By coincidence I’ve just turned on the television on Sky Arts channel and it’s showing a modern version of Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’ which I briefly mentioned 5 days ago and is set in Sydney Harbour. On the tv it is showing English sub-titles which is very helpful as at the moment Rodolfo is comforting Mimi with the aria ‘Your tiny hand is frozen’ just before she dies at the end of the opera. The Sydney audience have certainly enjoyed the performance, so not all Aussies are uncultured. Whether the audience can see sub-titles I’m not sure, but they certainly help tv viewers to understand the story.
Now on to the wonderful world of Andre Rieu in the main square in Maastricht which was recorded in the summer.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1862/1918
Debussy was born in Saint-German-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise, north west of Paris in 1862. However in 1870 to escape the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war his mother took him to Cannes to live with his aunt. However Debussy’s parents were poor and young Claude never attended grade school. In his boyhood he was strongly attracted to the sea, and his father had ambitions for him to join the French navy. Instead Claude’s aunt taught him to play the piano and when he was 10 years old he entered the Paris Conservatoire. By the time he was 18 Debussy was putting his musical theories into practice. Although he discouraged the use of the word ‘impressionist’ that is how the public perceived him. After writing 27 songs dedicated to his first mistress, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1884 and composed his first major work “L’enfant Prodigue”.
Three years later Debussy returned to Paris and composed “Reverie” and “Arabesque” both examples of his tonal magic. In 1891 he wrote his ‘Suite Bergamasque’ which included arguably his most famous composition at that time “Clair de Lune”, but three years later his “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” made him internationally famous to concert audiences. Here now was a composer who brought a sensibility to music that was typically French. It conveyed the transient sensual impressions felt by a mythical creature half man and half beast. The prelude could be described as a musical enigma as its answer is never revealed.
Amongst his 8 nocturnes was one with the simple title of “Fetes” which was a three-part orchestra composition suggesting a colourful carnival atmosphere which he wrote in 1897, but some 8 years later he reminisced about his youthful ambitions with his tone poem “La Mer” which included ‘Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea’. His “Children’s Corner Suite” which included ‘The Golliwog’s Cake-Walk’ written in 1908 is a playful piece written in ragtime, and “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair” was one of Debussy’s final works among his 150 compositions which also included 24 preludes, 12 etudes, 8 ballades, and 6 piano sonatas.
Claude Debussy’s compositions are said to have conveyed his personality, and reflect a genius to have revolutionised the musical word. However his reputation was somewhat tainted by his treatment of his several mistresses and he died aged 55 in Paris with colorectal cancer.
PIETRO ANTONIO STEFANO MASCAGNI 1863/1945
Pietro Mascagni was born in Livorno, Italy in 1863 and began his musical studies at the age of 13. Against his father’s wishes however in 1879 he started his life as a composer writing two Symphonies entitled ‘Sinfonia in no Minore’ and ‘Prima Sinfonia fa Maggiore’. Further instrumental works quickly followed with his first Cantata ‘In Filanda’ having its premiere in Milan in the early months of 1881. The following year he passed the entrance examination to the Milan Conservatory and although composing several more Cantatas he left the Conservatory without completing his studies. He then decided to work as a conductor firstly in Genoa, after which he was appointed as Master of Music and Singing of the new Philharmonic Orchestra in Cerignola. He also started work on his ‘Mesa di Gloria’ which included the duet ‘Agnus Dei’ but this was interrupted by composing the first of his 15 operas ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ which really made a name for himself throughout Italy.
This opera which includes a beautiful intermezzo was first performed in 1890 in Rome, but was also an instant success in Florence, Turin, Bologna, Palermo, Milan, Genoa, Naples, Venice and Trieste. But it also made Mascagni internationally famous as it was performed in Munich, Hamburg, Saint Petersburg, Dresden, Vienna and even in Buenos Aires during Mascagni’s 7 month tour in 1911. His second opera ‘Silvano’ was first performed at La Scala in Milan in 1894 and followed two years later by ‘Zanetto’. However none of his other 14 operas were as well received as ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and in 1940 on the 50th anniversary or its premiere performance it was celebrated throughout Italy with Mascagni conducting. Three years later it made its final appearance at ‘La Scala’ with Mascagni having to sit down whilst conducting his masterpiece due to his fight against cancer from which he died two years later in his apartment at the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome.
The 1980 film ‘Raging Bull’ starring Robert de Niro and the 1990 film ‘Godfather, Part 3’ starring Al Pacino both used the intermezzo from ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ as theme music. Also the Italian blind tenor Andrea Bocelli recorded a song called simply ‘Mascagni’ in 2001.
