Notes from the Cape

(in no particular order)

Prelude No 1: Bach
This is the first in the series of 48 preludes and fugues for the Well-Tempered Clavier, in which each piece is written in a different key. These preludes are a very early example of the link between music and mathematics. Bach is  referenced in great detail in the book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, a must read for anybody interested in human thought, creativity, mathematics, music or artificial intelligence.

Prelude No 20: Chopan
Although it is a very short piece, it is extremely stirring. This piece of music shows clearly what can be done simply by the use of harmony, with very little melody. It is one of those pieces where you have to open the piano up as much as possible, and play with total disregard to neighbours. I always love playing this prelude. I hope my neighbours love hearing it!

Rhapsody in Blue: George Gershwin
A piece of music that is really a link between classical and modern music. Written in 1924, it could have been written last week. Gershwin also wrote Summertime, a piece made famous by Louis Armstrong, and played by covers bands the world over.

The Maple Leaf Rag: Scott Joplin
This is just such a fine piece of old-time ragtime music. It always takes me back to the old western movies. Published in 1899, Joplin received a 1c royalty for each copy sold. This gained him a stead income, since over 500 000 copies were sold over the next ten years (the name comes from the Maple Leaf Club – where he used to work).

Sonata in C: Mozart
This is the first ‘serious’ piece of music that I learned. Although it is not particularity complicated, it is very typically Mozart and I still enjoy playing it.

O Fortuna! from Carmina Burana: Carl Orff
The older South African readers will remember this as the song from the Old Spice advert. With a full choir, orchestra and two piano’s, this is a very moving piece. It can only be listened to live, or played really loud on the hi-fi.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor: Bach
Bach’s famous piece for the pipe organ is best heard in a church or cathedral (Lois tells me you must be in the organ loft itself!), but almost as good on a CD. Don’t even think of listening to this played on anything but a pipe organ.

Ride of the Valkyrie: Richard Wagner
This piece is from the music drama The Valkyrie, which of course is part of the four music dramas which are collectively called Der Ring des Nibelungen, or more commonly just The Ring Cycle. To perform the complete cycle takes over 16 hours!

Moonlight Sonata: Beethoven
A piece of music which always relaxes me. To me, Beethoven was a bridge between the classical and romantic era’s of music. It is remarkable that a composer who went deaf in later years could write such beautiful music (he was not deaf whe he wrote the Moonlight Sonata).

Bohemian Rhapsody: Queen
Okay, I know that this is not strictly classical, but if you examine the piece, it has many classical influences. The structure is very operatic, and there are many choral influences in it. This is a remarkable piece of music, made even more so by the fact that it was recorded in 1975, when the studio technology was far less advanced than it is today (when it was recorded, Queen were told that at 5′ 55”, it was far too long and would never get radio play).