100 Classical Works: A hosted discussion (Now discussing Goldberg Variations)

Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Click here for a MIDI file of the piece. (368kb)

One of Russia's "Mighty Handful", Korsakov's music was widely popular for its colorful orchestrations, exotic harmonies, and rich sounds. Capriccio Espagnol (Spanish Caprice), composed in 1887, is a fine example of Korsakov's compositional talents.

The piece follows a traditional caprice form (similar to Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien), but utilizes a variety of unconventional sounds, as far as Russian music goes. The music is inherently Spanish in nature, and Korsakov's skill is highly evident in the gorgeously pleasant melodies and countermelodies. The harmonies are, in fact, exotic, and the piece is just very well-crafted. Korsakov's greatest strength lies in his orchestration, and the instrumentation is wonderfully Romantic.

On a side note, does anyone know why the French adjectives always seem to come after capriccio, and Italian word? I'm curious.

 

Because they uh, they felt like mixing things up?

That piece was very ineteresting, I had not heard it before. It was quite different than other classical pieces I have heard. I guess that's the Spanish influence. To be honest, I've never heard much Spanish classical music, only latin music which is just not the same I enjoyed the overlapping layers of different sounds especially near the beginning. I really like that sort of dynamic.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

And the next caprice is...

Capriccio Italien by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Click here for a MIDI file of the piece. (186kb)

Composed during his time spent in Italy, Tchaikovsky was inspired by the Italians' newfound nationalism that he wrote, alongside the Souvenir de Florence, a lengthy Italian-style caprice. Of course, the piece is still riddled with Tchaikovsky's trademark techniques - many chromatic sequences, Romantic melodies, etc.

Possibly the only widely recognized part of the piece is the opening horn salvo, which leads into a nationalistic melodic movement, followed by a cheerful waltz and a lively, rhythmic, distinctly Italian movement. Tchaikovsky moves well between all three styles, finally reaching a typical, powerful finale derived from all three major melodies.

All in all, it's an enjoyable piece to listen to...not Tchaikovsky's best work, but good nonetheless.

 

Here's a sad thing. I heard this piece, specifically so I could comment on it in this thread. It's one of the ones I hadn't heard before that my library also had, so I heard it about, oh, two weeks ago.

I remember nothing about it.

Let's just say it's not impressive and move on, shall we?

 

If you say so . And now...moving on to...our first opera!

Carmen by Georges Bizet

Click here for a webpage featuring various MIDI files of the piece.

Although Bizet's career was riddled with popular failure, Carmen stands today as one of the most, if not the most, popular operatic piece. First performed in 1874, Bizet never lived to see its success. He died of a heart attack three months after the dismal premiere. Over time, however, critics gradually became increasingly enthusiastic over this exotic, vibrant, and geninuinely beautiful opera.

Now, let's see...there's a lot of great music here. It's hard to go there and analyze all of them. Obviously the Overture is full of famous themes, and rightfully so. Bizet's melodic gift is most evident in this work, and most people will readily hum along to one of the many popular melodies in Carmen. This includes Habañera, which really is a great song. The Spanish ostinato combined with the French vocals and a brilliant melody...it produces inspiring music. The Seguidilla and Duet, the Gypsy song, the Toreador song (Couplets etc), "Les Voici...", it all makes for a fantastic Romantic opera. And one that you can't walk away from without having one of the melodies stuck in your head for a good amount of time!

I have a recording of Carmen, complete with French vocals. The lyrics are actually quite beautiful (in addition to the music), especially with the effect of the Spanish accent. That's something you really don't get with the MIDIs.

 

I dunno . . . I'm a cultured fellow. I like some operas. But Carmen is just a tad too long. I've heard that set of CDs you mention and it took way too long. The music isn't that great, in my opinion.

This one is famous for the Toreador number. With good reason, that's the only really interesting musical selection. Other than that, the whole thing just sort of falls flat. I'm sure seeing it live would create a different reaction, but even knowing the story, I never worked up any emotion. The music should have helped me in that.

 

So I listened to Cappricio Italien and uh... yeaaah. Well it started out bombastic which I don't really like in classical songs all that much. Then it just moved to plain silly. What is this, a circus?!

Carmen obviously has some very famous pieces. I think it's kind of hard for me to evaluate famous classical pieces because they are what everyone thinks of when you say 'classical music' and it would be hard to criticise something people think you're supposed to like I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing, but I liked the parts Terr mentioned well enough. Memorable because I've heard them so much, but I'm not sure about otherwise.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I agree that Carmen is a bit too long. I rarely listen to the opera in its entirety...usually just skip between the songs I really enjoy. Similar to this next work...

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

Click here for a webpage featuring various MIDI files of the piece.

"Carmina Burana or "Songs of Benediktbeuern" is a collection of 13th-century stories, poems and songs which was discovered in 1803 at a monestary in Beuern, Bavaria, and has become one of the best-known sources for medieval European literature. It contains Latin plays on Biblical themes, pastoral and religious poems, recruiting songs for the Crusades, satires, and a large group of lively, sometimes licentious, love songs and drinking sngs. Composer Carl Orff selected portions of Carmina for what became his most popular work, a "scenic oratorio" designed for the stage as well as for concert performance. It was first performed in 1936."*

I had the good fortune of being able to attend a performance of Carmina in the area this summer. Frankly, I was blown away by O Fortuna. I think that song in itself is the quintessence of epic music. When the work closes, it launches into a tremendous encore of the opening song, producing very powerful results in the listener.

