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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
I meant to get this one up prior to Halloween, but it's the appropriately titled "Totentanz" ("Dance of Death") by Franz Liszt, based on the Gregorian chant, "Dies Irae" (something I used as part of the inspiration for my Scott Drayco crime novel, Dies Irae). Drayco has played this many times himself, but here's Dominic Chamot on the piano and the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jukka-Pekka Saraste:
January is the birth month of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915). His early piano works were heavily influenced by Chopin whereas his later output took a turn toward the abstract and atonal, influenced by his interest in mysticism.
Part of that "mystical" philosphy was an obsession with what was possibly a faux-synesthesia in music, not necessarily like the real synesthesia of the protagonist in my Scott Drayco series, but more of a conceptual idea of keys and the circle of fifths assigned to various colors (and possibly based on Sir Isaac Newton's Opticks). However, there is some debate on the issue of whether or not Scriabin was a true synesthete.
At any rate, here's a performance of Scriabin's Etude Op.8 No.12 by Vladimir Horowitz:
From now until Christmas, I'm featuring a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. This week, it's from the the 1945 American comedic film noir crime film, Lady on a Train, directed by Charles David and starring Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, and David Bruce. After a woman witnesses a murder in a nearby building from her train window and reports it to the police, they quickly dismiss her story so she turns to a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime. The film is set around Christmas, and at one point Durbin sings a version of "Silent Night":
From now until Christmas, I'm featuring a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. Today's offering is from Lady in the Lake, based the 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler in which the editor of a crime magazine hires Philip Marlowe to find the wife of her boss, and the P.I. soon finds himself involved in murder. The movie featured quite a bit of Christmas music, including a variation of "Balulalow" by Peter Warlock. Here's the Choir of St. John's College conducted by George Guest in a performance of the piece:
From now until Christmas, I thought I'd feature a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. Today's Christmas Crime Carol is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" a song by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne from July 1945, as performed by Vaughan Monroe. It was used during the closing credits for the 1990 action-thriller film, Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
Scott Drayco Novel #6: Some secrets refuse to stay buried while others threaten to bury you ... permanently.
Scott Drayco Novel #5: A song linked to suicides may have taken another victim. Or was it a cleverly disguised murder?
Scott Drayco Novel #4: When crime consultant Scott Drayco’s long-AWOL mother returns and is charged with murder, he’s plunged into a world of secrets, lies, and cons.
Scott Drayco Novel #3: Drayco reunites with his estranged FBI partner to protect the partner's daughter from a serial killer who leaves musical puzzles as a calling card.
Scott Drayco Novel #2: A mysterious attack on a young disabled girl lures Drayco back to Cape Unity and into a sea of secrets and lies.
Scott Drayco Novel #1: A body found in a rundown Opera House with a "G" carved on his chest lures a former FBI agent into a web of music, madness and murder.
Eight Scott Drayco stories.
A con woman vows to avenge her grandmother's death but must outsmart a handsome detective plus the efforts of her nemesis to silence her...forever.
Detective Adam Dutton once again teams up with con woman Beverly Laborde to find a killer. But is it too late for an innocent man...and for them?
Detective Adam Dutton and con woman Beverly battle arson, fraud, and a new NAL villain, even as they fight the smoldering attraction between them.
