Classic Elements
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Fire, earth, air, and waterthe classic four elementshave inspired poets, philosophers, and musicians across the ages. Two composers offer very different interpretations late this evening.
When is a quartet not a quartet? When Leonard Bernstein decides to arrange it for string orchestra, as he did the 16th Quartet of Ludwig von Beethoven, heard this evening under his baton with the Vienna Philharmonic Strings. Lennie had studied the Mitropolous score for No. 14 as a student, and may have known of Toscanini’s arrangement of the two middle movements of No. 16. However, this is the first recorded string-orchestra version of No. 16, which was dedicated to the memory of his wife Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.
Tully Cathey, whose “Elements” is played here by the Modern Mandolin Quartet, says his music arose from being constantly reminded of the transformative power of these four forces of nature in his Western U.S. home region, near the Wasatch Fault, Yellowstone National Park, and the peaks of the Rockies. Much different is Les elemens, the last work by the Baroque composer Jean-Fery Rebel. The first movement, “Chaos,” is positively breathtaking, even today. It is followed by a delightful suite of dance movements which portray earth and water, fire, and air, and then birds and love, at last giving way to straightforward dance forms such as a Sicilienne and Caprice.This masterpiece of 18th-century French instrumental music is played by the Musica Antiqua Koln under Reinhardt Goebel..
When is a quartet not a quartet? When Leonard Bernstein decides to arrange it for string orchestra, as he did the 16th Quartet of Ludwig von Beethoven, heard this evening under his baton with the Vienna Philharmonic Strings. Lennie had studied the Mitropolous score for No. 14 as a student, and may have known of Toscanini’s arrangement of the two middle movements of No. 16. However, this is the first recorded string-orchestra version of No. 16, which was dedicated to the memory of his wife Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.
Tully Cathey, whose “Elements” is played here by the Modern Mandolin Quartet, says his music arose from being constantly reminded of the transformative power of these four forces of nature in his Western U.S. home region, near the Wasatch Fault, Yellowstone National Park, and the peaks of the Rockies. Much different is Les elemens, the last work by the Baroque composer Jean-Fery Rebel. The first movement, “Chaos,” is positively breathtaking, even today. It is followed by a delightful suite of dance movements which portray earth and water, fire, and air, and then birds and love, at last giving way to straightforward dance forms such as a Sicilienne and Caprice.This masterpiece of 18th-century French instrumental music is played by the Musica Antiqua Koln under Reinhardt Goebel..
