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Written by Darren Henley Darren Henley THE STORY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
CONTENTS Track List 2 Classical Music – from the notes on the page, through history, to performance today 30 Biographies: Darren Henley and Aled Jones 34 Aled Jones Feature 35 Historical Timeline 40
Acknowledgements and Credits 53 Other titles available from Naxos AudioBooks 55
For interactive material and excerpts, including pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and more, visit:
n-ab.com/socm Password: classicalsounds
2 1 The Story of Classical Music 2:14 Concerto: Duo seraphim from Vespers of the Blessed Virgin The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.550662–63 THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (600–1490) Franciscus Bossinensis (fl.1510) 2 The Year 600 – Music in Churches 2:06 Music featured: Music featured: Recercar Anonymous Christopher Wilson, lute 8.553694 Gregorian chant from the Proper of the Mass: Introitus – Adorate Deum Nova Schola Gregoriana; Turco 8.550711 THE BAROQUE PERIOD (1600–1750) 3 Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) 2:31 6 Into the 17th Century 3:04 Music featured: Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) O ignis spiritus Music featured: Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550998 Entrée from Ballet des plaisirs Aradia Baroque Ensemble; Mallon 8.554003 THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1490–1600) 4 Medieval to Renaissance 2:37 7 London 2:10 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6–1594) Henry Purcell (1659–1695) Music featured: Music featured: Missa Papae Marcelli Voluntary in G Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550573 Joseph Payne, organ 8.550718 5 The Birth of Opera 3:45 Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Kym Amps, soprano; The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.553108 Music featured: ‘Ecco pur ch’a voi’ from L’Orfeo Cappella Musicale di S Petronio di Bologna; Vartolo 8.554094–95
3 4 8 Germany 2:05 11 George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) 8:03 Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) Music featured: Music featured: Zadok the Priest Tallis Chamber Choir; Royal Academy Consort; Summerly 8.557003 Canon Anna Holbling, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Krcek 8.553221 Alla hornpipe from Water Music Capella Istropolitana; Warchal 8.550109 9 Italy 2:04 La Réjouissance from Firework Music Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1715) Capella Istropolitana; Warchal 8.550109 Music featured Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah Concerto grosso No. 8 ‘Christmas Concerto’ The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.550827 Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Müller-Brühl 8.551077 (Choral Masterpieces) 10 Germany 6:51 Presto from Recorder Sonata in G minor László Czidra, recorder; Zsolt Harsányi, bassoon; Pál Kelemen, cello; Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Zsuzsa Pertis, clavichord 8.550700 Music featured: 12 Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) 2:16 Toccata in D minor Wolfgang Rübsam, organ 8.550184 Music featured: Adagio in G minor Chorale: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden from St Matthew Passion Pavel Bogacz, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Edlinger 8.553221 Hungarian Festival Choir; Hungarian SSO; Oberfrank 8.553257 (Favourite Arias and Choruses) 13 Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) 4:30 Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Music featured: Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Müller-Brühl 8.554607 Spring from The Four Seasons Takako Nishizaki, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Gunzenhauser 8.550056 Air on the G string from Orchestral Suite No. 3 Capella Istropolitana; Dvorˇák 8.554043 Gloria in D major Oxford Schola Cantorum; Northern Chamber Orchestra; Ward 8.550767
5 6 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1750–1830) 19 Mozart’s great works 5:33 14 The Classical Period – An Explanation 1:56 Music featured: 15 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) 1:24 Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 Music featured: Capella Istropolitana; Sobotka 8.550026 Sinfonia No. 4 in G major Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’ Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra; Lee 8.553289 Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.550299
16 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) 1:33 Non più andrai from The Marriage of Figaro Andrea Martin, baritone; Donna Robin, soprano; Capella Istropolitana; Wildner 8.550435 Music featured: (Operatic Arias and Duets) Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467 Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra; Ostman 8.660064 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Concentus Hungaricus; Ligeti 8.550434 17 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) 6:21 Requiem Soloists; Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550235 Music featured: Symphony No. 94 ‘The Surprise’ Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331 Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550258 A Musical Joke Symphony No. 45 ‘Farewell’ Jeno´´ Keveházi, horn; Kodály Quartet 8.550437 Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja from The Magic Flute Symphony No. 101 ‘The Clock’ Andrea Martin, baritone; Donna Robin, soprano; Capella Istropolitana; Wildner 8.550435 Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 (Operatic Arias and Duets)
18 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) 5:21 Symphony No. 40 in G minor Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.550299
