sonata | Richibi's Weblog

sonatas, continued (César Franck – Opus 1, No. 1)

Trio, c.1936 - Cyril Power

“***Trio*“ (c.1936)**

______

my Month of the Sonata might be over,

November, 2023, but I still abide by the

belief that a sonata a day keeps the

doctor away, so I’ve continued, more

or less, my medicine

but a sonata exceeds its definition, a

piece of music, consisting of more

than one segment, called movement,

for one or two instruments, the second,

should it be included, being harmony

for an instrument that can play only

one note at a time, which is to say,

everything except the piano

but a piece of music written for three,

instead of just one or two, instruments

is also called a trio

a work consisting of more than one

movement, but performed by three,

instead of just one or two, usually

different, instruments, is as well

called a trio, just to confuse you

here’s one, for violin, cello, and piano,

by César Franck, a Romantic composer,

I didn’t expect much, it being, manifestly,

his first composition, ***Opus 1, No. 1*, but it**

was part of the program I got tickets for

coming up at our recital society here in

February, I had to investigate

to my surprise, it was, is, magical

R ! chard

How to Listen to Classical Music: Beginner’s Manual

How to Listen to Classical Music: Beginner’s Manual

(after Pamela Spiro Wagner)

            First, forget everything you have learned,
            that Classical Music is difficult,
            that it cannot be appreciated by the likes of you,
            with your high school equivalency diploma,
            your steel-tipped boots,
            or your white-collar misunderstandings.

Do not assume meanings hidden from you:
the best Classical Music means what it says and says it.

            To listen to Classical Music requires only courage
            enough to leap from the edge
            and trust.

            Treat Classical Music like dirt,
            humus rich and heavy from the garden.
            Later it will become the fat tomatoes
            and golden squash piled high upon your kitchen table.

            Classical Music demands surrender,
            language saying what is true,
            doing holy things to the ordinary.

            Listen to just one Classical work a day.
            Someday an irresistible composition may open in your heart
            like a daffodil offering its cup
            to the sun.

            When you can identify the Mozart fantasia
            among the four of his sonatas I’ve included here in this gentle message,
            close this manual.

            Congratulations.
            You are now hearing
            as opposed to listening to Classical Music

Richard

November 23, 2011

a couple of Mozart sonatas

if a symphony is a concerto without a soloist, a sonata

is a concerto without an orchestra, the soloist plays

alone, must deliver the same enchantment

there are nevertheless always therefore the prerequisite

several movements, otherwise no sonata

the sonata, as we know it, originated in the mid-18th

century with more or less Mozart, earlier the term

applied to other structural notions in music

to still my consternation they were often not continuous,

movements were performed indiscriminately among other

eclectic acts in an evening of diverse entertainments, it

was Beethoven who put a decisive stop to that, though

the fame and popularity of Haydn and a few other

contemporaries, Clementi, Salieri, as well of course as

himself Mozart, had probably settled the matter for all

practical purposes somewhat earlier

Beethoven among his other theoretical principles codified

that, indeed wrote the book on it, like Moses delivering

the commandments, except that Beethoven presented

horizons in his mythology, miraculous and infinite,

instead of castigation and luxurious sin

his understanding of music, still now unsurpassed, is

demonstrable in his works through all the musical

innovations that have since, through all the very ages,

transpired, down to even his bagatelles, musical trifles,

which I’ll approach later, if you’ll stick around

but it starts essentially with Mozart

Mitsuko Uchida, who is unsurpassed in Mozart, plays

the piano sonata in D major K.576, K for Köchel,

Ludwig von Köchel, who catalogued finally, in 1862,

nearly a hundred years after Mozart’s death, in 1791,

the complete works of the master, other works have

been intermittently added since so that several

revised editions have dutifully followed, lettered a, b,

c according to the revision, the last Köchel number is

626

Mozart’s music is sprightly, effervescent, magical, but

not especially intellectually challenging, I think of toy

soldiers and candy cane, innocence and a child’s delight

in the infinite possibilities of creation, Creation

Alfred Brendel who stands shoulder to shoulder with

the iconic Glenn Gould when it comes to Beethoven,

plays Mozart’s piano sonata no. 14 in C minor, K.457

of 18 piano sonatas, the D major K.576 above, was

his last

Brendel is too commanding to play authentic Mozart,

though his technique is irreproachable, admirable,

spotless, wonderful

he is Beethoven playing Mozart however, an uneven

fit

comparing the two interpretations is instructive, Brendel

will dazzle, inevitably, but Uchida will make you fly

don’t believe me, count on it