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<h1 class="post-title p-name" itemprop="name headline">Classical Thunder [Mozart, Liszt]</h1>
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<time class="dt-published" datetime="2021-09-04T23:09:00+03:00" itemprop="datePublished">Sep 4, 2021
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<p>My favorite streaming service (Primephonic) was bought by Apple, declaring imminent shutdown.
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Naturally, I switched to Apple’s platform ready to be all condenscending, when it immidiately suggested one of my favorites - Mozart’s 20th piano concerto (K466, in D Minor) brilliantly performed by Seong-Jin Cho.</p>
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<p>On the 3rd or 4th listen within that week (I <em>really</em> like that piece), Mozart’s brilliant capacity for <em>classical thunder</em> struck me - not dissimilar to a solo on a Rock/Punk/Metal piece. Sure, it takes it much more time to get there, but Mozart gets seriously intense. It’s odd to think about it, but I feel like today’s musical ‘ <em>hooks</em> ‘ as they are called have clearly existed that far back - listen to how the opening grips you!</p>
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<p>Another thing that listening to Mozart always makes me think is how <em>alien</em> his music feels compared to… most everyone else really. Listening to Beethoven, for example (including the sonatas I mention earlier), I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how he felt when writing them - I often stop at a particular phrase thinking <em>‘Who pissed ya off, Ludvig?’</em>.</p>
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<p>Most other Romantic composers I enjoy listening to share this trait - Tchaikovski in particular really bleeds out his soul for you (The fourth symphony’s second movements and the piano trio’s first are my favorite examples of this), while even in Brahms’ more restrained music you can feel the underlying emotional currents (think about the <em>yearning</em> in his 4th symphony, and the lonesome sighs of the Clarinet in his Clarinet Quintet).</p>
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<p>But Mozart?</p>
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<p>You’re chilling and your room and… What exactly do you have to <strong>feel</strong> to craft something as elaborate, as specific (though not any less intense or passionate) as the 20th concert, or the 40th symphony?</p>
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<p>I’ve only found this alien aspect in one other composer so far - Franz Liszt.
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Another of the pieces suggested was Liszt’s amazing Piano Sonata (S178, in B minor) - which is one of the most unique pieces I’ve ever heard. It’s starkly different from other piano sonatas I know - I remember listening to it the first time and feeling profoundly confused. It felt like an erratic, show off piece. But after finally stomaching it after a few listens, it suddenly revealed it self as carefully, elegantly structured - there’s definetly <em>something</em> organized going on here which I can’t grasp.</p>
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<p>It is however, quite mad - phrases are intense, sporadic, and very virtousic. At times it feels almost random, but always circles back and finds itself. I can’t think of another piece that makes me feel the same way.</p>
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<p>This time around, I heard Khatia Buniatshvilli’s performance - which I was very glad to find, since her Rachmanninof performances are amongst my favorites.
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I’ve heard quite a few performers tackle this unique piece (first by Benjamin Grosevener, followed by Marhta Argerich and Krystian Zimerman, all stunning reneditions), and Khatia’s differs from them greatly. Benjamin’s is very technical, and precise, while Khatia flows with strong emotions - Virtuosic phrases are played with an even faster tempo than called for (!), and then rumble and die down amongst themselves, notes intertwining yet never lost, finally faltering almost to a whisper - uttered softly on the piano. It’s an unbelieveable performance for an intese piece of music.</p>
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<p>And just like with Mozart, I have absolutely no idea what does one have to feel to construct something as crafted, as mysterious, as that sonata. Liszt had also worked on it for a long time (unlike Mozart churned them out pretty quickly), so whatever it is he felt has been laying around there for a good while.</p>
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<p>One of the most gratifying experiences I have while listening to classical is experiencing both of these things - an intense, unexpected crescendo in an awe-inspiring piece. For once, I feel like not fully-understanding these pieces help bring out just how brilliant they are, and how enriching.</p>
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<meta name="description" content="What happened in Italy? Today I succumbed yet again to one of the most steadfast pieces in my arsenal - Mendelssohn’s magnificent Italian Symphony (Op. 90, in A)." />
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<h1 class="post-title p-name" itemprop="name headline">It's Pretty, Without The Shouting [Mendelssohn, Schubert]</h1>
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<time class="dt-published" datetime="2021-09-05T22:18:00+03:00" itemprop="datePublished">Sep 5, 2021
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<h1 id="what-happened-in-italy">What happened in Italy?</h1>
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<p>Today I succumbed yet again to one of the most steadfast pieces in my arsenal - Mendelssohn’s magnificent <em>Italian Symphony</em> (Op. 90, in A).</p>
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<p>Mendelssohn was a composer I stumbled about quite in random, largely due to me initally dismissing him as an ordinary, classical era composer in the shadow of Beethoven. It was actually his string quartets I first stumbled upon (the greatly atypical sixth, Op 80 in F minor). At the time I was discovering Dvorak’s masterful, explosive string quartets, and Mendelssohn blindsided me. I kept listening to the rest of the quartets, followed by the piano concerti - at this point already a keen listener.</p>