7 8
20 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) 4:22 24 Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840) 2:48 21 Beethoven’s great works 4:58 Music featured: Music featured: Caprice No. 24 in A minor Ilya Kaler, violin 8.550717 Symphony No. 5 Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553476 Violin Concerto No. 1 Ilya Kaler, violin; Polish NRSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550649 Piano Sonata in C sharp minor ‘Moonlight’ Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550294 25 Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) 2:04 Egmont Overture Music featured: Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550072 Overture to William Tell Zagreb Festival Overture; Michael Halász 8.556683 Symphony No. 1 Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553474 26 Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) 2:04 Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’ Music featured: Soloists; Nicolaus Esterházy Chorus; Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553478 Clarinet Concerto No. 2 Ernst Ottensamer, clarinet; Slovak SPO, Kosice; Wildner 8.550378 THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (1830–1900) 27 Franz Schubert (1797–1828) 4:48 22 Background History 2:22 Music featured: 23 The composer as a star 1:28 Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning-Wheel) Ruth Ziesak, soprano; Ulrich Eisenlohr, piano 8.554666
Piano Quintet in A major ‘Trout’ Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; István Tóth, double bass; Kodály Quartet 8.550658 Symphony No. 8, ‘Unfinished’ Slovak PO; Halász 8.550145
9 10 28 Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) 4:13 31 Franz Liszt (1811–1886) 2:02 Music featured: Music featured: Un bal from Symphonie fantastique Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8 San Diego Symphony Orchestra; Talmi 8.553597 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.554480 Dies irae from Requiem Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Elora Festival Orchestra; Edison 8.554494–95 32 Robert Schumann (1810–1856) 1:35 29 Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849) 4:58 Music featured: Piano Concerto in A minor Music featured: Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Budapest SO; Ligeti 8.550018 Nocturne in E Flat, Op. 9 No. 2 33 Clara Schumann (1819–1896) 1:33 Balász Szokolay, piano 8.550291 Music featured: Prelude in D Flat ‘Raindrop’ Romance, Op. 11 No. 1 Irina Zaritzkaya, piano 8.550291 Yoshiko Iwai, piano 8.553501
Piano Concerto No. 2 34 Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 4:32 István Szekely, piano; Budapest SO; Nemeth 8.550123 Music featured: 30 Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) 5:51 Intermezzo in C sharp minor Music featured: Idil Biret, piano 8.550354 Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Slovak PO, Bramall 8.554433 Academic Festival Overture Belgian Radio and Television PO, Rahbari 8.550281 Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Slovak PO, Bramall 8.554433 Piano Concerto No. 1 The Hebrides Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.553182 Slovak PO, Dohnányi 8.554433 Violin Concerto in E minor Takako Nishizaki, violin; Slovak PO; Jean 8.550153
11 12 35 Max Bruch (1838–1920) 2:39 Dies irae from Requiem Music featured: Soloists; Hungarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra; Morandi 8.550944–45 Violin Concerto No. 1 39 Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) 1:16 Takako Nishizaki, violin; Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550195 Music featured: 36 Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) 1:37 Can-Can from Orpheus in the Underworld Slovak SPO, Kosice; Walter 8.550468 Music featured: (Can-Can and Other Dances from the Opera) Symphony No. 4 ‘Romantic’ Royal Scottish NO; Titner 8.554128 40 The Waltz – The Strauss Family 4:18 37 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) 3:48 Johann Strauss I (1804–1849) Music featured: Music featured: The Ride of the Valkyries from The Valkyrie Kettenbrücke-Walzer Slovak RSO; Mund 8.550211 Tanzquartette Wien 8.555689 Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin Radetzky March Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Wildner 8.550507 Budapest Strauss Ensemble; Bogar 8.550900 38 Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) 4:13 Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) Music featured: Music featured: Anvil Chorus from Il trovatore The Blue Danube Strauss Festival Orchestra; Lenárd 8.550152 Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Dohnányi 8.550241 41 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) 4:42 Triumphal March and Chorus from Aida Music featured: Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Dohnányi 8.550241 The Carnival of the Animals Soloists; Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550335 La donna è mobile from Rigoletto Yordy Ramiro, tenor; Slovak RSO; Rahbari 8.554065
