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Issue no. 2 FEBRUARY 2016

The SINFONIA MUSIC Group

issues

IN THIS ISSUE

Giuseppe Verdi

Dido and Aeneas

Radetzky March

Pierre Boulez

CONCERTO D’ELEGANZA REVIEW

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IN THIS ISSUE

4 — featured composer G. Verdi

7 — OPERA OF THE MONTH

Opera Dido and Aeneas

8 — review

Concerto d’Eleganza

10 — Vella Cordina Music Libraries suggest…

Radetzky March

12 — A Tribute to Composer Pierre Boulez

Welcome note!

To feature any articles or any material in relation to the classical music scene please do not hesitate to

send your work to info.sinfoniamusicgroup@gmail.com and it will be

published for FREE on The Sinfonia Music Group Issues. Each email with material shall include basic information (Full Name, ID-Number, Postal Address,

Email Address, Contact Number) of the writer/creator.

N.B: This information will remain strictly confidential.

A month have passed since our first issue was published, and new here we are for our second; and what a month has passed! As you know, last month was a very busy one for Sinfonia Music Group due to that it have held its annual event; CONCERTO D’ELEGANZA on the 23rd January 2016, in fact we are exclusively publishing the director’s (which is me) review for this event, here in this very issue, on pages 8 and 9. A good set of photographs accompany the review and where all voluntarily offered by Mr. Jeanclaude Mifsud. As we did on the first issue, this month we also picked a composer for the opening article; ‘Featured Composer’ and this month’s is VERDI, sided with the composer’s funeral photos. Also this month’s article is followed by a cartoonish painting of Verdi. For another issue, which we may suggest that we will keep, this month’s issue ‘Opera of the Month’ is Henry Purcell’s DIDO AND AENEAS. Many readers have approached us with positive comments regarding the article; ‘Vella Cordina Music Libraries Suggest…’ a then still experimental section, and therefore we have thought to include again this article in this issue, on the same guidelines of the previous issue, and therefore on page 11 you shell find also a sheet music extract. This month, we are suggesting the RADETZKY MARCH!. Unfortunately, as much of you may know, the 5th day of the past January (January 2016), was a day of sorrow for all the classical traditional world, we lost a great contemporary composer, and conductor, aged 91, PIERRE BOULEZ. For this the publishing team of this issue have thought to dedicate pages 12, 13, 14, and 15, for this great with a tribute, note only to him and his life, but also the memorabilia we still have by him; his top recommended discs. Lastly, I hope that for another time you find this second issue at your ease!

Mro. Mario Vella Cordina ATCL, AmusTCL, DipLCM

General Director at Sinfonia Music Group.

www.mariovellacordina.blogspot.com.mt

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Featured composer

1813-1901

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Giuseppe Verdi was born near Busseto in Italy. He had church organists as his first music teachers, but later, merchant Antonio Barezzi sponsored his further studies. But, at 18 years, he was too old to enter the Milan Conservatory and instead shifted to private tuition. In In April 1836, he was appointed Busseto’s music master, weeks later marries Barezzi’s daughter; Margherita. His first opera; Oberto was premiers in La Scala in Milan during November 1839. Margherita died in June 1840, leaving Verdi with two sons. In 1842, with Nabucco, his fortune changed; his career was actually began. During the next 17 years, Verdi wrote over 20 operas for theatres in Italy, London, and Paris. In Paris, he met Soprano Giuseppina Strepponi who with whom he fell in love. They finally married in 1859. By now, Verdi was considered a national treasure. Having supported Italy’s fight for liberation, he agreed to

serve as a deputy in the Turin Parliament after the unification of 1861. He started to devote more time to a farm he has bought near Busseto. Verdi continued to write operas, but, his publisher; Ricordi, hired a new librettist for Verdi; Arrigo Boito. The partnership worked and opera publishing and production continued. Nearly 80years old, when his final opera; Falstaff was presented Verdi as considered as a secular deity. His death fall on the 27th of January 1901. about 20,000 mourners attended the funeral and suung; Va Pensiero from his opera Nabucco.

“ I adore art!

When I am alone, with my notes;

my heart pounds and the tears

stream from my eyes, and my

emotions and my joys are to much

to bear. ”

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OPERA OF THE MONTH

‘ D i D o a n D a e n e a s ’ Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) was an English composer. Although incorporating Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, Purcell's legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music.

