SYMPHONIES, OCEANS AND SEAS

symphonies

Oc ea ns an d Se as Music inspired by magic and the greatness of Oceans and Seas...

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CLASSICAL MUSIC

Oceans and Seas

NATURE has long been years an inexhaustible source of artistic inspira-

tion, providing painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, among other artists, vast emotions and feelings that they have treasured and transferred through their masterpieces. We distinguish “OCEANS and SEAS” as a relevant sources of inspiration for classical musicians, who have created masterly musical works about the greatness and beauty of this great nature.

It is worth mentioning that an important part of classical music has been composed in the field known as programmatic music, through which composers have portrayed the states of the sea, its immensity, mystery, sweetness or melancholy, all possibly reflecting feelings and emotions of the composer regarding what the marine nature inspires him. Among these compositions, the programmatic music of Claude Debussy stands out in his orchestral work “La Mer”, in which he evokes the magicand changing purity of the sea, as well as Richard Wagner´s famous opera “The Flying Dutchman” which tells the story of a ghost ship that can never reach port, condemned to forever travel around seas and oceans. Then there is the music of Mendelssohn, with his well-known overture “Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage” and also the work of Camile Saint-Säens, who portrays the deep sea with his piece “Aquarius”.

It is remarkable how these sources of inspiration have allowed a great diversity of classical musical genres to emerge, including Symphonies, Studies and Concerts.

In the genre of symphonies, we can highlight the music by Anton Rubinstein, Russian, with his Symphony “Ocean” and that of Ralph Vaughn Williams, a British composer, and his choral work “A Sea Symphony”. All are masterpieces about the beauty and grandeur of Oceans and Seas, which have surely thrilled and amazed large audiences worldwide.

Diversity of musical genres inspired by Oceans and Seas...

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CLASSICAL MUSIC

Oceans and Seas Operas Symphonies Suites Studios Overtures

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SYMPHONIES

symphonie Oceans and Seas SYMPHONY is defined as: "An extensive musical composition,

generally orchestrated and formed by several movements or sections based on key centers or related harmonics, at least one of which, in general, uses the “sonata” form. As instrumental music became more frequent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the symphony became an important genre. Symphonies as such, began to be composed during the so-called classical period in the history of European music, between 1740 -1820. During the nineteenth century, which includes the romantic period, symphonies became longer, and composers were concerned about the forms of unifying movements. Although many symphonies were composed as “absolute” music, without containing extra-musical or narrative aspects, some composers, such as Beethoven, Mahler and Shostakovich, created programmatic symphonies with very definite narratives”.

In this musical genre, we find beautiful narrative musical works, composed by outstanding composers inspired by the Oceans and Seas. Among these great musicians we can find: Claude Debussy with his orchestral work “La Mer”; Anton Rubinstein, with his musical work “Ocean” Symphony No. 2 in C major Op.42, and the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, with his Symphony No. 1 “A Sea Symphony”. Three masterful works, which undoubtedly invite us to feel a true sensory experience.

Symphonies inspired in the magic, purity and inmensity o f Oc e a n s a n d S e a s . .

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Ocean

Symphony No 2

Anton Rubinstein VERSION 1851 - 4 MOVEMENTS

The SYMPHONY Nº 2 in do mayor Op. 42. “OCEAN”

Version 1851

by Anton Rubinstein, comprises 4 movements with different characters.

Movement I: “Moderato

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6fiXdpsCx8&list=OLAK5uy_n6pKc5ntdDPjK-KLc1uf9EcMidkagXv9Q

Movement II: “Andante”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsFSUIN_5qg&list=OLAK5uy_n6pKc5ntdDPjK-KLc1uf9EcMidkagXv9Q&index=2

Movement III: “Alegro”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR4TWZZztLI&list=OLAK5uy_n6pKc5ntdDPjK-KLc1uf9EcMidkagXv9Q&

Movement IV: “Andante Alegro”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yId1ylBFFBg&list=OLAK5uy_n6pKc5ntdDPjK-KLc1uf9EcMidkagXv9Q&index=4

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Ocean

Symphony No 2 Op42.

Anton Rubinstein VERSION 1880 - 7 MOVEMENTS

1st Movement: “MODERATO ASSAI” “ It presents the sea in all its noble strength. A powerful and triumphant theme contrasting with the lyricism of the second theme”.

2nd Movement: “LENTO ASSAI” “Contrasting the previous triumphant movement, exposing a more sinister image of the sea. A terrible storm threatens to sink the ship”.

“It begins in a contemplative way, but soon a gloomy motive appears on the strings, accompanied by the howling of the wind. The storm is increasing. Drums of percussion accompany the somber scales of the woodwinds and strings. Then the storm moves away and the sea calms down, ending calmly”.

3rd Movement: “ANDANTE”

“The storm has stopped and a pleasant song is heard on the string. But distant rumors of the storm can still be heard, until a serene theme presented by the oboe and a rhapsodic melody on the string seems to end them”.

4th Movement: “ALLEGRO” “This movement is an allegro, whose melodic invention resembles that of his disciple Tchaikovsky in his happy moments. It ends with a loud explosion”.

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Ocean

Symphony No 2 Op42.

Anton Rubinstein VERSION 1880 - 7 MOVEMENTS

5th Movement: “ANDANTE” “ It follows a dramatic andante in the form of operatic aria. In its final part, a reminiscent of the previous storm appears”.

6th Movement: “SCHERZO” “ According to Tchaikosvsky, there is a joyful sailors' dance, contrasting with the peaceful trio”.

7th Movement: “ANDANTE” “ In this last movement, Rubinstein seems to synthesis everything that happened earlier. The tired sailor returns home. An intense and nostalgic melody reminds him of the sea. He listens to the storms and also the noble force of the ocean. Some horn calls warn us about the dangers of the sea. But everything has already been overcome, fortunately , and only the memories remain. As a coda, he uses a solemn coral marked by brass, indicating the triumph over the elements”.

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Ocean

Symphony No 2 Op42.

Anton Rubinstein

BIOGRAPHY

Oustanding Russian composer, born in Vikhvatines on

November 28, 1829 in a family of Jewish descent.

1829 - 1894

In 1880 he made

the symphony”Ocean”

He studied piano with his mother, and since the age of seven with Alexander Villoing. At 10, he was already giving his first public concerts. In 1840, Villoing accompanies him on a tour through all Europe, reaching London, where he plays for Queen Victoria.

Accompanied by his brothers, he travels to Berlin to further his studies. He was compared to Liszt for his great interpretative skills at the piano. During this stage, he composed several works, including six symphonies. Among them, the most distinguished ones: Symphony Nº. 1 in F major, Op.41, composed in 1850 during his stay in St. Petersburg, and his best known work Symphony Nº. 2 in C major Op.42. “Ocean”.

The Symphony ‘Ocean’ dedicated to Franz Liszt, was composed in 1851, in a first version. Later, he made new versions, increasing the number of movements (originally four). In 1880, he made the final version, which comprised seven movements intended to represent the seven seas. This Symphony is a kind of symphonic painting and represents a journey through the different seas.

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La Mer

Claude Debussy Listen here = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSNgzA37To

LA MER is the most important orchestral work of Claude Debussy,

considered to be in his impressionist style. The score is designed in a series of three symphonic sketches for orchestra, which come alife with stringed, wind and percussion instruments. In his sketches, Debussy records the magic evoked by the sea beyond its appearance.

1st Sketch FROM DAWN TO MIDDAY 2 nd Skecth P LAY OF THE WAVES 3rd Sketch DIA LOGUE OF THE WIN D AND THE S E A

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La Mer

Claude Debussy

Listen here

= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSNgzA37To

1st Sketch

“From daw to midday” “De l´aube à midi sur la Mer” dawn, and how the sun bestows color and life to its waves until it rises majestically at noon, in one of the most powerful vibrant passages in the history of music”. “ sonority, from the lower sounds of the orchestra to its full sound. noteheard on the trumpet with a mute and the English horn.fragments and textures. It's like the sea, always the same, although permanently changing”. www.hagaselamúsica.com.

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La Mer

Claude Debussy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usCai5npdtA&list=PLE891A756AA7B5E55

2nd Sketch

“Play of the Waves” “Jeaux de vogues”

The game of the waves is more animated, but

melodic fragments still abound, instead of fully developed lyrical melodies. Fast notessuggest the splashing of the waves.

this movement as “ a world of sheer fantasy, of strange visions and eerie voices, a mirage of sight and equally a mirage of sound. On the sea´s vast stage is presented trance-like phantasmagoria so evanescent and fugitive that it leaves behind only the vagueness of a dream.”

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La Mer

Claude Debussy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usCai5npdtA&list=PLE891A756AA7B5E55

3e r.Sk e tc h

“Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea” “Dialogue del Vent de la Mer” “The dialogue between the sea and the wind, where the perpetual movement of the tide seems to be interrupted by the ravages of the inclement gusts of wind, concluding in a true sound orgy, full of a polychrome unparalleled in art”. www.josemaria-muchi.blogspot.cl. “ The final movement, “ Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea”,

employs some first movement materials, plus some new fragments in an active seascape. The music reaches an intensity that perhaps suggests a storm. Debussy allows himself to use all the resources of the orchestra, with the brass playing resoundingly; a gesture quite rare open in a work usually orchestrated with delicacy”. www.hagaselamusica.com

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symphonies

La Mer

Claude Debussy

outstanding French composer, considered one of the most

prominent figures of European music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was called by his compatriots as "Le musicien francais", and considered the precursor of contemporary music.

