DCVI. ANONYMOUS: Quant je pens / Blanchette / VALARE (Mo 168)

DCVI. ANONYMOUS (ca. 1200-1270)

Quant je pens / Blanchette / VALARE (Mo 168)
Anonymous 4
(2:32)

Montepellier Codex

As discussed earlier (Post XXV, et seq.), these earliest motets were originally based on sacred plainchant (cantus firmus, in this case VALARE), upon which were added one, two, or three separate vocal parts -- with text that could be unchurch-like ...

A tenor with one extra voice was simply termed motetus, while two voices created a triplum, and three, a quadruplum.

This anonymous triplum incorporates two separate love poems:

Quant je pens a ma douce amie
qua j'aim de cuer sons folor
Jolie vie
Sans vilanie
Maine mon fin cuer por s'amor
C'est la rosete
c'est la flor
La violete
De douçar
So grant biqueté
Mi fet penser
Et nuit et jour
Et tient mon fin cuer en baudour
Simplete et coie
Blanchette et bloie
Dieus vos doinst joie
Et grant honor!

Blanchete comme fleur de lis
Doucement
Bonement
Sui souvent pour vous esbaudis
Vos cler vis
Voz doz ris
Bouche fete par devis

Euz vairs, [rians] et bien asssis
Mi tienent jolis
Biaus douz cuers, vos loiaus amis
Serai longuement, ligement, toudis
A vos devis
Douce amie
Renvoise
Vous m'avés doucment espris

DCV. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Odna, Op. 26

DCV. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Odna (1931)
1. The Beginning (Overture)
Reel 1: Kuzmina in Leningrad
2. Kuzmina wakes
3. Song "Konchen, Konchen tekhnikum"
4. Morning exercises
5. March "The Street"
6. Barrel-Organ. Kuzmina waits for Sobolevsky
7. Galop and song. "How Good Life will Be!"
8. March
9. (Original) Introduction; the crockery sings "Stay!"
Reel 2: Kuzmina enlists as a teacher: her decisions and conflicts
10. Office typewriters
11. A young girl signs up
12. Music from loudspeakers during telephone box scene
13. Kuzmina starts to sign up
14. March
15. Barrel-Organ
16. The old janitor flirts with her
Reel 3: Kuzmina arrives "alone" in the Altai Steppes
17. Overtone singer
18. The steppe of the Altai
19. The Altai (Kuzmina arrives as the locals look on)
20. She meets the village chairman and some of the locals
21. Kuzmina in her peasant's hut
22. Kuzmina takes courage
Reel 4: Kuzmina starts teaching the local children
23. Introduction
24. The school class
25. The Bai selects the children to tend the sheep
26. Kuzmina is struck as she protests
27. The village chairman's wife sings a lullaby to her baby
28. Kuzmina sees the wife's crockery and reminisces
29. The village Soviet chairman waking up
30. Kuzmina confronts the village chairman
31. The village chairman drinks tea with his wife
Reel 5: Kuzmina teaches in the open air while the sheep are being tended
32. The children play and dance with her
33. The Bai and the sheep trader, a sheep is slaughtered
34. Kuzmina protests
35. The Bai shouts back at her
36. The locals conspire to murder Kuzmina as she goes to report them
Reel 6: Attempted murder of Kuzmina as she is abandoned in the snow
37. Kuzmina on her way to the next town
38. A snowstorm starts to build
39. Snowstorm
Kuzmina almost freezes to death
40. Largo
41. Largo
Reel 7: Kuzmina's rescue by aeroplane
42. The village chairman meets with the locals
43. Kuzmina close to death in bed
44. The village chairman and meeting
45. The children come to comfort Kuzmina
46. The locals express themselves violently
47. The aeroplane from Moscow arrives to rescue "the teacher"
Irina Mataeva, soprano
Anna Kiknadze, mezzo-soprano
Dmitry Voropaev, tenor
Ulrich Edelmann, violin (12)
Mark van Tongeren, throat singer (17)
Barbara Buchholz, theremin (38)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mark Fitz-Gerald, cond.
(1:19:56)

Painstakingly reconstructed by Fitz-Gerald, the score to Odna ("Alone"). This was to be the Soviet Union's first sound film -- but the synchronized sound was heard in only the very few theatres which were equipped for sound.

**

Kuzmina -- a Leningrad lass -- is looking forward to settling down with her fiancée, when she is assigned to work in the Altai on the Mongolian border. She is disrupted when the children she teaches are made to tend sheep, though they are enjoying school. She protests, the locals try to murder her, and she nearly dies in a snowdrift, until an airplane from Moscow comes to rescue her.

