Die Jahreszeiten

Haydn's oratorio "The Seasons" had its premiere performance on this date (April 24th) in Vienna in 1801. Like it's predecessor, "The Creation," Haydn's new oratorio was a great success, and, as before, Haydn received help with the text and a lot of advice from the versatile Gottfried Bernhard Baron van Swieten, an enthusiastic admirer of Handel's oratorios and the music of J. S. Bach.

Swieten's adaptation of an English poem as the text for "The Seasons" included many opportunities for Baroque-style "tone painting" -- musical representations of everything from croaking frogs and workers toiling in the fields, sections that raised a smile in 1801 and still do today. Nowdays, Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons," is the most familiar example of Baroque tone painting.

This is excellent listening. This composition is every bit as good as "The Creation" which I will offer to you in the future. However, sadly, public acceptance of this piece was far less than "The Creation" because of the theme...it seemed that music about the seasons just didn't hold the same magnificence as the theme of God's creation of the world.

The piece consists of 39 passages and a total of 2.2 hours of listening.

You will need to acquire this composition on your own. It is available at the iTunes Store, Amazon, etc. for $9 to $12. I promise that you will consider your money well spent. Pictured above is the album cover of the compostion that I have, performed by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

How to listen...

The original lyrics were sung in German. If you're a purist (like me), then listen in German. Translations are available on the internet. You can buy the composition sung in English. For maximum enjoyment acquire the score and read along.

You will probably not be able to sit still for 2.2 hours and listen. This piece lends itself well to sequential listening. Or, if you're on a long car drive, turn it on and let it play. Casual or concentrated, you will enjoy it.

Haydn Complete Overtures

Another great find!

There is no other set of Haydn overtures at this level of comprehensiveness, nor does there need to be. This one is, according to Classics Today, sensational.

The 22 pieces included here span Haydn's entire career, from the early 1760s right up to the prelude to "Winter" from The Seasons (1801). In them we hear him move from the late-Baroque/early-Classical style to nascent Romanticism. It is the greatest stylistic evolution in the history of music because Haydn was not just a passive observer, but its prime mover. In addition to the overtures from all of the operas that survive, some of which wound up in the symphonies of the same period--most notably the one to La fedeltà premiata, which became the finale to "The Hunt" (La chasse) Symphony--you also get the introduction to The Seven Last Words and the overtures to the oratorios Il ritorno di Tobia and The Creation.

The present recordings are based on the original parts used at the first performances, and not on the later, published versions. Haydn Sinfonietta Wien’s acclaimed recordings of these works were originally produced and released by the Koch/Schwann label, and have been remastered by BIS Records for this collection.

A total of 117:51 minutes, 270 MB.

Link to the file (Rapidshare): http://rapidshare.com/files/223047900/Haydn_Overtures.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/223203267/Haydn_Overtures.part2.rar

Beethoven "Archduke Trio"

Officially titled, "Piano Trio in B Flat Major, Op. 97"

One of the great works of chamber music, the "Archduke Trio" by Beethoven, had its first performance at noon on today's date in the year 1814. The "Archduke" Trio was dedicated to Beethoven's patron Archduke Rudolf of Austria -- and its premiere performance also marked Beethoven's last public appearance as a pianist. By now his deafness was so acute that he was unable to play effectively in chamber ensembles, and by all contemporary accounts the premiere performance was a near-disaster.

Ludwig Spohr, himself a famous composer of the time, reported after one of the rehearsals, that, quote: "the piano was out of tune, which bothered Beethoven not at all, since he could not hear it, and little was left of his once-celebrated virtuosity. I was deeply moved by so tragic a fate."

The fate of the Piano Trio itself -- a form developed before Beethoven by Haydn and Mozart, and after him by Schubert and Brahms, has been anything but tragic -- and contemporary composers continue to add new ones.

Friends, I am sharing this piece with you as it is one of my favorites. Again, "tune" yourself for listening; A) Bottle of wine, B) Lights off, C) Children away.

http://rapidshare.com/files/220122928/Beethoven_Archduke_Trio.rar

A note about Rapidshare...

"Rapidshare" is a file hoster that I've been using for about 4 years. I've never had any trouble or viruses with it. It costs about $7.99 per month and you can get a three day pass cheaper. Use PayPal and enrollment takes seconds.

To download the "Stabat Mater" listed below you will need a Rapidshare account. Just think of it this way; the musical offering is worth the price of the Rapidshare account.

All of my future postings will be hosted by Rapidshare.

http://www.rapidshare.com/premium.html

Just in time for Easter!

STABAT MATER...

... is a thirteenth century Roman Catholic sequence variously attributed to Innocent III and Jacopone da Todi. Its title is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother stood"). The hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. It is sung at the liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Wikipedia).

In this selection the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi and by Scarlatti are performed by members of the Swedish REBaroque (former Stockholm Baroque Orchestra), one of Scandinavia's leading period instrument orchestras, together with Susanne Rydén, soprano and Mikael Bellini, countertenor.

The Vivaldi Stabat Mater is interpreted by the Polish early music ensemble La Tempesta, with the Polish conductor and countertenor Jakub Burzynski. (Music Web International: Record of the Year: 'A superb release, not to be missed').

Download (use Rapidshare): http://rapidshare.com/files/219080314/Stabat_Mater.zip

The translated text follows:

1. At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last

2. Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, all his bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword had passed.

3. Oh how sad and sore distressed was that mother highly blessed, of the sole-begotten One!

4. Christ above in torment hangs; she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son.

5. Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep Christ's dear Mother to behold?

6. Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold?

7. For the sins of His own nation saw Him hang in desolation, all with bloody scourges rent.

8. Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, she beheld her tender child, till His Spirit forth he sent.

9. O, thou Mother, fount of love, touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord.

10. Make me feel as thou has felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ our Lord.

11. Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each wound renew of my Saviour crucified.

12. Let met share with thee his pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died.

13. Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him Who mourned for me, all the days that I may live.

14. By the cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, this I ask of thee to give.

15. Virgin, of all virgins blest, O refuse not my request: let me in thy weeping share

16. Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine.

17. Wounded with his every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned in His very blood away.

18. Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in that awful judgment day.

19. Christ, when thou shalt call me hence, be Thy mother my defense, be Thy cross my victory.

20. While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, safe in Paradise with Thee.

Amen.