13 14 42 Léo Delibes (1836–1891) 1:04 47 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) 3:47 Music featured: Music featured: Coppélia The Flight of the Bumble-Bee (arr. B. Traubas) from Slovak RSO; Mogrelia 8.553356–57 The Tale of Tsar Saltan 43 Georges Bizet (1838–1875) 2:01 Vytautas Sondeckis, cello; Lithuanian CO; Geringas 8.554381 (Romantic Music for Cello and Orchestra) Music featured: Overture from Carmen Sheherazade Soloists; Slovak Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra; Rahbari 8.550727 Philharmonia Orchestra; Batiz 8.550726 44 Russia, the national voice and the ‘Mighty Handful’ 2:10 48 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) 5:16 45 Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) 1:25 Music featured: Music featured: The Sleeping Beauty In the Steppes of Central Asia Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.553271 Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051 Swan Lake 46 Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) 4:28 Slovak PO; Halász 8.553271 Music featured: The Nutcracker Pictures at an Exhibition Slovak PO; Halász 8.553271 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550044 Symphony No. 6 in B minor ‘Pathétique’ Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestrated Ravel) Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550782 Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051 Night on the Bare Mountain Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051
15 16 49 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky continued 3:33 52 England – Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) 3:29 Music featured: Music featured: Piano Concerto No. 1 Overture to HMS Pinafore Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550819 Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Penny 8.554165 1812 Overture ‘Now give three cheers’ from HMS Pinafore NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.555923 Soloists; D’Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra; Godfrey 8.110175
50 Antonín Dvorˇák (1841–1904) 2:58 53 France – Jules Massenet (1842–1912) 2:45 Music featured: Music featured: Slavonic Dance, Op. 46 No. 8 Meditation from Thaïs Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550143 János Selmeczi, violin; Camerata Transylvanica; Selmeczi 8.554682
Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ THE LATE ROMANTICS, IMPRESSIONISTS AND OTHERS Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550271 54 Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) 2:17 51 Norway – Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) 2:54 Music featured: Music featured: Pie Jesu from Requiem, Op. 48 Piano Concerto in A minor Oxford Schola Cantorum; Oxford Camerata, Summerly 8.550765 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Budapest SO; Ligeti 8.550118 Pavane, Op. 50 In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Slovak RSO; Clark 8.550088 CSFR State PO (Kosice); Gunzenhauser 8.551108 55 Claude Debussy (1862–1918) 2:42 Music featured: La Mer Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550262 Golliwog’s Cake Walk from Children’s Corner Idil Biret, piano 8.550885
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56 Spain – Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) 2:04 61 France – Paul Dukas (1865–1935) 1:26 Music featured: Music featured: El Puerto from Iberia The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Guillermo González, piano 8.554311 Slovak RSO; Jean 8.554463 57 0:45 Industrial progress 62 Erik Satie (1866–1925) 1:54 58 England – Edward Elgar (1857–1934) 5:25 Music featured: Music featured: Gymnopédie No. 1 Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 Klára Körmendi, piano 8.550305 English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553981 63 Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) 2:26 Cello Concerto Music featured: Maria Kliegel, cello; RPO; Halász 8.550503 Piano Concerto for the Left Hand Nimrod from Enigma Variations François-Joël Thiollier, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550753 English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553981 Boléro 59 Italy – Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) 4:09 RPO; Leaper 8.550501
Music featured: 64 Richard Strauss (1864–1949) 2:02 O soave fanciulla from La Bohème Luba Organasova, soprano; Jonathan Welch, tenor; Slovak RSO; Humburg 8.660003–04 Music featured: Also sprach Zarathustra Nessun dorma from Turandot Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550182 Thomas Harper, tenor; Slovak RSO; Halász 8.550497 65 Finland – Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) 2:05 60 Austria – Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) 1:53 Music featured: Music featured: Finlandia Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’ Iceland SO; Sakari 8.554265 Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550523–24
19 20 66 England – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) 3:06 70 Russia – Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) 3:23 Music featured: Music featured: Fantasia on Greensleeves The Sacrifice from The Rite of Spring New Zealand SO; Judd 8.555867 BRT Philharmonic, Brussels; Rahbari 8.550472 The Lark Ascending The Firebird English Northern Philharmonia; Lloyd-Jones 8.553955 Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.554060
67 Gustav Holst (1874–1934) 2:05 71 Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) 6:04 Music featured: Music featured: Jupiter from The Planets Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet NSO of Ukraine; Mogrelia 8.553184–85 RSNO; Lloyd-Jones 8.555776 Troika from Lieutenant Kijé 68 Russia – Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943) 3:33 Richard Hayman and his Orchestra 8.555029 Music featured: Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’ Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.553053 Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550809 Peter and the Wolf Piano Concerto No. 2 Dame Edna Everage, narrator; Melbourne SO; Lanchbery 8.554170 Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550810 72 Hungary – Béla Bartók (1881–1945) 2:30 NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE 20TH CENTURY Music featured: 69 Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) 2:05 Concerto for Orchestra Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550261 Music featured: Verklärte Nacht (arranged for string orchestra) 73 Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) 1:10 Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554371 Music featured: Piano Pieces, Op. 11 No. 3 Suite from Háry János Peter Hill, piano 8.553870 Hungarian SSO; Antál 8.550142
