Well, here’s your answer. Joachim Raff (pronounced /rof/ rhyming with “cough”). Born in Lachen, Switzerland 200 years ago (1822), Raff was prolific and well-known in his time with numerous famous names in his circle of friends, students, and colleagues. However, despite all of this, his works are relatively unknown and not often performed today.

His prolific career is somewhat surprising given his musical background. Unlike some composers who are groomed at a young age with serious musical instruction, Raff was largely self-taught while working as a schoolmaster. He sent some piano compositions to Felix Mendelssohn who recommended them for publication. After these compositions were published in 1844 and receiving good reviews from Robert Schumann’s journal, he went to Zurich to take up composition full-time.

In 1845 after hearing Liszt play the piano, Raff became Liszt’s assistant, helping with orchestration of several works. During this period, Raff wrote an opera, König Alfred, however most of his works were written later in the 1860’s and 1870’s.

Aside from opera, Raff wrote numerous suites, lieder, works for small ensembles like quartets, overtures, concertos, and a series of orchestral preludes to Shakespearean plays. He also wrote 11 symphonies, but the 11th remained unfinished at his death. His 7th symphony is often considered a more toned-down version of Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony and it may have served as Strauss’ inspiration (the two were friends). His 5th symphony (Lenore) is considered by many to be his best.

In 1878, Raff became the first director of and a teacher at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt where he most notably established a class specifically for female composers. Women composers at the time were still not taken very seriously. He employed Clara Schumann as a teacher at the conservatory.

Raff died in 1882 and is buried in Frankfurt. He was 60 years old.

Raff may never be a famous name in classical music, but his works are solid examples of Romantic period music and are worth rediscovering – especially with this year being his 200th birthday. Listen to some of his works below:

Symphony No. 5: Lenore

Konig Alfred Overture

Cello Concerto No 1

Evening Rhapsody (an arrangement of Abends from the Piano Suite No 5)

Prelude to Shakespeare’s Othello

The Parker Symphony is set to play a piece titled La chasse du jeune Henri (“Young Henri’s hunt”) in October by a composer named Étienne Méhul, but who exactly is he? Méhul, born in 1763 in France, isn’t exactly a household name like Mozart or Beethoven and even among orchestral musicians and classical music enthusiasts, he isn’t well-known. This may be because he is mainly a composer of operas. In fact, La chasse du jeune Henri is an overture from his failed opera Le jeune Henri.

Yes, Le jeune Henri was a failure. In fact, the audience hissed at the libretto’s author Bouilly for its poor quality. A reviewer of the time wrote that “it would be impossible to imagine anything worse” and that there was “no intrigue, no action, nothing of interest”. The overture, Young Henry’s Hunt, however, was warmly received and has been performed by itself since the 19th century. Written in 1797, it describes the course of a hunt from dawn to the killing of a stag – based on an incident in the life of King Henri IV of France. Méhul expanded the typical 2 horns to 4 in this piece to depict the young king out hunting with his yelping hounds and hunting calls.

While Le jeune Henri overall was a failure, Méhul was not. In fact, he has been called “the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution”. He was the first composer to be called “Romantic” and saw success with other operas during the 1790’s such as Stratonice and Mélidore et Phrosine. He was a close friend of Napoleon’s and during the French Revolution, he wrote patriotic songs and became one of the first Frenchmen to receive the Légion d’honneur. Besides operas, Méhul composed songs for festivals, cantatas, and 5 symphonies.

Musically he is best known for his experimentation with instrumentation and his pushing of opéra comique (a genre which mixed music with spoken dialogue) toward a more Romantic direction. In addition to his expansion of horns in “Young Henry’s Hunt”, he also eliminated violins and replaced them with violas for a darker sound in his opera Uthal. His music is said to show increased use of dissonance (his First Symphony is notably dissonant and violent) and his deeper exploration of themes of jealousy and rage like in his opera Ariodant are a foreshadowing of later Romantic composers like Weber and Berlioz.

