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Moon Orchestra

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she’s workin though!!!

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Bartok - Piano Concerto no. 1

It’s dangerous to associate absolute music with programatic ideas, because it is so subjective, it’s easy to think your own impression of the music is THE “right” way to listen to it. That being said, I’ve always felt Bartok’s music was something that lived in the autumn season. While I had recently shared one of his violin duos for the super-moon, I had in actuality listened to his first piano concerto while talking an evening walk to see the bright moon shining in the sky so large and beautiful. And this concerto is a lot of fun. Bartok’s piano writing is like early Liszt in that he focuses on the piano as a percussive instrument over being lyrical. It opens the work along with the timpani, drumming along as the brass plays the first melody. The movement is energetic and fun, and the next movement is a wonderful example of Bartok’s “night music”, soft eerie xylophones and piano notes, like crickets, not the soothing Chopin nocturne idea of nighttime. The last movement is a rowdy toccata that ends the work on a high note. When writing it, Bartok stated that he was influenced by Baroque counterpoint, and even though that was the inspiration behind the work, he retained his own style of dissonance. About it he admitted, "My first concerto […] I consider it a successful work, although its style is up to a point difficult, perhaps even very difficult for the orchestra and the public.“ Thankfully as time goes on, it becomes easier and easier to process “weird” music. To our ears, this work is still wild, but far from inaccessible.

Movements:

1. Allegro moderato - Allegro

2. Andante - attacca

3. Allegro molto

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A big late, but it is Spring. To celebrate, here is "Spring" from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Personally, III. Allegro is my favorite.

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So. I have decided that I will remake my Musescore and Youtube account and delete my existing compositions from those places. I plan to share these compositions with people in real life, and to maintain a degree of anonymity, I want these scores on my personal account.

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Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone - Francis Poulnec

So. I don’t feel the motivation to continue my Molly on the Shore analyses or start my instrument series (they will come!!), but until then, here is a piece I plan to analyze: Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone by Francis Poulnec. It has three movements: Allegro moderato, Andante, and Rondeau. Maybe I’ll make an arrangement one day.

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I guess I will be taking a very small break from analyzing Molly on the Shore (a week at most), and instead start my instrument “investigation” series, preferably tomorrow. This will detail how the instrument works, technique, and a bit of history on the instrument. I will be starting with the concert band instruments first, from top to the bottom of the score (piccolo to percussion). Hopefully I can eventually complete many of ensembles of the West and move on to a different section of the world. This will take a while though, as I will need to get into different styles of music. 

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Credit

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Me when my phone is about to fall: Eh it’ll survive

Me when I see my sheet music about to fall:

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GASPPP YOU HAVE A MUSIC BLOG

Hehe

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Molly on the Shore (m.35 to m. 43)

This section actually starts with an eighth note pick up in measure 34. The melody is contained in all the upper woodwinds. It is the same melody that is demonstrated in the beginning, continuing off the first part of the melody in measure 27. There is no harmony, just difference in octaves, and now the melody is played in staccato. The whole band plays at forte and delivers a strong quarter note on the down beat.

The background then transfers to the horns (and baritone horn) with lower woodwinds and string bass. The rhythm is played at mezzo-forte, varied with accents, staccatos, and a mix of quarter and eighth notes.

At measure 39, a harmony is added to the melody with a lower octave and a couple of quarter note variations at the end. Non-woodwind basses are added to the background to end the phrase.

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Picture me, a puckish satyr gamboling thru a field on this shit.

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Liszt - Liebesträume

For Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share all THREE of Liszt’s Liebesträume. I don’t know about you guys, but for the longest time, the recommended youtube videos and Walmart “most relaxing romantic piano” collections tricked me into thinking there was only one Liebestraum, the iconic and lyrical no. 3. When I learned about the other two, I had to check them out and was surprised that they were so less often played. Even though these are three separate nocturnes, the thematic background makes them feel like a cohesive set that should be played together. Three love poems for the piano, each one describing a different type of love. The first is based on a poem by Ludwig Uhland, “Exalted Love” referring to spiritual love. This is the type of love one feels to/from God, gods, or a connection with nature. The piece starts off as a chorale like procession that eventually takes us up into the high registers of the piano, filled with trills and tremolos, Liszt’s personal depiction of angel wings. The second is based on another Uhland poem, and instead of sacred we get a profane description of love, “I have died”, referencing la petite mort, sexual love and the day dreams we have in the foggy haze after orgasming. Here the music wavers a bit in unexpected harmonies, a soft melody accompanied by rolled chords and jagged harmonies, eventually growing to a heavy, passionate restatement. The third, most famous of the set, is based off of a poem by Ferdinand Freiligrath, “Love as long as you can!”, which is mature love, the lifelong love between two people, two souls. The melody is clear and memorable, strolling along over light variations in accompaniment, growing in passion, backing off into reflection, drifting away at the end. I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day. Love your family, your friends, your selves!

Movements:

1. Hohe Liebe

2. Seliger Tod

3. “O Lieb”

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Sibelius - 10 Bagatelles, Op. 34: IX. Reconnaissance

Performed by Håvard Gimse

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Sibelius - 10 Bagatelles, Op. 34: VII. Danse pastorale

Performed by Håvard Gimse

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have a couple medieval dance tunes, feat. my hammered dulcimer and me in my pajamas since I have no reason to leave the house

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Such a beautiful sound