Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra was written by Maurice Ravel, a composer who was born in the Basque region of France, and was of Basque and Swiss descent. The Basques are Europe’s most ancient people with a continuous history, culture, and language. By at least 8,000 years ago the Basque language was widely spoken, and well eastward into what is now modern-day France. There were several ancient languages similar to Basque (Euskera) spread throughout Europe, but by 3,000 years ago the Indo-European languages dominated the continent, and today only Basque is left. Basque cultural attitudes are very different from Indo-European cultural norms. Ravel was in part a product of this old and proud Basque culture, which gave him a certain natural empathy for another distinct and oppressed culture: the Gypsies (Roma, Romani). In 1924, he composed Tzigane, which means “Gypsy,” for the violinist Jelly d’Aranyi; Béla Bartók (1881-1945) also composed for her.

“Gypsy” life is stereotyped as happy, free, and devil-may-care, but their history is one of the saddest of all. By about the year 400 they left northwest India in large numbers, migrating toward Europe by way of Persia (even then they were in demand for their music). Along the way, some of them established a short-lived, small kingdom, destroyed not long after it was established. After that, they were stateless, as they remain to this day. Around the year 1000 they came to Turkey, then Greece. They arrived in Europe in the 14th-century, and got to Hungary, often associated with their music, in the 15th century – in time to be blamed for the plague. Right up until the 19th century they were persecuted and murdered in one country after another; from England to Spain to Sweden, everywhere; male or female, they were accused of witchcraft, cannibalism, or general criminality, and burned or hung without trial. In Austro-Hungary in 1721, the Emperor, Karl VI, decreed that all Roma in his empire should be exterminated. As late as the early 19th century there were “Gypsy-hunts” in Germany. After Hitler came to power, the Roma (Gypsies) were more persecuted than the Jews. Very few of them survived the Nazi death-camps; Auschwitz was a grim summation of their history to that point. For a detailed look, check The Patrin Web Journal – Timeline of Romani (Gypsy) History online. The name “Gypsy” came from them being mistakenly called “Egyptians,” corrupted eventually to “Gypsy.” There were few bright spots, but one was Hungary, during and after the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Hungary – she made laws favoring Gypsies. Within a few years, Gypsy music flourished in Hungary, and János Bihari (1764-1827) and his little orchestra made the music widely popular. It became known as Hungarian music, and was the music that inspired Liszt, Brahms, Johann Strauss, and many others to compose “Hungarian” Dances, Rhapsodies, and so forth. Not until Bartók’s and Zoltán Kodály’s (1882-1967) folk-song research did true Hungarian Magyar come to light, music quite different from the highly ornamented and florid Gypsy style upon which Ravel based his very beautiful and powerful Tzigane.

In Tzigane he captures the essence of Gypsy (Roma, Romani) culture and history. All of that pain and suffering as well as the joy of Gypsy freedom is poured into their music, every time a Gypsy violinist plays. However fast and joyful Gypsy music might seem to be, there is always a tinge of deep sadness, and the slow music cries out with passion. One finds all of this, the entire Gypsy gamut of emotion, style, and technical wizardry in the fantastic and difficult Tzigane of Ravel. Listen, relax, imagine yourself in front of a campfire – perhaps a fortune-teller is there…a dance begins…for a brief time, share the sadness, happiness, and passion of the Gypsy life…

For an excellent recording, check out:

Imagine an American cultural scene in which these names dominated the media: actors/actresses Bernard Schwartz, Issur and Mike Danielovitch, Betty Perske, Les Steiner, Jerome Silberman, Eugene Orowitz, Bernice Frankel, dancer Frederick Austerlitz, magician Ehrich Weiss, hosts Lawrence H. Zeiger or Michael Woleck, comics Roseanne Borisofsky, Allen Konigsberg, Joan Molinsky, Benjamin Kubelsky, Nathan Birnbaum, Jason Greenspan, musicians Asa Yoelson, R. A. Zimmerman, Israel Iskowitz, Berge Rosenbaum, Israel Baline, Fania Borach, Michael Tomashefsky, Belle “Bubbles” Silverman, Aaron Kaplan, David Kaminsky, or brothers Ira and Jakob Gershovitz.

