BEETHOVEN |
GRAINGER |
THOMSON |
The most popular radio adventure show in history, The Lone Ranger held an audience of millions spellbound for over two decades. Key to its success was the music used on it-music rendered so beautifully, chosen with such delicate precision. Listen as we present a small selection of transitional music by Rossini, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn.
BOOK: The Mystery of the Masked Man's Music | BOOKS and AUDIO
Composition Background | Prokofiev Bio | Prokofiev on record
The Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 is a symphony in four movements composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1812. Beethoven fondly referred to it as "my little Symphony in F", distinguishing it from his Sixth Symphony, a longer work also in F. The Eighth Symphony is generally light-hearted, though not lightweight, and in many places cheerfully loud, with many accented notes. Various passages in the symphony are heard by some listeners to be musical jokes. As with various other Beethoven works such as the Opus 27 piano sonatas and the later Ninth Symphony, the symphony deviates from Classical tradition in making the last movement the weightiest of the four.
The work was begun in the summer of 1812, immediately after the completion of the Seventh Symphony. At the time Beethoven was 41 years old. The work took Beethoven only four months to complete, and is, unlike many of his works, without dedication. The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in the Redoutensaal, Vienna.
RAVEL: Introduction and Allegro
To showcase its new chromatic harp, the Pleyel company commissioned Claude Debussy in 1904 to write his Danse sacrée et danse profane for harp and orchestra. The Érard company responded by commissioning Maurice Ravel to write a piece to display the expressive range of its double-action pedal harp. Ravel completed his Introduction and Allegro for a septet of harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet in June 1905, dedicating it to Albert Blondel, director of Maison Érard. He wrote it at breakneck speed, as he had to complete it before embarking on a boating holiday with friends.
Ravel omitted the Introduction and Allegro from the catalogue of his works, made no mention of it in his autobiography, and referred to it in only two of his letters. Nevertheless, it was often performed at his concerts and it was the very first of the small number of his own works that Ravel recorded (1923; Gwendolen Mason, harp; Robert Murchie, flute; Haydn P. Draper, clarinet.) In 1906 Ravel wrote a version for two pianos. In a letter to Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht on 26 February 1911, Ravel sanctioned the work being arranged for larger forces. Description from Wikipedia
Maurice Ravel Bio | Ravel Recordings
The London Suite by British composer Eric Coates was completed in 1933. Movements entitled Covent Garden, Westminster and Knightsbridge. Coates London Again Suite was completed in 1936. Movements entitled Oxford Street, Langham Place and Mayfair. Coates conducted a recording of the work in 1936 for Columbia Masterworks. Coates lived from 1886 to 1957. He was basically a light music composer and also a violist. One of his most popular pieces was By The Sleepy Lagoon. We placed all these works on our radio stream at classical music . network.
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 5 in e flat major. Op 73. Performance by Helene Grimaud with Paavo Jarvi conducting Frankfurt Radio Sinfonia. The Emporer concerto was composed between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna and dedicated to Beethoven's patron and pupil Archduke Rudolph of Austria. First Performance in Vienna with the Archduck as soloist. The epitthet EMPORER was coined by the English publisher of the concerto. more at wikipedia / ON DISCSofficial website Grimaud