Classical Anyone!

[Jaoe]

One of Rameau's most famous works is "Les Indes Galantes", from which I arranged the probably best known song.

Well done! Beautiful sound.

I first got interested in baroque music when I watched the movie "All The Mornings of The World" as a kid.
Here are my other favourites:



Non accordion:







This is a part of the aforementioned movie:

https://youtu.be/PZV4mxJuRhM?si=JVT0KOc7vsNKmaWI

 

[Walker]

Thanks for the Bach and Rameau, @Jaoe. While I feel we've hardly scratched the surface of the baroque era, I'm thinking it's best to move on because I'm so very close to geeking out on a 'litany' of lesser known composers from the English and Italian baroque that I would bore everyone silly! It's bad enough I did not even mentioned Handel, Scarlatti or Paschabel etc. and that's bread and butter baroque. Yet in the words of Willie Wonka, 'we've so much time and so little to do', so lets leap forward to something new (apologies for the weak rhyme, I don't know what to say, it just happened).

We've had a glimpse of the Classical era, followed by the Romantic era and then skipped back to the Baroque era... so now let's dive into the 20th Century era. This was the period that immediately followed the Romantic era.

Does anyone want to start us off with a favourite, must hear piece, from the 20th Century played on accordion?​

 

[Rosie C]

My favourite 20th century composer is Karl Jenkins. This performance of 'Palladio' will do nicely to represent him...

 

[Walker]

Thanks @Rosie C for sharing this fantastic Welsh composer with us. I knew the tune but didn't realise it was a Jenkins original! His Benedictus is superb too.

Isn't 20th Century music such a mixed bag... If I step back just for a moment to the early part of the 20th Century the first composer that springs to my mind is Ravel. His Pavane pour une infante défunte has something of the Romanic era about it's inspiration, but the style seems slightly different, it's pared back but retains the fairy-tale charm of the Romantic era. Some say he was an 'impressionist', I don't know, but I like it all the same. Here's Thuriot's version:​

 

[Rosie C]

Thanks @Rosie C for sharing this fantastic Welsh composer with us. I knew the tune but didn't realise it was a Jenkins original! His Benedictus is superb too.
​

The Benedictus is probably my favourite classical piece, and it definitely has my favourite chord of any tune - anyone who's heard it will know the chord!

 

[saundersbp]

Does anyone want to start us off with a favourite, must hear piece, from the 20th Century played on accordion?

Surely if we are into the 20th century we want at least some music actually written for the accordion rather than yet more than transcriptions. The accordion is an original instrument in its own right and has its own voice in the twentieth century over and above just copying other instruments.

For my money, Zolotaryov is the most original, innovative and deep - also tuneful, playful and idiomatic. Sure there are virtuoso pieces but the poetic Chamber Suite for me stands out as a desert island piece - a lot is just stradella bass too.



Equally good - cheeky, floaty and melodic - are the six children's suites. Don't let the word children put you off - this is music of the absolute highest quality and writing perfect miniatures is arguably harder than a longer piece. This third suite is one of my favourites and easiest to play as the left hand just repeats a simple pattern, but the others are equally wonderful.

i) Circle Dance
ii) Loneliness
iii) Complaint
iv) Lawn Dance

 

[Jaoe]

Here are my picks:

 

[Walker]

Surely if we are into the 20th century we want at least some music actually written for the accordion rather than yet more than transcriptions. The accordion is an original instrument in its own right and has its own voice in the twentieth century over and above just copying other instruments.

For my money, Zolotaryov is the most original, innovative and deep - also tuneful, playful and idiomatic. Sure there are virtuoso pieces but the poetic Chamber Suite for me stands out as a desert island piece - a lot is just stradella bass too.

Sometimes it seems as if accordionists are between a rock and a hard place... The beautiful old pieces we love to hear were not written for the accordion and a lot of the modern works written for accordion are experimental, atonal and use extended techniques that are an acquired taste.

Luckily we have (some) works by Zolotaryov that are tuneful and bursting with the fun of a fairground carousel ride... and surely if the music is good enough maybe the rest of the world will catch on and it will be adapted for the violin and piano too... the music will become as popular as Piazzolla! And yet it seems the others rarely catch on. While Zolotaryov was breaking new ground for bayanists in the 1960s, perhaps he was already too far behind the curve... modernism and avant garde styles were established in music. Yet I'm very pleased that Zolotaryov wrote what he did because without him how much tuneful 20th century music would be written for the accordion? I guess we had Frosini and the likes, but Zolotaryov's whirling free bass was quite the breath of fresh air.

I don't know how much Zolotaryov is suitable to be played on piano accordion, I suspect those that play it on PA are doing so despite the piano keyboard rather than because of it... Maybe there's a collection of his complete works in print with adaptations for piano accordionists. That wouldn't be a terrible idea. If not then I guess we'll have to watch the bayanists enjoy their wall to wall Zolotaryov fest and we'll need to convert to button accordion or go back to 20th Century music by Satie before getting fed up and slipping Handel's Suite for a Musical Clock onto the music stand when no one is looking. We can have fun too!​

Here's a quick blast of it, from Henry Doktorski:

Where was I again... oh yes, 20th Century music... So apart from Zolotaryov, which accordion composers of the 20th Century do you like Ben?

