TDCM: December 30th - Ernest Bloch

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)

Bio

Swiss-born to Jewish parents, Bloch moved around Europe studying composition before moving across the Atlantic and eventually naturalizing into the United States and settling in Oregon. Studied in Brussels, at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, in Paris, in Geneva, and eventually held several posts in various American Conservatories including San Francisco, Cleveland, the Mannes School, and the Music Academy of the West. At the end of his life was named a Professor Emeritus at Berkley. 

Music

America, an Epic Rhapsody

Helvetia

Piano Quintet No. 1

String Quartet No. 1

Symphony in C-sharp minor

Symphonie Israël

Violin Concerto

Suites for Solo Cello Nos. 1, 2, & 3

TDCM: December 29th - Marc Blitzstein

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964)

Bio

A child prodigy whose first composition was produced at age seven, Blitzstein attended Philadelphia University before studying with Boulanger in Paris and Schoenberg in Berlin. Primarily a stage composer, Blitzstein was also an outspoken music critic and political activist. He was summoned to the HUAC trials and admitted membership in the Communist Party but was released without public testimony. He was murdered in Martinique at the age of 58.

Music

String Quartet Italian

Piano Sonata

Piano percussion music

Serenade for String Quartet

Scherzo Bourgeois at Play

The Airborne Symphony (playlist)

TDCM: December 28th - Sir Arthur Bliss

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)

Bio

Sir Bliss was born in London, studied at Pembroke and the Royal College under greats such as Stanford, Vaughan-Williams, and Holst. Fought in the 1st World War, was at the Somme & Cambrai, and was wounded in combat. Traveled to America several times and worked as the Overseas Musical Director for the BBC. Was knighted and succeeded Sir Arnold Bax as the Master of the Queen's Musick. Received a litany of honors and awards including honorary MusD degrees from Edinborough, London, Cambridge, and Bristol Universities.

Music

A Colour Symphony

Checkmate

Sonata for Viola and Piano

Meditations on a Theme of John Blow

Things To Come (arr. by Palmer)

Metaphoric Variations

Cello Concerto

Piano Concerto in B-flat major

Music for Strings

TDCM: December 17th - David Blake

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

David Blake (b. 1936)

Bio

Blake was born in London and served in Hong Kong before returning to England to study music at Gonville and Caius College. He received the Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied in East Berlin at the GDR Akademie de Künste. He returned to England and was awarded the Granada Arts Fellowship joined Willfried Mellers and Peter Aston as the founding members of the York University Department of Music. He taught there for 25 years and is currently a member of their board. 

Music

Variations for Piano

Violin Concerto: I. Lento molto, notturnale - Allegro deciso

Violin Concerto: II. Presto - Notturnale

In Praise of Krishna (Playlist)

Icarus

Cannot find any remaining music of his on YouTube. He has composed several chamber works, solo works, and choral pieces.

TDCM: December 15th - Boris Blacher

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Boris Blacher (1903-1975)

Bio

A German national born in a Russian-speaking town in Manchuria, Blacher eventually traveled to Berlin to study architecture and mathematics. He was the director of composition at Dresden but was fired and briefly accused of writing "degenerate music" by the Nazis. He returned to Berlin after the War and held posts at the Berlin Hochschule. He traveled to the US and around the world lecturing and composing. He had many famous pupils some of whom no doubt will be in the dictionary.

Music

Symphonie

Streichquartette

Cello Concerto

Poeme für grosses Orchestra

Dance Scenes La Vie

Violinkonzert

Piano Concerto No. 2

TDCM: December 13th - Georges Bizet

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Bio

Born to musicians, Bizet studied at the Paris Conservatory under Gounod and Halévy. He married the latter's daughter and taught piano in Paris while composing. Made waves as a teenager and then solidified his status as a master composer in his thirties.    

Music

Symphony in C

Symphony No. 2 Roma

Carmen Suites 1 & 2

L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1 & 2

Carmen

Overture in A

Petite Suite Jeux d'enfants

TDCM: December 10th - Sir Harrison Birtwistle

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Sir Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934)

Bio

The second living member of the dictionary thus far, Harrison Birtwistle studied at Royal Manchester College of Music and was the Director of Music at Cranborne Chase School. He then studied further at Princeton. He was the musical director at the Royal National Theater, was knighted, and was the Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King's College. He is a Companion of Honor and has received a number of awards included the Grawemeyer Award and Ernst von Siemens Prize.    

Music

Harrison's Clocks

An imaginary landscape

Tragoedia

Nomos

Notes from the End of a Garden

The Mask of Orpheus

The Triumph of Time

...AGM...

Earth Dances

Melancolia I

Theseus Game

TDCM: December 9th - Franz Berwald

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Franz Berwald (1796-1868)

Bio

A lost Swede composer, Berwald ran an Orthopaedic center in Vienna for several years but closed it in 1841. Had no formal training but was taught violin by his father and published his compositions in a journal he created, the Musikalisk journal. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm but in general, his musical career was a failure during his life.    

Music

Symphony No. 3 Sinfone singulière

Symphony No. 2 Sinfonie capricieuse

Piano Concerto in D-Major

Symphony No. 1 Sinfonie sérieuse

Five Tone Poems for Orchestra

Symphony No. 4 Sinfonie naïve

String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor

TDCM: December 8th - Leonard Bernstein

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Bio

Leonard Bernstein was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 1939. He studied at the Curtis Institute and then the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. He was Koussevitsky's assistant and then Rodzinski's with the New York Symphony Orchestra. He eventually took over and in 1969 was named the Laureate Conductor for Life by the NYSO. He won 11 Emmys, a Tony, 17 Grammys, the Lifetime Achievement Grammy, and the Kennedy Center Honor. In many ways, he is the epitome of the celebrity conductor.   

Music

Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety

Symphony No. 1 Jeremiah

Symphony No. 3 Kaddish

Dybbuk

Candide Overture

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Mass

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

TDCM: December 7th - Lord Berners

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Lord Berners (1883-1950)

Bio

The 14th Baron Berners, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson was an English socialite and notorious eccentric. He was an accomplished writer, publishing several novels and four autobiographies. He attended Eton and composed avant-garde music with noted influences from Stravinsky (who he met), Casella, and others. He served in the diplomatic service and was stationed in Constantinople and Rome. 

Music

Caprice Peruvien

Les Sirenes

Triumph of Neptune Suite

A Wedding Bouquet

Luna Park: The Four Niches

Trois Morceaux

Fantasie Espagnole

Fugue in C Minor

TDCM: December 6th - Hector Berlioz

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Bio

The son of a doctor, Berlioz went to Paris to study medicine but did not enjoy it. He instead attended the Paris Conservatory and was a master guitarist and flutist. He entered the Grand Prix de Rome several times and finally won on his fifth attempt. He made his money as a critic and traveling conductor. France did not accept his music during his lifetime and he died in isolation. 

Music

Symphonie Fantastique

L'Enfance du Christ

Requiem

Harold en Italie

TDCM: December 3rd - Michael Berkeley

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Michael Berkeley (b. 1948)

Bio

Lord Berkeley is Sir Lennox Berkeley's oldest child. He attended Westminster Cathedral Choir School and studied under his father, Richard Rodney Bennett, and Benjamin Britten. He is a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of East Anglia. He is also a life peer and has received some notoriety for his pro-Children legislation. 

Music

Winter Fragments

Into the Ravine

Concerto for Orchestra

Gethsemane Fragment

Concerto for Cello and Small Orchestra

Funerals and Fandango

TDCM: December 1st - Sir Lennox Berkley

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)

Bio

Berkeley was born near Oxford and studied at Merton College. He met Ravel and went to Paris, studying there with Nadia Boulanger. He was friends with Poulenc, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Honegger, and Roussel among other notables. He worked for the BBC, was the President of the Performing Rights Society, was awarded CBE, and knighted. He had an immense influence on a generation of composers included men we've listened to already such as Richard Rodney Bennett and David Bedford. He earned a litany of honors and awards including the Collard Fellowship, the Cobbett Medal, the Ordre de Merite Cultural from Monaco, the Composer of the Year from the Composers' Guild, and the Papal Knighthood of St Gregory. He was also the President of the Cheltenham Festival and a member of the Royal Academy in Belgium.    

