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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

JohannesBrahms

Johannes Brahms was a highly talented, complex and emotional person. He came from a lower middle class Hamburg family and became, against his father's wishes, a musician in the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester playing double bass, horn, and flute. His father had given Johannes his first musical training. From 1840 he studied piano with Otto Cossel who complained about the nine-year old Johannes that he "could be such a good player, but he will not stop his never-ending composing."

At 17 Brahms met the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and accompanied him in a number of recitals over the next few years. This was his introduction to "gypsy-style" music such as the Czárdás, traditional Hungarian folk dances. This ultimally led to two famous sets of Hungarian Dances, dated 1869 and 1880.

In 1853 Brahms continued working with Ede Reményi and eventually gained support and guidance from Robert and Clara Schumann. He ended up living with Clara in Düsseldorf, becoming devoted to her, all amid Robert's degressive mental disorders. After Robert's death, they remained close friends. Brahms never married, and focused most on his work on his composing.

In mid-life he became appreciated as an eminent composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. His music featured expressive counterpoint, freer dissonance, rhythmic vitality, and at the same time adherence to traditional forms. His works include four symphonies, four concertos, a requiem, much chamber music, and hundreds of folk-song arrangements and Lieder (German art songs).

Though innovative, he was considered conservative in the "War of the Romantics", that involved counterarguments from the entourage of Franz Liszt. But his works succeeded well in the long term, gaining him a circle of supporters, friends, and musicians. He considered retiring from composition late in life, but kept writing chamber music for prized musicians.

Hungarian Dances_1-10

Hungarian Dances_11-21

Piano Sonata No. 1

Symphony No. 3

Lullaby

All were produced with virtual instruments for MP3.

Public Domain

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Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Antonín Dvořák was a musical inventor. He used a great variety of instruments and he combined them well in rhythms of folk music of Moravia and Bohemia. He followed the examples of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana t ultimately led to his notable success.

Dvořák displayed his musical gifts at an early age as a talented violin student. The first public performances of his works were in Prague in 1872 and 1873, when he was 31 years old. In 1882 Dvořák submitted scores of his works to competitions in Germany. In 1877, after his third win, Johannes Brahms recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Simrock, who commissioned what became the Slavonic Dances. The sheet music's high sales and critical reception led to his international success.

In March 1890 a London performance led to many other performances in the United Kingdom, the United States, and eventually Russia. In the United States, Dvorak wrote his two most successful orchestral works: the Symphony From the New World, which spread his reputation worldwide, and his Cello Concerto that was highly regarded. On a summer holiday in Spillville, Iowa, in 1893, Dvořák wrote a famous piece of chamber music, his String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, the American. While he remained at the American Conservatory for a few more years, pay cuts and an onset of homesickness led him to return to Bohemia in 1895.

Four Slavonic Dances, Op.46 (1878)

mp3

flac

Symphony No. 9, Op.95 "From the New World" (1893)

mp3

flac

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104 (1894-95)

mp3

flac

String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 "American“ (1893)

mp3

flac

Serenade for Strings in E major, Op.22 (1875)

mp3

flac

Romantic Pieces, Op.75 (1887)

mp3

flac

All were produced with virtual instruments.
Public Domain

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Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)

Isaac lbéniz

The music by Albéniz as conductor, performer and composer significantly raised the profile of Spanish music and encouraged his music in his own country. Albéniz's works were originally composed for the piano, but they have been transcribed to the classical guitar which we use here in Songs of Spain, published in 1892 and 1898.

Contains: Asturias, Sevilla, Cadiz, Granada, Rumores, Torre-Bermeja

Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)

Francisco Tarrega

Tárrega preferred small intimate performances over the concert stage. He is considered to have laid the foundations for the 20th-century classical guitar and for increasing interest in the guitar as a recital instrument. The city of Granada inspired him to write “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”, which he first dedicated to his wife Concepción in 1899.

Contains: Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Study-in-e-minor, Lagrima, Gran-jota-de-concierto, Estudio-de-velocitá

Moreno Torroba (1891-1982)

Federico Moreno Torroba 2

Torroba was not only a prolific guitar composer, but one of the leading advocates of the zarzuela, the light Spanish opera form characterized by a blend of sung and spoken dialect. As conductor and impresario, he travelled widely, visiting the United States and Latin America. Moreno Torroba’s musical vocabulary avoided twentieth century lines. He preferred melodic music with tonal harmony.

Contains: Mazurca-de-las-sombrillas, Romance-de-los-pinos, Romancillo, Torija elegía

All were produced with virtual instruments for MP3.
Public Domain

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Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Vivaldi

1. Trio Sonatas (1705)
Each of Vivaldi's 12 trio sonatas captures a special blend of moods. Most are happy, while some others are pensive.

