CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

"I despise the world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."   Beethoven
 Ludwig van Beethoven



For most people, Beethoven represents the highest standard of musical composition.  He could be compared in stature to Michelangelo in the world of art or Shakespeare in literature.  And because he is my favorite classical era (1750-1820) composer by far, I've chosen him to write about first.

Beethoven was born Dec. 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany to a musical family-his grandfather, also named Ludwig, was musical director at the court in Bonn and his father, Johann was a tenor in the court.  By the age of eleven, Beethoven was an assistant court organist and by twelve he had several piano compositions published.
Whe he was 16, he went to Vienna, Austria and his music was noticed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Reportedly, Mozart said the following: "Keep your eyes on Beethoven; someday he will give the world something to talk about."

 At eighteen he returned to Bonn and became the court organist and violist and was responsible for composing and performing.  Four years later, he moved to Vienna to study with Franz Joseph Haydn and spent the rest of his life there.  His first seven years in Vienna brought him hard work but growing fame and public praise.  He was a piano virtuoso and continued to give private concerts and teach private piano lessons (can you imagine having Beethoven as your private piano teacher?)  Publishers quickly bought his compositions but some critics complained that his songs were excessively complicated.  

When Beethoven was 29 he began to have hearing loss which would eventually lead to total deafness.  By the age of forty-four he was completely deaf and was forced to stop performing in public. During Beethoven's last years, he had to carry notebooks on which people could communicate with him. But in spite of his total deafness, some of his greatest works were written when he could not hear.  It is difficult for me to understand the genius it took to compose such demanding masterpieces such as the Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis and not be able to hear a single note of what you were writing.

Much of Beethoven's life remains a mystery.  He was self educated but well read. In spite of his orderly and methodical methods of composing, he dressed sloppily and lived in dirty apartments.  During his thirty-five years in Vienna he lived in over 40 different places.  He never married in spite of being in love several times, mostly with women of noble birth.  The famous letter written to his "immortal beloved" which was found after his death has been traced to the Viennese aristocrat Antonie Brentano.

Beethoven's last years were spent in Vienna where he grew increasingly eccentric and he died there in 1827.  During his lifetime, he wrote nine complete symphonies, thirty-two piano sonatas, five piano concertos, sixteen string quartets, and much more.  Some of his pieces are so well interwoven into our society today that many of us don't even realize they are classical compositions.  When I first mention classical music to my students I usually get the same reaction:  "I'm not playing classical music.  I really don't like it at all." Then I play them an excerpt from Fur Elise or Moonlight Sonata and suddenly Beethoven is cool.  They will even argue with me that it's not classical music because they've heard it on TV or in the movies. 

I grew up musically on Beethoven and have played his compositions as long as I can remember.  The most difficult pieces of music I've ever played on the piano as well as the most beautiful were written by him.  I can't imagine a world that was not enriched by the musical contributions of Ludwig van Beethoven. 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

 Now for my second favorite classical composer-Mozart. He was born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria to Leopold (a court musician) and Anna Marie Mozart. His parents named him Joannes Chrisostomos Wolfgang Gotlieg Mozart. In later years he became known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-Gotlieg is Amadeus in Latin.  

  He was a true musical child prodigy and was composing music at age five. At age six he was playing before Austrian royalty and at age seven he had his first music published and began writing symphonies. By age twelve, Mozart had written both an oratorio and an opera. For many years of his childhood, he toured Europe with his family performing concerts for nobility and royalty; his sister Marie Anna, was also an accomplished keyboardist. When he was fifteen, he returned to Salzburg, which was being ruled by a new prince-archbishop who did not particularly appreciate Mozart's talent. He refused to grant him more than a regular seat in the orchestra. As Mozart grew older, his fame in Salzburg decreased because he was no longer the "child " prodigy.
 
In 1781, he moved to Vienna intending to become a freelance musician. His first years in Vienna were successful and found Mozart composing an acclaimed opera Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail in 1782. He gave concerts which were well attended, his compositions were published and his private music students paid high fees for studying with him.  He married Constanze Weber during his successful years in Vienna and they had a large family. In 1786 Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) premiered and all Vienna loved it. The following year Don Giovanni (Don Juan) made its debut and it wasn't well received in Vienna. Some felt it was too dark and dissonant. At this time his popularity began to fade again. His number of music students dwindled, fewer persons attended his concerts and his music was said to be "too complicated and hard to follow." During Mozart's last year, 1791, he became successful again. A Viennese theater commissioned an opera, Die Zauberflote (The MagicFlute), which received nothing but praise. During this time, he received a commission to compose a requiem mass which he was still writing when he died December 5, 1791, possibly from rheumatic fever. Mozart's Requiem Mass is arguably the best ever composed.
 