Music

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 4

Sinfonia Concertante Op. 84

Trio, Op. 44

Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, Op. 88

Symphony No. 3

Serenade for String Orchestra Op. 12

Divertimento

Sonatina for Guitar

String Quartet No. 1

TDCM: November 30th - Luciano Berio

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Luciano Berio (1925-2003)

Bio

Berio was the son of two musicians born in Oneglia Italy. He wore a uniform in WWII but was incidentally injured and mustered out. He had to give up piano because of the injury and between that transition and the influence of Stravinsky began to experiment widely in the realm of electronic music. He was made an honorary member of the Royal Academy and taught at Julliard, Harvard, and eventually the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilla in Rome where he was the Presidente and Sovrintendente.   

Music

Sequenza XII for Bassoon

Sequenza IXb for Alto Saxophone

Stanze

Ekphrasis

Sinfonia

Sequenza II for Solo Harp

Circles

Folk Songs

Epifanie

TDCM: November 29th - Alban Berg

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Alban Berg (1885-1935)

Bio

Austrian composer Alban Berg studied with Schoenberg in his twenties. Berg served in World War I for the Austrians but suffered from ill-health. He became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts but his music was banned by the Nazis.  

Music

Violin Concerto

Chamber Concerto

Lyrische Suite

Lulu

TDCM: November 23rd - Sir Richard Bennett, CBE

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Richard Bennett (1936-2012)

Bio

British composer who, like Bedford, studied with Lennox Berkley at the Royal Academy. Was brought to Paris on scholarship and studied with Boulez. Was awarded the Arnold Bax Award, the Ralph Vaughn Williams Award, and was appointed CBE and knighted. At the time the Dictionary was published was teaching at the Peabody Institute, 45 years of age. 

Music

Symphony No. 1

Sonata for Piano

Sonata for Guitar

Concerto for Stan Getz

Partita for Orchestra

Concerto for Trumpet & Wind Orchestra

Concerto for Orchestra

Percussion Concerto

Music for Strings

Elegy for Viola & Orchestra

Gormenghast 

Sonata for Soprano Saxophone and Piano

Sonatina

Symphony No. 3

Murder on the Orient Express

Four Piece Suite for Two Pianos

Conversations for Two Saxophones

Symphony No. 2

TDCM: November 22nd - Arthur Benjamin

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960)

Bio

Australian composer who traveled to London and studied at the Royal College of Music. After World War I, Arthur was a piano teacher in Australia and then traveled back to London where his compositions earned him the Carnegie Award and the Cobbett Medal.

Music

Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra

Symphony No. 1

Romantic Fantasy

Viola Sonata

Concertino for Piano and Orchestra

Cotillon Suite

Overture to an Italian Comedy

Drifting

Scherzino for Piano

Caribbean Pieces for two pianos

From San Domingo

Le Tombeau de Ravel

Not much of Benjamin's work is on YouTube. So, for the rest of the day, I will be listening to Beethoven Symphonies. 

TDCM: November 19th - Vincenzo Bellini

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)

Bio

Son of a composer, Bellini was raised around music and at an early age moved to Naples to study at the Conservatorio. Wrote several Operas there before settling in Milan for a few years. Traveled to London and Paris and was made a Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur. Killed by a stomach ailment at just 33 years old.

Music

Norma

Bianca and Fernando

La Sonnambula

TDCM: November 18th - Ludwig van Beethoven

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Bio

'Ol Beef-oven, doesn't really need an introduction does he? Perhaps the most well-known classical composer in world history, the famously deaf German studied under the court organist at Hanover. He was briefly tutored by Mozart and studied under Haydn. Transformed music. 

