Monday 28 January 2013

A-Z of Music - M

hmmmm......seem to have gotten way behind with this, but anyhow - here we go with M.

It seems that M stands for marvelous. There are just so many famous composers whose names begin with M - like Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mahler et al. But we had one of the top names last time, so this time I thought I'd go with a biggish name. Modest Mussorgsky. History doesn't record whether he was Modest by name and modest by nature though.
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky 1839 – 1881 was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.
Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes.
You may well know some of his music, even if you don't realise it. Probably his most famous works are 'A Night On A Bald Mountain' and 'Pictures At An Exhibition'

Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano in 1874. The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists, but it is best known in its' orchestral arrangement by Maurice Ravel.

Here are 3 movements played by Lazar Berman




Now, on a lighter note......down in deepest darkest Cornwall, is a tiny fishing village called Mousehole. And Mousehole has a wonderful male voice choir. They're so good, they're the only non-Welsh choir to have been invited to perform at the Welsh National Eisteddfod.

Unfortunately, there's not much on YouTube, but anyway - enjoy them performing actually on the Harbour at Mousehole, complete with screaming seagulls





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