QUOTE OF THE DAY - FEBRUARY 1, 2017: EDVARD GRIEG ON 'HEAVENLY' MUSIC IN UNPRETENTIOUS PLAINS feat. Did You Know? A LESSON IN COUNTERINTELLIGENCE

Edvard Grieg

There is something to be said of simplicity – at least, according to 19th century Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg – whose ever so humble quote on composing for the common man reads like a subliminal - yet resounding - endorsement for the quest to unearth the majestic powers of awe inspiring music from the most modest of plains:

"Artists like Bach and Beethoven erected churches and temples on the heights. I only wanted to build dwellings for men in which they might feel happy and at home."

-Edvard Grieg.

Never did Grieg’s sentiment ring so true as with the creation of the composer’s Piano Concerto in A Minor – written in 1868 at the tender age of twenty-five, the work would prove pivotal to the young Norwegian’s legacy in the realm of Western Classical Music: chiefly, it would mark the first – and only – time Grieg would pen a concerto, and would be the very first composition of the composer to make use of an orchestra. Grieg’s humble first steps into these yet uncharted waters would be met with a tidal wave of critical esteem and praise – solidifying the composer’s rightful placehold within the musical sphere – seated at it’s very apex – wherein even the humble and the meek could reign on high – even next to maestros Beethoven and Bach.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor remains to date one of the composer’s most famous and revered works (in particular the allegro molto moderato), and is lauded as a recital favorite for pre-eminent pianists across the globe.


Did You Know? 


In 2014, it was revealed in the press that Grieg’s famous Piano concerto in A minor was actively being used by politicians in Germany as a means of fortifying and preserving the sanctity of meeting rooms in the Western European nation from potential American “spies” (the NSA) who might have been seeking to eavesdrop on the political gatherings and obtain information sensitive to the country.

According to the German news periodical Suddeutsche Zeitung, the use of classical music – in particular Grieg’s concerto – playing in the background during the MP's powwow sessions, served not only to distract the potential listener, but more importantly, to drown out the voices of the politicians themselves, thereby adding an extra layer of protection to the confidential discussion of sensitive information. A source in the know revealed to the paper in 2014 that “…the committee chairman, Patrick Sensburg switched the music on…Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor. Just to be safe."

To learn more about this fascinating security tactic by the Germans, click the relevant link below:

• "Germany's plan to take on NSA: Block eavesdroppers with classical music..." at The Telegraph (UK)

Enjoy below the stunning Adagio (movement II) from Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor (Op. 16). The esteemed pianist Arthur Rubenstein performs:


-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TRIVIA AND HUMOR: THE BIRTH OF SCHUBERT (AND THE COMPOSER’S MANY SIMILARITIES TO MOZART)

On this January day some 220 years ago, a bouncing baby boy would be welcomed into the awaiting arms of the Schuberts.

The father of the future young prodigy, a violinist and teacher, no doubt anxious to pass on his musical acuity unto his son. Should this new bundle of joy survive into adulthood, the couple could consider themselves doubly blessed: this special delivery, after all, would arrive during medicine's primitive era, wherein the only inoculation to prevent against disease was the newly introduced smallpox vaccine, developed only one year earlier by an Englishman in 1796 – the combating of disease, much like the Schubert’s newly born son, still in it’s infancy stage. The father Schubert knew the risks of early infant mortality all to well – of the couple’s 14 children – one of them illegitimate – only five would survive past infancy. Luckily enough for the couple -  and for posterity - their newborn son would live into the relative mid-stages of adulthood. The beaming parents named the child Franz, after the child’s father, of course.

The world outside of young Franz’ inner circle – that is, those outside of his own kin – would come to know the young Austrian as the prodigy: the musically gifted instrumentalist and young composer Franz Schubert. Posterity would remember him as simply “Schubert” – one of the great icons and leading influential musicians of the classical era – and yet another gifted export of that ever-so-musical Mecca known as (modern) Austria; the same country that churned out such pre-eminent and enigmatic composers as Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and the Strauss dynasty just to name a few…and of course the unparalleled maestro of Western Classical Music himself: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – the one time wunderkind who had famously mesmerized Europe’s Royal elite almost since his birth some 41 years prior to Schubert’s own entry into the world.

It is this last mentioned composer in whom Schubert would share an uncanny likeness, in both personal and professional aspects. Unraveling Musical Myths explores the many similarities between these two highly captivating figures in the comparison below:

BIRTHDAYS:

Both composers were born at the end of January – Mozart on the 27th, and Schubert on the 31st. Coincidentally, both composers were also born in the 18th century (Mozart in 1756, and Schubert in 1797) – they were also both born in Austria.

MUSICALLY INCLINED FAMILY:

Both Mozart and Schubert would receive lessons from their fathers, both of whom were violinists, and both of whom would teach their sons the instrument. Both young prodigies would be assisted in lessons on the piano by a sibling – for Mozart, it was his sister “Nannerl,” and for Schubert, it was his brother, Ignaz.

