Kultur

Music Review: There Would Be No Jazz Without Louis Moreau Gottschalk

liberationtheology — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:35:16 GMT

Jazz as an American artform would have never evolved without Louis Moreau Gottschalk. A phenomenon in his lifetime but relegated to a reputation of parlor pianist today, Gottschalk nevertheless was the complete package: talented, good looking, highborn. Educated at the Paris Conservatoire and a peer of Fredrick Chopin, Gottschalk carved an impressive pedigree when he hit the concert trail in the Western Hemisphere during the years leading up to and including the American Civil War.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) was one of seven children born to a Jewish businessman from London and a white Haitian Creole in New Orleans, Gottschalk lived the life of an aristocratic Creole in New Orleans where he was exposed to a wide variety of musical traditions including European Romantic, Caribbean, South American and the precursor of delta blues. His family lived for a time in a small cottage on the corner of Royal and Esplanade in the French Quarter.

Gottschalk is remembered best for his piano miniatures and concert pieces, particularly those incorporating popular American fold songs of the day, predating Aaron Copland and Virgil Thompson's same practice by a century. There are several notable recordings of Gottschalk including those by Alan Marks, Lambert Orkis, and Philip Martin's eight-volume survey of the composer's piano music.

Orchestral music was also vey much a part of Gottschalk's composing palette, largely fleshed out scores of his piano pieces. These have been recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops and Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Naxos has produced three notable Gottschalk releases addressing both the composer's piano and orchestral music.

Louie Moreau Gottschalk
Piano Music
Naxos Records
2003

Like his contemporary Frédéric Chopin, any discussion of Louis Moreau Gottschalk must begin with this piano music. Gottschalk played a Chickering grand piano with more than the typically 88 keys. Tonally, this permitted Gottschalk to expand the high register language of Schubert and Liszt. This can readily be heard in the "Camptown Races" section of "Le Banjo" and the National Anthem and "Yankee Doodle" sections of "The Union, a paraphrase".

Pianist Cecile Licad takes a more aggressive approach to Gottschalk's warhorses "Le Banjo" and "The Union," playing these at a breakneck tempo not heard on previous recordings. This is not necessarily bad, it is a valid interpretation, but nuance is lost, particularly on "Le Banjo" and "Pasquinade, Caprice."

Her assertive approach, however, is more governed on slower pieces like "La savane, Ballade creole" and the slightly faster "Souvenir de Porto Rico," meeting with greater artistic success. The famous salon piece, "The Dying Poet" is lilting and graceful, Licad giving fully into the piece's sentimentality. This is juxtaposes perfectly with the following "The Union" which id Gottschalk banging at his best.

Licad's playing determined, an admirable quality, but the listeners should be warned that Licad is not Alan Marks or Lambert Orkis and does not play like them. This is high wire Gottschalk, not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, Piano Music is a worthy introduction to this important American composer.

Louie Moreau Gottschalk
Orchestral Works (Complete)
Naxos Records
2007

Louie Moreau Gottschalk was equally adept at adapting his famous piano music to orchestral settings. This first recording of the Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Richard Rosenberg devotes most of its attention to Gottschalk's originally conceived orchestral works. These include his "Grande Tarentelle" and his Symphony Number 1, "A Night in the Tropics."

I suspect that is music will sound suspiciously familiar to even the most naive of Gottschalk listeners. Gottschalk was assimilating the musics of Europe, North America, South America, and the Islands into a cauldron what would eventually produce jazz in the late 1890s and early 1910s. One would wonder how Jelly Roll Morton (and Scott Joplin, for that matter) would have turned out had Gottschalk not preceded him.

"A Night in the Tropics" is a beautifully humid piece that evokes images of warm breezes rustling palms in open air restaurants in hyper-southern climes. Think of Casa Blanca in Rio. Gottschalk left his piano a center point of almost all of his orchestral pieces. He was ever the showman and like Liszt, he composed to his own talent and its exposition. Rosenberg and his Hot Springs orchestra understand this implicitly making this a fine recording.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Night in the Tropics / Celebre Tarantelle / Berceuse
Naxos Records
2000

There appears considerable overlap between Orchestral Works (Complete) and Night in the Tropics / Celebre Tarantelle / Berceuse. Again Richard Rosenberg and the Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra are the vehicle or the Gottschalk recital. But Rosenberg takes this previous music and re-imagines it, fleshing it out.

Rosenberg points out in his notes that "A Night in the Tropics" had only been performed since the composer's death in condensed and 'corrected' versions. Rosenberg reconstructed the pieces based on the composer's autograph manuscript, a smaller orchestra than what Gottschalk had originally planned for (several hundred musicians).

In the final movement of "A Night in the Tropics," Gottschalk marked only the opening measure of the Afro-Cuban percussion, using the notation Bamboula. Gottschalk readily expected the ensemble to improvise the remainder of that samba movement in a manner that places it as a sort of bridge between nineteenth-century concert music and a musical language that would soon evolve into that of Jazz.

This promotes Gottschalk's importance to jazz that would begin quickly evolving mere years after the composer's death. Outside of the large orchestral pieces, Rosenberg treats the listener to several Gottschalk piano pieces adapted for orchestral interpretation. Gottschalk provided a language to American music that was uniquely American while still being a eutectoid of multiple cultural confluences. Gottschalk's music is immediately enjoyable and the indebtedness of composers after him readily apparent.

Tracks and Personnel

Piano Music

Tracks: Le banjo, Fantaisie grotesque, Op. 15; Bamboula, Danse de negres, Op. 2; Le bananier, Chanson negre, Op. 5; La savane, Ballade creole, Op. 3; remolo, Grande etude de concert, Op. 58; La jota aragonesa, Caprice espagnol, Op. 14; Manchega, Etude de concert, Op. 38; Souvenirs d?Andalousie, Caprice de concert sur la cana, Op. 22: Souvenirs d'Andalousie, Caprice de concert sur la cana, Op. 22; Souvenir de Porto Rico, Marche des Gibaros, Op. 31; L?etincelle, La scintilla, Op. 20: L'etincelle, La scintilla, Op. 20; La gallina, Op. 53; Suis-moi!, Caprice, Op. 45; Pasquinade, Caprice, Op. 59; Tournament Galop; The Dying Poet, Meditation; The Union, Paraphrase de concert on the national airs, Op. 48: Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle and Hail Columbia.

Personnel: Cecile Licad: piano.

Orchestral Music (Complete)

Tracks: I. Andante; II. Presto – Maestoso; Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra; Grande Tarentelle, Op. 67; I. Tempo de danza: Moderato; II. Piu lento; Danza Anna Noggle; IV. Tempo de danza: Moderato; Variations de concert sur l'hymne portugais du Roi Louis I, Op. 91; Ave Maria (arr. R. Rosenberg for voice and orchestra); Gran Overture, La Caza del Joven Enrique por Etienne Mehul (arr. for 3 pianos, 10-hands, orchestra); I. Noche en los Tropicos (A Night in the Tropics); II. Festa Criolla.

Personnel: Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra, Richard Rosenberg.