For my own enjoyment I listen to just one or two sonatas at a time.

The sonatas date to the first part of Vivaldi's life. He was 27 when these sonatas were published, a coming star in Venice. They sparkle with melodies and life.

My NeoClassix adaptations are a bit special.

Vivaldi wrote these sonatas for two violins and “continuo”, typically a harpsichord or an organ. But for high-quality automatic renditions, we must use instruments that are pleasant with commonly available technology. Current favourites are pianos, harpsichords, harps, guitar and flutes. The present adaptations are built with a flute, a piano and a harpsichord.

I created two adaptations, one for "pleasant listening" and another for a "recreation of a tonality that Vivaldi could have heard himself".

For "pleasant listening" (first selection), I used the same combination of sound fonts that I used for the O'Carolan Memories (above), tuned to the equal temperament frequency of 440 Hz.

For the harpsichord version (second selection) I used an instrument produced in Sicily in 1697 by Grimaldi, tuned to a Werkmeister III setting1 at 432 Hz (available from Pianoteq). This gives an attractive mellow tone to these compositions.

This series is dedicated to my wife Elena who assisted me throughout numerous attempts to achieve a satisfactory rendition of this series.

Go to Trio Sonatas

2. La stravaganza series

La stravaganza [literally 'Extravagance' or 'Eccentricity'] concerts were written in 1712–1713. They were first published in 1716 in Amsterdam and were dedicated to Venetian nobleman Vettor Delfino, who had been a violin student of Vivaldi's. The concertos were originally scored for solo violin, strings, and basso continuo, but for our virtual instruments, we made these changes: the dominant section is performed by either flutes, guitars or trumpets. The remaining scores in the 440 Hz sections are performed by a modern piano, and the 432 Hz versions are performed by a clavichord.

Go to "La stravaganza" series

3. Early Concerts
Vivaldi passed through various musical epochs. Some of his early successes date from the 1720's, and we selected a few for you.

Go to Concerts from the 1720's
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1a. Trio Sonatas in MP3 – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second

1. Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 73

2. Trio Sonata in E minor, RV 67

3. Trio Sonata in C major, RV 61

4. Trio Sonata in E major, RV 66

5. Trio Sonata in F major, RV 69

6. Trio Sonata in D major, RV 62

7. Trio Sonata in E-flat major, RV 65

8. Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 64

9. Trio Sonata in A major, RV 75

10. Trio Sonata in B-flat major, RV 78

11. Trio Sonata in B minor, RV 79

12. Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63 'La Follia'

1b. Trio Sonatas in flac – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second
1. Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 73

2. Trio Sonata in E minor, RV 67

3. Trio Sonata in C major, RV 61

4. Trio Sonata in E major, RV 66

5. Trio Sonata in F major, RV 69

6. Trio Sonata in D major, RV 62

7. Trio Sonata in E-flat major, RV 65

8. Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 64

9. Trio Sonata in A major, RV 75

10. Trio Sonata in B-flat major, RV 78

11. Trio Sonata in B minor, RV 79

12. Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63 'La Follia'

2a. "La stravaganza" series in MP3 – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second

Concerto Opus 4, B♭ major, RV383

Concerto Opus 4, E minor, RV279

Concerto Opus 4, G Major, RV301

Concerto Opus 4, C Major, RV357

2b. "La stravaganza" series in flac – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second
Concerto Opus 4, B♭ major, RV383

Concerto Opus 4, E minor, RV279

Concerto Opus 4, G Major, RV301

3a. Concerts from the 1720's in MP3 – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second
Concerto 107 in G minor, RV107

Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major, RV537

Concerto "La Tempesta di Mare" in F major, RV433

Piccolo Concerto in C-major, RV443

Lute Concerto in D major, RV93

3b. Concerts from the 1720's in flac – 440 Hz first, 432 Hz second
Concerto 107 in G minor, RV107

Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major, RV537

Concerto "La Tempesta di Mare" in F major, RV433

Piccolo Concerto in C-major, RV443

Lute Concerto in D major, RV93

The original sheet music is here:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Trio_Sonata_in_C_major,_RV_82_(Vivaldi,_Antonio).
MIDIs by Dillon Upton (1992).
1 "Werckmeister (III): 'correct temperament' based on 1/4 comma divisions". Wikipedia, citing 1681-1691.

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BachJS

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is one of the most incredible musical composer that has ever lived. His compositions are as numerous (tot. 1128), as are the types of music that he presented. They range from lively to reflective, are often impressive and algorithmically complex, and they can include the most various styles. Here we have collected some of his most memorable compositions.

Piano and flute concertos

Air on the G String, BWV 1068