A young Mozart plays the harpsichord, flanked by father Leopold and sister
Maria Anna (Nannerl) in this family portrait

SPEAKING OF FAMILY…

Schubert had yet another thing in common with Mozart: both composers would be "miracle children” – the surviving minority of a large family of siblings. Of the Mozart family’s seven offspring, only two would survive past infancy. As for the Schubert’s fourteen children (one illegitimate), only nine would survive past this stage (which, if you are doing the math, means a total of five sibling deaths for the Mozart kin, and five sibling deaths for the Schubert kin).

BOTH SHARED A CONNECTION TO ANTONIO SALIERI:

Mozart knew Salieri as a contemporary ‘rival’ and musical collaborator at the Habsburg court, while Schubert knew the composer as a teacher of composition and music theory.

BOTH COMPOSERS SHARED AN AFFINITY FOR THE WORKS OF HAYDN:

In fact, both Mozart and Schubert not only revered the composer Haydn – they would both also credit the works of the composer as having been a source of influence in creating their own compositions.

SWEET SIXTEEN, SWEET VIENNA:

Both musicians would create a stir at the tender age of sixteen: Mozart would arrive in Vienna as a keyboard prodigy at this age. It would be a fortuitous visit for the young musician - during which the composer is believed to have met with Haydn, and following this meeting, would further hone his skills as a composer - eventually establishing for himself a name that would exceed the rather secluded confines of a master pianist. Within 7 months of his return to the Austrian capital in 1782 (when Mozart was then 10 years older) the man formerly known as the “finest keyboard player in all of Vienna” would establish himself in the city and across Europe as a composer, after his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") opened to rave reviews. It is probably safe to assume that the 26 year old Mozart had absorbed much influence from his pubescent visit to Vienna and his meeting with Herr Haydn in 1772.
 
Cristina Deutekom performs the stunning aria "Martern Aller Arten" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail:



Schubert, on the other hand, could also claim his sixteenth year as having been a pivotal moment in his career, and the city of Vienna as the backdrop in which he too, would establish himself* as a composer – it would be here that the pubescent composer would launch his first Symphony (no. I in D major, D. 82):

BOTH BELONGED TO THE CLASSICAL ERA OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Schubert, a late-classical era composer, can also lay claim to the early romantic era.

BOTH WERE EXTREMELY PROLIFIC, WIDE-RANGING COMPOSERS:

According to modern accounts (the Köchel catalogue), Mozart boasts an excess of 600 works, his oeuvre consisting of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. 


Mozart's gorgeous aria "Dove Sono i Momenti" from opera Le Nozze di Figaro, Gundula Janowitz performs:



Schubert also boasts an excess of 600 secular vocal works (lieder), in addition to several symphonic, chamber, operatic, sacred, incidental and piano music. 

One of the many gorgeous lieder of Schubert - Barbara Hendricks sings "Du Bist Die Ruh":

 

BOTH COMPOSERS WOULD MEET THEIR DEATH BEFORE THE AGE OF 40, BOTH IN VIENNA, BOTH IN "EARLY WINTER," BOTH BY STILL-DISPUTED MYSTERIOUS ILLNESSES, BOTH "PENNILESS":

Mozart would perish December 5th in Vienna in 1791, at the relatively young age (from a modern perspective) of 35 years, by what was believed at the time to have been the acute stages of miliary fever. Schubert would perish at just 31 years in November of 1828, also in Vienna, believed to have been taken from the world by yet another fever-related malady – not miliary, but rather allegedly by typhoid fever.

(and both shared the same STD)...

Both ‘causes of death’ were hotly contested by the public at the time of both musician’s departures from the musical sphere, a trend that persists to this day. One theory that still makes the rounds is a premature death for both Mozart and Schubert by the tertiary (late) stages of Syphilis and/or it’s treatment. Both composers are believed to have been afflicted by the very same sexually transmitted disease.

Like Mozart -who, while not financially poor per se, but certainly in enough debt toward the end of his life that his widow Constanze could scarcely afford to bury him (the funeral would end up being funded by one of Mozart's former patrons, the Baron Gottfried van Swieten), Schubert, too, would die "penniless."

 

LEGACY:

Both Mozart and Schubert are indisputably two of the most instantly recognizable names in Western Classical Music. While both boasted undeniable, seemingly unearthly talents, both composers owe a large portion of their persisting infamy to the high praise and championship of some pretty heavy hitters in classical music history.

While there is undoubtedly a discrepancy between both composers in terms of performance history – Mozart having toured extensively and performed before Emperors, kings and other members of nobility in addition to the greater public; whilst Schubert held many private, invitee performances in his private salon (musical meetups he called "Schubertiade")* before an intimate circle of contemporary musicians, both composers were widely esteemed, praised, and viewed as a source of invaluable influence for some of Western Classical Music (and Eastern Europe's) most famous names: Mozart counted among his admirers Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Joseph Haydn, Richard Wagner,  Frédéric Chopin, Camille Saint-Saëns, Gioachino Rossini, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss  - even Schubert himself.

