June Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Tag: classical music
Britten’s War Requiem
In an evening united by poets and music, the MSO reminded us how art can serve as a warning against war.
‘My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity…All a poet can do today is warn.’ Wilfred Owen’s words were written by composer Benjamin Britten on the front page of the score of War Requiem. In these days of hero worship and glorification, the pity—the realities in the stories of war are often forgotten but they underlined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s commemorative program of the Great War.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata
June composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
“Moonlight Sonata” Sonata 14 in C Sharp Minor, 1801-02
Liszt: Un Sospiro
MAY COMPOSER: FRANZ LISZT
Un Sospiro “A sigh” – S144/3 in D Flat Major, 1845 – 1849
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Liszt: La Campanella
Composer of the month: May
The catalogue of classical music is massive. It’s hard to know where to start. Over the past couple of years I have been listening on and off to pieces in a mostly random way. But I still really didn’t know anything about them, or about their composers.
As part of this journey into the classical world I decided to immerse myself in one composer a month. Each week I’ll look at a popular or interesting piece and the story around them. It’ll be their story and my story. Stay tuned.
May’s composer is the man who hooked me into this new world,
Franz Liszt
And so it begins…
Classical music is all about upper class folks wearing red velvet cravats and tuxedos isn’t it? But say I were a little interested, where would I even start? My parents were country music and 60s pop fans. I knew Charley Pride and the Beatles but no Beethoven or Mozart. To me this music felt overwhelming and impenetrable.From picnic at a summer evening concert a few years ago to an encounter with a Liszt ‘pop song’ of its time, I came to realise that music doesn’t require that you know its technical language, just its audible one. It definitely doesn’t require that you dress a certain way to listen to it. All it really requires are your ears and an open heart.
ANZAC Tribute: Beethoven’s Ninth
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Friday 24 April, 2015
From The Last Post ringing through a silent throng of people to a hundred-strong choir ringing out joy to an emotional audience, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s ANZAC Tribute was poignant and fitting. Their focus on unity was refreshing. The MSO Chorus was the highlight, with Schiller’s Ode to Joy in the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 a triumphant finish and showing us that music is, after all, the universal language.
Read more at artshub.com.au
The Classical Novice 