Night in the Tropics / Celebre Tarantelle / Berceuse

Tracks: 1. Celebre Tarantelle, Op. 67, No. 5; Souvenir de Porto Rico, Marche des Gibaros; The Dying Poet, Meditation; Tournament Galop; O! ma charmante; Le Bananier, Chanson Negre; Manchega, Etude de Concert; Celebre Tarantelle, Op. 67, No. 4; Berceuse (Cradle Song); Symphonie romantique: I Noche en los Tropicos Symphonie romantique: II Festa Criolla.

Personnel: Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra, Richard Rosenber

Music Review: Domenico Scarlatti Complete Sonatas, Vol. 9

liberationtheology — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:17:13 GMT

Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757)
Complete Sonatas Vol. 9
Francesco Nicholai, piano
Naxos Records
2008

Naxos Records newest addition to its ongoing survey of Domenico Scarlatti's complete piano sonatas is a carefully considered and intentionally paced affair. Rather than opening the recital with a gang-buster presto, pianist Francesco Nicholai chooses Scarlatti's D minor sonata, K. 52, marked something considerable less than allegro. Nicholai approached the piece as Daniel Barenboim did Bach's Goldbergs in 1991, slowly, thoughtfully, and romantically.

This minor key composition (K. 52) was found in the fourteenth of the Scarlatti's Venice albums of 1742. It was one of the master's earliest slow movements, already betraying a fully formed vision and sound. It is one of several minor key compositions populating this recording. All reveal Scarlatti as a master of pre-Romantic musical thought, an ability to tap into the dark chocolate soul of minor keys to pull out the rich decadent center, exposing it for the musical delight that it is.

Nicholai proves equally adept at interpreting these difficult pieces as illustrated in his performances of The Sonata in D minor, K.77 and The Sonata in D minor, K.176. The pianist treats these pieces respectfully, never turning up the heat enough to melt them. Nicholai justifies every nuance and pedal depression with a palpably integrated execution full of pathos and light.

The Sonatas in G major, K.79 and C major, K.170 both show spontaneity in Nicholai's performances revealing the multidimensional character in his playing. Nicholai, perhaps better any other contributor to the series, captures the spirit of Horowitz's famous interpretation shining with that master's determination and dedication. This is a wholly satisfying set as all of the releases have been.

Selections: Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K.52/L.267/P.41; Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K.77/L.168/P.10; Keyboard Sonata in G major, K.79/L.80/P.204; Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K.111/L.130/P.99; Keyboard Sonata in C minor, K.139/L.6/P.126; Keyboard Sonata in C major, K.170/L.303/P.164; Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K.176/L.163/P.163; Keyboard Sonata in D major, K.277/L.183/P.275; Keyboard Sonata in A major, K.344/L.295/P.221; Keyboard Sonata in C major, K.340/L.105/P.420; Keyboard Sonata in D major, K.388/L.414/P.370; Keyboard Sonata in C major, K.398/L.218/P.493; Keyboard Sonata in A major, K.456/L.491/P.377

This article was first published in Blogcritics.

Music Review: Tuba Jazz - Jim Self and James Shearer

liberationtheology — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:26:10 GMT

...The Polka would perish
Without the tuba we cherish...

The tuba in jazz is like one's appendix. It is an evolutionary artifact that once played an integral role in the operation of the jazz orchestra but has largely fallen in to disuse in favor of other instruments. Sure it has surfaced at one time or another since the New Orleans days. Claude Thornhill employed one in his big band, prompting his arranger Gil Evans to used Bill Barber's tuba on Miles Davis' famous 1949 Nonet recordings, resulting in The Birth of the Cool.

Jazz tuba players Jim Shearer and Jim Self two different approaches to their instruments. While doing that, the two do share many similarities, e.g., both employ a harmonica (Billy Gibson with Shearer and Ron Kalina with Jim Self on their recordings and address challenging jazz standards with their unwieldy instruments, mostly successfully. Because of the nature of the tuba in jazz, the listener should be prepared for music from the early 20th Century as the instrument lends well to such fare. Both discs are a treat, but in rather different ways.

Jim Shearer and Charlie Wood
The Memphis Hang
Summit Records
2008

Memphis Hang is a breezy recital of 20th Century music from early New Orleans to flinty be bop. The disc orbits Charlie Wood's informed, straight forward vocals that recall the fun in Wycliffe Gordon's singing. Wood doubles on some taste keyboard: a soulful Hammond B3 and some slick barrelhouse piano.

Monk's "Well, You Needn't" is treated to a fun workout with Wood goofing with vocal style. "That Note Costs a Dollar," "Can't Take You Nowhere," and "Not While I've Been Drinkin'" anyone can be seen as typical of this pair's light hearted approach to music. Light-hearted, but not lightweight: Wood's piano is exceptional and Shearer's tuba is appropriately bassy.

Easily, the best piece on the recording is Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie Hat." Swimming among the mostly playful repertoire is this homage to Lester Young, performed in an updated New Orleans dirge-like fashion, accentuated by Shearer's low brass and Wood's sardonic vocal delivery. Leonard Bernstein's "Cool" closes the disc coolly, making for a satisfying, if lighthearted, romp.

Ron Kalina and Jim Self
The Odd Couple
Basset Hound Music
2008

Where Memphis Hang is breezy and a bit tongue-in-cheek, The Odd Couple is mostly all business. Where Billy Gibson's harmonica is more than competent on the former, Ron Kalina's is virtuosic on the latter. Jim Self displays a broader soloing palette than Shearer without taking anything away from him. Larry Koonse fills the rhythm requirement well and solo's tastefully and bassist Tom Warrington and veteran drummer Joe LaBarbara hold the ship together.

But this show belongs to Kalina and Self. The pair's song choice is piquant with Neil Hefti's theme to The Odd Couple and Michel Legrand's "You Must Believe in Spring". The two lay on the cool with Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" and Jobim's "Someone to Light Up My Life." As odd as the tuba-harmonica combination may seem, Kalina and Self make it work.

And not only at slow tempi. They put their be bop shoes on for a pair of Charlie Parker chestnuts. "Confirmation" is fully punctuated by LaBarbara before the breath instruments duet and dance counterpoint with one another. Kalina displays a talent equal to that of Thielman and Meurkens. "Donna Lee" closes this unusual recital making the listener believe that all is business as usual.

Tracks and Personnel

The Memphis Hang

Tracks: Well, You Needn't; Seduced; Mound Bayou; That Note Costs a Dollar; Can't Take You Nowhere; Secret Love; Not When I've Been Drinkin'; Blue Turning Gray Over You; The Memphis Hang; Goodbye Porkpie Hat.

Personnel: Jim Shearer: tuba; Charlie Wood: vocals, keyboards; Tom Lonardo: drums; Billy Gibson: harmonica; Jim Restivo: guitar; Tom Cleary: trumpet; Tom Goodwin: bass.

The Odd Couple

Tracks: No More Mr. Nice Guy; The Odd Couple; The Dolphin; Friends Again; Stolen Moments; To Monica; I'm All Smiles; Confirmation; Someone to Light Up My Life; You Must Believe in Spring; Donna Lee.

Personnel: Jim Self: Tuba; Ron Kalina: harmonica; Larry Koonse: guitars; Tom Warrington: bass; Joe La Barbara.

This article was originally published in All About Jazz.

