In Reference to Murder

Sunday Music Treat

As we wrap up the Christmas music season, here's a piece titled "Song for Snow" by African-American composer, Florence Price, whose music has been having something of a renaissance lately.  Written in 1930, this work for chorus and piano opens with the evocative lyric, "The earth is lighter than the sky," from a poem of the same name by American author, Elizabeth Coatsworth. The performance is by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus and pianist Paul Shaw, directed by Philip Brunelle.

Sunday Music Treat

Continuing the Christmas-themed music this month, here's a short piece by John Knowles Paine (1839-1906), who was the first American-born composer to earn widespread recognition for his larger-scale symphonic works. But his smaller compositions, including his piano pieces, have been largely forgotten, even though he went on to become an influential music professor at Harvard. "Christmas Gift," a piece I think Scott Drayco is familiar with, is one of his earliest published works—from Paine's Opus 7 composed in 1862 when he was 23—played here by pianist Christopher Atzinger:

Sunday Music Treat - Halloween Edition

Composer Franz Liszt was a bit obsessed with death and the afterlife, allegedly going so far as to visit prison dungeons to see first-hand people sentenced to death. His interest in the macabre is often found in his work, with one of the most famous being the Totentanz (Dance of Death) for piano and orchestra. It's based on the "Dies Irae" Gregorian chant, but Liszt spins the centuries-old melody into a virtuosic and percussive piece that was modern for its time. Scott Drayco, the protagonist of my Scott Drayco crime series, and a pianist, himself, would undoubtedly have picked this as a perfect Halloween treat. Here's Alfred Brendel as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Bernard Haitink:

 

Sunday Music Treat

Today is the birthday of Australian-born composer, arranger, and pianist, Percy Grainger (1882-1961), who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. One of his more popular compositions was "Molly on the Shore," which is actually an arrangement of two contrasting Irish reels, "Temple Hill" and "Molly on the Shore." It was written in 1907 by Grainger as a birthday gift for his mother, Rose Annie Aldridge. Below is a recording of Grainger himself playing the work in a recording from 1927 (Scott Drayco has also played this a few times):

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Your Sunday Music Treat

Tomorrow (January 31) is the birthday of Franz Schubert, who lived far too short a life, dying at the age of 31 in 1828. Still, Schubert was remarkably prolific in his short career, writing over 1,500 works. The majority of those are for voice and piano, but he also left behind a large body of music for solo piano, including this Impromptu No 4 in A-flat major, D 899 performed by Arthur Rubenstein (which is a little harder for Scott Drayco to play these days after his injury, although he does his best).

Sunday Music Treat

It's rare that we have recordings of any composers prior to the advent of the modern record player, but there are some old piano rolls which have been adapted for modern playback. Case in point, here's Claude Debussy playing his own iconic piece, "Claire de lune" from the Suite Bergamasque, written in 1890-1905:

 

Sunday Music Treat

You are quite likely to hear J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio this time of year, although it requires some planning and scheduling, seeing as how it's in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours. Here's something a little more manageable, an arrangement of the Sinfonia section for piano, as played by Lang Lang:

 

Sunday Music Treat

When I was in college as part of a choral ensemble, Handel's Messiah was the usual December offering, as you might expect. However, one year, we performed John Rutter's Gloria, and it's really a lovely, underrated work. That was many years ago, which is why it's hard to believe I once had the voice to sing the "Miserere" soprano solo line in the Domine Deus section, which you can listen to below:

 

Sunday Music Treat

Arnold Schoenberg is best known for his dissonant modernist music, but his "Weihnachtsmusik (Christmas Music)," is actually a nice little arrangement for chamber ensemble of the classic carol, "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen," by Praetorius, with even a touch of Silent Night for good measure. Here's Andrew Parrott conducting the Taverner Consort and Players:

 

Sunday Music Treat

In honor of Thanksgiving coming up in the U.S. this week, here's a work by Percy Grainger (1882-1961), who was actually an Australian-born composer and pianist, although he lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. This is a short piece titled "Harvest Hymn" and is played here by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Mariner: