A very dark but beautiful symphony - Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5

REAL ANgry Brit Dot said:

Okay, time to up the ante. As much as it grieves me, the best classical composers were French. 

Behold.

­Tchaikovsky's take on French composer Léo Delibes:


In Vienna Tchaikovsky heard Delibes's ballet Sylvia, went into raptures over it, and in a letter to me expressed himself in very sharp terms about his own Swan Lake, whereby he was clearly being unjustly hard on the music of his ballet. Subsequently his views about suitable ballet subjects changed, and he no longer liked Sylvia; on the other hand, he became all the more enthusiastic about another ballet by the same composer — Coppélia — and even about a boring Viennese ballet — Die Puppenfee, which is reflected to some extent in The Nutcracker. The latter shows how Pyotr Ilyich had moved on from the magic fairy-tale genre, as in The Sleeping Beauty, to that of the puppet-theatre story.


Tchaikovsky's letter of 23 November/5 December 1877 to Nadezhda von Meck from Vienna, quoted below, certainly confirms what Kashkin says about the strong impression which the music of Delibes's ballet Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane (Paris Opéra, 1876) made on Tchaikovsky, even causing him to reject his own Swan Lake as "not fit to hold a candle to Sylvia".

Coppélia. Just a lovely song.

. said:

A very dark but beautiful symphony - Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5

­You know, I have to say that I prefer upbeat, moving classical music but there is some deep beauty in these somber songs. I guess it's because it moves one emotionally. It touches that sadness in every human being that we need to visit every now and then.

:thumbup:

The London Philharmonic Orchestra during the London 2012 Olympics:

:bean:

. said:

A very dark but beautiful symphony - Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5

­
 A good documentary on this piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3RbWSfhlp4

. said:

 . said:

A very dark but beautiful symphony - Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5

­
 A good documentary on this piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3RbWSfhlp4

­I am torn by this story.

On one hand we have a brilliant composer who is being persecuted for his "supposed" message of politics in his compositions. So much so that he is stunted artistically by the questioning of his patriotism. On the other hand we have the genius composer who alters his artistic style and produces an even greater masterpiece.

Too many artists are stunted by criticism like this but in other cases it leads to an even better effort. Perhaps art is best created under distress and the artist excels to overcome this distress much like anyone who is challenged and rises above those challenges.

. said:

­I am torn by this story.

On one hand we have a brilliant composer who is being persecuted for his "supposed" message of politics in his compositions. So much so that he is stunted artistically by the questioning of his patriotism. On the other hand we have the genius composer who alters his artistic style and produces an even greater masterpiece.

Too many artists are stunted by criticism like this but in other cases it leads to an even better effort. Perhaps art is best created under distress and the artist excels to overcome this distress much like anyone who is challenged and rises above those challenges.

Watch the documentary - it's a hell of a story.

For LvB fans, Valentina Lisitsa is on a project to upload video of all the sonatas - she is on #20   :lol:

Here is her channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ValentinaLisitsa/videos

. said:

For LvB fans, Valentina Lisitsa is on a project to upload video of all the sonatas - she is on #20   :lol:

Here is her channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ValentinaLisitsa/videos

Her latest, 5 days ago

Gonna park this here - Bernstien talks music to the masses

. said:

The London Philharmonic Orchestra during the London 2012 Olympics:

:bean:

:lol::pipe:

. said:

. said:

The London Philharmonic Orchestra during the London 2012 Olympics:

:bean:

:lol::pipe:

Sir Simon laughing is ass off  :lol:

Fun stuff!

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. said:

Both Liszt and Paganini were accused of having sold their souls to the devil to acquire their virtuosity because of incredibly good this piece was.

Here is what is wrong with that piece:
The chorus is undeniably melodious and catchy. This was the part written by Paganini on the violin. But the part at 0:42 is really out of place. It may be arguably good but does not fit in with the "chorus tune" of the piece. It's like a tune meant to be danced to. And the same can be said for the part that starts at 1:56. Difficult to play and well written but do not fit in with the main tune.

Funny enough the good part, the one that actually fits, starts at 4:29 and lasts less than a minute before the piece ends.