Sports: The Babe Ruth 14 Year-Old Southwest Regional Baseball Tournament - Bryant, Arkansas July 24-30, 2008

liberationtheology — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:30:32 GMT

Bryant, AR Friday, July 25, 2008.

Political commentator George Will once said that when America is health, she turns her attention to Baseball. If America is not healthy, then Baseball, that most perfect of games, is a psychic balm, a balancing bromide for the shaky nerves of an anxious nation. However, it is not of baseball on a professional level that I speak. It is baseball on an intimately local level, played by those for whom the game was designed: children and young adults.

My family is serving as a host family for the 2008 Babe Ruth 14 Year-Old Southwest Regional Baseball Tournament. Our son played baseball for many years, going to the 2006 12 Year-Old Cal Ripken World Series. He has since left the diamond for the hardwood, leaving our family baseball-less. We remedied that by taking on three young men from Nederland, Texas. Nederland is a costal town of 18,000 southeast of Beaumont, closing in on the Louisiana State line. The three young men are more of an Arklatex tipple point than true Lone Star progenies (read: they possess a sweet humility not typical of the Texas reputation).

These young men embody the spirit of baseball and vice versa. The spirit that strives for concrete definition and progress toward perfection. Baseball is not a gray game; it is black and white. Since life is not black and white, the only realistic time to indulge is at the cusp of adulthood, wheen all distinctions go gray. Baseball as a metaphor is a splendid tool for expressing the inherent good in the otherwise fatally flawed human. We can acknowledge the staggering character shortcomings of our coaches and players while noting that there are none better at playing the game. This is what I take away from baseball today: without forgiveness, we sould have no friends.

Television: Tony Snow (1955 -2008)

liberationtheology — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:48:21 GMT

Former White House Spokesman and Fox News personality Tony Snow passed away Saturday morning, July 12, 2008 of recurrent colon cancer. Snow follows by mere weeks the death of NBC News personality Tim Russert. Both men were young, in their 50s, well respected in their shared field of political commentary. The Fox News Network rightfully devoted ample time to Snow's legacy. While unabashedly right of center politically, Tony Snow never cast a heavy hand while practicing his profession (unlike many of his contemoraries on both the left and the right).

When looking at the field of political commentary, it would not be too far fetched to say that the two best commentators are gone, leaving, at best, an anemic population of blow hards and windbags. Worse, there are no news personalities rising to replace Snow or Russert. That may be most appropriate as they are irreplacable. Both men were decent human beings, the highest compliment possible for a flawed species. Tony Snow and Tim Russert prove that only the good die young.

Music Review: Two Beethoven Firsts

liberationtheology — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:00:34 GMT

The modern classical music listener may never know it, but Beethoven did compose after Haydn and Mozart and not Wagner and Brahms. Acknowledged as the reformer of the sonata form as used in the symphony, Beethoven did compose two symphonies that, while ground breaking, remained in the established compositional mold of Haydn and Mozart's Classical symphonies.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Opus 21, was composed between 1799 and 1800 when Beethoven was 29 years old. His deafness had already begun manifesting as tinnitus as early as 1796. The composer’s famous Heiligenstadt Testament was not written until October 1802, a document detailing Beethoven’s anguish over his progressive hearing loss.

Oddly, Beethoven’s sunniest symphony, No. 2 in D major, Opus 36, was written during this period. The master’s first two symphonies show a composer paying homage to his predecessors while boldly expanding their musical language. The First and Second Symphonies are light by Beethoven standards, his writing growing darker and more serious from this time on.

The fortune of Beethoven's Symphonies is that they are always in fashion. In the modern vernacular, Beethoven’s Symphonies have never been out of rotation. There are always individual symphonies and full cycles being recorded. We are currently experiencing an embarrassment of riches from the ongoing recording of cycles by two orchestras and conductors, collectively fine Beethoven interpreters. In the recent articles Two Beethoven Fifths and Two Beethoven Thirds we discussed two titans of the Beethoven book. Here, we find where Beethoven came from and divine where he is going.

Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra (in the first American cycle in decades) on BIS and Philippe Herreweghe and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic on Pentatone are approximately two-thirds the way through their respective cycles. These two parties approach Beethoven from qualitatively different, but well-established directions. Hybrid SACD further adds value to these recordings. When starting with music of the quality of the Beethoven Symphony cycle listener is guaranteed nine sublime pieces of music.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven Symphonies 1 & 6 [Hybrid SACD]
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska
BIS
2007

Vanska draws broadly from Bernstein and Solti, both of whom characterized their Beethoven with warmth and lushness, a breathing, expanding wall of sound. These characteristics are brought to life in the Super Audio nature of the recording. Vanska’s Beethoven First has mercuric fluidity, shiny, dense, and uniform.

Vanska’s pacing of this early Beethoven symphony is nothing less than perfect. He starts the ball rolling and through that inertia that is Beethoven, the composition comes to life, propelling forward with a relaxed urgency. His closings, particularly of the first movement allegro con brio are Swiss watch precise, thundering staccato codas. Vanska’s is a spiritual Beethoven, deep and thoughtful.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 [Hybrid SACD]
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Pentatone
2007

Like with Herreweghe’s Fifth his performance of the C major symphony is organic and transparent. Herreweghe’s interpretation permits the listener entrance into the music, beckoning us to come in and stay a while. The festivities are sure to be lively. And lively they are. Herreweghe’s use of natural horns is well manifested in his First, bright and tart. Insistent is his pace and determined is his approach. Herreweghe’s and Vanska’s tempi are comparable, but their respective grip on the reins is not.

Vanska is a master of control and flow while Herreweghe likes a bit of the high wire, choosing to conduct with the governor removed. Beethoven sings like an aria in the hands of Herreweghe and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. This is high dramatic stuff. Herreweghe successfully shows Beethoven as the Roman god Janus, looking forward to Wagner and backward to Haydn at the same time.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Music Review: Time of the Templars

liberationtheology — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:50:41 GMT

Time of the Templars
Various Artists
Naxos
2008

Naxos Records has pioneered the new frontier of media by using an old format – the compact disc. The label founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann redefined the recording and marketing of classical music by providing the standard repertoire at a budget price. The label accomplishes this by using very fine but little known artists and orchestras avoiding the costly use of the named brands. This approach has the added advantage of enabling the label to also record the less-than-standard repertoire and thus offering a broader and more complete product.

In the past 20 years, the label has released an impressive repertoire on an equally impressive number of CDs. Naxos has further branched out into an internet subscription service, audio books, and educational products. While these offerings are notable, Naxos’ true genius is no better manifested than when blurring the lines between these products. The label's release of the boxed set Time of the Templars is a case in point.

Ever since the publication and overwhelming reception of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code the reading public cannot get enough of all things Templar; Note the flood of Templar related fiction that followed The Da Vinci Code: Steve Berry's The Templar Legacy, Raymond Khoury's The Last Templar, and Jorge Molist's The Ring: The Last Knight Templar's Inheritance only to mention a few. Add those books dealing with the period of the 12th through the 14th Centuries and a detailed picture in words of medieval life emerges.

