If you can’t make it, you will be able to view the webcast for a limited time on the website. Check out the website for other operas available for viewing on demand.
Rimsky-Korsakov,
Balakirev, Borodin,
Mussorgsky and Cui.
These make up “The Five,”
Russia’s Mighty Handful of
Splendid composers.
The five composers noted above, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, and César Cui, made up the group that came to be known as The Five, or in Russia, the Balakirev Circle or Mighty Handful (Могучая кучка). The group was led by Balakirev, and the goal was to elevate the standing of Russian traditional music (the musical nationalism movement, which was found in other countries as well).
The name Mighty Handful came from a review of a concert that included a number of Russian composers, including Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov (and Mikhail Glinka as well). When the phrase was used disdainfully by critics, Balakirev and his group kept the name as a badge of honor.
One unusual thing that distinguished this group is that most of them kept their “day jobs.” Borodin was a chemist (he is well known for his work with aldehydes and as co-discoverer of the Aldol reaction). Others were in the military or civil service. What’s more, none were conservatory trained (which may have been part of the disdain noted above).
It was a challenge to pick some music to represent this group. Hmm, challenge, mighty handful…actually there can be only one choice: Balakirev’s Islamey, long considered one of the most difficult (if not the most difficult) piece of solo piano music of all time (Ravel wrote Gaspard de la Nuit with the intent of making it more difficult than Islamey!).
It’s getting toward Halloween here in the US and I got to thinking about spooky music.
Why is it that organ music is always considered mad scientist/evil mastermind music?
I mean, think about it: do these guys have time to be practicing their arpeggios and pedalwork?
Do they really want their hands tied up with massive nasty, gnarly chords?
Is it easy to come up with byzantine evil plans while playing the intricate counterpoint of a fugue?
Can we picture an evil mastermind wearing sensible organist shoes?
Photo via OrganMasterShoes.com
C’mon, really?
I guess we’re stuck with that image though.
So, ok, we’re going with it. What are our options here to make folks think an evil genius lives at your house while you’re handing out candy at Halloween?
Everyone thinks of the Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor first. Recordings of ALL of Bach’s organ music are available for free. Or you can download a subset of more familiar pieces. The pieces were recorded by Dr. James Kibbie on baroque organs in Germany (learn more about the project here).
Looking for something different and original? Try Frederik Magle’s music. Delectably dark and hair-raising, from traditional Gothic organ to rock/classical fusion. Here’s Origin.
Catapulting into Classical 