Pittsburgh Symphony
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 7:01 pm
I haven't posted about the Pittsburgh Symphony in a long while. . .
French conductor Emmanuel Krivine made his PSO debut this past weekend with three pieces:
Johannes Brahms, Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, opus 56a
Which by chance of strange fate, isn’t a theme of Joseph Haydn. It is now called the St Anthony Variations (scholars dug into dusty tomes to figure that out) and it was published in two versions: An orchestral version and a two-piano version (not a transcription but a unique work).
Boris Blacher, Orchestral Variations on a Theme of Niccolo PaganiniA BANNED LINK WAS POSTED!
A 20th Century German composer, who after WW2 composed a set of Variations based on Paganini’s 24th Caprice. True to his 20th Century roots, Blacher incorporated Jazz elements and lots of woodwinds and brass. A showy piece of music for any orchestra.
Tchaikovsky, Symphony #5 in E-minor
This is a “Fate” but not Fate in the form of 4 notes in crashing chords opening the music, That’s Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #4 Symphony, Beethovens 5th Symphony, and Mahler’s 5th Symphony… And yes, Tchaikovsky did write the 4th symphony as homage to Beethoven when he was in a time of strife - - his divorce and troubles with his sexuality. But ten years later, Tchaikovsky revisited “Fate” and his emotions to compose his 5th symphony.
Tchaikovsky’s 5th uses a cyclical symphony with a recurring theme that represents fate. It begins the first movement with an orchestra sighing in romance fervor. It is funereal, representing loss. Eventually, the music rises into a glorious march. The theme is present in the rest of the symphony and flows glorious into the finale that only Tchaikovsky could write. Big brass, spectacular climaxes, everything expected of a piece of music.
French conductor Emmanuel Krivine made his PSO debut this past weekend with three pieces:
Johannes Brahms, Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, opus 56a
Which by chance of strange fate, isn’t a theme of Joseph Haydn. It is now called the St Anthony Variations (scholars dug into dusty tomes to figure that out) and it was published in two versions: An orchestral version and a two-piano version (not a transcription but a unique work).
Boris Blacher, Orchestral Variations on a Theme of Niccolo PaganiniA BANNED LINK WAS POSTED!
A 20th Century German composer, who after WW2 composed a set of Variations based on Paganini’s 24th Caprice. True to his 20th Century roots, Blacher incorporated Jazz elements and lots of woodwinds and brass. A showy piece of music for any orchestra.
Tchaikovsky, Symphony #5 in E-minor
This is a “Fate” but not Fate in the form of 4 notes in crashing chords opening the music, That’s Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #4 Symphony, Beethovens 5th Symphony, and Mahler’s 5th Symphony… And yes, Tchaikovsky did write the 4th symphony as homage to Beethoven when he was in a time of strife - - his divorce and troubles with his sexuality. But ten years later, Tchaikovsky revisited “Fate” and his emotions to compose his 5th symphony.
Tchaikovsky’s 5th uses a cyclical symphony with a recurring theme that represents fate. It begins the first movement with an orchestra sighing in romance fervor. It is funereal, representing loss. Eventually, the music rises into a glorious march. The theme is present in the rest of the symphony and flows glorious into the finale that only Tchaikovsky could write. Big brass, spectacular climaxes, everything expected of a piece of music.