Classically Speaking

What if Mozart wrote “White Christmas”? Or Brahms had a version of the Chipmunk song? Or Debussy penned a fantasy on Santa Claus is Coming to Town? 

Okay, you get the idea – and it’s not really that wild of an idea; classical composers have worked popular music of their time and place into their works for centuries.

These classically-inspired string orchestra interpretations of holiday pop tunes make for a really pleasant, fun Christmas album.  It evokes the great old-style orchestral pops albums, with Arthur Fiedler or Leroy Anderon.

There's a sweet story to what inspired producer Warren Schatz to create this album.  Listen to him tell that story and talk more about this music in our interview:

Schatz pointed out how nice the melody of the Chipmunk Song really is when it’s played by strings rather than sung by chipmunks.  You can listen to that track here.

The producers have also posted a video from when they recorded the album in a church in Estonia:

Links:

* What if Mozart Wrote “White Christmas”
* Christmas Music…too soon?

On this chilly Wednesday morning, when all the holiday madness had me a bit down, I was to the point of repeating Scrooge’s favorite old mantra, when I checked my email and read:

Subject: Dec 16
To: Mona Seghatoleslami
From: Clinton Foster

HAPPY BEETHOVEN’S BIRTHDAY!!

All thoughts of “bah” and “humbug” fled, and now I’m celebrating my favorite composer’s birthday:)

WFMT Chicago has also been celebrating all week; they have a lot of good stuff on their blogs (here and here) celebrating Beethoven to get you into this holiday’s spirit.

The guests of honor at my Beethoven party here in the station library include Carlos Kleiber, the Orion Quartet, and Alfred Brendel.  Maybe Maynard Solomon will join us later.

Are you celebrating Beethoven? Any favorite pieces or recordings that you’d like to share?

Now that it is much easier to comment on our blog posts (you no longer need to create an account and log in!), I hope you will share your thoughts.

While you’re here – check out my radio story about clarinetist Larry Combs, who was recently inducted into the WV Music Hall of Fame. 

He’ll also be featured Thursday night on the TV program Outlook on WV PBS.  We’ll also have a longer interview here on Classically Speaking soon, so be sure to check back.

There are plenty of lists coming out at the end of the year, so you have plenty of other guides through classical music recordings that have been released in the past year.

I still had fun wandering through our library’s shelves and my memories of the past year to put together a list of some of my favorite things that we’ve featured on WV Public Radio. Last year I managed to limit myself to eight recordings; this year my list is all over the place, and I’m sure that I’m still leaving out so many good things.

One can be the Loveliest Number (featured soloists)

This CD is really pretty; it features some lyrical playing and just a touch of adventure in the musical choices. I interviewed Anne Akiko Meyers right before she played in Wheeling this year (check it out here). 

Come into my parlor... (Chamber Music)

I first heard of Pavel Haas when studying about composers who perished in Nazi concentration camps.   While his name and story first caught my attention, it’s the recording of Haas’s Wind Quintet that makes this one of my favorite discoveries this year.

I saw the Orion String Quartet play an all-Beethoven concert when I was in high school, and it made a huge impression on me. (I still have the program signed by the viola player.) A decade later, I’m thrilled that the Orion String Quartet has recorded the complete Beethoven string quartets so that I can listen to them whenever I feel like it.

Stephen Hough:  In Recital

Is it possible to wear out CDs? I’ve played every track on this recording on the radio at least once, and that doesn’t count how many times I’ve listened to Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses while working in the library.

Erik Satie: Avant-Dernières Pensées

Satie was such an awesomely weird dude, and his music is strange in subtle ways. This collection of solo and chamber music by Satie captures the gracefulness, oddity, and beauty of his music.

The Wisdom of Crowds (Orchestral Music)

Daphnis and Chloe/Maurice Ravel: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Levine

The whole piece, not just the suites! An excellent live recording from a concert in 2007.