Mozart wrote over 600 pieces of music in his short lifetime including operas, concertos, symphonies and string quartets. He was a prolific composer who wrote very quickly-he completed his last three symphonies in six weeks. His music is versatile and graceful but also mysterious and dark. He left the world a musical experience not to be missed.

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Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn was born in Austria in 1732 and at age 6 he went to live with a relative who gave him music lessons.  At age 8, he became a choirboy in Vienna. Later, he gave music lessons, composed music and was a violinist for a Viennese street band.  During this time, Haydn's music became known throughout Vienna.  Between 1761-1790, he was employed as a musician by Prince Nicholas Esterhazy and composed new pieces, directed the palace orchestra, maintained the instruments and many other responsibilities. He met Mozart during this time and they became friends. Haydn said of his friend Mozart "He is the greatest composer the world possesses now."  After the death of Prince Nicholas, Haydn went to London and wrote 12 symphonies between 1791 and 1795 which were all triumphs.  He returned to Vienna in 1795 and continued to compose music for the Esterhazy family.  Haydn died in Vienna in 1809 at the age of 79 during the time Napoleo's army was occupying Vienna . At Haydn's funeral were both the Viennese public and French generals and a French military honor guard. 

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Johann Sebastian Bach

J. S. Bach (1685-1750) was one of the most important composers of the Baroque (1600-1750) era of music.  He was born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany into a musical family.  He received his first musical training from his father, a town musician.  When he was nine, both  parents died and he went to live with his oldest brother in a nearby town. When he was 18, he became church organist in Arnstadt but came into conflict with church authorities because they felt his music too complicated.  When he was 23, he found a better music position in Muhlhausen and married his cousin Barbara.  His reputation as an organist began to grow and between 1717 and 1723 Bach was the court conductor for the prince of Cothen. During this time his famous Brandenburg concertos were composed. His wife died during this time and he remarried.  In 1723 he became cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig and held this position for the last 27 years of his life. Bach was not considered a great composer in his time and was little known outside of Germany; many continued to think his music too heavy, complex and polyphonic. His music was largely forgotten and remained unpublished after his death until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn, another great composer, began performing Bach's music and the rest is history. During his lifetime, Bach composed over 1000 pieces of music including fuges, sonatas, preludes, cantatas and orchestral suites. Bach had nine children who survived into adulthood and four of them became famous composers.

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Hector Berlioz

While not as well known today as Beethoven, French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was held in the same regard as Victor Hugo and Delacriox during the Romantic era. (1820-1900)  Born near Grenoble, France, he at first studied to become a doctor but abruptly dropped medical school to study music at the Paris Academy.  Berlioz devoted himself to music and was known as a perfectionist who could memorize most pieces of music note by note.

When he was 23, he fell in love with Harriett Smithson, an actress, after seeing her perform on stage.  She did not return his feelings and refused to meet Berlioz.  To deal with his unrequited love, he composed the astonishing Symphanie fantastique in 1830.  Audiences in Paris found the five movement symphony breathtaking, vivid and somewhat disturbing.  Later that year he won the prestigious Prix de Rome (Rome Prize) and left Paris to study in Rome for two years.  Upon his return to Paris, he presented an orchestral concert of his Symphonie fantastique.  In the audience was Harriet Smithson, who after realizing the music was written for her, met with Berlioz and married him a year later.  The marriage only lasted a few years.

While Berlioz had a small, but loyal following of fans, it was not enough to completely support himself and his family.  He took a job as a music journalist and became known as one of the most brilliant and witty music critics who ever lived.  Outside Paris, where he was more famous, he toured Europe and conducted his own works.  In his later years, Berlioz was passed over for some conducting positions that he aspired to and was bitter toward the music industry of the time.  He composed little before his death in 1869.  

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 Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was born in Germany in 1653 and was one of the dominant figures of the late seventeenth-century Baroque (1600-1750) era of music.   While he is best known for composingCanon in D, his other works include over 400 choral concertos and preludes, fuges, toccatas, sacred pieces, sonatas for violins and bass, twenty suites for harpsichord and many other compositions for instruments and voice.  One of his most famous works apart from Canon in D  is the Toccato in E minor for organ.

In 1678, he became organist at the Protestant Presigerkirche at Erfurt, Germany where he established his reputation as an organist, composer and teacher.  Erfurt was the ancestral home of the Bach family and Pachelbel became acquainted with Johann Ambrosius Bach, the future father of Johann Sebastian Bach.  Pachelbel later became music teacher for Johann Sebastian Bach's older brother, Johann Christoph.  When young Sebastian went to live with his older brother, Christoph is said to have taught Sebastian all that he'd been taught by Pachelbel.  Sebastian, of course, grew up to be one of the most famous composers ever, on the same level with Beethoven or Mozart.  Later Pachelbel became musician and organist for the Wurttemberg court at Stuttgart, before becoming the  town organist in Gotha.  Even later he ended up as organist of St. Sebald in Nuremberg and remained there until his death at age 52 in 1706.
 
