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October - "The enigmatic music of Shostakovitch and Elgar ..."

25/10/2024

 
Italian philosopher Umberto Eco is recorded as saying “I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth”.

Listeners to Shostakovich are often on the look-out for hidden messages in his music: some sign of political dissent, or a parody of the Georgian dictator encrypted in special note combinations or musical phrases.

Shostakovich was always quiet about what his music "meant." If there’s a story or meaning behind the First Cello Concerto, Shostakovich never wrote one down. He’s certainly not around anymore to tell it.

Ultimately, you need to be careful you don’t get distracted from the music, which is so powerful it doesn’t really need a story behind it. It stands up perfectly well on its own.

Similarly, Eduard Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”.  Although descriptive of fourteen people in Elgar’s life, it has bemused and challenged musical scholars, both professional and amateur, for decades as they try to unlock the secret enigma contained in his work, but so far, no convincing solution has been found.

Clearly, the best approach to both is just enjoy them for their wonderful music. You can check out both pieces of music and read notes about each by clicking on the links below, as well as the other shorter works that occupied our attention during the month: works by Smetana, de Falla, Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, which contain no enigma at all.
 
Session Notes 11th October
Schumann - Overture to Hermann and Dorothea
Shostakovich - Romance from "The Gadly"
Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1
Haydn - Symphony No.104 
 
Session Notes 25th October
Rossini - Overture to William Tell
Elgar - Enigma Variations
de Falla - Ritual Fire Dance
Beethoven -  Piano Sonata No. 17


Bill Squire.

'Distinguishing between individual composers and their work'

27/5/2024

 
“To Richard Strauss, the composer, I take off my hat,” the conductor Arturo Toscanini once famously declared. “To Richard Strauss, the man, I put it on again.” Strauss, at one stage in his life was connected, musically, to Hitler’s Third Reich. Toscanini’s distinction between the individual and his work raises an age-old conundrum about art and morality: Should we allow the details of an artist’s biography to affect the way we view their work? Perhaps there is no easy answer, so perhaps we take their music as we find it and enjoy it for how that is. Which is how we approached Richard Strauss’  tone poem: “A Hero’s Life”.

Sergei Rachmaninov had his brush with politics finding himself on the receiving end of the wrath of Soviet Union officialdom following the publication of a critical letter that he’d written about the regime. His music was banned in Russia, allowing for neither its study nor its performance. Happily elsewhere it found acclaim and we were able to enjoy his Third Symphony – the penultimate work of a long career.

Similarly, Dmitri Shostakovich found himself in an ‘on and off’ relationship with the State. At an ‘on’ time he penned a Festive Overture to celebrate an anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Meanwhile in wartime England Ralph Vaughan-Williams was arrested on suspicion of being a German spy. It turned out he was making notes for a work to become known as “A Lark Ascending”.
​
Happily, other music for this month by Beethoven, Grieg and Mozart came without any political motivation or overtones. hence, they were able to be enjoyed simply for the beauty of the music. Details and links to the notes and recordings follow:
 
Session Notes  10th May
Beethoven - Consecration of the House
Rachmaninoff - Symphony No.3
Grieg - Piano Concerto
 
Session Notes  24th May
Shostakovich - Festive Overture
Richard Strauss - A Hero's Life
Additional Notes to 'A Hero's Life'
Vaughan-Williams - The Lark Ascending
Mozart -  Eine Kleine Nachtmusik


Bill Squire

July - Dvorak, Brahms, Shostakovitch, Mussgorsky, Elgar and of course, 'Beethoven 2020'

27/7/2020

 
Our following of the planned MSO concert schedule for July kicked off with a couple of pleasant surprises in Dvorak’s “legends” – 10 piano pieces for four hands and a Beethoven concert aria “Ah Perfido”! To balance out these little known works, a scintillating rendition of an old favourite in Brahms’ Violin Concerto, and maybe “the greatest graduation piece of all time”, in Shostakovich’s First Symphony, rounded out the first session for this month.

“An Anthem for our Time” and “A message of consolation and hope in times of tragedy” is how Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” has been described. This was the feature work of the second of our programmes for this month. In a sense then, an appropriate work to listen to and think about as so much of our world is engulfed currently with tragedy and grief on a huge scale. In keeping with that sentiment, Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” bookends our programme – a memorial to a departed friend. In between there was Elgar’s lengthy Violin Concerto - a work steeped in mystery – and a little-known (or not so often played) Beethoven Overture.

Here are the links to the programme notes, which include  the YouTube links to the music performances:
​
10th July  Beethoven 2020; Anton Dvorak: Johannes Brahms: Dmitri Shostakovich
24th July: Beethoven 2020; Johannes Brahms, Edward Elgar; Modest Mussorgsky

​Interested in joining in the Beethoven Celebrations!  Enjoy the video links from the Beethoven catalogue suggested in the notes.

​
Bill Squire
​27 July 2020
​

    About Music Appreciation

    Learning about and listening to classical music from across the ages to the present day is what we do.

    Our twice monthly
    sessions feature at least one major composition and a couple of shorter works. They are presented in video format by world class artists performing in the great concert halls of the world so that you can see and hear the music in
    performance.

    ​Full notes relating to each music work, the composers and the artists are provided to assist your listening and learning experience.

    If you would like to know more about and enjoy the music that has helped shape our world, we would welcome you joining us on the 2nd and 4th Fridays each month February to November 10am to 12noon.

    Convenor and Contact Details

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    Bill Squire 5762 6334

    Meeting Times

    2nd and 4th Friday
    10 am to 12 noon. 

    U3A Meeting Room 1 Fawckner Drive

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