The rest of the piece is riddled with Orff's unique contemporary German style, but it is unmistakeably 20th-Century. The music utilizes unconventional harmony and dynamics, and precise, 'poetic' rhythms. It's probably too much for a casual listener, but there also exists the beauty of ancient poetry in the lyrics. All in all, it's a very distinct work, and one that can be greatly appreciated upon further listenings.

*Source

 

I've heard Carmina Burana and I think it's fabulous. The three main sections are all nicely delineated and they work together well. If I recall correctly, it's Spring, which is pretty enough, the Tavern, which is very energetic and The Court of Love which is beautiful. All in all, I think this is a great piece. It really impacts the listener.

 

Carmina Burana is one of my favorites. I find it all very emotional and fun. It's great to clean your house by.

Just a comment about Carmen. I prefer the ballet adaption. No singers. And the music is beautiful and doesn't run as long. I've got an old Melodya recording from Russia that I listen to. Try it if you don't want to sit through the Opera.

 

Classical works eh? So we're talking about N.W.A., Run DMC, and EPMD right?!?

This is also classical:

[image=http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/a2/7b/704576-609344-games_cover-resized200.jpg]

Go GreG! Fight the power and compose some more hot ****!

Go Leafs Go!

 

Sorry I haven't been in here for a while.

A few thoughts on previous works:

- Canon In D is definitely one of my all time favorites. As soon as I read that post, I picked up my guitar and started strumming those wonderful chords. (I learned to play a fairly complete version on piano, but, alas, I don't have a keyboard at my house. ) And I didn't know that Steve Howe recorded a version! I'll have to search that one out. My favorite rendition is probably the standard Paillard Chamber Orchestra. Although, I used to have a cassette copy of the St. Louis Orchestra, which I liked very much.

- Carmen: I just popped that in to my cd player. (I have a single cd of orchestral excerpts.) I'm sorry, but whenever I hear some of the famous melodies from this opera, I immediately think either of The Bad News Bears or the Gilligan's Island production of Hamlet, which featured songs set to the music of Carmen.

"Neither a borrower, nor a lender be,
do not forget, stay out of debt,
think twice, and take this good advice from me,
guard that old solvency!
There's just one other thing you ought to do:
To thine own self be true."

(BTW, that's to the tune of The Toreador Song.)

- Carmina Burana: I love the epic nature of this piece. There's that same kind of feel I get from Duel Of The Fates

 

O Fortuna is awesome.

 

Sorry fot not updating this in a while...I've been having a hard time finding information on this next piece.

Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni

Click here for a MIDI file of the piece ("Intermezzo" only - 10kb)

A one-act opera and Mascagni's only widely recognized success, Cavalleria represents the Italian composer's style with pleasing presentation. As is evident in the Intermezzo popularized by The Godfather: Part III, Mascagni most often utilizes string parts, accompanied by harp, to drive his operatic works. The melodies (Romantic, with a modern touch) are pleasing, and Mascagni makes great use of cadential extension to induce emotion in the listener.

Thoughts?

 

This one takes the opera and removes the basic flaw of the usual opera: length. It's just a tad over an hour and as such is almost addictivly short for an opera. I was blessed to hear Placido Domingo sing in this opera, so perhaps his excellent vocal work is part of the reason I like this one so well. It doesn't have a tremendous amount of familiar pieces, though the overture is immediatly recognizeable to anyone who's heard any classical music at all. Rather it's an emotional story, a journey into those operatic themes of heartbreak and grief.

About seventy times better than Carmen.

 

Moving down the list:

Cello Suite no. 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Click here for a MIDI file of the piece. ("Prelude" only - 5kb)

I think most people are at least familiar with the first part of Bach's first suite for unaccompanied cello - a unique Baroque melody for arguably one of the most beautiful-sounding instruments. The whole work is standard Baroque fare, with six relatively short pieces: the prelude, an allemande, courante, sarabande, minuet, and gigue. I need to find myself a recording of the entire work; I really enjoy Bach's compositions for cello.

Thoughts?

 

While I enjoy Bach when I hear it, I've never really gotten too much into him. I did check out the Brandenburg Concertos from the public library a few weeks ago, and found them pleasant.

 

Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No.3 is a truly amazing and beautiful work. I have a nice recording of it performed by the London Sinfonietta, and it is truly a touching and beautiful work. When I first listened to it, I couldn't believe how emotional that it was and I was on the verge of tears at the end of the first movement!

 

My favorite JS Bach work is his St. Matthew Passion. the begining and the Finale are quite amazing.

 

The Olim lacus colueram movement from the Carmina Burana gets to me every thime that I listen to it because you can literally hear the unfortunate swan crying in pain as it's being roasted. I love to read along when I listen to the Carmina Burana.

 

That sounds aweful.

 

It is. Swans are beautiful creatures and I can't bear to think of them being harmed.

PS-Yes, I enjoy Swan Lake.

 

Swan Lake has always been, and still is, my favorite ballet of all. Just beautiful.

 

Don't worry, we'll get there eventually.

 

Have you listened to Prokofiev's Alexander Nesvsky? That is a great work, especially the Field of the Dead when the mezzo is singing because it is quite passionate and emotional.