Classical Music for Sports Games

It's World Cup time: when soccer teams from 48 countries compete. What kind of music might bhe played? Classical music played at sports games features bold, triumphant themes designed to build tension, hype up the crowd, or signal victory.  For some of the most iconic classical tracks that get crowds roaring and athletes motivated, these are some standout pieces and their sports contexts:

High-Energy Stadium Anthems

• "Dance of the Knights" from Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev: This heavy, imposing, and dramatic piece is a popular choice for building tension during team introductions or pre-game walkouts.
• "William Tell Overture" (Finale) by Gioachino Rossini: An upbeat, relentless, and galloping track that has been a long-time favorite for sports like baseball (often played during a home team rally) and hockey.
• "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff: A massive, booming choir and orchestral piece that screams "epic moment," making it perfect for crucial fourth downs, sudden shifts in gameplay, or player introductions.
• "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss: Famous for its blazing brass intro, it is the ultimate "walk-on" theme to establish dominance.

Triumphant and Ceremony Music

• "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" by John Williams: Composed for the Olympics, this brass-heavy, victorious tune instantly screams sports championship.
• "Zadok the Priest" by George Frideric Handel: This sweeping, royal coronation anthem served as the direct inspiration for the famous UEFA Champions League Anthem, making it synonymous with European football. 
• "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini: A soaring, emotional tenor aria that became forever tied to sports after Luciano Pavarotti’s legendary performance at the 1990 World Cup.

Music to Grandmother’s House

 

It’s Thanksgiving time, with the popular song about going over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house. For centuries, composers have been inspired by the country life in their compositions. Here is a sampling.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" is a classic example, with movements like "Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the country" and "Scene by the brook," and even includes a musical depiction of a thunderstorm.

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, in particular for now its autumn season, evokes a carefree feeling: of letting go and embracing change.

Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, 1st movement is often described as having a countryside feel.

Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony depicts depicting a mountain landscape, reflecting  pastoral qualities with its nature-inspired themes. 

Singing as you go visit the family is a great start for Thanksgiving. 

Leaf Us with Composers

 

It’s the autumn season with leaves falling. When combining the idea of leaves and classical composers, two results are possible: piano pieces that have the word “leaves” in the title.

• Felix Mendelssohn  wrote "Album-leaf in E minor, Op. 117".
• Max Reger composed multiple pieces titled "Albumblatt," including one from his "Bunte Blätter for Piano".
• Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a "Feuillet d'album, Op. 169".
• Moritz Moszkowski wrote "Feuillet d'album No. 2" from his Op. 86.
• Modest Mussorgsky composed a piece titled "Méditation (feuillet d'album)"

 

And there is another possibility: composers who have arranged or been associated with the song “Autumn Leaves,” which is English lyrical adaption of the French song “Les Feuilles Mortes” (“Dead Leaves”) by Hungarian composer Joseph Kosma in 1945.

• Frédéric Chopin was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song
• Franz Liszt was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.
• Sergei Rachmaninoff was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.
• Johann Strauss II was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song. 
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was mentioned as a composer whose style was used in arrangements of the song.

For fun, you can hear a jazz arrangement of “Autumn Leaves” that is transformed into a homage to Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Strauss, Chopin, Brahms, and Rachmaninov at https://youtu.be/0zARLbNo480

Out of This World Music

 

Some music is out of this world! Or maybe it sounds spacy. Many composers have written about outer space. Here is a sampling, all of which have been composed or arranged for piano.

Gustav Holst’s The Planets is the most obvious example. While it was composed as an orchestral suite with seven movements (one for each planet), piano arrangements for one and two pianos have be written.

Three centuries early, in 1648, Heinrich Schutz wrote a motet based on the Psalm 19, which begins “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

Over a century later, Joseph Haydn used the same Psalms in his 1798 oratorio The Creation. This piece too has been arranged for the piano.

On to the next century. In 1868 Josef Strauss (Johann’s younger brother) wrote the waltz  Music of the Spheres.

