"You're welcome JRR Tolkien"

     The other day I briefly mentioned "Program Music" but did not give much of an explanation.  Program music is music which represents something as opposed to music whose only meaning is the notes which are heard.  You know, like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. I've got some rockin examples for you but first a shameless plug for my new track and a note on Nordic Mythology...

     Recently a friend of mine was talking about JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and I started blabbering on about how Tolkien took much of the material for the narrative from Wagner's "Der Ring Des Nibelungen."  There are many obvious parellels both thematic and musical such as a ring which grants its bearer ultimate power and the necessity of its destruction in order to redeem the world.  It would be a lot easier to believe Tolkien if his claim were that Wagner's Ring played only a small part in the conception of LOTR; however, Tolkien claims not to have been influenced by it at all.

     But hold on a minute, what is "Der Ring Des Nibelungen?" Often referred to as The Ring Cycle, it is a work of art which has no parallel.  Wagner believed that no artistic work could reach its full potential unless it incorporated as many different art forms as possible.  So he invented the "Gesamtkunstwerk" (or total-artwork). Gesamtkunstwerk is essentially an epic opera.  Epic meaning 4 hours long with a gigantic chorus and orchestra and deep psychological themes.  The Ring Cycle is a cycle of four operas totaling about 15 hours which took 30 years to create. It is the most written about work of musical art in existence (partally because every character and emotion in the cycle has a specific musical theme called a leitmotif attached to it).

     But we all know opera is boring, right (just kidding)? The important thing is that Wagner was a huge proponent of program music.

And now the important stuff: a few bits of knowledge on program music which will make you sound smart should you find yourself at a fancy dinner party...

1)Beethoven only wrote one opera, it was entitled "Fidelio" and the consensus among music scholars is that it is not very good.  Beethoven's Achilles heal so to speak.

2)In 1916 English composer Gustav Holst wrote "The Planets" - a suite in seven movements with each movement representing the astrological character of one planet from our solar system.  My personal favorite is Saturn - Bringer of Old Age which begins timid and mellow and proceeds to rock your face off...  Sarah you might also like Jupiter - Bringer of Jolity it's probably the most famous of the movements.

3)In 1874 Mussorgsky wrote Pictures at an Exhibition - a suite in ten movements which represents a walk through an exhibition of his friend, painter Viktor Hartmann.  The main theme is the 'promenade' which represents the viewer of the exhibition walking from piece to piece.  Each recurrence of the promenade has a different feeling depending on the mood of the pictures which have just been observed. Though originally composed for piano the suite is so colorful that it has been re-orchestrated time and time again.  The most famous version was done by Maurice Ravel.  Here are The Gnome and The Great Gates of Kiev - two of the movements as orchestrated by Ravel.

Stay tuned this week for fast cars, explosions and sex...

My dear, Linus and Lucy is not classical... haha!  It seems we have a starting point:)  Before we go any further I want to clarify that for the purposes of this discussion that when I refer to "classical music" I am only referring to Western Classical Music and not the classical traditions of other parts of the world (don't even get me started on how the originally Carnatic musician Ilayaraja has arguably spanned a broader musical scope than any other living  musician).  Anyway, just because something uses piano or violin, etc... does not mean it is classical.  For example this gorgeous track by Tom Waits is still pop music. An overly simplified way of thinking about it is this: there is popular music and there is art music.  Classical music is music which is now considered art music.  Popular music is folk music or  music for consumption. Classical music is music for the sake of music (or I should say for the intellect, for the engaged listener, god anyway I say it I sound like a super douche and am going to catch flack). One is not better or worse than the other. Even 500 years ago there was the same distinction.

Before I proceed please note that each piece linked in this blog has been carefully selected for your appreciation and unless noted otherwise should be listened to and considered in full if this lesson is to achieve its desired goal.

 
Linus and Lucy is music of a folk tradition. Here is a breathtaking example of Polish folk music traditions and here is an example (not a great performance) of Chopin in which he draws on the old Polish folk traditions to create art music.  One of the main differences which usually (though not always) separates the two traditions is that folk music is an aural tradition whereas classical is written.  That is to say musics like Jazz, though now well documented on paper, evolved and were originally passed down by ear whereas classical music is a tradition which has always relied on the written page to evolve and continue.

Throughout the coming weeks I will post some of my favorite classical pieces.  They will be from varied genre's, styles, and time periods.  It will be a lot to chew on but give them a good listen and let me know what you liked the most/least and why and that will be our jump-off point for this learning experience (all of this will be from the past 200 years.  Some really interesting stuff from the 20th and even 21st century later in the week.  For music from before 1800 I am capable and willing to give you all the history you want but I generally don't enjoy it so it would be hard for me to help YOU enjoy it)

 Lesson 1 (since you mentioned Beethoven...)

1) Beethoven Symphony no. 9 in D minor, Opus 125. First movement.  1824

    To dissect the name of the piece a bit:  Symphony indicates that it is a work for full orchestra (almost always without singers or words of any sort, although in the 4th movement of this very piece there are 4 soloist singers and a choir.  There are always exceptions to the rules).  Number 9 indicates that it's the 9th symphony he wrote.  The piece is in the key of D minor.  Opus 125 indicates that it was the 125th piece of music that he published.  First movement - usually there are 4 movements in a symphony.  A good analogy is if a symphony is an album, a movement is a song.  The movements are usually in different keys and different tempos and forms.

Side note, he wrote this piece towards the end of his life while completely deaf.  I particularly like the very end - another word for very end in classical music is "Coda."  As the story goes, after this piece premiered (on May 7th my birthday!) the crowd roared.  Beethoven could not hear it though and when somebody pointed behind him and he turned around and saw the audience's response he wept.  Who really knows if it's true?

Q: Didn't the fact that Beethoven was going deaf for the second half of his life have a psychological impact on the composer?
A: Yes

2) Beethoven-String Quartet C# minor, Op.131-7. Allegro

    The word Allegro indicates tempo, C# minor is the key that the piece is in.  Op. 131-7 just means opus 131, movement 7.  This is one of the very last pieces (if not the last) which Beethoven ever wrote.  This is the seventh movement although string quartets typically have only 4 movements.  Beethoven was cool like that.  Again he was totally deaf when he wrote this.

Stay Tuned for Rock Stars and Promiscuity coming up...