Pachelbel's first wife and child died in Erfurt, early in their marriage and he eventually remarried an aristocratic woman.  They had seven children, several who were well known musicians themselves.  One son, Carl, later emigrated to the United States and died in Charleston, SC.  

His most famous composition is Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Basso Continuo in D Major otherwise known as Pachelbel Canon or Canon in D.  It has been used in movies, (Ordinary People, Thin Red Line, Father of the Bride) television commercials, (Coca-Cola, GE light bulbs, etc) rock and pop recordings and is a favorite at weddings, funerals, etc.  (I've played it at church as my organ prelude several times)  So what is a canon?  Technically, it is "a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or two imitations of the melody after a given duration."  Similar to what we might call a "round." Pachelbel's Canon is basically eight notes as a bass line that are repeated in layers and variations.  It is stunningly beautiful in its simplicity.  This was the only canon written by Pachelbel and does not represent his regular repertoire. 

There are hundreds, probably thousands of different recordings of Canon in D.  The best version I've encountered was recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Herbert Von Karajan.  This is a lovely, timeless piece of music that will no doubt be enjoyed for many years.

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 Antonio Vivaldi

One of the principal composers of the Baroque era was Antonio Vivaldi, who was born in Venice, Italy in 1678.  For most of his life, he was a violin teacher, composer and conductor at the music school of the Pieta.  He became an influential violin virtuoso and composer-J.S. Bach arranged some of his concertos. Emperor Charles IV was a devoted follower of
 Vivaldi's music. 

During his lifetime, he composed many pieces of music, including operas and sacred music, but is most well known for his 450 concertos, which were scored not only for violin but for flute, cello, piccolo and even the mandolin.  Shortly before his death in 1741, his popularity waned and he died almost destitute.  Although acclaimed during his lifetime, his music was forgotten for 200 years, until a Baroque music revival in the 1950's once again established his musical reputation and made him a household name. 

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Baby, Oh Baby!

                 
 
Pictured above is the beautiful Decker Brothers baby grand piano at the First Presbyterian Church in Malden.  I grew up in this church and can always remember the piano being there in the basement, but, like a lot of things, I didn't pay much attention to it back then.  Now that I'm "almost grown up" I'm seeing this treasure in a whole new light.

From the limited research I've done I've found out a little more about this piano's background.  It was manufactured by Decker Brothers Piano of New York, NY, probably between 1886 and 1892.  I believe it is a Victorian Baby Grand with a length of 5 feet 7 inches and made of mahogany in what was called the Eastlake style.

Decker Brothers Pianos of New York was founded around 1862 by brothers David and John Jacob Decker, originally from  Pennsylvania.  They were considered master piano builders of their time, in the same league as Steinway or Chickering pianos.  The brothers were owners of many innovative patents for piano building, many of which are still used today.  Decker Brothers pianos closed around the turn of the century, due to the death of John Jacob in 1895.  The piano historians I've contacted all feel that Decker Brothers would have gone on to greater fame and perhaps surpassed Steinway as the premiere piano builders if they had remained open.

In addition to the Victorian Baby Grand, they also produced a square piano, circa 1874, a 9 foot Concert Grand, a Victorian Concert Grand which measured 6 foot 11 inches, the unusual Janko piano (six keyboards) and numerous upright pianos.  A coin operated piano was also made by the company.   A restored Decker Brothers grand piano can sell for as much as $30,000.

This piano was given to the church by  Mr. and Mrs. Jake Mewhirter, the grandparents of present day church members, Doug Dirks and Al Mewhirter. Al has done quite an extensive family genealogy and said that the piano belonged to his grandmother's family, the Rannys from Cape Girardeau. They had a home on North Main Street in Cape and a farm, Spring Farm, between Cape and Dutchtown.  His grandmother Wathena Ranny married Jake Mewhirter and the piano was probably inherited by her from the Ranny family.   He thinks that after Jake and Wathena moved to Malden, the piano may have remained at Spring Farm until around 1960 when the First Presbyterian Church added a basement and the piano was donated to the church for use in the new basement. 