Back to the 20^th century. One of Hector Villa-Lobo’s most popular piano compositions is a set of three piano miniatures called “The Three Marys,” which refers to the three stars in the constellation Orion’s belt.

More recently, Bela Bartok (one of Tomoko's favorite composers) created a series of 153 piano pieces called Microkosmos. This six-volume set starts with simple etudes and progresses to advanced technical works. This “little world” of music is its own cosmology.

Music to Mothers’ Ears

 

Tomoko celebrated Mothers’ Day celebrated recently, and music composers have celebrated mothers throughout the year for centuries. Here is a sampling of pieces that are These pieces are mother-approved.

Robert Schumann’s cycle of eight songs, “Frauen-Liebe und Leben” (“A Woman’s Life and Love”), follows a woman’s life of falling in love, marrying, and, becoming a mother. It has a very happy tone, but Schumann’s wife did not like the distraction of motherhood from her own musical career.

Richard Strauss’s piece “Muttertändelei” (“Mother-chatter”) recounts a mother’s praise of her child. It was written two years after Strauss’s wife gave birth to their son Franz.

Among Dvorak’s collection of gypsy songs is “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” One of his most famous melodies, this piece tells of a mother teaching her children the songs she herself learned from her mother.

Dvorak’s daughter was composer Josef Suk’s mother – and the inspiration for Suk’s piece pieces “About Mother, which were written for his children.

Ravel was another composer who wrote for children. Ma Mere l’Oye (or Mother Goose) His piano duet suite is a piano duet composed for his friend’s children.

Speaking of Mother Goose, Christina Rossetti penned nursery rhymes that were put to music in 1918 by John Ireland to become Mother and Child.  

The 1910 piano piece “Empress of Night” was a husband and wife effort; Amy Beach composed the music and her husband wrote the text. The piece was dedicated to Amy’s mother.

Fall for these Romantic October composers

 

As fall can evoke a romantic spirit, let’s celebrate five Romantic composers who began their lives in October.

Verdi was born October 9 or 10, 1813, near Busselo (Italy). While yet a teenager, Video wrote a set of variations for the pianoforte, which he performed publicly in may venues. As an adult her also gave private lessons, included to Margherita Barezzi, who became his first wife. A romantic, operatic story in itself.

Liszt was born October 22, 1811, in Raiding, Hungary. Like Verdi, who was about the same age, Liszt was a Romantic composer, but his list of piano compositions and performance greatly outpaced Verdi’s. Liszt was also a professional concert pianist, from age 10, and continued for decades, becoming a 19^th century “star” in Europe. He also taught hundreds more students than Verdi.

Johann Strauss II was born October 25, 1825, in Vienna. He composed over 500 dance pieces amd other light music. Known as the Waltz king, he popularized the Viennese waltz.

Saint-Saens was born October 9, 1835, in Paris. He too was a Romantic composer and performer. He started his public piano performances at age 10, although he made more money as an organist.   He taught both organ and piano studies, but left that profession to focus on composing and performing. During World War I he performed frequently to raise money for war charities. Even at age 86 he was still playing professionally.

Bizet was born October 25, 1838, in Paris. Bizet was an award-winning pianist himself, but he didn’t want to be known for this skill, so he seldom performed publicly. Mainly known for his operas, especially Carmen, Bizet also composed for the piano, but was largely ignored for them. To make a living, Bizet made hundreds of piano transcriptions of other composers’ pieces.

 

Classical Piano June Composers

 Happy June birthday to the following classical composers of piano music who were born in June! Tomoko has played the pieces of several of these famous musicians.

Mikhail Glinka was born June 1, 1804, in Novospasskoye, Russia. He is known as the father of Russian classical music. As a child, the first music he heard were church bells (which he didn’t like) and folk songs, which influenced his compositional style, particularly his art songs.

Robert Schumann was born June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Germany. He wanted to have a career as a virtuoso pianist, but a hand injury dashed that dream. The musical world benefitted as he became a renown composer for piano; in fact, he wrote exclusively for the piano until 1840.

