# the story behind the music



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

*Robert Schumann wrote in 1834-1835 a work for solo piano called Carnaval Op.9...*






The subtitle was Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes (Little Scenes on Four Notes).

The four notes are A S C H.

There were many musical cryptograms for it, with the main being the German name for the town of Asch, 
in which Schumann's then girlfriend Ernestine von Fricken, was born.
Also these are the only music letters in the name of Schumann.

The work consists of a collection of short pieces representing masked revelers at Carnival.
Carnaval, although it was always considered very difficult for the public, and has a unique technical and emotional approach, 
remains famous among pianists and has been performed widely.

_Schumann is known for the use of musical quotes and codes in his work. _

Carnaval has been orchestrated by many famous composers like Alexander Glazunov, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, Maurice Ravel and others.

A quite distinct piece.

*Interesting to listen to other stories behind the music, that you have to tell.*


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Thank you for the background of one of my favorite pieces.
Schumann was so complex!
I would have loved to share a beer with him over a long, long lunch. So many questions!

That album cover is one of my favorites from the Hamelin performance.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Shostakovich wrote the song cycle 'From Jewish Folk Poetry' in Summer 1948 after he found a collection of poems in the bookstall at a railway station. The poems are bleak and desperate (the first can be translated as _Lament for a dead child_, for instance) but they are written in a heartfelt, beautiful way and are truly glorious - especially as performed by the composer on piano with the glorious Zara Dolukhanova singing mezzo









The CD notes say: "Shostakovich never turned to the folk recordings of Jewish music ... (but) ... he succeeded in penetrating into the songfulness of Jewish speech as such with surprising keenness".


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Gustav Mahler lost two of his children to scarlet fever setting the stage for his highly personal Kindertotenlieder, Songs on the Death of Children based on poems by Friedrich Rückert. Four years after he composed this work he lost his 4 year old daughter too.

The fourth song in English begins:

"I often think: they have just gone out and now they will be coming back home.
The day is fine, don't be dismayed,
They have just gone for a long walk."

It pains me just to write these words.

I include the complete performance of Kindertotenlieder in a very moving performance with Janet Baker and Leonard Bernstein directing the Israel Philharmonic.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

As long as those who find the back-stories and the biographical details interesting do realize most of that _"is the story behind / aside / apart from the music,"_ and more often than not, that _it is not the story in the music_....


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*George Rochberg (July 5, 1918 - May 29, 2005)*

Rochberg, a champion of Serialism, abandoned the technique upon the death of son in 1964. He stated that serialism was devoid expressive intent as it had proved useless in expressing his grief and anger. His most recognized works are his String Quartets Nos. 3-6.

String Quartet No.5 (1978)


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Gustav Mahler lost two of his children to scarlet fever setting the stage for his highly personal Kindertotenlieder, Songs on the Death of Children based on poems by Friedrich Rückert. Four years after he composed this work he lost his 4 year old daughter too.


Correction: he lost two of his siblings in childhood. He also had a brother who committed suicide.

Mahler said he would never have been able to set the Kindertotenlieder after he experienced the loss of his own child.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

hpowders said:


> That album cover is one of my favorites from the Hamelin performance.


The album cover is the first thing in the post that struck me. 

I wonder who the artist is. Max Beckmann perhaps? If StLukesGuild is reading this thread, he will no doubt be able to tell us...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brianvds said:


> The album cover is the first thing in the post that struck me.
> 
> I wonder who the artist is. Max Beckmann perhaps? If StLukesGuild is reading this thread, he will no doubt be able to tell us...


No need. I will tell you.

It is called "Masquerade" from 1922 by Karl Hofer and hangs in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Correction: he lost two of his siblings in childhood. He also had a brother who committed suicide.
> 
> Mahler said he would never have been able to set the Kindertotenlieder after he experienced the loss of his own child.


Yeah. His daughter died 4 years after he composed Kindentotenlieder.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

hpowders said:


> No need. I will tell you.
> 
> It is called "Masquerade" from 1922 by Karl Hofer and hangs in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.


Well there you go. Thanks for the info!

Here's a large version:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

^^^^Wrap it up. I'll take it!!!!


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Yeah, reminds me of Picasso. Make me a copy.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> Yeah, reminds me of Picasso. Make me a copy.


You want it copied in black and white or in color for one Euro more. Cash or charge?