Some of Schubert’s famous championers throughout posterity have been Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Franz Liszt,  Robert Schumann,  Hector Berlioz, Anton Bruckner, Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten and Richard Strauss.

For both Mozart and Schubert, the above lists of admirers are far from exhaustive. Both composers continue to bewilder, astonish, and inspire composers and musicians living in the 21st century – and, it is due to our exalted privilege of listening to masterfully rendered recreations of the music of these maestri – their scores having been tediously and meticulously preserved thought many centuries - that we have come to share the same conclusion of unrivalled excellence in these two enigmatic and ingenious composers as have our more musically inclined ancestors.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY – JANUARY 27, 1756: THE BIRTH OF MOZART: A ‘MIRACLE' CHILD IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD feat. Did You Know?

Above: a portrait of a young boy once thought to be Mozart
is now believed by leading scholars to have no association
with the Salzburgian wonder.

It would be on this January day 261 years ago that miracle child Joannes Chrisostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart (later baptized on the 28th of January as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart – known to the musical sphere as Wolfgang Amadé* Mozart) would make his grand entrance into this world – and into his father’s private flat – at 8 o’clock in the evening at No. 9, Getreidegasse, the Mozart family home in Salzburg.

It would be the seventh time violinist Leopold Mozart and his wife Maria Anna introduced into the world a potential future prodigy – although little Joannes Chrisostomus would be the only male offspring of the couple to survive. He would join the Mozart clan as brother to big sister Maria Anna (Nannerl), who was then 4 (and the couple's only surviving daugther).

Young Mozart’s very existence and survival into adulthood would prove to be a miracle in every sense of the word: the young wunderkind is reported to have already been able to pick out small chords on the harpsichord by the age of three, and, according to the private writings of his father Leopold, was able to sight-read a complicated piece of music - “mastering” the composition at his keyboard in just “thirty minutes” - by the age of four. By five, little Amadeus (the Latin form of the French Amadé – Mozart’s preferred spelling* – from the Greek Theophilus, which, translated into English, reads quite aptly [one] “loved by God”) was performing before the prestigious University of Salzburg, his father’s alma mater, no less.

Today, Unraveling Musical Myths - and the greater musical sphere - celebrates the birth and the life of Western Classical Music’s foremost icon, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Herr Mozart is an undisputed composer favorite of the author of Unraveling Musical Myths, and as such, has been featured extensively on this blog.

To find out where the young musical wunderkind went from here, feel free to peruse the Mozart Archives, which covers the life, times, exploits, triumphs, and heartaches of this most gifted composer - from his humble birth on the 3rd floor of his parents home to his final repose at his marital residence in Vienna 35 years later in December 1791 - and discover along the way his most majestic oeuvre:

Alleluia*, from Mozart’s Regina Coeli, K. 185; Emma Kirkby and the Westminster Cathedral Boys Choir under maestro Christopher Hogwood (accompanied by The Academy of Ancient Music) *Queued at 10:43:



Fun Fact!

Name breakdown:

Portrait of a Young Boy believed to be Mozart.

Joannes Chrisostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart was so named after the child was born on the ‘feast’ day of St. John Chrysostom – and it is from this ‘saint’ the boy acquired the Johannes (John) Chrisostomus/Chrysostomus…

the name Wolfgang (or, “Wolfrl” as he was lovingly called by his family), was given to the newborn babe by Leopold, after his father-in-law, Wolfgang Nikolaus.

“Gottlieb,” German for loved [by] God, took the place of the Greek “Theophilus” form. According to extensive amounts of correspondence penned by Mozart which survives, it would become apparent to fans of the composer that Mozart in fact preferred the French translation (Amadè) of the Latin form of Theophilus – Amadeus – however Mozart is known to have also referred to himself by the Latin spelling.

“Mozart,” is, of course, the family name.

Did You Know?

The home in which Mozart was born, located at No. 9, Getreidegasse in Salzburg, Austria - now a shrine and monument to the composer - today serves as one of the most patronized museums in the world.

For more information on admission fees, and for a virtual peek into the home, visit mozarteum.at. 

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

QUOTE OF THE DAY - JANUARY 23, 2017: STENDHAL'S VIE DE ROSSINI (EXTRACT) Feat. Did You Know?

