In Reference to Murder

Sunday Music Treat

It's the birthday of Franz Joseph Haydn (born on this day in 1732), who wasn't exactly known for his piano music. But Scott Drayco has played some of his works, including the Piano Concerto in D major H XVIII:11. Here's a recording of the work with Philippe Entremont conducting from the piano in a performance with the Vienna Chamber Otchestra:

 

Your Sunday Music Treat

As many of you know, the protagonist of my Scott Drayco mystery series is a former pianist who also has chromasthesia, a form of synestheia, where he experiences all sounds as colors, shapes, and texture. So I thought it might be appropriate in honor of the arrival of spring (in the northern hemisphere) to feature a piano version of the “Spring” concerto by Antonio Vivaldi. This particular performance has a touch of synesthesia to it, as you will see:

 

Sunday Music Treat

Another new year is upon us, and that means it's time for the Scottish folk classic "Auld Lang Syne" to shine in its many versions. Here's one Scott Drayco might play, only in this recording, it's Evgeny Kissin who's doing the honors at the piano:

 

Sunday Music Treat

Continuing with lesser-known Christmas music for the season, here's a selection from one of my favorite Christmas albums of my youth, O Holy Night with Luciano Pavarotti, namely "Gesù Bambino" (composed by Pietro Yon in 1917), sung by Pavarotti and the Wandsworth School Boys Choir:

Sunday Music Treat

Continuing with lesser-known Christmas music this week, here's an excerpt from Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols, "Balulalow." Written for treble voices, it's usually sung by a boys choir or by a group of girls (I had the good fortune to be in a girls' ensemble as a teenager that performed these carols).

 

Your Sunday Music Treat

As the Christmas season gets into full swing, I thought I'd feature some lesser-known Christmas music for December. First up, an excerpt from The Christmas Tree Suite by Franz Liszt, which I think Scott Drayco has played a time or two. Although better known for his youthful pyrotechnics, Liszt wrote this piece at the age of 70 when he'd mellowed quite a bit. The soloists here are duo pianists Pinuccia Giarmana and Anessandro Lucchetti:

 

Sunday Music Treat

This is the third in my Halloween-themed music selections for the month; the first two used the "Dies Irae" chant (Liszt's Totentanz and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique). Here's a different piece but still spooky enough for Halloween, the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. It's based on a literary poem by Henri Cazalis and deals with the French superstition that says Death comes out at the stroke of midnight each Halloween, summoning the dead to join in a dance.

Sunday Music Treat

Last Sunday, I featured Franz Lizst's Totentanz, which includes the iconic Dies Irae chant melody, as part of the "spooky music" theme for October. This week, here's another use of the same Dies Irae chant, this time in the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, the last movement which is titled "Witches Sabbath":

 

Sunday Music Treat

'Tis the month of Halloween, so it seems appropriate to feature "spooky" music this month. What better than the Totentanz (literally "Dance of Death") by Franz Liszt. The work includes the iconic Gregorian chant "Dies Irae," used in my Scott Drayco novel, Dies Irae. Here's a performance with pianist Beatrice Berrut and the Berlin Philharmonic:

Sunday Music Treat

The Leeds International Piano Competition just wrapped up, and the winner was 20-year-old American Eric Lu. Lu is about the same age as Scott Drayco when his career was cut short by tragedy, but I'm hoping that Lu has a much longer, successful, and rewarding career ahead of him. For the finals, Lu played Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, and here's the third movement from that work performed by pianist Mitsuko Uchida and the Philharmonia Orchestra: