Debussy, Arabesque No 1

 

Marie-Blanche Vasnier (1848 - 1923)

After finally winning the Prix de Rome in 1884, twenty-two-year-old Claude Debussy moved to Rome, where he spent three years studying and writing music, in the comfort of the Villa Medici
and its generous surroundings. But the following year he was back in Paris, due to his frail health,
on the one hand, and the sense of nostalgia
caused by living so far from the loved one, on the other.

Madame Vasnier
Some years before, he had met in Paris a beautiful soprano with luminous green eyes, Marie-Blanche Vasnier, who had enthralled him with her
nightingale voice, her beauty, elegance and vast knowledge of the world. The charming woman was 30 years old, the mother of two young children, and had been married for thirteen years to an expert in legal matters, eleven years her senior. The couple used to welcome artists and musicians at their home in Ville d'Avray, where young Claude-Achille came on more than one occasion to play the piano and accompany Madame Vasnier in her flourishes. Between that and falling at her feet, there was only a single step.

Unfortunately for him, the idea of ​​abandoning her legal expert never occurred to Marie-Blanche. So the quick visit the musician made to Paris in 1885 with the veiled intention of being received again that summer at the Vasniers', did not result as Claude-Achille expected.

(It was not the first time that the musician fell in love improperly. It had happened before with a daughter of Nadezhda von Meck, the patroness of Tchaikovski. At the time – he was twenty years old – he went a little further and with unexpected audacity asked Mrs. von Meck for the hand of her daughter Sonia, her seasonal student, who, in communion with her siblings, had been taking piano lessons with the young master for three summers. That was the last, of course.)

Arabesque No 1

Until 1884, Debussy wrote more than twenty songs for Madame Vasnier. Then relations weakened and the maestro composed less and less music for song and piano, focusing his creative vigor on compositions for solo piano, which culminated in 1890 with the novel piano language shown in the Bergamasque Suite (which includes the famous Claire de Lune). It is also around this time that he composed the charming Deux Arabesques, the first of which is presented here, in the rendition of the amateur pianist (according to him) Ricker Choi, born in Hong Kong and graduated in Canada as a finance analyst.

The work, structured in two sections, begins in the key of E major making use of compositional techniques typical of what would later be called "musical impressionism". Section B, gentler and more reflective, is on the subdominant key (A major), starting at minute 1:31. Recap of the first section: 3:01.

Beethoven and Perez Prado... a mix...

One hundred and forty years after the premiere of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, at the house door of Cuban pianist and composer Dámaso Pérez Prado knocked not fate but the muse who inspired him to compose his Mambo No. 5.

Pérez Prado, a composer of mambos and danzones
In 1948, the thirty-two-year-old Cuban arranger was at the peak of his fame and had already composed such a number of mambos and danzones that, tired of inventing titles (Patricia, for example) had decided, "four mambos ago", identify them with just a number, from thereon. For this reason, the 78-rpm disc that went on sale the following year had on one side a piece titled with its latest witticism, Qué rico el mambo, and on the other – with the same number as the Fifth – the popular Mambo No. 5.

Dámaso Pérez-Prado
(1916 - 1989)

Akira Miyagawa, popularizer of "serious music"
Cubans and people from all the world danced for twenty years to the rhythm of that mambo and others, either with opus number as without it, until the enthusiasm for the mambo began to wane to give way to other rhythms, such as salsa, for example. in the late seventies. Precisely around those years, the future Japanese director and pianist Akira Miyagawa, also an arranger, was taking his first steps on the other side of the globe. With the aim of divulging classical music, he began to devise impressive arrangements of classical pieces, making them friendly to those who do not show a natural disposition towards "serious music".

Akira Miyagawa (1961 - )

An unexpected mix
Recently, together with an orchestra of very young musicians, Akira decided to borrow from Beethoven and Pérez Prado some bars of their respective masterpieces to "compose" a surprising hybrid.

The result of this unique undertaking is shown in a video in which Akira invites us to walk without a break from the ominous opening motif of four notes of the Fifth Symphony allegro ("the fate that knocks at your door") to the joy and enjoyment of life that Caribbean music (more precisely, Cuban music) represents: the hundred time mentioned – in movies and television – Mambo N ° 5.

To all this, we have hardly named Beethoven. I don't know how he would have reacted. I want to believe he had smiled, despite how grumpy and irritable he was in his later years.

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No 3

With the enormous output of 27 piano concertos, Mozart undoubtedly contributed to the nineteenth-century concerto for piano and orchestra becoming a highly widespread form in Viennese musical practice. Therefore, it seems odd that composers established in the Austrian capital who followed him greatly diminished the production of concertos, such as Beethoven or, at the other extreme, omitted it altogether, as was the case with Schubert who, by the way, only lived 31 years.

The new character
But it should not be thought that the musical form known as a concerto for solo instrument and orchestra has lost prestige, or was considered outdated. Quite the opposite, that scarce production is a consequence of the composers' greater dedication and focus in the creation of concertistics pieces, which for this reason were acquiring the character of extensive, large-scale work, to which the composers will turn their attention intensively.

The "performer", a new figure
The changes that the concerto will experience in the 19th century are due to the nascent appreciation of "the artistry", the discovery of the individual hand in hand with romanticism, and with it the emergence of the figure of the "performer", who become aware of themselves as exceptional beings, capable of technical feats that astonish an astonished audience at the perfection of increasingly difficult performances, unattainable by the ordinary folk. Which means, in passing, the end of the author-performer, so close at hand in the previous century. This process, gradual like all processes, had its beginning in the early years of the century and its first promoter was, without a doubt, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven's concertos production, compared to the nine symphonies, or the sixteen quartets for string or the 32 sonatas for piano, is quite reduced: five concertos for piano and orchestra plus a juvenile one composed at age 14 and which It is never performed, a violin concerto, and a triple concerto for violin, cello and piano.

Of the five piano concertos, the first two (where the one with the number two is chronologically the first) are a transition between a world that is being left behind and the new one that comes from the hand of the French Revolution. They clearly do not respond to the Mozartian style, revealing a more ambitious attitude than any of Mozart's, although they are still limited in their conception.

Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor
The real change of style will come with the Concerto No. 3 in C minor, opus 37, completed in 1800, premiered in April 1803 and published in 1804. The music has ceased to be fresh and light to acquire epic and turbulent features, showing the hallmark of a second stage in the maestro's life since the deafness has definitely begun. In the autumn of 1802, Ludwig would confess his grief in the Heiligenstadt Testament (which will only be known after his death, twenty-five years later), where he bitterly regrets that it has been precisely him, a musician, who lost his sense of hearing.

Concerto No. 3 is the only one written in a minor mode and reflects a clear evolution in his piano literature. Not for nothing, at this point, has Beethoven composed eighteen of his 32 piano sonatas.

Movements:
– Allegro con brio. In sonata form, with two main themes (a second theme, lyrical, is presented in 5:16).

– Largo (17:01). A calm subject, conducive to meditation.

– Rondo - allegro (28:40). Funny and cheerful, perfect for closing the work.

The rendition is by Krystian Zimerman, accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. 

Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini

 
Born into a wealthy family, Sergei Rachmaninoff did not look sympathetically at the revolutionary outbreaks of the early century that would later lead to the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. So as soon as the historical change began, he went on a tour of the Scandinavian countries. Once the tour was over, he decided to go to North America with his wife Natalia in a fragile boat that set them down on Long Island in the first days of November 1918. It was not his first visit to America, but this time he would stay there forever.

Between the US and Europe
The successes of the previous visit allowed him to get convenient access the American musical circuits.  He toured the country extensively in exhausting tours as a virtuoso piano player, although this forced him to neglect his career as a composer. But at the same time, the economic well-being achieved in North America provided him to divide his life and his time between the United States and Europe. Between the years 1932 and 1939, he was able to travel every summer to the small village he had built in Switzerland, near Lake Lucerne, in the company of Natalia.

In Villa Senar
The Swiss refuge was called Villa Senar, a name formed by the first two letters of his name, Natalia's own, and the initial of her surname. In this house, Russian was spoken, Russian food was cooked by Russian servants and immigrants and friends from Russia were welcome – the pianist Vladimir Horowitz among them. If there was enough peace, Sergei would try to compose.

It was in the comfort of this home, between July and August 1934, that Sergei Rachmaninoff composed one of his most acclaimed works, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, premiered to great success by the Philadelphia Orchestra in Baltimore, on November 7 of that year, with the author at the piano under the leadership of Leopold Stokowski.

"Creme de Menthe" Variations

The work comprises twenty-four variations on Caprice N° 24 for solo violin by Niccolo Paganini. It is clear that Sergei was not the inventor of the idea, as the Caprice composed by the violinist who had a pact with the devil has inspired a wide and diverse number of composers including not only Brahms, Liszt or Lutoslawski but also Benny Goodman.

Although the work is executed in one go, it can be divided into three sections corresponding to the three movements of a concert: up to variation 10 they make up a first movement; from 11 to 18, a second slow movement; and the rest the final movement. Due to great technical difficulties, the piece forced Rachmaninoff to drink a glass of creme de menthe prior to going on stage on opening day in order to calm his nerves, a protocol he followed every time he had to perform the piece that he himself later dubbed "creme de menthe variations".

Variation 18 (14:50) is by far the best known. Slow and surprisingly romantic in character, it is often featured as a standalone piece in various compilations of classical music. Its use in Hollywood movies and various popular songs has also contributed to the popularity of the piece and the subsequent fame of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The rendition is by the Russian pianist born in 1991 Daniil Trifonov, accompanied by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Scarlatti, Sonata in A major

 

The Neapolitan composer Domenico Scarlatti met Handel during a trip the former made to Venice in 1708 when they were both twenty-three years old; both had been born the same year, 1685 (as Bach, in passing). Enthusiastic about Handel's abilities, Domenico followed him to Rome to listen to his improvisations. After a while, both musicians would consolidate a great friendship.

The contest
According to a Scarlatti biographer, Cardinal Ottoboni – Handel's patron at the time and patron of art – organized a healthy competition in Rome between the two musicians to liven up the evenings of his modest court. It was about knowing who was the best organist and harpsichord player, or Scarlatti, or Handel. At the end of the contest, and for the participants remained to be friends, the noble audience declared both artists tied: the best organist was Handel, and the best harpsichordist, Scarlatti.

D. Scarlatti (1685 - 1757)

555 "Exercises"
This exalted public was right. In 1733, installed in Madrid for the rest of his days as a music teacher to his student and former princess Maria Barbara, now Queen of Spain, he will compose his gigantic work for harpsichord: 555 short pieces of a single movement that he modestly called "exercises", however highly innovative compositions that herald the future sonata form of the coming decades.

A friendly welcome
The first edition of Domenico's modest "exercises" is headed by a singular and precious warning that for the understanding of his art and his personality provides us with more information than a complete encyclopedia: 

"Reader, do not expect, whether you are a dilettante or a professor, to find in these compositions any profound intention, but rather an ingenious banter in the art to exercise you in rigorous play of the harpsichord.

No point of view or ambition guided me, but obedience brought me to publish it. 

Perhaps they will be agreeable to you, and I will more willingly then obey your other orders to please you with an easier and more varied style. 

Therefore do not show yourself more judge than critic, and you will thereby grow your own pleasure.

To specify hand position I have used the letter D to indicate the right hand, and the letter M the left hand. 

Live happily."

Happy and less judge than critic, then, one must listen to the rendition of the sonata in A major K. 322, by the 16-year-old pianist born in Hong-Kong, Tiffany Poon, during a recital in Montreal in January 2013.