Arthur Foote: Francesca da Rimini / Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz

Beautiful, lush programmatic orchestral music. My favorite discovery on this recording is Four Character Pieces after the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

The Singer or the Song? (Vocal Music)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: Recital at Ravinia

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson combined a rich voice with some serious musical smarts. The tone of her voice is just one of the most beautiful things ever. Her Bach Cantatas and Neruda songs recordings are some of my all-time favorite recordings, and I’m now also attached to her performances of Debussy, Brahms, and others from this recital recorded in 2004.

Song of the Stars

The title piece on this CD sat around unperformed or recorded since its premiere for over 100 years – I’m glad someone finally got the music and the rights to record it.  It starts out as a solo piece, then about half way through, an organ shows up, and it ends with a beautiful dreamy chorus.

Sacrificium / Cecilia Bartoli

The music sounds good, the booklet (all 100 pages!) is fascinating, informative, and pretty creepy. Listen, read, and learn (possibly not a good gift for male relatives). This is an adventurous project that yielded great results.

Fashionably Early (Going for Baroque)

Rebel: Les Plaisirs Champêtres / Arion, Daniel Cuiller

I have yet to find any French baroque opera that can hold my interest, but they certainly knew how to dance (and write dance music).  The ensemble Arion’s playing is bright, engaging, and immediate for this ballet music by Jean-Féry Rebel.

A German Bouquet / Trio Settecento

There's more to the German Baroque than J.S. Bach!  Even though this music all from one country and the same time period, there's a lot of variety -- it's neat to hear the directions that German composers took based on different influences, including Italian and English music.  Find out more about this music in my recent interview with violinist Rachel Barton Pine.

Make New Friends (Some Newer Compositions)

24 Bits: Hip Hop Studies and Etudes for Piano by DBR

Chopin had Mazurkas, Schubert had waltzes, and Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) incorporates music of his (and our) time into his piano miniatures. Nothing too grand or deep, but rather really cool and engaging little pieces.  Jade Simmons (interview) has recorded three of them; I’d love to hear the whole set.

again (after ecclesiastes) by David Lang

The featured piece on this recording is The Little Match Girl Passion, which is rightly getting a lot of attention, but the music and the text of this miniature at the end of the CD is one of my new favorites.

Look and Listen (DVDs)

Keeping Score with Michael Tilson Thomas

If you're one of those people who think, “I like classical music, but I wish I knew more about it.” Then this PBS series is for you.  It's a pretty thorough and engaging introduction. Tilson Thomas talks about the music, shows examples, and connects the music to literature, art, and history. Plus, I showed the Symphonie Fantastique episode to a five-year-old, and he stayed put for 15 whole minutes while watching it.

Hope you enjoy!  Share your favorites in the comments.

Links:
* Favorite Things (2008)
* Ten Great Christmas Gifts (Eclectopia Blog)
* The New York Times Classical Gift Guide
* NPR Music: Best Music of 2009
* 2009: Ten Exceptional Recordings (Alex Ross, The New Yorker)

She performs the great romantic concertos with orchestras around the world (including the West Virginia Symphony a few years ago), plays electric violin in a heavy metal band, and she plays baroque violin

Barton Pine is part of Trio Settecento, a Chicago-based group that specializes in baroque music, along with gamba and cello player John Mark Rozendaal and harpsichordist/organist David Schrader. 

Links:

* Trio Settecento
* Trio Settecento on MySpace
* A German Bouquet
* Rachel Barton Pine

** Sharon Isbin is nominated for “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)” – for her performances on the album Journey to the New World. In an interview with Jim Lange, she said that “the whole album started in West Virginia.”

She also shares the nomination with Mark O’Connor, who is coming to Mountain Stage in January.

**   Quartet San Francisco, who recently played at Concord College, has been nominated for “Best Classical Crossover Album” for QSF Plays Brubeck

 ** I’ve interviewed another nominee, Derek Bermel, whose performance of his composition Voices was nominated for “Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra).” I hope to have the interview online here for you in the next week or so.


Any thoughts on the Grammy nominations? (Any music you particularly like on the list? Wondering how relevant the Grammy awards are to classical music?)  Share your thoughts in the comments.