Today’s Quote of the Day comes to us courtesy of the 18th century French writer and music critic known mononymously as Stendhal (born Marie-Henri Beyle) in honor of the 234th anniversary of his birth - observed by both the literary and musical spheres on this 23rd day of January - and is extracted from the iconic author’s exquisitely poetic biography Vie de Rossini (Life of Rossini, published 1824):

“Take any young Italian, whose whole being is preoccupied with some imperious passion: he may, while it is still at fever-heat, reflect upon it for a time in silence; but sooner or later he will start to sing, softly, perhaps some tune by Rossini; and quite unconsciously he will have selected, among all the tunes he knows, the one which seems most aptly to echo his own mood. Then, a little later, instead of singing softly to himself, he will begin to sing out loud; and, still unsuspecting, his singing will begin to answer, in subtle shapes and shadings, the peculiar quality of the passion which is raging in his heart. His soul, as it were, has found an echo, and the echo is itself a consolation; his singing is like a mirror in which he can observe his own reflection; previously, he had been exasperated by the unkindness of fate, and his spirit was filled with anger; but now he can see himself…”

Take a deep breath, and slowly exhale to the gorgeous stylings of Gioachino Rossini: enjoy below the sublime quintetto “Celeste man placata” from the 18th century romantic composer’s opera Mosè in Egitto:



Did You Know?

Although Stendhal’s music-related literary output may not have exactly been superfluous, the writer's early biographies on composer favorites Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and famed 18th century librettist Pietro Metastasio (Vies de Haydn, de Mozart et de Métastase, published in 1814), and his biography on Rossini in particular (Stendhal holds the distinction of being the latter composers’ first biographer) remain a popular source of reference for modern scholars seeking first-hand, contemporary accounts of critical dissection and analysis (including the psycho-analysis) of the leading composers of the author’s era.

Of the favorite composers of the writer mentioned above, Stendhal would appear to harness the lion’s share of his adulation on Rossini: in Vie de Rossini, he introduces the biography thusly:

“Napoleon is dead; but a new conqueror has already shown himself to the world; and from Moscow to Naples, from London to Vienna, from Paris to Calcutta, his name is constantly on every tongue. The fame of this hero knows no bounds save those of civilization itself.” 

Stendhal remained an ardent admirer of music for the remainder of his life; and, in a manner most coincidental, the author would perish by the same illusive hand that claimed the lives of so many 18th century composers (excluding the above mentioned composers - save for speculation surrounding Herr Mozart): complications from the treatment of Syphilis would inevitably lead to the writer succumbing to a fatal seizure whilst walking the streets of Paris on the 23rd of March, 1842.

Read Vie de Rossini in English (translated by Richard N. Coe) for free at archive.org:

• Life of Rossini

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

REVIEWS BY ROSE: JAN SWAFFORD'S BEETHOVEN: ANGUISH AND TRIUMPH

Purchase this title on Amazon

I have finally finished reading composer/writer Jan Swafford's massive tome of a biography on Ludwig van Beethoven (at 1077 pages this was no quick or easy feat!)

This 2014 title published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt could stand toe-to-toe with Otto Jahn/Hermann Abert's scholarly biographical account of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in terms of minutiae and intricate attention to detail regarding the lives and times of two of the classical era's foremost masters of the musical arts.

I award "Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph" 5/5 stars.

*****

 

MY REVIEW:

"A meticulously researched and up-to-date account of the life and times of Herr Beethoven. So often, when reading about Ludwig, precedence is given to the composer's struggles with his temperament - a likely by-product of the onset of auditory paracusia experienced by Beethoven whilst still in his productive years - and, equally as often, too much emphasis is placed on the contrast between this inner turmoil and the (oddly) productive aftermath thrust upon the composer as he and his fans/dissenters dealt with his complete loss of hearing later in life.

Don't let the title of Swafford's latest opus fool you: the "Anguish" of which this scholarly biographer regales begins with the subject's birth, ushering the reader through pubescence, adulthood and final repose - detailing not only this most troublesome period of Beethoven's life, but also of the many "triumphs" and "anguishes" experienced within the composers personal and professional spheres - and of the hopes, dreams, successes and failings of the society in which Beethoven lived: this 'background' information reads like a discourse on 18th century social triumph and unrest, and is as thrilling as Beethoven's life itself.

Part biography, part history/political science, and part musical dissection, this biographical tome will undoubtedly serve as the definitive Beethoven biography for years to come."

Enjoy below Herr Beethoven's setting of Kyrie, from his Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123 under the baton of maestro Bernstein:



For more music-related book reviews, check out Reviews by Rose here on Unraveling Musical Myths, or, for these and unrelated/semi-related subject matter, visit my profile on Goodreads.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

HISTORY MADE? ALLEGED, THIRD KNOWN ‘PHOTOGRAPH’ OF COMPOSER FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN DISCOVERED IN “PRIVATE HOME” feat. Did You Know?

Newly discovered "daguerreotype" of Frédéric Chopin

*An important update (19 October 2017) concerning this likeness of Chopin has been issued by The Fryderyk Chopin Institute. All information detailed by Unraveling Musical Myths in the article below contains information that was presented by the same institute and the Institut Polonais as accurate at the time of posting). Click here to view the latest update. -Rose.

The Institut Polonais in Paris has announced the exciting arrival of a c.1847 potential daguerreotype featuring the likeness of famed 19th century Polish Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin, which was recently discovered by Swiss physicist and “Chopin connoisseur” Alain Kohler in what the Institute’s website claims was a “private home.”

