General
General

General

Of Beauties, Kisses and Nightingales

The probably most popular composition of female authorship, even though this fact evades the attention of many classical musicians, is the song Bésame mucho by the Mexican composer-pianist Consuelo Velázquez (c. 1916–2005), written in the mid-1930s, and subsequently becoming a worldwide success through all musical styles and genres. The initial melody is presumably based on the 1911 piece Quejas, ó la maja y el ruiseñor, part of the Goyescas piano cycle by Catalan composer Enrique Granados, which he adopted as an aria for the opera of the same name a few years later. Consuelito, as she was called by her friends and family, provided the tune with soulful lyrics and a relaxed bolero rhythm, and transformed it into a regular periodical theme, while maintaining its melancholic mood and Phrygian-inflected harmony.

Amy Beach’s Instrumental Cantilenas

Just wanted to share some insights from my Amy Beach analysis class, along with a number of listening recommendations. More to experience in my forthcoming lecture at this year’s conference of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie, 22–24 September 2023, in Freiburg!

A core feature of Amy Beach’s creative approach is the re-working or re-cycling of vocal music in her instrumental works, such as passages or fragments from her own earlier songs, or by implementation of folk melodies. This goes well beyond similar tendencies in the oeuvres of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, or Mahler—I tend to say that a significant portion of Beach’s instrumental cantilenas are derived from vocal music, being instances of »the song writ large«, as Adrienne Fried Block put it. Take a look, for example, at the slow movements from the Piano Concerto, Op. 45 (a transformation of the song Twilight, Op. 2 No. 1) and the Piano Trio, Op. 150 (which is based on the Heine setting Allein, Op. 35 No. 2); or check out how she integrates vernacular themes in her Gaelic Symphony, Op. 32 (which three of its four movements being based on Irish songs), the Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60 (which make use of Serbian and Macedonian melodies), or the single-movement String Quartet, Op. 89 (which is based on Inuit tunes), in order to create a pristine atmosphere and modally-coloured harmony. These are but the most striking examples of a fascinating compositional technique that I intend to further explore in the following weeks.

Joint Panel on Pre-University Music Theory

I am excited to co-organise a panel discussion, jointly hosted by the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie and Society for Music Analysis, which will be entitled »Essentials or Preliminaries? Perspectives on Pre-University Music Theory«. This will be the first collaboration of the SMA Zoom Colloquium and the GMTH International Music Theory Lectures, featuring Rebekka Albrecht, Esther Cavett, Laura Krämer, James Olsen, Mark Richards, and Kenneth Smith, who will contribute their views as lecturers at secondary schools, music schools, and universities. Really looking forward to this exchange of thoughts—if you are interested as well, please join the session on Thursday, 1 June, 19:30 CEST (18:30 BST). Further information on the speakers and the Zoom details can be found on this website and also on this website.

Interview: Subsistence of Musicians

My colleague Heike Michaelis and I have been interviewed for the current neue musikzeitung on a number of topics related to advocacy of freelance musicianship, such as fee structures, pension provision, cultural policy, professional development in music, and association work in the Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband. Check this link to learn about my thoughts and views (on some of which I have already expanded elsewhere), and feel free to comment and share your opinion. This interview also marks the end of my collaboration with the nmz as I am about to turn away to other media outlets.