**

The score is filled with marvelous ingenuities, like the writing for barrel-organ, theremin and throat singer!

**

3. (soprano)

I just finished college, my studies are over
Now I live at the top of a big skyscraper
In the skyscraper there are five floors
In each floor there is a shop Tezhe shop
I clean my teeth with the powder from Tezhe
I comb my hair, and my lips look fresh without any lipstick!

I still have to deliver two reports
I must read Plekhanov again
Forty-eighth volume
House, house, house, all around me is house
And in that house -- a well-known fact -- lives Zhakt
Zhakt, Zhakt, Zhakt! philosopher Zhakt!
Very well!

7. 16. 28. (tenor)

How good life will be!
How good life will be!
What a life!
What a life!
How good life will be!
How good life will be!

9. (chorus, soprano, tenor)

Stay, stay, stay!

27. (mezzo-soprano)

Dear child, sweet child!
What is your husband's name?
Sidor, Sidor, father.
Sidor, Sidor, my dear.

Dear child, sweet child!
How many children do you have?
Seven, seven, father!
Seven, seven, my dear!

43. (mezzo-soprano)

Dear child, oh sweet child!
How many children do you have?
Seven, seven, father!
Seven, seven, my dear!

DCIV. BASINSKI, William: 4 (E+D) 4 (ER=EPR)

DCIV. BASINSKI, William (1958-       )

4 (E+D) 4 (ER=EPR) (2019)
WB, music
Preston Wendel, additional synth
(9:46)

from On Time Out of Time

DCIII. DEBUSSY, Claude: The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (London Violin Sound)

DCIII. DEBUSSY, Claude (1862-1918)

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (1909-1910)
London Violin Sound
(2:39)
[Spotify]

DCII. RIHM, Wolfgang: Jagden und Formen

DCII. RIHM, Wolfgang (1952-       )

Jagden und Formen (1995-2001)
Ensemble Modern
Dominique My, cond.
(51:02)

Jagden und Formen

Hunt and Shape

Anamnesis

The remembering of things from a supposed previous existence.

**

This is astonishing music. The above term was used by Rihm in a conversation with Josef Häusler, translated by Stewart Spencer:

"The routes that I followed, the layers of film, the depths of field are extremely complex and, as far as I'm concerned, can no longer be untangled. Forgetting a process and putting it behind one is part of the process itself. Amamnesis produces no neat and tidy solutions. The processes that led to this piece lasted years and are like climactic zones in my memory, but I can longer say where one cloud converged on the next one. But anyone who sets out to find an answer to this question and who does so, moreover, with the passion of a true researcher will discover all the answers."

The complete score is available for scrolling here.

DCI. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus: Concerto #7 in F Major for Three Pianos and Orchestra, K. 242

DCI. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Concerto #7 in F Major for Three Pianos and Orchestra, K. 242 (1776)
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Rondo: Tempo di minuetto
Andras Schiff, piano
Daniel Barenboim, piano
Sir Georg Solti, piano, cond.
English Chamber Orchestra
(22:20)

Commissioned by the Countess Antonia Lodron for her and two daughters. Mozart simplified the third piano part for the youngest daughter. Today it is usually consolidated into a two-piano concerto.

First movement

Second movement

Third movement

DC. BACH, J.S.: English Suite #4 in F Major, BWV 809

DC. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)

English Suite #4 in F Major, BWV 809 (1713-14)
1. Prelude
2. Allemande
3. Courante
4. Sarabande
5. Menuet I
6. Menuet II
7. Gigue
Siebe Henstra, harpsichord
(22:08)

1. Prelude

2. Allemande

3. Courante

4. Sarabande

5. Menuet I

6. Menuet II

7. Gigue

DXCIX. CHERUBINI, Luigi: String Quartet #3 in D Minor

DXCIX. CHERUBINI, Luigi (1760-1842)

String Quartet #3 in D Minor (1834)
1. Allegro comodo
2. Larghetto sostenuo
3. Scherzo. Allegro
4. Finale. Allegro risoluto
Quartetto Savinio
(27:26)

Beethoven considered the Italian prodigy the "best of his contemporaries." As far as Cherubini's six string quartets are concerned, Beethoven could only have been familiar with the First (1814); the next five were all composed after Beethoven's death.

I called the Second tepid, but the Third is much more interesting.

First movement

A seven-note motif in the first violin swings upwards then down. Triplets are followed by soft accompaniment, the a fermata puts a hold on everything.