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

Nah, nice thread, but it's all about context, innit? I can play a simple C major scale over 4 octaves on my cello, and there you go - it's a boring scale. I can then recall the last time I heard my daughter play her 'cello, practicing her scales before she succumbed to cancer - the scales take on an extra 'import'. Suddenly, Haydn's Cello Concerto in C (replete with scale runs) takes on an extra 'edge'. It ain't in the notes, it's all in the head. (I hasten to add that I have just given a theoretical context, my daughter is alive and well and refusing to play her scales). The point I would like to make is that music has to stand on its own formal legs, but this is not to deny that it cannot (nor should not) refer obliquely across a cultural spectrum. For musics that are outside of the tonal narrative (for want of a better term), mimesis is one such entry point.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

hpowders said:


> You want it copied in black and white or in color for one Euro more. Cash or charge?


One Euro more for colour? Ok, it's a deal.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

clara s said:


> *Robert Schumann wrote in 1834-1835 a work for solo piano called Carnaval Op.9...*
> 
> The subtitle was Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes (Little Scenes on Four Notes).
> 
> ...


There is more discussion on Schumann's _Carnaval_ in this thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/2595-robert-schumann.html

especially from posts 41 thru to about 78.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Short Story about Rachmaninov in 2 pictures..










^^ Inspired Rachmaninov to write 'The Isle of the Dead'










^^ Didn't inspire Rachmaninov to write anything


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> One Euro more for colour? Ok, it's a deal.


I'll store it 'til I see you.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Thank you for the background of one of my favorite pieces.
> Schumann was so complex!
> I would have loved to share a beer with him over a long, long lunch. So many questions!
> 
> That album cover is one of my favorites from the Hamelin performance.


I could arrange for a dinner, so that you will meet with Robert hahaha

the album cover is impressive

yes, the Masquerade


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> Shostakovich wrote the song cycle 'From Jewish Folk Poetry' in Summer 1948 after he found a collection of poems in the bookstall at a railway station. The poems are bleak and desperate (the first can be translated as _Lament for a dead child_, for instance) but they are written in a heartfelt, beautiful way and are truly glorious - especially as performed by the composer on piano with the glorious Zara Dolukhanova singing mezzo
> 
> View attachment 37521
> 
> ...


very nice this

Shostakovich was touched by the specific poetry

now you reminded me of one of my favourite poets Anna Akhmatova,

who wrote this poem "Music", dedicated to Shostakovich
aand this is whatmusic really is

It shines with a miraculous light
Revealing to the eye the cutting of facets.
It alone speaks to me
When others are too scared to come near
When the last friend has turned his back
It was with me in my grave
As if a thunderstorm sang
Or all the flowers spoke.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

clara s said:


> Anna Akhmatova, wrote this poem "Music", dedicated to Shostakovich
> 
> It shines with a miraculous light
> Revealing to the eye the cutting of facets.
> ...


Ha! It was seeing a magnolia starting to flower today and thinking of the Shostakovich I heard last might that lled me to start a thread on 'flowers for a composer' - but Magnolia and Shostakovich didn't seem to match for me ... and I couldn't think what would suit him

Thanks for sharing the poem - I didn't know it, but it is very good :tiphat:


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

PetrB said:


> As long as those who find the back-stories and the biographical details interesting do realize most of that _"is the story behind / aside / apart from the music,"_ and more often than not, that _it is not the story in the music_....


when the music's over, turn out the light

for the music is your special friend,

till the end...

with or without behind sories


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I think its amazing that after suffering the deaths of his wife and 2 children that Verdi was able to compose the first of his 2 comic operas, Un Giorno di Regno.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> Ha! It was seeing a magnolia starting to flower today and thinking of the Shostakovich I heard last might that lled me to start a thread on 'flowers for a composer' - but Magnolia and Shostakovich didn't seem to match for me ... and I couldn't think what would suit him
> 
> Thanks for sharing the poem - I didn't know it, but it is very good :tiphat:


let me think

for Shostakovich, the best flower to suit, is the blue rose

a mystery that can not easily be revealed

a flower to be dedicated to a complex personality like him

Anna Akhmatova is one of the greatest russian poets


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Rochberg, a champion of Serialism, abandoned the technique upon the death of son in 1964. He stated that serialism was devoid expressive intent as it had proved useless in expressing his grief and anger. His most recognized works are his String Quartets Nos. 3-6.
> 
> String Quartet No.5 (1978)


Alban Berg found no such constrictions when writing his masterly Violin Concerto, an in memoriam piece for the quite young deceased daughter of some close friends. The Rochberg citation should always be accompanied by citing the Berg, imo, IMO, too, parents suffering the intense grief of losing a child should not be held accountable for much of what they say for some years after that loss.


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