Hank Reynolds
Part, O Adonai The second installment of our O Antiphons for Advent comes from the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935). Pärt’s restrained and deeply spiritual approach is rooted in medieval chant and also the low-register sonorities of Russian choral music. He joined the Eastern … Read more
Vulc, O sapientia In this Advent season, I plan to feature various settings of the O Antiphons for our Friday Performance Picks. The seven “Great O Antiphons” represent some of the most enduring texts of Advent. Composers have turned to these texts from at least … Read more
Chabrier, España The music of French composer Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) was a strong influence on composers Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Francis Poulenc, and is considered by some to be a major factor in the early modern music. Gustav Mahler referred to España, today’s performance … Read more
Ravel, Piano Concerto in G Major We have an in-depth treatment of Maurice Ravel (1875-1837) in our Composer Showcase, in which we feature many representative works along with information about the man and his times. But even though “in-depth,” we necessarily had to pick and … Read more
Finzi, Channel Firing Last November, around Veteran’s Day, we featured several works that dealt with World War I. George Butterworth’s 1911 setting of Housman’s The Lad’s in Their Hundreds presaged the death of so many, including Butterworth himself. We also featured Ivor Gurney’s In Flanders … Read more
Boulanger, Complete Works for Solo Piano This week’s performance pick presents all of the solo piano works by Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), her Prelude in D-flat major (1911), Trois Morceaux (1914), and Theme and Variations (1915). Lili’s older sister, Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979), became perhaps the foremost … Read more
Saint-Saëns, Morceau de concert “Morceau de concert” simply denotes a concert piece. The French morceau can refer to portion of something, like a bit of food, or morsel. Camille Saint-Saëns (dates) composed this piece, originally called a Fantasie, in 1891 for the horn player Henri … Read more
Lecuona, Mazurka in Glissando This short encore performed by the Cuban pianist Jorge Luis Prats provides a good opportunity to discuss the concert encore in general. The word simply means “again” in French, but in the concert setting, it is universally understood to be a … Read more
Lalo, Symphonie espagnol It seems that some of the best Spanish music, or more accurately some of the best-known, was written by French composers. Bizet’s Carmen may be the best example, but there is also Ravel’s Rhapsodie espagnol, Debussy’s Ibéria, and today’s featured work Symphonie … Read more
Bach, Lute Suite No. 1, BWV 996 The first question that arises when talking about one of Bach’s Lute Suites is whether in fact Bach wrote any suites for lute. That doesn’t mean that Bach didn’t write this suite (he did, around 1712), but rather … Read more