The alleged daguerreotype – only one of three known live portraits of the composer in existence – displays a pensive, perhaps even somber–looking Chopin, and is believed to have been captured at the studio of French photographer Louis-Auguste Bisson, the very same cameraman who shot the iconic seated (and weathered-looking) portrait of the composer in 1849, just months shy of Chopin’s death in October of that year of what physicians at the time believed was consumption (tuberculosis).^{[fig. II]} That diagnosis and cause of death has since been ruled inconclusive.

The newly discovered portrait was authenticated as a true likeness of the composer following what the Institute describes as a “thorough investigation,”   co-headed by Kohler and musician Gilles Bencimon of Radio France International.

According to the Institute’s news feed, the historic discovery of a previously unknown artifact by Kohler was not an isolated incident. Back in 2015, the scientist was lauded with discovering a grand piano in Germany, which coincidentally, is also linked to Chopin - the maestro's Pleyel Grand Piano no 11265. 

The instrument is noted as having been played by Chopin himself: it was this on this very piano that the composer taught his aristocratic students from within the confines of his living room in apt #9, 80 rue Taitbout at Paris’ Square d'Orléans during the winter-spring stretch in 1844/45. It is believed Chopin may have also worked on preliminary sketches for his Sonata for cello and piano, his 65th opus, on the instrument.

View the now three-strong "photographs"* of Chopin below: 

*figs. 1 & 2 are photographic reproductions of since-lost daguerreotypes. The medium / technique used to produce the newly discovered portrait (fig.3) remains under investigation at the time of this posting, however it was presented by Kohler as a "probable" daguerreotype.

Further reading (external links):

• Institut Polonais press release (en Français)

• A history of Les Pianos Pleyel and Chopin during the 1844-45 stretch (en Français)
  
• Pleyel discovery - press (Kohler, in English; PDF)
  

• BBC's modern research and scientific perspective regarding the cause of death of Chopin (excellent read, in English) 

Chopin's Sonata for Cello in Piano in G Minor, Op. 65,  movement III (Largo); Jacqueline du Pré /Daniel Barenboim:

A (different) third photograph (alleged), said to showcase the likeness of Chopin in post-mortem repose, “surfaced” in March 2011 courtesy of Polish photographer and collector Wladyslaw Zuchowski, who claimed to have purchased the daguerreotype from the hands of a private collector in Scotland in December of that year.

According to Zuchowski, the funereal photo, which the photographer believes was shot just moments after the composer’s untimely demise at age 39 in Paris, bears an imprint of the year 1849 – the year of Chopin’s death – and the name of the aforementioned photographer Louis-Auguste Bisson.

Zuchowski’s claim of possessing what would have been the third known live capture of the composer in existence was largely debunked by photography/Chopin experts and curators later that year.
View the purported photo, and read more about the ill-fated ‘discovery’ here.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

QUOTE OF THE DAY - JANUARY 10, 2017: FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN'S UNIVERSAL DESTINY feat. Did You Know?

Today's Quote of the Day comes to us from Polish Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin.

This darling of 19th century eastern and western Europe may have (literally) left his heart in Poland and the soil of his native land in France, but as Chopin so eloquently states in the quote below, the composer ultimately bequeathed unto the greater world a timeless legacy of universal beauty:

“Music has no Fatherland;
it is the whole universe.”

- Frédéric Chopin

Enjoy below Chopin’s gorgeous Second Piano Concerto (the much beloved Larghetto) as performed by keyboard legend Arthur Rubenstein with the LSO under maestro André Previn:




Did You Know?

Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 - penned by the composer at the tender age of 20 whilst still engaged in musical study in Warsaw, Poland - owes it’s numerical designation not to the order in which the music was written, but rather to the date of the publication of the score. The composer’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor, first performed some seven months after the premiere of the 2nd concerto (as part of a “farewell” series of concerts before Chopin departed Warsaw for Paris), would be the first of the concertos to be published, earning it the numerical designation of "1(st)" Piano Concerto – even though the composition itself was not penned by the composer until after the premiere of the 2nd, in March 1830.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

FROM OBSCURITY TO LIGHT - CLASSICAL ERA: Benedikt Schack

It’s time for another installment of “From Obscurity into Light” – one in a series of featured profiles on composers of merit otherwise unknown to the casual listener (and sometimes even to the seasoned admirer).

Benedikt Schack (center)

Today’s composer of note is 18th century Czech composer, actor and tenor Benedikt Schack (pictured above-center).

Troupe leader Emanuel Schikaneder performs
as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.
Schikaneder would be instrumental in
Schack's composing/performing
career by introducing the tenor to
Mozart in 1786.