Dido and Aeneas is England’s operatic crowning glory. It is the only major work of music theatre in English before the opera of Benjamin Britten, in the 20th century. Henry Purcell integrated the dances devoured in French opera, and followed Italian fashion by dwelling on arias. But, he broke new ground with his treatment of lyrics and action. The opera was publicly given in 1700, but only entered the repertoire in 1895. The earliest known performance of the opera dates from 1689, when girls performed it at their school in Chelsea under headmaster Josias Priest, also choreographer to the Theatre Royal in London. Dido’s Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is one of the greatest laments ever composed and it is not the first time that it is used as an extract from this opera as a concert piece which stands on its own.

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Director’s

REVIEW The concert hall at the Gozo Ministry, Victoria, is a quite popular venue with classical-passionate patrons, due that throughout the year it hosts various such activities. On Saturday 23rd January 2016, it hosted Concerto d’Eleganza, a classical concert fully organized by Sinfonia Music Group. The event commenced at 19:30hrs and was at a free of charge admittance. The music was performed by Sinfonia Music Group’s Da Camera Ensemble, the section within the enterprise responsible in such events of classical intimate settings. For this event Da Camera Ensemble was included three musicians; flute, pianoforte, and percussion. The musical direction was under my responsibility ; Mro. Mario Vella Cordina, the General Director and Musical Director at Sinfonia Music Group. The repertoire was made up four musical numbers; two from the second half of the 19th century and the other two from the present century. The first musical performance was a premier of an original composition by me entitle; Three Nocturnes with a Postlude. This piece, the version performed during this concert was an ensemble

version of the same work which originally I have composed for pianoforte solo to the start of the previous year. The 12 minutes and over composition was the showpiece of the concert strangely enough playing it as the first number. But I did that with a scope; I knew that the audience will be ones that are more eased to conventional sound, something that my music is far away from, so I

wanted to open the evening with a punch! And I must say that the idea worked because as patrons commented (some directly to me as the concert finished), they were shocked with my contemporary piece but were please with the idea that this original work was followed by a more, lets say, normal musical number. But, to close over my piece, I am very satisfied, as its composer, that the expressions of grief, anger, and surprisingly contemplation have reached the audience, expression which I tried to put in the composition. To say it all, Three Nocturnes with a Postlude was a very challenging piece for the

musicians to play due to its irregular time divisions and atonality, typical of me. The musical number that followed was the popular On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II. That is why in the formerly I say ‘ followed by a more normal number’, because this piece is one of the most famous piece ever written. Its waltz style, relaxed, contrasted with

the momentum created by the piece which preceded it. I have chosen to perform the full composition by Strauss II (the 1867 version) obviously as an ensemble arrangement, and not the 2 minutes version which is

more popular in other concert programmes. No particular reason headed this decision other that that I respect the original composers’ ideas; Strauss II had written it in 5 variations so I performed it in 5 variations, maybe its because I am a composer too? Those patrons who follow Sinfonia Music Group and perhaps have attended the event I have organized at St. Augustine Church, Victoria, last March (March 2015) entitled; Anima Christi, may know that during that event Da Camera Ensemble have performed a composition by Asian composer Toshio Masuda. It was an

experiment to introduce our local audience to the eastern sound. At Anima Christi the experiment worked, and so when I was compiling this programme for Concerto d’Eleganza I have thought to move on the same steps. From the asian genre I have chosen this time a collection by South Korean composer Lee Ru-Ma, better known with his stage name Yiruma. A collection of three songs from his 2001 album; First Love. The three songs are; Kiss the Rain, Maybe, and River Flows in You. From the musical aspect, this number was the second challenging for the musicians after my composition. Although it uses key signature, still the sound is atonal and theoretically the key signature does not effect melodies and harmony. Being less the 4 minutes long each, the songs are easy to perform seperatly, if you want and this is what was done with Kiss The Rain which was used as the encore of this concert. The last piece was Jules Massenet’s Meditation from the 1898 opera Thais. The version that I chose to perform was more of an adaptation than an arrangement. The violin solo part was transposed to a flute solo, the harp to a pianoforte, and a feather percussion beat was added in the background. Although quite

away from the original, this piece was also positively welcome by the audience. I personally liked this piece and its intimate sound ideal for an ensemble performance but to say it all I should have substituted it with some other piece if I knew that from the time that the programme was compiled till the night of the performance it will end up as the closing piece, sincerely I think it was too relaxed for an ending-number, but after all it is a meditation, it should be too-relaxed!. On a general last note, I, as Sinfonia Music Group’s General Director and Musical Director, am very satisfied with the organization of this event, and with the participation of all the those people who have took part in some way or another during this event, and would like to thank publicly all the patrons who attended and showed interest and supported me and my enterprise.

“I wanted to open the evening with a

punch!”

(Mro. Mario Vella Cordina ATCL, AmusTCL, DipLCM)

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The concert hall at the Gozo Ministry, Victoria, is a quite popular venue with classical-passionate patrons, due that throughout the year it hosts various such activities. On Saturday 23rd January 2016, it hosted Concerto d’Eleganza, a classical concert fully organized by Sinfonia Music Group. The event commenced at 19:30hrs and was at a free of charge admittance. The music was performed by Sinfonia Music Group’s Da Camera Ensemble, the section within the enterprise responsible in such events of classical intimate settings. For this event Da Camera Ensemble was included three musicians; flute, pianoforte, and percussion. The musical direction was under my responsibility ; Mro. Mario Vella Cordina, the General Director and Musical Director at Sinfonia Music Group. The repertoire was made up four musical numbers; two from the second half of the 19th century and the other two from the present century. The first musical performance was a premier of an original composition by me entitle; Three Nocturnes with a Postlude. This piece, the version performed during this concert was an ensemble

version of the same work which originally I have composed for pianoforte solo to the start of the previous year. The 12 minutes and over composition was the showpiece of the concert strangely enough playing it as the first number. But I did that with a scope; I knew that the audience will be ones that are more eased to conventional sound, something that my music is far away from, so I

wanted to open the evening with a punch! And I must say that the idea worked because as patrons commented (some directly to me as the concert finished), they were shocked with my contemporary piece but were please with the idea that this original work was followed by a more, lets say, normal musical number. But, to close over my piece, I am very satisfied, as its composer, that the expressions of grief, anger, and surprisingly contemplation have reached the audience, expression which I tried to put in the composition. To say it all, Three Nocturnes with a Postlude was a very challenging piece for the

musicians to play due to its irregular time divisions and atonality, typical of me. The musical number that followed was the popular On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II. That is why in the formerly I say ‘ followed by a more normal number’, because this piece is one of the most famous piece ever written. Its waltz style, relaxed, contrasted with

the momentum created by the piece which preceded it. I have chosen to perform the full composition by Strauss II (the 1867 version) obviously as an ensemble arrangement, and not the 2 minutes version which is

more popular in other concert programmes. No particular reason headed this decision other that that I respect the original composers’ ideas; Strauss II had written it in 5 variations so I performed it in 5 variations, maybe its because I am a composer too? Those patrons who follow Sinfonia Music Group and perhaps have attended the event I have organized at St. Augustine Church, Victoria, last March (March 2015) entitled; Anima Christi, may know that during that event Da Camera Ensemble have performed a composition by Asian composer Toshio Masuda. It was an

experiment to introduce our local audience to the eastern sound. At Anima Christi the experiment worked, and so when I was compiling this programme for Concerto d’Eleganza I have thought to move on the same steps. From the asian genre I have chosen this time a collection by South Korean composer Lee Ru-Ma, better known with his stage name Yiruma. A collection of three songs from his 2001 album; First Love. The three songs are; Kiss the Rain, Maybe, and River Flows in You. From the musical aspect, this number was the second challenging for the musicians after my composition. Although it uses key signature, still the sound is atonal and theoretically the key signature does not effect melodies and harmony. Being less the 4 minutes long each, the songs are easy to perform seperatly, if you want and this is what was done with Kiss The Rain which was used as the encore of this concert. The last piece was Jules Massenet’s Meditation from the 1898 opera Thais. The version that I chose to perform was more of an adaptation than an arrangement. The violin solo part was transposed to a flute solo, the harp to a pianoforte, and a feather percussion beat was added in the background. Although quite

