Arturo Marquez, Danzón No 2

 
As Erik Satie did in his time (Trois Morceaux en forme de Poire), the Mexican composer Arturo Márquez Navarro was used to fiddle around with the titles of his works. Examples are the Leyenda de Miliano, a nice name to title a piece paying homage to Emiliano Zapata, and La Pasión según Marcos (because of the Subcomandante, from the Zapatist Army, I suppose).

Born in Sonora, Mexico, in 1950, Arturo Márquez arrived at the age of ten in Los Angeles, California, in 1960, by the hand of his parents (otherwise, he would not have arrived). There he forged his first ties with music and at sixteen he had already written his first pieces. Today he is a worldwide recognized author, whose work shows variety, richness and an indisputable craft, the product of his vast walk through various musical paths: first, it was the piano, the violin and the trombone, then jazz and rock; to all this, he added a musical education in France and at the California Institute of the Arts.

As a scholar and connoisseur of the popular music of Mexico, he has been able to incorporate its essence into his symphonic works without falling into nationalist or "folkloric" allusions. His most popular work is Danzón N° 2, whose inspiration came after a trip to Malinanco, in the south of the State of Mexico, in the company of a friendly couple, passionate lovers of danzón.

In his own words:

"From these experiences I begin to learn their rhythms, their form and their melodic contours by listening to the old recordings of Acerina and his Danzonera, and to my fascination, I understand that the apparent lightness of the danzón is only a letter of introduction to a music full of sensuality and qualitative rigor that our old Mexicans continue to live with nostalgia and joy as an escape into their emotional world, which fortunately we can still see in the embrace that music and dance are given in Veracruz and in the halls of the city of Mexico. Danzón N ° 2 is a tribute to that atmosphere that nurtures it. [...] Danzón No. 2 was composed thanks to a commission from the Directorate of Musical Activities of the UNAM and is dedicated to my daughter Lily."

The Danzón
It is a rhythm and a dance of Cuban origin created by the Matanzas composer Miguel Failde, back in 1879, born from another Cuban genre, the danza, a variation of the Spanish contradanza. In Cuba, it is performed with wind instruments, flute, violins, timpani and Cuban percussion.

The danzón arrived in Mexico around 1890, staying first in Yucatán, and later spreading to other areas. Very shortly after, it enjoyed great popularity in Mexico, thanks to the influx of Cuban musicians such as the Orquesta Aragón, Benny Moré and Acerina and his Danzonera.

The rendition is by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, conducted by its founder and artistic director, Alondra de la Parra, born in New York in 1980.

Chopin, Fantaisie in F minor

The Fantaisie in F minor is one of those "diverse works" by Chopin that do not fit into a renowned traditional structure. Among them, for example, there is a barcarole, a lullaby and even a Spanish bolero. Chopin called the work a "fantasy", a title that best accommodates to a free composition, with unforeseen changes in tonality, texture and rhythm, and passages that seem to be aimed for improvisation.

Upon returning from Mallorca, 1839
On his return from the unfortunate adventure in Mallorca with George Sand and her children, the curious family spent the summer together in Nohant. Afterwards, Chopin returned to Paris. So did his lover.
In October 1839, Sand, Solange and Maurice settled in a two-pavilion residence at 16 Rue Pigalle. The same did Frédérik at number 5 Rue Tronchet, relatively close to Sand, whose home had become for him a substitute for the family home.

But it was not long before Frédérik felt uncomfortable in his new quarters, which seemed dark, cold, and damp. Without further ado, at the beginning of November, he took up all his belongings and moved to Rue Pigalle. In an attempt to keep up appearances, George and Solange would occupy one of the pavilions, and Frédérik and Maurice the other. Crossing a small garden you could go from one pavilion to the other.

