Tchaikovsky String Quartet Op. 11 – II. Andante cantabile (Kontras Quartet): great compositions/performances

Tchaikovsky String Quartet Op. 11 – II. Andante cantabile (Kontras Quartet)

Kontras Quartet

II. Andante cantabile

The Kontras Quartet plays Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1 Op. 11 quartet on their Chamber Classics II concert in North Carolina on Dec. 11, 2010. For more information, visit http://www.kontrasquartet.com.

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Pyotr Tchaikovsky – String Quartet No 1 in D Major, op.11: great compositions/performances

Pyotr Tchaikovsky – String Quartet No 1 in D Major, op.11

Valentin Dmitriev

CONCERT HALL OF THE MARIINSKY THEATRE
(Sunday, 11 November 2012)

The State Borodin Quartet:

Ruben Aharonian – violin
Sergei Lomovsky – violin
Igor Naidin – viola
Vladimir Balshin – cello

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
String Quartet No 1 in D Major, op.11:

I Moderato e semplice
II Andante cantabile
III Scherzo. Allegro non tanto e con fuoco — Trio
IV Finale. Allegro giusto — Allegro vivace
********************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Opus 11, was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s first completed string quartet of three string quartets, published during his lifetime. (An earlier attempt had been abandoned after the first movement had been completed.^[1]) Composed in February 1871, it was premiered in Moscow on 16/28 March 1871 by four members of the Russian Musical Society: Ferdinand Laub and Ludvig Minkus, violins; Pryanishnikov, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.

The quartet has four movements:

1. Moderato e semplice (D major)
2. Andante cantabile (B♭ major)
3. Scherzo. Allegro non tanto e con fuoco – Trio (D minor)
4. Finale. Allegro giusto – Allegro vivace (D major)

The melancholic Andante cantabile movement, which has become famous in its own right, was based on a folk song the composer heard at his sister’s house at Kamenka ^{[3] [4]} whistled by a house painter.^{[citation needed]} When the quartet was performed at a tribute concert for Leo Tolstoy, the author was said to have been brought to tears by this movement. “…Tolstoy, sitting next to me and listening to the Andante of my First Quartet, burst into tears” ^{[5] [6]}

When the Zoellner Quartet, at her request, performed the second movement for Helen Keller, who rested her fingertips on a resonant tabletop to sense the vibrations, she, too, reacted strongly.^[7]

Since the time of the composer, the Andante cantabile movement has frequently been performed in arrangements for string orchestra. The melody from the 2nd theme of the Andante cantabile, in D-flat major, was also used as the basis for the popular song “On the Isle of May”, popularized by Connee Boswell in 1940.

 

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Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 8 in F Major, Op 93: great compositions/performances

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no.8 in F Major,  Op 93

    VerachtetmirdieMeisternicht

Symphony No 8 in F Major, op 93:

1. Allegro vivace e con brio
2. Allegretto scherzando
3. Tempo de Menuetto
4. Allegro vivace

Philharmonia Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
(London, 20.V.1955)

****************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 is a symphony in four movements composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1812. Beethoven fondly referred to it as “my little Symphony in F,” distinguishing it from his Sixth Symphony, a longer work also in F.^[1]

The Eighth Symphony is generally light-hearted, though not lightweight, and in many places cheerfully loud, with many accented notes. Various passages in the symphony are heard by some listeners to be musical jokes.^[2] As with various other Beethoven works such as the Opus 27 piano sonatas, the symphony deviates from Classical tradition in making the last movement the weightiest of the four.

Composition and premiere

Portrait of Beethoven in 1815, a year after the premiere of his 8th Symphony.

 The work was begun in the summer of 1812, immediately after the completion of the Seventh Symphony.^[3] At the time Beethoven was 41 years old. As Antony Hopkins has noted, the cheerful mood of the work betrays nothing of the grossly unpleasant events that were taking place in Beethoven’s life at the time, which involved his interference in his brother Johann’s love life.^[4] The work took Beethoven only four months to complete,^[3] and is, unlike many of his works, without dedication.

The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in the Redoutensaal, Vienna, at which the Seventh Symphony (which had been premiered two months earlier) was also played.^[5] Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless led the premiere. Reportedly, “the orchestra largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the principal violinist instead.”^[6]

When asked by his pupil Carl Czerny why the Eighth was less popular than the Seventh, Beethoven is said to have replied, “because the Eighth is so much better.”^[7] A critic wrote that “the applause it received was not accompanied by that enthusiasm which distinguishes a work which gives universal delight; in short—as the Italians say—it did not create a furor.” Beethoven was angered at this reception.^[8] George Bernard Shaw, in his capacity as a music critic, agreed with Beethoven’s assessment of the work, writing that indeed, “In all subtler respects the Eighth is better [than the Seventh].”^[9] But other critics have been divided in their judgement.

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Franz Schubert: Rondo in A major D.438 for violin and strings: make music part of your life series

Franz Schubert: Rondo in A major D.438 for violin and strings

   Oliver Dizdarevic Škrabar

European Journey – The pulse of Europe: Austria
Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet with guests
Oliver Dizdarević Škrabar – solo violin
Žiga Faganel – violin
Irina Kevorkova – violin
Maja Rome – viola
Gordana Keller Petrej – cello
Petar Brčarević – double bass

Slovenian Philharmonic – The Slavko Osterc Hall
September 23, 2012
***********************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rondo for Violin and Strings, D 438, is a composition in in A major by Franz Schubert. He wrote the rondo in 1816. Like the roughly contemporary Adagio and Rondo concertante in F major, D 487, the work is a concertante piece designed to highlight the skills of the violin soloist.

Background

Schubert composed the piece in 1816, along with a number of other works featuring a violin soloist including the three sonatinas (D 384/385 & D 408) and the Konzertstück in D major, D 345. It is believed that the work was composed with the intent that either the composer himself or his brother Ferdinand would take the soloists part.^{[1] [2]}

The piece was unpublished during the composers lifetime, not seeing publication until 1897, when Breitkopf & Härtel published it in an edition edited by Eusebius Mandyczewski.^{[3] [1]}

Structure

The composition, which is written for a violin soloist and an accompanying group made up of violins, violas & cellos,^[a] is structured as a single multi-tempo movement divided into two sections, the
*****Introduction (Marked: Adagio) and the
*****Rondo (Marked: Allegro giusto).

It takes around 14 – 15 minutes to perform.

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Mozart – Piano Sonata No. 1 in C, K. 279

   Am4d3usM0z4rt

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, K 279 (189d) (1774) is a sonata in three movements. It was composed when Mozart was only 18 years old.
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The opening Allegro features smooth thematic material, sometimes based on sharp dynamic contrasts, with a short development (only eighteen bars long). The development sections of the remaining two movements are much more substantial. The Andante is full of expressive shading, in large measure the result of Mozart’s harmonic freedom. Some of that same freedom characterizes the concluding Allegro, which zips along in its 2/4 meter. This features an unusually active part for the left hand, another extended development section, and a surprising close: Mozart rounds the sonata off with two firm chords, which he marks Coda.
A typical performance takes about 14 minutes.
The work was written down, except for the first part of the opening movement, during the visit Mozart paid to Munich for the production of La finta giardiniera from late 1774 to the beginning of the following March.
—————————————-­————————————-
FREE .mp3 and .wav files of all Mozart’s music at: http://www.mozart-archiv.de/
FREE sheet music scores of any Mozart piece at: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start…
ALSO check out these cool sites: http://musopen.org/
and http://imslp.org/wiki/

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