In case you didn’t know American serial and electronic music composer Milton Babbitt died last Friday, January 31, 2011.  I felt in necessary to pay tribute.  Milton was born May 10, 1916 in Philly to Albert Babbitt and Sarah Potamkin, and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.  At the age of four Milton began studying the violin, but later moved to clarinet.

When Milton went to UPenn he followed in his father’s footsteps and studied mathematics, however he changed his mind and left to study music at NYU.  While studying music he became very interested in the Second Viennese School, and wrote some articles on 12-tone music.

In 1948 Milton joined the music faculty at Princeton and in 1973 he became a member of the famous Julliard School.  When 1964 came around he composed Philomel, one of my favorite pieces of music and probably one of his best-known works.  A serial composition it combines synth with live and recorded soprano voice.

There are three sections to Philomel and they are based on Ovid’s myth of Philomela.  Philomela is a maiden without the ability to speak escapes for King Tereus and transforms into a nightingale.  I hope you enjoy Philomel.

Well, well, well the 2011 Oscar nominations are in and if you haven’t checked them out you should (Oscar Nominations).  There is a fantastic selection of films this year, one of which gives a huge shout out to a one of the great composers of all time, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovshy, 1840-1893.  I’m sure you can guess the film I’m referring to, it stars a certain Natalie Portman, who is nominated for best Actress in a Leading Role.  Yes, I’m talking about “Black Swan,” directed by Darren Aronofsky and nominated in five categories, including Directing.  I know I should probably focus on the Music nominations, but it is rare a film involving such a great composer is presented to audiences, that I thought I would seize the opportunity.

Composing operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber music, and songs, Tchaikovsky was the leading Russian composer of the nineteenth century.  After studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky had a wonderful career as a composer; he was one of a handful of composers able to make a living solely as a composer.  Some of his great successes are his piano concertos, Violin Concerto, and his last three symphonies: No.4 in F minor; No.5 in E minor; and No.6 in B minor, the Pathétique.

While Tchaikovsky is known in the erudite music community for his different genres of music, I feel he is best known to a broader audience for this ballets, including The Nutcracker (1892), The Sleeping Beauty (1889), and Swan Lake (1876).  Since I am making this blog post because of “Black Swan” I thought it appropriate to write about the ballet, which is presented in the film, Swan Lake.

Written between 1875 and 1876, Swan Lake is the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by the malicious sorcerer, von Rothbart.  Price Siegfried, who ran away because he cannot marry for love, comes across Odette on a lake in the forest.  Discovering the curse upon Odette, swan by day, transforming into a woman at night, Siegfried falls in love.  Love, possessing the power to break the spell on Odette, von Rothbart disguises his own daughter Odile as a swan, identical to Odette in every way, but instead she wears black.  While at a ball for the Siegfried he dances with Odile and confesses his love for her to the court, fooled into thinking she is Odette.  Learning his mistake Siegfried runs to the lake where he finds Odette and is forgiven for his error.  Unfortunately, Siegfried’s pledge to Odile cements the spell and it cannot be broken.  In order for Siegfried and Odette to stay together they take their lives, jumping into the lake and drowning.  As you can tell it is a very dramatic ballet.

The original production of Swan Lake was in four acts and was choreographed by Julius Reisinger.  The premiere was held on February 20, 1877 at the Bolshoi Thertre in Moscow with the title The Lake of the Swans.  The portion of the ballet in this post is the Pas de deux with Siegfried and Odile, the black swan (this is the part when von Rothbart fools Siegfried and Siegrfied presents Odile to the court as the one he loves).

I though it appropriate, since Chinese fever swept through the news media last week with the coming of Chinese President Hu Jintao to America, to do a post on a Chinese composer.  Through my random Wiki selection process I selected Nie Er (聂耳).

Nie Er, 1912-1935, was born in Kunming, but it is important to note that his ancestors are from Yuxi, Yunnan.  Now, the reason why Mr. Er is important to China and music is because he wrote the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China, March of the Volunteers.

In Nie Er’s short life he wrote a total of 37 pieces, all just two years before he died, and most reflecting the working class.  A violinist, he played with the “Mingyue Musical Drama Society” and in 1934 he became a manager at the Baak Doi record company.  Tragically, in 1935 Er drowned while swimming in Japan, some suspecting that he was killed.

Please enjoy March of the Volunteers by Nie Er.

Composed in 1945, Korngold wrote this work after retiring from film scoring.  During WWII and, Hitler’s reign, Korngold gave up composing music other than film scores in order to support his family.  Post WWII this piece was the first non-film composition that Korngold wrote after some convincing by violinist Bronislaw Huberman. 

Although this piece was written following his film scoring career, in my opinion, it contains many film score elements.  Full of dramatic action it is much like music for an opera, or an “opera without singing” as Korngold once said when speaking about film scores.

Please enjoy listening to the concerto, the previous three posts contain recordings of all three movements.

Korngold, Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35

Movement I - Moderato nobile

Korngold, Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35

Movement II - Romanze

Korngold, Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35

Movement III - Allegro assai vivaceo