Evenings at the Rui Pigalle
In the evenings the couple would attend theatrical performances, or go to the opera. Soirees were also offered in one pavilion or the other. At Sand's pavilion, Chopin had to share with the friends of the writer, restless politicians, saint-simonists in their majority. In Frédérik's, the attendants were exiled Poles and the novelist's artist friends, Heine and Délacroix among them; also, the musician friends: Liszt, Berlioz. If Countess Delfina Potocka (to whom Chopin dedicated the "minute waltz") was passing through Paris, she would join the group and sing, accompanied on the piano by Frédérik.

Paris, the summer of 1840
This was how life unfolded until the summer of 1840, when the couple had to stay in Paris. Sand had not done well with her latest drama, Cosima, so there was no money to pay for her stay in Nohant, whose way of life involved an outlay of almost four thousand francs. Chopin did not take it wrong. He just worked in Paris all that summer, intensely. If he needed a break, he just had to take a walk around the Bois de Boulogne, in the company of Solange.

Before the end of the year, the ashes of Napoleon would arrive, on December 15th. Parisians took to the streets, but Chopin did not attend. He was finishing composing the Fantaisie in F minor.

Fantasy in F minor Op. 49
After a somewhat solemn and quiet start, in tempo di marcia, we will have to wait for a seductive phrase to appear. But later on, a noble and chivalric chant will break out at 4:16, which will be the subject to repetitions, with a great display of virtuosity between them, tinged by serene intervals. At the end, after a brief moment of stillness, a cluster of arpeggios will lead to an emphatic close with two dry hits.

This Fantaisie is one of Chopin's longest pieces (11-14 min), and is considered one of his greatest works.

The rendition is by the Russian pianist, Yulianna Avdeeva, the first lady to win, in 2010, the Chopin International Competition, after Martha Argerich in 1965.

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 5

The fair copy of the scores of the Six Concertos for various instruments sent by Johann Sebastian Bach to the Margrave in Brandenburg, dated March 21, 1721, was not commissioned to a scribe but written down by the proper hands of Bach, perhaps because he took a long time in sending the concertos, or because he had not composed them especially for the occasion. A little courtesy would settle all that minutiae.

Indeed, the concertos mainly were written during Bach's sojourn as court Kapellmeister of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen between 1718 and 1720, and some were born as far back as 1713, at least in their earliest version. Furthermore, some of them were partially used by Bach, before and after 1721, in other compositions.

Christian Ludwig, the Margrave
The Margrave may have suspected that he was not the exclusive recipient, or he simply did not like the concertos, because although we are not sure that he acknowledged receipt, we do know that the Margrave filed them in his library and never had them performed by his musicians. Let us note in his defense that the number of musicians at his disposal needed to be increased.

At the death of the margrave, a list of the compositions in his possession resulted in a total of 177 works, among which were the Six Concertos that, according to some, were later sold for a ridiculous sum, or went to the possession of one of the heirs. Thus, the concertos were lost until 1849, when they were rediscovered in the archives of Brandenburg. The following year, they were published in a special edition made to commemorate the second centenary of the death of the great master of the Baroque.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
Concerto No. 5 was probably written in 1719, to celebrate the acquisition of a new harpsichord for the court of Köthen that Bach had just made in Berlin. Three instruments have outstanding soloist participation: the flute, the violin, and the harpsichord, the latter standing out at the end of the first movement with a solo that announces the cadenza of the future concertos for solo instrument and orchestra.

Movements:
It is in three movements, following the traditional Vivaldian structure, fast-slow-fast:

00:00  Allegro
09:11  Affettuoso
14:59  Allegro

From the "Spiegelsaal" Castle Cöthen (Schloß Köthen), the Freiburger Barockorchester.

JS Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No 3

As he himself confesses, Johann Sebastian Bach was not quite diligent in complying with the request of the Margrave of Brandenburg, who had asked him a couple of years ago for some pieces to perform with his court's musicians.

