Additional Resources (updated 11/11/20)
Week 8
Historical overviews of the Quartet:
Quartet for the End of Time: the complete documentary about Olivier Messiaen’s WWII masterpiece
“Revelations: Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker, March 22, 2004)
Meetingpoint Messiaen (part of the broader website associated with the European Center for Memory, Education and Culture)
Notes on the Quartet and videos of a 2012 performance at the original site in Stalag VII-A
Was “Vocalise for the Angel” inspiration for Alan Silvestri’s Back to the Future soundtrack? Listen closely….
More from Olivier Messiaen:
Catalogue d'oiseaux (Catalogue of Birds)
Week 7
More significant works from Monteverdi:
“Deus in adjutorium, Dixit Dominus” from the Vespers (1608)
“Signor dei non partire” from Poppea (1643)
Highlights from some of the many additional settings of Orpheus and Euridice:
Gluck, Dance of the Blessed Spirits (1762)
Offenbach, Galop Infernal (aka “The Can Can”) from Orpheus in the Underworld (1858)
Another “Can Can” with an enthusiastic audience!
Glass, “Orphée’s Return” ˆfrom Orphée (1992)
A modern re-interpretation of the Possente Spirto scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:
Some famous Wagner excerpts…..
Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Overture to The Flying Dutchman
Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin (AKA “Here Comes the Bride”)
The Ring Cycle
An Animated Guide to the Ring (great 6-minute summary of the story)
The Top Uses of Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries in Movies or TV
Biographical details
Brief video on Wagner’s life on Biography (includes discussion of his anti-semitic views; we’ll talk about how musicians approach this problematic aspect of the composer.)
Looney Tunes at the Opera
“What’s Opera, Doc?” (1957) with live orchestral accompaniment
Doctor Atomic
More from John Adams:
Excerpt from “The Gospel According to the Other Mary”
On the Transmigration of Souls (9/11 memorial)
Week 6
1997 Documentary on Shostakovich’s wartime symphonies:
(the circumstances leading up to the composition of the Fifth Symphony are detailed in the first twenty minutes, but the whole thing is well worth a watch if you have time!)
More notable works by Shostakovich:
String Quartet No. 8 “to the victims of fascism and the war”
Cello Concerto No. 1 (Mstislav Rostropovich, cello)
Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
Official website: sevenlastwords.org
Haydn, “Seven Last Words of Christ” (a source of inspiration)
Shirin Barghi’s #lastwords visual art project (an additional source of inspiration)
“Q&A: Atlanta Composer Joel Thompson on ‘Seven Last Words of the Unarmed’” (ArtsAtl, June 19, 2020).
Dialogue on cultivating diversity in classical music
“Musicians on How to Bring Racial Equity to Auditions” (New York Times, September 10th, 2020).
Weeks 4/5
Rest of Brahms’s symphonies:
More Brahms videos:
“Alphorn” theme from the first symphony played on Alphorn in the Alps! (2017)
Original version of the Brahms “Lullaby”
Dvořák “New World” connections
Complete performance of “New World” Symphony
Vocal adaption of “Going Home” from NWS sung by Paul Robeson
Bily Brothers Clock Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit, Spillville, Iowa
Picture of reading glasses worn by Dvořák’s wife, now owned by my dad
Some well-known Prokofiev pieces
Adaption of “Peter and the Wolf” with cartoon images for children
“Montagues and Capulets” from Romeo and Juliet ballet
Violin Concerto No. 2 in g minor
Is the second movement of Prokofiev 5 inspiration for the time travel soundtrack in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?
John Williams, Forward to Time Past
The other Brandenburg concertos!
Some of the many famous Tchaikovsky pieces:
“Andante Cantabile” from String Quartet No. 1
Waltz from “Serenade for Strings”
Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman
Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra (Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello)
Van Cliburn
“Russians Conquered My Heart”: Pianist Van Cliburn Reflects on 50 Years of Music Making
My 2013 blog about meeting Van Cliburn at Interlochen
Famous works by Elgar
Elgar conducts Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in 1931
“Nimrod” from the Enigma Variations
Jaqueline du Pre
Tribute to Jaqueline du Pre (2005)
“Hilary and Jackie” 1998 film trailer
Week 3
Theme from Mozart 40 in S.H.E. “Don’t wanna grow up” (referenced by Nina): click here
A few especially famous Mozart compositions:
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (“A Little Night Music”)
Exsultate Jubilate (sung by Renée Fleming)
Other especially significant Beethoven symphonies:
Wikipedia article on the “Ode to Joy”
Beethoven 9 in culture:
Brief documentary on use of the “Ode to Joy” in political movements
“How Deaf People Experience Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” (brief documentary)
“Beethoven in Space” OUP blog, December 3, 2017
Week 2
Inspirations for Mendelssohn and Schubert:
Bach, Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir (“Old One Hundredth”)
Schubert, Die Forelle (“The Trout”)
Beethoven quartets from his middle and late period:
More examples of Mendelssohn’s chamber music:
More examples of Schubert’s chamber music:
Quartet “Death and the Maiden”, Op. Posth.
Cello Quintet in C Major, Op. 163
“Trout Quintet” connections:
Vaughan Williams quintet for the same instrumentation
My 2015 blog on the use of the “Trout” in commercials (commercial links no longer work…)
“Trout” theme on a Samsung washing machine
Week 1
Rest of the Bach Cello Suites
Examples of Baroque dances:
Yo-Yo Ma on Bach in contemporary culture:
“Yo-Yo Ma Wants Bach to Save the World” The New York Times, September 28, 2018.
Paul Katz interviews Bernard Greenhouse on his time with Casals:
Greenhouse Meets Casals - Part I
Greenhouse Meets Casals - Part 2 (includes conversation on how Casals taught Bach)
Pablo Casals interview (1955)