Classical Introductions Episode 11: Four Notes from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

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New Podcast

Episode 11 of Classical Introductions features Beethoven’s fifth symphony. The recording I used for this podcast can be found here.

Few composers can be said to have changed the face of music forever, but Ludwig van Beethoven is one of those rare exceptions. This episode of Classical Introductions looks at his fifth symphony, and specifically at how the incredibly famous four opening notes influence the rest of the symphony. Beethoven’s innovative spirit can be found throughout this masterpiece, from the introduction of entirely new instruments in the trombones and tuba to the conclusion of the third movement which leads without a break into the fourth, but his extensive use of this single, simple motif to build such a complex structure was, at the time, unique, and had a profound impact on later composers.

The recording is by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and once again has been taken from the amazing online resource archive.org.

Good old British Media

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Politics

The front-page headline from the Daily Telegraph screamed at me as I bought my milk and apple juice just now,

Hanging Crowd Bays for Blood as Blair Faces his Inquisitors

I mean, for fuck’s sake, Telegraph, at least pretend to be objective.

As much as this is a great sentence – try saying it in a fearsome, guttural voice, like this – it really leaves the reader in absolutely no doubt what side the article takes.

Besides, it’s hardly true. The crowd, which isn’t hanging (yes, I know what they meant, but they’re not, en masse, calling for his hanging either), is not baying for blood, and the use of the term inquisitors is obviously psychologically linked to the inquisition more than it is to the Iraq inquiry.

And let’s be fair. Blair lied, it would seem knowingly, in order to lead his country to an unjust, unnecessary and illegal war, which has further destabilised the middle-east and given countless muslims cause to fight what they see as an attempt at imperial rule from the west. He should be brought to justice for this, but he won’t. The Iraq inquiry, founded and staffed by the Labour party, is not a trial, and will not resolve any of the important issues.

Digging a little further into the article, we find:

A man grabbed a megaphone, with a let’s-get- down-to-business manner. “Tony Blair …” he shouted. The crowd answered, like the response in a Pentecostalist church. “War criminal!”

See? Those people protesting Blair have a religious fervour. They’re calling for blood, in the face of all rationality. They have “the same sense of seething resentment, and the hunger for justice – or revenge – that one sees at crown courts as child murderers are whisked past in prison vans, their heads covered in blankets.”

And how is Blair taking all this anarchic yelling? In a “narcoleptic” hearing room, after being treated to a description of his attire (“a blue suit, white shirt and red tie”) we find that “his expression [is] grave, with a flicker of apprehension.” Later, on facing a difficult question, he “assumed the bashful look of a schoolboy caught with his hand in the sweet jar.” The article comments later that this questioner is the only one who is not “polite, even courtly,” but cheerfully drops in the adjective “beady” to describe him.

Throughout this article, this simpering (I’m not writing a newspaper article – I’m allowed be biased), pity-Blair tone is adopted, often explicitly but sometimes subtly. The last couple of sentences, though, really do take the cake.

“And is there anything you’d like to add?” Mr Blair looked at him, as if to say, “Are you kidding?” “No”, he said. He walked quickly from the room. There was a smattering of boos from the audience, then shockingly, a shout, “You are a liar.” And another. “And a murderer.”

Outside the baying intensified – less a hanging crowd, it seemed, than a lynch mob. But the pontiff manqué had left by a side entrance. They hadn’t landed a glove on him.

So, after another attempt to vilify the protesters (poor Tony!), we even have this “journalist” putting words in Blair’s mouth. Lucky thing, too. If it weren’t for writing of this calibre, the Telegraph’s audience wouldn’t know what to think.

Classical Introductions Episode 10: Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G

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New Podcast

Episode 10 of Classical Introductions features the third of J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, in G major. The recording I used for this podcast can be downloaded from here.

This concerto grosso is written for nine solo string instruments, with accompaniment from the basso continuo. It features two bright, exciting ritornello movements sandwiching one of the strangest slow middle movements in all classical music.

The recording is by Musica Florea, playing on period instruments and directed by Marek Štryncl, and available from the Czech radio station rozhlas.cz. Many thanks once again to those involved in the recording and the staff at the website for allowing me to use the recordings for my podcast.

Why You Love Classical Music

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Arts, Music

I think you should watch this video. Trust me.

Akhnaten

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Arts, Music

For those of you who don’t like animated films that much, here’s another post.