Imagine you’d seen these people in movies, on TV, heard them on radio, heard their recordings, news reports, comedy routines, and in concerts. Further, imagine this culture was ALL in Yiddish, the “Slavic-ized” European Jewish-German linguistic potpourri.

Imagine that a man named Boris Tomashefsky spearheaded a Yiddish theater in late 19th-century New York City, that all this activity by artists and entertainers listed above, and much more, grew out of that theater, that our radio, TV, cinema, and much serious American classical music has its roots in this world—ONLY: what if?—you must know Yiddish to understand this North American Yiddishkeit—“Yiddish-ness?” Nu?

Ashkenazic Jewish culture from Central to Eastern Europe; Yiddishkeit, a wonderful mix of Jewish, Slavic, German, Hungarian and other cultures came to NYC in the late 19th- and early 20th-century, coalescing—with a major push from Yiddish superstar Boris Tomashefsky—into the Yiddish theater. Those names above represent careers rooted in that tradition. But: the good news is: ENJOY!—you don’t have to know Yiddish: the whole thing transformed itself into English, in fact, “Americanese.” Why? Because one thing those immigrants and descendants listed above had in common is they wanted to be Americans! So did their theater—it became Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, radio, eventually TV; it became silent movies, then “talkies,” MGM and other movie dynasties, Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz, and so forth and so on. “A horse of a different color”—but still a horse!

Now: those names above: because those names were changed by these persons, their parents, or grandparents to sound American, we know—not in any particular chronological order—Bernard Schwarz as Tony Curtis, Issur Danielovitch as Kirk Douglas, Betty Perske as Lauren Bacall, Mr. Steiner as “Ashley Wilkes,” a.k.a. Leslie Howard, followed by Gene Wilder, Michael Landon, Bea Arthur, and Fred Astaire. Mr. Weiss “escaped” that name to become Harry Houdini. Larry King interviewed, and Mike Wallace roasted, some of the following: Roseanne Barr, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Jack Benny, George Burns, Jason Alexander. The musicians are Al Jolson, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cantor, Victor Borge, Irving (“Oiving,” as he said) Berlin, Fanny Brice (played in Funny Girl by Barbra Streisand, who kept her name), Michael Tilson Thomas (grandson of Boris), an operatic diva of the very best sort who started, age 4, on Yiddish radio as “Bubbles” Silverman—the late and very great Beverly Sills. Kaplan became Copland. Finally, the last three names—and here the theme unfolds: what’s in a name? A language? What happens when you put Yiddish and Yiddish-culture into English and English-keit? David Kaminsky becomes Danny Kaye—who, for those of us old enough to remember, could sing more names of more Russian composers in a shorter time than anybody, in the song “Tchaikovsky” (imagine what he could do with these name changes!) That song came from the 1941 show, Lady in the Dark with lyrics by Ira Gershovitz as “Ira Gershwin,” and music by Kurt Weill (same name as always); Ira Gershovitz-now-Gershwin was by then working with Weill, because four years earlier, his life-long collaborator, brother Jakob Gershovitz, the great composer and performer, had died. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the man we know as George Gershwin.