Music

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica"

Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale"

Symphony No. 5

Violin Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer"

Rage Over a Lost Penny

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major "Waldstein"

Piano Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata"

Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Minor "Hammerklavier"

TDCM: November 16th - David Bedford

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

David Bedford (1937-2011)

Bio

Bedford studied with Lennox Berkley at the Royal Academy and was influenced by Schoenberg. Has branched into many genres including pop, rock, jazz, and classical. At the completion of the Dictionary, he was 48 years old. He was the composer in residence at Queen's College and the Chairman of the Performing Rights Society. 

Music

Requiem

Balloon Music 1

The Wreck of the Titanic

Ronde for Isolde

Recorder Concerto 5th Movement

Recorder Concerto 1st Movement

You Asked For It

The Sun Paints Rainbows Over the Vast Waves

With 100 Kazoos

Hergest Ridge

Twelve Hours of Sunset

Wind Music of David Bedford (Album)

Song of the White Horse (Song starts at 24 min mark)

Tubular Bells

Symphony No. 1: Introduction - I. Allegro

TCDM: November 15th - Amy Beach

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Amy Beach (1867-1944)

Bio

Concert pianist and composer, her 'Gaelic' Symphony is considered the first concert symphony ever composed by an American woman. Traveled the world as a pianist with acclaim for both a standard repertoire and debuting her own music. Is also considered one of the first exclusively American composers with zero European training. Listed among the Boston Six.

Music

Symphony in E minor, Op. 32 "Gaelic"

Four Sketches Op. 15

Variations on Balkan Themes Op. 60

Piano Concerto

Piano Quintet, Op. 67

Quartet for Strings Op. 89

Les Rêves de Colombine

Prelude and Fugue Op. 81

Violin Sonata, Op. 34

TDCM: November 12th - Arnold Bax

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Arnold Bax (1883-1953)

Bio

Irish composer who received honorary Doctorates from Oxford, Durham, and Eire. Knighted and awarded the Victorian Order. He and his brother Clifford were also playwrights. Arnold wrote under the pseudonym Dermot O'Byrne.

Music

Tintagel

Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 5

Symphony No. 6

Symphony No. 3 in C

Symphony No. 2 in E minor and C major

Symphony No. 1 in E flat

November Woods

The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew

Enchanted Summer

TCDM: November 11th - Béla Bartók

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Bio

Prominent Hungarian pianist and ethnomusicologist, Bartók studied and then taught at the Budapest Academy of Music. He traveled the world as a successful concert pianist and eventually settled in the United States. He wrote extensively on folk music, on the cultural differences found in music, and is considered one of the two greatest Hungarian composers, next to Franz Liszt. 

 

Music

Microcosmos, Part I, II, & III

Concerto for Orchestra

Violin Concerto No. 2

The Wooden Prince, Op. 13, Sz. 60

Symphony in E flat major DD 68, BB 25

The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73

Thanks!

TDCM: November 10th - Samuel Barber

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Bio

2x Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer and Prix de Rome winner. Barber studied in Philadelphia and held a Guggenheim Fellowship. His earliest composition to achieve notoriety was published in 1929 and he remained relevant well into his 60s.

Music

Adagio for Strings

Violin Concerto Op. 14

I. Un poco adagio - Allegro con sprito

II. Andante con moto

III. Dance - Allegro giocoso

The School for Scandal, Op. 5

Music for a Scene from Shelley, Op. 7

Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: I. Allegro ma non troppo

Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: II. Allegro molto

Symphony No. 1, Op. 9: III. Andante tranquillo

Adagio for Strings, Op. 11

First Essays for Orchestra, Op. 12

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Presto in motor perpetuoso

Second Essay, Op. 17

Commando March

Funeral March

Symphony No. 2, Op. 19: I. Allegro ma non troppo

Symphony No. 2, Op. 19: II. Andante, un poco mosso

Symphony No. 2, Op. 19: III. Presto, senza battuto - Allegro risoluto

Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: I. Allegro ma non troppo

Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: II. Allegretto

Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: III. Allegro con brio

I. Allegro moderato

II. Andante sostenuto

III. Molto allegro e appassionato

Horizon

I. Parados

II. Choros. Medea and Jason

III. The Young Princess. Jason

IV. Choros

V. Medea

VI. Kantikos Agonias

VII. Exodos

Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a

Thanks for listening!