Programme notes: Andante from The Sleeping Beauty Suite Op. 66 - P. Tchaikovsky (arr. by Mikhail Pletnev)
September 5, 2017
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the first Russian composer to achieve international success with his music, gifting the world with iconic masterpieces including the 1812 Overture and his six symphonies. Especially associated with ballet music, Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, three of the most popular ballets in public consciousness. Belonging to the late-Romantic period, Tchaikovsky was able to infuse a unique blend of Russian and Western elements in his music, expanding into an unexpectedly wide stylistic range.
The Sleeping Beauty is Tchaikovsky’s second ballet, and tells the story of Princess Aurora, cursed into a peaceful 100-year sleep on her sixteenth birthday. A hundred years later, Prince Désiré is on a hunting trip when the Lilac Fairy finds him, telling him the story of the Sleeping Beauty. With true love’s kiss, Prince Désiré awakens Aurora, and they live happily ever after. At almost three hours long, the ballet consists of a prologue followed by three acts, and it is unfortunate that Tchaikovsky never had the chance to witness its rise to international success.
The piece was transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev, a Russian pianist and conductor, struck by the realisation that there “seemed to be insufficient impressive works in the piano repertoire”. It alludes to the tradition of ballet rehearsal pianists, often unrecognised for their daily efforts realising impossible orchestral scores. Pletnev’s transcription of The Sleeping Beauty is largely faithful to the orchestral version, though surprisingly, Pletnev omits the “grand waltz” from Act I, seemingly renouncing grandiloquence for characterisation.
The Andante takes place in Act II Scene 1 - La chasse du Prince Désiré - depicting the prince’s hunting trip, where he first “meets” a fleeting vision of Princess Aurora. Pletnev omits the jovial introduction to the piece, beginning immediately with the rich and melodious solo cello line. The lovers skirt around each other, but Prince Désiré is seemingly stopped by the Lilac Fairy whenever he reaches out to Princess Aurora. The music quietly seams into a thinner melody accompanied by constant quavers present throughout the piece. Chromatic running notes weave through the melody and accompaniment, building tension in the melodic sequences when the prince chases the princess, desperately trying to catch her but to no avail. The piano transcription then veers from Tchaikovsky’s version when Pletnev borrows material from Rose Adagio - insistent trills and constant quaver accompaniment pushing the harmonic progression into a magnificent crescendo. The music drops again returning to Tchaikovsky’s version; here, Pletnev makes a few changes with regards to the harmony, replacing some of Tchaikovsky’s major chords with minor ones. The theme then returns, quieter this time, eventually broadening into octaves creating a thicker texture. A spectacular climax is reached when the Lilac Fairy finally lets the prince touch the princess, and the two join hands as the main theme is echoed again. An abrupt diminished chord interrupts the serenity - the audience holds their breath as a moment of stillness passes. Tchaikovsky concludes the movement with a jolly rendition of the main theme, whereas Pletnev chooses to end it quietly, the music becoming more spacious. Aurora disappears into her enchanted world of sleep, concluding the scene.
Programme notes: Hungarian Dance No. 5 - Johannes Brahms
September 11, 2015
The most well known dance of a set of 21 vibrant dances, Hungarian Dance No. 5 is written in F# minor, and was so beloved later that it was even orchestrated and arranged for several other ensembles. This piece is so famous that its main melody is one of those that anyone would recognize, and it has been featured everywhere from cartoons to concert halls.
These Hungarian Dances are adapted from Hungarian folk tunes, and Johannes Brahms himself, ever so humble, considered them to be “arrangements” instead of original pieces. As such, these pieces were the embodiment of Nationalism in Europe at the time, giving the impression of a gypsy band prancing around a fire.
Ironically, the tune which Brahms based No.5 on was not in fact a traditional folksong, but a work by another composer, csárdás by Kéler Béla. This piece can generally be divided into three large sections, but a deeper analysis would reveal smaller subsections. Characterised by its frequent and unpredictable tempo changes, this spirited dance keeps us ever on our toes with its capricious and whimsical mood.
The piece starts off with a bold declaration of the theme in a firm forte, immediately evoking an inkling of gypsy music. It is coupled with steady chordal accompaniments in the seconda that are present throughout most of the piece in the same rhythm, giving the piece its strong beat. An intensification of the theme then follows, with primo moving to a higher register, proceeding which several sequences of whirring and delicate semiquavers descend, eventually easing into a chirpy cadence. These semiquavers, marked leggiero and piano, are a swift contrast to the bold quality of the main theme. The music ultimately climaxes with an abrupt spiral of arpeggio semiquavers to the highest C#, again giving the piece it’s energetic nature. What comes next is a subtler motif, appearing first in a major key, then in a minor key, and lastly, again in a major key. It appears as if the music is indecisive, bewildered as to which side to choose, and this is further brought to the fore with apt tempo changes. The uncertainty is then seemingly resolved with a firm and resolute cadence.
The middle section begins in F# Major, marked vivace, a dramatic deviation from the first with its ever cheerful and light-hearted steps. The music then takes a surprising turn by slowing down seductively - poco rit. - lulling the listener into a false sense of tranquility, before startling listeners again with a sudden burst of speed. The recap of the opening section is somewhat immediately welcomed, providing a relief from the erraticness and excitement of the middle section. The piece ends on a high note with a resounding bang, leaving listeners with a satisfying and long-lasting impression.