Now that you know—if you didn’t already—you do know quite a lot (even if it is in English) about Yiddish culture, its legacy, and that much of it permeates your cultural life much of the time, you can better understand George Gershwin. His entire art grew out of that soil, combining it with other traditions in a masterful, convincing way no other composer has equaled. He synthesized the diverse elements of Yiddishkeit, and infused them with his classical training to produce a unique music as American as any music could be. His music is the old-world immigrant become American, and in turn helping build a newer, bigger, and better America. Gershwin’s “schooling” was mostly in Tin Pan Alley, starting as a teenager, and then on Broadway, moving to the concert hall somewhat later. Paul Whiteman, who commissioned Rhapsody in Blue, played a major role in that. All along, brother Ira wrote lyrics for most of George’s songs, then many of his big theatrical productions—Ira was good with words as George was with notes. Ira, by the way, as a young lad “gave” George a piano: their parents bought it for Ira, their oldest, hoping for a pianist. They got one: George! He loved the piano, Ira didn’t, and the rest, as often said, is history. Ira was happy: he much preferred writing words to making music.

George Gershwin did study privately, first with Charles Hambitzer, then Rubin Goldmark who also taught Copland, and Henry Cowell, at that time an avant-garde composer. Gershwin also consulted with Joseph Schillinger, a musical mathematician/theoretician, and he also with 12-tone composer/theorist Arnold Schoenberg (with whom he also played tennis regularly) In Paris, Gershwin consulted Ravel. It is fair to say George Gershwin had a thirst to improve his knowledge of music and worked hard to do so.

Gershwin was also interested in jazz, and that was reciprocal: Paul Whiteman, known as “The King of Jazz” by the media, commissioned Gershwin to compose a work bringing together jazz elements with classical elements. That work was Rhapsody in Blue. It was composed in 1924, orchestrated by Ferde Grofé (known mostly for his Grand Canyon Suite), and premiered by the Whiteman orchestra with Paul conducting and George himself—a phenomenal pianist—at the keyboard in Aeloian Hall in New York City in 1924. This is where this version of the Gershwin saga ends, because it is in this work that the immigrants—George Gershwin and the Yiddish culture from which he came—REALLY arrived on the music scene and became yet another important part of the American melting pot. George brought it all together, and it became a new musical-cultural platform upon which all of us since have built. As Paul Whiteman said of Rhapsody in Blue, “Jazz became a lady;” and this writer might add, America enriched its culture by bringing the Russian-Jewish Gershovitzes and their culture aboard and providing a safe, supportive, and free milieu in which they grew into “the Gershwins.”

Rhapsody in Blue has all that in it, and says it all more eloquently than words.

If you are interested in performing Rhapsody in Blue, check out these links:

Rhapsody in Blue for Piano, click here.

Rhapsody in Blue for Full Orchestra (Miniature Score), click here.

Rhapsody in Blue. Arranged by Bob Cerulli. For Intermediate Full Orchestra. Conductor Score & Parts. Click here.

For your own recording of Rhapsody in Blue, check out:

Édouard Lalo (1823-1892) was born in Lille and died in Paris. He is probably best known for his Symphonie Espagnole, the title of which reflects his own ethnic background; he was of Spanish descent. His Cello Concerto in d minor is one of a handful that keep a place in the repertoire. It resembles Saint-Saëns’ cello concerto, and takes its place alongside the Haydn, Schumann, Dvořák, and such other less-often played cello concertos as that by Victor Herbert.

There are not nearly as many successful cello concertos as there are, for example, violin concertos, because the problems of writing for a solo cello versus the orchestra are much greater. The violin stands out naturally because it is in the upper register, whereas the cello’s tessitura lies more-or-less in the middle of the orchestra where it could easily be covered up by horns, trumpets, clarinets, bassoons, trombones, the tuba, and so forth. Many composers solve this by using more antiphonal sections between cello and orchestra (much like the responsive readings of churches and synagogues), only combining the two on select and very carefully scored occasions, such as the upper, brilliant range of the cello against lower strings, woodwinds, or brass used sparingly, or the dominating lower range with the upper instruments. Another option is using the orchestra as “punctuation.” All of these concertos cited above solve these problems quite well, with excellent balance between soloist and orchestra. It is the opinion of this writer that Lalo actually did a better job of this than Schumann, for example, but that is a matter of personal preference. In any event, it is a beautiful and exciting work, and one that deserves to be heard more often.