away from the original, this piece was also positively welcome by the audience. I personally liked this piece and its intimate sound ideal for an ensemble performance but to say it all I should have substituted it with some other piece if I knew that from the time that the programme was compiled till the night of the performance it will end up as the closing piece, sincerely I think it was too relaxed for an ending-number, but after all it is a meditation, it should be too-relaxed!. On a general last note, I, as Sinfonia Music Group’s General Director and Musical Director, am very satisfied with the organization of this event, and with the participation of all the those people who have took part in some way or another during this event, and would like to thank publicly all the patrons who attended and showed interest and supported me and my enterprise.

(Mro. Mario Vella Cordina ATCL, AmusTCL, DipLCM)

Photos:

Jeanclaude Mifsud

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VELLA CORDINA MUSIC LIBRARIES...

...suggest…

J. Strauss’s

Radetzky March

Radetzky March, Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to the Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz and soon became quite popular among regimented marching soldiers. It has been remarked that its tone is more celebratory than martial; Strauss was commissioned to write the piece to commemorate Radetzky's victory at the Battle of Custoza.

For the trio, Strauss used an older folk melody called "Alter Tanz aus Wien“ or "Tinerl-Lied“ (Tinerl was a popular singer of the day) which was originally in 3/4 time. When Radetzky came back to Vienna after winning the battle of Custoza (1848), his soldiers were singing the then-popular song. Allegedly Strauss heard this singing and incorporated the melody, converted to 2/4 time, into the Radetzky March.

When it was first played in front of Austrian officers, they spontaneously clapped and stamped their feet when they heard the chorus. This tradition, with quiet rhythmic clapping on the first iteration of the melody, followed by thunderous clapping on the second, is kept alive today by audience members who know the custom when the march is played in classical music venues in Vienna. The march is almost always played as the last piece at the Neujahrskonzert (New Year's Concert) of the Vienna Philharmonic. The orchestra did not play the Radetzky March on 1 January 2005, because of overwhelming losses due to the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean a few days before.

Johann Strauss (Sr) was an Austrian Romantic composer. He was famous for his waltzes, and he popularized them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty.

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Boulez Pierre

1925-2016

Boulez was known for having directed most of the world's leading symphony orchestras and ensembles since the late 1950s. His rhythmic precision, achieved with only his hands without the use of a baton, combined with his acute tonal discernment to engender many orchestral legends.

Boulez was particularly famed for his polished interpretations of 20th century classics , as well as for numerous performances of contemporary music. Clarity, precision, rhythmic agility and a respect for the composers' intentions as notated in the musical score are the hallmarks of his conducting style. Boulez also conducted opera productions and made several recordings of opera. Boulez has been called an articulate, perceptive and sweeping writer on music. He wrote on questions of technique and aesthetics in a reflective and sometimes elliptical manner. During the war and for a number of years following the Liberation, Boulez performed in various capacities on the piano and allied keyboard instruments, often as a "supplemental" musician in orchestral works with choirs and soloists. This activity not only provided him with income, but also gave the young artist the opportunity of meeting and working with important personalities of the time.

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Boulez was known for having directed most of the world's leading symphony orchestras and ensembles since the late 1950s. His rhythmic precision, achieved with only his hands without the use of a baton, combined with his acute tonal discernment to engender many orchestral legends.

Boulez was particularly famed for his polished interpretations of 20th century classics , as well as for numerous performances of contemporary music. Clarity, precision, rhythmic agility and a respect for the composers' intentions as notated in the musical score are the hallmarks of his conducting style. Boulez also conducted opera productions and made several recordings of opera. Boulez has been called an articulate, perceptive and sweeping writer on music. He wrote on questions of technique and aesthetics in a reflective and sometimes elliptical manner. During the war and for a number of years following the Liberation, Boulez performed in various capacities on the piano and allied keyboard instruments, often as a "supplemental" musician in orchestral works with choirs and soloists. This activity not only provided him with income, but also gave the young artist the opportunity of meeting and working with important personalities of the time.

"There are countless stories of him detecting, for example, faulty intonation from the third oboe in a complex orchestral texture", The New York Times

TOP THREE RECOMMENDED DISCS:

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