TDCM: December 12th - Frank Martin

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Frank Martin (1890-1974)

Bio

Martin was born to Huguenots in Geneva. His father was a pastor and he was raised around church music. He studied math at Geneva University and composition with Joseph Lauber. He moved around Europe but eventually settled back in Geneva, founded the Chamber Music Society of Geneva, and taught at the University.  

Music

8 Preludes for the Piano

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Concerto for seven wind instruments, timpani, percussion, and string orchestra

Petite symphonie concerante

Quatre Pieces Breves for Quitar

Erasmi Monumentum

Ballade for Flute and Piano

TDCM: December 9th - Luca Marenzio

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Luca Marenzio (1553-1599)

Bio

Marenzio was likely born near Brescia. He sang at Rome in the employ of a few Cardinals while composing madrigals. His prowess as a composer and lutenist grew and he was hired by Ferdinando I de' Medici in Florence for a spell and then returned to Rome and had an apartment in the Vatican. His final patron was Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland. 

Music

Super flumina Babylonis

Madrigal Madness

L'Amoroso & crudo stille

TDCM: December 8th - Gian Francesco Malipiero

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973)

Bio

Malipiero was born in Venice, the grandson of composer Francesco Malipiero. He studied in Venice, Italy, and Berlin and was acquainted with many of the significant composers of his day including Bruch, Ravel, Debussy, Falla, Schoenberg, Casella, d'Aunnunzio, Stravinsky, and Berg. He, Casella & d'Annunzio formed the Corporazione delle Nuovo Musiche to support composition in Italy. Malipiero tried to stay in Mussolini's good graces but was unsuccessful.  

Music

Sinfonia del silenzio e della morte

Symphony No. 4 "In Memoriam Almeida"

San Francesco d'Assisi

Pause del silenzio I & II

Chamber Compositions - Riccardo Malipiero, his nephew

TDCM: December 6th-7th - Gustav Mahler

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Bio

Gustav Mahler was born in Kaliště in modern-day Czechia, then a part of the Austrian Empire. Mahler showed some musical promise and entered the Vienna Conservatory as a teenager. Mahler was influenced by Bruckner and Wagner at the Conservatory. He had a long and storied career as a conductor and Opera-master eventually being appointed the director of the Vienna Court Opera by Franz Joseph I while also composing very successfully. His prowess as a conductor and massive output resulted in one of the most impactful careers in classical music history.

Music

Symphony No. 1 in D

Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 5

Symphony No. 6

Symphony No. 7

Symphony No. 8

TDCM: December 5th - Elizabeth Maconchy

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)

Bio

Elizabeth Violet Maconchy was born in Hertfordshire to Irish parents. She grew up in Ireland and began her studies in Dublin. She moved to London and attended the Royal College of Music studying under Charles Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams. She finished her education in Prague and then returned to England for a very successful composing career. 

Music

Symphony for Double String Orchestra

Serenata Concertante for Violin and Orchestra

String Quartet No. 1

Nocturne for Orchestra

Romanza for Viola & Orchestra

String Quartet No. 3

TDCM: December 2nd - Guillaume de Machaut

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Guillaume de Machaut (c1300-1377)

Bio

Guillame de Machaut was born near Rheims. He served in the court of John I, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, and traveled with him around Europe. After John's death at Crécy, Machaut served several other patrons including Charles V, Duke of Normandy, and Charles II of Navarre. His legacy is as significant in poetry as it is in music.

Music

Sacred and Secular Selections

TDCM: December 1st - Edward MacDowell

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)

Bio

Edward Alexander MacDowell was born in New York to parents of Scottish descent. He was trained in the violin and piano as a child and showed skill. He was admitted into the Paris Conservatory and then continued his studies at the Conservatory in Frankfurt. He impressed Franz Liszt there and his career began to flourish. He returned to the States and taught at Columbia University until his health broke.

Music

Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor

Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor

Woodland Sketches

Orchestral Suite No. 2 "Indian"

Orchestral Suite No. 1

Piano Sonata No. 4 "Keltic"

Sea Pieces

Fireside Takes