21 22 74 Austria – Anton Webern (1883–1945) 2:25 78 Aaron Copland (1900–1990) 2:54 Music featured: Music featured: Passacaglia Hoe Down from Rodeo Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841 Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282 Symphony Fanfare for the Common Man Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841 Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282 75 Carl Orff (1895–1982) 1:36 79 Samuel Barber (1910–1981) 1:43 Music featured: Music featured: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana Soloists; Slovak RSO and Chorus; Gunzenhauser 8.550196 Adagio for strings RSNO; Alsop 8.559088 76 Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999) 1:06 Music featured: AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR Concierto de Aranjuez 80 Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) 1:56 Norbert Kraft, guitar; Northern CO; Ward 8.554832 Music featured: 77 USA – George Gershwin (1898–1937) 5:06 Suite from West Side Story (Prologue) Music featured: Soloists; Nashville SO; Schermerhorn 8.559126 An American in Paris 81 England – William Walton (1902–1983) 2:39 New Zealand SO; Judd 8.559107 Music featured: Rhapsody in Blue Kathryn Selby, piano; Slovak PO; Hayman 8.550295 Spitfire Prelude and Fugue from The First of the Few English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553869 Piano Concerto Kathryn Selby, piano; Slovak PO; Hayman 8.550295
23 24 82 Russia – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) 4:17 86 USA – John Cage (1912–1992) 1:52 Music featured: Music featured: Romance from The Gadfly Piano Sonata V NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.553299 Boris Berman, piano 8.554345 Tahiti Trot Russian SSO; Yablonsky 8.555949 MINIMALISM Piano Concerto No. 2 87 England – John Tavener (b. 1944) 1:54 Michael Houstoun, piano; New Zealand SO; Lyndon-Gee 8.553126 Music featured: 83 England – Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) 1:56 Song for Athene Music featured: St. John’s College Choir, Cambridge; Robinson 8.555256 Theme from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 88 USA – Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1:51 Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550499 Music featured: 84 France – Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) 2:59 Violin Concerto Music featured: Adele Anthony, violin; Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554568 Gloria Ile de France Vittoria Regional Choir; Orchestre de la Cité; Piquemal 8.553176 FILM MUSIC The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant 89 Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) 1:32 Melbourne SO; Lanchbery 8.554170 Music featured: Suite from Gladiator COMPOSERS OF THE AVANT-GARDE The City of Prague PO; Nic Rain; Bateman 85 France and USA – Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) 2:19 The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen Music featured: Déserts Polish NRSO; Lyndon-Gee 8.554820
25 26 90 Howard Shore (b. 1946) 1:17 Music featured: The Fellowship from Lord of the Rings The City of Prague PO; Nic Raine; Bateman The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen 91 John Williams (b. 1932) 1:43 Music featured: Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter The City of Prague PO; Nic Raine; Bateman The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen 92 Epilogue 1:12 Music featured: Maurice Ravel Boléro RPO, Leaper 8.550501
Total time: 4:28:45
Marin Alsop conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
27 28 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop because his deafness stopped him from compose: he had to put down on paper CLASSICAL MUSIC enjoying the music in the way we do – by the sounds he heard in his head. from the notes on the page, through history, just listening to it. He could look at the Schubert died just one year after to performance today notes on the page and hear the music in Beethoven, in 1828. His friends carried his head. on playing some of his music, but most What is classical music? It is the music that things like the length of notes, the speed, And Bach? Well, Bach was so busy of it was beginning to be forgotten. Then has lasted through the centuries. If it has whether it’s loud or soft… even silence writing music and playing the organ one day, Robert Schumann was browsing lasted, it suggests that it is the best music, can be notated: you just write lots of rests that he didn’t have much time to think through a library in Vienna, looking at or at least the best music that was written instead of notes! about the future of his music; but other old manuscripts that were there, and he down. Notation made it possible for the music people came to know how valuable he came across Symphony No. 9 by Franz Music does survive in another way: the of great composers to survive: the music of was. Mozart studied his music, then Schubert. It was in Schubert’s own oral tradition, where tunes are handed Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mendelssohn studied his music, and, later, handwriting. He started to look at it (he down personally from musician to musician, Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven lives on Bruckner did too. So did many others. could hear the sounds clearly in his head taught by listening and copying. This is today because of notation. Of course, it Once again, it was all thanks to musical because he was a pianist and composer used for folk music, which