Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves: Celebrating a 400-Year-Old English Folk Song

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In 16th century England, Greensleeves was already such a popular melody that William Shakespeare referenced it in his 1597 comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor with Falstaff’s exclamation, Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’! The English folk song was first registered in September of 1580 under the title, “A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves.” According to myth, the melody was written by Henry VIII. …

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Remembering Martial Solal

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Martial Solal, the Algerian-born French jazz pianist and composer, passed away last Thursday, December 12 in Versailles. He was 97 years old. In the preface to Solal’s autobiography, André Hodeir wrote, Martial Solal, born in 1927, is a pianist. According to Alain Gerber, he is ‘one of the world’s greatest musicians, across all styles, genres and cultures’. Solal ‘astounded’ Sviatoslav Richter, dazzled Duke Ellington with his ‘sensitivity, freshness, creativity and extraordinary technique’, …

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John Dowland’s “Time Stands Still”: A Renaissance Love Song

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An undercurrent of quiet melancholy runs throughout the songs of John Dowland (1563 – 1626), the English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer who was employed by the court of Christian IV of Denmark before returning to London to serve James I. The poet Richard Barnfield wrote that Dowland’s “heavenly touch upon the lute doth ravish human sense.” Dowland’s Time Stands Still, published in 1603 as part of The Third and Last Booke of …

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Takemitsu’s “I Hear the Water Dreaming”: An Impressionistic Concertante for Flute and Orchestra

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Dreamtime lies at the center of Australian aboriginal culture. A mythology dating back 60,000 years, it is a collection of stories involving the creation of the universe, the origin of life, and humanity’s role in the world. The stories are passed from one generation to another through music, art, and ceremony. It was a work of art—an aboriginal painting titled Water Dreaming from the desert region of Papunya in Western Australia—that formed …

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Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046: Festive Horn Calls

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Festive horn calls ring out from the opening measures of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major. Rousing and raucous, this is joyful music of the hunt. As the Netherlands Bach Society observes, On turning over the impressive title page of the ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos, two hunting horns immediately blare through the rest of the music – calling everyone to gather together! Bach deliberately lets the persistent horns disturb his music. …

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David Raksin’s “The Bad and the Beautiful” Suite: A Classic Film Score

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David Raksin (1912-2004) was widely regarded as the “Grandfather of Film Music.” He composed over 100 film scores and 300 television scores, including the iconic main theme of the 1944 film noir drama, Laura. Throughout Laura, the theme recurs as a haunting idée fixe as the protagonist, a detective investigating a murder, becomes increasingly obsessed with the victim. Born in Philadelphia, Raksin studied composition in Los Angeles with Arnold Schoenberg. One of his earliest …

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Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 in E-Flat Major: The “Drumroll”

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Franz Joseph Haydn’s twelve “London” Symphonies (Nos. 93-104) arrived at a thrilling moment in music history. It was the early 1790s, and the tumultuous effects of the American and French Revolutions were rippling through society. London’s Hanover Square Rooms reflected the birth of the modern public concert hall, and gave “architectural expression to the growing and powerful sacralization of music.” (Blanning, The Triumph of Music) After 30 happy years in the employment …

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