JOHN TAVENER 1944 - 2013

John Tavener, a British composer known for his meditative, sometimes passionate sacred works and colorfully scored orchestral pieces — including the popular cello concerto “The Protecting Veil,” and the haunting “Song for Athene,” which was performed at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales — died on Tuesday, 12 November 2013,  at his home in Child Okeford, in southern England. He was 69.

The British composer John Tavener in 2007 at his home in Dorset, in southern England. Mr. Tavener, a composer informed by Orthodox Christianity, was heard throughout the world in his elegy, performed at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales...NYTimes Obit | Home Page

Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was a British composer, known for his extensive output of religious works, including The Whale, "The Protecting Veil" and "Song for Athene". He began as a prodigy; in 1968, at the age of 24, he was described by The Guardian as "the musical discovery of the year", while The Times said he was "among the very best creative talents of his generation." During his career he became one of the best known and popular composers of his generation. Tavener was knighted in 2000 for his services to music and won an Ivor Novello Award...Wikipedia

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Composer, conductor, music educator...H OWEN REED has died at 103 years of age

H. Owen Reed died at Arbor Terrace, in Athens, Georgia on Monday, January 6, 2014. OBIT. He was born in Odessa, Missouri on June 17, 1910.

If you ever played a musical instrument and were involved in a concert band ensemble, chances are you’ve performed his highly accessible and engaging music. Herbert Owen Reed a native of the American Midwest – born in 1910 and raised in Missouri not far from Kansas City. His family had musical interests; his father was a country fiddler and his mother played the piano.  
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Feb, 2003 Composer, G Steinke, MUSIClassical, editor, RACampbell, with H. O. Reed

MUSIClassical's Reed pages

BBC launches modern classical music website

BBC Four has made a host of programmes about 20th-century music permanently available to watch in a new online Modern Classical Music Collection. The television programmes in the collection include an interview with the American composer John Adams, a concert of music by Philip Glass performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a BBC Proms performance of music by Michael Berkeley, Benjamin Britten and Vaughan Williams. Introducing the collection on the website, broadcaster and writer Clemency Burton-Hill says: ‘If you’re prepared to open your mind, limber up your brain, and go on an auditory, sensory and intellectual adventure through some of the most fascinating cultural figures of the past hundred or so years, I’m confident you’ll find much about this collection that is rewarding, illuminating, provoking and beautiful.’
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Rachel Barton Pine: Violin Lullabies The Chicago violinist (and new mom) plays pieces from around the world specifically composed as lullabies,

Selections by violinist Rachel Barton Pine newly added to the playlists of several of our radio stations from her new album VIOLIN LULLABIES from Cedille Records. Pine and her sensitive pianist, Matthew Hagle, include several famous lullabies, including those by Brahms, Schubert, Faure and Gershwin (“Summertime”). Others may come as a surprise: the “Berceuse Écossaise (Scottish Lullaby)” by Ludwig Schwab is a delightful Scottish accent; Oror (Lullaby), by a young Alan Hovhannes is colored with Eastern exoticism; and the lullaby from Stravinsky’s Firebird may not soothe a child to sleep, but it’s certainly enthralling on its own terms. The album’s dramatic centerpiece may be William Grant Still’s Mother and Child, full of sweep and drama. Excellent liner notes complete the package.

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Classical Music for special Holidays

A List of suggestions for playing specific classical music on holidays and special occasions

List of Holiday Music

Suggested music can be obtained through the Amazon links.

Classical Music Theme Songs Radio Tv Film

CLASSICAL MUSIC THEME SONGS IN MEDIA
THEME MUSIC INDEX TO CLASSICAL MUSIC USED IN FILM, RADIO AND TELEVISION...
Classical Music Theme Songs directory  http://www.classicthemesong.blogspot.mx/

Conductor COLIN DAVIS dies at age 85

Colin Davis, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Britain's elder statesmen of classical music, has died at 85. The orchestra said Davis died Sunday 14 APR 2013, after a short illness.

One of the best-known figures in British music, Davis worked with the London symphony for more than half a century.

He first conducted for the LSO in 1959 and took the principal conductor post in 1995, serving until 2006 before becoming president.