can survive very is not just the paper and the notes that notation: all that scribbling done in Bach’s himself). He realised that there, sitting in accurately, as well as be refreshed by every made sure their music survived: it had to time became like gold dust. a library box, silent and forgotten, was generation. However, it generally works be good! Everyone knew, when Mozart Notation was important also for a masterpiece. It was exciting and full of only for music that involves just one or two was alive, that his music was especially Schubert. Poor Schubert! Music poured bright tunes and rhythms that stick inside parts. After that, it gets too complicated good – well, almost everyone. When his out of him – he had melodies in his head your head. He was so excited he got a to remember. When you have a piece opera The Magic Flute was first performed, all the time – and he wrote it down as fast copy made and sent it straight off to Felix involving about ten or more parts, the only the Emperor of Austria actually said to as he could, anywhere, on anything. In one Mendelssohn, telling him that this was way to make it last is to write it down. him: ‘Too many notes, Mr Mozart!’ Not day alone, he wrote eight songs. But only such a remarkable symphony it should That is why musical notation became so the nicest thing to say to a composer a few friends realised at the time what a be played. So Mendelssohn agreed and important. immediately after a first performance! And unique and talented composer he was. He arranged a performance. He did this for As we learn on this recording, notation he was wrong. The Magic Flute turned out heard performed a lot of the songs that some of Bach’s pieces, too, which were began in the eighth century for music to be a hit opera for 200 years. he wrote and much of the chamber music, being neglected. sung in churches. It has developed a lot Everyone knew too that Beethoven but his symphonies were never performed So in this way, music that is preserved since then to include different instruments, was the most important composer of his professionally for him – though that didn’t in silence on a page for years, sometimes different keys, and to show more accurately time. Of course, he really needed notation stop him writing nine! He simply had to for generations or centuries, comes alive 31 32 again. It is not usually possible to play it 24th centuries and beyond… with the help to be a born performer: he really loved exactly as the composer wished, because of musical notation. big concerts and important moments. every performance of a work is slightly New composers of today are adding to That is why he had such an extraordinary different. It depends on the players: some classical music all the time. Some of this career as a young musician, selling millions violinists, for example, play without much will be forgotten in ten years’ time or even of records and singing to audiences all vibrato while others play with more; some sooner. Some will not even be noticed by over the world. He even sang with the play slightly faster or more smoothly, while most people until well after the composer famous conductor and composer Leonard others play more slowly or in a more is dead – but then, gradually, it will come Bernstein! bouncy way. This is what performance is back to the concert hall, like a forgotten Now, as an adult, Aled is equally active. about: making the music come alive here friend coming out of the mist. He is still a singer (though his voice is much and now. And this is the miracle of classical There is so much wonderful music to lower now – somewhere between baritone music – that hundreds of years after it was discover from all the centuries, it is difficult and tenor) and he travels the world, written, it still can sound as fresh and lively to know where to start. Hopefully, this performing. He is a radio and television as if it was written yesterday. introduction will give you some pointers. presenter too: he introduces classical music to hundreds of thousands on the British Fashion does not really come into You might hear a composer or a style radio station Classic FM, and introduces classical music. Some music is very and think you like that best: you can then musical programmes on television. For fashionable for a time, but then is listen and discover more. You could even him, playing, introducing and listening is forgotten: it is important only for the play the music yourself: by playing the all part of an active musical life. He knows people of a particular century or year, or cello, or perhaps the clarinet or the piano, that classical music is a journey that goes moment. Classical music, on the other you are right in the middle of the musical on for as long as you listen and play. hand, is music that has lasted through the experience. centuries, and has been loved and played Aled Jones himself knew what it was Nicolas Soames by many different generations of people. like to be in the centre of music-making These people have worn different kinds when he was a young boy. As a chorister, of clothes, behaved in different ways – he sang every morning, rehearsing and but still enjoyed the same classical works. then performing. He had to get up early, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven (and others) but the musical standard was high and have survived to the 21st century, so it is it was fun. He was fortunate enough to likely they will go on to the 22nd, 23rd, have a particularly beautiful voice and 33 34 Aled Jones is a popular radio presenter, introducing all kinds of music. On television, he is one of the main presenters of BBC Aled Jones – A Voice in Action One’s Songs of Praise and also hosts the BBC One Wales arts programme On Show. As a boy soprano, he sold more than six As a boy soprano Aled Jones was used to knowing you’ve gone to number one in the million records worldwide. In 2002, he returned to performing, recording and releasing albums. They were classical charts, and into the pop charts, is this time as a baritone. His new albums Aled and Higher have each all part of the job of being a child star, just a terrific thrill.’ sold more than 300,000 copies. notching up six million sales in a remarkable ‘I’m so proud of that album. There’s eight-year career. In those days he took it been an amazing reaction; it’s not just the for granted his albums would go into the sales, but the letters I’ve had. Like people Top 5. saying they’ve lost loved ones and this When it came to releasing his first album has helped them get through it. It’s Darren Henley is the Managing Editor of Classic FM. His radio album as an adult he felt differently. had a deeper meaning for people and that programmes have been honoured by the Sony Radio Academy He was nervous about how it would be is so humbling.’ Awards, the New York International Radio Festival and the United received. The emotional commitment was Nations. Darren writes regularly for the Classic FM Magazine, for still there in the singing, but now he which he is editorial consultant. He was previously a journalist was involved in the entire creative process for ITN and Invicta Radio in Kent. He is the co-author of all three from choosing songs to the design of titles in the best-selling Classic FM Pocket Book series, published the CD booklet. Within days of Aled the by Boosey & Hawkes. album being released in September 2002 apprehension was replaced by elation. Aled went straight to number one in the classical charts where it stayed for four weeks, and entered the pop Top 20. ‘I’m not massively ambitious. I don’t want to conquer the world. I just wanted the album to be liked by people. When you’ve been quite successful as a youngster,’ says Aled Jones modestly, ‘and you come back and release an album, you’re waiting for everyone to knock it. And the relief of 35 36 Aled has had sales in excess of of life as the demand for his presence has gained about four notes in pitch. On the He also presents a Sunday morning 300,000. Its success has transformed Aled’s exploded internationally. In 2002 he gave first day of recording the album, after show on Classic FM. Recent figures have professional life. All the years of uncertainty two public concerts. In 2003 there was a singing a few tracks my producer Robert shown the station bringing in 500,000 after his voice broke at the age of 16 14-date autumn tour with orchestra in the Prizeman, who worked with me on my first listeners between the age of 15 and 24. instantly disappeared. At the age of 32 UK and in Australia, as well as performing album, said there was a real difference. It ‘I’m getting loads of letters and emails from he is confident of his artistic direction in at open-air concerts and festivals. was much more confident and rounded.’ young people saying that they’ve bought the knowledge that singing will truly be More fundamental than the weight loss As a boy Aled was an instinctive singer, the album and they really like it.’ his lifelong career. His new album Higher has been the change in Aled’s warm and picking up a piece of music and being There’s also a recorded Sunday morning continues in the same stylistic vein as its distinctive voice. His high baritone has got able to interpret it almost immediately. show for BBC Radio Wales, and he presents predecessor, mixing classical with a few, higher, edging its way towards a tenor. But when he started out again last year the arts programme On Show for BBC just two, pop tunes – You Raise Me Up by ‘My voice is changing timbre, it has he hard to work at it. ‘It was a hard slog. One Wales. Through all his work, whether Secret Garden, and San Damiano (Heart I had to really think about how I’d phrase singing or presenting, the same philosophy And Soul), a hit in 1984 for Sal Solo. The a piece, whereas now that’s come back to applies. ‘I hate this attitude that classical rest is a collection of traditional songs, me, I can just do it. And it’s so exciting for music or the arts have to be highbrow. I classical and sacred, guided on their way me because then it means I can put the want everything I do to be accessible to to the heart by Aled’s pure, heartfelt and emotion into a song.’ everyone. It has to be entertainment.’ unpretentious interpretations. ‘There are Aled wants to keep stretching the Despite the crescendo of success, so many people the industry describes as boundaries of his ability. He plans to take the qualities that endeared Aled to the “crossover”,’ says Aled. ‘I don’t understand singing lessons, for the first time since his nation and beyond are still there: his what that is because I’m singing the sort comeback. ‘I think it would be interesting unfailing politeness, generosity of spirit and of music I did as a boy, in exactly the same to push it a little bit to see where it would sensitivity. His life has changed dramatically way I did as a boy, but as a boy they called go.’ not just professionally. He and his wife me a classical artist. I’m in this for the long Insanely busy, he is combining his Claire now have a baby daughter Emilia, term, it’s definitely not a flash in the pan singing career with an established career born in February 2002. thing.’ as a TV and radio presenter. It was his ‘When the last album was launched There are no gimmicks, just a newly appearance on Songs of Praise that brought I was doing a concert in St. David’s Hall svelte Aled. He’s lost a stone and a half in him to the attention of Universal Classics in Cardiff – you know, small venue, no the past year, not with the help of a trainer and that job continues with Aled presenting pressure,’ he jokes. ‘Songs of Praise were or diets, simply because of his new fast pace Songs of Praise on a regular basis. filming. I was absolutely nervous. I had to 37 38 go on stage, present it and sing. And dad came in with Emilia on a papoose, and she just saw me and grinned, and I thought to myself, God why am I worried about doing this. This is what’s real.’ It’s a new Aled, and the world has had to shift its perception of who he is. The man himself feels privileged to be on this incredible journey. ‘I’m having the time of my life. I feel really fortunate I’ve been given the opportunity to have a chance and for it to go well. I’m on cloud nine.’
