Your Classical Coffee Break

This coffee break explores Leonard Bernstein's importance to the culture as well as the amazing scope of his compositions. We listen to some of his smaller compositions, many that were composed as notes or thank yous to friends, but then move on to his more robust sounds for theater and film. His wide range can be heard from his compositions for the brassy On the Town to the powerful ending music of movie On the Waterfront, written to celebrate the redemption of a fallen man.

Here is the Symphonic Suite from 'On the Waterfront' www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwvsV5cAks

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The coffee break delves in the extraordinary career of Leonard Bernstein, We begin with the rarely heard, clever, complex, and outright fun Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, then move into his brooding, searching Symphonies #1 Jeremiah and #2 Age of Anxiety. We listen to music that shows his passion for community and his desire to elevate the human spirit.

Watch a Bernstein's Young People's Concert, "What Does Music Mean?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxwWlQNGeKE

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This coffee break continues it exploration of Samuel Barber's music, beginning with his incomparable Violin Concerto. Although many of Barber’s works make literary allusions, his music is not programmatic in the strict sense. His range was impressive from composing solo piano pieces (in slow blues tempo)to opera to the nostalgic Knoxville:Summer of 1915, inspired by Pulitzer Prize winner James Agee's essay. His opera Vanessa, with libretto by longtime partner Gian Carlo Menotti was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Barber’s Piano Concerto brought him new international success and another Pulitzer Prize. Some critics, when comparing him to Copland or Leonard Bernstein, said of his classic style, "With audiences clamoring for novelty, all Barber could offer them was honesty."

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This coffee break explores the work of Samuel Barber, an American composer who did not pursue big American themes, as Aaron Copland did. Instead, Barber's Adagio for Strings, written when he was in his 20s, was "celebrated for its fragile simplicity and emotion," (National Public Radio) We explore the wide landscape of his music, as well as its power and depth. Called a post-Romantic, Barber said he had no particular musical style, but stated "I just go on doing, as they say, my thing. I believe this takes a certain courage."

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This coffee break circles back to take a different perspective on the French composer Claude Debussy--his compositions for solo instruments. We begin with the piece for the clarinet, Syrinx, but quickly move on to his extraordinary piano compositions. Mr. Somers discusses Debussy's great technical ability to write music that sounded so airy and in the moment, as well as his connection with Russian composers.

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Debussy said, "The primary aim of French music is to give pleasure." The coffee break explores the concept that Debussy's music captures the emotion and power of the moment--being mesmerized by clouds or thrilled by a festival--rather than being taken on a journey. We talk a bit about how he achieves this technically(shifting chords and not using half steps)but mainly we listen to Debussy's dreamy, colorful music that celebrates the precious present.

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This coffee break explores the later works of Philip Glass. We listen to his 2nd Symphony and analyze the layered aspects of his composition, where he relies less on minimalism than broader sounds, using multiple keys. In many cases, his music seems "unresolved," as if it's a perpetual motion machine. Does Glass create a "sonic environment" that a listener can dip in and out off, rather than a presentation piece? Mr. Glass, just what are your intentions?

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This coffee break takes a quick trip to Bali to hear the Frog Song and the Monkey Chant then circles back to Steve Reich and more contemporary music to show how repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern. We dip into some jazz with Take Five and So What to show how, in the hands of jazz masters, repetition can be downright cool. We dissect Mr. Somers' minimalist piece, Meditations on Jacob Wrestling.

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"There is chaos without repetition," says Mr. Somers as this coffee break continues its examination of repetition in music. We go way back to the Ars nova period, in the 1300s, to listen to fascinating vocal music similar to the minimalists that came centuries later. We jump up to Mozart's Don Giovanni to hear how a repeated rhythmic pattern holds together the Act II sextant. What!? Beethoven, a minimalist? We explore his Symphony #6 to find clues, then listen to the longest e flat chord on record.

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Wherein Messrs. Somers and Herron discuss the controversial works of Philip Glass and the challenges musicians face when playing his music. This coffee break dips into Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" to begin the discussion on minimalism and repetition in music. Does each piece of music have to take the listeners on a journey? Is there a journey in minimalist music or does it illuminate the moment? And how the heck did we end of listening to Gregorian chants?

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Here's some music from Mr. Glass' film score from The Hours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-vrNaIWPZQ&list=PL3PK8kjprT5W0u99qmS4g75e3tfPRHOeK