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I’m thrilled at how you’ve already taken to the ON MUSIC feature! Lots of great comments yesterday, which I’ll take into consideration going forward, especially the request to feature 20th century music.
Today I’m digging out the Berlioz, however. The most “romantic” of all the Romantics. Besides all the juicy love affairs and near love affairs, his attempts to kill himself and his outrageous hairdo, Berlioz was something of a rogue, getting into trouble often, causing a stir with his behavior as well as his seriously avante music. But the most interesting factoid I can drop about him, which you won’t discover unless you do some serious reading about the genius (and let me recommend his autobiography if you’re interested in learning more) is this: he couldn’t play piano!
Berlioz was a guitarist and wrote most of his compositions sitting at a desk with nothing more than pen and staff paper. Pretty amazing, especially when you listen to how vivid and colorful his orchestrations are.
So let’s do exactly that, by dropping in on the finale of his most famous piece, his Symphonie Fantastique. Yesterday we listened to several different handlings of the brass section, so I thought we’d do the same today, only in the string section.
In the beginning of this excerpt, note the nasally sound of the cellos and violas. This is accomplished by playing right near the bridge of the instrument, where the strings are tightest. Then, around 20 seconds in, the violins join the little canonic passage, only they’re playing normally, which creates a nice juxtaposition against the raspy cellos. Moments later everyone is playing normally, creating that rich, full sound. But it gets even fuller at 40 seconds in when the whole string sections starts playing the tune in unison, deep and low down—listen to how rich and warm that is!When the brass come in with the counter melody a few moments later, the violins soar with the tune into the stratosphere. And then start diving up and down the scale.
Next comes my favorite part of all! At 1:15 into the excerpt, listen as the strings flip their bows upside down and start bouncing the wood side against the strings! In Italian, it’s called col legno, and it means to strike “with the wood.” String players hate to play col legno because the bows are very expensive and it ruins the wood. Some even carry extra bows, cheap ones, for moments in scores such as these. But what a great effect, eh? This piece, written around 1826, might very well be the first ever call for col legno.
Lastly, listen closely around 1:55 when the strings start a wild tremolo down in the lower register. This, combined with that scary rolling bass drum create the thunder-like effect you hear before the launch into the wonderfully bombastic finale.
Comments (11)
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For what it’s worth, I’m digging the new feature, so I’ll try my luck and request version (or “rendition” or whatever the term is) recommendations – like the couple that were thrown out yesterday – for each piece that gets covered. I need more!
posted by Drew on 2-9-2007 at 12:08 am
Another fantastic post! I don’t see how anyone could NOT be excited about the music when it’s talked about in such an interesting and energized way.
posted by Molly on 2-9-2007 at 8:35 am
Thanks guys, for all the feedback. I thought you’d dig the new feature. Drew: I’d recommend Bernstein’s recording of the Berlioz piece. It’s a 1977 EMI release with the National Orchestra of France.
But again, you can’t go wrong with Von Karajan, or Dutoit!
posted by David on 2-9-2007 at 9:19 am
Thanks so much for the posts on “classical” music. Molly is totally right about your enthusiasm.
No one mastered a huge orchestra like Richard Strauss, in my humble opinion, and I hope we hear some of his imaginative work later on. The Dance of the Seven Veils from his opera “Salome” makes the Symphonie Fantastique sound like Mozart! (Interestingly, Strauss and Berlioz ended up “collaborating” in a weird sort of way: in 1904, Strauss took on the task of editing Berlioz’s groundbreaking book on orchestration, adding modern instruments and techniques.)
posted by Matthew on 2-9-2007 at 9:30 am
Fantastic description, bio, and analysis! I only read it due to Berlioz, who came to my attention in the soundtrack to “Sleeping with the Enemy” Julia Roberts movie from the early 90’s. A track from Berlioz “Symphonie Fantastique” was used to add depth to the dramatic moment early in the movie where she escapes her abusive husband, I believe it is track 5 of the CD, about 2 minutes in, called “Witch to the Gallows” I may be off a bit there, but it ROCKS!
Terrific feature, just dipping my toes in, and oh, what a feeling! Thanks!
Jesse
posted by Jesse on 2-9-2007 at 1:42 pm
I first heard of Berlioz when my youth orchestra saw the Toronto Philharmonic perform his “Le Carnaval Romain,” and the ending just blew my socks off! I purchased a CD which happened to include “Symphonie Fantastique,” and it’s been a frequent and long-time staple of my CD changer.
Many thanks for the insightful and indepth description as well as the clip – my daughter (a budding violast) listened with wide ears (and eyes) to the col legno passage, and can’t wait to describe it to her fellow first-year music students.
posted by Eric H-A on 2-11-2007 at 1:49 pm
Looking for a particular version of Symphonie Fantastique – my wife remembers one from her youth where the bells of Notre Dame cathedral feature in the Witch’s Sabbath but I’m having trouble tracking it down. Any clues might help. I’ll certainly give the Bernstein a go if I can find it!
posted by John Clayton on 9-2-2007 at 1:09 pm
Great post! It is always nice to read articles about classical music by people who are just as enthused about it as I am. I am a bassoonist by profession, and this clip actually includes an excerpt that we have to play at many orchestral auditions. Any other classical musician mental flossers out there?
posted by Stephanie K on 3-5-2008 at 6:29 am
Just as a correction, I think the part you mean, Jesse, is “March to the Gallows”. It’s probably the most famous part of Symphonie Fantastique, and it’s my favorite!
posted by Me! on 3-5-2008 at 3:47 pm
I love classical music commentary like this. I never know what’s going on in a piece, but having this kind of introduction really makes the piece interesting and alive.
It kind of reminds me of the Keeping Score site for Beethoven’s Third Symphony, which really changed how I saw classical music.
I’m looking forward to more On Music pieces!
posted by jasminerain on 3-6-2008 at 3:56 pm
Hello, I hate to be Captain Smartypants, but col legno is considerably oler than Symphony Fantastique. It is featured in the works of Tobias Hume, 1605, Farina, 1627, and Biber, 1673, and more famously in Winter from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
Great article though! Keep it up.
Captain Smartypants.
posted by Luke Hannington on 9-15-2008 at 8:21 pm