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<p>Mendelssohn is greatly restrained in comparison to my top picks at the time (and now, I guess) - including Mahler, Tchaikovski, Brahms, and - as mentioned - Dvorak. However, I found great elegance in his work - it is always interesting, balanced, pleasant to listen to and thought-provoking.</p>
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<p>Then, I found his symphonies. Monikered simply as ‘Italian’, Felix’s fourth seems, on paper, like a by-the-book classical era symphony - 30 minutes long, major key, with the classical structure:</p>
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<ol>
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<li>Dramatic, fast-tempo opening</li>
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<li>Slower, brooding movement</li>
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<li>Minuet/Trio dance movement</li>
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<li>REALLY fast, REALLY dramatic finisher</li>
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</ol>
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<p>Smitten with big, <em>LOUD</em> symphonies, I listened to it out of curiosty.</p>
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<p>I don’t know <em>what</em> happened to Felix in Italy, but <em>something</em> was going on in there. Supposedly a simple representaion of Italy and its people, the fourth is incredibly rich - vibrant, fast and colorful. It manages to provoke strong emotion (listen to the coda of the first movement, and the opening of the fourth), and inspire imagination. Just listen to the second movement - you <em>instantly</em> feel as in the Italian Alps! how does one convey this <em>with a set of notes</em> <strong><em>this effectively?</em></strong>
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I’ve never been to the Italian Alps in person, but I feel like I’ve been now!</p>
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<p>Likewise, if I sit in a quiet room and listen attentively to the sixth quartet, I’ll likely choke up with grief - and all done without the excessive <em>yelling</em> that often applies Romantic pieces (close to no yelling at all, really). Mendelssohn walks the line between Classic and Romantic perfectly, strongly conveying what he felt with elegant, precise compositions.</p>
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<p>I initally scoffed at biographies of Felix comparing him to Mozart as yet another child prodigy classical genius, but I gladly stand corrected- there’s undeniable genius in the harmony of Felix’s works.</p>
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<h1 id="the-swan-song-of-franz-schubert">The Swan Song of Franz Schubert</h1>
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<p>Another composer that does this wonderfully is the oft-neglected Franz Schubert.
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In the resources I used to discover classical music, Schubert was often hailed for his genius, yet did not seem as famous, as talented or as interesting as his peers. I didn’t pursue Franz’s works for a good while, but find myself coming back to them.</p>
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<p>His fifth symphony (D.485, in B flat major) is the very first non-yeller I’ve really enjoyed listening to. Schubert does to Brahms what Brahms does to Mahler - if you compare Brahms’ fourth with Schubert’s fifth (or even ninth), there’s a lot less going on, and it’s going much slower - but manages to say just as much. Schubert’s music is understated, and stands solely on the strength of the composition - there’s no massive orchestration, no jaw-dropping crescendos - simply good, passionate music.</p>
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<p>And while Mendelssohn’s compostions are, to me, immediatly <em>Mendelssohn-i</em>, I feel a stroke of genuis runs through each Schubert’s works, not yet fully discovered and realized - I just can’t put my finger on it. I find his String Quintet (D.956, in C major) and his Eighth, unfinished symphony (D.759, in B minor) particularly magical.
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Schubert’s music is also surprisingly imaginitve - there’s a great difference between his ominous unfinished symphony and his playful, colorful Trout quintet and Swan Song in the string quintet.</p>
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<p>It’s great to have some choices I can listen to at home or at work with people around without fearing heavy judgement - there’s nothing not to like about both of these composer’s incredible works.</p>
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<meta name="description" content="I am a symphonic person. There’s no denying it - I’m gobsmacked by sweeping orchestral manuevers. Romantic symphonies, such as Brahms’ 4th and Tchaikovski’s 4th (both likely mentioned here already) are firmly where my tastes lay. To be a good listener, however (and to actually realise what is your ‘home ground’), I’ve heard the essentials of other types of classical as well. I still feel at home with chamber music, and a passionate string quartet never fails to sucker-punch me in the feels. And of course, I’ve heard some essentials of the solo piano - Chopin’s Nocturnes and Beethoven’s sonatas. Franz Liszt, however, is a composer I’ve had trouble connecting with - and this enigmatic piano sonata is deep, deep piano territory. It is also one of my absolute favourites." />
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<h1 class="post-title p-name" itemprop="name headline">Step Into The Void: Liszt's Piano Sonata [Liszt]</h1>
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<time class="dt-published" datetime="2021-09-11T01:26:00+03:00" itemprop="datePublished">Sep 11, 2021
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<p>I am a symphonic person. There’s no denying it - I’m gobsmacked by sweeping orchestral manuevers. Romantic symphonies, such as Brahms’ 4th and Tchaikovski’s 4th (both likely mentioned here already) are firmly where my tastes lay. To be a good listener, however (and to actually realise what is your ‘home ground’), I’ve heard the essentials of other types of classical as well. I still feel at home with chamber music, and a passionate string quartet never fails to sucker-punch me in the feels. And of course, I’ve heard some essentials of the solo piano - Chopin’s Nocturnes and Beethoven’s sonatas.