Naxos, with its extensive catalog of alte Musik or early music, is uniquely positioned to provide a soundtrack to this picture of words with Time of the Templars. This three-CD boxed set is divided into three areas of focus: “Music for a Knight,” highlighting both the secular and extra-ecclesial sacred music of the period, “Music of the Church,” concentrating on plainchant as practiced in monasteries, and “Music of the Mediterranean,” encompassing low country music and the music of Israel and Islam.

All of the music assembled here was previously released from several recordings by early music performers. What the Time of the Templars offers both music and listener is a fixed context in which to listen to this music. This writer listened to these selections while reading Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth (1989) and its recent published sequel, World Without End (2007). For Follett’s expansive survey of 13th and 14th Century England, Time of the Templars provided the perfect aural picture of the period, enhancing the stories.

"Music for a Knight" is a bit of a sampler of the music a Knight would have heard, whether he be at church, in the court, or on the road toward Palestine. Thus, the music is divided approximately equally between the sacred, the profane, and the entertaining. Presented here are several selections from the text "Carmina Burana" (made famous 800 years later by composer Carl Orff for his secular cantata of the same name). Hildegard von Bingen provides settings for several sacred texts, among them her beautiful "Kyrie Eleison" and "Alleluia, O Virga Mediatrix."

Hildegard von Bingen's music is not of the pedestrian church variety of the period. This is music of mystic ecstasy. If Heaven exists, Hildegard caught a glimpse before composing. Richard I "Coer de Lion" (Richard the Lionhearted) provides his "Ja nulls homs pris," his only poem to survive with his music, written while he was imprisoned in Durnstein between 1192 and 1194. Polyphony is represented by the Notre Dame School composers Leonin and Perotin in the 4-part organum: "Notum fecit" and the 4-part conductus: "Vetus abit littera."

"Music of the Church" is what even the novice historian would expect: Gregorian chant. This is a complete disc of a cappella monophony, elements of which can still be heard during the Responsorial Psalm of the Mass today. This is peaceful music well performed. No sounds can more quickly evoke the sights, scenes, smells, and sounds of the Middle Ages. "Music of the Mediterranean" exposes the listener to music from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. It is interesting to note how music equalizes cultures with an art that is truly universal.

Selections:

Disc 1 Walther von der Vogelweide: Palastinalied; Coeur de Lion Richard I: Ja nuls homs pris; Blondel de Nesle: A l'entrant d'este que li tens s'agence; Alfonso X (El Sabio): Cantiga No. 60, "Entre Av'e Eva;" Anonymous: Chominciamento di gioia: Saltarello No. 1; Anponymous: Carmina Burana: Clauso Cronos; Alfonso X (El Sabio): Cantiga No. 213, "Quen serve Santa Maria;" Anonymous: Carmina Burana: Axe Phebus aureo, Katerine collaudemus; Hildegard of Bingen: O pastor animarum; Anonymous: Kyrie eleison, In Dulci Jubilo; Perotin: Viderunt omnes: Notum fecit; Hildegard of Bingen: Kyrie eleison; Vetus abit littera; Hildegard of Bingen: Alleluia, O virga mediatrix; Anonymous: Lamento di Tristano: La Rotta, A la nana, Guardame las vacas.

Disc 2 Anonymous: Introitus: Adorate Deum, Introitus: Da pacem, Introitus: Dominus illuminatio mea Introitus: Laetetur cor; Gradualia: Dirigatur Gradualia: Dirigatur; Gradualia: Domine, Dominus noster; Gradualia: Iacta cogitatum tuum Gradualia: Iacta cogitatum tuum; Gradualia: Laetatus; Versus Alleluiatici: Versus Alleluiatici: Deus, iudex iustus; Versus Alleluiatici: Deus, iudex iustus; Versus Alleluiatici: Laudate Deum; Versus Alleluiatici: Laudate Deum; Offertoria: De profundis; Offertoria: Domine, convertere; Offertoria: Iubilate Deo universa terra; Offertoria: Iustitiae Domini; Communiones: Circuibo; Communiones: Dicit Dominus: Implete hydrias; Communiones: Dominus firmamentum meum; Communiones: Qui manducat; Communiones: Psalm 33, "Gustate et videte."

Disc 3 Carmina Burana: Bache, bene venies; Carmina Burana: Tempus transit gelidum; Carmina Burana: Tempus est iocundum; Dinaresade; Sei willekommen Herre Christ; Kod Bethlehema; Koleda na Bozic; Dudul; Kyrie eleison (Christian-Arabic Tradition, Lebanon) De la crudel morte de Cristo (Laudario di Cortona Ms. 91, Biblioteca Comunale di Cortona); Yunus Emre; Sallalahu ala Muhammed; Pesrev; Ey Derviccsler; Keh Moshe (Traditional Jewish, 12th century); Adam de la Halle; Le jeu de Robin et de Marion (The Play of Robin and Marion) (excerpts).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Politics: White Trash Reality Television

liberationtheology — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:31:57 GMT

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee once referred to the State he served as a "Banana Republic." Then, he ran for president with a piece of switchgrass in his mouth and a cornpone way about him that made him seem vaguely populist. Then, in the most appropriate place, a presentation to the National Rifle Association, Governor Huckabee laid this egg:

Music Video: Jimmie Rodgers and the Birth of Country Music

liberationtheology — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:58:24 GMT

Music Review: Two Beethoven Thirds

liberationtheology — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:00:02 GMT

The beautiful thing about Beethoven's Symphonies is that they are always in vogue. We are currently blessed with the embarrassment of riches from the ongoing recording of symphony cycles from two fine orchestras and conductors. In the recent article Two Beethoven Fifths, we took the bull by the horns and faced the most recognizable piece of classical music on record. Here we turn our attention to Beethoven's groundbreaking Third Symphony, the symphony after which music was never the same again.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55) is considered by musicologist as the beginning of the end of the Classical Era. Beethoven began composing the symphony in 1803 while in residence in Heiligenstadt. Beethoven had move to Heiligenstadt in late 1801-early 1802 on the advice of his physician, Johann Schmidt, to rest his hearing, which had been giving the composer trouble since 1796, when the composer was 26 years old, and began to fail dramatically at the turn of the century.

It was in Heiligenstadt that Beethoven wrote his famous Heiligenstadt Testament where the composer put to paper the reconciliation of his hearing loss with his determination to live for and through his composing. In the testament, Beethoven alluded to suicidal thought, a fact confounded by the sunny and determined music he composed while there in residence (consider his Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 26).

Beethoven originally considered dedicating the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven greatly admired ideals and ideology of the French Revolution. The composer saw Napoleon as the embodiment of such ideals but instead, dedicated the work to Prince Franz Joseph Maximillian Lobkowiz.

Beethoven continued to entertain giving the work the title of Bonaparte only to become disgusted and disillusioned when Napoleon proclaimed himself. Urban legend has the composer scratching the name Bonaparte out so violently that he tore a hole in the paper. Beethoven changed the title to Sinfonia eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uomo ("heroic symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man").

Beethoven composed most of the symphony in late 1803, completing it early in 1804. The symphony was premiered privately in summer 1804 in his patron Prince Lobkowitz's castle Eisenberg in Bohemia. The first public performance was posted in Vienna's Theater an der Wien on April 7, 1805 with the composer conducting. Beethoven's originally scored the symphony for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 3 horns in E flat and C, 2 trumpets in E flat and C, timpani and strings.