To purchase the score, please click here.
To purchase a set of parts, please click here.

To hear this work, among others, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, check out this recording:

On this recording are:
#1. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33
Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performed by Orchestre National de France
with Yo-Yo Ma
Conducted by Lorin Maazel

#2. Cello Concerto in D minor
Composed by Édouard Lalo
Performed by Orchestre National de France
with Yo-Yo Ma
Conducted by Lorin Maazel

Samuel Barber (1910-1981), an American composer who enjoyed much success in his lifetime with the concert-going public, was not as highly regarded by his more avant-garde colleagues as his very fine craftsmanship and melodic gifts would warrant. This two-fold perception existed because the innately conservative nature of his style that pleased large concert audiences seemed outdated to his more adventurous colleagues. Since his death, his reputation has become more widely established.

He enjoyed early success, which began shortly after he completed his studies at Curtis Institute of Music. The fact that his aunt, Louise Homer, was a famous singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera gave him a ready entrée, that is, built-in connections with famous musicians, many of whom commissioned him to write works for them.

His First Essay for Orchestra was premiered in 1938 by the NBC Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. Another work of Barber’s, the Adagio for Strings, was performed on the same concert; it is better known than the Essay, but in many ways the Essay seems to portend more of what was to be Barber’s future direction.

Even though Barber was only 28 at the time of the First Essay’s premier, it already shows a mature command of the orchestra and of the compositional craft. As is the case with all of Barber’s music, it also certainly displays an uncommonly beautiful sense of line. Along with the Adagio, it is one of Barber’s works that has become a regular part of the orchestral repertoire.

You can buy an MP3 download of the First Essay for Strings here:

You don’t have to go far to experience great symphonic music. Héctor Agüero, Jr. and the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra end this season with a myriad selection of the music of America. The concert will be held Sunday, June 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the Stafford Centre in Stafford, Texas.

Sit back and enjoy the music of this country as Maestro Agüero and the Orchestra bring you works from some of the greatest American composers. Featured works will include “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin, “Fanfare for the Common Man” and “Simple Gifts” from “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, “First Essay for Orchestra” by Samuel Barber, “Variations on a Southern Gospel Tune” by Monte Keene Pishny-Floyd, Composer-in-Residence, and more!

Pianist Stephen W. Jones will be the soloist for “Rhapsody in Blue”. Mr. Jones has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and has been on nationally broadcast radio and television programs including KUHF and KUHT. Although he recently completed his final season as the principle pianist for the Moores Opera Center, he will be performing in Mozart’s “Lucia Silla” and “Grapes of Wrath” with them this season.

In addition to great music, there will be an auction including several items, such as Héctor Agüero, Jr.’s baton and the opportunity to conduct the “Star Spangled Banner” at the 2009-2010 season opener; the chance to sit with Mayor Leonard Scarcella of Stafford in his box for a concert; a Carlos Lee signed and game used jersey and bat; and more! For a complete listing of auction items, visit fbsoauction.blogspot.com.

Ticket prices range from $5 – $25 and may be purchased on the Symphony website at http://www.fbso.org/ or at the Stafford Centre box office on the day of the performance. The Stafford Centre is located at 10505 Cash Road in Stafford.

Carlos Chávez (1899-1978) was born in, and died in, Mexico City. No one could have been more thoroughly Mexican; as Dvořák was the quintessential Czech musician, so Chávez was the quintessential Mexican musician. He is the greatest composer yet produced by Mexico, and deserves a place in the first ranks of the world’s composers.