RICHARD GEORG STRAUSS 1864/1949
Richard Strauss (no relation to the Austrian Strauss family) was born in Munich, Germany in 1864 and started piano lessons at the age of 4 whilst also attending rehearsals with the Music Court Orchestra to obtain lessons in musical theory. He also wrote his first composition at the early age of 6 and learned to play the violin. In 1875 he graduated from the Ludwigsgymnasium and in 1880 composed his First Symphony. Two years later Strauss attended the University of Munich during which he composed his first horn concerto. That was also the year that Strauss made his first appearance as a concert pianist. His first opera was ‘Capriccio’ and his Second Symphony was completed in 1884.
However Strauss was advised that to be a great composer he should write tone poems, and the first of these was ‘Don Juan’ published in 1888. In 1895 he composed ‘Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks’. Eugenspiegel was supposed to have been an itinerant German peasant whose exploits were identified in 16th century folklore and the master of the practical joke. ‘Also Spake Zarathustra’ suggests a superhuman way of life and was used as the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘2001- A Space Odyssey’. In 1905 Strauss completed his third opera ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ which was based on Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’ in which she having entreated King Herod for a wish if she would dance for him, remained motionless before achieving a gentle rocking movement, then appearing to grow weary before arousing herself to a renewed whirling before throwing herself at Herod’s feet to demand the head of John the Baptist.
However it was the opera ‘Der Rosenkavalier’, completed in 1910 with its delicacy, humour and spiced with lilting cadences of the Viennese waltzes that captivated his audiences. It is still as popular today as it was on its premiere, and set Richard Strauss on a pedestal with the greatest of opera composers.
Strauss always showed self-assurance in his compositions as if he were writing personally to each individual, and although he maintained that he was non-political, he held a prominent position under the Kaiser and the German Republic. He was the first classical composer to be classed as a millionaire and continued to write compositions despite being in great pain with kidney cancer which eventually ended his life in 1949 aged 85 at his home in Garmich-Partenkirchen.
Werdermouth
Somehow two attempts to complete this article have failed. Is their any other way to restore the rest of the article please?
Sorry Ken, I've got no other versions of this post saved in the 'post revisions' data table - you may have to copy and edit the text from one of the two versions and then if necessary I can remove the older versions once its finalised.
Thanks Werdermouth. I’ve rewritten the final paragraphs and finished the whole article at 1.32 this afternoon, so would be grateful if you could delete the two previous unfinished articles about Richard Strauss if that’s at all possible.
JEAN SIBELIUS 1865/1957
Sibelius was born and christened as Johan Julian Christian Sibelius in 1865 in Hameenlinna then part of the Grand Duchy of Finland, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. However some indications are that his second Christian name is spelt Julios because the Swedish name for the town of his birth is now called Tavastehus, all a little confusing. But although Sibelius vehemently describes himself as Finnish, when he entered his late teens he changed his name to the French name of John which of course is Jean. So for the purpose of this article I will refer to him as Jean Sibelius and Finland’s greatest composer as I believe Finland had already inherited some 750 years of Russian and Swedish domination, and of course I’m aware that the anniversary of his birthday is now celebrated as the ‘Day of Finnish Music’, and that it was reputed that when Russian armies invaded Finland in 1939 that Jean Sibelius, then in his middle 60’s, could be seen in the Finnish forests shooting at Soviet planes with his hunting rifle. Quite a character was Jean Sibelius! But this article is about his musical life, so perhaps Jarkko might wish to give us a history lesson, whilst I start at the beginning of his long life as a classical composer.
From an early age Sibelius showed a strong interest in nature especially in the summer months when the family moved to Lov-ilsa. At the age of 7 he took piano lessons from an aunt, and later violin lessons also. Although Swedish was his mother tongue, in 1874 the young Sibelius attended a Finnish speaking Preparatory School and by the age of 9 was competent enough to enter High school where he decided that he wished to be called Jean after his uncle. After graduating from High School he began to study Law at the Imperial University, but soon after realised his mistake and enlisted at the Helsinki Music Institute until 1889 to follow his true vocation. Later he continued his music studies In Berlin after one year in Vienna.
It was in 1891 after returning to Helsinki that Jean Sibelius committed himself to the cause of Finnish liberty and became part of the anti-Russian movement, and came into his own as the musical leader of the Nationalists. His first major work under that regime was the composition of his ‘Karelia Suite’ in 1893, but didn’t add the ‘Alla Marcia’ as part of it until 5 years later. This march was used as the introductory music to ITV’s current affairs programme ‘This Week’ in the mid 1950s and became a favourite march for brass and silver bands especially in England. The ‘Lemminkainen Suite’ and ‘The Swan of Tuonela’ were completed by Sibelius round about the same time. However his tone poem ‘Finlandia’, one of the best-known of all orchestral works, is literally an anthem. This is my favourite of all of Sibelius’s works, whether played by a concert orchestra or a brass band. It must be so patriotically inspiring to the Finnish people, so much so that it was banned by the Russian government after it stirred audiences in 1899.
