This Week in Classical Music: May 1, 2023.Pfitzner, Double Birthday and Alessandro Scarlatti.The German composer Hans Pfitzner was born in, of all places, Moscow, Russia, on May 5th of 1869.We wanted to write about him not because of his talent but because of the period he lived in, the one preceding the 1933 Nazi takeover and then the Nazi period in Germany and later Austria.We find this time frame of Austro-German music fascinating.Never before were music and politics as intertwined as then and there, and never in modern times were the ethics of the musicians tested to the same degree.Then it occurred to us that just two weeks ago we wrote about Max von Schillings, whose path was somewhat similar to Pfitzner’s.So, we decided to return to Pfitzner at a later date.Pfitzner was a better composer and not as rabid a Nazi supporter as Schillings, so we feel that we can play some of his music.Here are Three Preludes from his most successful opera, “Palestrina” (preludes to Acts I, II, and III).Christian Thielemann conducts the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
May 7th is special: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms were both born on this day, Tchaikovsky in 1840 and Brahms seven years earlier, in 1833.This is a rather unfortunate coincidence as both of them deserve separate entries.On the other hand, we’ve written so many entries about these composers, together and separately, that we’ll skip them this time.
These days Alessandro Scarlatti’s son Domenico is much better known than his father, but we think this is a purely technical issue: Alessandro was famous for his operas whereas Domenico – for his small clavier sonatas.It’s much easier to squeeze a three-minute piano piece into a recital or as a filler on a classical music radio station than stage a three-hour opera production.Scarlatti composed 65 operas, most of them in three acts.The exceptions being the famous (or as famous as Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera can get), Il Mitridate Eupatore, and Il trionfo della libertà are in five acts; both composed in 1707.Of all of his operas, probably five have been recorded (his oratorios fared a little bit better; Scarlatti wrote more than 30 of them, and being shorter, they are easier to produce).Alessandro Scarlatti was born on May 2nd of 1660 in Palermo.He spent most of his time in Rome and Naples and is considered “the father” of the Neapolitan opera.Even though opera was his favorite art form, he also wrote some church and orchestral music.We can listen to two examples: here’s his short (just five minutes) Concerto Grosso no. 4, performed by the ensemble Europa Galante under the direction of Fabio Biondi.It was composed around 1715.And here is Kyrie, from his St. Cecilia Mass (1720).The Wren orchestra, the choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and the soloists are led by George Guest.
Pfitzner, Alessandro Scarlatti, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: May 1, 2023. Pfitzner, Double Birthday and Alessandro Scarlatti. The German composer Hans Pfitzner was born in, of all places, Moscow, Russia, on
May 5th of 1869. We wanted to write about him not because of his talent but because of the period he lived in, the one preceding the 1933 Nazi takeover and then the Nazi period in Germany and later Austria. We find this time frame of Austro-German music fascinating. Never before were music and politics as intertwined as then and there, and never in modern times were the ethics of the musicians tested to the same degree. Then it occurred to us that just two weeks ago we wrote about Max von Schillings, whose path was somewhat similar to Pfitzner’s. So, we decided to return to Pfitzner at a later date. Pfitzner was a better composer and not as rabid a Nazi supporter as Schillings, so we feel that we can play some of his music. Here are Three Preludes from his most successful opera, “Palestrina” (preludes to Acts I, II, and III). Christian Thielemann conducts the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
May 7th is special: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms were both born on this day, Tchaikovsky in 1840 and Brahms seven years earlier, in 1833. This is a rather unfortunate coincidence as both of them deserve separate entries. On the other hand, we’ve written so many entries about these composers, together and separately, that we’ll skip them this time.
These days Alessandro Scarlatti’s son Domenico is much better known than his father, but we think this is a purely technical issue: Alessandro was famous for his operas whereas Domenico – for his small clavier sonatas. It’s much easier to squeeze a three-minute piano piece into a recital or as a filler on a classical music radio station than stage a three-hour opera production. Scarlatti composed 65 operas, most of them in three acts. The exceptions being the famous (or as famous as Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera can get), Il Mitridate Eupatore, and Il trionfo della libertà are in five acts; both composed in 1707. Of all of his operas, probably five have been recorded (his oratorios fared a little bit better; Scarlatti wrote more than 30 of them, and being shorter, they are easier to produce). Alessandro Scarlatti was born on May 2nd of 1660 in Palermo. He spent most of his time in Rome and Naples and is considered “the father” of the Neapolitan opera. Even though opera was his favorite art form, he also wrote some church and orchestral music. We can listen to two examples: here’s his short (just five minutes) Concerto Grosso no. 4, performed by the ensemble Europa Galante under the direction of Fabio Biondi. It was composed around 1715. And here is Kyrie, from his St. Cecilia Mass (1720). The Wren orchestra, the choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and the soloists are led by George Guest.