classical masterpieces of world history

[sharik]

so to not jump the gun, here is a great masterpiece, which to some might seem not so obvious one.

Anton Bruckner and his 4th symphony that for some unclear reason he titled 'Romantic'.

what's romantic about politics of brutal & then soft power Otto von Bismarck would practice in the days of the composer?

for it was the 'iron chancellor' whose approach to unification of Germany is portrayed in the music of Bruckner 4th.

“The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power. Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favorable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided, but by iron and blood”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Iron_(speech)

 

[sharik]

 

[sharik]

the almost solitary horn at the onset of this symphony represents someone of noble origins as if calling on certain powers to join for a certain initiative... and, make no mistake - this call is to grow strongest by the finale of the first movement, now the multiple horns are at their loudest.

 

[sharik]

beautiful rendition

recommended

 

[sharik]

now straight onto his 7th symphony, a sure masterpiece, but which this time is bereft of the purity his 4th enjoys, for the Hero now is not even remotely that successful or as invulnerable as before.... there's a persistent feeling of bitternes that pervades this piece. Bruckner thus gave it more depth and scope, which in its turn provided us more of music information with messages and images expressed more diversely.

the somewhat 'meandering' 1st movement represents the 'impurity' of everyday life where our Hero becomes vulnerable to intrigues and wiles of his enemies, who deny him appreciation, respect and understanding:

despite the victorious finale of the 1st part, the 2nd movement contains a chorale melody that portrays the Hero's inner torment and suffering, even though dispersed at times by memories of triumphs he experienced and reveries that bring consolation, although not lasting, still the noble pain shows through:

finally, in the end, our Hero does of course appear to be triumphant, however this is not an all out victory this time, its rather good luck he won at all, the help came from where not expected, the Hero looks more like he was rescued by some outside force rather than having made it himself.

 

[sharik]

around the same period, as creation of the modern body politics was being completed, the necessity of ascribing a culture to each State arose therefore, and we have a perfect example of this when Johannes Brahms wrote his "Hungarian Dances" where a newly created nation is portrayed as a people who are prone to extremes, for some reason, both in character and actions:

here we get a notion of a folk that is, at the same time - plaintive and jolly, wicked and open hearted, sinister and generous, clumsy and graceful, dastardly and valiant, brave... hence, this very music, among being a masterpiece, is also best for tuning up our audio system's and running sound tests, for it represents the aspects of rhythm and polyphony precisely to our needs.

these dances tell so much that you begin to see pictures like in a movie where the festivity of life is manifested in its ambiguity with no restraint whatsoever, thus leading to controversy and kind of debate: must a nation be portrayed that way at all?

 

[GSOphile]

This ranking has some authority backing it up:
https://classicalmusiconly.com/list/bbcs-greatest-symphonies-of-all-time-68f22e5d

 

[sharik]

Beethoven "The Coriolan Overture" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolan_Overture

 

[sharik]

since the topic of Ancient Rome has been raised, may i suggest here Aram Khachaturian's "Spartacus Suite" that portrays a doomed uprising, with its music thoroughly conveying the atmosphere of disaster pervaded by fear and despair for the part of the rebels theme, meanwhile portraying the decadent life style of the Romans that come victorious, in the end.

 

[sharik]

due to experiencing problems with posting on here, all i can do is move house elsewhere - https://historum.com/threads/classical-masterpieces-of-world-history.183285/page-2

 

[tima]

due to experiencing problems with posting on here, all i can do is move house elsewhere - https://historum.com/threads/classical-masterpieces-of-world-history.183285/page-2

Too bad, I enjoyed your posts.
What posting problems did you have here?

 

[sharik]

What posting problems did you have here?

inability to quote properly, preview and embed.

even though i managed work around these issues for a while but now things get worse...

 

[sharik]

editing doesn't work for me either.

 

[NorthStar]

due to experiencing problems with posting on here, all i can do is move house elsewhere - https://historum.com/threads/classical-masterpieces-of-world-history.183285/page-2

Quoting, previewing, embedding and editing are all features offered.
Any specific we'll help you.

? Your music selections (composers) are fantastic; they are great assets in our music arsenal.

 

[sharik]

Quoting, previewing, embedding and editing are all features offered.

yes, they are indeed, however i could only reach these via use of VPN, which ended up being too slow.

Your music selections (composers) are fantastic; they are great assets in our music arsenal.

thank you for support.

 

[MadFloyd]

Interesting. The only Bruckner I really know is the 9th.

 

[sharik]

sorted, eventually, somehow...

maybe has to do with getting me the status of 'long time user'.

all functioning well now - quoting, embedding, previewing and editing, so further enjoy the masterpieces.

 

[MadFloyd]

Is that requiem available other than YouTube?

 

[sharik]

Is that requiem available other than YouTube?