Of stupendous magnitude and melody

String Quartet Op. 76. no. 3 “Emperor”. Movement II: Poco adagio cantabile  - Joseph Haydn

A rather familiar tune associated with the current German national anthem or the protestant hymn “Glorious things of thee are spoken”, this melody has a rather long and interesting political history. 

The song melody was actually written for the anthem Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser (God Save Emperor Francis) to Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. Lorenz Leopold Haschka (1749–1827) wrote the lyrics, and Joseph Haydn composed the melody. It is sometimes called the “Kaiserhymne” (Emperor’s Hymn).

The song was written when Austria was seriously threatened by France and patriotic sentiments ran high. In England, Haydn came to know the favourite British national anthem, ‘God Save the King’, and he envied the British nation for a song through which it could, at festive occasions, show in full measure its respect, love, and devotion to its ruler. Haydn wished that Austria, too, could have a similar national anthem, wherein it could display a similar respect and love for its Sovereign. The anthem was written to rival in merit the British “God save the King”.

The premiere of the song took place in Vienna in the Burgtheater on 12 February 1797, the day the song was officially released. The Emperor was present, attending a performance of Dittersdorf’s opera Doktor und Apotheker and Joseph Weigl’s ballet Alonzo und Cora, celebrating his 29th birthday.

Not long after the premeire, Haydn was worked on a commission for six string quartets from Count Joseph Erdödy. He conceived the idea of composing a slow movement for one of the quartets consisting of the Emperor’s hymn as theme, followed by four variations, each involving the melody played by one member of the quartet. The finished quartet, now often called the “Emperor” quartet, was published as the third of the Opus 76 quartets, dedicated to Count Erdödy. It is perhaps Haydn’s most famous work in this genre.

After the death of Francis in 1835, the tune was given new lyrics that praised his successor, Ferdinand. After Ferdinand’s abdication in 1848, the original lyrics were used again because his successor (Francis Joseph) was also named Francis. However, in 1854, yet again new lyrics were selected: “Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze / Unsern Kaiser, unser Land!” (“God preserve, God protect / Our Emperor, our country!”). The tune stopped being used for official purposes in Austria when monarchy was abolished in 1918. It was revived in 1929 with completely new lyrics, known as Sei gesegnet ohne Ende, which remained the national anthem until the Anschluss.

Long after Haydn’s death, his melody was used as the tune of Hoffmann von Fallersleben’s Das Lied der Deutschen (1841), whose text begins “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (Although today the first two stanzas are omitted from the text when sung as the National anthem of Germany)  

The melody is also used in as a hymn in English, to lyrics by John Newton which begins “Glorious things of thee are spoken/Zion, city of our God.”, and the hymn “Praise the Lord! O Heav’ns adore Him.” The name of this tune in English-language hymnals is “Austria”. Hymns with this setting were omitted from hymnals in England following the wars.

It has been conjectured that Haydn took part of his material from folksongs he knew. This hypothesis has never achieved unanimous agreement; the alternative being that Haydn’s original tune was adapted by the people in various versions as folk songs. 

A really accurate portrayal of what conducting is about. 

“Who knows what’s the composer intention? The composer is dead!……  So intention is not a stable thing. Maybe he thought this way about it, later he thought another way. So putting a piece of music on the stage is always about the intention of the interpreter. It is never really about an honest historical representation of what the composer intended. That’s a marketing ploy…”  

Simply beautiful and inspiring documentary about Morten Lauridsen. This guy writes such angelic music that God would be pleased with.  

There’s a new film out about Morten Lauridsen, the American composer. A friend of mine saw it at a screening the other day, and highly recommended it.

For my friend Paul Graham who liked and commented on my facebook feed from the previous tumblr post.

“Paul Graham: i liked this for the express reason of making it look like im cultured and enjoy/know anything about classical music.” 

Tchaikovsky violin concerto in D major op.35

Check out 5:47 where the driving subconsciously becomes in sync with the tempo of the music and builds up gradually where it explodes at 6:16 . 

A Poem Reading with Meryl Streep and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma

This is the epitome of what this blog is about. Music i love and poetry combined in a powerful recitation by two incredibly talented people the world has ever seen. 

Mesmerizing…. 

 

This is splendid. The pianist Maria Joao Pires was expecting another Mozart concerto during a free lunch concert in Amsterdam when the orchestra started playing. It was an open rehearsal hence the cameras. 

Look at her face… she was horrified. She looks so uncomfortable and pale. I bet it was a concert pianist worst nightmare.  

Thanks to the conductor encouragement she managed to pull it off. 

Bravo!