By the way if you ever get tired of those scampish Zolotaryov tunes and are looking for something a bit more of a dirge you could always play Nenia written by the Italian pianist and composer Franco Alfano in 1951 especially for accordion.​

 

[Tom]

I’ve really enjoyed this series, thanks Stewart!

I don’t get it though. Well I guess you mean “classical” music (although you seem to have included Piazzolla) whatever that is. I mean “average” people like Dominguinhos, Mestrinho, Yankovic, Diero, Mimmo, Frosini, Walker, Gonzaga, Galliano etc etc might object to this characterization about a paucity of 20th century music written for accordion.

….. picks up accordion and plays Asa Branca….

 

[Walker]

I was reminded today of another Russian composer for accordion, Viatcheslav Semyonov. I must admit to liking a lot of what he writes. The first time I witnessed one of his compositions performed live in public was at the 2008 Coupe Mondiale held in Scotland. His memorable work Polar Lights won first place in the music composition competition. Maybe that's us finally crossing over into 21st Century music now, though I'm not sure all that much has changed from late 20th Century.

Anyway, I recently stumbled upon Polar Lights again, played spectacularly well on piano accordion by Egle Bartkeviciute. Semyonov is one of the few contemporary composers who can really blend the melodic with the abstract and create something original and interesting.

Here's Polar Lights:



Also, here's The Tale of the Quiet Don performed by one the most exceptional piano accordionists in the world, Nikita Vlasov:



Finally, the brilliant American accordionist Nathan Chapeton playing Unforgettable arranged by Semyonov:



Also, here's Prophetic Dream by Semyonov:

 

[Walker]

Probably my favourite contemporary piece by a non-accordionist composer (who wrote for accordion) is the Intermezzo for violoncello and accordion by Isang Yun. The piece blends light and shade, harmony with dischord, overlapping textures and the tones of string and reed are marvellous. You can almost hear exotic birds singing at times. It's a very organic sound to my ear. I've listened to this piece so many times and I discover new details every time.



I get that the Contemporary era can seem like a strange musical jungle for accordionists, an environment where the everyday rules of music no longer apply. Having completed two short contemporary composition courses with Cardiff University, I'm beginning to understand it a little better. For example, it's perfectly standard in contemporary composition to have absolutely no key signature and the 12 tone technique gives no importance to any note, a significant departure from tonal music. Yet the 20th and 21st century are far from being the only times when the music styles can seems vastly different to the popular music of today.

Let's jump back 500 years to the Renaissance period. This was a time before tonalism - the framework where tunes are set in the major and minor keys. However, back in the Renaissance and for vastly the longest time in music history, back to the early medieval times, it was actually the modes (and not tonality) that formed the framework for music. Tonality and atonality are very much the newcomers in the grand scheme of things.

So, to get us started, when I think of Renaissance music played on accordion a name that comes to mind is Josquin de Prez (c. 1450-1455 to 1521). Here we can listen to two little bicinium (two part works) in different modes played by the Italian accordionist Ivano Paterno.

Bicinium - Hypomixolydian (mode VIII)


Bicinium - Phrigian (mode III)



Also, I cannot look past the work of Antonio de Cabezón. His piece Diferencias sobre el canto llano del caballero is beautiful. Miss Vicens plays it well...



​

 

[MoreorlessMusic]

Probably my favourite contemporary piece by a non-accordionist composer (who wrote for accordion) is the Intermezzo for violoncello and accordion by Isang Yun. The piece blends light and shade, harmony with dischord, overlapping textures and the tones of string and reed are marvellous. You can almost hear exotic birds singing at times. It's a very organic sound to my ear. I've listened to this piece so many times and I discover new details every time.



I get that the Contemporary era can seem like a strange musical jungle for accordionists, an environment where the everyday rules of music no longer apply. Having completed two short contemporary composition courses with Cardiff University, I'm beginning to understand it a little better. For example, it's perfectly standard in contemporary composition to have absolutely no key signature and the 12 tone technique gives no importance to any note, a significant departure from tonal music. Yet the 20th and 21st century are far from being the only times when the music styles can seems vastly different to the popular music of today.

Let's jump back 500 years to the Renaissance period. This was a time before tonalism - the framework where tunes are set in the major and minor keys. However, back in the Renaissance and for vastly the longest time in music history, back to the early medieval times, it was actually the modes (and not tonality) that formed the framework for music. Tonality and atonality are very much the newcomers in the grand scheme of things.

So, to get us started, when I think of Renaissance music played on accordion a name that comes to mind is Josquin de Prez (c. 1450-1455 to 1521). Here we can listen to two little bicinium (two part works) in different modes played by the Italian accordionist Ivano Paterno.

Bicinium - Hypomixolydian (mode VIII)


Bicinium - Phrigian (mode III)



Also, I cannot look past the work of Antonio de Cabezón. His piece Diferencias sobre el canto llano del caballero is beautiful. Miss Vicens plays it well...



​

I had not heard the Isang Yun Intermezzo before and I have to say a big thank you to you for introducing me to it as it is a beautiful and spell binding piece of music. I also really was aware of light and shade and a wonderful "tropical jungle" of sound and experiences. A lovely blend of instruments too, the cello and accordion worked so well together. I also enjoyed the "early" music examples too.

 

[saundersbp]

. So apart from Zolotaryov, which accordion composers of the 20th Century do you like Ben?

Petr Fiala is another one, I'd start your exploration with his wonderful miniatures, called "For Children"