Programme notes: Rite of Spring for Four Hands - Igor Stravinsky
September 11, 2015
Ask any professional musician to name a renowned work of the 21st century, and almost anybody would answer “Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring”. This distinguished work is perhaps the most important work in Modernism and the turn of the century, ushering in a new era of fresh sound worlds and avant-garde ideas with its groundbreaking Primitivistic concepts. No other musical work could reach the extent of its powerful influence, and it sparked so much controversy that when it first premiered at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, it started no less than a full blown riot. But what exactly about the Rite of Spring was so scandalous?
The foremost explanation would of course be the work’s bizarre narrative. Hugely discordant from the audience’s expectations of “spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Rite of Spring portrays the story of a young girl who dances herself to death in sacrifice to pagan gods. The work focuses on portraying Pagan Russia, and as asserted by Igor Stravinsky himself, “What I was trying to convey in The Rite was the surge of spring, the magnificent upsurge of nature reborn.”
The Rite of Spring is structured in two parts, the first being Adoration of the Earth(or Kiss of the Earth) and the second being The Sacrifice. There are thirteen separate episodes in total for the ballet score (excluding the Introduction), but the symphony score would have a total of three movements. It was originally written for a full orchestra, only later arranged for four hands; one of the downsides of playing this piece with only the piano is the inability to explore the distinct timbres different instruments produce. The Augurs of Spring is the first episode in this massive work, coming after the Introduction, and it conveys the tribal celebrations of spring. In the midst of these festivities, an elderly woman appears and begins foretelling the future.
Instead of being unified by a single dominant motif, the episode consists of several fragmented motifs, often persisting in ritualistic repetition. The episode launches into a colourful start with its signature repeated Augurs Chord, a polychord that immediately creates harmonic dissonance. The relentless repetition of the chord reflects the ecstatic stomping steps of the dancers, much in the brutal nature of a tribal procession. Stravinsky further emphasises the brutish essence of the Rite by placing irregular and unpredictable jolting accents on the chords, giving the false impression of syncopations and stirring excitement, keeping listeners ever on the edge of their seats. Mimicking the strange calls of wildlife, angular melodies pile on propulsive rhythms, jarring with the thumping chords. A sense of frenzy and chaos is also created through the clever use of polyrhythm. However, right when the listener gradually finds himself settling into the unusual music, the mood is transformed completely when an element of surprise is introduced. All of a sudden, the music collapses into an abrupt silence with several harsh octaves in the bass; psychologically speaking, such a startling stop felt much more like a head-on collision.
Thankfully, the music soon resumes with rapid descending semiquavers in primo, leading to incessant trills in seconda that closely echo the relentless tumult of nature. The mood, nevertheless, is lightened by cheerful tunes in primo, mirroring the jovial and carefree emotions of the people as they welcome the arrival of spring. The tribe celebrates the first rites of Spring, and the dancing continues as more and more members join in, until finally, all the members are present and the whole tribe comes together in a final jubilant dance.
The reverberating chords in the seconda, along with recurrent melodies in primo perpetuating the finale, call for a much-awaited end. And that’s the remarkable thing; The ending is yearned for and anticipated, and yet when it finally arrives, listeners are once again caught by surprise. Yet another unexpected head-on collision. And that’s Rite of Spring for you: filled with so many irregularities and surprises that one never knows what to expect.
Opinion // The rise of changing room shaming - Clubs are getting fed up with state dressing rooms are left in after a game #nonleague
A couple of weeks ago I was taken to task after backing a step 7 club that had posted a picture of the away dressing room at the club after the visitors had departed.
You know the scene, rubbish left behind, sock tape, the sort of thing that happens week in week out up and down the country from grassroots to professional clubs because there’s someone who’ll come and clean it all up.
'Quality of game' wouldn't figure in my top 50 reasons for going to a match
'Quality of game' wouldn't figure in my top 50 reasons for going to a match #nonleague
A few weeks ago there were a few tweets knocking about from people saying they wouldn’t go to or watch women’s football due to the lack of quality.
It’s a perceived grievance that gets rolled out to attack the women’s game and is one that is often used to stick the boot in on the non league game as well. It is particularly high on the agenda at this time of year when the FA Cup Third Round…
Guide to Longlevens AFC and the Saw Mills End ground
Guide to Longlevens AFC and the Saw Mills End ground
Our guide to Longlevens AFC and Saw Mills End has been compiled courtesy of information supplied by Bill Davis.
We hope you enjoy your visit to Levens. To see all the away day guides, visit our section here.
Editors note: This information has been sourced from the club and is accurate at the time of publication. It should not be considered an endorsement by named club or Football in…
Football is about scoring goals, 'over celebrating' shouldn't be an issue
Football is about scoring goals, ‘over celebrating’ shouldn’t be an issue
With apologies for the rather obvious headline, I’ve seen a few things the last few weeks on social media about goal celebrations, specifically ones apparently showing a lack of respect to the opposition.
One specifically is Marlow coming from 3-2 down to beat Molesey 4-3 in the Bostik League with a couple of comments from supporters of the club itself.
The Berks & Bucks County FA under 18 side completed a remarkable comeback on Sunday afternoon as they beat the Cumberland FA side 7-2 to reach the Quarter Finals of the FA County Youth Cup at Arbour Park.
The young side is made up of players from clubs within the County FA including Binfield, Wokingham & Emmbrook and Ascot United as well as the JMA Reading Academy.
