Classical Piece of the Week: Symphony 4, 4th mvmt

A while back I attended the Tchaikovsky Festival show by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and it was a mind-blowing experience. One of the pieces they performed was his Fourth Symphony, and the whole piece kept me at the edge of my seat. All four of the movements were extremely impressive, but the movement I want to showcase today is the fourth movement.

The movement is 9 minutes of epic, grandiose, magnificent music. It's everything that's good concentrated into the sound of the bold strings, blaring brass, balanced winds and the booming percussion. (All those b's were definitely unintentional, hehe). The music always builds and intensifies from its momentum, but just when you think it's at its peak, everything just diminishes again and a new, even more powerful momentum starts to develop. And then all this energy just releases at the end, giving you one of the most EPIC endings ever.

Classical Piece of the Week: Vocalise

Missed the last one? Here's a link to Rêverie.

Vocalise, by Sergei Rachmaninoff

And on those days when the leaves are shifting hues, drifting away,

when the trees are left with only their stark limbs, battered with wind.

And on those days when the only rays, are seen through stretched clouds,

gray and soulless but with infinite amount of reason.

And on those days when you stare at the world,

and all you get is a woman in her coat, eyes cast down, stepping carefully.

And on those days when you put the sad records on,

a soft piano, a crying violin.

And on those days when life is dusty and ashen,

but then the music fills you and suddenly everything is so, so alive.

Classical Piece of the Week: Rêverie

Missed the last one? Here's a link to Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20.

Rêverie, by Claude Debussy

A soft glow casts upon the field's grass, 
still fresh from the early morning dew. 

Faint whistles can be heard through the trees, 
the notes weaving into a melody of harmonious birds. 

The ripples of the water are carried into the stream, 
along the smooth rocks polished with time.

The flowers sigh to the sweetness of its own aroma.
A lone cloud travels across the sky, pacing infinitely.

The day becomes alive,
and everywhere is the reflection of its beginning.                            

Classical Piece of the Week: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin

Missed the last one? Here's a link to Valse Sentimentale.

Why hello there! It's been such a long time since I have written a post, but I promise I will make it up to you, because I am here to present you an absolutely incredible work of music. It's called the Polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin by Ptyor IIyich Tchaikovsky. And yes, I am aware that my last CPW was by Tchaikovsky too, but I seriously do not want to let go of my healthy (slightly turning compulsive) obsession with Tchaik, so Polonaise will it be.

Classical Piece of the Week: Valse Sentimentale

As she peers out the window, a cloud of fog swarms near her view, leaving the objects of her sight mere shadows. She turns herself around, back in the vision of her cozy room, and with her wrinkled fingers, she carefully picks out a disc from her classical collection. It has been a long time since this one has been played, she thought, as she gently blows off the dust that had settled on the disc. Valse Sentimentale by Ptyor IIyich Tchaikovsky, were the words engraved on the label. 

With great gentleness, she places the disc onto the phonograph, and positions the needle onto the former. And a few wobbly turns of the handle later, the disc starts to revive. First, with a sharp, raspy sound, until soothing strokes of a harp can be perceived through the haziness. Then, the slightly wavering, but oh so alluring melody of a violin drowns off all other sounds, and even the lighted candles in the room seem to be swaying to the beautiful valse. 

Classical Piece of the Week: Greensleeves (the 20th Piece!)

Side note: 20TH PIECE!! YAY!! Ok, now on to the important stuff...

I'll admit it, I didn't even think about what this week's Classical Piece would be until pretty recently. But I had just thought of one of those tunes that stays tied with my mind, and decided to go with the piece that features it. It's called Greensleeves, and it was composed during the Renaissance Era, which thus explains why the original composer remains unknown.

Technically, Greensleeves is an English Folk song, but if you've followed my CPW since the beginning, you would know that I tend to like different versions of the piece/song. There is one belief that claims that this song was composed by Henry VIII for his lover and future wife Anne Boleyn. Such beliefs are vastly improbable, but it's always great to have different perspectives. If you would like to know more about the story of this song, click here.

Classical Piece of the Week: Hungarian Dance No.7

Classical Piece of the Week is back! And dare I say better than ever, because you guys are in for a real treat this week. This morning I was fumbling around Youtube, trying to find a CPW. I already had a couple of pieces in mind, but once I re-listened to them, I realized I wasn't really that passionate about them. And then I happened to come across Hungarian Dance No.7 by Johannes Brahms, and I knew I had met my match.

This piece was originally composed for piano, but I find that the violin version gives out a crisp, more vibrant sound. Specifically Jascha Heiftz's version. This work of music is quite short, but I don't think it would be better any other way, because the shortness fits the mood of the music.

Classical Piece of the Week: Nocturne Op.9 No.2

Sometimes, a piano and an open soul is all you need to express all the emotions a human can feel. Nocturne Op. 9 No.2 by Frédéric Chopin is a lovely piece that really does bring that essence to reality.

It may sound like an easy piece to play, but this Nocturne requires a balance in technique, but also in the spirit within yourself. You really do have to feel at peace, or something like that, to truly bring out the beautiful music that resides within this piece.

Classical Piece of the Week: Jupiter

Well, I seem to have been going on an orchestral music roll (...two pieces...), and there are no signs of stopping, because, I present you another orchestral piece: Jupiter, from The Planets, by Gustav Holst.