The two orchestras and conductors are Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra (in the first American cycle in decades) on BIS and Philippe Herreweghe and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic on Pentatone. These two conductors and orchestras approach Beethoven from two vastly different but well-established directions with two equally unique and fresh performances. Hybrid SACD further adds value to these recordings. When starting with music of the quality of the Beethoven Symphony cycle listener is guaranteed nine sublime pieces of music.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven Symphonies 3 & 8 [Hybrid SACD]
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska
BIS
2005

Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra expand their sonic palette with their fine recording of the Third Symphony (coupled with the Eighth) as an SACD hybrid. Where their previously released Fifth Symphony was sumptuous but somewhat one dimensional in sound. Gladly, this expands to a three dimensional amphitheater sound that places the listener with the orchestra in the front and on both sides.

While Vanska insists on strict adherence the Beethoven's metronomic documentation, his first movement allegro con brio is slightly slower than those employed by the period history performances popular in the 1980s and '90s. His opening E flat Major chords have command and authority and are briskly delivered before conductor and orchestra settle into a determined momentum. These first two notes have been the most important of the symphony performance since Felix Weingarten squeezed them from The Vienna Philharmonic on to acetate sides in the 1930s. Vanska readily acknowledges this.

The Marcia Funebre: Adagio Assai was a sensation when Beethoven introduced it as the second movement, blowing the sonata form perfected by Haydn and Mozart into ravenous particles. Vanska approaches the movement with a measured determination in the low strings. The conductor and orchestra continue to produce this performance in the third and final movements as if deftly carved from marble. Vanska achieves a heroic resolution to the Eroica that is as stately as it is modern.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 [Hybrid SACD]
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Pentatone
2007

Philippe Herreweghe continues his Beethoven Symphony survey from the vantage point of modern instruments confined by period practices. This was previously accomplished by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Chamber Orchestra of Europe with his set from the early 1990's. At the time Harnoncourt made quite a stir with his interpretations. Herreweghe is doing the same thing at the close of the 2000s with the incorporation of natural horns and baroque tympani.

Where Herreweghs's previously release Fifth was a piece of music the listener could enter and walk around in, seeing (hearing) the Beethovenian nuances from several different angles, his performance of the Third Symphony is a sonic affair where the listener stands outside the work, circling it and seeing it as the monument it is.

The symphony is presented as a crystalline palace into which the listener may see (hear) its treasures without achieving the intimacy allowed in Herreweghs's Fifth. The Royal Flemish Philharmonic weaves a seamless tapestry of sounds with oboes becoming violas and low horns becoming cellos. Where Vanska is decidedly determined and thoughtful, Herreweghe again performs a high wire act: he initiates the symphony and allows it to develop with its own inertia, directing the performance only enough to keep it from spinning out of control. This makes for an exciting and essential reading of this Beethoven masterpiece.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Music Review: Franz Liszt and the Beethoven Symphonies

liberationtheology — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:17:57 GMT

Franz Liszt was a showoff. The Hungarian pianist and composer was an aristocrat, had movie star looks, and talent to burn. Liszt (1811-1886) did for the piano what Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840) had done previously for the violin, which was to turn the instrument into a vehicle of virtuosity. Where previously composers and performers were subservient to the art of music, Liszt and Paganini promoted the idea of "Artist as Hero," with Liszt pioneering the concept of the piano recital. Both men shamelessly promoted themselves with concerts filled with melodrama and carnival stunts. Both were charlatans; both were visionaries. They were the first Rock Stars.

Liszt's piano pieces were composed for his performance pleasure. They were technically challenging, conceived by Liszt to show off his talent on the concert stage. Piano transcriptions of popular orchestral and operatic pieces of the mid-nineteenth century became a chosen interpretive mode for the pianist. Most popular among Liszt's transcriptions of other composers' work are his preparations of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies.

Liszt began his symphonic transcriptions 1838, completing Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 the former two being published by Breitkopf & Härtel and the latter by Tobias Haslinger. Five years later, in 1843, Liszt arranged a transcription the Eroica Symphony's Scherzo: Allegro vivace which he had published by Pietro Mechetti in 1850. In 1840, Liszt added these transcriptions to his concert lists, giving them ample exposure for the sale of sheet music.

It would not be until 1863 that Liszt would complete his set at the behest of Breitkopf & Härtel. Liszt reworked the original three transcriptions and sped his way through the remaining Symphonies without losing too much of "the Beethoven" in them. However, the pianist was brought up short on the choral finale of the famous Ninth Symphony. In a fit of frustration, Liszt observed that he may have to accept, "...the impossibility of making any pianoforte arrangement of the 4th movement...that could in any way be...satisfactory."

Regardless, Liszt labored on to adapt the 4th movement for single piano, completing it in 1865. Liszt had previously addressed his fourth movement problems in his transcription for two pianos in 1850. But the pianists persistence paid off in his single piano efforts and the full cycle of transcriptions was published in 1865 and dedicated to Liszt's then son-in-law Hans von Bülow. Liszt's Beethoven Symphony transcriptions remain a mountain in the piano repertoire.

Available recordings of the Liszt-Beethoven transcriptions are sparse whether recorded separately or as a cycle. Glenn Gould recorded scintillating 5th and 6th Symphony performances in the late 1960s. It is a pity he did not commit a full set to tape. Of the complete cycles, there are only three. The first was recorded by French pianist Cyprian Katsaris for Teldec in the 1980s and later re-released by Warner Group in 2006.

Contemporaneously, Harmonia Mundi released a cycle in the late 1980s-early 1990s performed by Jean-Louis Haguenauer, Georges Pludermacher, Alain Planes, Michel Dalberto, and Jean-Claude Pennetier (the Nineth Symphony transcription being for two pianos). These performances were assembled into a box released in 1995. During the same period, English pianist Leslie Howard recorded all of Liszt's piano music for Hyperion. The Beethoven transcriptions made a tidy subset to this mammoth undertaking, being boxed separately and released in 1995.

Shortly before Howard completed his Liszt survey, Naxos began its own program for recording all of Liszt's piano music; using different pianists for each release (the label is currently doing the same for the complete sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti). Wisely, Naxos chose a single, singular pianist in Konstantin Scherbakov to perform the Liszt-Beethoven Cycle. Scherbakov completed his cycle in 2006 at which time it was boxed.

The Naxos Liszt-Beethoven Symphony set is completed with Liszt: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 (arranged for 2 pianos) (Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 28) with pianists Leon McCawley and Ashley Wass. The two releases make for a most complete survey of Liszt's Beethoven Orchestral transcriptions.

Ludwig van Beethoven / Franz Liszt
Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-9 Transcribed by Liszt
Konstantin Scherbakov
Naxos
2006

Konstantin Scherbakov was born in Barnaul, Siberia in 1963. He has previously recorded the standard Russian repertoire for Naxos including Godowsky, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky. Scherbakov possesses a muscular, aggressive piano style that recalls the great Ukrainian pianist Sviatoslav Richter.