Don’t miss your chance to hear us perform La chasse du jeune Henri in October and if you find yourself in Paris, leave some flowers on his grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery. He is said to have had a lifelong love of flowers.

It’s Back to School season and that means kids are heading back to the classroom – whether on campus or at home. These are truly unprecedented times, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate students’ returning to learning, and what better way to do so than with music.

Here is a short list of classical music related to school:

Brahms – Academic Festival Overture

With the word “Academic” in its name, it’s not surprising that this concert overture made the list. Brahms composed the work during the summer of 1880 as a tribute to the University of Breslau after the school notified him that it would award him an honorary doctorate in philosophy. Originally, the composer wanted to send a simple note to the University as an acknowledgement of the award. The conductor who nominated him for the degree convinced him to make a grander gesture instead. However, the resulting piece is anything but a serious, solemn tribute to education. It is filled with a “very boisterous potpourri of student drinking songs à la Suppé”. Brahms himself conducted the premiere of the overture at a special convocation held by the University and it is said that there was an “ironic” contrast between the mood of the student drinking songs and the seriousness of the ceremony.

Holst – St. Paul’s Suite

Gustav Holst served as the music master at St. Paul’s Girls’ School from 1905 until his death in 1934. He was grateful to the school for building a soundproof teaching room for him and as thanks, he wrote this suite. It was the first of many pieces he wrote for the school. This work in particular stands out thanks to the robust jig in the 1st movement and the instantly recognizable “Greensleeves” melody in the 4th movement that he expertly blends with the folksong “Dargason”.

Paradis – Der Schulkandidat

Maria Theresia von Paradis’ story is an amazing example of talent triumphing over disability. Despite being blind since the age of about 5, she learned to play piano and sing and studied composition under Antonio Salieri. She composed numerous pieces including works for the stage like her opera Der Schulkandidat (which roughly translates to “The School Candidate” or “The School Applicant”. Unfortunately, most of her manuscripts have been lost. One that survives is the overture to her Der Schulkandidat which the Parker Symphony performed in February 2020.

Vivaldi – Gloria in D

Maybe the most unlikely addition to this list, Vivaldi’s Gloria in D is a sacred work written around 1715 and most likely for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà – an orphanage and music school for girls in Venice. Established in the 14th century, it became well-known for its all-female music ensembles by the 17th and 18th centuries and attracted tourists and patrons from around Europe. Vivaldi served as violin teacher and later as music director between 1703 and 1740 and wrote many of his works, including sacred pieces, for the music students for performance at the Pietà.

Dyson – Woodland Suite

Sir George Dyson is a relatively unknown name even in classical music circles. In fact, his music underwent a period of neglect until it was revived in the late 20th century. After studying at the Royal College of Music in London and serving in the First World War, he became a school master and college lecturer. During that time, he composed pieces with a very traditional, pastoral feel, many designed for use in schools. His Woodland Suite is one such piece written for strings with optional woodwind parts so it could be adapted easily for different instrumentation.

Elgar – Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1

What would a list of school related classical music be without the infamous graduation song? Contrary to popular belief, the piece is actually number 1 of 6 “Pomp and Circumstance” marches that Elgar wrote. Interestingly, while it has become the ubiquitous graduation song, it was actually named after a line in Shakespeare’s Othello about war.

Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th’ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!

So how did it become a graduation piece? It was played in 1905 when Elgar received an honorary doctorate from Yale University, but it was played as a recessional, not as a processional. After that, Princeton used it, then the University of Chicago, and then Columbia. Eventually, everyone started to use it and the rest is history.

Perhaps it’s the minor key or the dramatic style. Regardless of the reason, there’s definitely more to this work than its unassuming name. Here are 6 interesting facts about Mozart’s Symphony No. 25.

It has been called the “little G minor symphony”.

Symphony No. 25 is one of only two symphonies Mozart composed in G minor. The other was Symphony No. 40 (written 15 years later). While it might not sound like anything of note today, composing in G minor was unusual at the time. It is considered the key thorugh which Mozart best expressed sadness. Thus, the symphony is often called his first “tragic” symphony. Though Mozart used other minor keys in his symphonies, G minor is the only minor key he used as a main key for his numbered symphonies.