I’ve recently been addicted to this track by Philip Glass, which is the opening of his opera Akhnaten. It’s strange. I really shouldn’t like Philip Glass – to a large extent, he embodies everything I don’t like in music, but so often when I hear a new piece, I respond to it on an instinctive level. I suppose it goes to show that, no matter how much we try to apply objectivity and reason to art, it is, ultimately, something to which we must bring subjectivity, and some part of ourselves. I get lost in the swirling, hypnotic arpeggios of Philip Glass, and this track seems particularly good. The declamations at the end always make me smile.

And yes, I’ve ordered the CD. [Amazon UK/Amazon US]

Animated Horror

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Arts, Film

I’m a big fan of animation, as readers of this blog will already know. I’m particularly fond of animated horror, which seems to me to touch a deeper place in the psyche than the generic stuff. It also tends to concentrate less on gore and more on scaring you to the depths of your self. Last year’s Coraline was a great example of this – the best I’ve ever seen of a full-length animated horror film but I thought I’d share a few less well-known ones here.

I here present to you three of my favourite animated shorts. First, a CGI short called Alma, is also newest, with a nice innocent opening, and an ending as dark as it is inevitable. (Thanks to Dee for finding this for me.)

Incidentally, this video may answer some questions for anyone who’s curious as to where I’ve been lately.

Second up is The Cat With Hands, a creepy, stylish little gothic story I first came upon through Neil Gaiman’s blog.

Last, and by far my favourite, is another stylised gothic short, The Sandman. This stop-motion animation I first saw flicking through channels when I was about eleven or twelve, and is the only film to have ever cost me sleep (and quite a lot of it at that). It took me years to track it down, having been desperate to see it again, but I never forgot the last scene, which plays over the closing credits. Many thanks to Paddy, who unwittingly found this for me.

Classical Introductions Episode 9: Haydn – Symphony No. 94, ‘Surprise’

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New Podcast

Episode 9 of Classical Introductions features Symphony No. 94, also known as the Surprise Symphony, by Joseph Haydn. The recording I used for this episode can be downloaded here.

Haydn’s 108 symphonies show a gradual evolution of the form from the humble beginnings of the form to the foundation on which all symphonies after his time were built. Symphony No. 94 is one of his mature symphonies, from the twelve London Symphonies he wrote during his time in that city, and it features both his clever musical games as well as some moments of sublime inspiration. In many ways, this symphony is archetypal of the form, and is an ideal introduction to the Classical symphony.

The recording I used in this episode was made by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sergei Koussevitsky, in 1929, and has been released into the public domain. Once again, I am thankful to the users of the excellent online resource archive.org for making so many great early recordings available.

This is going to make me sick.

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Politics

Oh man, I’m almost afraid to say this.

Ok, here we go.

*deep breath*

I am…in agreement…with the Republicans…on Barack Obama’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

*shudder*

Sorry.

But really, it does seem a little premature. So far, aside from the achievement of restoring international respect to the office of US President, Obama has done very little to aid or to damage world peace. The only examples on either side of the fence I can think of are the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison and the escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

His greatest contribution to getting the prize seems to be not being George W. Bush (a tweet is going around at the moment that reads “All of the world’s population to be rewarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 because we’re not George W Bush either.” (via @loveandgarbage), and it should be remembered that Bush had started a war by this stage of his first term.

It’s true, as the awarding committee has said, that he possesses a “vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons,” which is both noteworthy and good, and that

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts

but this was largely true in the pre-Bush era as well.

I don’t really think that a strong case can be made for Barack Obama deserving a Nobel Peace Prize. At least not yet. I think that his ideals are certainly inclined in the direction of world peace, and he clearly has made diplomacy the most important cause of his international relations, but – aside from talk about it – he hasn’t really done anything yet. He’s only been in office for nine months.

I think he should turn the prize down at this juncture. Perhaps he will receive it again at a more deserving future juncture.

Perhaps also, the Nobel committee are merely trying to avoid another incident like Jimmy Carter’s award, which he received decades after he earned it, or merely demonstrate that the international community cannot afford another Bush-esque catastrophe, no matter how much the Palinites want one.

Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies – The Academy of Ancient Music, Cristopher Hogwood

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Arts, Music, Reviews

Much to my surprise recently, my list of unlistened-to podcasts jumped from about four to sixteen. On investigation, I discovered that the concert podcast Beethoven | Deutsche Welle – unupdated since about this time last year, suddenly released a glut of new episodes. Many treasures were to be found, including a series of concerts called ‘The Path to Democracy’, incorporating just about every style of music you can think of.

What led me (in my usual roundabout way of being led anywhere) to write this review, though, was the last nine episodes: interpretations by Estonian conductor Paavo Jarvi of Beethoven’s nine symphonies. Only one movement of each is included, but it was more than enough to spur me to dig out my favourite set of them.

That set, as you’ve probably guessed, is the one mentioned above: the complete symphonies recorded by the Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Cristopher Hogwood. As it turns out, I had forgotten two things: the first is how much I love Beethoven’s symphonies. During my forty-minute walk home from work, I listened through number five (the timing was just about perfect), and was unable to keep the tears from my eyes in the first movement, or the glee from my face in the fourth. Yes, I must have looked pretty strange, but it’s pretty late when I’m walking home, and I don’t think too many people saw me.

The second is how much I love this particular recording of Beethoven’s symphonies. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a puritan or stickler for “correct” performance – I couldn’t like Glenn Gould as much as I do if I were – but I do admit a fondness for period instruments, and particularly for period orchestras. Throughout this recording, the AAM are on top form. The relatively small size of this orchestra compared to modern ensembles means that they are capable of a nimbleness and clarity that you don’t get with bigger groups, but in the slow sections as well the playing is delicate and measured.

The use of natural brass instruments also means the playing is more dissonant than we expect from modern orchestras. This affects the music throughout, but is most striking in rendering the opening of the fourth movement of the ninth symphony – that famous towering dissonance – as startling as it must have been at the première in 1824.

Some of the symphonies feature passages under slight alteration (according to the latest research), so there are surprises in store even for people very familiar with the symphonies. Either way, whether you’ve heard them once or a thousand times, go and buy this set. Today.

If you’ve never heard them, then buy it faster.

iTunes, Amazon US, Amazon UK.

Lisbon 2 – Why I’m voting yes.

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Politics

[I originally wrote this blog on Tuesday the 29th of September, but for some reason couldn't get it to post.]

This advertisement appeared in today’s Irish Times, and presumably in the other national papers as well.

I’ll be voting yes to the treaty. That doesn’t change the fact that I think Michael O’Leary, the head of Ryanair, is a despicable human being. As with so much of what he says, this ad will only have the effect of making the people who already agree with him laugh.

A friend, who is supporting the no side of the campaign, responded to my posting this picture on Twitter by remarking that a yes vote will have the effect of endorsing by proxy those who support it, including our present incompetent government and O’Leary. Though this makes little sense – we can (and, as usual, probably won’t) express our dissatisfaction in the next general election – even if it were true then the same could be said of the no side. As much of the no side is currently made up of one almost-equally-obnoxious businessman (Declan Ganley) with strong anti-European sentiments, a far-right Christian “values” group called Cóir and a political party (Sinn Féin) which until recently supported terrorism and had its own private army, I think I’d rather throw my lot in with the yes side, even before it comes to reasons for actually supporting the treaty.

As to why I support the treaty, much of its work is in sorting out legislative processes which are messy or don’t adequately do the job any more. This is valuable, but there are three important points which would have won me to it easily.

The first is that it contains a provision for dealing with global warming. It’s obvious to anyone who’s looked at the data that climate change is one of the most important, if not the most important, issues facing the world at the moment. While I’m aware that resolutions are one thing while action is another, a resolution is still better than none. I think that the governments of the world are finally starting to react to what scientists have been telling them for decades, and I would very much like for Europe to be a leader in dealing with the problem. (Admittedly, our overall record is still pretty good compared with places like the US and China, but urgent action is nonetheless required.)

The second is the aim to reduce poverty, with the lofty (and sadly probably inachievable) goal attached of eradicating it entirely. The treaty provides legal groundwork for humanitarian aid outside the EU.

Lastly, the Citizen’s Initiative is a beautiful aspect of the treaty, which allows the citizens of Europe to bring matters directly to the table of the European Commission (the body which proposes legislation), if they can provide a petition with a million signatures from across the Union – a small figure given the overall population. While the EU’s power to influence laws is limited by each of the countries within it, this should give a much stronger voice to minorities all across Europe.

I’m also vaguely curious as to why I’ve heard so little about the Irish commissioner this time around. Last time we voted on this treaty, one of the major (and few factual) bones of contention for the no side was that Ireland wouldn’t be represented in the European Commission 100% of the time. The treaty has now been modified so that the Commission will be represented by all member states all of the time. But where the no side – last year alive with the chant of “keep our commissioner!” has unterstandably shut the hell up about it, I’m more than a little surprised that the yes side hasn’t taken up the same rallying call.

Oh well. The referendum is tomorrow We shall see how things progress.