Scherbakov's performance style is well suited for the Liszt transcriptions, giving them a virile life of their own. Scherbakov's set of Liszt transcribed Beethoven Symphonies was originally released as separate discs comprising five volumes of Naxos' Liszt Complete Piano Music. The cycle was released in the following order: Volume 15, LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 (1999) Volume 18, LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 (2001) Volume 19, LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6 (2003) Volume 21, LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies No. 9 (2004) Volume 23, LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 (2006) Box Set: LISZT: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (2006)

These separate volumes were assembled into the complete box with no additional documentation other than each volume's insert. This is a trend in the repackaging of Naxos discs as themed releases also seen in releases Of Beauty and Light: The Music of Philip Glass and The Silence of Being: The Music of Arvo Part.

Scherbakov dispatches the Beethoven "Big Three" (the Third, Fifth, and Ninth Symphonies) with certain grace and confidence. His pianistic approach is measured in an almost militant, marching way. This can readily be heard in the pianist's performance of the Fist and Second Symphonies, as well as the first movement of the Ninth Symphony. Scherbakov boasts Horowitzian overtones in these performances.

Scherbakov's Sixth Symphony is sunny and bright in the pastoral first three movements and suitably dark and menacing in the thunderstorm before resolving in a reverent fifth movement. Scherbakov's Ninth is scintillating. Liszt wrung his hands over his transcription of the Ninth Symphony for good reason: the fourth movement with its choral sections presents a huge challenge to any transcriber. Scherbakov allows the movement to flow liquid from his fingers, giving the difficult piece a fluid continuity and integration. Scherbakov's Liszt/Beethoven is the set to beat both in price and talent.

Ludwig van Beethoven / Franz Liszt
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Transcribed for Two Pianos by Liszt)
Leon McCawley, Ashley Wass
Naxos
2008

McCawley and Wass' two-piano performance of the Ninth Symphony offers an intriguing comparison to Scherbakov's single piano version. Together they highlight Liszt's genius, both musically and in the arena of public relations. Two pianos not only solve Liszt's problem with the choral fourth movement but also augment the more difficult portions of the first and second movements.

It was obvious that Liszt fretted about this symphony as this two piano version predates the single instrument one by 15 years. This two piano performance is full and satisfying. The listener can readily hear the ideas the composer would incorporate in his final interpretation of the Ninth.

This review was first published in

Music Review: Two Beethoven Ninths...on DVD

liberationtheology — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:30:37 GMT

Germany has made many cultural contributions. Perhaps the greatest was Ludwig van Beethoven. The revolutionary from Bonn threw the doors open from the Classical era into the Romantic era. He did this almost singlehandedly with his Ninth Symphony. Since its premiere in May 7, 1824, the Ninth Symphony has served as the soundtrack for military regimes and as a celebration of freedom. It is more event than performance, something to be seen as well as heard.

Recently made available are two history performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, recorded 30 years apart. The first is the 1977 New Year's Eve Performance by the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Herbert von Karajan. This was the same years Karajan recorded the second of his three cycles. This performance is notable for being released as part of the Karajan Centenary celebrating the conductor's 100th birthday, April 5, 2008.

The second DVD release showcasing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has the work as part of a concert in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. This is documentation of a papal concert held in the Paul VI Performance Hall at the Vatican October 27, 2007. The concert was presented by the Bavarian Radio Choir and Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. Both DVDs show that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is as much an event to be experienced as a piece of music heard.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan
EuroArts
2008

Audio and video technologies have evolved at light speed since the late 1970s when this concert was captured. In spite of this evolution (or because of it) this video cleaned up nicely. The picture is analog-to-digital sharp and the sound is close and powerful. Add to this a performance by the foremost orchestra in the world, The Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by the most famous living conductor, Herbert von Karajan, and this release seamlessly glides into the essential category.

Herbert von Karajan (1908 – 1989) conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years, succeeding the equally famous Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1955 where he was named artistic director for life. Karajan (along with American Leonard Bernstein) looked like the proper conductor: lithe, virile, shock of magnificent grey hair flying as he conducted in his overtly callisthenic style.

It is obvious the maestro took seriously his conducting when driving the Ninth Symphony bus. There is a certain star-alignment that occurs when a German Orchestra performs the greatest piece of music by a German composer and the performance is directed by a conductor with that shared experience. That alignment exists in this video performance from New Year's Eve, 1977.

The symphony performance can best be described as a controlled hurricane, executed with Teutonic precision. Karajan physically drives the orchestra in the performance, which is crisp and sharp. The sonics are captured and reproduced in such a way that the listener feels as if he or she is among the instruments. The opening tremolo in the first movement is so well defined that the listener can readily hear the un poco maestoso that accompanies the Allegro ma non troppo marking.

the second and third movements are dramatic, particularly in the low stings and horns. Beethoven's dear oboes are very evident here. The finale, surrounding Schiller's An die Freude is powerful and well performed by soloist and chorus. It is grand to listen to this music but it is grander to see it performed. To see it performed by an orchestra founded on the music and directed by a conductor dedicated to it, argues positively for owning this DVD. This is what Beethoven looks and sounds like.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Giovanni Palestrina
Concert in Honour of Pope Benedict XVI
Synphonieorchestrer und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Maris Jasons
Arthaus Musik
2007

Concert in Honor of Pope Benedict XVI is notable for two things: a crack orchestra and conductor perform and the Holy Father himself requested one of the two pieces performed. Add to this that Joesph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI is the first German pope since Pope Adrian VI was elevated in 1523 and that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is on the slate and the listen can only expect good things.

The concert opens with the Holy Father entering the Paul VI Performance Hall in a manner not unlike the President of the United States entering the Congressional Chamber for the State of the Union address. Once the pope was seated, his holiness is addressed by the current Archbishop of Munich and Freising and the director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The DVD contains an address by the Holy Father and a short documentary, "Götterfunken für den Papst" ("Divine Spark for the Pope").

The music begins with the papal request of Palestrina's "Tu es Petrus", Motet for 6 Voices, sung by the Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Maris Jansons. Janson reveals himself as a capable choral conduction, leading the choir through Palestrina's setting of Matthew 16:18-19:

Tu es Petrus
et super hanc petram ædificabo ecclesiam meam
et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam.
Et tibi dabo claves regni cælorum.

You are Peter,
And upon this Rock I will build My Church:
and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Maestro Jansons immediately take the podium for the symphony. The engineering and sonics are quite outstanding. Impressive as the sound of the Karajan is, Jansons' Ninth Symphony is one for the audiophile ages. His conducted performance is purely organic. The opening tremolo is so clean and clear the listener can hear both the modulating note figure and the scratch of the horsehair on the strings.

Jansons' dynamics are near perfect in this dramatic and exciting performance. The soloists, particularly baritone Michael Volle, are excellent. Where the Karajan performance is a beautiful archival restoration offering the listener an example of the "proper" Beethoven performance, the Jansons' pulls out all the dramatic stops, propelling the work ahead with such a momentum that one expects the orchestra to spin out of control. Jansons keeps the orchestra upright and with the tension of such a high-wire performance produces a superb work of art.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Music: Otis Redding the Essence of Soul

liberationtheology — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:18:50 GMT

Otis Redding at Monterey:

Music: Mahalia Jackson

liberationtheology — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:53:19 GMT

Mahalia Jackson was the First Lady of American gospel music. Hear why:

Religion: The Papacy Grows a Pair

liberationtheology — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:57:56 GMT

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger replaced the Holy Father John Paul II as pope April 19, 2005 as Benedict XVI. Ratzinger is the first German pope to be elected since Pope Adrian VI in 1523. Ratzinger served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith formerly known as the Holy Office, the historical Inquisition, in his capacity as such censored progressive Catholic theologians Karl Jung and Charles Curran and looks to promise no change from the current anachronistic positions of The Roman Catholic Church on matters including celibacy, birth control, women in the priesthood and homosexuality. A well respected, conservative theologian, Benedict XVI is considered a "bridge" pope between the wildly popular John Paul II and what conservative Vatican members hope will be a more conservative pope from Africa or South America.

