Imaginary

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Alison Balsom, “Sound the Trumpet,” etc.

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, “Pastorale” (1808), evokes a sense of gratefulness, but this performance by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, in 2022, adds contours and layers of sound and meaning, transforming the symphony into a joyous celebration of life. The playing is up-tempo, bold and unreservedly enthusiastic. The gratefulness of the work remains palpable but in this performance, it takes on other dimensions. Honeck and his burghers create an impression that they are making music in the open air, perhaps in the countryside, where the symphony is set.

The story in Händel’s Messiah, hwv 56 (1741), is a metaphor for the triumph of parenting, for those of is who choose parenthood. When our child is born, every valley is exalted, we are purified, and the trumpet sounds, awakening and calling us to action. Top performances were conducted by Sargent in 1946, Beecham in 1947, Susskind in 1958, Beecham in 1959, Boult in 1961, Davis in 1966, Marriner in 1976, Hogwood in 1980, Pinnock in 1987, Christie in 1994, Suzuki in 1998, Jacobs in 2006, Higginbottom in 2006, Butt in 2006, Christophers in 2008 and Haïm in 2014.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (1822) is “a work of unmatched drama and transcendence . . . the triumph of order over chaos, of optimism over anguish” [pianist Robert Taub]. Top recordings include those by Schnabel, Gulda, Goode, Richter, Michelangeli, Pollini, and Kovacevich.

Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 (1866): the work concludes in glorious triumph, all around.

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 (1936): “Composing the Third in exile in the mid-1930s (it was written in Lucerne where Rachmaninov had a villa built for him and his family), Rachmaninov conceived a subtly radical structure in which a long first movement precedes a central part that cleverly combines slow movement and scherzo - a compositional coup of architectural imagination and colouristic brilliance - and a final movement whose outward energy and confidence may not be all that it seems.” In the final movement, “Rachmaninoff continues on his triumphantly thunderous celebratory conclusion, all dark thoughts banished.” Top recordings are conducted by Rachmaninoff in 1939, Ormandy in 1963, Svetlanov in 1966, Jansons in 1993, Ashkenazy in 1998, and Wilson in 2022.

Other works from Western classicism:

• Borodin, Symphony No. 2 in B Minor (1876)
• Charpentier: Messe de minuit pour Noël, H. 9 (1694) 
• Hanson, Symphony No. 5, "Sinfonia Sacra," Op. 43 (1955): in this single-movement symphony, the composer sought “to invoke some of the tragedy and triumph, mysticism and affirmation” of the Christian resurrection narrative. 
• Gibbons, Hymnes & Songs of the Church: Songs of Triumph 
• Gabrieli, works for brass instruments 
• Liszt, Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo (Tasso, Lament and Triumph), (Poème symphonique No. 2), S96 (1854) 
• Aho, Symphony No. 10 (1996)
• Asia, Symphony No. 2, "Celebration Symphony" (1990)
• MacMillan, Larghetto for Orchestra

From the dark side:

• Botti, Lament - The Fallen City