Many years ago, Gustav Mahler and another composer were traveling by train across the Alps when Gustav turned to his friend and said, “ Don’t bother looking at the view; I have already composed it.”
Music from around the globe varies as much as languages do, and manyofus can identify the country where a composition was written before we can name the composer who wrote it. You can’t separate the composer from his background. For the next two weeks Exploring Music will present sounds from composers’ backyards and hear their journaling voyages to distant lands: from the birdcallsin the Amazon jungle expressed by Brazilian composers, to the distant bells ringing as a composer approaches a safe harbor. Listen, for example, to Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s famous PinesofRome, and then travel with him to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he wrote Brazilian Impressions, an orchestral suite with strange and beautiful sounds.
Playlist
Vaughan Williams: Songs Of Travel, ”The Vagabond”
Bryn Terfel, b. Malcolm Martineau, pn
DG 4778429
3:14
Jacques Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call)
I.Rome-Palermo: Calme, ll.Tunis-Nefta: Modéré très rythmé
III. Valencia: Animé
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Münch, c.
RCA 61500
15:19
Heitor Villa-Lobos:Symphony No. 6 “On the Outline of the Mountains of Brazil”
I. Allegro non troppo; III. Allegretto quasi animato; IV. Allegro
Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra/ Karabtchevsky, c.
Naxos 8.573043
16:29
Edward Elgar: In Smyrna
David Golub, pn.
Arabesque Z6706
5:12
Claude Debussy: L’Isle Joyeuse, L 106
Zoltán Kocsis, pn
Philips 422404
6:12
Samuel Akpabot: 3 Nigerian Dances:
I. Allegro Moderato; II. Andante Cantabile; III. Allegretto
Nat’l Symphony Orchestra Of The South African Broadcasting Corp./ Cock
Marco Polo 8.223832
2:44; 5:43
Tan Dun: Through The Bamboo Forest
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma
Sony 93927
4:20
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 “Italian”
II. Andante con moto
VI. Saltarello: Presto
Marlboro Festival Orchestra;Pablo Casals
Sony 46251
14:01
Joseph Canteloube: Chants D’Auvergne
1. La Pastoura Als Camps; 2. Pastourelle
3. Lo Fiolairé (excerpt); 4. Baïlèro
English Chamber Orchestra/Jeffrey Tate, c.
Kiri Te Kanawa, s.
London 002013002
12:53; 2:46
William Walton: Touch Her Soft Lips And Part
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/ William Walton, c.
Bridge Records 9133
2:45
Walton Henry V: Agincourt Song
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Carl Davis:
EMI 47944
2:30
Bizet: L’Arlésienne Suite
I. Prelude; II.Pastorale; III. Carillon
London Symphony Orchestra , Claudio Abbado, c.
DG 4776350
6:45
Gioacchino Rossini: L’Italiana in Algeri: Overture
Chamber Orchestra of Europe & Claudio Abbado
DG 431653
7:47
Camille Saint-Saëns: Africa- Fantasy For Piano And Orchestra
Geoffrey Simon: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Cala 4031
11:10
Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson and Delilah
Act 2: Sc. 3, Mon Coeur S’Ouvre À Ta Voix
Act 3: Sc. 2, Danse Bacchanale
London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Colin Davis, c.
José Cura,t. Olga Borodina, s.
Warner 000302309
12:39
Vincent D’Indy: Symphony on a French Mountain Air, Op. 25,
I. Assez lent-moderement anime-allegro; II. Assez Modéré, Mais Sans Lenteur (excerpt); III. Animé (excerpt)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Marek Janowski, c.
Catherine Collard, piano
Apex 749809
10:20, 1:02, 2:31
Frederick Delius: The Song Of A Great City
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham
Naxos 8.110904
21:37
Wild Bill Davis: ‘Azure-Te’
Karrin Allyson
Itunes
6:35
Edgar “Yip” Harburg & Vernon Duke: April In Paris (1956 Version)
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Itunes
6:32
Edgar “Yip” Harburg & Vernon Duke: April in Paris
Count Basie and His Orchestra
Itunes
3:50
Hector Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
Charles Münch & Boston Symphony Orchestra
RCA 708280
8:07
Franz Liszt: ll. Aux Cyprès De La Villa d’Este
Müza Rubackyté, piano
Doron Music 0675754037574
6:53
Franz Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage (Troisième Année: Rome)
Les Jeux D’eau a La Villa D’Este
Andre Watts
EMI 64599
7:48
Ottorino Respighi:Fontane di Roma – II The Triton Fountain At Morning
Riccardo Muti: Philadelphia Orchestra
Warner 45316
2:35
Ottorino Respighi:Pini di Roma
I. Pini di Villa Borghese; II.Pini presso una catacomba
III. Pini del Gianicolo; IV Pini Della Via Appia
Philadelphia Orchestra/ Riccardo Muti
Warner 45316
22:09