One would not expect Benedict XVI to pay any more attention to the priest pedophile scandal than did his predecessor, who did so at the loss of an otherwise exceptional papacy. Benedict XVI ensured that John Paul II's bruised eye would become a full blown shiner when, during his recent trip to the United States (the first of his new papacy) he met with the survivors of clerical sexual abuse. The survivors were apparently impressed by the Holy Father. I, for one, am eating a pound of crow over his Holiness as I have never been a big fan because of his draconian treatment of Kung and Curran. But Benedict XVI did within three years what John Paul II failed to do in his nearly 30 years, and that was face the music.

I suspect that it will be too much to hope that Benedict XVI would kick Bernard Cardinal Law's fat ass out of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore where he currently serves as the archpriest. That he is not in jail is a travesty.

But I will reserve judgement because the Holy Father suprised us all and showed that he did have a pair of papal testicles and was willing to show them.

Music: The Sonic Rebellion of Naxos Records

liberationtheology — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:57:18 GMT

Klaus Heymann and the Hong Cong based Naxos Records revolutionized the recording and marketing of classical music by using superb but little known musicians to perform both the standard and not so standard repertoire. This enabled the label to sell their CDs for a quarter of what the major labels were expecting. It has been in the not-so-standard repertoire that the label has been blazing a trail in the 21st Century.

Sonic Rebellion: Alternative Classical Collection (Naxos 8570760) showcases the label's efforts in documenting the works of living composers. Needless to say, this is not your parents' classical music. Included on this disc are Krszystof Penderecki, Terry Riley, Hans Werner Henze; George Crumb, John Cage, Arvo Pärt, and Philip Glass.

Naxos has chosen these last two composers for box sets of their available recordings. They are indeed giants in modern classical music. Added to the boxes is the aforementioned Sonic Rebellion to whet the appetite of would-be modern classical enthusiasts. While this is not music for the faint of heart, it is music not to be missed and these two reasonable priced boxes are splendid introductions to Pärt and Glass, two of the most accessible composers living.

Arvo Pärt
The Silence of Being: The Music of Arvo Part
Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Tamas Benedek; Ulster Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa; Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts; Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra, Noel Edison
Naxos
2008

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935), with Englishman Sir John Tavener (b. 1944), is widely considered the foremost composer of Eastern Orthodox choral and liturgical music. To label Part merely a choral composer is to sell him short. His instrumental music is essential and compelling.

Pärt's early compositions revealed a stolid neo-classical style influenced by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartók. Pärt went on to compose using Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique and serialism, ultimately being censored by the Soviet establishment. During this period, Pärt studied choral music from the 14th to 16th centuries. It was this study that would lead to Pärt's transformation into the unique composer he was to become.

This early European polyphony infused Pärt's composition. He carefully studies early music, particularly the roots of western music. Pärt's paid closest attention to the evolution plainsong, Gregorian chant, and the ultimate emergence of Renaissance polyphony. The music that resulted employed Pärt's compositional method employing tintinnabuli. Resulting compositions included Fratres, Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Tabula Rasa, all of which are represented in the Naxos box collection of Pärt's work, The Silence of Being: The Music of Arvo Pärt.

Technically, tintinnabular (from the Latin tinnabulae, of bells) music is characterized by the simultaneous expression of two harmonic voices, the first, called the "tintinnabular voice," arpeggiates the tonic triad (three notes making up a chord, the tonic, the third, and the fifth notes) with the second moving diatonically in stepwise motion. Pärt's tintinnabular compositions develop slowly with a meditative tempo, characterizing a minimalist approach in both notation and performance.

Pärt's Naxos box contains all of the compositions recorded for the label to date. These includes the composer's set of Fratres, a compositional form used by Pärt as a vehicle for different instrumentations. The Fratres structurally consists of nine chord sequences, separated by a recurring percussion motif. These chord sequences follow a clear, thoughtful archetype. This method of composition is unique in that while the progressive chords fill a richly painted harmonic space, as a series they appear to have been generated by simple mathematical calculation.

Simply, this is not melodious music but harmonious music. Pärt relies on the relationship of note between one another in a vertical harmonic sense rather than the sum of notes in sequence in the melodic sense. This makes for an ethereal instrumental sound best heard in the Fratres for Strings and Percussion and Fratres for Strings.

Pärt's choral music is something else altogether. It may be richly plush as in Berliner Messe and Triodione or starkly bare as in Passio. "I am the True Vine" finds a compromise between the two visions that unites in this beautiful expression of hope and being.

Selections: Fratres (8553750); Tabula Rasa / Symphony No. 3 / Collage (8554591); Passio Domini Nostri Jeus Christi Secundum Joannem (8555860); Berliner Messe / Magnificat / Summa (8557299); Triodione / Ode VII / I Am The True Vine / Dopo La Vittoria (8570239).

Philip Glass
Of Beauty and Light: The Music of Philip Glass
Adele Anthony; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop; Ulster Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa
Naxos
2008

Composer Philip Glass (b. 1937) was born in Baltimore and studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the University of Chicago and finally, the Juilliard School of Music and Paris with composition teacher Nadia Boulanger with whom he analyzed scores by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Glass was drawn to the music of John Cage and Morton Feldman and worked closely with Ravi Shankar in his pre-Woodstock / Concert for Bangladesh days.

Glass developed a distinctive composing style arising from his work with Shankar where Glass solidified his perception of rhythm and tempo in Indian music as being summary. When Glass returned home from France he began writing pieces based on repetitive structures and a sense of time influenced by Samuel Beckett, whose work he encountered when he was composing pieces for the experimental theater, the first being for a production of Beckett's Comédie (Play, 1963) in 1965 for two soprano saxophones; another was a string quartet (No.1, 1966).

While Glass has lately tried to distance himself from the minimalist description, his composing, nevertheless has focused on repetitive structures and an elastic sense of time. Glass does describe his compositions through Music in Twelve Parts (1971-1974) as minimalist.

The present Naxos Collection, Of Beauty and Light: The Music of Philip Glass, begins in Glass' post minimalist period beginning with his Violin Concerto (1987) through is Third Symphony (1995). This period is adequately represented on Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (8559202) and Violin Concerto / The Company / Prelude from Akhnaten(8559056).

While post minimalist, Glass still retains a tightly structured use of modulation and short, repetitive phrases splashed with chromatic flourishes and consonant peril. Symphony No. 2 is an anxious affair that incorporates many of Glass' movie soundtrack techniques in phrasing and arrangement. The music, while consonant and agreeable to the ear, is disquieting for the listener because of its suspense-laden drama.