Richard Strauss was born June 11, 1864, in Munich, Germany. He bridged the late Romantic and early modern styles. He is famous for his lieder tone poems piano compositions.

Edward Grieg was born June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway. He was both a concert pianist and composer of the Romantic era. His mother was his first piano teacher.

Igor Stravinsky was born June 17, 1882, in Lomonosov, Russia. He is most known for his Firebird suite, The Rite of Spring, Petrushka, and is 1924 Sonata for piano. After his Russian phase, her transitioned to a more austere neoclassical style.

Charles Gounod was born June 18, 1818, in Paris, France. He is best known for his Ave Maria and his “Funeral March of a Marionette,” which was used as the theme song for the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach was born June 21, 1732, in Leipzig, Germany. He was Johann Sebastian Bach’s ninth son. He wrote mainly keyboard compositions: for sonatas, choir pieces, oratorios, motels, operas, and songs.

Bring Harmony to 2024

What better way to bring in the new year than with music? And piano music offers a way for an individual to kinesthetically set the tone for the upcoming 365 days. 

The new year is a time of creation. As the 18th century was coming to a close, Joseph Haydn wrote the sacred oratorio The Creation to depict the creation of the world. While it was originally scored for voice and symphonic orchestra, it has also been arranged for solo and four-hand piano. 

J. S. Bach thought systematically about the year, not surprisingly; “In dir ist Freude” is a gladsome way to herald the new year. This chorale prelude is one of the preludes collected in Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, which marks various points in the liturgical year. 

Particularly in Vienna, people welcome the new by clapping to Johann Strauss’s Radetzky March, composed in 1848. It can be arranged for piano solo and duets. The Champagne Polka is another selection by Johann Strauss that fits for New Year’s Eve parties. He wrote the piece as a little joke, imitating the sound of champagne bottles being uncorked. While the piano version does not “pop” as convincingly, it still captures the spirit of the pol,ka 

Since 1936 musicians gather to perform at New Year’s concert in Vienna, and Johann Strauss II’s Pizzicato Polka was played that first year. Another piece by Strauss II performed at the first concert was Die Fledermaus Overture of his famous opera. This Strauss’s Blue Danube is another piece performed at the New Year’s concert, often as an encore. All three pieces have been arranged for the piano. 

The modern English composer Ernest Tomlinson appreciated light classical music. In 1976 he created Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne, which uses that traditional song as the main theme, but also weaves in snippets of other 150 other pieces. Another orchestral composition, it has also been scored for the piano.  

May 2024 be harmonious…. 

Here Comes the Bridal Piano

 

In the US, June has been the traditional month for weddings. Music is also a traditional part of weddings, and piano piece figure largely. Here is a sampling, all written by composers whom Tomoko admires.

The traditional standard wedding piece is Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opus 61: IX. Wedding March.  It is often performed in the movies (perhaps because it is in the public domain). A less known wedding choice composed by Mendelssohn, but very endearing, is his “On Wings of Song.”

Tomoko’s favorite piano composer, Mozart, wrote “Serenade, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K 525: II. Romanza-Andante.“ Its stately, measured pace give the wedding ceremony sweet gravitas. To set a more lively yet majestic tone, the wedding couple might choose Mozart’s overture to The Marriage of Figaro. Or if the couple wants to exult, they can always choose Mozart’s “Alleluja” from Exsultate, Jubilate, K 165.

Planning an elegant and sophisticated wedding? Then Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Arioso” would set the tone. Tomoko appreciates his timeless structure and use of chords.

Beethoven’s love letter in music, “Fur Elise,” resonates even today, and couples can affirm their own requited love. Tomoko knows that this famous piano piece may serve as a rite of passage for aspiring piano players.

“Claire de lune” from Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque is another favorite (as is Debussy for Tomoko). Its dreamy soft theme creates a lovely background for weddings.

Another romantic choice is Saint-Saens’ “The Swan” from his Carnival of the Animals. Its almost melancholy tone that resolves into a major key reflects the transition from singlehood to couplehood.

Another favorite composer of Tomoko, Edvard Grieg, is known for his “Wedding Day at Troldhauen, Opus 65, No. 6.” It bears a surprising resemblance to The King and I’s “March of the Siamese Children.”

For the bride’s entrance, Strauss’s Radetzky March” Opus 228 makes a bold statement. Strauss’s “Blue Danube” evokes the spirit of Vienna. And while waltzes are not the usual fare at wedding receptions, imagine how lovely the bride and groom would look if this were their first dance.

Tomoko also enjoys the dance music of Brahms. His piece “Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor” strikes a special chord for Tomoko as she married a Hungarian.

Romantic June

The month of June is often associated with romance and weddings. Tomoko was born in June, the same month as several of her favorite composers of the Romantic age.

Mikhail Glinka. (born June 1, 1804 in Russia) was the first Russian composer to be well known in his country, creating operas, orchestral works, chamber music, art songs, along with piano pieces. For years his composition "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya" was the country’s national anthem.

Robert Schumann (born June 8, 1810 in Germany) intended to become a virtuoso pianist, but instead he became known as one of the greatest Romantic era composers. For years, he wrote only piano pieces; later he added other orchestral instruments to his compositions and write many lieder.

Richard Strauss (born June 11, 1864 in Germany) wrote his first composition at age six and continued composing music into his eighties. He represents later German Romanticism. He is best known for his operas, but also wrote tone poems, lieder, orchestral works, chamber works, and solo pieces. Straus also made live-recording play piano rolls.

Edvard Grieg (born June 15, 1843 in Norway) made Norwegian music famous and helped develop its national identity, especially when he based his compositions on Norwegian folk music. Grieg was the cournty’s leading Romantic composers.  Professionally, he started as a concert pianist, but was inspired by Norwegian composers he met to write his own music, including piano pieces.

Compose a Museum

 In her travels, Tomoko has visited several museums: Tokyo museums, the Palais Museum in Paris, a Medici house museum in Florence, and Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg, to name a few. She has even performed in museums such as the De Young Museum in San Francisco. Of special note for her are museums about composers. In fact, when she travels she takes opportunities to play on historic pianos for herself, such as performing Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude on his piano within the Chopin Museum in Majorca, Spain. 

Here are some fascinating museums of piano composers whom Tomoko likes.

The Composers Quarter in Hamburg consists of six museums, each of which features one or more classical composers who lived in the areas. Each museum is housed in a restored historical building, and each museum contains a multimedia collection of the composer's works and life. See the list and details of each museum at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composers_Quarter_Hamburg

The Museum of the Johann Strauss Dynasty in Vienna has collected artifacts of Strauss gnerations, from the “Biedermeier” era to the 1880s. The museum includes fourteen themed areas, which are accompanied by related audio music. See more at http://www.strauss-museum.at

Speaking of musical families, the Bach Museum in Leipzig honors this family of musicians. Bach's organ and a violin from his orchestra are seen here – as well as many other family artifacts. The museum is interactive and offers summer concerts. See details at https://www.bachmuseumleipzig.de/en/bach-museum

Also located ins Leipzig is Schumann-Haus: the restored home of Clara and Robert in their first years of marriage. Visitors can experience how the couple lived and entertained, and the museum's sound garden provides interactive fun. See more at https://schumannhaus.rahn.network/en/museum/

A third composer's museum in Leipzig is Felix Mendelssohn's home. Visitors can see illustrated letters and music sheets as well as Mendelssohn's own watercolor efforts. The museum also includes a salon where morning concerts are held. See details at https://www.mendelssohn-stiftung.de/de/

The Beethoven House in Bonn features his life and work, and is located in Beethoven's birthplace. It includes a research center and a chamber music hall, and its garden showcases several busts of Beethoven. The museum was opened for the first time in 1893 during the second chamber music festival in the area. Now it includes digital collections for visitors to examine. See details at https://www.beethoven.de/

Handel's childhood home in London now holds exhibits about him. It even contains a miniature baroque theater stage that shows a virtual Handel performing “live.” See information about the museum, which also houses Hendrix, at https://handelhendrix.org/

Preserving the works and artifacts of classical piano composers keeps them alive and enables generations to experience them almost first hand. 

Start the New Year Right with Piano Pieces

 

What better way to bring in the new year than with music? And piano music offers a way for an individual to kinesthetically set the tone for the upcoming 365 days.

The new year is a time of creation. As the 18^th century was coming to a close, Joseph Haydn wrote the sacred oratorio The Creation to depict the creation of the world. While it was originally scored for voice and symphonic orchestra, it has also been arranged for solo and four-hand piano.

J. S. Bach thought systematically about the year, not surprisingly; “In dir ist Freude” is a gladsome way to herald the new year. This chorale prelude is one of the preludes collected in Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, which marks various points in the liturgical year.

Particularly in Vienna, people welcome the new by clapping to Johann Strauss’s Radetzky March, composed in 1848. It can be arranged for piano solo and duets. The Champagne Polka is another selection by Johann Strauss that fits for New Year’s Eve parties. He wrote the piece as a little joke, imitating the sound of champagne bottles being uncorked. While the piano version does not “pop” as convincingly, it still captures the spirit of the pol,ka

Since 1936 musicians gather to perform at New Year’s concert in Vienna, and Johann Strauss II’s Pizzicato Polka was played that first year. Another piece by Strauss II performed at the first concert was Die Fledermaus Overture of his famous opera. This Strauss’s Blue Danube is another piece performed at the New Year’s concert, often as an encore. All three pieces have been arranged for the piano.

The modern English composer Ernest Tomlinson appreciated light classical music. In 1976 he created Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne, which uses that traditional song as the main theme, but also weaves in snippets of other 150 other pieces. Another orchestral composition, it has also been scored for the piano.

May 2022 be harmonious….

Bravo for Bartók

One of Tomoko’s favorite composers to perform is Bela Bartók. In her CD “Touria” (available from Amazon), Bartók is the featured composers, showcasing six Rumanian folk dances frp, 1915, seventeen Hungarian and Slovak folk melodies, and “Allegro Barbaro” (1911).

Like Tomoko’s husband Desi, Bartók was born in Hungary (although Bartók’s town came under Romanian rule later on).  And like Desi, Bartók fled his country for America during war times. In Bartók’s case, his anti-Nazi sentiments endangered him. Nevertheless, Bartók always maintained a Hungarian spirit and sense of nationalism.

Bartók showed early musical talent, and gave his first public piano recital at age 11 in 1892 with his own composition, written two years earlier. Among his teachers was a pupil of Hungarian Franz Liszt. Later he was influenced by Richard Strauss and French composer Claude Debussy. In turn, Bartók taught Lili Kraus, one of Tomoko’s professional friends. 

Bartók’s compositions often built on folk music, particularly Rumanian folk dances. Bartók was not only a composer but also an ethnomusicologist, collecting and researching traditional Magyar folk melodies just as nationalism was blooming. Tomoko points out, “The folk inspiration fostered music that came from the heart, and yet how the composers built upon that folk music helped them express their own individuality.”

Bartók played “Allegro Barbaro” privately ten years before the published version of this short dance-like piece was performed publicly in 1921. Each of his pre-published performance was unique, changing speed as well as accents and dynamics. The piece’s title translates into “brisk barbarian”, which was an ironic reference to critics’ labelling of Bartók and his colleagues as young barbarians. Interestingly, the piece was based on Ravel’s “Scarbo.” The final rendition offers a unique counterbalancing of French and Hungarian folk melodies. The tonal pitch is constant, but the major, major and modal relations around it change. “Allegro Barbaro” has two themes, alternating between F# and F. The cadences are surprising, jagged, irregular but they still have chromatic motion. Even this this piece was written relatively early in his career, his compositional style was already mature.

It is no wonder that Tomoko appreciates Bartók: he brings cultural understanding to create an original compelling sound.  And Tomoko brings her own performance gifts to provide a unique experience for her own listeners.