The next meeting takes place on Monday 8th of May and will be a member’s evening. If you have a particular piece you like or want to hear played then liaise with Anthony Powell. Usual place usual time.
Tag: Wiltshire
Delius
The works of Frederick Delius
The works of Frederick Delius were the subject of the Society’s evening on April 24th and we were delighted to welcome Martin Lee-Browne, the ex-president of the Delius Society. This was an informed presentation – not just because Martin knew a great deal about this composer – but because of the family connections he has with him. His grandfather was a good friend to Delius and also taught Sir Thomas Beecham the famous conductor. It was Beecham who did so much to promote the composer.
Delius’s father was a wool merchant and wanted his son to go into the business which he did for about 2 years. His heart was not in it so he then persuaded his father to help set him up in the orange plantation business in Florida which he did for a couple of years. He then gave that up and moved to Danville in Virginia.
He studied music in Leipzig in 1886 but was unimpressed with the teaching there which he found old fashioned and apparently, they were not too impressed with him. He met and became friends with the Norwegian Composer Edvard Grieg and persuaded him to come to England to meet his father. Norway was a big influence on his work and the Song of the High Hills is based on his time there. Beecham described this as one of the composer’s major works.
His father was so impressed that his son knew someone as famous as Grieg that he continued funding his musical activities for another year. This he spent living in Montparnasse in Paris. He struggled to make a living there as a composer. By 1899 he had managed to get only 20 songs published.
He returned to England and self-funded a concert of his own works which had mixed success but began to get him recognised as a serious composer. Gradually his pieces entered the repertoire. Martin played several of his works – including some early compositions which one would not at first sight have realised were by him – as well as selections from his more famous and familiar works. These included Brigg Fair, the single movement Violin Concerto and Sea Drift, the latter strongly influenced by Walt Whitman.
Martin also brought along some memorabilia included a score annotated in the margin by Percy Grainger. In 1910 his health seriously declined and he was only able to compose with the aid of Eric Fenby who wrote the music to Delius’s direction. He lived for most of his life in Grez-sur-Loing in France and he is buried with his wife in Limpsfield in Surrey.
Anton Bruckner
For some, Anton Bruckner (pictured) was one of the great symphonists to come out of the nineteenth century. Nowadays, his works are performed around the world and are a regular feature of the repertoire. There are many recordings of the nine numbered symphonies. But for a long time, his reputation languished and there was a major effort to recognise his genius in the 1960’s.
At the last meeting of the Society, Terry Barfoot gave an illustrated history of the composer and played four movements from 4 different symphonies to illustrate his work. Bruckner was born in Ansfelden in Austria in 1824, the son of a school teacher. He himself became a school teacher. He was an organist of prodigious ability and toured Europe mostly playing improvisations. Little of this survives. He was the first to play the organ at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
One can hear the influence of the organ in his music. As Terry put it:
[…] the sound-world of the organ in the resonant acoustic of a great cathedral is relevant in his symphonies, as of course it is in his religious works. From Wagner he derived his long time-spans, his weighty brass writing and expressive string textures, while another recurring was Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and especially its opening […]
He was clearly a late developer as a composer and Terry made the point that had he died at the same age as Schubert (31) he would today be completely unknown.
He was deeply religious and trained as a musician at the monastery church at Sankt Florian a place he was to return to throughout his life especially when he was depressed. He was also organist in Linz.
Like so many composers – indeed artists generally – he was not appreciated fully in his lifetime. The famous critic Eduard Hanslick gave him a hard time and his time with the Vienna Philharmonic was not a success.
Terry put together a programme to illustrate his range and development as a composer. Bruckner is something of a challenge in the context of a Society evening as the expansiveness of his music does not lend itself to short extracts! He played the following:
- Motet: Locus Iste
- Symphony No. 8 first movement
- Symphony No. 6 second movement
- Symphony No. 4 third movement
- Symphony No. 7 fourth movement
Together with photographs of locations around Austria where Bruckner lived or worked this was an interesting and illuminating evening. We were grateful to Terry Barfoot for putting it together.
Peter Curbishley
Terry runs Arts in Residence
Note: the next meeting is not for 3 weeks because of Easter
Music fit for an Emperor
Superb and surprising selection of music from the Hapsburg empire
Last night’s presentation by Angus Menzies was of music composed for several of the emperors of the Habsburg court from the middle of 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. This was pre-Haydn and Mozart of course and most of the music played was by composers who, for the most part have been forgotten – undeservedly so.
Each would have his own favourites of course but those who stood out were Antonio Bertali; Johann Schmelzer; Heinrich Biber and Johann Fux. We also heard a piece composed by Leopold I entitled Il lutto dell universe which was ‘not without talent’ as one might say. The pieces played were mostly composed for weddings and coronations and hence had a magisterial quality. Others were from operas. Schmelzer’s Die Fechstchule was played alongside mass horse displays as monarchs from that era often used equestrian events to impress and show off their country. Indeed, portraits from that era often feature monarchs astride a horse as a symbol of power. Little is known of him but he was a favourite of Leopold I and became a Kapellmeister in Vienna.
Another composer to impress was Jan Zelenka and we heard Melodrama de Sancto Wenceslao and also Johann Reutter whose aria Venga l’eta was played from La Magnamitada Alessandro. Zelenka was ranked along side Telemann and Handel in his day but is now mostly forgotten.
A worthwhile evening with many surprises and providing a window into the music of this era in history.
Meeting tonight
The second half of the season kicks off tonight at 7:30 as usual. Angus Menzies will be talking about music fit for an emperor.