This pausing -- allowing for complete silence -- is a feature of the quartet; it appears frequently.

We soon land upon the relative F Major. (much of the quartet is in this sunnier key!)

Second movement

Larghetto, but the rhythmic values soon create faster movement:

More pausing:

Cherubini means business! pppp:

Third movement

This scherzo is really delightful. It begins with cutesy fugato-like interplay between the cello and viola:

then again the pause before a delicate first violin solo in the parallel major with pizzicato accompaniment:

and another pause before the recap in the minor:

Fourth movement

More fermatas!

and one last pause before the Beethoven-esque triumphant ending ...

DXCVIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Two Pieces for String Quartet

DXCVIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Two Pieces for String Quartet (post.)
1. Elegy
2. Polka
Sileo Quartet
(7:53)

Discovered after his death, these two pieces are arrangements from earlier works. The Elegy is from the opera Lady Macbeth and the Polka from The Golden Age.

DXCVII. STOCKHAUSEN, Karlheinz: Excerpts from Jenseits & Synthi-fou from Dienstag aus Licht

DXCVII. STOCKHAUSEN, Karlheinz (1928-2007)

Excerpts from Jenseits & Synthi-fou from Dienstag aus Licht (1993)
Sarah Kim, synthi-fou
Le Balcon
Students of the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP)
Le Jene Chœur de Paris
Philharmonie de Paris
Festival d'automne à Paris
Maxime Pascal, cond.
(3:50)

The final decades of Stockhausen's life were mostly taken up by the composition of his massive 7-part opera Licht, subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week). All seven operas time in at a brisk 29 hours.

This short excerpt from Dienstag (Tuesday) gives an idea of how exciting these performances are.

DXCVI. STOCKHAUSEN, Karlheinz: Carré for 4 orchestras and choirs

DXCVI. STOCKHAUSEN, Karlheinz (1928-2007)

Carré for 4 orchestras and choirs (1959-60)
Sinfonie Orchester und Chör des Norddeutschen Rundfunks Hamburg
KS, cond.
Mauricio Kagel, cond.
Michael Gielen, cond.
Andrzej Markowski, cond.
(30:16)

This recording was the premiere (1960).

Like Gruppen (1955-57), Stockhausen is concerned with the spatial distribution of sound. The eight basic categories of sound production here are type, attack, gestalt variation, density, register, duration, amplitude, and color. These are further subdivided into four more detailed groups.

The phonetically conceived text was composed according to purely musical qualities. Only here and there do names of children, women, friends emerge.

An ideal listening experience would entail being in the audience, seated in the middle of the hall, surrounded by the four groups of instrumentalists and singers.

"The piece does not tell a story. Each moment can stand alone. It is necessary to take time if one wishes to absorb this music; most of the changes take place very gently INSIDE the sound. I wish that this music could impart some inner peace, expanse, and concentration; an awareness that we have a lot of time, if we take it -- that it is better to collect oneself than to be beside oneself, because whatever happens needs someone to whom it can happen -- someone must intercept it." -- KS

DXCV. BACH, J.S.: Cantata #97: In allen meinen Taten, BWV 97

DXCV. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)

Cantata #97: In allen meinen Taten, BWV 97 (1734)
1. Coro: In allen meinen Taten
2. Aria (Basso): Nichts ist es spat und frühe
3. Recitativo (Tenore): Es kann mir nichts geschehen
4. Aria (Tenore): Ich traue seiner Gnaden
5. Recitativo (Alto): Er wolle meiner Sünden
6. Aria (Alto): Leg ich mich späte nieder
7. Duetto (Soprano, Basso): Hat er es denn beschlossen
8. Aria (Soprano): Ihm hab ich mich ergeben
9. Choral (Coro): So sei nun, Seele, deine
J.S. Bach Foundation
Rudolf Lutz, cond.
(29:54)

This is a late chorale cantata, written nearly a decade after his annual cycle. He had already begun work in his late masterpiece, the B Minor Mass.

The text is from a hymn by Paul Fleming.