Symphony No. 3 is decidedly sunnier, with a more pronounced use of brass and properly dramatic finale's. The symphonies are among the most assessable and enjoyable of Glass' orchestral work. His Violin Concerto is a triumph of simplicity and virtuosity. Symphony No. 4 and the tone poem The Light show Glass' evolution into more complex forms while still retaining his innate rhythmic simplicity.

Philip Glass is perhaps best know for his movie soundtracks, beginning with Errol Morris' documentary The Thin Blue Line. Most recently Glass has been heard in the Academy Award winning The Hours, the Candyman Duet, the new soundtrack for Dracula (1931), and The Illusionist. Should listeners find these soundtracks appealing, they will also enjoy this superb box of Glass music.

These two box sets represent a mutual fiscal and artistic effort to bring attention to the classical composers that still walk among us. Not all modern classical music is atonal and incomprehensible as is demonstrated here.

Selections: Symphony No. 4 ("Heroes") / The Light (8559325); Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (8559202); Violin Concerto / The Company / Prelude from Akhnaten (8559056).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Music: The Proper End to the '60s - Band of Gypsies - Machine Gun, January 1, 1970, Filmore East

liberationtheology — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:54:18 GMT

Music: Andrew Johnston - Britian's Got Talent

liberationtheology — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:00:26 GMT

Last year, a most unassuming Paul Potts stormed Britain's Got Talent singing Puccini's "Nessum Dorma." American Idol is incapable of producing such refined talent and I think I know why. America did not produce Charles Dickens. Dickens vividly depicted working-class England during the Victorian Era. Paul Potts is every bit the Dickens character: of humble origins with uncommon courage and talent.

Well, Britain's Got Talent has another Paul Potts (or Oliver Twist) on their hands. Thirteen-year-old Andrew Johnston looked like a younger version of Potts as he answered the judges questions and when he opened his mouth to sing, Andrew Johnston showed that America in all her latex commercialism could not produce this:

The piece Master Johnstone sand was the Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem.

Pie Jesu is the final couplet of the Dies Irae normally a part of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass. The text is:

Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem.
(O Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,
grant them thine eternal rest.)

I dare American Idol to stage such a talent. Mariah Carey my ass!

Politics: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

liberationtheology — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:41:54 GMT

What is all the hubbub about Barak Obama being an elitist? There is something oxymoronic about this thought. Here is what Obama said in San Francisco, April 6 that apparently caused Hillary Clinton to call him elitist:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot of them — like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they’ve gone through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, and they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Should one ask me, I would say that Mr. Obama is correct. It has always been the American people's practice that once threatened, be it militarily, economically, or hypothetically to close in on themselves and become, well, more American, more nationalistic. Germany, of course, perfected this strategy in the early to mid-20th Century with mixed results. Regarding religion, Obama is right on the mark. The past twenty years have seen an increase in the number of people turning to faith for the comfort in the certainty it provides...and that is truly ironic. These are not elitist observations, they are empirical observations.

Hillary Clinton calling Barak Obama elitist is laughable. Here is what Ms. Clinton said:

"It's being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who face hard times are bitter," Clinton said during a campaign event in Philadelphia. "Well that's not my experience. As I travel around Pennsylvania. I meet people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves."

"Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them," she said. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights hard for your future, your jobs, your families."

Holy Shit, what sophistry! When Hillary Clinton worked for the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, she no more gave a damn about the "optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves" than the man in the moon. I am reasonably sure that Senator Clinton was not so concerned with "these" people while attending Wellesley College or Yale Law School. While there, I suspect that she and her husband paid lip service to the plight of the rest of us in an intellectual sort of way, but they did nothing substantive. And Bill Clinton's Horation Alger story can only take him so far.

To be fair, Senator Obama is Columbia and Harvard educated. He most certainly does have the capacity to be elitist had he been born a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. But in a country that is still obsessed with race, it is a far stretch to accuse him of elitism.

My father was born in 1915 in a dirt-floor shack in Hackett, Arkansas. He held nothing but contempt for what he called the "Eastern Establishment," particularly the Kennedys. I never understood his contempt until now. Every time Bill Clinton shakes his finger red-faced at criticism or Hillary Clinton tries to summon a populist postion, I think of my father saying of Kennedy's assassination, "What is all the fuss about one more dead Irishman."

Sure Kennedy and Clinton could turn a thoughtful phrase, but it is deeds and not words that we need. Obama can also turn a good phrase and I am not sure if he will actually do anything, but Clinton has a track record of accomplishing little. I am willing to allow Obama to either put up or shut up; I already know what to expect from Hillary Clinton.

Music Review: Canticum Canticorum by Les Voix Baroques

liberationtheology — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:27:56 GMT

Lassus, Palestrina, Schutz, Mazzocchi, Willan, Walton, Tomkins, Charpentier, Marais, Dunstable, Purcell
Canticum Canticorum
Les Voix Baroques
ATMA Classique
2008

Canticum Canticorum is a brilliant artistic-marketing tipple point by the Canadian period ensemble Les Voix Baroques. Canticum Canticorum is Latin for Song of Songs or The Song of Solomon, a slim and unusual book found in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament. Reputedly written by King Solomon or an agent, the Song of Songs is thought to have been authored between 200 and 100 BCE.

The Song of Songs is a singular book in both Hebrew and Christian Scripture. Clerics promote the songs as an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel as husband and wife. When read out of context, the songs reveal an erotic, if not singularly carnal collection of love poetry. This dichotomy of the sacred and carnal has made the Song of Songs a favorite among composers since the Renaissance.

Les Voix Baroques, under the direction of founder Matthew White, has collected 16 settings of the Songs that span from John Dunstable and the 15th Century to Sir William Walton and the 20th Century, spanning late Medieval England, Renaissance Italy, Baroque Germany and France, and 20th Century Canada and England. The group nimbly dispatches each of the tectonic periods of choral music with a period instrument and performance flair. Interestingly, the most striking settings are those of the Canadian Willan and Walton. These most recent additions to the canon stand up well with those of the Alte Musik warhorse composers.

The sonics of this ATMA Classique recording are pristine and crystalline. The entire set possesses a Renaissance oil portrait patina, even in the more recent compositions. But this is not a dusty or dank patina. It is vibrant and colorful, sensual and pious. This may be the "classical" recording of the year.

Selections: Motet Veni in hortum meum, Lassus (1532-1594); Motet Osculetur me osculo oris sui, Palestrina; Concerto Anima mea liquefacta est SWV 263, Schütz (1585-1672); Concerto Adjuro vos SWV 264, Schütz; Dialogo della cantica, Mazzocchi (1592-1665); Motet Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One, Willan (1880-1968); Motet I Beheld Her, Beautiful as a Dove; Willan; Motet Set Me as a Seal upon Thine Heart, Walton (1902-1983); Verse anthem My Beloved Spake, Tomkins (1572-1656); Motet Ego dormio SWV 63, Schütz; Motet Vulnerasti cor meum SWV 64, Schütz; Petit motet Dilecti mi H. 436, Charpentier (1643-1704); Passacaille, Marais; Antienne Pulchra es et decora H. 52, Charpentier Motet Quam pulchra es, Dunstable (1390-1453); Verse anthem My Beloved Spake Z. 28, Purcell (1659-1695).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org