Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day is Johann Adolf Hasse.

(1699-1783)

Hasse was an accomplished and prolific composer. He wrote a great number of operas. Like, really, a lot of operas. And cantatas, too. Lots of them!

After his death, he was largely forgotten.

Today, Hasse is largely forgotten.

His music's assimilation of Baroque contrapuntal styles and Italian opera techniques result in an interesting synthesis. For this reason I kind of think of him as a missing like between the Baroque and Classical eras.

His music is recently being performed and recorded again.

Here is some video of his music being performed, by musicians. Sort of.

You should listen to his music.

Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day is Charlemagne Palestine.

(1945- (or 1947-)?)

Charlemagne Palestine is a rather odd fellow. Musician, composer, performance artist, and eccentric, he was active in the 1970s, and is still around today.

His music explores vocal and piano timbres, drones, minimalism, electronics, tape, chant, exotica, crossover with pop, trance, ritual, and various physical elements of performance art.

The ritual elements of his performances include, but are not limited to, being surrounded by large numbers of stuffed animals, smoking copious amounts of clove cigarettes, and drinking remarkable quantities of cognac.

You can see some recent footage here.

You should listen to his music, which is very visual. What?

Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day is Conlon Nancarrow.

(1912-1997)

Nancarrow was an experimental composer. He trained with well-known composers Walter Piston and Roger Sessions, among others. After returning from the Spanish Civil War, he went to New York and was involved in the vibrant new music scene there.

He wrote difficult rhythmic music in an atonal, contrapuntal style.

In fact, his music was so rhythmically thorny that he became frustrated with performers' inability to play his complex textures.

Also, he was a dedicated socialist. In America in the 1930s, this was not so cool with the establishment. As a result, he moved to Mexico, becoming a citizen in 1955.

In Mexico, there were even fewer musicians to play his already hard-to-perform music. So he bought a player piano! Which is badass. He wrote many, if not most, of his later works for the player piano, punching holes in the piano rolls, which alleviated the problem of his complex rhythms.

His music is very cool. He was born in Arkansas. There is a relatively recent book about him.

You should listen to his music.

Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day is Galina Ustvolskaya.

(1919-2006)

(This seems to be the standard picture of her. Why do her hands look penciled in?)

Ustvolskaya was a Russian/Soviet composer with a distinctly individual, experimental style.

During the Soviet years, her music was suppressed as decadent (and, notably, quasi-religious), but she managed to make a living writing pro-Soviet screed pieces. Her main composition teacher was Dmitri Shostakovich. He admired her greatly, and (after the death of his first wife) unsuccessfully asked her to marry him.

She declined. After a time, she broke free of her mentor's influence and developed a unique style of composition including tone clusters, pounding rhythms, and unique instrumental combinations. For example, her piece Composition No. 2 is scored for 8 double basses, piano, and percussion (a wooden box!). Interestingly, all of the pieces in her representative (that is, not Soviet-official) style include piano, percussion, or both.

Her insistence on large, repeated blocks of sound earned her the moniker "The Lady with the Hammer." Which is an awesome nickname. Her music is unique and beautiful.

You can hear the part of the aforementioned Composition No. 2 here. I have no idea what the video is about. It sure is strange though.

She was opinionated. Some great quotes are here. Although she remains relatively obscure, there exist recordings for you to purchase. Or download, whatever.

You should listen to her music.

Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day is Charles-Valentin Alkan.

(1813-1888)

Alkan was a virtuoso pianist. He was also a composer of difficult piano music. Alkan was, famously, antisocial (see picture, left).

Nobody remembers Alkan much. Although, Ronald Smith, an English pianist and writer, championed his music in the 1990s and wrote a biography about him, which has led to a small revival of interest.

He was Jewish and lived in Paris. There is a long-standing rumor that he died when a heavy bookcase fell on him as he was reaching for the Talmud on the top shelf. Unfortunately, this story is now in doubt.

He was Chopin's next door neighbor for a while, and knew Liszt and other famous figures of the day. Too bad he was shy. He did not perform much. His music is obscure, which is awesome.

You should listen to his music.
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