He started in music from a very young age, studying at the Paris Conservatory since he was 10 years old. In 1879 he moved to Florence, Venice and Moscow as a private musician of Nadezhda von Meck, patron of the Russian composer Piort Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

He composed a total of 160 works, of which 28 were orchestral works, 41 for piano, 11 for chamber music, 14 works of lyrical music, 5 forballet music, 1 opera and the rest, melodies for voice and piano.

His great passion for the sea inspires him to compose his orchestral work “La Mer”, starting it in 1903, for which, curiously decides to move away from the sea to avoid distraction, moving to the mountains of Burgundy, France and from there, to give life to a record of overflowing emotions, evoking the magic of the sea beyond its appearance.

Some of his thoughts on his passion for the sea: "The sea fascinates me to the point of paralyzing my creative faculties". "Here I am again with my old friend, the sea, always infinite and beautiful" and "It is really the thing of nature that best shows the own smallness".

His work “La Mer”, was finished in 1905, being released to the public on October 15th of that year in Paris, performed by the Orchestra of the Lamoureux Concert Society, and directed by Camille Chevillard. The work did receive criticism, but that eventually became one of the most performed orchestral works, and acclaimed by the public at an international level.

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1862 - 1918

“It is really the thing of nature that best shows the own smallness”

La Mer

Claude Debussy

0utstanding orchestras and renowned conductors, have given

life to the great musical work “LA MER” by Claude Debussy.

Among the directors, we can distinguish: Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan, Benjamin Zander, André Previn and Claudio Abbado, among others. Musicians who have directed with precision and charm prestigious world-class orchestras, such as: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Paris Philharmonic Orchestra and Russian National Orchestra, which together with these great directors, have given masterful performances, enchanting audiences around the world.

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Passion and Excellence.

World Class.

A Sea Symphony Symphony No 1

Ralph Vaughan W il liams

Listen here =

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANMioZCpGQ

Choral Symphony Nº1, composed by the English musician Ralph Vaughan Williams is four movements, inspired by the poems of the North American writter Walt Whitman.

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A Sea Symphony Symphony No 1 Ralph Vaughan W il liams MOVIMENTS & POEMS

A SONG FOR ALL SEAS “ A song for all seas, all ships Behold, the sea itself, and on its limitless, heaving breast, the ship..”

ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT ALONE “ On the beach at night alone, as the older mother sways her to and fro singing her husky song.. ”

SCHERZO IN THE WAVES After the sea ship after the whistling winds; after the white gray sails..

THE EXPLORERS “ Oh , w i d e p i c t u re , s w i m m i n g i n s p a c e

a l l c ove re d w i t h v i s i b l e p owe r a n d b e a u t y ” . . . .

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symphonies

A Sea Symphony Symphony Nº 1

R al ph V au g h a n W i l l i am s outstanding British composer and conductor, born in Dow

Ampney, England on October 12th, 1872. He studied music at the University of Cambridge and the Royal College of Music in London.

He had as his teachers the British composers Charles Hubert Hastings Parry and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. He also studied in Berlin with the German composer Max Bruch, and in Paris with the French composer Maurice Ravel.

In mid-1903, he devoted himself to collecting English folk songs, while incorporating the rhythms, scales and melodic patterns of these to his own style. He collected more than 800 English folk songs.

With this activity, begun with a merely ethnographic spirit, he managed to imbue a strong character to the rest of his music. References to the landscape and the people who inhabit it are also characteristics of their music.

He worked as a musical editor in the English Hymnal in 1906, for which he wrote the melody Sine Nomine with the text “For all the Saints”, and also published “Songs of Praise” (1925) and “The Oxford Book of Carols” (1925). After World War I, he joined the faculty of the Royal College of Music in London and began to regularly conduct symphonic and choral music.

Among his nine symphonies, we highlight “A Marine Symphony”, “Sea Symphony Nº. 1”, “Choral Symphony” with poems by Walt Whitman, whose poetry was his constant inspiration. This choral work was composed between 1903 and 1909, and presented to the public for the first time at the festival in Leeds on October 12th, 1910.

It is a symphony written for soprano, baritone, choirs and orchestra.

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1829 - 1894 A choral symphony inspired by the poems of Walt Withman

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symphonies Oceans and Seas

Publication, ValueOcean Comunicaciones Text &edition Teresa Vergara G.

Musical Text Felipe Jerez V. Pianist

Information Sources www.neworldencyclopedia.org www.historiadelasinfonia.es www.hagaselamúscia.com

Vergara, T. , F.Jerez 2019. Symphonies about Oceans and Seas ValueOcean Comunicaciones. All right reserved www.valueocean.cl

symphonies

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