Debussy’s “Hommage á Rameau”: A Dreamy Remembrance of the Baroque Sarabande

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For Claude Debussy, the ghost of French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) loomed large. An innovative composer of opera and harpsichord music, Rameau’s influential 1722 Treatise on Harmony earned him the nickname, the “Isaac Newton of Music.” In 1903, Rameau’s 1737 opera, Castor et Pollux, was performed in Paris. Debussy, in the audience, was heard to exclaim, “Long live Rameau, and down with Gluck!” Hommage à Rameau is the second piece in Book …

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Rameau’s “Zaïs” Overture: Creation Develops out of Chaos

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Creation develops out of primordial chaos in the Overture to the 1748 opera, Zaïs, by French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). The shocking and innovative music predates Haydn’s similar depiction in the opening of his oratorio, The Creation, by half a century. The Zaïs Overture begins with muted drumbeats, followed by detached fanfare fragments. At first, rhythm falters and the harmony is directionless. Disparate musical building blocks, representing the four elements of Earth, …

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Handel’s Minuet in G, HWV 434/4: Alexander Malofeev

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Handel’s haunting and melancholy Minuet in G, HWV 434/4 is a frequent encore of Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev. Following a virtuosic tour de force such as Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, the simple, sensuous melodic lines of the Minuet pull listeners into a magical space. This music originated as the fourth movement of Handel’s Keyboard Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434, published in 1733. It was revived by pianist Wilhelm Kempff. This performance, featuring …

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Remembering Ken Peplowski

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Ken Peplowski, an acclaimed American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, passed away suddenly last Monday, February 3. He was 66. Jazz critic Russell Davies called Peplowski “arguably the greatest living jazz clarinetist.” In his youth, he performed in the final iteration of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. As a soloist, he explored a range of jazz styles from Dixieland to bebop. In 2007, he was named jazz advisor for the Oregon Festival of American …

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Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 2, “Company”: Brooklyn Rider

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In Samuel Beckett’s 1979 novella, Company, a man lies on his back in the dark and listens to a Voice. According to Thomas J. Taylor, The central narrative revolves around the complex relationship between the voice, the listener, and the elusive “another,” highlighting the ambiguity of identity and presence. As the anecdotes unfold, they reveal a deeper commentary on the nature of existence and the inevitability of loneliness, suggesting that while memories and …

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Sibelius’ “The Origin of Fire”: A Cantata Based on Finnish Mythology

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The Kalevala, the national epic poem of Finland, contains a myth with overtones of Prometheus. Ukko, the life-sustaining god of thunder, weather, and fertile fields, recreates fire after Louhi, the goddess of death and disease, steals it, along with the sun and moon. The story is the subject of Jean Sibelius’ 1902 cantata, The Origin of Fire (“Tulen synty”), Op. 32, scored for baritone, male chorus, and orchestra. The work was written for the opening …

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Remembering Richie Beirach

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Richie Beirach, an American jazz pianist and composer, passed away last Monday, January 26 in southern Germany. He was 78. Born in Brooklyn, Beirach collaborated with saxophonist David Liebman, beginning in the late 1960s. Additionally, he was celebrated as a soloist and collaborator. Later, Beirach settled in Leipzig, Germany where he taught jazz piano at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Conservatory. He collaborated extensively with ECM producer Manfred Eicher. Richie Beirach’s approach to jazz …

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