Chávez was a conductor, a pianist, and a teacher. For six years he directed the National Conservatory, where he introduced many important innovations in the teaching of music. He wrote a great deal of music, including 7 symphonies. Sinfonia India (1936) is Symphony No. 2. In 1940, Chávez wrote his monumental Piano Concerto, which is of symphonic scope. The famed American piano virtuoso, the late Eugene List (with whom this writer was privileged to study) performed and recorded this concerto under the guidance of Chávez himself. Mr. List spoke of Chávez as being a vigorous, vital and utterly sincere individual whom he liked very much, a man of passionate beliefs and opinions, and intensely interested in his own Mexican roots and the indigenous culture of Mexico. These qualities could not be better exemplified than by the note Chávez himself provided for his Sinfonia India, which also provides a ready-made insight into what the composer had in mind in creating this exciting work. Here is Chávez’ note in its entirety:

Composer Note:

“The indigenous music of Mexico is a reality of contemporary life. It is not, as might be thought, a relic to satisfy mere curiosity on the part of intellectuals, or to supply more or less important data for ethnography. The indigenous art of Mexico is, in our day, the only living manifestations of the race which makes up approximately four-fifths of the country’s racial stock.

The essential characteristics of this indigenous music have been able to resist four centuries of contact with European musical expressions. That is, while it is certain that contact with European art has produced in Mexico a mestizo (mixed) art in constant evolution, this has not meant the disappearance of pure indigenous art. This fact is an index to its strength.

The force of indigenous art is rooted in a series of essential conditions. It obeys a natural creative impulse of the individual toward an expression at once legitimate and free of affectation. In musical terms, the great expressive strength of indigenous art is rooted in its intrinsic variety, in the freedom and amplitude of its modes, and scales, in the richness of its instrumental and sound elements, and in the simplicity and purity of its instrumental and sound elements, and in the simplicity and purity of its melodies.

There is never, in this music, a morbid or degenerate feeling, never a negative attitude toward other men or nature as a whole. The music of America ’s immediate ancestors is the strong music of a man who constantly struggles and tries to dominate his surroundings. Imported manifestations opposed to the feeling of the music have been unable to destroy it because they have not succeeded in changing the ethical conditions of individuals.”

– Carlos Chávez

To purchase a set of the complete symphonies of Carlos Chávez, click link below:

Carlos Chávez: The Complete Symphonies

For a score and full set of parts, check this out:

More works by Carlos Chávez:

Three Poems For Medium/Low Voice and Piano. By Carlos Chavez. Vocal Collection. 24 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. (50485218) See more info…

Toccata By Carlos Chavez. For Percussion Ensemble. Percussion – Ensemble. Percussion Ensemble Series. Level: Intermediate Plus (grade 5). Book. 76 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (88801X) See more info…

Tree of Sorrow (Arboluco, Te Sequeste) – for Four Part Mixed Chorus SATB. By Carlos Chavez. Arranged by Carlos Chavez. SATB chorus and keyboard. For SATB, Piano Rehearsal. Contemporary Choral Series. Choral. Choral Part(s). 6 pages. Published by Theodore Presser Company. (352001130) See more info…

Chapultepec: Marcha Provinciana [composer's transcription] By Chavez, Carlos (1899-1978) [Codina, Genaro (1851-1901)]. For concert band. Level: Grade 3. Full score. Composed 1933. Duration 3 minutes. Published by Kalmus (Reprint source: Belwin-Mills). (B3591-FSC) See more info…

Partita for Solo Timpani (Percussion / Timpani) By Carlos Chavez. This edition: ED3356. Percussion. 16 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. (50336150) See more info…

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) is the Czech nation's best known musical personality.

To Czech-Americans, Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was THE hands-down, sentimental favorite Czech composer, often referred to as “Our Antonín.” Dvořák and his music represented the essence, the very heart and soul, of the beautiful mountains, fields, and forests, Prague “the golden,” and the other features that were left behind in “The Old Country.” Dvořák is probably best known and remembered for his magnificent Symphony No. 9, one of the greatest works in the entire symphonic literature, which bears the title, “From the New World.”

The title might lead many to take this to be music by a Czech composer trying to be American. In fact, it is a vast and sweeping impression of “the New World,” the land, the people, the music, the multitude of transplanted cultures blended in “the American melting-pot,” as experienced by a great composer who was thoroughly Czech, and recorded in this marvellous musical form.