Into the 20th century and Sibelius started composing his 7 symphonies, the second of which has classical 3rd and 4th movements certainly expressing Finland’s revolt against oppression. In 1903 Sibelius turned his attention to waltzes with ‘Valse Triste’, a hauntingly beautiful excerpt from a patriotic play ‘Kuolema’. To show his versatility Sibelius also composed a Violin Concerto. During completing his Fourth Symphony in 1911 Sibelius was undergoing a period of surgical operations to remove a cancerous tumour from his throat. In 1915 on his 50th birthday the premiere to his 5th Symphony in Helsinki created great acclaim, but Sibelius didn’t abandon his love of marches as his ‘Jäger March’ was composed in 1917. The last of his 7 Symphonies was composed in 1924, and another of my favourites. Sibelius also wrote 16 tone poems in his long life, and was widely celebrated by the Philadelphia Orchestra in the United States and by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the conductorship of Sir Thomas Beecham in the Royal Albert Hall in London on his 90th birthday. The following year Jean Sibelius died of a brain haemorrage, and was buried in Ainola Cemetery in his homeland.
Ainola was the name of his home (not cementery). Jean was buried into his garden along his wife Aino (Aino-la name coming from her name). Ainola is a open museum nowadays and is just 20 min drive from my home and close to my wife's workplace. Naturally we have visited the place a few times - last time in summer 2019 by bike.
Aino's brother Eero was a world famous painter ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armas_Järnefelt) and her brother a composer ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armas_Järnefelt). Naturally Jean met his wife-to-be through Aino's brother.
Most of the famous Finnish artists of the time (pre-indepence) lived very close to Ainola. There are many interesting houses (now museums) around the Lake Tuusula. For example Pekka Halonen, Juhani Aho and Aleksis Kivi also lived near Jean and by the lake. The distance from Helsinki to Tuusula is about 30 km. Definately worth a visit.
Up the Boro!
Werder, please delete the older version. While making the edit, the last correction created a dublicate. UTB!
Ainola was the name of his home (not cementery). Jean was buried into his garden along his wife Aino (Aino-la name coming from her name). Ainola is a open museum nowadays and is just 20 min drive from my home and close to my wife's workplace. Naturally we have visited the place a few times - last time in summer 2019 by bike.
Aino's brother Eero was a world famous painter ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armas_Järnefelt) and her brother a composer ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armas_Järnefelt). Naturally Jean met his wife-to-be through Aino's brother.
Most of the famous Finnish artists of the time (pre-indepence) lived very close to Ainola. There are many interesting houses (now museums) around the Lake Tuusula. For example Pekka Halonen, Juhani Aho and Aleksis Kivi also lived near Jean and by the lake. The distance from Helsinki to Tuusula is about 30 km. Definately worth a visit.
Up the Boro!
Duly noted. But pleased you acknowledge my article, probably the longest I’ve completed. Though my travelling abroad I’m sad to say has now come to an end.
VITTORIO MONTI 1868/1922
Little is known about Monti’s life only to state that he was born in Naples, Italy in 1868 only to mention that he composed his ‘Csárdás’ arguably the most famous Hungarian gypsy music ever written. It was first performed in 1904 and originally composed for a mandolin or violin. It is in 7 sections alternating between slow and fast periods, starting with an Andante Largo and then speeds up to an Allegro Vivo before suddenly gathering pace to an Allegro Vivace before slowing down again to an Allegretto to a Molto Vivo. Although being the only piece of Monti’s compositions that I’m familiar with, it is deservedly worthy of being recorded as a piece of music to be remembered over a century later from its premiere. Probably it’s best remembered for a duel between two violins in the 1984 film ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ starring Dudley Moore and Albert Brooks.
Duly noted. But pleased you acknowledge my article, probably the longest I’ve completed. Though my travelling abroad I’m sad to say has now come to an end.
Yes, your srory was excellent and I learnt someting new, too. I just wanted to correct the place of his last resting place if someone wants to visit his house.
You are truly an expert on music. Up the Sibelius and Boro!
