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Archive for the 'Classical Music' Category
Contents
Posts
Two New Mozart Pieces Found and Played for the 1st Time
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009Two new Mozart piano pieces were found in a French library in January. The pieces are the first movement of the concerto in G, molto allegro, and a prelude in G. They were most likely composed when Mozart was 7 or 8.
The pieces were played for the first time to a modern audience on Sunday, in Austria, in a house Mozart lived in, on Mozart’s very own piano! You can hear part of the concert in the YouTube video below.
Ah, to be young and a genius! Nice!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
UPDATE: You can hear the performances of Mozart’s two new compositions that were recently discovered (by clicking the link). The full pieces should be available to hear at The Mozart Foundation Site soon (if you can’t hear them all now).
Beaker’s Ninth Symphony
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Classical Music at the Obama Inauguration
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009It was nice to see classical music being a part of Obama’s inauguration. I felt at the time that I’d like to be able to take more time to listen to the piece. So, in case you’d like to hear it too, here’s John William’s new “arrangement” for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, featuring Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill…
Come Watch An 11 Year Old Playing Fur Elise
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Beethoven wrote this piece in 1810. In English it means “For Elise”.
Listen to Vi play it when he was 11 years old!
More Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Sunday, July 22nd, 2007Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star seems to inspire everyone! Previously I wrote about Mozart’s variations on the tune, and Ernő Dohnányi’s. Now, my friend David Solomon wrote to tell me about a piece of his own called Twinkle, Twinkle Variations performed by Bruce Paine on the guitar. (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
Mozart’s Piano Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Monday, July 9th, 2007Recently I wrote about the history of the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Many people think Mozart wrote it. He didn’t – he just wrote a wonderful piece for piano based on its tune – Variations on “Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman” (a French song).
Below you can watch 11 year old Vi playing Mozart’s Variations…
Many thanks to Vi for letting me embed his video, thus helping us continue exploring variations on the theme of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
-Mama Lisa
You can check out Vi’s YouTube page to view other videos of him playing the piano.
The Tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in Classical Music
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007In my last blog post I talked about how the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was originally from France. Mozart was the first composer to set the tune to a classical piece of music in his 12 Variations (K. 265). It was written in 1781-82. Mozart weaves the tune throughout the 12 movements.
Recently, Gerard Raiti at Disney sent me a disc of Variations on a Nursery Tune by Ernő Dohnányi. This is another classical piece that plays with the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star tune. Dohnányi’s Variations is much more complex than Mozart’s. It refers to several other classical works, including pieces by Brahms, Wagner, and Debussy. There are 13 variations. You might have to listen through this piece several times to start getting a handle on all of its nuances.
Here’s a link that gives an outline of the Variations.
-Lisa
Many thanks to Gerard Raiti for introducing me to the Variations on a Nursery Tune by Ernő Dohnányi!
Teaching Children Who Are Learning an Instrument about What Can Be Played on That Instrument
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007When I was in elementary band, way back when, I started on the clarinet. I was never truly happy with it and I always wanted to play the saxophone. I did end up switching to the sax within a couple of years of starting an instrument.
Now I’m older, and I’ve heard enough great music to know what the clarinet is capable of. I wish that my band teacher had devoted a lesson to teaching us about our particular instruments. If he had spent time playing Benny Goodman tunes and perhaps Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, I would have understood right away what beautiful music the clarinet was capable of – in both genres – Jazz and Classical music.
If a student is playing the trumpet, they should be exposed to the music of Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and perhaps some trumpet concertos early on.
In band we played When the Saints Go Marching In. I found the arrangement to be boring. If someone had played one of Louis Armstrong’s renditions of the same piece, it would have inspired me. I would have seen that the slow version I was playing could lead to something more lively and jazzier as I gained more experience.
I have a feeling that many young children who take band in schools can study an instrument for years without ever really hearing it played by the masters. Of course, kids have to start with the simpler stuff, but they should be exposed to the masterpieces so they know the payoff if they stick with it.
Just some food for thought for band teachers.
I ended up very happy with the saxophone. Now as an adult, I’m considering taking up clarinet lessons when both of my children are in school full time. So I’ll be making a full circle!
-Lisa
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