Born February 7 in 1758 Bohemia, this Classical era musician began honing in on his musical acuity first as a chorister for a cathedral in Prague at 15, followed by a lengthy period of vocal study under Haydn-trained singing coach (and tenor) Carl Friberth. Receiving lessons from Friberth – and inadvertently learning techniques passed down to the maestro from one of the most renowned and respected composers in Europe (in Herr Haydn) certainly paid off well for young Schack. By the time Benedikt reached 28, he had not only served a brief stint as Kapellmeister to Prince Heinrich von Schönaich-Carolath of Silesia, he would also join Europe’s most famous traveling theatrical troupe headed by the baritone, composer and impresario Emanuel Schikaneder (the very same Schikaneder who would pen the libretto for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute – arguably one of Mozart’s most famous works). 

It would be through joining the iconic troupe as composer and vocalist in 1786 that Schack would meet and befriend Herr Mozart – who, along with sister Nannerl and father Leopold had become friendly with Schikaneder six years earlier, during the latter’s extended stay in Salzburg. The Mozart family were reportedly so enamored with the troupe’s productions, it is said they almost “never missed [their] shows,” and took it upon themselves to make the acquaintance of it’s leader by inviting Emanuel to a round of Bölzlschiessen (dart shooting). It would be through Schikaneder that Mozart would become introduced to Schack, whose vocal abilities were as much lauded as were his capabilities as a composer - especially by the Senior Mozart, Leopold, who raved over Benedikt's technique in a now famous letter to daughter Maria Anna (Nannerl), who would make his acquaintance later, alongside Wolfgang.

By all appearances, young Schack’s friendship with Herr Mozart superseded even that of the maestro's kinship with Schikaneder. Mozart was said to have routinely requested the company of Benedikt for his daily “strolls” – according to an 1811 account by the Bavarian historian Felix Joseph Lipowsky the king of opera may even have penned sections of music for his new friend whilst Schack readied himself for the excursions:

“Mozart often came to Schack to fetch him for a stroll; while Schack dressed he would sit at the writing desk and compose here and there a piece in Schack's operas. Thus several passages in Schack's operas derive from Mozart's own hand and genius.”

So close were two musical comrades that Constanze, Herr Mozart’s spouse, would pen a letter to Schack toward the end of his life in December of 1826. In the very personal exchange, the widow Mozart (now Nissen through her second marriage to the Danish diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen) recalls the undeniable bond shared between the two friends:

“I could think of absolutely no one who knew him better or to whom he was more devoted than you...”

Schack would befriend
Herr Mozart
- a later collaborator -
in 1786.

The dynamic duo had collaborated not only on parchment but also on stage: in 1790, it would be for the singspiel Der Stein der Weisen ("The Philosopher's Stone"), a troupe-collective opera with libretto by Schikaneder and with each member of the group composing their own sections for the work, and with Herr Mozart contributing his own sections as honored guest. Der Stein... proved to be a success during Mozart’s lifetime – it would, however be overshadowed by the ravishing success of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) which would hold its première one year later at Schikaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden (on September 30, 1791, just two months prior to Wolfgang’s death).

As with Der Stein der Weisen, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte would also feature Schack and the Schikaneder troupe, with group leader Schikaneder penning the libretto for the work (and appearing onstage as the character Papageno), and with member Johann Baptist Henneberg as conductor, and with Franz Xavier Gerl and Schack as stage performers (as Sarastro and Tamino).

Schack, who retired from the stage 1813 after experiencing a decline in his vocal ability, would survive on a pension until his death on December 10 1826. An obituary published anonymously at the time of Schack's passing places the composer at Mozart's bedside on the "very eve" of his death. It reads:

“On the very eve of his death, Mozart had the score of the Requiem brought to his bed, and himself (it was two o'clock in the afternoon) sang the alto part; Schack, the family friend, sang the soprano line, as he had always previously done, Hofer, Mozart's brother-in-law, took the tenor, Gerl, later a bass singer at the Mannheim Theater, the bass. They were at the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart began to weep bitterly, laid the score on one side, and eleven hours later, at one o'clock in the morning (of 5 December 1791, as is well known), departed this life.”

Listen below to the stunning aria “Welch fremde Stimme hörte ich?” (What Strange Voice Do I Hear?") from Der Stein der Weisen performed by the Boston Baroque under Martin Pearlman. This particular aria/section was composed by Herr Schack (it also happens to be among my personal list of top tenor arias!) *Aria begins (and is queued) at 32:16 mins:




More from this series:

• FROM OBSCURITY TO LIGHT - CLASSICAL ERA: Martín y Soler, Clementi & Righini

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY: “DR.” JOHANNES BRAHMS SCOFFS AT PRETENSION AND FANFARE WITH A BOOZY ACADEMIC TRIBUTE

Johannes Brahms: composer, conductor, comic

It was on this January day in 1881 that esteemed faculty and alumni at the University of Breslau in Wroclaw, Poland were first treated to a rousing performance of Herr Brahms’ so called “Academic Festival Overture,” a very tongue-in-cheek show of thanks from the composer for the rare privilege of having been nominated by the University for an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy.

