composeroftheweek

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All #cotw posts

Week by week

Domenico Scarlatti [1]

Franz Schubert [1, 2, 3, 4]

Erik Satie [1, 2, 3, 4]

Ludwig van Beethoven [1, 2, 3]

Hector Berlioz [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Anton Bruckner [1, 2]

Francis Poulenc [1]

Side project: chronological Schubert playlist

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This week's composer: Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Member of Les Six and mentee of Satie until they had some sort of falling out, possibly due to Poulenc becoming friends with one of Satie's (seemingly many) enemies

This is so lively and fun! The first movement alone cured me of the lingering effects of Bruckner week

It reminds me of when it finally warms up and you peel all of your layers off and can stretch out vs. bracing yourself for the cold

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Last day of Bruckner!

Listening to some of his instrumental non-symphonic works now, which there aren't many of. I started with chamber music and am on solo piano now. Then on to the organ

This is nice!

Or was until it annoyed me by becoming fast and happy lol

Bruckner can you not make me like you for more than three minutes

Also I do not like organ music as much as I thought

Well, that's about it! I'm sure this goes without saying at this point, but overall, after spending at least 15 hours listening to it, I don't really like his music. I feel like I could like it more if I spent more time listening to it, but I don't really want to

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This week's composer: Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

An organist! Excellent!

I was wondering why the link for his wiki page was purple, but right, this is the guy who held Schubert and Beethoven's skulls when they were exhumed lol

Bruckner died in Vienna in 1896 at the age of 72. He is buried in the crypt of the monastery church at Sankt Florian, immediately below his favorite organ. He had always had a fascination with death and dead bodies, and left explicit instructions regarding the embalming of his corpse.

Apparently he also had a thing for teenage girls, which is...not great, but at least seems to have been limited to him proposing to them

Anyway

Listening to Symphony No. 1 now. Apparently 7-9 are really good, but I'll get there eventually. On No. 4 now. Nos. 1-3 had some brief enjoyable moments, but with No. 4 we are finally getting somewhere!

Read the main bits about Bruckner in two books about composers and my takeaway was that Mahler (a friend and fan of his work) sounds interesting. Bruckner does not, aside from the teenage girl thing, which is not interesting in a good way, and him being extremely religious and enjoying (or compulsively?) counting things

Taking a break from his symphonies to listen to some of his vocal works. This is nice!

Listening to Symphony No. 7 now, having skipped 5 and 6. I might go back and listen to them later but I'm just not really into him and I do want to at least listen to 7-9

lol

Bruckner's symphonies are stiflingly, crushingly, oppressive. Once you're in one, you can't get out again. Spend too long in their grip and you lose the will to live. They are cold-blooded and exceedingly long, and they go round and round in circles.

Also

Bruckner (1824-1896) was obsessive compulsive. He had a counting mania – to the point that he would stand under a tree and count its leaves.

ND solidarity I guess

I kind of get what they and others have said about his symphonies -- overly long, bloated, repetitive. Like I said, there were some enjoyable moments in 1-3, but then the moment passed and it almost would have been less disappointing if it hadn't been there in the first place

Overall I just find him kind of dull so far. Like yep, this is definitely classical music, but I haven't found anything personally appealing. I'm not connecting with his music

Still hoping to find something that will make him click for me, though

This Reddit comment helped

Okay I really like the third movement of No. 7!! Relistening to it now

I did like the first and last movements of No. 4 as well (kind of forgot about that), but nowhere near as much as this

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Last day of Berlioz!

Okay, I started this before midnight on February 3rd and just realized that I actually have another full day! But now it is February 4th, so "last day" is accurate

Listened to "Villanelle," the first song of Les nuits d'été (Summer Nights), 23 times today. Currently listening to the Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)

From here:

Among all his works, Requiem apparently held a special place in Berlioz's heart. During the last few years of his life, Berlioz wrote to a friend: "If I were threatened with the destruction of the whole of my works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts."

Yes I see the irony of skipping Meyerbeer because he had too many vocal works and then mostly preferring Berlioz's to his instrumental stuff

Also I am still going to talk about his hair. I kind of forgot about it and then looked at some caricatures of him and thought it must be exaggerated. But it wasn't; the reality was enough. It was very fluffy! No wonder they made him into a cat

I feel like I lost interest in seeking out more of his work pretty early on, content with what I'd already heard. But I am VERY glad I heard some of what I did, and I did manage to restrain myself from adding the entirety of Roméo et Juliette to my CotW playlist, so that's something

I am very tired and have to work now, so the last act of Berlioz week may have been listening to "Villanelle" an additional 30 times while driving today. But if I'm not too out of it once I'm done, I may listen to Roméo et Juliette again, or give one of his other symphonies another shot

Update: Listening to Roméo et Juliette while slumped over a sandwich

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Oh my god

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Listening to the Les nuits d'été (Summer Nights) song cycle today

This is also nice!