B flat clarinet
39 40 TIMELINE – MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PERIODS 600 800 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140 1160 1180 1200 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 Hildegard of Bingen (German) 1098–1179 Pérotin (French) Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina (Italian) 1525/6–1594 1160–1220 Guillaume de Machaut (French) 1300–1377 John Dunstable (English) 1390–1453 William Byrd (English) 1543–1623 Guillaume Dufay (French) 1398–1474 Thomas Tallis (English) c.1505–1585 Johannes Ockeghem (Franco-Flemish) 1410–1497 Josquin Desprez (Franco- Flemish) 1440–1521
Alexander Agricola Claudio Monteverdi (Italian) (Franco-Netherlandish) 1567–1643 1446–1506 Jacob Obrecht (Netherlandish) 1450–1505
800 1517 1585 Charlemagne Martin Luther nails his condemnation of Rome 1545–1563 1054 The Council of Trent War between England becomes to the church door in Wittenburg and Spain over trade Holy Roman Eastern Orthodox 1549 Church breaks with 1520 and religious Emperor First English differences Rome Luther publicly burns the Papal Bill prayer book issued 597 1095 excommunicating him; The First Crusade Spread of Protestantism throughout Europe 1558 Pope Gregory, 1066 1149 Elizabeth I who gave Norman invasion Second Crusade 1534 succeeds Mary his name to c.1020 ends in failure Henry VIII proclaims himself 1599 Guido of Arezzo devises of England Rejects authority Gregorian Chant, head of the Church of England of Rome The Globe sends musical notation Dissolution of the Monastries begins Theatre built St Augustine 1075 1170 1553 in Southwark, to convert the Turks take Jerusalem Thomas 1529 Mary, a Catholic, becomes London English and other Holy places à Becket Ottomans driven back Queen of England murdered from gates of Vienna Persecution of Protestants follows
41 42 TIMELINE – BAROQUE/CLASSICAL PERIODS 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 Jean-Baptiste Lully (French) 1632–1687
Christoph Willibald Gluck (German) 1714–1787
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (German) 1714–1788
William Byrd d.1623 Arcangelo Corelli (Italian) 1653–1713
Johann Pachelbel (German) 1653–1706 Franz Joseph Haydn (Austrian) 1732–1809
Henry Purcell (English) 1659–1695
Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian) 1756–1791 Antonio Vivaldi (Italian) 1678–1741 Claudio Monteverdi d.1643 Johann Sebastian Bach (German) 1685–1750 Antonio Salieri (Italian) 1750–1825
George Frideric Handel (German) 1685–1759 Ludwig van Beethoven (German) 1770–1827
Domenico Scarlatti (Italian) 1685–1757
1618 1642 1660 1701 c.1730 1776 1807 Start of 30 Years War English Civil War Restoration of the Britain, Holland and Austria The first pianos are American Declaration of Independence and Slave trade Last attempt by monarchy form alliance to prevent France manufacturered in Saxony; war with England abolished in Britain Catholics to stamp out the 1649 becoming strongest power in Canaletto begins his 1680 Europe 1789 Reformation Charles I executed The Dodo paintings of Venice’s Grand George Washington becomes first England becomes 1665 Canal 1756–1763 The Great becomes extinct 1707 American president; a republic The Seven Years War French Revolution begins 1603 1620 Plague of London Act of Union 1720 Queen Pilgrim 1683 between South Sea Bubble Fathers sail 1654 The Ottoman Turks financial crisis 1773 1794 Elizabeth I 1666 Scotland and The Boston Execution of Robespierre ends dies to America Louis XIV, reach the gates of England ruins thousands 1815 the Sun King, The Great Fire of Vienna again 1740–1748 Tea Party Reign of Terror in France Wellington crowned London The War of defeats c.1644 1681 1713 Austrian 1803 Napoleon at 1605 Antonio Stradivari, William Penn establishes Pennsylvania War between the Alliance succession Napoleonic the Battle of Gunpowder Plot violin maker, born as a refuge for persecuted Quakers and France ends Wars begin Waterloo
43 44 TIMELINE – ROMANTIC PERIOD 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Carl Maria von Weber (German) 1786–1826 Richard Wagner (German) 1813–1883 Gioacchino Rossini (Italian) 1792–1868 Arnold Schoenberg 1874–1951 Franz Liszt (Hungarian) 1811–1886 Franz Schubert (Austrian) 1797–1828 Modest Mussorgsky (Russian) 1839–1881 Fryderyk Chopin (Polish) 1810–1849 Gustav Mahler (Austrian) 1860–1911 Gaetano Donizetti (Italian) 1797–1848 Giacomo Puccini (Italian) 1858–1924 Georges Bizet (French) 1838–1875 Hector Berlioz (French) 1803–1869 Gabriel Fauré (French) 1845–1924 Felix Mendelssohn (German) 1809–1847 Anton Bruckner (Austrian) 1824–1896 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian) 1840–1893 Giuseppe Verdi (Italian) 1813–1901 Antonín Dvorák˘ (Czech) 1841–1904 Robert Schumann (German) 1810–1856 Johannes Brahms (German) 1833–1897 Isaac Albéniz 1860–1909 Edvard Grieg (Norwegian) 1843–1907 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian) 1844–1908 Camille Saint-Saëns (French) 1835–1921 Alexander Borodin (Russian) 1833–1887 1900 1836 Freud writes his Davy Crockett killed 1839 