Venice: more than Vivaldi
One might be forgiven for thinking that the only composer of note to emerge from the city state of Venice was Vivaldi. His Four Seasons is relentlessly played in shops and on Classic FM along with Eine Klein Nachtmusik by Mozart. Last night, Peter Horwood showed that in fact the Venice school produced a huge range of composers and that the city was a pathbreaker in several musical forms.
He went right back to the fourteenth century with some Gregorian chants and pieces of choral music by Marchettus de Padua, Ave corpus sanctum; Francesco Landini, motet principium nobilissime; and Johannes Ciconia, motet: Venecie Mundi Splendor. Some of this music was composed for ceremonial purposes, some for religious.
As the evening went on, it was interesting to see the development of style and the addition of orchestral instruments to the choral works. The first operas were written here and indeed some composers seem to have composed prodigious numbers of them. Monteverdi featured and included an extract from one of his operas La Favola d’rfeo and the ritornello, Dal mio Permesso amoto.
One of the composers who impressed the audience was Tamaso Albinoni and his Concerto No 2 for oboe and strings in D minor from which we heard the enchanting Adagio. The three movement concerto form which we know so well today was first developed in Venice.
The historical context was also interesting with the observation that as Venice’s economic fortunes declined by contrast, the artistic life flourished. One wondered if there could be a similar thing going on today …
Venice eventually got conquered by the invasion by Napoleon but even so, musical life went on and the evening finished with a composition by Malipiero (1882 – 1973) Gabrieliana – Allegro vivace. In modern times, composers have visited the City and composed works there. These include Wagner, Stravinsky, and Britten.
A superb presentation by Peter and fascinating to see and hear the development of style and composition over seven hundred years.
And not a note of Vivaldi …
Nest meeting of 31 October
End of season
With last night’s meeting, the current season of the Society came to an end and will resume in September. Next year’s programme is well underway and has a lively combination of home grown and invited speakers as well as a ‘live’ performance. The committee met before the meeting and one item was a review of the year and all agreed that it had been an excellent one. With two live performances as well as the usual fare of CDs, the programme was diverse and interesting. The Society exists to enable people to broaden their knowledge and enjoyment of classical music in a non challenging way.
We had presentations which focused on the Great War, two on famous conductors – Mackerras and Bernstein – and we welcomed Lord Aberdare of the Berlioz Society for a memorable presentation. The role of lesser known composers especially from these shores and from the Baltic countries was also notable. Altogether a successful year.
Meetings take place in Salisbury every other Monday evening during the season which starts again on 19 September. Directions can be found on the ‘Find us’ tab. Parking is easy. New members are always welcome and feel free to come along to a meeting. Full details of the new programme will be published here once it is finalised and a leaflet will be available in the Collector’s Room in Endless Street; Oxfam’s music room and in the Tourism Office in Butcher Row.
We look forward to seeing you.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Society – the penultimate – is on May 9th and is a members’ evening. This is where individual members can suggest pieces which can be played with or without an introduction by them as they wish. It is usually and enjoyable evening, eclectic of course and everyone’s choice is different. Usual place, usual time.
New members are welcome and the entry is a modest £2 to help us defray costs.
We look forward to seeing you.
Follow us on Twitter
Next meeting
The next meeting of Salisbury Recorded Music Society, will be tonight Monday 4th April 2016 at 7.30pm, in our usual venue. Richard Seal will be presenting In Flanders Fields – music inspired by World War I including works by Vaughan Williams, Britten and George Butterworth. A great deal of attention is paid to the poets who were affected by the war, rather less attention is paid to the composers who were also strongly influenced by the carnage.
Bernstein: musical polymath
Leonard Bernstein had many talents and at the last meeting of the Society three of them were on vivid display in a presentation by Alan Forshaw. First was his ability as a pianist was shown in a recording, made in 1946, of Ravel’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra from which we heard the first movement. It is no surprise Bernstein liked this piece with its strong jazz influences and powerful rhythms. We also heard him play one of his own compositions, Seven Anniversaries recorded in 1947.
His second great skill was as a conductor for which he was in great demand. He was the principal conductor for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. Examples we heard included the second movement from Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the NYPO with Bernstein conducting from the keyboard and also the Adagietto from Mahler’s 5th Symphony.
He was an accomplished composer in a wide range of genres. Few may of heard of his Clarinet Sonata for example, his first composition. More familiar perhaps is his Symphony No. 1 from which we heard the second movement with its strong rhythms and echoes of Stravinsky. We also heard part of his Symphony No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra both recordings with the NYPO.
He was a composer of operas and first was Trouble in Tahiti – an opera in seven scenes – from which we heard scene 2. Candide did not achieve critical acclaim unfortunately and had to wait two decades before it found a place in the repertoire again. West Side Story is undoubtedly his most successful work, loved the world over and was made into a film. Two extracts were played: Tonight performed by Jose Carreras and Kiri Te Kanawa, and Somewhere, in a performance conducted by Bernstein himself.
Alan explained that Bernstein was the son of a Ukrainian immigrant and it is perhaps worth reflecting on the enormous contribution east European and Russian immigrants made to the life of the United States. Not just musicians, but scientists, writers, mathematicians and in many other areas of cultural life. As the UK is struggling with the ‘threat’ of immigrants fleeing Syria and other war torn areas, it is worth remembering on the benefits that they can bring, as Bernstein did to the USA and musical life generally.
This was an accomplished presentation which gave an insight into the range of talents Bernstein had and the musical legacy he has left behind. A musical polymath indeed.
Salisbury Recorded Music Society 