When my music students have their recitals, we use the basement of the church specifically so they can play on this piano.  And while it's a little out of tune with a couple of keys that stick from time to time, how many other chances would students from this area have to perform on such an historical musical instrument?
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1920's Ellington piano

Circa 1920's Ellington piano

Shown above is an Ellington upright piano that resides in Gibson, MO at the MDV Post #421. Judging from it's serial number it was probably manufactured between 1920 & 1924. This was my first encounter with an Ellington & I had to do a little research. Ellington pianos were manufactured by Ballwin Pianos between 1893 & 1930 in Cincinnati, OH and were their established lower priced line of pianos. The Ellington out sold all other lower priced piano brands combined. As of 2002, Ballwin has reintroduced the Ellington piano in an updated version.
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1895 Pump Organ Still Going Strong

This is my newest musical acquisition, an 1895 Kimball pump organ, given to me my my sister, Mary Beth Broughton of Jefferson city, MO. It still works but will need quite a bit of restoration which I plan to do my self so if anyone has any experience with or knowledge of these wonderful old instruments please contact me. I have about a million questions.
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Got the Copyright Blues?  

Do you ever wonder if you need to copyright your original songs?  How can you make sure no one can claim what you wrote as theirs?   If done properly a copyright assures that no one else can take credit for your songs and for most copyrighted works the protected term lasts for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years.  The best source of information is the U. S. Library of Congress at:
www.copyright.gov

You can read all the help info and download forms as well.  Warning-it is a government website so the instructions tend to be a bit confusing.  But I can tell you that the material to be copyrighted has to be in a "tangible form of expression."  For songs this usually means either a recording on tape or CD of the song being performed exactly as you want it copyrighted or the song being notated-written out in musical note form on paper. 
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Symphonic Getaways

If you're looking for great entertainment for a weekend, check out a regional symphony orchestra.  The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will be performing selections by Rimsky Korsakov-Scheherazade; Dvorak-Violin Concerto; Mozart-Symphony No. 41 and Bach-Brandenberg Concerto No. 2 (one of my favorites)  Their website is www.slso.org for more information. 

The Springfield, MO Symphony Orchestra  www.springfieldmosymphony.org will be featuring Symphony for Double Orchestra by JC Bach and Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 this season.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will be performing Mendelssohn's Elijah  in April featuring baritone Richard Zeller.  Their website is www.memphissymphony.org for performance and ticket info.

While not exactly in the neighborhood, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is worth the trip.  With new music director Jaap van Zweden slated to begin in 2008, the DSO is gearing up for more music than ever.  This fall, during their 5 week Beethoven festival, they will be performing all of Beethoven's nine symphonies in chronological order, which has never been done by the DSO.  They have many more concerts on their schedule with music by Mozart, Hayden, Chopin and Aaron Copeland to name but a few.  Check out their beautiful, informative website at:  www.dallassymphony.com
The DSO also has an excellent children's website which features music theory, seating charts for an orchestra, instrument pages, youth concert information and too many other things to mention here.  Check out this awesome website by clicking here:
www.dsokids.com

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CD Review
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Albinoni: Adagio * Pachelbel: Canon
Herbert von Karajan, Conductor
Label:  Deutsche Grammophone, released 1990

If you want to hear classical music at its finest, this CD a great place to start.   The acclaimed Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, long considered by many to be the best in the world, does not disappoint the listener with this full digital recording.  Baroque and classical compositions by Albinoni, Vivaldi, Gluck, Bach, Mozart and Pachelbel are performed to perfection under conductor Herbert von Karajan.   This version of "Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Basso Continuo in D Major" (Pachelbel Canon) by Johann Pachelbel is the best I've heard and "Suite for Orchestra no 3 in D Major"  (Air) by Johann Sebastian Bach and"Serenade no 6 in D Major, K 239" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart provide the listener with superb performances.  It just doesn't get much better than this in the classical music world.   Several of these works will be very familiar to everyone, having been used in movie soundtracks as well as TV commercials.  It just goes to show how really timeless classical music is, even today.         
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CHAMBER MUSIC AT ITS FINEST


Chamber music by definition is music performed by a small group, usually 2 to 9 musicians with a lighter sound than orchestral music.  The most important or significant form of classical chamber music is the string quartet which consists of 2 violins, a viola and a cello.  Those of you who think chamber music is boring, think again and think:  The Pacifica Quartet.   This quartet, founded in 1994 and named for their original homes on the West coast, are the Faculty quartet in Residence at the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana as well as Quartet in Residence at the University of Chicago, the first in this institutions' history.   Simin Ganatra, violin, Sibbi Bernhardson, violin, Masumi Per Rostad, viola and Brandon Vamos, cello, have become known for their exquisite musical style, creative interpretation of the classics and their choice of musical selections, which often includes songs not always considered the norm.  They have won numerous awards and tour all over the world to packed houses.  Their recordings are usually best sellers in the chamber music world and I hope to have some reviews here in the near future.  For more info click:
www.pacificaquartet.com  
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