Flora and Fauna
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Einojuhani Rautavaara —Cantus Arcticus Op. 61 "Concerto for Birds and Orchestra" 1972
Visuals by Liz Gill Neilson (view some of the slides from the piece)
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Cantus Arcticus, op. 61, is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. It was written in 1972, and is probably his best-known work.
Subtitled Concerto for Birds and Orchestra it incorporates tape recordings of birdsong recorded near the Arctic Circle and on the bogs of Liminka in northern Finland.
The work is in three movements: The bog opens with a flute duet, after which the other woodwinds join in, followed by the birds. The second movement, Melancholy, features a slowed-down recording of the song of the shore lark. The final movement, Swans migrating, takes the form of a long crescendo for orchestra, with the sounds of whooper swans, before both birdsong and orchestra fade, as if into the distance.
Cantus Arcticus was commissioned by the University of Oulu for its first doctoral degree ceremony.
From Wikipedia
Saint-Saens—Carnival of the Animals, 1886
Text by Peter Schickele
Andrew and Alexander Scott, Pianists (see biography below)
Jim Bock, Narrator
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piece
Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The orchestral work has a duration between 22 and 30 minutes.
Le carnaval was composed in February 1886 while Saint-Saëns was vacationing in a small Austrian village. It was originally scored for a chamber group of flute/piccolo, clarinet (B flat and C), two pianos, glass armonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is usually performed today with a full orchestra of strings, and with a glockenspiel substituting for the rare glass harmonica.
Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer, suppressed performances of it and only allowed one movement, Le cygne, to be published in his lifetime. Only small private performances were given for close friends like Franz Liszt.
Saint-Saëns did, however, include a provision which allowed the suite to be published after his death, and it has since become one of his most popular works. It is a favorite of music teachers and young children, along with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. In fact, it is very common to see any combination of these three works together on modern CD recordings - a handy tool for class work.
There are fourteen movements:
- I Introduction et marche royale du lion (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)
Strings and two pianos: The introduction begins with the pianos playing a bold tremolo, under which the strings enter with a stately theme. The pianos play a pair of scales going in opposite directions to conclude the first part of the movement. The pianos then introduce a march theme that they carry through most of the rest of the introduction. The strings provide the melody, with the pianos occasionally taking low runs of octaves which suggest the roar of a lion, or high ostinatos. The movement ends with a fortissimo note from all the instruments used in this movement.
- II Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters)
Strings without cello and double-bass, two pianos, with clarinet: This movement is centered around a pecking theme played in the pianos and strings, which is quite reminiscent of chickens pecking at grain. The clarinet plays small solos above the rest of the players at intervals.
- III Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild Asses; quick animals)
Two pianos: The animals depicted here are quite obviously running, an image induced by the constant, feverishly fast up-and-down motion of both pianos playing scales in octaves.
- IV Tortues (Tortoises)
Strings and piano: A slightly satirical movement which opens with a piano playing a pulsing triplet figure in the higher register. The strings play a maddeningly slow rendition of the famous 'Can-Can' from Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, as mentioned below.
- V L'éléphant (The Elephant)
Double-bass and piano: This section is marked Allegro pomposo, the perfect caricature for an elephant. The piano plays a waltz-like triplet figure while the bass hums the melody beneath it. Like "Tortues," this is also a musical joke - the thematic material is taken from Felix Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hector Berlioz's Dance of the Sylphs. The two themes were both originally written for high, lighter-toned instruments (flute and various other woodwinds, and violin, accordingly); the joke is that Saint-Saëns moves this to the lowest and heaviest-sounding instrument in the orchestra, the double bass.
- VI Kangourous (Kangaroos)
Two pianos: The main figure here is a pattern of 'hopping' fifths preceded by grace notes
- VII Aquarium
Strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, and glass harmonica: This is one of the more musically rich movements. The melody is played by the flute, backed by the strings, on top of tumultuous, glissando-like runs in the piano. The first piano plays a descending ten-on-one ostinato, while the second plays a six-on-one. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the glass harmonica — often played on celesta or glockenspiel—are evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium. According to British music journalist Fritz Spiegl, there is a recording of the movement featuring virtuoso harmonica player Tommy Reilly - apparently he was hired by mistake instead of a player of the glass harmonica.
- VIII Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with Long Ears)
Two violins: This is the shortest of all the movements. The violins alternate playing high, loud notes and low, buzzing ones (in the manner of a donkey's braying "hee-haw").
- IX Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)
Two pianos and clarinet: The pianos play large, soft chords while the clarinet plays a single two-note ostinato, over and over; a C and an A flat, mimicking the call of a cuckoo bird. Saint-Saens states in the original score that the clarinetist should be offstage.
- X Volière (Aviary)
Strings, piano and flute: The high strings take on a background role, providing a buzz in the background that is reminiscent of the background noise of a jungle. The cellos and basses play a pick up cadence to lead into most of the measures. The flute takes the part of the bird, with a trilling tune that spans much of its range. The pianos provide occasional ping and trills of other birds in the background. The movement ends very quietly after a long ascending scale from the flute.