Lyrics in French and English

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Update: Supposed to be back to Berlioz now but have been sidetracked by this ridiculous playlist

Currently on Overture in C Minor, D. 8a, which he composed when he was 14 (track 14).

2/1: Made it to Kyrie in B flat major, D. 45 (track 47)

2/7: Apparently last time I listened to this, I added both versions of "Der Jüngling am Bache" to my Schubert playlist because I couldn't decide which I liked best (Fischer-Dieskau or Lothar Odinius). Edit: Definitely Fischer-Dieskau, but I love it enough I will probably keep listening to both of them

Was wondering why the fuck the first movement of String Quartet No. 4 was making me tear up but I think I'm just happy to be listening to Schubert again lol

Composer of the week Schubert year

Made it to the end of the string quartet (track 51)

2/8: Made it to the end of String Quartet No. 6 (track 81). Seven vocal works and then it'll be time to relisten to his first symphony!

2/9: Track 93! Zoned out for almost the entirety of Symphony No. 1, but I've listened to it before, so...onward

2/10: Track 120! Unfortunately about four hours' worth of tracks have been removed from Spotify since the playlist was made. I decided to ignore that and maybe go back and listen to other versions of the missing tracks later, but there is a whole album of waltzes missing in the 100s...so I guess I will look for those and try to fill in any larger gaps I come across

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I was looking forward to listening to Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette because I like Prokofiev's even though that made no sense because the two of them have very different styles and Prokofiev's is a ballet vs. a symphony

But despite that, I fucking love it

It might be my favorite symphony so far. I love individual movements of other symphonies, sometimes 3/4 or 4/5, but this is the first time I've listened to one and immediately wanted to relisten to the entire thing

Berlioz's first wife, Harriet Smithson, was an actress. He became obsessed with her after he saw her in the role of Ophelia in a production of Hamlet, and he later saw her as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She was the inspiration for both the Symphonie Fantastique and Roméo et Juliette

Finished the rest of the Berlioz chapter and feel kind of bad for him now. He had some disastrous public performances and didn't seem to be very well-regarded or respected in France during his lifetime

Also the next chapter is about Mendelssohn and apparently he was just Like That

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This week's composer: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

A French Romantic composer with a cool name

Started reading his chapter in The Lives and Times of the Great Composers

Carl Zelter described his music as "an abortion arising from loathsome incest," and Mendelssohn found him "agreeable and interesting and a great deal more sensible than his music"

I think I'm going to save the rest of the chapter for later because it's psyching me out a bit, though I'm assuming he had more positive reviews later on. He also seems to be fairly popular with modern classical music fans

Started with the Symphonie fantastique. The bells in the fifth movement are interesting

Relistened because the volume was too low the first time around. I like it, especially the first movement

Listened to the Harold en Italie symphony and the Benvenuto Cellini, Le carnaval romain, Le corsaire, and Béatrice et Bénédict overtures

I don't really like him so far. Nothing I dislike but nothing I wouldn't mind not hearing again. Usually when that happens I would go to the piano works, but unlike many of the major composers, Berlioz wasn't a pianist and didn't compose much for it. Franz Liszt, a friend and sometimes collaborator, transcribed some of his works for piano, though, so I might check that out later

Liszt's Berlioz transcriptions

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Okay I kind of want to skip composers who mostly or exclusively composed vocal works

I guess I can do that because this is my thing and it's supposed to be enjoyable and I like...kind of didn't consider that those sort of composers might come up when I started this lol

I'm just not into it and would prefer to focus on instrumental music while still being willing to check out some vocal works vs. killing my enthusiasm for this by forcing myself to spend a week on opera, lieder, etc.

Simultaneously bothered and relieved by the thought of breaking my own (ill-considered) rule but I guess I should choose relief

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This week's composer: Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Well. It's opera time

OPERA DENIED

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I felt like I'd been slacking off this week but at least I had two days left! But it is the 27th, NOT the 26th, so I only have four more hours of Beethoven

Haha okay time to finally listen to the Ninth Symphony and then work my way through a list I made while reading his chapter of The Lives and Times of the Great Composers

It opens with a quote from Goethe -- "He is perfectly entitled to regard the world as detestable, but that does not make it any more enjoyable for himself or anyone else" -- and refers to him as "argumentative, ugly, pockmarked and slovenly" in the following paragraph lol