SCOTT JOPLIN 1868/1917
Scott Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas in 1868. His mother was a laundress from Kentucky and his father was a labourer and ex-slave from North Carolina. As a child he played the guitar and the bugle, then at the age of 7 started picking out melodies on a neighbour’s piano. At the age of 11 a local German music teacher, who recognised Joplin’s natural gifts gave him free piano lessons. After the death of his mother and following a dispute with his father over learning a trade, he left home at the age of 14 and travelled the Mississippi Valley States playing in bawdy houses and saloon bars, or anywhere he could get basic wages or sometimes just tips. The popular music at that time was ragtime, and Joplin became the master of it. In 1885 he moved to St Louis and eight years later to Chicago where he formed an orchestra and worked regular hours, but out of hours frequented the saloon bars to supplement his wages in Sedalia where he formed the Texas Medley Quartet which toured as far as New York where he sold his first works for publication. In 1897 he composed his ‘Maple Leaf Rag’, but such were the problems of a black musician at the time that it was not finally published until two years later.
The popularity of this craze for ragtime increased with the advent of the 20th century, thrilling some observers of America culture, but alarming others. However Joplin, prosperous from his royalties retired from playing the piano, bought a large house so that he could spend his time on composing ragtime music and giving piano lessons. His next major composition was ‘The Entertainer’ in 1902 which was used as background music to the 1973 film ‘The Sting’ starring Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Robert Shaw. In 1906 Joplin composed ‘The Ragtime Dance’, a folk ballet based on material he had worked on three years earlier, followed by a ragtime opera entitled ‘A Guest of Honour’ although neither the ballet nor the opera could be termed a success. A year later he composed ‘Gladiolus Rag’ and soon after ‘Fig Leaf Rag’. In 1909 his ‘Euphonic Sounds’ was fairly successful but by 1910 the mania had reached its peak and a decline had set in. Once again Joplin turned his hand to opera with the composition of ‘Treemonisha’, but again it was a financial disaster and a mortal blow to his spirit. To try to revive ragtime Joplin then worked on a new composition entitled quite simply ‘Scott Joplin’s New Rag’ and finally his longest rag composition called ‘Magnetic Rag’. But by then changes in his personality began to disturb his second wife and friends. His quiet level temperament became unpredictable and he became moody so much so that he was not only insane but virtually penniless as he was admitted to hospital. Even then he tried to continue composing in but alas the magic had gone forever. He died in the Manhattan State Institute aged 48 on the first of April 1917.
Sadly though the beginning of the First World War signalled the end of the ragtime era. However elements of the music still remained in jazz and in popular dance theatre, but was revived at first in England and then in Australia by the Trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell with a succession of ragtime and boogie-wooggie hits in the 1950s including ‘The Black and White Rag’, the signature tune to BBC’s 1992 snooker tournament presented by Jim Davidson and John Virgo.
FRANZ LEHAR 1870/1948
Franz Lehar was born in Komarom, Hungary (now Komarno, Slovakia) and until the age of 12 only spoke Hungarian. He studied the intricacies of the violin at Prague Conservatory, but the rules at the time didn’t allow him to compose and study at the same time, so he became a self-taught composer. After graduating in 1888 he became assistant bandmaster in his father’s band in Vienna. Two years later he enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Army at Losonc and eventually became the youngest bandmaster in the army, but then left to join the navy at Pula where he eventually became kapellmeister. He also started to compose music at the age of 24 and two years later his first opera ‘Kukuschka’ had its premiere in Leipzig. It was only a slight success, so he rejoined the army in Trieste. In 1902 Lehar was appointed conductor at the Vienna Theatre where his first operetta ‘Wiener Frauen’ was performed.
The most famous of his 31 operettas is ‘The Merry Widow’ composed in 1905, ‘Gypsy Love’ in 1910, ‘Frasquita’ in 1922, ‘The Land of Smiles’ in 1929, and ‘Giuditta’ in 1934 which was his most ambitious operetta although more of an opera than an operetta. ‘The Land of Smiles’ was made into a film in 1930 in which Franz Lehar himself had a small part. There was also a remake of this film in 1952 included the song “You are my Heart’s Delight’. ‘The Merry Widow’ starts with a fine overture, often included in the repertoire of brass and silver bands in parks and seaside resorts throughout Britain, and “Vilja, o Vilja” often sung in concerts. Most of Lehar’s operettas starred the German tenor Richard Tauber and recorded on discs by the Irish tenor Josef Locke. However though Lehar was principally known for composing operettas he also composed a number of sonatas, symphonic poems and marches such as ‘Gold and Silver’.
Franz Lehar’s relationship with the Third Reich Nazi Regime was an uneasy one, as although he was a Roman Catholic he used Jewish librettists in his operettas. Also Lehar’s wife was Jewish although she changed to Catholicism when they married. The Third Reich banned music played by German Jews such as Mendelssohn, but Adolf Hitler enjoyed Lehar’s music. After the Third Reich threatened Lehar’s wife with deportation, it needed the intervention of Joseph Goebbels by granting her aryon status to solve the situation. Lehar received awards for his music in Berlin in 1939 and in Vienna in 1940, also the Goethe medal. On Hitler’s birthday in 1938 Lehar reciprocated their friendship by presenting him with a red Moroccan leather volume of the musical script of the 50th performance of ‘The Merry Widow’.
Franz Lehar died aged 78 in Bad Ischl near Saltzburg.
Werdermouth
I’ve just completed a blog on the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams but it hasn’t appeared and I’ve just discovered that I wasn’t logged in at the end although I was when I started the article. Is there any way of retrieving the article please, or is it completely lost?
It’s happened again, cut short this time after the first paragraph. I think I need to move on.
@ken Patience, Ken.
We all have occational problems within the IT world. It's not you only - the digital world is not always easier than the old analogue. It is never as reliable. It needs a small tap or click and all is gone.
On Wednesday, I missed the second Boro goal live as we had some IT issues with an on-line order I and my missus were starting to do at half time.
The world is never complete. Up the Boro!
How infuriating and hopefully you'll feel calmer after a break.
I would still recommend looking in to using one of the options of either using an online word processor like the one I mention (incidentally, I just wrote my match preview with it this morning and worked really well with automatic saves) or one on your ipad.
As Jarkko said, living in the digital age is often prone to unexpected problems especially if you consider something can go wrong with either your device, your browser, your internet connection or even the website you're connected to and the server that hosts it.
Therefore it's safer to just prepare your article in something that won't lose your work if something happens.
On a different subject now. In view of dementia in later life do folks think it should now be made mandatory for footballers and rugby players to wear some form of protective headgear?
Apparently there is a problem with some Apple 3 iPads using WPA/ WPA 2 (TKIP) with a recommendation to configure the router to WPA 2(AES) or WPA 3. It’s way above my comprehension although as I don’t use my iPad for internet banking or have any personal details on it I didn’t think it would affect any postings I make on Diasboro. However Apple Support don’t seem able to help, I am now in regular touch with Teesside Age UK who have a volunteer expert in computer technology on their staff so I’ll contact him.
But at the moment my main concern is finding someone in the Urology department at James Cook to change my catheter tube as I’m enduring a slight discharge into my Tena Pad every morning. A catheter tube lasts 12 weeks maximum, but I prefer to have it changed every 8 weeks to avoid a kidney infection. At the moment my current tube is 10 weeks old but am unable to speak with anyone from the Urology department as nobody answers the phone. Maybe they’re working from home, but now that lockdown restrictions have been eased I’m hoping to receive a call within the next fortnight.
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 1872/1958
Vaughan Williams was born in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire in 1872 but when his father died the whole family moved to Wotton in Surrey where as a 5 year old he took piano lessons from an aunt, and remarkably wrote a piano piece called ‘The Robin’s Nest’ within a couple of years. In 1880 he took a correspondence course with Edinburgh University and 3 years later continued his education as a boarder at Ruddingdean. In 1887 he attended a public school at Charterhouse and as he preferred the violin to the piano he enrolled as a student at the Royal College of Music in London before completing his education at Trinity College, Cambridge.
In 1909 Vaughan Williams wrote the first of his 9 symphonies entitled ‘A Sea Symphony’ and in 1913 completed his second symphony ‘A London Symphony’. The following year he wrote ‘The Norfolk Rhapsody’ but also wrote several songs notably ‘Linden Lea’. His third symphony ‘A Pastoral Symphony was completed in 1921 and the last of his 9 symphonies to be given a name. He also wrote 5 ballets, the second of which in 1926 called ‘On Christmas Night’ was based on Charles Dickens’s ‘Christmas Carol’. In 1934 he wrote his ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’ the same year that he completed his Fourth Symphony. He was also responsible for writing 11 film scores including for the 1940 war film ‘The 49th Parallel’ featuring Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Eric Porter and Glynis Johns. Two years later he composed the background music for John Bunyan’s 1678 allegory ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. The following year he completed his Fifth Symphony and in 1948 was commissioned to write the background music for ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ starring John Mills and James Robertson Justice.
Vaughan Williams was also responsible for writing the music for over 30 hymns including two Christmas hymns ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ and a favourite of mine ‘Cradled in a Manger, meanly’, plus two Easter hymns ‘Christ the Lord is risen today’ and ‘It is a thing most wonderful’. There were also a couple of anthems ‘I vow to me my Country’ and ‘He who won valiant be, to be a Pilgrim’, another reference to ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. Other religious hymns ‘Come Down O Love Divine’, ‘For all the Saints who from their labours rest’ and ‘God be with you till we meet again’ owed their popularity to Ralph Vaughan Williams’s music.
His final five symphonies were composed within 14 years of each other, the final one a year before he died aged 85 in 1958. Much of the music of Vaughan Williams apart from his symphonies is rarely played today, even considered old fashioned by some contemporary composers, but there has been a groundswell especially of young promenaders who consider him to be England’s greatest classical composer, but apart from his hymns I much prefer Edward Elgar.
I’ve just watched Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ on Sky Arts channel from Sydney Harbour whilst doing the ironing. Whilst admittedly it’s a great setting for operettas such as ‘Die Fledermaus’ or ‘Carmen’, Verdi’s opera based on Alexandre Dumas’s novel ‘Violetta’ is such a weak story I’m quite surprised it should have been turned into an opera at all. Apparently it became controversial when first premiered in London that Queen Victoria refused to watch it as the story centred about a courtesan.
However, the setting in Sydney Harbour would also be ideal for ‘HMS Pinafore’ or ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ or even Lionel Bart’s ‘Blitz’, but more about that later.
SERGEI VASILYEVIZ RACHMANINOFF 1873/1943
Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Moscow in 1873, his birth being registered in Staraya but raised up in Oneg until he was 9 years old and having already composed several piano and orchestral pieces by then. However due to his father’s gambling the estate in Oneg had to be sold with his father absconding back to Moscow whilst Sergei, his siblings and mother moved to a small flat in St Petersburg where Sergei attended the local conservatory. But having failed his examinations, the young Rachmaninoff transferred to the conservatory in Moscow some 680 kilometres away. In the latter months of 1891 he contacted malaria in Ivankova which restricted his works. In 1897 his First Symphony received so much negative reaction that he went into depression for about four years. After successful therapy he was able to complete his first two piano concertos and compose several preludes for the piano as well as a duet called ‘Vocalise’ for piano and double bass, although for the next 16 years he made a living from giving piano lessons as well as being the conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre.
He then relocated temporarily to Dresden in 1906 which proved to be an ideal base to tour Europe giving piano recitals and building a reputation as a virtuoso concert pianist, so much so that he was invited to the United States to tour there also. On returning to St Petersburg however it wasn’t long before the city became embroiled in the Russian Revolution so, by this time married with a wife, Rachmaninoff and his family left St Petersburg by train for the Finnish border and then by an open sledge to Helsinki with as much of the family’s possessions they could muster. From there they made their way almost penniless to Stockholm and managed to find a basement flat where Sergei was able to tour giving piano lessons. Eventually with sufficient funds the family travelled though Copenhagen to Oslo where they sailed to Providence, Rhode Island where they were overwhelmed by the reception they received.
After spending eight exhausting years touring the major cities of the USA on concert tours he was in a lot of pain in his right temple and needed an operation which wasn’t successful, but a dentistry operation was needed to ease the pain. By then he had rented an apartment in Manhattan for resuscitation, but spent much time in France and Switzerland during the off-peak season which was peaceful enough for him to devote his time composing. He completed his ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’ in 1934 and his Third Symphony two years later. However by 1942 Rachmaninoff was suffering with sclerosis, lumbago and neuralgia, so much so that he was advised by his doctors to return to the USA which he did renting an apartment in Beverly Hills, California. Unfortunately he died there a year later. His death was mourned by hundreds of thousands of people in the USA, and although he was a cosmopolite devotedly Russian in spirit, he spent much of his life outside his homeland and his dying wish was to be buried in Moscow. However for political reasons this couldn’t materialise, so he was buried in California in 1943.
Many of his compositions have been used as theme tunes for the cinema, most notably his Second Piano Concerto in David Lean’s 1945 romantic film “Brief Encounter” staged mostly in Carnforth Railway Station, Lancashire and starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. The same music was also used in the 1955 film “The Seven Year Itch” starring Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe. ‘The Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini’ was also used as theme music for two films - the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time” starring Jane Seymour, Christopher Reeve and Christopher Plummer, as well as the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” featuring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano
Concerto was the fifth piece of music to be used as theme music by the cinema in the 1996 film “Shine” starring Geoffrey Rush and Lynn Redgrave.
One of his compatriots recalled that some people achieve a kind of immortality by some characteristic. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s characteristic was his scowl - he was a six foot six inches tall scowl. I’m not quite sure whether that was a complement or not!
KENNETH JOSEPH ALFORD 1881/1945
Alford was born in Ratcliff, London and because he was born within the sound of Bow Bells was regarded as a cockney. However his real name was Frederick Joseph Ricketts and was orphaned at the age of 14. His early training was as a church chorister, but also learned to play the organ and piano. As a boy he was fascinated by the street musicians and bands, even German oompah bands. So with no parents he did what many orphans did, he joined the army in this case as a band boy with the Royal Irish Regiment aged only 14. There he became proficient at playing the cornet and toured with the regiment to Limerick and India, and eventually learned to play all the brass instruments in the band. In 1904 he enlisted with the Royal Military School of Music in Twickenham. Four years later he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and this is where he used a pseudonym as he began composing military marches. The Highlanders didn’t too kindly with one of their officers composing music, so Frederick Joseph Ricketts became Kenneth (the name of his eldest child) Alford (his mother’s maiden name) but still called Joe (his own preferred Christian name) by his friends.
Some of his marches were given names of battles the first one being ‘The Thin Red Line’ written in 1908, the regiment’s nickname from the Crimean War days. Alford then wrote ‘Holyrood’ named after Holyrood House, Edinburgh for the coronation of King George V. However his halcyon years of composing military marches mostly occurred during the First World War of experiences at the time. The colonel of the regiment was known to whistle as he spent time whistling as he searched for his lost ball in the rough, so was given the name of ‘Colonel Bogey’ and part of this march was used in the David Lean’s fictional film “Bridge over the River Kwai”. Two marches ‘On the Quarter Deck’ and ‘The Middy’ were dedicated to the British Navy after the Battle of Jutland, whilst ‘The Voice of the Guns’ was in honesty of the British Artillery. At the end of hostilities Kenneth Alford wrote ‘The Vanquished Army’ dedicated to the 100,000 soldiers who perished during the First World War.
After the war in 1927 by now established with the name of Kenneth Alford he joined the marines as a lieutenant, and after watching ‘The Trooping of the Colour’ on Horse Guards Parade he wrote arguably his most famous march ‘The Standard of St George’. In 1941 he composed a slow march for the Royal Marines called ‘By Land and Sea’ and a year later ‘Eagle Squadron’ dedicated to the United States Air Force who were fighting alongside the RAF. His final march was ‘A life on the Ocean Wave’ although it was a revised march first performed by Henry Russell in 1882.
Kenneth Alford also completed waltzes, rhapsodies and even works for the xylophone, but it was his marches that are still popular today. He eventually reached the rank of Warrant Officer whilst serving his country and died in Reigate aged 64 in 1945.
ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN 1842/1900...
I seem to recall Ken, that Sullivan's relationship with Gilbert was a difficult one. Gilbert's clever, witty and satirical libretti were often poking fun at the establishment and at critics, which is why the critics never took kindly or seriously to Sullivan's musical genius. He wanted to be taken seriously, but sadly rarely, if ever was.
GABRIEL FAURE 1845/1924...
Fauré's requiem is, for me, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. I remember being introduced to it by the late Johnny Potter who as well as teaching music at The College was also choirnaster at Middlesbrough Cathedral in the 70s, when it was still over the border.
He wanted the choir to perform this, but was short of bass voices. I struggle at the lowest end of the range, but along with Ged Rodgers (whose voice was reminiscent of his more famous older brother) joined the choir and so I learned all of this piece which still reverberates in my minds ear to this day.
ISAAC ALBENIZ 1860/1909...
Hi Ken. The Spanish Suite that you know the Tango from was transposed for classical guitar by the celebrated Spanish guitarist Segovia. I am sure you will recognise Grenada from this suite if you hear it. I did get the guitar music for this many years ago but never mastered it particularly well.
FREDERICK THEODORE ALBERT DELIUS 1862/1934...
Delius was another of my mum's favourites Ken and I roo enjoy playing his music. Very peaceful for a Sunday morning.
JEROME KERN 1885/1945
Jerome Kern is not what orchestral concert goers would think of as a classical music composer, but like John Phillip Sousa, Kenneth Alford and Scott Joplin whom I have already reviewed, in his field he composed over 700 songs many of which he also wrote the lyrics as well as composing the music, many of which are still popular today.
He was born in New York and spent much of his early childhood in Manhattan as an American Jew of Bohemian parentage. He learned to play the organ as well as the piano and at the age of 12 his parents moved to Newark, New Jersey and is reputed to have composed many pieces of music as a background to silent films, but later became famous for composing not only popular music such as ‘They wouldn’t believe me’ but was also prolific during the 1920s in composing melodies for the musical theatre. In 1920 he wrote ‘Look for the Silver Lining’ but his crowning glory came in 1927 when he wrote most of the lyrics and all of the music for the stage production of “Showboat” which was released in 1936 and the making of the career of Paul Robeson. In the remake of the film in 1951 where he teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein to write the lyrics Paul Robeson also starred with his hit ‘Ol Man River’ but also began the singing, careers of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson and also starred Ava Gardner. Other popular songs from the movie were ‘Can’t help loving that man of mine’, ‘Only make believe’ and ‘You are love’.