This piece reminds me of a fantasy land, filled with odd creatures, a sweet air with a tad bit of mysteriousness lurking beneath it, and for some reason, lots of old-school soldiers. I absolutely love the strings' bee-like buzzing tone, and the brass' powerful dominance. It really does sound like Jupiter. Grandiose, ambitious and quite dignified.

Classical Piece of the Week: Dance of the Knights

You can also listen to this piece (and all my other CPOTW) on this Youtube playlist.

Wow, it has been quite a long time since my last Classical Piece of the Week, eh? Anyways, just yesterday, I got this giant and epic Shakespeare book over at the ever-so-awesome Costco. It contains all the plays and some poems and sonnets. I will not lie, I am very bad at reading anything old school, but I really do want to learn some knowledge on Shakespeare, so I will try my best to understand the words.

So in the theme of Shakespeare, this week I choose Dance of Knights from the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev as my Classical Piece of the Week. It is an orchestral piece that really is quite something.

Classical Piece of the Week: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

*I've got a new playlist on Youtube for all my Classical Pieces of the Week! You can check it out here!*

I went to watch The Nutcracker last year, and I must say, I wish I had appreciated it just a little more, because I do realize now just how fantastic the whole ballet- and the music, was!

One of the pieces I particularly liked was the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by (evidently) Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It has got a really mysterious, yet gorgeous feeling to it, and the dance number that goes with it is absolutely stunning.

Classical Piece of the Week: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin

So, I have noticed that I have been posting a string of really depressing or sad music these past few weeks, so I thought, to lighten the mood, I would go for a much softer, happy-sounding, piece. La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin by Claude Debussy, fit perfectly with this theme.

Classical Piece of the Week: One Summer's Day

I'm not a big movie watcher. But I cannot resist a movie with a great soundtrack. In fact, I think the soundtrack is a big deciding factor on whether or not I liked a movie.

The movie Spirited Away has an amazing soundtrack. This film is about a 10 year-old girl named Chihiro who is trapped in this alternate universe that is full of spirits and alikes, after her parents ate forbidden food and turned into pigs. Honestly, this movie is absolutely spectacular, and so is the soundtrack. But there is this one piece that I find just a little more special than all the others. One Summer's Day, by Joe Hisaishi. It is, to say the least, brilliant.

Classical Piece of the Week: Légende, op. 17

There are moments when you praise the Lord for inventing the violin. For inventing such a beautiful instrument that emits such a beautiful sound. The playing of Légende, op. 17 by Henryk Wieniawski is one of those moments.

Classical Piece of the Week: Gymnopédie No.1

I was surfing the web, in search of classical pieces, when I stumbled onto a website that featured this piece on its Top 10 Classical Pieces list. Needless to say, I fell in love. Entitled Gymnopédie No.1, this piano work is composed by Erik Satie, and is the first out of three "gymnopédies" written by Satie.

Classical Piece of the Week: Ständchen (Serenade)

Funny how something as simple as the weather can suddenly make you inspired. This week started off beautiful, complete with sunny skies and temperatures topping up to 25° Celsius. Then, yesterday, out of the blues, it started to snow. The skies became a moody dark gray, and the ground was a mixture of mud and melted snow.

Here's to a seemingly long winter!

One cannot help but feel sad when such situation happens, and I was definitely not an exception. So after all my sulking and refusal to accept that summer, no fall, is basically over, I thought about this piece. Ständchen, by Franz Schubert.

Classical Piece of the Week: Waltz in A Minor

Well, I've got to admit it: I've lost my inspiration this week. Not one piece has really caught my attention in the past 7 days, and I've been only listening to my old Classical Pieces of the Week ^_^ But I am lovin' one of the pieces I'm playing on the piano right now, so I decided to choose it. It's called Waltz in A Minor by Frederic Chopin. Usually, Chopin's song are pretty hard, but I'm glad he did compose easier ones, for people that are not as advanced like me. ;)

Classical Piece of the Week: Igudesman & Joo

So this week's Classical Piece of the Week will be quite different, namely, I have not chosen a piece, instead, I have chosen a music group. This music group is called Igudesman and Joo, and includes Aleksey Igudesman, a violinist, and Hyung-ki Joo, a pianist. I discovered this group thanks to my Youth Orchestra, as we will be going to one of their concerts in November.

Classical Piece of the Week: Morning Passages

Honestly, gymnastic video montages have just the best music ever. And this Classical Piece of the Week is no exception. If you watched the video in my Old-School Gymnastics post, you know what I'm talking about, and if not, well, that's why I'm here to introduce it to you guys. The piece is called Morning Passages by Phillip Glass, and it's featured in the 2002 movie, The Hour.

Originally, in the film score, it's kind of like chamber music, with the piano playing the main melody, and other instruments coming in on different moments. But I like the solo piano version better, because I think it has more depth and emotions to it. The theme of this song is quite melancholic, with hints of softness and unique chords.

Classical Piece of the Week: Polonaise Brillante in D Major

Woohoo, it's Friday!!! And you know when it's Friday, there's Classical Piece of the Week! ^-^

This week, I decided to go with Polonaise Brillante No.1 in D Major, Op.4 by Henryk Wieniawski. Wieniawski was a virtuoso violinist, but he was also a composer, writing some of the most important works in the violin repertoire. Now, I'm not sure if this Polonaise is counted as a very "important" work, but I do know that this piece is mind blowingly amazing. This is like the ultimate piece to showcase all of the different skills and techniques that can be found playing the violin. Spiccato, double stops, harmonics, large interval leaps... All of this and more are displayed, while still making the music very enjoyable to listen to.