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Domenico Scarlatti Biography
Biography of composer Domenico Scarlatti, one of the greatest harpsichordists of all-time.
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757), born in Naples, was an Italian Baroque composer and a harpsichord virtuoso. He was the son of renowned composer Alessandro Scarlatti. Domenico spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. Although classified chronologically as a Baroque composer, his music was influential in the classical style development.
Domenico is featured as a secondary character in José Saramago’s Nobel Prize winning novel Baltasar and Blimunda.
Both father and son composed in various musical forms although today Domenico Scarlatti is best known for his harpsichord sonatas.One of the most celebrated harpsichordist of his time, his 550 single-movement sonatas or esercizi (exercises) is considered his best composition. Read the full article —> Domenico Scarlatti
Scarlatti: Stabat Mater
Youtube Video credit:
Domenico Scarlatti: Stabat mater. Uploaded by pitonisa62. Accessed 17 April 2012.
Thanks to Penelope Pappas for sharing this video at Facebook
Note: This post was originally posted Oct 26, 2008. It’s been updated, including the video, April 17, 2012.
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Johann Joachim Quantz – Flutist and Composer
Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
German Flutist, Composer and Teacher
Johann Joachim Quantz was born on January 30, 1697 in Oberscheden, Germany. A professional flutist, composer to and teacher of Frederick the Great, his compositional media were in chamber music, choral and books. He was a writer on music.
In 1718, he joined the Polish chapel of Augustus III as an oboist, and working mainly in Dresden. He later turned to the transverse flute.
In 1724-1727, he went on a European tour, and settled as a member of the Dresden court Chapel after the tour. A year later, he became the flute teacher of the young Prince Frederick, whom he served from 1740, by then as Frederick the Great.
Quantz was best known for his flute compositions. His works are over 200 sonatas for flute and contnuo, more than 50 trio sonatas and over 300 concertos for the flute. He also wrote some solo flute pieces, duets, and other songs. His work, containing elements of French and Italian, reflect the transition from late Baroque to early classical style.
Quantz died in Potsdam, Germany, on July 12, 1773.
Source:
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan Press, 1994
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Ignacy Jan Paderewski Biography and Music
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941)
Polish composer, pianist, diplomat and statesman. He was the second Prime Minister of Poland.
Born: Kurylowka, Poland, 6 November 1860
Died: New York, 29 June 1941
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was an outstanding Polish musician who began composing at the age of six. He was an internationally acclaimed pianist, and the only musician to head a government. In 1936-38, he supervised publication of Chopin’s complete music. He was made president of the Polish National Council in Paris in 1940.
Paderewski studied at Warsaw Conservatory (1872-78) becoming a pianoforte teacher there (1879-83). In 1884, he studied in Vienna until 1887 and debuted in Vienna the same year.
Paderewski – Composer
He became celebrated in Europe and the USA as an interpreter of Chopin’s music. He composed the exciting Polish Fantasy (1893) for piano and orchestra, and the romantic ‘Polonia’ Symphony (1903-1909).
Up to 1899 he wrote mainly pianoforte solos including the “Tatra Album” (1885) based on songs and dances of the Polish Tatra mountain-dwellers. In the 1890s, he composed a violin sonata, the six Humoresques de Concert for pianoforte, and the Polish Fantasy for pianoforte and orchestra.
Considered his masterpiece is the tragic opera Manru (1897-1900), presented in Dresden (1901) and NY Met (1902). From 1903, he wrote more sonatas and songs.
Paderewski – Statesman, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Patriotic, he worked tirelessly for the Polish cause during the First World War (1914-1918). In 1919 when Poland became independent, he became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the first government, then retired a year later after some political disagreements, but became Poland’s delegate to the League of Nations (1920-21).
Paderewski – Piano Performances for War Victims and other Good Causes
In 1922, he resumed his recitals, raising large amounts of money for war victims. He sponsored several competitions and established scholarships such as $10,000 trust fund for US-born composers in 1900. In 1936 he appeared in the film “Moonlight Sonata.”
Paderewski married twice. He died in NY, and pending liberation, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but reburied in Warsaw with a state funeral (1992). He was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1925.
Credit to YouTube and uploads by deviantrake, I found Paderewski’s 3-part Fantaisie Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra Op. 19. Thomas Tirino is on the piano with the Polish National Radio.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Fantasie Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra Op.19 PART 1 of 3 – Thomas (Pianist)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Fantasie Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra Op.19 PART 2 of 3 – Thomas (Pianist)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Fantasie Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra Op.19 PART 3 of 3 – Thomas (Pianist)
YouTube Video Sources:
Paderewski’s Fantasie Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra Op. 19
References:
- The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie. Macmillan (1994)
- The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Allison Latham. Oxford University Press (2002)
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Violinist Joshua Bell at D.C. Metro Station and the Chain Email
Famous Violinist Joshua Bell performs at the Washington D.C. Metro subway incognito.
A chain email on Joshua Bell’s performance at L’Enfant’s Plaza Metro station lives on after four years.
Violinist Joshua Bell
Since early 2007 to this day, 3rd of September 2011, a chain email has proliferated about American virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performing incognito at Washington D.C. Metro station. The message is a lesson on our perception, taste, and attitude.
Well, after four years, the latest from this chain email I got was just the other day, Sept 2. A friend meant well in sending it, to share I’m sure.
The email forward claims that violinist Joshua Bell performed incognito at a metro station in Washington D.C. playing on a violin worth millions of dollars but his performance received very little interest from passersby.
On January 12, 2007, at 7:51 a.m., Joshua Bell performed incognito at a metro station in an experiment. The moment was a morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six beautiful violin pieces, some 1,097 people almost all of them on the way to work passed by.
(It should be noted that contrary to what the chain email claims in which all musical pieces he played were Bach’s, they were not!)
Joshua Bell emerged from the Metro at the L’Enfant Plaza station, positioning himself against a wall beside a trash basket. This area is at the nucleus of federal Washington, with work force mostly mid-level bureaucrats and other professionals, from policy analysts and project managers to specialists and consultants.
Bell appeared as a young man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. Removing his violin from a small case, he opened the case at his feet, throwing in few dollars and pocket change as seed money.
Bell began to play. To any avid classical music lover, aside from his brilliant performance, his repertoire is simply exquisite, including Bach‘s Chaconne, Schubert‘s Ave Maria, Ponce’s Estrellita, and that ever poignant Meditation de Thais by Massenet. (Truth be told, I have listened to the audio many times, and still do mainly for personal reasons.)
This is a true story. Violinist Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
The experiment raised several questions, among them:
- In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
- If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
- Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
Searching on the web for more insights of this test, I found this link, an interesting, provocative and insightful analysis of the matter, and various reactions through the comments: Famous Violinist Joshua Bell Plays at Metro Station.
For those interested in listening to violinist Bell’s Metro performance, listen to: Audio of Joshua Bell’s Full Metro Performance. (There is few seconds of adverts, please wait.) Audio by John W. Poole. Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell plays incognito for commuters in a Washington D.C. Metro station.
For an engaging article by Gene Weingarten, Washington Post staff writer, read: Pearls Before Breakfast by Gene Weingarten. Washington Post Magazine Online.
Dear readers, I leave this post to your own perceptions, tastes and priorities. Meanwhile, allow me to enjoy Joshua Bell’s repertoire once again.
Photo Courtesy:
Joshua Bell by Alexduff, Wiki Commons. Retrieved 3 Sept 2011.
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