Perhaps this explains the language overloaded with humility with which on March 24, 1721, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote – in French, according to custom – the dedication of the Six Concertos for several instruments addressed to Monsignor Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, transcribed below:

"Since I had a few years ago, the good luck of being heard by Your Royal Highness, by virtue of his command, & that I observed then, that He took some pleasure in the small talents that Heaven gave me for Music, & that in taking leave of Your Royal Highness, He wished to make me the honor of ordering to send Him some pieces of my Composition: I therefore according to his very gracious orders, took the liberty of giving my very-humble respects to Your Royal Highness, by the present Concertos, which I have arranged for several Instruments; praying Him very-humbly to not want to judge their imperfection, according to the severity of fine and delicate taste, that everyone knows that He has for musical pieces …
I very humbly beg Your Royal Highness, to have the goodness to maintain his kind favour toward me, and to be persuaded that I have nothing more at heart than to be able to be employed in some opportunities more worthy of Him and of his service … "

The words, highly condescending, are those that match, of course, the manners of a servant addressing a personality of the category of the "Margrave", the title in Spanish for Markgraf, equivalent to marquis.

It would be natural to suppose that the Margrave did receive the concertos. What is not in doubt is that he did not acknowledge receipt. Furthermore, the concertos were never performed in his court. A serious disregard for the maestro, arguably, but the fact is that the Baroque's master did not burn his eyelashes to make his gift to the Margrave either: from those who he already had written he chose six, made some changes and sent them accompanied of the thoughtful dedication heading this article.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major (BWV 1048)
The six concerts that make up the collection – which we now know as the Brandenburg Concertos – are written for different instruments. The third of them, the most popular of the entire series (as well as the shortest: less than 9 min), is composed for solo violin accompanied by strings and basso continuo. Written in three movements, the second, Adagio, consists of a single measure with only two chords, apparently intended for solo improvisation.

Movements:
0:00  Allegro
5:34  Adagio
5:45  Allegro

The rendition is by the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music, performed on original instruments. 

Mussorgsky, Nigth on Bald Mountain

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, born in Karevo, Russia, on March 21, 1839, showed remarkable piano skills from a young age. Although his father was no external to music and his mother played the piano moderately well as an amateur, the little boy had to enter the Cadet School of the Guards in St. Petersburg at the age of thirteen, because in the opinion of his parents his musical talent should not be an impediment to forging a stable future.

Officer and musician
Graduated from the School with the rank of officer, Mussorgsky was faced with a serious nervous breakdown, as the development of his military career required him to move away from Saint Petersburg. In the salons of the city, he had the opportunity to meet various rising musicians: Cui, Borodin and Balakirev (with whom he would later participate, along with Rimski-Kórsakov, in the famous group "Mighty Five"), and had become a disciple of the latter so that leaving the city meant getting away not only from family and friends but also from music.

Cadet Modest Mussorgsky
(1839 -1881)

Leaving the military ranks
The vocational crisis that absorbed him lasted almost two years, until in 1859, at the age of twenty, in a moment of supreme lucidity and commendable sharpness, he decided to come out of the military ranks to devote himself entirely to musical art. Unfortunately, during the next decade, despite being a member in good standing of the aforementioned Mighty Five – formally established in 1862 –, he would be afflicted by new and deep emotional crises, caused by the dire economic situation of his family.

Official and musician
The family crisis forced him to enter a ministry as an administrative employee, where he would remain for no less than fifteen years, taking away thousands of precious hours from creative work. All in all, the end of the decade is a relatively fertile period, in which the tone poem Night on Bald Mountain is created. The years to come will register the birth of the suite Pictures at an Exhibition and, perhaps his most famous work, the opera Boris Godunov.

Night on Bald Mountain - Tone poem
The work is inspired by a Gogol tale relating the experience of a peasant who witnesses a coven on the night of San Juan. It was never published during Mussorgsky's lifetime, and the version that has become popular – the one we heard in the animated film Fantasia in Stokowski's arrangement – corresponds to the orchestral arrangement that his fellow countryman Nicolai Rimski-Kórsakov made of Mussorgsky´s sketches.

The rendition is by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado.