Musical Musings

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Just how well do you know Chopin? A pianist of legendary skill, Chopin wrote pyrotechnic piano pieces that still astound music lovers today (and give budding pianists ongoing consternation!).

Born in Poland, he later settled in France. He had oodles of messy affairs. Here are a few, hopefully surprising, facts about Chopin.

1. His father was a Frenchmen who married a Polish woman made a living by teaching French and French culture first to the children of rich Polish aristocrats and later at the Warsaw Lyceum. Nevertheless, Chopin's dad loved all things Polish and insisted that they speak Polish at home.
2. Chopin was a child prodigy. You probably know this. But did you know he was performing publicly and composing by the age of 7?
3. He had a Parisian posse. Members included. Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Ferdinand Hiller, Heinrich Heine, Eugène Delacroix, Alfred de Vigny, Julian Fontana, and of course, his on-again, off-again lover George Sand. #SquadGoals
4. Chopin rarely played publicly: The musicologist Arthur Hedley wrote: "As a pianist Chopin was unique in acquiring a reputation of the highest order on the basis of a minimum of public appearances - few more than thirty in the course of his lifetime."
5. Chopin and Liszt were close pals, but at times, professional jealousy stood in the way. Chopin wrote to a friend, "I should like to rob him of the way he plays my studies."
6. Chopin didn't only write for piano. In addition to his many piano pieces and two piano concerti, he also wrote several song sets and chamber music pieces. His most famous non-piano work is his G Minor Cello Sonata, which was also his last composition before his death in 1849.
7. Over 230 works of Chopin survive; some compositions from early childhood have been lost. All his known works involve the piano, and only a few range beyond solo piano music, as either piano concertos, songs or chamber music.

We've all heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but have you heard of the Kalevala? In the tradition of rip-roaring national epics, the Kalevala is a collection of Finnish tales that are filled with drama, lust, romance, kidnappings, adventure, and more.

Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer, fell deeply in love with the Kalevala. Indeed, we could say he was obsessed. He even spent his honeymoon in Karelia, which is considered the birthplace of the Kalevala. Further, he wrote not one but MANY pieces inspired by the epic tale.

In fact, the Kalevala and the Finnish countryside would become Sibelius's two greatest muses. A love of all things Finnish wasn't innately taught to Sibelius by his parents. He discovered it. Sibelius was born to Swedish-speaking parents, and it wasn't until his later school years that he was sent to a Finnish language school where he first read the Kalevala. And thus, the obsession began.

Sibelius' masterpiece, Legends, began as an opera based on the Kalevala but he changed his mind and turned it into a four-movement orchestral work instead. Like its inspiration, the piece is majestic. The plot of this epic tone poem centers around the hero Lemminkäinen, whose exploits come across as a sort of mash-up of Don Juan, Achilles, Siegfried, and Osiris.

Watch out for the übermensch, Finnish style!

Wouldn't it be nice to have a composer for a friend?

It's wildly common for composers to write music for friends and loved ones. Mozart, for example, wrote many of his concertos for people he knew. Johannes Brahms likewise wrote his Violin Concerto in D Major for his friend Joseph Joachim (1831-1907).

The year after the premiere of the Violin Concerto in 1880, their friendship was on the fritz. Joachim tried to divorce his wife of almost twenty years, mezzo-soprano Amalie Weiss, on the grounds that he was not the father of the youngest of their six children. Brahms ultimately made a testimony in Amalie's favor, severing their friendship.

Brahms's Violin Concerto illustrates the mutual respect and collaborative spirit that existed between these two musicians. Brahms started work on the piece in the summer of 1878 while vacationing at Pörtschach, an Austrian summer resort on Lake Wörth. He sent the manuscript of the concerto to Joachim on August 22, writing, "Naturally I wish to ask you to correct it. I thought you ought to have no excuse - neither respect for the music being too good nor the pretext that orchestrating it would not merit the effort. Now I shall be satisfied if you say a word and perhaps write in several: difficult, awkward, impossible, etc."

By the time of the concerto's premiere in Leipzig on January 1, 1879, it had been considerably altered. The correspondence between Brahms and Joachim shows an interesting paradox: while Brahms incorporated many of Joachim's proposed orchestral changes, he didn't adopt many of Joachim's alterations to the solo part. Brahms's resistance to Joachim's interventions sets his concerto apart from other Romantic examples of the genre. Instead of casting the violin in the starring role and leaving the orchestra to the wings, Brahms integrates soloist and orchestra much more than other virtuosic concertos.

It's always fascinating when art imitates life. That is definitely the case in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1938. Our Town follows the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners through the everyday lives of its citizens.

The play's wild success and great acclaim on Broadway took Wilder to Hollywood to write a screen adaptation. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) had recently written music for the film version of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men -- and seemed to be the perfect fit to compose a score to Wilder's Our Town.

It's even more fitting that Copland is often called the "Dean of American Composers," and was instrumental in forging an American style of composition. His music is truly American, while Wilder's Our Town is a small town story that is also distinctly American.

After the premiere in 1940, Copland quickly arranged a ten-minute concert suite that was aired on the radio. A few years later, he created the definitive version, which he dedicated to Leonard Bernstein. The suite premiered in 1944 in Boston, Bernstein conducting.

Daniel Solowey is 15 years old and a freshman at Pine View School. He has been playing the clarinet for four and a half years. Daniel’s private teachers are Bharat Chandra, principal clarinet in the Sarasota Orchestra and Laura Stephenson, second clarinet in the Sarasota Orchestra. Daniel attended the Sarasota Orchestra Summer Music Camp for three years and also attended the Luzerne Music Center in up-state New York last summer. Daniel has been an All-State musician for three years and was first chair clarinet in All-State band and orchestra, respectively, for the last two years. He is also an ambassador for PeaceJam, an organization devoted to inspiring young people to become involved in world peace through meeting with Nobel Peace Laureates. Daniel would love to study music performance at a school like the Curtis Institute or Juilliard.

When did you first start playing an instrument? What drew you to music/your instrument?

I first started playing the piano around age five, but wanted to try something new. Both my parents play in the Sarasota Orchestra, and that is what first involved me in music. After the piano, I began to grow interested in the saxophone, but the music store clerk advised me to start on the clarinet.

What was it like when you learned you were going to be a soloist with "Thrill of a Lifetime"?

On stage that afternoon, I just felt like I needed to thank everyone who listened to me play, even though it was only the judges who had any say in the competition.

What's your favorite part about being a musician? How has music enhanced or impacted your life?

I like being able to play the music itself, and that I can express exactly what I'm feeling with absolutely no words at all, just through music.

Thrill of a Lifetime will take place Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 7:30pm in Neel PAC. For tickets and more information about this special concert, click here!

André DeGrenier is currently a junior at Booker High School and studies with George Nickson, principal percussionist in the Sarasota Orchestra. Some of André’s career highlights as a percussionist include attending the Interlochen Arts Camp this past summer, receiving multiple superior ratings at Solo and Ensemble, as well as performing with the Tri-State Band Festival this past December as a principal player. At Booker, he takes part in a multitude of ensembles from jazz band, to playing in the pit for musicals, to being a featured soloist in the program as a part of the Shinning Stars Honors Ensemble.

In his free time he composes a wide variety of music. André plans to pursue a career in percussion performance, working towards winning a job to play in a professional orchestra or performing as a soloist around the world.

When did you first start playing an instrument? What drew you to music/your instrument?

When I was 12 years old, I was always inspired by the visual aspect of percussion.

What was it like when you learned you were going to be a soloist with "Thrill of a Lifetime"?

It was amazing. It had been a dream of mine ever since I started playing to perform with a full orchestra.

What are your longterm plans? Will music be a part of your life as you grow older?

I plan to major in percussion performance, on composition, playing and writing music for the rest of my life. Hopefully, I'll be able to play in an orchestra or as a soloist.

What will you be playing at the upcoming concert with the Sarasota Orchestra? How are you feeling about the opportunity?

I’ll be playing Sejourne’s Tempo souple from the Marimba Concerto. I'm thrilled for this opportunity!

Thrill of a Lifetime will take place Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 7:30pm in Neel PAC. For tickets and more information about this special concert, click here!