Something Classical

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Last week’s Tuesday Tunes was themed around Autumn – here, if you missed it – and I closed the set with Vivaldi’s Autumn from his Four Seasons suite. Several readers remarked on how much they liked it and, as ever, I took an idea from that. I have played a huge amount of music over the years, but very little of that has been classical. I don’t profess to be an expert on it, but I’m definitely in the “I know what I like” camp, so I thought I’d play you a selection of some of my favourites. I began making a list and already have more than enough for several posts, so if you like this maybe I’ll do it again.

The first thing to note is that classical pieces tend to be a lot longer than the average rock or pop song, so it would be easy to overload you with too much in one post. Even playing just one movement of a piece can extend a bit, so what I’m doing with this first post is to play three pieces of music, all of which are part of a longer whole, but all of which are lovely to listen to on their own.

The problem for me was in choosing where to begin. Don’t expect any surprises – these are all well-known names – and you may well know some or all of these pieces. But so what? They all stand up to repeated listening, and have been around for centuries to prove their staying power. My taste tends towards the Classical and Baroque periods, both of which are represented today. My first piece is one of the most uplifting that I know: I have heard this played in concert and it is a wonderful experience. This is by some guy called Beethoven:

That was the opening movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, known as the Pastoral, which is subtitled Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside. It conveys that feeling beautifully, doesn’t it. Beethoven lived from December 1770 until March 1826, and this piece was first performed in December 1808, as part of a four hour concert which also included his Fifth Symphony (the Morse Code one). Concert goers in those days got their money’s worth, a bit like anyone who has been to see the Grateful Dead or Bruce Springsteen!

As I said, this is such a joyous piece and I looked on Wikipedia for some further information about it. But having done so, I fear I would have looked like a pseud if I had copied and pasted what they said, much of which went over my head anyway. Just enjoy the music, Clive! This performance is led by Gustavo Dudamel with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona in March 2017. Dudamel is one of my favourite conductors: he brings everything alive and is renowned for encouraging the best out of any orchestra with which he performs. This felt like a good place to start.

My second choice for today is of similar vintage, also from the Classical period, which is considered to have run from around 1750 to 1820. This is a beautiful piece of music which I have also heard in concert: I went on my own, in my teenage years, and the lady sitting next to me offered a tissue on seeing my reaction to it. It still does that to me today:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major was completed in October 1791 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler, who was a close friend of the composer. It consists of three movements, in a fast–slow–fast succession. This, not surprisingly, is the second movement, the Adagio, played here in 2019 by the European Youth Orchestra under the baton of Stéfane Dèneve, with Andreas Ottensamer as the soloist. The piece is thought to have received its first performance on 16 October 1791, just seven weeks before Mozart’s death on 5 December at only 35 years of age. He was a child prodigy who had begun writing music from the age of 5, and was incredibly prolific, completing more than 800 works in his short lifetime. I’ve always thought this a beautifully evocative piece, which you may well recognise from its use as background for the movie Out Of Africa – I take that fact on advice, as I’ve never seen the movie.

I thought I’d close this first dip of my toe into the classical waters with another movement from the piece which prompted this in the first place. From the same concert that I played previously, though taken out of sequence, this is Spring, from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons:

That was the excellent Voices Of Music ensemble, with Alana Youssefian playing the lead baroque violin, in a performance published in February 2020 (just before the world went to hell in a handcart). Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi’s influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving rise to many imitators and admirers. The Four Seasons is probably his best known composition: a series of four concertos which has become enormously popular through the years since it was first published in around 1718. To complete the set, this is another piece I have heard in concert – all forty minutes of the four concertos, and I can assure you that it is a fabulous experience.

So, that’s my first attempt at sharing some of my favourite classical music. Three works coming in at around a combined total of 30 minutes, offering a blend of styles and emotions. Do please let me know if you enjoyed these, or if you have any favourites you’d like to hear too. Depending on the outcome I may do this again, or this could turn out to be an ignominious one-off! Fingers crossed!