It is as if it is a very personal, and yet universal, musical “letter to the folks back home,” telling them of how it feels to be a Czech in this vibrant “New World.” It is also a musical message and testament to the American people, as if to say “look what you have here!” It is well-known that Dvořák was impressed by the wealth of musical folk-culture in North America. It was Dvořák who was largely responsible for bringing to the attention of “serious” musicians in this country the musical riches of the Native American and African-American sub-cultures. Dvořák had been invited to the United States to head the new National Conservatory of Music in New York City; he was there from 1892-1895. During that time, one of his students was Henry Burleigh, an African-American. In some ways, the student became the teacher, as when Dvořák became aware of Burleigh’s knowledge of African-American music and his ability to sing it, he called upon his student to in effect teach him by singing this literature for him. Dvořák also familiarized himself with American Indian music, which he readily recognized as a cultural treasure and an important musical resource.

Another direct source of insight into American culture came from Dvořák’s summer visits to Spillville, Iowa, which is still home to a large Czech-American community. The house in which he stayed while there is, to this day, a tourist attraction. Antonín Dvořák’s father was a butcher, and his son was very proud of the fact that he himself had passed his apprenticeship as a butcher in his mid-teens. He was essentially a working-class man, a “blue-collar” classical composer, if you will. He regularly spent time in Spillville, as he had done in Prague, hobnobbing with, and talking to, working class men over a pitcher of beer. On one occasion, according to an old family story of ours (from a cousin who had lived in Spillville at the time) Dvořák learned that the local butcher was short-staffed, so he walked down to the butcher shop, put on an apron, and cut meat all day. He also played organ in the local church on several occasions. In sum, he thoroughly immersed himself in the transplanted Czech American sub-culture, which became for him a window on the immigrant experience in the United States. It was in Spillville, during the summer of 1893, that Dvořák completed this symphony. It was premiered on December 16, 1893 by the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall with Anton Seidl conducting. It has been a mainstay of the orchestral repertoire ever since.

Dvořák’s symphony, and his ideas about American folk-sources, had a profound, multi-layered influence on American music. On the one hand, tunes from this symphony actually became popular, and were fitted with texts. The best-known example is the tune known to most as “Goin’ Home,” which has often been misidentified regarding its origin: one writer described it as “a Negro folk-tune used by Dvořák.” Well, “the shoe was on the other foot,” so to speak. It was one of many melodies created by Dvořák out of his internalization of American musical sources, and it has become enormously popular and universally loved as “Goin’ Home.”

On the other hand, American composers, having been given the notion and the blessing of a major European composer, now felt both free and encouraged to turn to their own North American musical roots. One of the chief among these was the great American composer, Charles Ives (1874-1954), whose Symphony No. 1 is redolent with the sound of Dvořák, but takes a delightful “wrong turn” here and there. Ives subsequently relied heavily on the utilization of American musical sources for the creation of his original and complex works, and in the opinion of this writer this would have been unthinkable without the influence of Dvořák. Charles Ives is one of dozens of American composers strongly influenced by Dvořák. Much of the North American orchestral sound in particular is, to a large extent, a Dvořák sound. To paraphrase a famous title, when it comes to the stream of post-1893 American classical music, “A. Dvořák runs through it.”

** Article by Monte Keene Pishny-Floyd **

Dvorak – Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New World) Score & Sound Masterworks. By Antonin Dvorak. Study Score with CD. Softcover with CD. 88 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (220053) See more info…

Easy piano solos:

Symphonic Themes Made Easy for Piano Solo. By Edvard Grieg, Camille Saint-Saens, Antonin Dvorak. Arranged by John Brimhall. Solo piano. For Piano Solo. Great Music Made Easy Masterwork Series. Solo part. 48 pages. Published by Carl Fischer. (PL1114) See more info…