1. Coro: In allen meinen Taten

In the French overture style -- slow/fast

fugal Vivace:

In all that I am doing
Each enterprise pursuing
I follow God's advice
He who the Master heedeth
He ever well succeedeeth
His ventures pay him thrice

2. Aria (Basso): Nichts ist es spat und frühe

What childish stupid folly
This constant melancholy
My sorrow all is vain
'Twere better far that never
I cease in my endeavor
God's help and love to gain

3. Recitativo (Tenore): Es kann mir nichts geschehen

The least event occurring
Is by His will, unerring
By Him my life is blest
Whatever gift He offers
From out His ample coffers
Will be for me the best

4. Aria (Tenore): Ich traue seiner Gnaden

I trust His Mercy surely
And thus I stand securely
From ev'ry evil freed
Living here as He directs me
No ill mischance affects me
Naught fails me that I need

5. Recitativo (Alto): Er wolle meiner Sünden

My faults I hope He pardons
With heart that never hardens
In wrath when I transgress
That when I have offended
My sentence be suspended
With patient gentleness

6. Aria (Alto): Leg ich mich späte nieder

When I to rest betake me.
At morn when I awake me
Where'er I chance to be
In Bondage and in weakness
I bear my lot with meekness
His Word will comfort me

7. Duetto (Soprano, Basso): Hat er es denn beschlossen

The lot of God's ordaining
This bear I uncomplaining
I face the future sure
No danger will appal me
Whatever fate befall me
With patience I endure

8. Aria (Soprano): Ihm hab ich mich ergeben

On Him am I depending
My days here will be ending
So soon as He decides
Come today, come tomorrow
'Tis not for me to sorrow
However He provides

9. Choral (Coro): So sei nun, Seele, deine

Be His, my soul, forever
That naught from Thee can sever
Him who created thee
Whatever ills assail thee
Thy Father will not fail thee
Thy needs will He forsee

DXCIV. SANDSTRÖM, Sven-David: The High Mass

DXCIV. SANDSTRÖM, Sven-David (1942-2019)

The High Mass (1993-94)
1. Kyrie
2. Gloria
3. Credo
4. Sanctus
5. Agnus Dei
Claudia Barainsky, soprano
Siri Torjesen, soprano
Sara Olsson, soprano
Malena Ernman, mezzo-soprano
Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano
Michael Schönheit, organ
MDR Chor Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Herbert Blomstedt, cond.
(1:31:08)

A gigantic, titanic work by the Swedish composer.

The Latin text is partitioned into 25 separate sections, nearly identical to Sandström's model, Bach's Mass in B Minor.

1. Kyrie eleison
2. Christe eleison
3. Kyrie eleison
4. Gloria in excelsis Deo
5. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
6. Laudamus te, benedicimus te / adoramus te, glorificamus te
7. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
8. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis / Deus Pater omnipotens / Dominie Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe altissime / Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris
9. Qui tollis peccata mundi / miserere nobis / qui tollis peccata mundi / suscipe deprecationem nostram
10. Qui sedes ad dextram Patris / miserere nobis
11. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus / tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu: in gloria Dei Patris / Amen
13. Credo in unum Deum
14. Patrem omnipotentem / factorem coeli et terrae / visibilium omnium et invisibilium
15. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum / Filium Dei unigenitum / et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula / Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine / Deum verum de Deo vero / genitum, non factum / consubstantialem Patri / per quem omnia facta sunt / Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutern / descendit de coelis
16. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto / ex Maria Virgine / et homo factus est
17. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas / Et ascendit in coelum / sedet ad dexteram Patris / Et iterum venturus est cum gloria / ludicare vivos et mortuos / cuius regni non erit finis
18. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivifactem / qui ex Patre Filoque procedit / Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur / et conglorificatur / qui locutus est per prophetas / Et in unam, sanctum / catholicam et apostolicam Ecclessiam
19. Confiteor unum baptisma / in remissionem peccatorum / Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum / et vitam venture saeculi / Amen
20. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus / Dominus, Deus Sabaoth / Pleni sunt coeli et terra / gloria tua
21. Osanna in excelsis
22. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini
23. Osanna in excelsis
24. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi / miserere nobis
25. Dona nobis pacem

DXCIII. ANONYMOUS: Linz Dance (Viennese Polka)

DXCIII. ANONYMOUS

Linz Dance (Viennese Polka)
Ensemble Eduard Melkus
(3:36)

DXCII. DELIUS, Frederick: Five Pieces for Piano

DXCII. DELIUS, Frederick (1862-1934)

Five Pieces for Piano (1921)
1. Mazurka (1:34)
2. Waltz (1:32)
3. Waltz (1:24)
4. Lullaby for a Modern Baby (2:05)
5. Toccata (1:49)
David Allen Wehr, piano
Galina Heifetz, violin (#4)

After an aborted attempt to sell oranges in Florida, Delius returned to Europe and eventually found success in Germany in the final years of the 19th century. It wasn't until 1907 that his works were performed in his native England.

1907

1. Mazurka

2. Waltz

 3. Waltz

4. Lullaby for a Modern Baby

5. Toccata