I’ll see you again for Song Lyric Sunday, and until then I wish you well 😊

45 thoughts on “Something Classical”

  1. I do like Vivaldi’s Four Season. Seeing Alana Youssefian’s enjoyment at being deep in the music was an additional pleasure.
    Thanks Clive.

    PS: When in my under tens and off school (Oh joy!) with childhood ailments I would watch the BBC’s For Schools Programme (they had items on dinosaurs!!). In those basic days, there was countdown clock the accompanying music was always classical. Never knew what. but I enjoyed it.

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  2. Three great pieces. The pastoral symphony is my brother’s favourite. I gather Beethoven loved to walk in the countryside and certainly the music is pure nature. I wonder if Vivaldi was also inspired by nature’s seasons. The clarinet concerto is one of my favourites, perhaps with a melancholy we feel because of the shadow of his early death. I’m looking forward to hearing what you come up with next.

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    • Thank you, Janet, I’m pleased you liked these. His long walks in nature certainly inspired Beethoven with this symphony, and I think the countryside around Mantua, where he was based at the time, was an inspiration for Vivaldi too. The whole Clarinet Concerto is wonderful, and this adagio is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I know.

      The response has been good so I’ll be doing this again, but maybe not for a week or several. I’m adding it to my ever-growing list of occasional topics, some of which really stretch the definition of ‘occasional!’

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    • True, he straddled both periods and is credited with being a main driver from one to the other. This symphony was completed in 1808, which qualifies it under both headings.

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  7. My career as a singer started with classical music. It is the top level of music. I like singing in any style, but classical is the supreme discipline, and I love using my whole potential. Thanks for sharing this today!

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  13. I’m familiar with Four Seasons and have so far watched the Mozart inclusion, but though I greatly respect classical, I haven’t dove in, I must admit. However I do intend to go and watch the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra by the end of the year (or or early next), and you have given me a nudge, thanks.

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  15. You chose wisely, my friend. My did was an opera and classical music lover all his life so I was surrounded by this type of music even before I could walk. Most people who say they don’t like classical music have never really heard it; how can anyone sit through the soundtrack from “2001: A Space Odyssey” and not be moved? This has been a lovely start to my day. ☺️

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    • Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased you enjoyed these as the start to your day. I think there’s a kind of ‘fear of the unknown’ about classical music for many: if only they would give it a try!

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  16. When I was young, (around 13) my dad brought home ‘The Four Seasons’, ‘The Planets Suite’, and a compilation of Strauss waltzes. I gave them all a listen and told him I quite liked The Planets. When I got older, I started to be interested in Opera. My favourites were Carmen, Aida, and Pagliacci. I eventually got to see them all on stage in London, and when visiting the Soviet Union I saw The Barber of Seville at the Mariinsky Theatre in Leningrad. A more modern classical piece I like is the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    • It was good that you were introduced to it so young. My parents had a few records, notably Beethoven’s Pathetique, which my Dad loved. You did well to see so many live productions: my concert going has been more of the chamber and orchestral variety, rather than opera. Orff is on my list of possible choices for a further post if this one generates enough interest.

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      • My dad always tried to introduce me to a variety of music, and I saw more live operas than I listed, as I saw Carmen three times, as well as others in London and in the Soviet Union. (Which were usually included free of charge for groups of tourists) I remember part of Carmina Burana was included on the soundtrack to the film ‘Excalibur’ which I saw at the cinema in 1981. I bought a vinyl recording of the full work the following day.

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      • I grew up listening to it. My family is very musical. We all took piano lessons & we all played several instruments & were involved in orchestra & concert band. My parents never missed the Metropolitan Opera broadcast on Saturday afternoons.

        All kinds of music was played in my family. Not only a heavy classical rotation, we heard all kinds of jazz. We had Beatles albums & Elton John records & all kinds of stuff. Even show tunes & bluegrass.

        I can’t imagine life without music & don’t get people who don’t listen to it.

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      • My Mum played piano and I used to sing with her – until my voice broke and I sounded awful! We had quite a range of music in the house – one of my favourites was my Dad’s record of Russian balalaika music with the Red Army Choir.

        Like you, I feel sorry for people who don’t have music in their lives.

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