Classical music is OK
But the guitar licks are a bit weak

:geny:

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. said:

. said:

Both Liszt and Paganini were accused of having sold their souls to the devil to acquire their virtuosity because of incredibly good this piece was.

Here is what is wrong with that piece:
The chorus is undeniably melodious and catchy. This was the part written by Paganini on the violin. But the part at 0:42 is really out of place. It may be arguably good but does not fit in with the "chorus tune" of the piece. It's like a tune meant to be danced to. And the same can be said for the part that starts at 1:56. Difficult to play and well written but do not fit in with the main tune.

Funny enough the good part, the one that actually fits, starts at 4:29 and lasts less than a minute before the piece ends.

­
Seems to me it is simply a virtuoso piano showpiece that is used for encores and entertainment - if you have a link to a solo violin performance of La Camlanella I would love to see it!

. said:

. said:

. said:

Both Liszt and Paganini were accused of having sold their souls to the devil to acquire their virtuosity because of incredibly good this piece was.

Here is what is wrong with that piece:
The chorus is undeniably melodious and catchy. This was the part written by Paganini on the violin. But the part at 0:42 is really out of place. It may be arguably good but does not fit in with the "chorus tune" of the piece. It's like a tune meant to be danced to. And the same can be said for the part that starts at 1:56. Difficult to play and well written but do not fit in with the main tune.

Funny enough the good part, the one that actually fits, starts at 4:29 and lasts less than a minute before the piece ends.

­
Seems to me it is simply a virtuoso piano showpiece that is used for encores and entertainment - if you have a link to a solo violin performance of La Camlanella I would love to see it!

Actually La Campanella is a piano rendition of a piece written for violin by Paganini :lol: 
They didn't sit down together to write the piece, Paganini wrote it for violin and then Lizst rewrote it for piano. The original is called Violin Concerto No. 2.



Funny that the part that stands out so oddly in the piano seems to blend in perfectly with the melody in the violin.

I am not familiar at all with classical music (to my discredit) but am impressed by this thread.  Wood not expect to see this here.  :sadbanana:

. said:

. said:

. said:

Here is what is wrong with that piece:
The chorus is undeniably melodious and catchy. This was the part written by Paganini on the violin. But the part at 0:42 is really out of place. It may be arguably good but does not fit in with the "chorus tune" of the piece. It's like a tune meant to be danced to. And the same can be said for the part that starts at 1:56. Difficult to play and well written but do not fit in with the main tune.

Funny enough the good part, the one that actually fits, starts at 4:29 and lasts less than a minute before the piece ends.

­
Seems to me it is simply a virtuoso piano showpiece that is used for encores and entertainment - if you have a link to a solo violin performance of La Camlanella I would love to see it!

Actually La Campanella is a piano rendition of a piece written for violin by Paganini :lol: 
They didn't sit down together to write the piece, Paganini wrote it for violin and then Lizst rewrote it for piano. The original is called Violin Concerto No. 2.



Funny that the part that stands out so oddly in the piano seems to blend in perfectly with the melody in the violin.

:potd:  Class.
:oldlady:

teapots.nli said:

I am not familiar at all with classical music (to my discredit) but am impressed by this thread.  Wood not expect to see this here.  :sadbanana:

Yes, Canada is somewhat bereft of classical composers. Apparently this is the pinnacle of Canadian classical music...

My classical music exposure is limited to Fur Elise written by that deaf-as-a-post Kraut, what's his name.

REAL ANgry Brit Dot said:

Yes, Canada is somewhat bereft of classical composers. Apparently this is the pinnacle of Canadian classical music...

FUCK! That's quite good actually :lol:

. said:

REAL ANgry Brit Dot said:

Yes, Canada is somewhat bereft of classical composers. Apparently this is the pinnacle of Canadian classical music...

FUCK! That's quite good actually :lol:

It is in fact absolute moronic SHIT, like EVERYTHING Canadian :classiclol:

. said:

The London Philharmonic Orchestra during the London 2012 Olympics:

:bean:

Embedded video wouldn't play. Had to click on it and see it on youtube for some reason. But it was good!