~
Yesterday the Viewfinder hit 990,000 Pageviews
Once again, a heartfelt thanks to the many readers of my blog who have supported me the last eleven years.
Styrous® ~ Friday, October 29, 2021
Showing posts with label W. H. Auden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label W. H. Auden. Show all posts
October 29, 2021
October 24, 2021
W. H. Auden articles/mentions
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium
Carl Van Vechten & the Harlem Renaissance Kurt Weill ~ The Seven Deadly Sins
W. H. Auden - 1939
photo by Carl Van Vechten
October 18, 2021
20,000 Vinyl LPs 316: Kurt Weill ~ The Seven Deadly Sins
~ 
Side 2:
B5 - Völlerei
B6 - Unzucht
B7 - Habsucht
B8 - Neid
B9 - Epilog
Credits:
Bass Vocals – Ernst Poettgen, Sigmund Roth
Conductor – Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg
Lyrics By – Bert Brecht*
Music By – Kurt Weill
Painting – Tom Allen*
Tenor Vocals – Fritz Göllnitz, Julius Katona
Vocals – Lotte Lenya
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Label side A): x"LP"39510
Matrix / Runout (Label side B): x"LP"39511
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A - stamped - variant 1): XLP39510-1A
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B - stamped - variant 1): XLP39511-1D
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A - stamped - variant 2): XXLP-39510-1D
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B - stamped - variant 2): XXLP-39511-1AA
Styrous® ~ Monday, October 18, 2021
vinyl LP front cover detail
painting by Tom Allen
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today, Monday, October 18, is the birthday of Lotte Lenya who was born in 1898. She was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse and actress, based in the United States.
In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best
remembered for her performances of the songs of her first husband, Kurt Weill.
Lenya's voice is not what one would call pretty, it is dark, grating,
raspy, almost out of tune. When you listen to her singing you can
almost smell stale cigarette smoke and taste late nights of drinking whiskey
in shabby bars and feel tales of lost loves; it is a voice that comes from the
real world perhaps even the slums. It is beautiful in its
own gravely way!
In 1957 Lenya recorded one of the theater works by her husband, The Seven Deadly Sins (German: Die sieben Todsünden, French: Les sept péchés capitaux). It is a satirical ballet chanté ("sung ballet") in seven scenes (nine movements, including a Prologue and Epilogue) composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht in 1933 under a commission from Boris Kochno and Edward James. It was translated into English by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman and more recently by Michael Feingold. It was the last major collaboration between Weill and Brecht.
This
album is one of my purchases because of the cover, as stated in
previous articles, I did that a lot. I had only known of Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Kurt Weill and had fallen in love with it but this was completely unknown to me.
I got it home and listened to it, heard how beautiful the music is, especially the Prolog, and I was a Kurt Weill
devotee from that very day and went on to buy every album I could find
by him. And through this album and Threepenny discovered the amazing treasures of his collaborator Bertolt Brecht as well as his wife, Lotte Lenya.
photographer unknown
The Seven Deadly Sins tells the story of two sisters, Anna I and
Anna II. Anna I, the singer, is the principal vocal role. Anna II, the
dancer, is heard only infrequently and the text hints at the possibility
that the two Annas are the same person:
"She's the one with the looks. I'm realistic. She's just a little mad, my head is on straight. But we're really one divided being, even though you see two of us. And both of us are Anna. Together we've but a single past, a single future, one heart and one savings account and we only do what suits each other best. Right Anna?"
"The Family", a male quartet, fills the role of a Greek chorus.
They refer to Anna as a single daughter of the family, making a verbal
allusion to her divided nature: "Will our Anna pull herself together?"
The sisters set out from the banks of the Mississippi River in Louisiana
to find their fortune in the big cities, intending to send their family
enough money to build a little house on the river. After the prologue, in which Anna I introduces the sisters and their plans, each of seven scenes is devoted to one of the seven deadly sins, each encountered in a different American city:
- Prologue
- Faulheit / Sloth (city unnamed)
- Stolz / Pride (Memphis)
- Zorn / Wrath (Los Angeles)
- Völlerei / Gluttony (Philadelphia)
- Unzucht / Lust (Boston)
- Habsucht / Greed (Tennessee, in posthumous versions Baltimore)
- Neid / Envy (San Francisco)
- Epilogue (home, in the new little house)
vinyl LP back cover
back cover photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe
photo of album cover by Styrous®
It's really interesting to see how different groups have interpreted the work. The first link (link below) is the version "By sin" with Peter Sellars & Teresa Stratas, there is emphasis on the singing; in the second link (link below) with the Opera de Paris it is the dancing and movement that predominates. Both versions are stunning in totally different ways!!!
vinyl LP back cover details
back cover photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe
detail photos of album cover by Styrous®vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Prolog
A2 - Faulheit
A3 - Stolz
A4 - Zorn
A2 - Faulheit
A3 - Stolz
A4 - Zorn
Side 2:
B5 - Völlerei
B6 - Unzucht
B7 - Habsucht
B8 - Neid
B9 - Epilog
Credits:
Bass Vocals – Ernst Poettgen, Sigmund Roth
Conductor – Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg
Lyrics By – Bert Brecht*
Music By – Kurt Weill
Painting – Tom Allen*
Tenor Vocals – Fritz Göllnitz, Julius Katona
Vocals – Lotte Lenya
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Label side A): x"LP"39510
Matrix / Runout (Label side B): x"LP"39511
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A - stamped - variant 1): XLP39510-1A
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B - stamped - variant 1): XLP39511-1D
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A - stamped - variant 2): XXLP-39510-1D
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B - stamped - variant 2): XXLP-39511-1AA
Lotte Lenya – Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins
Label: Columbia Masterworks – KL 5175
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1957
Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Modern
Label: Columbia Masterworks – KL 5175
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1957
Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Modern
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
The Telegraph ~ Partners in crime: when Bertolt Brecht met Kurt Weill
YouTube links:
Kurt Weill ~
The Seven Deadly Sins (by sin) (47 mins.)
The Seven Deadly Sins (dance) (39 mins., 36 secs.)
January 2, 2019
1,000,001 CDs 13: Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium
~
Tracklist:
Ritual Dances — From The Midsummer Marriage
Bass Vocals – Matthew Best (2)Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Margaret McDonaldSoprano Vocals – Rita CullisTenor Vocals – Mark Curtis (2)
(24:27)
1 - Prelude — 2:49
2 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:42
3 - The First Dance: The Earth In Autumn — 2:14
4 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:51
5 - The Second Dance: The Waters In Winter — 2:59
6 - Transformation And Preparation For — 2:22
7 - The Third Dance: The Air In Spring — 3:37
8 - Preparation And The Fourth Dance: Fire In Summer - 6:53
9 - Sosostris's Aria — From The Midsummer Marriage, Contralto Vocals – Alfreda Hodgson - 10:31
10 - Praeludium For Brass, Bells And Percussion - 7:29
Suite For The Birthday Of Prince Charles (Suite In D) - (18:09)
11 - I Intrada - 3:41
12 - II Berceuse - 3:06
13 - III Procession And Dance - 3:03
14 - IV Carol - 4:07
15 - V Finale - 4:12
Companies, etc.
Recorded By – Nimbus Records Limited
Mastered At – Nimbus Records Limited
Manufactured By – Nimbus Records Limited
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Nimbus Records Limited
Copyright (c) – Nimbus Records Limited
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
Credits:
Chorus – Chorus Of Opera North*
Composed By – Tippett*
Conductor – Sir Michael Tippett
Orchestra – English Northern Philharmonia
Notes:
Recorded, Mastered and Manufactured in England by Nimbus Records Limited.
Distributed by A&M Records Inc.
℗ 1990 Nimbus Records Limited
© 1990 Nimbus Records Limited
Made in England
Distributed by
A&M Records Inc
Stereo Ambisonic
UHJ encoded
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: 0 8360-35217-2 1
Tippett* - Alfreda Hodgson, Chorus Of Opera North*, English Northern Philharmonia, Sir Michael Tippett – Ritual Dances
Label: Nimbus Records – NI 5217
Format: CD, Stereo, Ambisonic
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Classical
Style: Contemporary
Viewfinder link:
Michael Tippett
Net links:
List of Tippett compositions
Music Web ~ Tippett CD review
YouTube links:
Michael Tippett ~ Praeludium
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium
Today is the birthday of Michael Tippett who was born in 1905 and is known as a composer of modern vocal music. But he wrote some fine works for orchestra (link below) such as his Praeludium for brass.
The Praeludium for brass, bells and percussion,
written in 1962, is atonal, dissonant and clamorous, a true child of
the 60's, but it is celebratory. It is a wonderful exposition for trumpet, trombone, French horn, saxophone and tuba accompanied by percussion and bells. This is a recording of a performance conducted by Tippett himself.
Tippett was born in Eastcote, a part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, but raised in Wetherden in Suffolk.
He attended Brookfield Preparatory School in Swanage, Dorset where he earned notoriety by writing an essay that challenged the existence of God; a precursor of things to come.
In 1918 he won a scholarship to Fettes College, a boarding school in Edinburgh, where he studied the piano, sang in the choir, and began to learn to play the pipe organ. The school was not a happy place; sadistic bullying of the younger pupils was commonplace. When he revealed to his parents in March 1920 that he had formed a homosexual relationship with another boy, they removed him. He transferred to Stamford School in Lincolnshire, where a decade previously Malcolm Sargent had been a pupil.
In mid-1932 his friendships with David Ayerst and Francesca Allinson had opened up new cultural and political vistas. Through Ayerst he met W. H. Auden, who in due course introduced him to T. S. Eliot. Although no deep friendship developed with either poet, Tippett came to consider Eliot as his "spiritual father".
Ayerst also introduced him to a young artist, Wilfred Franks. By this time Tippett was coming to terms with his homosexuality, while not always at ease with it. Franks provided him with what he described as "the deepest, most shattering experience of falling in love".
He attended Brookfield Preparatory School in Swanage, Dorset where he earned notoriety by writing an essay that challenged the existence of God; a precursor of things to come.
In 1918 he won a scholarship to Fettes College, a boarding school in Edinburgh, where he studied the piano, sang in the choir, and began to learn to play the pipe organ. The school was not a happy place; sadistic bullying of the younger pupils was commonplace. When he revealed to his parents in March 1920 that he had formed a homosexual relationship with another boy, they removed him. He transferred to Stamford School in Lincolnshire, where a decade previously Malcolm Sargent had been a pupil.
In mid-1932 his friendships with David Ayerst and Francesca Allinson had opened up new cultural and political vistas. Through Ayerst he met W. H. Auden, who in due course introduced him to T. S. Eliot. Although no deep friendship developed with either poet, Tippett came to consider Eliot as his "spiritual father".
Ayerst also introduced him to a young artist, Wilfred Franks. By this time Tippett was coming to terms with his homosexuality, while not always at ease with it. Franks provided him with what he described as "the deepest, most shattering experience of falling in love".
In November 1940 Tippett had formalised his pacifism by joining the Peace Pledge Union and applying for registration as a conscientious objector.
His case was heard by a tribunal in February 1942, when he was assigned
to non-combatant duties. Tippett rejected such work as an unacceptable
compromise with his principles and in June 1943, after several further
hearings and statements on his behalf from distinguished musical
figures, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment in HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs.
He served two months, and although thereafter he was technically liable
to further charges for failing to comply with the terms set by his
tribunal, the authorities left him alone.
Tippett formed a fruitful musical friendship with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, for whom he wrote the cantata Boyhood's End for tenor and piano. Encouraged by Britten, Tippett made arrangements for the first performance of A Child of Our Time, at London's Adelphi Theatre on 19 March 1944.
In 1946 Tippett organised the first British performance of Monteverdi's Vespers, adding his own organ Preludio for the occasion. His compositions in the immediate postwar years included his First Symphony, performed under Sargent in November 1945, and the String Quartet No. 3, premiered in October 1946 by the Zorian Quartet.[59] His main creative energies were increasingly devoted to his first major opera, The Midsummer Marriage.[60] During the six years from 1946 he composed almost no other music, apart from the Birthday Suite for Prince Charles (1948).
In 1946 Tippett organised the first British performance of Monteverdi's Vespers, adding his own organ Preludio for the occasion. His compositions in the immediate postwar years included his First Symphony, performed under Sargent in November 1945, and the String Quartet No. 3, premiered in October 1946 by the Zorian Quartet.[59] His main creative energies were increasingly devoted to his first major opera, The Midsummer Marriage.[60] During the six years from 1946 he composed almost no other music, apart from the Birthday Suite for Prince Charles (1948).
Tracklist:
Ritual Dances — From The Midsummer Marriage
Bass Vocals – Matthew Best (2)Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Margaret McDonaldSoprano Vocals – Rita CullisTenor Vocals – Mark Curtis (2)
(24:27)
1 - Prelude — 2:49
2 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:42
3 - The First Dance: The Earth In Autumn — 2:14
4 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:51
5 - The Second Dance: The Waters In Winter — 2:59
6 - Transformation And Preparation For — 2:22
7 - The Third Dance: The Air In Spring — 3:37
8 - Preparation And The Fourth Dance: Fire In Summer - 6:53
9 - Sosostris's Aria — From The Midsummer Marriage, Contralto Vocals – Alfreda Hodgson - 10:31
10 - Praeludium For Brass, Bells And Percussion - 7:29
Suite For The Birthday Of Prince Charles (Suite In D) - (18:09)
11 - I Intrada - 3:41
12 - II Berceuse - 3:06
13 - III Procession And Dance - 3:03
14 - IV Carol - 4:07
15 - V Finale - 4:12
Companies, etc.
Recorded By – Nimbus Records Limited
Mastered At – Nimbus Records Limited
Manufactured By – Nimbus Records Limited
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Nimbus Records Limited
Copyright (c) – Nimbus Records Limited
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
Credits:
Chorus – Chorus Of Opera North*
Composed By – Tippett*
Conductor – Sir Michael Tippett
Orchestra – English Northern Philharmonia
Notes:
Recorded, Mastered and Manufactured in England by Nimbus Records Limited.
Distributed by A&M Records Inc.
℗ 1990 Nimbus Records Limited
© 1990 Nimbus Records Limited
Made in England
Distributed by
A&M Records Inc
Stereo Ambisonic
UHJ encoded
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: 0 8360-35217-2 1
Tippett* - Alfreda Hodgson, Chorus Of Opera North*, English Northern Philharmonia, Sir Michael Tippett – Ritual Dances
Label: Nimbus Records – NI 5217
Format: CD, Stereo, Ambisonic
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Classical
Style: Contemporary
Michael Tippett
Net links:
List of Tippett compositions
Music Web ~ Tippett CD review
YouTube links:
Michael Tippett ~ Praeludium
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, January 2, 2019
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