August 7, 2017.Jolivet and Biber.A very interesting French composer, André Jolivet was born on August 8th of 1905 in Paris.In his childhood, he studied the cello but never went to the conservatory (his parents encouraged him to become a teacher).For a while he studied composition with Paul Le Fem, a composer and critic.In his youth Jolivet was influenced by Debussy and Ravel, but it all changed when he became familiar with atonal music: in December of 1927 he attended a concert at the Salle Pleyel during which Pierrot lunaire and several other Schoenberg pieces were performed.That concert changed his life.Soon after he became a pupil of Edgard Varèse, an influential French-American avant-garde composer, whose Amériques was another strong influence.He also befriended Olivier Messiaen, who was very helpful in promoting Jolivet’s music. During the war Jolivet moved away from the atonality, saying that he strives for “evasion and relaxation,” understandable goals during the difficult time but ones that were not shared by his friend Messaien.Jolivet wrote a comic opera, Dolorès, and the ballet Guignol et Pandore.After the war Jolivet became the musical director of the Comédie Française but continued to compose till his last days.He died in Paris on December 20th of 1974.
In 1933 Jolivet’s teacher Varèse returned to the USA leaving him six objects: a puppet made of wood and copper, a statue of a Balinese princess, a straw goat, and three figurines created by the sculptor Alexander Calder: a magic bird, a winged horse and a cow.As Jolivet said himself, they became his companions and familiar fetishes.In 1935, he composed Mana for piano, naming a movement after each object.Here they are, performed by the pianist Christiane Mathé: Beaujolais, L'oiseau, La Princesse de Bali, La Chèvre, La Vache and Pégase.
Heinrich Ignaz Biber, an Austrian-Bohemian composer, was born on August 12th, 1644 in Wartenberg, a small town in Bohemia which is now called Stráž pod Ralskem.Just to place Biber historically within the Germanic music tradition: he was seven years younger than Dieterich Buxtehude, nine years older thanJohann Pachelbel, and about 40 years older than J.S. Bach.Little is known about his childhood, but around 1668 he was working at the court of Prince Eggenberg in Graz, Austria, and two years later he was already in Kremsier, Moravia, being employed by the Bishop of Olomouc.By then the 26-year-old Biber was already quite famous as a violin player.In 1670 Biber, without asking the Bishop’s permission, left Olomouc and joined the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg.He stayed there for the rest of his life.Biber’s career flourished: he became the Kapellmeister in charge of all music-making at the court of the Archbishop (100 years later the same court would employ the young Mozart), he was titled by the Emperor Leopold, and the Archbishop appointed him lord high steward.While in Salzburg, Biber wrote quite a lot of church music, including several masses and two Requiems, a number of ensemble pieces and several operas.His most famous works in all of his output is a collection of 16 pieces, 15 sonatas plus a Passacaglia for solo violin, known as either The Rosary Sonatas or the Mystery Sonatas; they were written around 1676.This is not his only music that sounds interesting today.Here, for example, is his Sonata no. 3 in F Major from a collection of Violin sonatas published in 1681. The last section (it starts at 7:53) develops in a very unusual way and the ending is quite startling.John Holloway is the solo violinist.Aloysia Assenbaum plays the organ and Lars Ulrik Mortensen is on the harpsichord.
Jolivet and Biber, 2017
August 7, 2017. Jolivet and Biber. A very interesting French composer, André Jolivet was born on August 8th of 1905 in Paris. In his childhood, he studied the cello but never went to the conservatory (his parents encouraged him to become a teacher). For a while he studied
composition with Paul Le Fem, a composer and critic. In his youth Jolivet was influenced by Debussy and Ravel, but it all changed when he became familiar with atonal music: in December of 1927 he attended a concert at the Salle Pleyel during which Pierrot lunaire and several other Schoenberg pieces were performed. That concert changed his life. Soon after he became a pupil of Edgard Varèse, an influential French-American avant-garde composer, whose Amériques was another strong influence. He also befriended Olivier Messiaen, who was very helpful in promoting Jolivet’s music. During the war Jolivet moved away from the atonality, saying that he strives for “evasion and relaxation,” understandable goals during the difficult time but ones that were not shared by his friend Messaien. Jolivet wrote a comic opera, Dolorès, and the ballet Guignol et Pandore. After the war Jolivet became the musical director of the Comédie Française but continued to compose till his last days. He died in Paris on December 20th of 1974.
In 1933 Jolivet’s teacher Varèse returned to the USA leaving him six objects: a puppet made of wood and copper, a statue of a Balinese princess, a straw goat, and three figurines created by the sculptor Alexander Calder: a magic bird, a winged horse and a cow. As Jolivet said himself, they became his companions and familiar fetishes. In 1935, he composed Mana for piano, naming a movement after each object. Here they are, performed by the pianist Christiane Mathé: Beaujolais, L'oiseau, La Princesse de Bali, La Chèvre, La Vache and Pégase.
Heinrich Ignaz Biber, an Austrian-Bohemian composer, was born on August 12th, 1644 in Wartenberg, a small town in Bohemia which is now called Stráž pod Ralskem. Just to place Biber historically within the Germanic music tradition: he was seven years younger than Dieterich Buxtehude, nine years older thanJohann Pachelbel, and about 40 years older than J.S. Bach. Little is known about his childhood, but around 1668 he was working at the court of Prince Eggenberg in Graz, Austria, and two years later he was already in Kremsier, Moravia, being employed by the Bishop of Olomouc. By then the 26-year-old Biber was already quite famous as a violin player. In 1670 Biber, without asking the Bishop’s permission, left Olomouc and joined the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg. He stayed there for the rest of his life. Biber’s career flourished: he became the Kapellmeister in charge of all music-making at the court of the Archbishop (100 years later the same court would employ the young Mozart), he was titled by the Emperor Leopold, and the Archbishop appointed him lord high steward. While in Salzburg, Biber wrote quite a lot of church music, including several masses and two Requiems, a number of ensemble pieces and several operas. His most famous works in all of his output is a collection of 16 pieces, 15 sonatas plus a Passacaglia for solo violin, known as either The Rosary Sonatas or the Mystery Sonatas; they were written around 1676. This is not his only music that sounds interesting today. Here, for example, is his Sonata no. 3 in F Major from a collection of Violin sonatas published in 1681. The last section (it starts at 7:53) develops in a very unusual way and the ending is quite startling. John Holloway is the solo violinist. Aloysia Assenbaum plays the organ and Lars Ulrik Mortensen is on the harpsichord.