanswered 

questions. We do not know 

when it was composed, or for what occasion. 

The autograph manuscript is no 

longer extant. Nor is the work entered in 

any of Haydn’s catalogues. None the 

less, the text is sufficiently substantiated 

by the Viennese first edition, published 

in August 1784 by Artaria (a Paris edition 

had appeared a short while before), 

and by a partial manuscript copy prepared 

by the Viennese copyist Johann

Radnitzky, who occasionally worked for 

Haydn. 

Haydn’s reasons for writing another 

piano concerto around 1783 were probably 

more than commercial. Presumably 

his interest was kindled by Mozart’s 

activities in Vienna. In January 1783, 

Mozart offered three new piano concertos 

on subscription and played them at 

public “academies”. (They were later 

published by Artaria.) By the spring of 

1784 he had written several further 

concertos, thereby laying the groundwork 

for the genre’s prestige in Vienna. 

It is worth noting that Johann Radnitzky 

also wrote out Mozart’s piano concertos 

– whoever his employer may have 

been. 

Haydn’s D-major Concerto is scored 

for two oboes, two horns and strings, 

with a bassoon tacitly understood to 

double the bass line. It has never left the 

repertoire. The “exotic” Rondo all’Ungarese 

in particular caused a sensation. 

At the end of the last century its Hungarian 

origins were seriously called into 

question, and its dance themes were 

thought to be patterned after the “siri 

kolo” danced in Bosnia and Dalmatia. 

But Bálint Sárosi recently unearthed 

parallels to the tradition of Transylvanian 

gipsy music and demonstrated that 

the movement has features in common 

with earlier Hungarian bagpipe music 

and the “verbunkos” style.

~Henle edition 

Sample of Peters edition for 2 pianos 

Cadenza by J.Haydn

Rondo alla Ungarese

1st movt. 

3rd movt.

Liszt

and his Don Juan

One time grandest opera of musical genius Mozart has brought to the piano majestically. 

The piece begins with music sung by the Commendatore, both from the graveyard scene where he threatens Don Giovanni ("Di rider finirai pria dell aurora! Ribaldo audace! Lascia a' morti la pace!" — "Your laughter will not last, even till morning. Remember, that the dead still remember!") and from the finale where he condemns Don Giovanni to Hell. The love duet of Don Giovanni and Zerlina follows ("La ci darem la mano"), along with two variations on this theme, then an extended fantasy on the Champagne aria ("Fin ch'han dal vino"), and finally the work concludes with the Commandatore's threat.In contrast to perhaps the majority of opera fantasies composed during the nineteenth century, Liszt's Don Giovanni paraphrase is a much more tightly controlled and significant work. 

~Wikipedia article 

P/S: An ossia is included by Liszt but there are only a few editions which included. Here are a few samples of the sheet music published by Barenreiter.

Grave opening of the introductory passage

Duetto, a love duet of the famous theme 'La ci darem la mano', Chopin also had wrote a variation about it..Noticed the theme begins in the left hand and gradually shift to the right.

Ossia of the piece, as played by Lang Lang, showed enormosity in strength and fire to the transition of Finale.

Finale, a champagne aria of Don Juan was chosen carefully to anticipate the end of this piece.