The Galaxy Playlist

May 12, 2008

A Birthday for Brahms

Johannes Brahms, who's 175th birthday was on May 7th, is an important link in our musicological chain. He was the rare composer who could sum up the achievements of previous eras while simutaneously carve out new achievements of his own. He was indebted to the musical language of Bach, and kept a bust of Beethoven overlooking his piano to supervise his composition process. One might see him as a central figure in the German Romantic era musical culture, with his deep friendships with Robert Schumann, Johann Strauss II, and other numerous composers and musicians of the era. He was a consumate craftsman. The importance of his work cannot be overestimated. Sadly, I do not have enough samplings of his work to provide a thorough overview, but what we have (and I will also be playing some next week) does touch on some of the things that made Brahms special. He was well known for his piano compositions, yet he started with the cello, and this sonata is a beautiful combination of the two voices, both singing in equal harmony. He was also well known for his choral works, and the Liebeslieder that we hear here is a perfect example of the beauty of these great works.

Composer's name is listed where notable (i.e. Classical Performance, Jazz Performance).

For more information on any of the rock, pop and Jazz music featured on this program, I frequently utilize AllMusic , an excellent free database holding a huge plethora of information about music and the artists that make it.

Composer	Performer	Title	Genre	Label	Notes
Killswitch Eng age		Eye of the Storm	Metal	Roadrunner, 2006
		Take This Oath		Roadrunner, 2004
		Unbroken		Roadrunner, 2006
		Rose of Sharyn		Roadrunner, 2004
Jimi Hendrix		Purple Haze	Rock, Classic, Psychedelic	MCA, 1967
		Burning of the Midnight Lamp		MCA, 1968
		Machine Gun		Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1970, 1999	This is from the live recording issued in 1970 as Band of Gypsies, expanded, revised, reordered and reissued in 1999 as Live at the Filmore East.
Johannes Brahms	Yo Yo Ma, Cello, Emmanuel Ax, piano	Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano, Op. 38 in E Minor	Classical, Romantic Era, chamber music	RCA Victor, 1992	Written in 1865, this was his first published full sonata for any instrument other than piano. Interestingly, his arrangement of the melody does not require the cello to use the treble clef, placing the focus squarely on the cello's ability to perform in the lower tonal register.
Jimi Hendrix		Third Stone From The Sun	Rock, Classic, Psy cchedelic	MCA, 1967
Jimi Hendrix		Hear My Train A-Comin'	Rock, Classic, Psy cchedelic	Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1970, 1999
Johannes Brahms	BBC Singers, Jane Alley, cond; Catherine Edwards and John Alley, piano duet	Liebeslieder, Op. 52	Classical, Romantic Era, chamber music, choral music	BBC, 1992
REM		Disturbance at the Heron House	Rock, Indie	IRS, 1987

This page is maintained by Douglas Flummer , your humble pilot and navigator.

Last Update: May 12, 2008

Email: saxman@siu.edu

Return to the main Playlist