I don't think I'd seen him described as ugly before but I have seen rude, arrogant, difficult, abrasive, smelly. It seems like everyone has something unique to say about him as a person, and it is all overwhelmingly negative! And the thing with his nephew was really fucked up

But anyway

The fourth movement of the Ninth!! I had no idea there were lyrics for Ode to Joy and forgot there were any vocals at all in the Ninth

I don't know how much I like it since it feels like a big, showy grand finale, which I guess is what it is, but it is interesting

The very fun second movement of the Hammerklavier sonata:

Currently tearing up over the third movement. Fuck this is good

The complete sonata was first performed by Franz Liszt in 1836

Giving up on the list because that is many, many hours of music and I am liking his piano sonatas

Listening to Moonlight Sonata now since I've never gone beyond the first movement. The first is still my favorite but the third is quite nice

And finishing with Les Adieux ("The Farewell")

Overall I'm not Schubert-level enthusiastic about Beethoven, but basically everything I've heard has made me want to hear more. And he composed 722 works over 45 years, so luckily there is a LOT more

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Much like Satie week, Beethoven week involves resisting the urge to continue obsessing over Schubert. But there is a connection here! They were fans of each other's work and Schubert was really into Beethoven

From the Schubert wiki page:

In 1822, Schubert made the acquaintance of both Weber and Beethoven but little came of it in either case; however, Beethoven is said to have acknowledged the younger man's gifts on a few occasions. On his deathbed, Beethoven is said to have looked into some of the younger man's works and exclaimed: "Truly, the spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert!" Beethoven also reportedly predicted that Schubert "would make a great sensation in the world," and regretted that he had not been more familiar with him earlier; he wished to see his operas and works for piano, but his severe illness prevented him from doing so.

On 26 March 1828, the anniversary of Beethoven's death, Schubert gave, for the only time in his career, a public concert of his own works.

Five days before Schubert's death, his friend the violinist Karl Holz and his string quartet visited to play for him. The last musical work he had wished to hear was Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131; Holz commented: "The King of Harmony has sent the King of Song a friendly bidding to the crossing."

Schubert was buried, at his own request, near the grave of Beethoven, whom he had admired all his life, in the village cemetery of Währing on the edge of the Vienna Woods. A year earlier he had served as a torchbearer at Beethoven's funeral. In 1872, a memorial to Franz Schubert was erected in Vienna's Stadtpark. In 1888, both Schubert's and Beethoven's graves were moved to the Zentralfriedhof where they are next to the later graves of Johann Strauss II and Johannes Brahms. Anton Bruckner was present at both exhumations, and he reached into both coffins and held the revered skulls in his hands.

Emphasis mine because what the fuck, but I guess I would also hold Schubert and Beethoven's skulls or really any human skull if given the chance

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Excited about Beethoven but also excited about Schubert's birthday (January 31st), which I will 100% use as an excuse to ditch whoever the composer of the week is for the day

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This week's composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

!!!!!!

Alright cool one week to check out possibly the most revered composer of all time. And one I've barely listened to

Current favorite:

Thanks to Satie's bullshit, I know that he composed nine symphonies, so that's something

Listened to Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (of the famous dun dun dun DUN motif), 6, 7, and 8 by Harnoncourt/Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Favorites so far: fourth movement of No. 2, first and second of No. 4, first and fourth of No. 5, first of No. 8

Might go back and relisten to Nos. 1, 3, and 6 later because I wasn't really in the mood at the time

Symphony No. 3, Eroica, was originally dedicated to Napoleon

According to his secretary, Ferdinand Ries:

In writing this symphony, Beethoven had been thinking of Bonaparte, but Bonaparte while he was First Consul. At that time Beethoven had the highest esteem for him, and compared him to the greatest consuls of Ancient Rome. Not only I, but many of Beethoven's closer friends, saw this symphony on his table, beautifully copied in manuscript, with the word "Bonaparte" inscribed at the very top of the title-page and "Ludwig van Beethoven" at the very bottom … I was the first to tell him the news that Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, "So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!" Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page had to be recopied, and it was only now that the symphony received the title Sinfonia eroica.

Beethoven instead ended up dedicating it to one of his patrons, Prince Joseph Lobkowitz

Other favorites:

Beethoven started losing his hearing in around 1800, likely due to otosclerosis, or abnormal bone growth in the middle ear, and was almost totally deaf by 1815

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Living in fear of getting Wagner next, as I will be every 7th day of this year

I remember liking some of his music when I listened to it for a music appreciation class ~5 years ago, but I don't want to praise it because there's period-typical antisemitism and then there's writing a fucking essay about how Jewish people are supposedly destroying music