Musicology LIVE!
Musicology LIVE! is a presentation series that is equal parts music appreciation course and live performance. I give historical, personal, and emotional context for humanity’s greatest gift, Music.
Programs include:
Love Stories in Music:
Experience love in every way imaginable through some of the greatest musical love stories ever written.
- Music:
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Melodie from Orfeo ed Euridice - Christoph Willibald von Gluck
Salut D’Amour - Edward Elgar
Love Story - Taylor Swift
Adagietto from Symphony no. 5 in C# Minor - Gustav Mahler
Beethoven Violin Concerto
Historical and emotional context for Beethoven and his concerto for violin.
- Music:
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
Brahms, the Romantic??
Johannes Brahms and how he did his best to honor the classical tradition of Beethoven, while still being a product of the Romantic era.
- Music:
Symphony no. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Music and the Movies!
Exploration of Film Scores, Soundtracks, and how important music is in the presentation of film.
- Music:
20th Century Fox Theme
Get Happy - Harold Arlen
Wizard of Oz - Harold Arlen
Taxi Driver opening credits music - Bernard Herrmann
Psycho opening credits music - Bernard Herrmann
Bolero - Ravel
Also Sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss
Blue Danube Waltz - Johann Strauss
Jaws Theme - John Williams
Jurassic Park Highlights- John Williams, arranged C. Cluster
Theme from Schindler’s List - John Williams
Imperial March from Star Wars - John Williams
Raider’s March from Raiders of the Lost Ark - John Williams
Interpretations Series: Beethoven Symphony no. 5
Back to back comparisons of conductor’s interpretations of Beethoven’s seminal work, Symphony no. 5
- Interpretations by:
Herbert Von Karajan
Leonard Bernstein
Gustavo Dudamel
Theme and Variations
Exploration of the Theme and Variations genre in Classical Music.
- Music:
La Folia - Arcangelo Corelli
Goldberg Variations - Johann Sebastian Bach
Ah, Vous Dirai-Je Maman! - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a - Johannes Brahms
Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - Sergei Rachmaninov
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - R. Vaughan Williams
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Exploration of Beethoven’s Iconic work, Symphony no. 9.
- Music:
Symphony no. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
William Grant Still
Exploration of William Grant Still’s impact on music and culture in the 20th Century.
- Music:
Miss Sally’s Party - William Grant Still
Hiawatha Wedding Feast - Samuel Coleridge Taylor
St. Louis Blues - WC Handy
Three Visions - William Grant Still
Afro-American Symphony - William Grant Still
Vivaldi and the Concerto
Exploration of Vivaldi’s life and legacy.
- Music:
Concerto for 2 Cellos in G minor, RV. 531
Violin Concerto in A minor, RV. 356
Four Seasons:
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Exoticism in Music
Exploration of how composers used exotic elements in culture to make their music attractive in their time, and timeless thereafter.
- Music:
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet
Italian Concerto, BWV 971 - Johann Sebastian Bach
Hungarian Verbunkos Recordings
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Franz Liszt
Hungarian Dance No. 5 - Johannes Brahms
Flamenco recordings
Malagueña from Spanish Danses, Op. 21 - Pablo de Sarasate
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso - Camille Saint-Saens
Mozart and the Minor Mode
Exploration of the few instances that Mozart grounded his music in the darker, emotional minor mode.
- Music:
Overture From the Magic Flute
Symphony no. 1, mvmt 3, KV 16
Sonata for piano and violin no. 21 in E minor, KV 304
Symphony no. 40 in G minor, KV 550
Great American Composer: Samuel Barber and the Violin Concerto
Exploration of the life, times, and music of Samuel Barber.
- Performance:
Violin Concerto op. 14
Excerpts from String Quartet op. 11
Violinist Composers: Then and Now
In Two Parts: Exploration of Violinists Composers and their works, ranging from the time of Napoleon through the dot com era.
- Performance:
Spanish Dances (Malagena and Romanza Andaluza) by Pablo De Sarasate
Sonata for Solo Violin by Francesco Geminiani
Rondino on a Theme by Beethoven, Fritz Kreisler
Collection of pieces by Zachary Montasser
Arrangements and Improvisations
-How composers of the past have put their own spin on music that already exists.
- Performance:
"Italian Concerto" By J.S. Bach
Nocturne no. 20 by Chopin
Vocalise by Rachmaninov
Toccatta from Tocatta and Fugue by J.S. Bach
Showcase: Brilliant Black Musicians
Biographical survey of Prodigy Jazz Violinist Eddie South, King of Rag Scott Joplin, and Virtuoso Composer Joseph Bologne Chevalier de St. George.
- Performance:
Paragon Rag - Scott Joplin
Overture to "L'Amant Anonyme" - Joseph Bologne Chevalier de St. George
"Southern Swing" by Zachary Montasser, inspired by Eddie South
Beethoven: The Hero?
In 2 parts: In 1803, Beethoven was devastated by his hearing loss and wrote a testament to his brothers explaining the extent of his despair. It was during this time that he wrote his Third Symphony, "Eroica," which is both a personal and historical statement, glorifying the Heroic Ideal as personified by Napoleon.
- Music:
Symphony no. 3, mvmts. 1, 2, 4
Eastern European Composers: Rachmaninoff and Chopin
Biographical surveys of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Frederic Chopin
- Performance:
Serenade Op. 3, no. 5, arr. Michael Press
Vocalise Op. 34 no. 14
Nocturne No. 20, op. Posth., arr Nathan Milstein
Ives and Emerson
Biographical Survey of Ives, his relationship with Existentilism and the Emersonian Ideal
- Performance:
Sonata no. 4
Mozart: The Prodigy Years
Mozart's Childhood, Early Career
- Performance: Violin Concerto in G major, K. 216, Cadenzas by Zachary Montasser
- Program Note Comparison
Stephen C. Foster and the American Song
Exploration of the life and times of Stephen Foster, and how his songs defined an era and the American Sound.
- Performance:
"Beautiful Dreamer"
"Captown Races"
"Come with thy Sweet Voice Again"
"Hard Times Come"
"My Old Kentucky"
"Oh Susannah"
Verdi Operas! La Traviata, Il Trovatore
Brief Biographical survey of Giuseppe Verdi. Plot Synopsis of two of his most famous operas, Il Trovatore and Traviata
- Performance:
Selections from La Traviata, Il Trovatore.
arr. A. Melchiori
The Violin: Four Eras (Four Separate Presentations)
- Late Baroque
- Classical
- Romantic
- 20th Century
- Lecture: Explore how different composers in different eras have used the violin as a vehicle of expression.
- Performance:
Preludio from Partita No. 3 in E major, J.S. Bach
Concerto no. 4, mvmd 1, Wolfgang Mozart
Violin Concerto Op. 77, mvmt. 1
The Violin: Four Eras - The Late Baroque - Bach and Telemann
When and what was the Late Baroque Era in Music? Biographical Surveys of J.S. Bach and George Philip Telemann
- Performance:
Tocatta from Tocatta and Fugue BWV. 565, arr. Zachary Montasser
Cello Suite No. 3, arr. Ferdinand David
Fantasia no. 1 in B flat Major
Brahms' Inner Struggle
Being Beethoven's Successor, having friends to help him through it.
- Performance:
Hungarian Dance Nos. 2, 5
Assorted Movements from Violin Sonatas no. 2 and 3
Concerto No. 1, Mvmt 1
Beethoven and the String Quartets
Early Period
Middle Period
Late Period
Early 20th Century French Music
An exploration of French Composers and how they created a French Musical Identity and at the turn of the 19th into the 20th Centuries.
- Performance
Faure - Apres Un Reve
Girl with the Flaxen Hair, Clair de Lune
All Presentations subject to change.