Birthday Bach

I feel it is a fair assumption that most of my readers know that Johann Sebastian Bach is well-known for his organ compositions (not to mention considerable personal talent in organ-playing).

What is probably not nearly as well known is that Antonio Vivaldi, much better known for his prodigious number of concerti for various strings, wrote a few organ concerti of his own (no more than thirteen are known if you count every work that includes an organ, of which two are incomplete and one is of doubtful authenticity).

That one of doubtful authenticity, labeled RV 542, Organ Concerto in F, I've had in my musical collection for about a year now (along with five other organ works of Vivaldi). In the third movement, an Allegro, it contains a very interesting solo organ passage that lasts for 3 minutes and 36 seconds (half the length of the entire movement), during which the organ is the only instrument playing. This is very unusual for Vivaldi who in my experience never has single instruments playing for more than a few seconds, which may lend some credence to the idea that the piece had a different author. That notwithstanding it's a beautiful organ solo and one of my favorites parts of any of his organ concerti.

Anyway, my dear aunt got me a collection of five of Bach's organ concerti for my birthday on Friday, and while listening to them I made a remarkable discovery: in the third movement (also an Allegro) of Bach's organ concerto BWV 594 in C major, I found the exact same organ solo! It's slightly shorter in this version at 3 minutes 23 seconds (it has a slightly faster tempo), but is unmistakably the same section.

Interestingly, while looking up BWV 594 on Wikipedia, it came with a note saying "after Antonio Vivaldi," but listing another of his concerti: a concerto for violin in Opus 7, RV208. Two of the other Bach organ concerti in the set I got were likewise listed as borrowing from two different Vivaldi concerti from his Opus 3. Since I don't have either his Opuses 3 or 7, this suggests an avenue for continued research in the future.

Birthday Baroque.

I've been doing a little digging around on that group I mentioned in my last post, Europa Galante. They are an Italian period instrument baroque orchestra that specializes in Vivaldi's music, and playing it in such a way that it really comes alive. I think a lot of times many people have this image of classical music as dry, stale, or boring. Europe Galante blows that idea away completely, and does an incredible job of bringing a sense of vitality and zest to Vivaldi's music that anyone can enjoy.

The movie below is one I came across today of them performing the first movement of one of Vivaldi's many (over 500) concerti. I especially love this one, and I'm sure you will as well when you listen to it. Enjoy!

Ke Akua pū, a hui hou kākou!

Birthdays and Bicycles.

As many of you know, the 17th of May is my birthday, and I certainly had an interesting birthday this year. I've been loaned a bicycle for the summer by one of my friends, and I attempted to ride it in to campus this morning to meet with Dr. Takamiya to work out what I'll be doing over the summer. I succeeded in my attempt, barely -- my legs were so rubbery by the time I'd finally pedaled up the hill to campus I could hardly walk. Apparently biking using completely different muscles than walking does. Still, it was faster than walking, and more enjoyable traveling downhill, so I'll probably continue doing it over the summer.

This evening I went to a "fancy party" that one of the graduating astrophysics students had come up with before the end of the semester. She just happened to pick May 17th, and when I mentioned it was my birthday, everyone said it must be that day for sure. It was a very nice party -- most everyone dressed up quite fancy (I wore my best dress pants, shirt, and tie) and we had a delightful evening putting together various kinds of food and socializing. I did something I've never done before, and willingly and knowingly ate a mushroom (I'm not too big on saprophytic fungi as food, in general). I was treated to a delicious Mountain-Dew-flavored birthday cake (it had a nice lime-y flavor to it), and on the whole had a most enjoyable evening.

Oh, and my dear sister surprised me with a recording to Vivaldi's Opus 8, a collection of 12 concerti, the first four of which are the familiar Four Seasons, although this group manages to play them in such a way that, though I've heard parts of them many times before, still comes off as incredibly fresh and new. I'm looking forward to getting to know these beautiful pieces of vivid Baroque music over the weeks to come.

And finally, in case you're wondering (or I forget): I'm 22 today. Or, in Hawaiian, “He iwakāluakūmālua oʻu makahiki.” (My years are twenty-two. “lua” means “2” in Hawaiian) Ke Akua pū, a hui hou kākou!