The ever-so-humble Brahms, a noted dissenter of public displays of pomp and circumstance, first attempted to quietly thank the faculty via a postcard acknowledging his gratitude – a humble display of affection that was quickly dismissed as inadequate by the conductor Bernard Scholz (the man who had first nominated him for the degree). A “grander gesture” of thanks would be both required and expected from the nominee – no less than a freshly composed symphony would do to appease the honor! This was no altruistic endowment, that much was made surprisingly clear to the composer.

Brahms, more than a little miffed at the actions required to receive his “gift,” decided to turn the pretentious nature of the faculty on it’s head with a cleverly designed orchestration consisting of a mélange of student-favorite drinking songs and even a fraternity initiation ballad – intended to mock the ‘seriousness’ of the degree and those who bestowed upon him the honor – that elite sect of greedy bandits who gave with one hand and expected to take with the other. The premier of the overture was nothing less than a symphonic TKO.

It’s safe to say the faculty – who sat front and center at the premiere – were less than pleased with the performance.

What makes Brahms’ symphonic show of thanks even more delightfully crass lay in the dedication associated with the honorary degree – the University had dubbed the composer “the foremost composer of serious music in Germany today.”

Score one for Brahms! 

The Academic Overture:


Footnote:

The student 'initiation' ballad "Was kommt dort von der höh'?" (What comes there from on yonder?) was just one of the "very boisterous potpourri of student drinking songs à la Suppé" (the description given to the Overture by Brahms himself) - and is certainly one of the works' more raucous themes. Click here to read the lyrics to this rowdy gem (external link).

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

RUSSIA’S RED ARMY (ALEXANDROV) ENSEMBLE PERISHES IN DISASTER CRASH ON THE BLACK SEA

Unraveling Musical Myths extends today heartfelt condolences to it’s large Russian readership as major news outlets report that all passengers aboard the flight carrying the Alexandrov (formerly The Red Army) Ensemble to a scheduled ‘liberation’ concert in Aleppo have perished after the plane carrying 92 members of the ensemble crashed into the Black Sea on Christmas Day.

According to independent Russian news agencies, the iconic troupe had been traveling to the ravaged Syrian city at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin – other media outlets report the ensemble was actually headed to the Hmeymim airbase outside of the city to perform for troops stationed there on the occasion of the New Year.

On board the doomed flight were 62 singers of the Ensemble’s 70 member choir - virtually eliminating the troupes' choral section - in addition to it's instrumentalists, dancers and the nationally revered conductor and General Valery Khalilov.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.


Read more about the tragedy below:

• Reuters

UPDATE ON THE CRASH: 

• "Wing flap fault main theory behind crash" at Reuters 

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY / NOTABLE LETTERS – MOZART’S DON GIOVANNI RECEIVES PREMIERE IN BERLIN, IS RIGHTEOUSLY PANNED BY THE CRITICAL PRESS, PREDICTED TO FADE INTO OBSCURITY

Portrait of Mozart (debated) c. 1790

It was on this December day in 1790 at Berlin’s Theater an der Wien that Mozart’s 19th opera, Don Giovanni made its premiere in the German capital (the opera’s world premiere having been held in Prague at the Teatro di Praga in October of 1787) to unanimously tepid reviews.  The Journal of Fashion called it “too artificial…overloaded with instruments” - a sentiment that seemed to make the rounds among the critical press: the Monthly Musical Journal expressed disbelief at the backlash Herr Mozart received for the performance – a very rare occurrence indeed for the composer - yet does nothing to repudiate it, simply claiming  

“until now I have not heard him considered by any thorough musician as a correct, less a perfect artist, and still less with regard to poetry, as a correct and fine composer…”

No review, however, was quite as scathing as the following critique, which not only lambasts Don Giovanni, but predicts a life spent in obscurity and a legacy ultimately left unrealized by its composer (extracted from a local newspaper in 1790 Berlin):

“If ever an opera was anxiously expected, if ever there was a work by Mozart raised to the skies before it’s performance, it was this ‘Don Juan.’ The composer must not speak to us by overloading the instruments, but with heart-feelings and passions; then he writes grandly, then his name will go down to future generations, and a perennial laurel will blossom for him in the Temple of Immortality…”

Strange commentary, indeed: Mozart’s Don Giovanni is today, far from an obscure work, proudly boasting a status as one of the top ten most frequently performed (and beloved) operas in theaters across the globe. It’s composer has long been considered one of - if not the - most influential and leading masters of Western Classical Music – an accolade that sees no hint of contest anytime in the foreseeable future.

