The Fine Art of Listening

And then there’s this Jupiter.

The last symphony Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed stands as a monument to his compositional genius, and as a pillar of regret to the fact that he died so young. This symphony looks ahead to Beethoven and the romantic era in general. With its scope, complexity, size, and orchestration, we hear a Mozart who was maturing; many might even mistake this symphony for one of Beethoven’s. But unlike Beethoven, Mozart never gets “lost” in his composition; he’s always completely in control, whereas Beethoven had to occasionally resort to cheap tricks to get him out of a tough spot.

But back to Jupiter. So is this about the planet, the Roman god, or both?

Neither. It was just “Symphony No. 41 in C major” when Mozart wrote it. Like Haydn‘s “Clock Symphony” and Beethoven‘s “Moonlight Sonata“, it was named long after it was composed, and not by the composer.

This is the fourth and final movement of the symphony, which contains some incredible fugue writing – enough so that even Bach would blush!

Like my March 1 post, today and tomorrow’s music is related to gods and planets.

Today, Jupiter the planet. Well, kind of. Gustav Holst‘s famous suite for orchestra, The Planets, is titled after the heavenly bodies, but the individual movements are subtitled in a manner that makes the orbiting spheres seem more like deities. But don’t be confused; instead, enjoy one of the hilarious things about being human – our ability to reconcile two contradicting ideas. And if nothing else, you gotta love the music.

Jupiter (the planet) doesn’t seem jolly to me, nor does it seem capable of that gorgeous English march in the middle section of this piece. The planet always struck me as very sinister – the Snidely Whiplash of the solar system.

American composer Aaron Copland‘s best-known piece (surpassing even Fanfare for the Common Man) is a set of variations on the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts,” found in his ballet Appalachian Spring.

The ballet portrays the daily life of American pioneers in Pennsylvania; while it doesn’t have much of a specific plot, it covers themes of love, religion, dance. Copland’s use of “Simple Gifts” is much more than just setting a lovely tune – the words here express our modern fascination with the life of our ancestors. Theirs was certainly much more difficult, but perhaps free from the complexities that we face.

The Shakers are a truly fascinating religious group, and I recommend reading about them. They have dwindled down to three full members and one initiate, but are fully intent on continuing their work and their beliefs. Their worship included dance, and many of their hymns, like “Simple Gifts”, include not-so-hidden dance indications (turn!)