If anyone knows where I can buy a copy of Alfred Janson's Prelude: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra I would be very grateful. I have only heard it once on our local public radio station. My brother and I both (at separate locations) sat in the car in front of our destinations in order to hear the entire piece. We then called each other. It was weird. Anyway, I am a dork. Please help me find a copy of this piece.


Jon

space junk wrote:Three questions for geiginni.

1. What's with all the "Variations"? What does this refer to?

A variation is the simple process of taking a musical theme or line and repeating it with alterations. These alterations to the repeated theme can be changes to melody, harmony, contrapuntal, etc... while maintaining the original thematic element.

Theme and variations was a popular method during the baroque and early classical periods. Haydn often employed theme and variation within his slow movements, such as the second movement of the Op.20#1 quartet.

More from wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variation_%28music%29

2. What does "Op." mean

Op. means Opus, or "work" in Latin. Opus was typically assigned by the composer or publisher to designate a complete work or group of works as published or performed as a whole. For example the Haydn Op.33 is a group of six string quartets. Often opus numbers were arbitrarily assigned to works published in the composer's lifetime and do not follow a chronological order or encompass a composer's complete output. That is why you'll often see other cataloguing designations listed with a composer or work. For example, Mozart's compositions are often listed as K.XXX - the 'K.' standing for Köchel, the musicologist who compiled the first complete chronological catalogue of Mozart's works, with K.626 being the last work Mozart completed - The Reqium in D. 'B.' is often associated with Dvorak, for Burghauser, who catalogued his complete output. 'Sz.' is associated with Bartok, for Szöllősy's index, etc....

3. When something is introduced as "[Whatever] in D minor", does that mean there are other keys it could be played in, or is that a fixed thing for the piece?

It's a fixed thing. Just a name to designate the piece. The key designation chosen is often the tonic key of the opening movement. It could also help to identify a particular work in a group, such as Bach's and Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, which total 24, one in each key.


Hope that helped. All, please feel free to ask more...this is fun.

iembalm wrote:...I go to hear Mahler's 1st Symphony whenever it is near. I bring a sleeping-aid blindfold to wear during the first movement, so as to avoid unnecessary sensory input. I am well aware this makes me a douche on a grand scale, but don't care....

Thankfully the popularity of that work means you don't have to wait very long to hear it played! I've gone to hear it played at least 5 times in as many years! Can't say Mahler's 7th or 9th have that popularity.

I close my eyes quite often when I'm at the Symphony or a chamber performance. I don't think it makes you a douche at all. We're there to hear the music, not watch the musicians saw away. I find I'm a much better listener when I'm not watching the performers or the audience. Too much distraction indeed!

geiginni wrote:

space junk wrote:Three questions for geiginni.

1. What's with all the "Variations"? What does this refer to?

A variation is the simple process of taking a musical theme or line and repeating it with alterations. These alterations to the repeated theme can be changes to melody, harmony, contrapuntal, etc... while maintaining the original thematic element.

Theme and variations was a popular method during the baroque and early classical periods. Haydn often employed theme and variation within his slow movements, such as the second movement of the Op.20#1 quartet.

More from wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variation_%28music%29

2. What does "Op." mean

Op. means Opus, or "work" in Latin. Opus was typically assigned by the composer or publisher to designate a complete work or group of works as published or performed as a whole. For example the Haydn Op.33 is a group of six string quartets. Often opus numbers were arbitrarily assigned to works published in the composer's lifetime and do not follow a chronological order or encompass a composer's complete output. That is why you'll often see other cataloguing designations listed with a composer or work. For example, Mozart's compositions are often listed as K.XXX - the 'K.' standing for Köchel, the musicologist who compiled the first complete chronological catalogue of Mozart's works, with K.626 being the last work Mozart completed - The Reqium in D. 'B.' is often associated with Dvorak, for Burghauser, who catalogued his complete output. 'Sz.' is associated with Bartok, for Szöllősy's index, etc....

3. When something is introduced as "[Whatever] in D minor", does that mean there are other keys it could be played in, or is that a fixed thing for the piece?

It's a fixed thing. Just a name to designate the piece. The key designation chosen is often the tonic key of the opening movement. It could also help to identify a particular work in a group, such as Bach's and Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, which total 24, one in each key.


Hope that helped. All, please feel free to ask more...this is fun.

Fuckin' nice one

I really enjoy Gustave Holst's series of pieces dedicated to the planets.

Mr. Geiginni-

There is this relatively unknown pianist (a high school music teacher, and a U.S. Citizen, I think), known for his renditions of Liszt...the recording I remember was of a single piano. He would rapidly arpeggiate chords, getting the piano to rumble like an organ. Incredible. I would be happy indeed if you had a name.

Hey Geiginni. So this thread prompted me to revisit some Very Old Music, specifically Monteverdi, who I always found very sassy, and I was wondering if there's anything in the way of Italian Renaissance music that you could recommend?

Oh, and also I like a lot of "flashy" and "pointilistic" stuff in the vain of, say, Scarlatti, which (I shouldn't say this) was my favorite coke music when I was still regularly doing coke. I'm especially interested in the harpsichord stuff, because it allows me to focus on the contrapunctual boogie a bit more, as there's generally too much "sound" with the piano for baroque music as far as I'm concerned. Anything that I should look into here? I should probably note that I hate the Germans with the exception of Bach, so I was thinking more Spanish/Italian/Southern European in general.

Also, Geiginni, would you see a rasta band called Dimitri Rastakovich?

Thanks!

Skronk wrote:Geiginni, could you recommend some dissonant works? Something with tone clusters and/or chromaticism? I'm already a big fan of Penderecki, Shoenberg, and Gorecki, I'd like to find out about others. Thanks.

I was given a cd of Giacinto Scelsi a while ago, and have been listening to it a lot during my commute. Not so much dissonant as micro-tonal music, with a lot of focus on timbre and sustained simple notes which he "shaded" by placing quarter-tones around them, thereby stressing their (presumed) "spheric" quality. Pretty great once you get the hang of it.

For some really far out shit, def. look into Ustvolskaya. Relentless, ascetic, and deeply pessimistic stuff. (EDIT: Oh look, somebody put up her Duet For Violin and Piano).

Geiginni - how do you rate Evgeny Kissin's interpretations?

Myself and my wife saw him in Carnegie Hall a few months back, and it was mindblowing. His choice of pieces for the first half were a little dull, but he hit his stride with a Beethoven piece (fucked if I can remember the exact one) in the second half.

He got so much applause that he did about 12 encores (shit you not!). The show lasted 2 hours more than was planned. Seriously incredible night.

I just recently heard Black Angels by George Crumb. It's pretty mental. Check out the Wikipedia entry on it.

Numerology, woops and hollers. It's all there. I read somewhere once that it's meant to be for a string quartet 'amplified to the point of pain'.

I don't get a lot of modern classical music though. Kontakte, for example, never really did anything for me. Varese though, I like.

My knowledge of classical music is really sporadic though. I like really early choral music, Tallis and all that, then nothing much til Bach, then Mozart, then Beethoven and Schubert and stuff. I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with that, but I certainly don't really understand the major developments in classical music.

I really like Steve Reich though. I am a pathetic hipster.