|
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Franz Liszt, however, is a composer I’ve had trouble connecting with - and this enigmatic piano sonata is deep, deep piano territory. It is also one of my absolute favourites.</p>
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<h1 id="why">Why?</h1>
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<p>Liszt’s piano sonata is completely unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, certainly not in any string quartet. It is elaborate, mysterious, and - in my eyes - beyond sublime.</p>
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<p>The sonata has… moods. Naturally, music has moods, yes. However, being a keen Romantic (in music and not much else), I usually have an inkling of the composer’s mood or experience when listening to a piece. This is all ground I’ve covered in the <a href="https://ler.pukeko.xyz/classical%20ramblings/2021/09/04/liszt-mozart-piano-oomph.html">Classical Thunder</a> post, earlier in the ramblings. As mentioned in that post, the only two composers I can think of that totally obstruct this to me are Mozart and Liszt. With Franz, however, the obscurity runs even deeper - I not only fail to understand the mood when writing the piece, but the mood stated in it as well.</p>
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<h1 id="mood">Mood.</h1>
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<p>Liszt’s sonata is exquisitley crafted, and can be disassembled in a myraid of ways - below is my humble, uninformed, likely bluntly wrong and stupid take.</p>
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<p>Two moods run through the sonata.</p>
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<h2 id="the-oomph">The Oomph</h2>
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<p>The first - uttered with a single, suspended note, repeated and followed by a short phrase of suspended chords - feels tense, and dark. It’s not quite insidious, but it makes you hold your breath knowing something greater is about to be expressed. Sure enough, a few loud chords are uttered, and the mood quickly picks up pace, becoming faster and faster, tension rising and rising, almost disintegrating as it goes. Just when it feels like it all falls apart, the second mood bursts in.</p>
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<h2 id="the-wow">The Wow</h2>
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<p>The tone shifts suddenly, and immediatly slaps from being menacing to… overjoyed?
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Stated relatively slowly, this rapture grows more intense, with chords hammered on the piano overpowering the notes of the melody, until reaching an overbearing, strained and emphasised joy.</p>
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<p>This crescendo descendes to a simple, pleasant, heart-tugging melody - with sweet notes floating over the piano, as if the great tension and its’ release are finished and we are basking in the aftermath. The distance between this phrase and the suspended, thundering notes of the opening are unbelieveable.</p>
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<p>Also, everything mention thus far happens within the first five minutes. Just so you know.</p>
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<h1 id="the-cycle">The Cycle</h1>
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<p>Amazingly, these two are the <em>only moods expressed throughout the piece</em>. This is a good 30 minutes, and Franz has drawn all his cards within five minutes. What now?</p>
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<p>Well, the piece goes on to dance between these moods - the tense buildup to the disintegration, the rapture, the relief, and back into the tension - each revision getting more and more extreme with whatever it’s expressing. The buildup grows faster, louder, stronger, notes blurring into each other - and still distinguishable as the very first ones the sonata opens with. Conversly, the rapture grows the other way - slower, and even more refined and distinguished from its earlier revisions - with the height right about the middle of the piece. The aftermath is almost a whisper, as the listener unwinds from the second cycle.</p>
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<p>Finally, the final third or so of the piece is approximately the previous two-thirds, <em>repeated and dramaticized</em>. The fast bits are breakneck speed, the rapture is fired swiftly after, and this whole cycle repeats a final time, greatly compressed and exagerated. Some alteration and variations are evident late in this final cycle in both moods, and finally - in the sonata’s dusk - we fall back to the very opening. A single, suspended note, repeated and followed by a short phrase of suspened chords.</p>
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<p>This time, instead of picking up speed again, they dissolve - almost peacefully - and the sonata ends.</p>
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<h1 id="aftermath">Aftermath</h1>
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<p>This sonata is amazingly succint. Moods and phrases feel familiar as they swing around, intertwine and interact, but they’re never quite clear. With both, I have a vague idea of what they’re expressing, but Liszt never quite lets you pin down where they come from, what they mean or where they lead up to. You’re confined to this small subset of emotion - and it is wrung to its core.</p>
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<p>Liszt’s sonata is sublime, and it is fascinating to see how different pianists - one no less talented than the other - interpret this mysterious, emotional piece.</p>
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<p>I recommened Christian Zimmerman’s recording (considered the ‘Gold Standard’), and Jorge Bolets’ recording - both are breathtaking and sound incredibly different.</p>
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