1864 1893 Interpretation of at the Alamo First Opium Louis Pasteur invents Henry Ford builds Dreams War pasteurisation 1872 his first car 1854-6 Spanish Civil War 1831 Crimean War 1861 1876 1896 Pushkin completes Eugene American Civil War 1869 Alexander Bell invents First modern Olympics Onegin Suez the telephone held in Athens 1859 1866 Canal 1904 1837 1847 Darwin publishes Nobel opens 1877 War between Russia Victoria becomes California The Origin of Species invents Tomas Edison patents the and Japan Queen in Britain Gold Rush dynamite phonograph 45 46 THE 20TH CENTURY – I 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Edward Elgar (English) 1857–1934 Ralph Vaughan Williams (English) 1872–1958 Gustav Holst (English – of Swedish descent) 1874–1934 Sergei Prokofiev (Russian) 1891–1953 Sergei Rachmaninov (Russian) 1873–1943 Dmitri Shostakovich (Russian) 1906–1975 Béla Bartók (Hungarian) 1881–1945 Aaron Copland (American) 1900–1990 Samuel Barber (American) 1910–1981
Benjamin Britten (English) 1913–1976 Claude Debussy (French) 1862–1918 Richard Strauss (German) 1864–1949 Carl Nielsen (Danish) 1865–1931 Jean Sibelius (Finnish) 1865–1957 Joaquín Rodrigo (Spanish) 1901–1999 Manuel de Falla (Spanish) 1876–1946 Charles Ives (American) 1874–1954 John Adams (b. 1947) Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1914 1924 1963 1969 New millenium Panama Canal opened 1936-39 Neil Armstrong 1983 1991 Stalin succeeds Spanish Civil War John F. Kennedy First CD players go on sale Persian Gulf Lenin 1929 1950–53 assassinated becomes the first 1914-18 Korean War man on the moon War 2001 1912-13 First World War The Wall Street Crash 1980 1989 9/11 – World Balkan wars John Lennon Fall of the Berlin Wall Trade Centre 1917 1933 1939-1945 1956 1967 1994 1926 Second World War shot in New York Bolsheviks seize power General Strike inHitler becomes German Suez Canal The Beatles release End of Apartheid attacked and in Russia Britain Chancellor seized by Egypt Sergeant Pepper in South Africa destroyed 47 48 THE 20TH CENTURY – II 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Arnold Schoenberg (Austrian) 1874–1951 Alban Berg (Austrian) 1885–1935 Anton Webern (Austrian) 1883–1945 Maurice Ravel (French) 1875–1937 Igor Stravinsky (Russian) 1882–1971 Olivier Messiaen (French) 1908–1992 Leosˇ Janácˇek (Czech) 1854–1928 Henryk Górecki (Polish) 1933– Bohuslav Martin°u (Czech) 1890–1959 Francis Poulenc (French) 1899–1963 Darius Milhaud (French) 1892–1974 Edgard Varèse (French-American) 1883–1965 George Gershwin (American) 1898–1937 John Cage (American) 1912–1992 John Williams (b. 1932) Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) Steve Reich (American) (b. 1936) György Ligeti (Hungarian) (b. 1923) Karlheinz Stockhausen (German) (b. 1928) Toru Takemitsu (Japanese) 1930–1997 Luciano Berio (Italian) 1925–2003 Pierre Boulez (French) (b. 1925) Witold Lutos/awskil (Polish) 1913–1994 Arvo Pärt (Estonian) (b. 1935)
49 50 Violin
Alto saxophone
51 52 Acknowledgements and Credits
With particular thanks to: The Classic FM team – Darren Henley, Kate Juxon and Roger Lewis Genevieve Helsby for her imaginative work in writing and editing the interactive material online Sarah Butcher for editing the words and music together in such a skilful manner Silva Screen for permission to use tracks from The Fantasy Album (FILMXCD360) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for permission to use photographs of the orchestral sections in action John Myatt Woodwind and Brass, instrument specialists (57 Nightingale Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire – www.myatt.co.uk), for use of woodwind and brass instrument pictures Hill & Co. (5 High Street, Welwyn, Hertfordshire) for violin and viola pictures
Produced by Nicolas Soames Recorded by Ross Burman at RNIB Studios, London Edited by Sarah Butcher Cover designed by Steve Caplin
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THESE COMPACT DISCS PROHIBITED.
Cello
53 54 Also available from Naxos AudioBooks’ Junior Classics section
Tales from the Greek Legends Great Explorers (Ferrie) ISBN 9789626340196 (Angus) ISBN 9789626342916 Read by Benjamin Soames Read by Sam Dastor, Frances Jeater, Trevor Nichols and Kerry Shale
Famous People In History, Vol. 1 Famous People In History, Vol. 2 (Soames) ISBN 9789626341728 (Soames) ISBN 9789626341971 Read by Trevor Nichols and Katinka Wolf Read by Daniel Philpott, Laura Brattan and Garrick Hagon Pictures by kind permission of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 56 For a complete catalogue and details of how to order other Naxos AudioBooks titles please contact:
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order online at www.naxosaudiobooks.com
57 Aled Jones Darren Henley THE STORY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC Read by Aled Jones
The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by singer and presenter Aled Jones. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting ℗ 2004 Naxos of medieval monks through the symphonies of AudioBooks Ltd. © 2010 Naxos Aled Jones Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the AudioBooks Ltd. Made in the Germany. huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music. In his easy-going style, Aled Jones paints vivid Total time portraits of over 80 composers, each one illustrated with some of 4:28:45 his, or her, most famous music. JUNIOR CLASSIC This all-encompassing introduction to classical music also includes a NA0003D wealth of biographical and instrumental information online: to find pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and more, visit n-ab.com/socm CD ISBN: and enter the password given on page 2 of this booklet. 978-962-634-321-2
View our catalogue online at www.naxosaudiobooks.com AMD220719