- XI Pianistes (Pianists)
Strings and two pianos: This movement is a glimpse of what few audiences ever get to see: the pianists practicing their scales. The scales of C, D flat, D and E flat are covered. Each one starts with a trill on the first and second note, then proceeds in scales with a few changes in the rhythm. Transitions between keys are accomplished with a blasting chord from all the instruments between scales. After the four scales, the key changes back to C, where the pianos play a trill-like pattern in thirds while the strings play a small part underneath. This movement is unusual in that the last three blasted chords do not resolve the piece, but rather lead into the next movement, with a pattern similar to the chords that lead from the second to the third movements of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.
- XII Fossiles (Fossils)
Strings, two pianos, clarinet, and xylophone: Here, Saint-Saëns mimics his own composition, the Danse macabre, which makes heavy use of the xylophone to evoke the image of skeletons playing card games, the bones clacking together to the beat. The musical themes from Danse macabre are also quoted; the xylophone and the violin play much of the melody, alternating with the piano and clarinet. The piano part is especially difficult here - octaves that jump in quick thirds. Allusions to "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (better known in the English-speaking world as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), the French nursery rhymes "Au clair de la lune" and "J'ai du bon tabac", the popular anthem Partant pour la Syrie as well as the aria Una voce poco fa from Rossini's Barber of Seville can also be heard. The musical joke in this movement is that the musical pieces quoted are the fossils of his time.
- XIII Le cygne (The Swan)
Two pianos and cello: This is by far the most famous movement of the suite, often performed solo and is used to showcase the interpretive skills of the cellist. The lushly romantic cello solo (which evokes the swan elegantly gliding over the water) is played over rippling sixteenths in one piano and rolled chords in the other (representing the swan's feet, hidden from view beneath the water, propelling it along).
- XIV Finale
Full ensemble: The finale opens on the same tremolo notes in the pianos as in the introduction, which are soon reinforced by the wind instruments, the glass harmonica and the xylophone. The strings build the tension with a few low notes, leading to glissandi by the piano, then a pause before the lively main melody is introduced. This movement is somewhat reminiscent of an American carnival from the middle of the 20th century, with one piano always maintaining a bouncy eighth note rhythm. Although the melody is relatively simple, the supporting harmonies are ornamented in the style that is typical of Saint-Saëns' compositions for piano; dazzling scales, glissandi and trills. Many of the previous movements are quoted here from the introduction, the asses, hens, and kangaroos. The work ends with a strong group of C major chords.
from Wikipedia - Learn More
About Alexander and Andrew Scott
Alexander and Andrew Scott, brothers born 20 months apart, have enjoyed growing up in the Walla Walla Valley. Both began piano lessons at the age of four with the same wonderful teacher, Debra Bakland.
After weighing several options Alexander decided to remain in the valley for college and is now a sophomore history major at Walla Walla University. He studies cello with Benjamin Gish and has enjoyed being a part of the University string quartet and orchestra. As much as he loves music, Alex is considering a career in public service. He hopes to start learning about public policy and governance by getting involved in local politics even before finishing college. Meanwhile, when he can find a few free minutes you can usually find him playing pick-up basketball.
Andrew is completing his senior year at Walla Walla Valley Academy, where he serves as first semester president of the student body and editor of the newspaper. He studies violin with Dr. Amy Dodds and enjoys the position of concertmaster with the academy orchestra. An avid athlete, he also enjoys playing varsity soccer and basketball. For college Andrew hopes to return to his native New York (he was born in Rochester), where he plans to study history and economics.
Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 in F Major "Pastoral" 1808
Learn more about Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major (Op. 68), known as the Pastoral Symphony, was completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works of program music, the symphony was labeled at its first performance with the title "Recollections of Country Life".
Beethoven was a lover of nature who spent a great deal of his time on walks in the country. He frequently left Vienna to work in rural locales. He was, however, not the first composer of his time to depict nature symphonically; for example, Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons, premiered in 1802, likewise portrayed the loveliness of nature, dancing peasants, a thunderstorm, bird calls, and so on. Beethoven did not write another oratorio, but a symphony, and thus escaped from the overly-literal character that a libretto would have imposed. As the composer said, the Sixth Symphony is "a matter more of feeling than of painting in sounds", and the same point is made in the title he attached to the first movement (see below).
The first sketches of this symphony appeared in 1802. The symphony has programmatic titles; Beethoven remarked, "It is left to the listener to find out the situations ... Anyone that has formed any idea of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composer’s intentions."
The Pastoral Symphony was composed simultaneously with Beethoven's more famous—and more fiery—Fifth Symphony. It was premiered along with the Fifth in a long and somewhat under-rehearsed concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, on December 22, 1808. There was little critical response to the premiere performance, but eventually the work has become one of the central works of the symphonic repertoire. It is a favorite of many listeners and is frequently performed and recorded today.
from Wikipedia - Read More about this symphony on Wikipedia
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