In 1932 Kern wrote ‘I’ve told every little star’ and ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’ and then wrote another musical “Roberta” which sadly wasn’t a great success, although one song ‘I won’t dance’ sung by Fred Astaire still remains and has been recorded by Frank Sinatra. In 1936 Kern wrote the music for “Swing Time”, another musical that is little heard of today, although two numbers from the film ‘A fine romance’ and ‘The way you look tonight’ have stood the test of time. In 1935 Jerome Kern returned to Hollywood where he wrote ‘All the things you are’ and in 1942 he teamed up again with Oscar Hammerstein with the song ‘The last time I saw Paris’ dedicated to the people of Paris during the occupation by the Germans, and for which Kern and Hammerstein were presented with an academy award. In 1939 Kern and Hammerstein teamed up. again with the latter then providing the lyrics for another stage musical “Annie, get your gun” which in 1950 was made into another film musical based on the story of Annie Oakley, the sharp shooter of the west and played by Betty Hutton and again featured Howard Keel.
In 1939 Jerome Kern died of a cerebral haemorrhage and Oscar Hammerstein visited him in hospital and hummed the tune of ‘I’ve told every little star’ (reputedly Kern’s favourite composition) into Kern’s ear, but received no response as he had already passed away. However that wasn’t the end of the story, as in 1985 the US Post Office issued a postage stamp of Kern holding a sheet of music to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death.
ERIC FRANCIS HARRISON COATES 1886/1957
Eric Coates was born in Hucknall Torkard, Nottinghamshire in 1886 into a musical family and didn’t go to school but was taught at home by a governess including learning to play the violin at the age of 6. He was soon persuaded to switch to the viola and despite opposition from his father who wanted him to become a banker, he applied and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 20. Having been declared medically unfit for service during the First World War he devoted his time to become a composer of light rather than classical music. Two of his first compositions in 1908 were ‘It was a lover and his lass’ and ‘Who is Sylvia?’ both written by William Shakespeare. During the 1920s up to the Second World War he became a conductor of his own light music at seaside resorts such as Bournemouth, Hastings and Scarborough.
In all he composed some 200 works mainly choral and orchestral pieces including many marches for the film industry and television programmes. In 1930 he wrote ‘With a song in my heart’ included in the film “Spring is here” In the same year he wrote ‘By the sleepy lagoon’ which became the introductory music for the BBC Radio series ‘Desert Island Discs’. Three years later he wrote the first of his many marches ‘Knightsbridge March’ which became the introductory music for another BBC Radio series ‘In Town Tonight’ which was a long running radio chat show broadcast on what then was the BBC’s Home Service every Saturday night which as I remember finished with the words “Carry on London” and ran from 1933 until 1960 and latterly introduced by cricket commentator Brian Johnston. During the war years and for some years afterwards there was a daily midday radio show called “Music while you work” and Eric Coats composed the march ‘Calling all workers’ for that programme too. It’s strange how I remembered all these radio programmes, though it was at a time when very few people owned television sets.
Other famous marches written by Eric Coats included ‘London Bridge March’ written in 1934 and ‘The Eight Army March’ in 1943 for the war film “Nine Men” starring a young Gordon Jackson. Coats also composed the music for the start of the BBC Television Service in 1946 entitled simply ‘Television March’ as well as ‘Sound and Vision’ in 1955 for the opening of Associated Television for the opening of the commercial ITV network. The previous year he also wrote ‘The Dambusters’ March’ although not specifically for the film released in 1955 which starred Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. Finally his ‘Halcyon Days’ was used as the theme music for the original series of “The Forsyte Saga” some ten years after his death and starred Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Susan Hampshire and Kenneth More which was the first blockbuster serial broadcast by the BBC on Sunday evenings and ran for 26 weeks. It was so popular that I recall that many church services were brought forward so that television viewers didn’t miss an episode.
Eric Coats music was always popular and indeed still is. He suffered from a stroke at his home in Sussex and was admitted to the Royal West Sussex Hospital in Chichester but died 4 days later at the age of 71 and was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium in 1957.
First of all an apology about a paragraph in the article about Jerome Kern concerning the stage show and film of “Annie, get your gun”. This music was NOT written by Jerome Kern, but by Irving Berlin the next composer I wish to write about.