This Week in Classical Music: December 6, 2021.Real diversity.This is one of the weeks that demonstrate especially well the amazing diversity of this wonderful art we call Classical music.We’ll start with Hector Berlioz, the French Romantic composer who wrote in a unique style and whose greatness was acknowledged only years after his death.Berlioz was born on December 11th of 1803.Another great French composer was born one hundred years later -- Olivier Messiaen, on December 10th of 1908.Both wrote massive pieces – Berlioz’s opera Les Troyens runs for more than four hours, Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise close to five, so it’s difficult to present small samples to demonstrate how much music had changed in one hundred years, but you could browse our library and listen to, for example, to a piece from Messiaen’s piano suite Vingt Regard sur l'Enfant Jésus and then Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and judge for yourself.
Three more very significant 20th century composers were also born this week: the Polish Henryk Górecki (on December 6th of 1933), the Jewish-Polish-Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg, on December 8, 1919, and the American, Elliott Carter, on December 11th of 1908.Even though they were contemporaries, it’s difficult to imagine more different composers.Górecki, a minimalist, is one of the most popular modern classical composers of the last half century, he sold thousands of recordings.Carter, on the other hand, all his life wrote very angular, modernist music, and while he was highly esteem among his colleagues, he was never popular with the public.Weinberg is very different from both, and in a way, these composers create a triangle of sorts: Weinberg, Shostakovich’s disciple and not a modernist, was as far away from Górecki’s music as he was from Carter’s.
Even though Bohuslav Martinu was born in the 19th century (on December 8th of 1890), he’s definitely a 20th century composer, even though he often used a neoclassical idiom.Together with Janáček, he is the most interesting Czech composer of the period.On the other hand, Pietro Mascagni, who died in 1945, was firmly a 19th century composer (Mascagni was born on December 7th of 1863).Joaquin Turina (b. 12/9/1882) was also a conservative composer, but hisguitar pieces remain widely popular.
And to add to our already full roster: César Franck, of the Violin sonata fame, was born on December 10th of 1822.A Belgian, he spent most of his productive years in France.Bernardo Pasquini, born December 7th of 1637, was one of the most important Italian keyboard composers between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti.Last but not least, the great Finnish symphonist Jean Sibelius who was also born this week, on December 9th of 1865.Three centuries, eleven names; we suppose it would be hard to come up with a more diverse group.
Real Diversity 2021
This Week in Classical Music: December 6, 2021. Real diversity. This is one of the weeks that demonstrate especially well the amazing diversity of this wonderful art we call Classical
music. We’ll start with Hector Berlioz, the French Romantic composer who wrote in a unique style and whose greatness was acknowledged only years after his death. Berlioz was born on December 11th of 1803. Another great French composer was born one hundred years later -- Olivier Messiaen, on December 10th of 1908. Both wrote massive pieces – Berlioz’s opera Les Troyens runs for more than four hours, Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise close to five, so it’s difficult to present small samples to demonstrate how much music had changed in one hundred years, but you could browse our library and listen to, for example, to a piece from Messiaen’s piano suite Vingt Regard sur l'Enfant Jésus and then Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and judge for yourself.
Three more very significant 20th century composers were also born this week: the Polish Henryk Górecki (on December 6th of 1933), the Jewish-Polish-Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg, on December 8, 1919, and the American, Elliott Carter, on December 11th of 1908. Even though they were contemporaries, it’s difficult to imagine more different composers. Górecki, a minimalist, is one of the most popular modern classical composers of the last half century, he sold thousands of recordings. Carter, on the other hand, all his life wrote very angular, modernist music, and while he was highly esteem among his colleagues, he was never popular with the public. Weinberg is very different from both, and in a way, these composers create a triangle of sorts: Weinberg, Shostakovich’s disciple and not a modernist, was as far away from Górecki’s music as he was from Carter’s.
Even though Bohuslav Martinu was born in the 19th century (on December 8th of 1890), he’s definitely a 20th century composer, even though he often used a neoclassical idiom. Together with Janáček, he is the most interesting Czech composer of the period. On the other hand, Pietro Mascagni, who died in 1945, was firmly a 19th century composer (Mascagni was born on December 7th of 1863). Joaquin Turina (b. 12/9/1882) was also a conservative composer, but hisguitar pieces remain widely popular.
And to add to our already full roster: César Franck, of the Violin sonata fame, was born on December 10th of 1822. A Belgian, he spent most of his productive years in France. Bernardo Pasquini, born December 7th of 1637, was one of the most important Italian keyboard composers between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. Last but not least, the great Finnish symphonist Jean Sibelius who was also born this week, on December 9th of 1865. Three centuries, eleven names; we suppose it would be hard to come up with a more diverse group.