It was written when Mozart was 17 years old.

Although the story is unsubstantiated, it was supposedly completed just 2 days after he completed his Symphony No. 24. Many critics regard this as one the moments when Mozart transformed from entertainer to artist – from wunderkind to great composer.

It was written in a Sturm und Drang style.

Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) is a style characterized by emotional extremes and sudden changes in tempo and dynamics. The opening movement begins with a particularly dramatic repeated syncopated pattern in the violins and violas. This rhythm returns again in the final movement. Haydn’s Symphony No. 39 (also in G minor) is another example of the Sturm und Drang style and may have served as an inspiration for Mozart’s Symphony No. 25.

The occasion it was written for is unknown.

Lost to history is what occasion the symphony was written for. Nothing in his life at the time justifies the minor keys. Perhaps after a recent tour of Europe, he longed to explore the previously mentioned Sturm und Drang style popularized by Haydn which began as a German literary movement to break free from the ultra-rational and ultra-objective ideals of the Enlightenment. Again, there’s nothing that directly points to that intent.

It used to be relatively unknown.

The “little” in its nickname was in deference to what was considered the more sublime of his minor symphonies (no. 40). While history suggests that the work may have been popular in Mozart’s time (it was performed several times and Mozart even rescored the work for different instruments), by the 19th century, Symphony No. 25 was little known and rarely performed. It wasn’t performed in the United States until 1899 and after that, it wasn’t performed again until 1937. What changed all that? Amadeus.

It may have inspired Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

Ludwig van Beethoven knew the symphony well, copying 29 bars from the score in one of his sketchbooks. It is thought that the opening theme of the Symphony No. 25’s final movement may have inspired the third movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

The Parker Symphony Orchestra will perform the first movement from Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 as part of Blockbusters at the PACE Center in Parker, Colorado on May 3 at 7:30 PM.

It is a well-known fact that Shakespeare’s influence spread well beyond his plays and far beyond idyllic Stratford-upon-Avon. He gave us new words like “fashionable” and “softhearted”. He inspired figures like Freud, Dickens, and George Washington, to name a few. His reach can even be seen as far as the planet Uranus – 25 of its 27 moons are named for Shakespearean characters. A bit closer to home, however, are the numerous orchestral and vocal works that were written about Shakespearean storylines and characters. From A Midsummer Night’s Dream to The Tempest, here is a rundown of the best classical music inspired by Shakespeare.

Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Mendelssohn wrote music for Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream on two separate occasions. He first wrote a concert overture in 1826 and then in 1842 he incorporated the overture into incidental music he wrote for a production. The exclusively instrumental movements, the Overture, Scherzo, Intermezzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March, are typically played as a suite in both concerts and recordings and they remain among the most famous of all Shakespearean classical music. In fact, the Wedding March is the traditional music you hear when the just married couple exits the ceremony.

Gade – Hamlet Overture

Like Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky wrote both an overture and incidental music about Hamlet. Liszt also wrote a symphonic poem titled Hamlet. But it is Danish composer Niel Gade’s Hamlet Overture that made our list because of its emotionally dramatic nature that is truly evocative of Shakespeare’s play. A symphonic poem of sorts, it begins with a funereal march that foreshadows tragedy followed by an animated, angry theme in a minor key that eventually leads to a pulsating theme in a major key (perhaps a Hamlet and Ophelia love theme). The piece then returns to the funereal march in a unified conclusion. The Parker Symphony will be performing Gade’s Hamlet Overture on May 11!

Dvořák – Othello Overture

Critics sometimes note that Dvořák’s Othello Overture has a “New World Symphony” quality to it, but for anyone who has heard his In Nature’s Realm Overture, the similarities in some of the melodies are indisputable – and with good reason. The work is the third part of a trilogy called “Nature, Life, and Love”. The other two overtures are In Nature’s Realm and the Carnival Overture. Othello is by far the most emotional of the three works with sweet moments woven in between intense and even ominous parts. Dvořák called it “the most substantial and the most subtle, touching emotions not engaged by its more outgoing companion works.”

Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet

You’ve no doubt heard parts of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet in popular culture – most recently “The Dance of the Knights” as ominous music in The Apprentice. But there’s more to this ballet and its music than just that one melody. Love, quarrels, fights, and the balcony love scene all offer amazing musical moments. Note: Tchaikovsky also wrote a Romeo & Juliet overture worth listening to.

Verdi – Macbeth

Macbeth was the first Shakespeare play that Verdi adapted for the operatic stage (he also wrote Otello, Falstaff, and Re Lear). It is also one of only a handful of Shakespeare-inspired operas that have made their place in standard repertory. When he set out to write, Verdi wanted to make Macbeth one of his best scores. He was truly inspired by Shakespeare’s play calling it “one of mankind’s greatest creations.”

Schumann – Julius Caesar Overture

It was not only inspired by Shakespeare’s play, but Schumann’s Julius Caesar was also heavily influenced by Beethoven’s Egmont overture. It shares the key of F minor with Beethoven’s work as well as the sonata form and a code in a major key. A known musical cryptogram enthusiast, it has been suggested that there is a cipher for “C-A-E-S-A-R” in this work’s opening chords.

Schubert – An Sylvia

From the title, it’s difficult to see how this fits the Shakespeare music theme. However, An Sylvia was inspired by a scene in Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is a German lied (an art song in which a German poem is set to music). The text is a German translation of the poem, “Who is Sylvia” from Act 4, Scene 2 of the play. Schubert wrote this at the height of his career and while it seems simple, it also has an elegant and witty quality that is perfectly aligned with the tone of the play.

Walton – Suite from Henry V

Before the times of John Williams were numerous film score composers you may not know. And like some of today’s compositions, some of this film music can truly stand on its own. William Walton’s music for the 1944 film Henry V can be counted in this category. He manages to achieve dramatic effect that delivers a top-notch musical adventure. The music was arranged into a suite and recorded in 1963.

Korngold – Much Ado About Nothing

Korngold is another name known for his film scores (although he also wrote an amazing violin concerto). In 1918, prior to his time as a film composer, he was asked to write incidental music in Vienna for Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The result was music with imaginative melodies, rich tones, and lush harmonies that help it stand on its own as an independent work.

Sibelius – The Tempest (Stormen)

The Tempest is considered by many to be among Sibelius’ greatest achievements. Written as incidental music to the play, Sibelius strove to represent individual characters through specific instrumentation. Critics note that his use of harps and percussion to represent the ambiguity of Prospero is a truly inventive choice. This along with another work titled Tapiola were the last of Sibelius’ works. After that he spent his remaining 32 years writing almost nothing else.

Kalinnikov was born in 1866 in Voina to a police officer. His father, who played the guitar and sang in the local choir, encouraged him to pursue music. He started violin lessons at an early age. The family moved to Oryol and thanks to his family’s ecclesiastic ties, he attended seminary, becoming the director of the seminary choir at the age of 14.

Though he entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1884, he was forced to quit after a few months due to his inability to pay tuition. However, he did win a scholarship as a bassoon player for the Moscow Philharmonic Music School where he studied bassoon and composition.

Poverty throughout his life caused Kalinnikov to find work as much as he could. He played violin, bassoon, and timpani with theater orchestras. He also worked as a copyist and his teacher, Kruglikov, also provided financial help.

His talent, however, did not go unnoticed. Tchaikovsky recognized his potential and in 1892, recommended him as conductor for the Maly Theater and, later, the Moscow Italian Theater. Unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse just a year later in 1893 and he had to resign. He had contracted tuberculosis.

Kalinnikov moved to the warmth of South Crimea in search for a cure and it was there that he completed both of his symphonies and a variety of instrumental works. Through his music, he strove to portray rural Russian life and its scenery. He created colorful orchestrations and relied on melodies and rhythm to evoke traditional folk songs. His symphonies, in particular, show influence of the Russian masters like Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, but his Second Symphony also includes sudden and obscure modulations reminiscent of Borodin.

The Symphony No. 1 (written between 1894-1895) was dedicated to Kruglikov, his teacher who also helped him financially. Kruglikov was thoroughly impressed by the score and sent it to leading conductors in Russia. The work was premiered at the Russian Musical Society in Kiev in 1897 to an audience that gave both the second and third movements an encore. If you’re curious why, come hear the Parker Symphony Orchestra perform the second movement in February!

Unfortunately, Kalinnikov would spend his remaining days in Crimea. He received some financial relief from Rachmaninoff who visited and saw his poor living conditions. Rachmaninoff also contacted his publisher who paid for three of Kalinnikov’s songs and offered to publish the Second Symphony. Rachmaninoff also arranged for the publication of the piano arrangement of his First Symphony.

Sadly, Kalinnikov died before he was able to benefit from most of these arrangements, around the time of his 35th birthday. The publisher offered Kalinnikov’s widow an unexpectedly high payment for the remaining manuscripts because the composer’s death multiplied the value of his works by ten.

In Russia, his First Symphony remains in the repertory and his place in Russian musical history is secure. And hopefully with more performances in the US and elsewhere, his name will become more familiar with music fans worldwide.

If you’d like to hear the second movement from his First Symphony, come hear the Parker Symphony Orchestra in February.

No, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer of numerous works including his most celebrated cantata, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, a piano quintet, a symphony, a once missing opera named Thelma, and his festive Christmas Overture which we performed in December 2017.

Here are some other interesting facts about this British composer:

1. He earned the nickname the “African Mahler”. Coleridge-Taylor’s mother was English and his father was Dr. Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, a Creole from Sierra Leone. His father descended from African-American slaves who were freed by the British and evacuated from the colonies at the end of the Revolutionary War.

2. He met President Theodore Roosevelt. On his first tour of the US, the composer was received by President Roosevelt at the White House which was a rare event for anyone of African descent.

3. He died young. Coleridge-Taylor was only 37 when he died from pneumonia. King George V granted his widow an annual pension which was considered evidence that he held the composer in high regard.

4. He wrote a work inspired by his near-namesake. Coleridge-Taylor wrote a piece called The Legend of Kubla Khan after the poem “Kubla Khan, Or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment”.

5. He almost didn’t attend college. The Royal College of Music hesitated over Coleridge-Taylor’s race, apparently worried that other students might object. Ultimately, he did admit Samuel at age 15 as a violin student. After 2 years, Samuel swapped violin for composition.

6. He was a pioneer in integrating African music in his music. He sought to do what Brahms had done with Hungarian music and Dvorak with Bohemian music by integrating African and traditions of the African diaspora into his compositions. Examples of this include his Four African Dances, Concert Overture, Toussaint L’Ouverture, and the Symphonic Variations on an African Air.

7. His Christmas Overture appeared posthumously. In 1925, Sydney Baynes arranged the work which features “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “Good King Wenceslaus”, and “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” and is thought to have been derived from Coleridge-Taylor’s The Forest of Wild Thyme, a fairy drama for children.

8. Both of his children also had distinguished careers as conductors and composers. His son, Hiawatha, adapted his father’s works. His daughter, Gwendolyn, became a conductor and composer using the professional name Avril Coleridge-Taylor.

If you’ve ever listened to baroque music (think Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel, etc.), you’ve probably seen the term Concerto Grosso and wondered, “What is that?” Well, as you can probably guess, it does not mean the concerto is gross.

Concerto grosso (or the plural concerti grossi) is Italian for “big concerto”. Unlike a solo concerto where a single solo instrument plays the melody line and is accompanied by the orchestra, in a concerto grosso, a small group of soloists passes the melody between themselves and the orchestra or a small ensemble.

The group of soloists (or soli, concertino, or principale) was often made up of two violins, a bass melody instrument such as a cello, and a harmony instrument such as a harpsichord. Wind instruments were also common. The orchestra (or tutti or ripieno) was usually a string orchestra or a small ensemble of strings, often with a few woodwinds or brass added.

Concerti grossi were very common in the Baroque era (1600-1750). Right around 1750 (just after Handel composed his Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 with 12 different concerti), the solo concerto became the more popular musical form and the concerto grosso all but disappeared. Interestingly, a few 20th century composers like Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and Henry Cowell have revived the form.

Listen to Corelli’s Concerto Grosso op. 6 no. 8 below and see if you can spot the concertino vs. the ripieno.

Vltava, better known by its German name, Die Moldau (or The Moldau), is a symphonic poem that is patriotic in every sense of the word. It is one of six movements of a larger work called Má vlast which means “My Homeland” or “My Country”. In it, Czech composer Smetana combined nationalistic melodies with musical depictions of the Bohemian countryside, history, and legends. When performed, you can hear the land come alive as the music paints the scene of a proud and culturally-rich region of Europe.

The Moldau specifically was intended to evoke the sounds of one of Bohemia’s great rivers – the Vltava river. The “Moldau” name comes from the German name for the source of the river in the Bohemian mountains. In Smetana’s own words:

The composition describes the course of the Vltava, starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava, to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer’s wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night’s moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St John’s Rapids; then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vyšehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Labe.

The piece begins with the flutes playing a flowing tune reminiscent of two rippling springs. Violin pizzicato evokes raindrops. Soon, clarinets begin to play and continue the theme. Then one of Smetana’s most famous melodies emerges. It is an adaptation of a piece called La Mantovana and is arguably one of the most strikingly beautiful parts of the entire work. In fact, it has inspired other pieces, most notably the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah. Later on, a horn melody representing jubilant hunters and a polka rhythm that depicts a wedding scene can be heard before the famous melody returns. The piece ends with a regal hymn that fades away until the final two loud notes.

The Moldau was written in the 1870’s, a time when Bohemians had a renewed interest in freedom from German culture. They embraced it and the rest of Má vlast as a sort of patriotic symphonic national anthem. Research suggests this was Smetana’s intent as well. Today, it has achieved the most success of all of the six movements.

Hear the Parker Symphony Orchestra perform The Moldau and other nature-inspired works on May 5, 2017.

Impressionism is a term most familiar to fans of late 19th century painters such as Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, and Degas among other notable names. In fact, the term derives from Monet’s Impression, Sunrise. In general, impressionist painters focused on using visual brush strokes to paint overall visual effects and capture light and its changing qualities rather than focusing on details. They also tended to paint en plein air rather than in the studio.

Impressionist paintings depict experiences, moods, and movement. Similarly, Impressionist music also conveys moods, scenes, and emotions rather than detailed stories. This style of classical music was written around the same time (late 19th century) and uses “color” or timbre through different textures, harmonics, and orchestrations to arouse feelings and create atmosphere.

Notable Impressionist composers include:

• Claude Debussy
• Maurice Ravel
• Ernest Fanelli
• Frederick Delius
• Erik Satie
• Ottavino Resphigi
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Jean Sibelius

Interestingly, while he is often referred to as Impressionist, Debussy rejected the label. Even Ravel was uncomfortable with the name saying it could not be accurately applied to music.

Impressionist music often has an evocative title. For example, Debussy’s Clair de lune or “Moonlight”. While it is actually the third movement of a larger work known as Suite bergamasque, the piece is more famous on its own performed in its original form by solo piano or adapted for orchestra. And when you hear its lush melodies and dramatic ebbs and flows, it’s not hard to see why it is a great example of French Impressionism in music.

Other Impressionist music titles include Debussy’s La Mer and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Sibelius’ The Swan of Tuonela, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé.

Hear Clair de lune and other nature-inspired music performed alongside beautiful Plein Air paintings at the Parker Symphony Orchestra’s next concert, Friday May 5 at 7:30 PM at the PACE Center.