Post Series

There are occasions I have written posts in a series, either on one large-scale piece of music, or grouped together with a common theme.  Below I have put together links to some of these series to make them easier to find and follow in the archive of Good Music Speaks.  These are some of my favorite pieces of music, ones that I have been motivated to write about in some depth.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

To The Memory of An Angel

One of my favorite works of the early twentieth century is the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg.  It was composed during the summer of 1935, and dedicated to the memory of Manon Gropius, the young daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius.  The concerto is a moving, emotionally charged masterpiece.

To the Memory of an Angel, Part I

To the Memory of an Angel, Part II

To the Memory of an Angel, Part III

Four By Four For Four

This was a series of posts on one of my favorite chamber ensembles, the string quartet.  Four compositions, by four different composers, played by four string players in a quartet.

Part I (Haydn)

Part II (Beethoven)

Part III (Bartók)

Part IV (Shostakovich)

American Composers

I have a special affection for the music of American composers, being that I am one myself.  I spent the entire month of July 2014 writing posts about some well-known and some not so well-known composers that were born here in America.

Made In The USA

Charles Ives, Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York

Shine On Diamond, Shine On

Of Rage and Remembrance

Neglected Bernstein

If Horatio Alger had Written the Life-Story of a Composer

Schuman (One “N”, not that German guy)

On The Transmigration of Souls

Surprise Endings

American Composers, Postscript

Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor

Finished in 1902, the Fifth symphony of Mahler is the first of a trio of purely instrumental symphonies that highlight the middle creative period of his career.  The fourth movement Adagietto is probably the most famous piece of music Mahler ever wrote.

Gustav Mahler’s Fifth World

Trauermarsch

Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter Vehemenz

Scherzo

Adagietto

Rondo-Finale

 Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8 in C minor

The Eighth symphony of Anton Bruckner is the last he completed.  It was premiered in 1892, and has undergone revision by Bruckner and some well-meaning supporters.  The standard four movement symphonic form is expanded to a huge 80 minutes of music by Bruckner.  Listening is worth every minute, as it ends with a gorgeous finale.

“The Bruckner Problem” or “A Huge Pain in My Student Backside”

Regular Irregularity, or Round Pegs in Square Holes

A Ruggedly Vigorous Musical Joke

From Darkness Into the Light

Blazing With Calm, Splendorous Lux Sancta