From both a contemporary and industry standpoint, several major composers, from Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin to Herrs Beethoven and Offenbach - even Rossini - have borrowed music from the opera and/or made arrangements for it – Gounod called it a opera that "stands highest among all classic works;" Tchaikovsky famously praised both the opera and its composer in a privately written exchange with his confidante and benefactress Nadezhda von Meck in which he states

“I not only like Mozart, I worship him… I am quite incapable of describing to you what I felt on hearing Don Giovanni… nothing in opera has impressed me so deeply... I could cry out and weep from the overpowering strain on the emotions… I love the music of Don Giovanni so much that even as I write you, I could shed tears of agitation and emotion... Mozart is responsible for my having dedicated my life to music... how could I not want my dear, best, incomparable friend to worship the one I worship over all musicians? How could I not try to make you feel moved and carried away by that music which makes me tremble with indescribable bliss?”

Praise for Don Giovanni wasn’t limited only to Herr Mozart’s musical peers – many icons of literary intelligentsia would praise the opera, from the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who writes (through a character in his novel Enten-Eller) that Don Giovanni is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection;" Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni one of the “finest things God has ever made” Whilst E.T.A Hoffman and George Bernard Shaw included scenes from the opera in their published works. Praise for the opera at it’s October 27 premiere in Prague in 1787 was swiftly lauded on the work and it’s composer, with one periodical claiming "Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like…" - yet Don Giovanni’s disastrous premiere in Berlin and later in Milan (where it was received with a round of audience hissing) present an entirely different critical perspective. So what happened? What lessons, if any, are we to draw from such polar opposite viewpoints?

Contemporary poster for Mozart's Don Giovanni

I would posit that it was the challenging of classical music’s rigid rules in Berlin and in Italy by Herr Mozart that led to such criticism: the presentation of something new - setting sail upon formerly uncharted waters – combined with the composers' perceived placement on opera's royal throne – situated at the top of a finely gilded musical pedestal – that ultimately led to Don Giovanni's demise in the German capital.

A pack mentality – and Mozart’s own crushing celebrity combined with the over-saturation of the composer in local periodicals, I believe, played a large role in the attempt to dethrone the King of Opera. This destructive formula is nothing new. It persists even to this day, living on in full force in all genres of music and even stage. We recognize this trend most noticeably when a modern-day icon of music or screen dies – the previously ignored composer or actor is suddenly exalted to heroic status – his or her works and performances given new life - tagged with the sobriquet of perfectionism. We see it in the start-up soprano or tenor – whose physical appearance is given more importance than ever before required to help “sell” an opera’s romantic or tragic story – almost all of whom are roundly chastised by armchair critics, loathsome of the up-and-comer with the “full package”...beloved only when the popular perception of sex appeal is lost – when the artist ages, or puts on weight. Like Herr Mozart, they too are panned by their musical peers – in lieu of hopes for immortality, given a death sentence instead.

If we are to extract any lessons from the (now comical) crude “predictions” of the late 18th century Berlin press, it is this - draw your own conclusions. Listen to and enjoy thoroughly the music that moves you.

And, most importantly:

pay no attention to the critics. 


Enjoy below one of my favorite arias from Don Giovanni – Zerlina’s “Vedrai Carino” sung here by Slovak soprano Lucia Popp:


-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

QUOTE OF THE DAY - DECEMBER 16, 2016: BEETHOVEN’S PATH TO DIVINITY

Beethoven as he would have appeared in 1812

Today’s Quote of the Day comes to us courtesy of 19th century German composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the form of a letter written to a certain “Emily M. at H.” – thought to be a young pianist and admirer of the maestro, of around eight or nine years of age – in which the celebrated composer proffers to the girl a poetic verse of musical insight and perspective:

“Do not merely practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; it deserves that, for only art and science can exalt man to divinity.”

(Fahre fort, übe nicht allein die Kunst, sondern dringe auch in ihr Inneres; sie verdient es, denn nur die Kunst und die Wissenschaft erhöhen den Menschen bis zur Gottheit) -Ludwig van Beethoven, Toplitz, July 17, 1812.

This letter (published in an alternate translation on page 259 in the compilation below) by Herr Beethoven - whose date of birth is undocumented, but believed by scholars to have originated on this 16th day on December in 1770 at Bonn – and more letters penned by the iconic maestro can be read in their entirety by perusing the pages in the book embedded below (provided courtesy of the public domain archive at archive.org).



Enjoy a gorgeous rendition of Beethoven’s “Mir ist so wunderbar” (A wondrous feeling fills me), the famous quartet from Ludwig’s only opera, Fidelio. Sung by Lucia Popp, Gundula Janowitz, Manfred Jungwirth and Adolf Dallapozza under Leonard Bernstein:



A note on Herr Beethoven's "birthday" (from Wikipedia):

"There is no authentic record of the date of [Beethoven's] birth; however, the registry of his baptism, in a Catholic service at the Parish of St. Regius on 17 December 1770, survives. As children of that era were traditionally baptised the day after birth in the Catholic Rhine country, and it is known that Beethoven's family and his teacher Johann Albrechtsberger celebrated his birthday on 16 December, most scholars accept 16 December 1770 as Beethoven's date of birth."

To learn more about the life and exploits of this famous composer, visit the Beethoven Archives here at Unraveling Musical Myths. 

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE