Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Before The Age of Adz I was always, mostly, in love with the way Sufjan Stevens’ music sounded. Someone great recently helped me in pointing out just how poetically visceral Stevens was and well deservedly, has always been. And sure, I immediately loved the way the title track sounded way before I could appreciate what he was singing about on “All for Myself,” but over the time, the words affected me and naturally, it’s been a well-publicized love that I gush over way too much.

So I was more recently listening to Illinois and it’s here that I developed my love for Sufjan’s magical compositions. “The Black Hawk War, Or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and ...” was simply jaw-dropping the first time I heard it and it remains, one of my all-time favorite instrumental works. It’s the kind of choice I would make if I ever got to make a video, win some kind of award, play it for someone special, etc… It’s amazing because to me, it’s a glorious fanfare that reigns in the charging piano and mallets of “Come on! Feel the Illinoise!: Pt. 1: The World's Columbian Exposition” and yet, that long-ass title is definitely meaning much much more than ‘fanfare.’


Illinois is an album devoted to the said state and it’s filled with lifting stories all over; it has continually won over more fans because of his purely impeccable songwriting. Again, it was stuff like “To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea ...” that won my heart over, originally. The trumpet and how sad it sounds, almost yearning; the way the piano dangles over everything else, like a guiding light; the crashing percussion and how it’s calling but not reaching. I love whistling a lot and it’s got a personal bias too I’m sure, but it’s absolutely gorgeous, too. And still, these are two tiny sample of juice from an album of 22 massive pieces of life. – Bryan

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in Em

I had a hard time sleeping last night so I went over to my sister’s old room (where all my records are now) and picked up the first Tchaikovsky record I could find (I only have his symphonies 4-6 on vinyl) since it was dark and I didn’t want to make too much noise. I put it on the finale for this symphony (Symphony No. 5 in Em) and was astonished at the difference in everything from tone, melody to overall structure in comparison to his final symphony.

While the last movement again as some difficulty with the major coming through the minor, many have depicted this as Tchaikovsky’s way of showing “victory through failure” or “triumph in strife.” Mostly, it’s a propulsive and driving finale that showcases just how strikingly passionate and skillful Tchaikovsky was. And the closing breakthrough, with the melody brought out by different instruments is still very powerful.

But the second movement, especially, has to be one of the most gorgeous representations of what a melodic horn line is supposed to be. Not only is it richly colorful but here, Tchaikovsky has crafted something both illustriously grand and vividly clear. The violins trade off with the horn but in terms of its remarkable scope, it’s still one of my favorite melodies. Videos for each follow below (with the video for the fourth movement a crazy good version conducted by Bernstein,) please check them out and I promise to post some ‘more interesting’ music soon. – Bryan

Movement Two: Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza (DM)


Movement Four: Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace (EM>Em>EM)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathétique

I studied Thcaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathétique extensively so I am sure I am biased but I also can’t help feeling as if it’s wrongly overlooked when it is, very honestly, such a beautiful composition. And, for me at least, it holds such a weighty amount of emotions and passions for Tchaikovsky to go on and title it as his Pathétique symphony, which roughly translates to “passionate” or “emotional.”

He had a hard time writing it, continuously stating that he could not create good music; he had written an earlier version before trashing it and once he got to work on this finished version, he vowed to finish it. Part of the mystery regards what the symphony is actually aiming to achieve. It was dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s nephew, of which he was known to be involved with, though never out in the wide open. Some have speculated that it is about their doomed relationship and others, like me, see it as Tchaikovsky’s suicide note: his last gift of music, which he premiered only nine days before his death.

The symphony’s music is utterly exceptional with every movement being even better than before. The first one marks a sonata-allegro form where Tchaikovsky shifts from Bm to the BM, while always maintaining a dark and gloomy mood. The second movement is interesting because that 5/4 meter easily suggests a waltz but this is much livelier. The third movement is very deceptive because it’s too dissonant to be a march, much too upbeat to be a waltz and it revolves around two themes.

And finally the final movement is an Adagio (entirely different for what symphonies called for). The movement is a moving, rousing one (check out those chords from the bassoon around the first quarter mark) that always stays in the original Bm before ending on a solemn, quiet ending. Here is that Finale from the sixth symphony, with Charles Dutoit conducting the impeccable NHK Symphony Orchestra from Tokyo, Japan. – Bryan

Johan de Meij – Symphony No. 1 (The Lord of the Rings)

I think our blog might be a little too sprawling but then again, I don’t necessarily consider that to be a bad thing either. But I feel entirely out of place if I don’t start bringing up classical music and jazz too – can’t ever forget about jazz. (If you ever meet anyone who tells you jazz is unimportant or inferior to classical music, please punch them in the face. Tell them I said it was OK too because they are way off base. And believe me, you will meet such purists who speak such horrible claims.)

Anyway, one of my favorite classical compositions for a band, or wind ensemble if you will, is Johan de Meij’s Symphony No.1, which is also known as The Lord of the Rings Symphony. Long before the massive films took to the silver screen, de Meij would compose five movements based on the novels and scored it for a wind ensemble. They aren’t the most difficult pieces of music to perform but they are infectiously gripping. And they color the books with magnificent music that is equally melodic and harmonic, with trumpets being at the frontline, there is everything from “Gandalf”’s fierce horses to the ominous cave found in “Gollum,” to the simply titled, “Hobbits.”

If I’m not mistaken, I think all three of us were in high school when we played “Hobbits” and it was a great feeling. I remember campaigning for us to play the first movement, “Gandalf,” but it would have been too much music. Either way, the entire suite is fantastic and below is a video for that aforementioned fifth movement, “Hobbits,” check it out. – Bryan