Wikipedia

Francaix: Music for String Orchestra KERRY STRATTON

In order on the disc, the works are Symphonie d'Archets (Symphony for Strings) (1948), Ode sur 'La Naissance de Vénus' de Botticelli' (Ode on 'The Birth of Venus' by Botticelli) (1960), and a ballet, Die Kamelien: Pantomime für Schauspieler ('The Camellias': Pantomime for an Actor) (1950). The 21-minute String Symphony, while expertly written, makes little impression on this reviewer. It is not one of Françaix's carefree jeux d'esprit, for which he is to well-known. Perhaps my lack of response is because much of the music either has vague tonality or is modal, and also because I much prefer music by Françaix that makes such ingenious use of the orchestra's winds which, of course, are absent here. Recorded sound seems a little thin at times. The 5-minute Ode on Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' is altogether more enjoyable. Commissioned by RTF (French Radio & Television) for use in a program about the life and works of the early Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, its hymnlike setting invokes a mood of quiet contemplation of and rapt absorption in the famous painting. The 25-minute score of the ballet, The Camellias, based on Dumas's 'La Dame aux camélias', was written for and premièred by George Balanchine and his New York ballet company in 1951. This is its first recording.(excerpt Scott Morrison amazon reviewer).
  Conductor Kerry Stratton

SHEET MUSIC SALE 

Jim Allyn My Beautiful Town

Jim Allyn and the Newtown Youth Choir are a local grass-roots pop/folk group, with a mostly easy acoustic style, and an entirely positive message. This single was recorded in a bid to heal and provide hope following the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary in December. Sales of the song will benefit Sandy Hook Promise, a local non-profit working to help the community, including those most affected, to heal and to give it a voice in the national dialogue on addressing the causes of gun violence. Newtown students of local music teachers Jim Allyn and Francine Wheeler, mother of victim Ben Wheeler, together created the recording. The song is  available as a digital download on Amazon, below.  The CD release of “My Beautiful Town (Hometown Mix),” is also sold by local retailers, and features cover art by renowned local artist David Merrill: an iconic painting of a winter evening scene of Newtown’s Main Street. Listen to the NEWTOWN YOUTH VOICES perform the song on the Internet Broadband station " Arias, Anthems and Angels " from LIVE365.com. 100% of Proceeds to Benefit the Sandy Hook Families [MS9015]
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MUSIClassical Library Essentials

MUSIClassical Library Essentials
Building a Cool Classical CD Collection.........
You will find the very latest Classical CD choices and previews posted by the MUSIClassical editors at our NEW CLASSICAL CD CHOICES Pages.
Instrumental Choices Solo, Chamber, Orchestral Choral Choices Vocal, Opera, Songs, Arias
NEW Classical CDs... Classical: Instrumental ~ Opera & Vocal

LINK to our Essentials Lists

MUSICIANS PHYSICIANS

MUSICIAN'S Physician 
links to common ailments of musicians
A page of a MUSIClassical Directory 
Our Classical Music website for good music lovers...
  LINKS

MUSIClassical Composition Nicknames

aMUSIClassical directory

 Compositions by Titles or Nicknames

Types of Compositions for Use in Music Uniform Titles:

MUSIClassical Composition Nicknames

MUSIClassical Catalogers Index

Classical Composer Thematic Catalogers Page, BWV, Woo, k. etc
Cataloger Ident Codes, then Cataloger's name, then COMPOSER's Name
Including abbreviation of and cataloger's name, nationality, date of birth and death, Composer Cataloged, publication editions with dates, volumes and catalogs, and total number of works cataloged if the information is available. Opus is Latin for 'work'. Most often the opus number lists the order of the date the work was composed or published. Frequently, especially from the 1800's, a composer's publisher would give numbers to the scores to identify them and keep them apart from other publications. The composers of the period would often have different publishers in different cities and each publisher would assign their own opus numbers to the scores. In later years various musicologists assigned their own catalog numbers to all or most of a specific composers scores. These works are usually coded with the catalogers initials and the number assigned. We have listed the code followed by the cataloger in lower case and then the composer in caps.

Link to The Catalogers List

Listen to Pianist David Rubenstein on MUSIClassical radio

Source: libpre.blogspot.mx viaRalan on Pinterest

A series of classical piano works has been added to the MUSIClassical radio stations playlist featuring pianist David Rubenstein. He has given concerts featuring the works of American composers such as Charles Griffes and Aaron Copland at the American Landmark Festivals, as well as performing his own works. Additional career highlights include the 1971 world premiere recording of several of Sibelius' piano works on the Musical Heritage Society label, currently re-issued on the Musicus Recordings label. Rubinstein made his American debut at the age of nineteen at the National Gallery of Art in a performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and his U.K. debut at London's Wigmore Hall. His piano teachers and mentors included George Kochevitsky and Claudio Arrau, and he studied the piano works of Aaron Copland with the composer. His performances typically feature lesser-known works such as the Prokofiev Fourth Sonata and the Busoni Elegies. He has appeared in recitals and orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe. -- MUSIClassical supports Wikipedia

MUSIClassical Family Tree N-Z

Famous classical musician Family Trees
Some prominent families of classical musicians who have excelled in their field; i.e. son, father, mother, daughter, sister, or brother of a musician who achieved fame in music or another field. Ideas? Send contributions to ralan@musiclassical.net Thanks to list members and contributions of Karen Johnson, Alan Campbell and Leora Zeitlin who's father was the late violinist Zvi Zeitlin. She also tells us that Rudolf Serkin was the son-in-law of the violinist Adolph Busch, who himself was from a musical family. Which is another side of musical family trees- fathers-in-law or sons-in-law of other composers, such as: Bizet (son-in-law of opera composer Fromental Halevy) Wagner (son-in-law -- though not legally -- of Liszt) Josef Suk (son-in-law of Dvorak).

MUSIClassical Family Tree N-Z

MUSIClassical Family Tree A-M

Famous musician families. ... Famous Family Trees, A to M Index. MUSIClassical ™
MUSIClassical Family Tree A-M

Jennifer Higdon An Exaltation of Larks BRIDGE 9379

The Lark Quartet with: Gary Graffman, Blair McMillen, Todd Palmer

Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award, and is one of the most performed living American composers working today. Ms. Higdon's upcoming work includes an opera on Charles Frazier’s book, “Cold Mountain”, for Santa Fe Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This recording feature three recent chamber works: In Scenes from the Poet's Dreams (composed for the performers who play it here) the piano left hand (virtuoso Gary Graffman) takes a prominent part in the unfolding of this highly contrasted work, bearing unusually descriptive titles: "Racing Through Stars", "Summer Shimmers Across the Glass of Green Ponds" etc.. Light Refracted is a meditation on light. The composer describes a first movement "that reflects on our inner light, and how we take that light in; and a second movement that is the opposite, our projection of light out to the world." She also writes about An Exaltation of Larks: "The first time someone told me that a collection of Larks is called an “Exaltation”, I immediately thought, 'What a sound an exaltation of larks must make!'--How to capture the beauty of the idea of exalting and singing? A string quartet seemed perfect!" This disc marks the debut of the Lark Quartet on Bridge.

Remembering Van Cliburn

Van Cliburn, the American pianist whose first-place award at the 1958 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow made him an overnight sensation and propelled him to a phenomenally successful and lucrative career, though a short-lived one, died Wednesday morning 27 February 2013 in Fort Worth. He was 78.

NYTimes Obit | Wikipedia

Pianist Van Cliburn dead at age 78

MUSICIAN milestones: Pianist Van Cliburn dies, bone cancer, 78 years old fb.me/2A0yWwIYn

— Alan (@AlanRacmty) February 27, 2013

Wolfgang Sawallisch dies at 89

pinterest.com/pin/5103142014… MUSICIAN milestones: Wolfgang Sawallisch, Conductor, Dies at 89
— Alan (@AlanRacmty) February 26, 2013

Death of American conductor JAMES DEPREIST

MUSICIAN milestones: Remembering Pioneering American Conductor, Poet And Anime Inspiration James DePreist  fb.me/1yche0nJN
— Alan (@AlanRacmty) February 9, 2013

Lugansky plays Rachmaninov Piano Sonatas

NIKOLAI Lugansky is one of the great Rachmaninov pianists of his generation, and his new recording features breathtaking performances of the composer's two Piano Sonatas. The second is by far the better known, and Lugansky's performance is launched with a thrilling plunge to the depths of the bass register. It's a fantastic rendition marked by Lugansky's intellectual mastery of the structure of the music and profound understanding of its dark emotional contours; the slow movement is a haunting masterpiece here, while the finale is a demonstration of glittering virtuosity with no scrambling, just lucid articulation. The First Sonata exists in two versions: Rachmaninov left the choice of which version to the pianist. (Maybe his dinner was on the table.) Lugansky plays a hybrid, leaning more towards the first (more difficult and lengthy) version. There's a Faustian theme, with some characterisation of the main figures, but frankly, in this glorious performance, which demonstrates how underrated the sonata is, I prefer to listen in the abstract.

A Magnificent New Symphonic Recording

ELGAR Enigma Variations
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps / Greensleeves
REFRENCE RECORDINGS RR-129HDCD
A new symphonic tour-de-force from the Kansas City Symphony! This colorful, beloved English music has been captured in brilliant HDCD sound by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Keith O. Johnson
The Kansas City Symphony garnered tremendous critical acclaim for their first project on Reference Recordings, incidental music for The Tempest by Sullivan and Sibelius (Shakespeare's Tempest, RR-115). Their second release on RR, Britten's Orchestra, received a GRAMMY for Best Surround Sound for both the engineer and producer, as well as rave reviews everywhere! (Britten's Orchestra, RR-120 is now unfortunately out of print).
Conductor is Michael Stern, the son of famed violinist Isaac Stern. Now in his eighth season as music director, the Kansas City Symphony has been much praised for its remarkable artistic growth and development since his tenure began. He is also the founder of the Iris Chamber Orchestra in Memphis, Tennessee, and in addition to RR, has recorded for Sony, Hyperion, Denon, Arabesque and Naxos. Producer David Frost has won Grammy awards in 2005,2009 and 2011 for Classical Producer of the Year. He has produced a large roster of stars and Grammy-winning titles.