"Four Last Songs The Four Last Songs (), Op. posth., for soprano and orchestra are – with the exception of the song ""Malven"" (Mallows), composed later the same year – the final completed works of Richard Strauss. They were composed in 1948 when the composer was 84. The songs are ""Frühling"" (Spring), ""September"", ""Beim Schlafengehen"" (When Falling Asleep) and ""Im Abendrot"" (At Sunset). The title ""Four Last Songs"" was provided posthumously by Strauss's friend Ernst Roth, who published the four songs as a single unit in 1950 after Strauss's death. Strauss died in September 1949. The premiere was given at"
"Four Last Songs (Vaughan Williams) Ralph Vaughan Williams' Four Last Songs cycle is made up of four songs: ""Procris,"" ""Tired,"" ""Hands, Eyes, and Heart,"" and ""Menelaus."" All of the songs were composed between 1954 and 1958. The cycle is best suited for mezzo-soprano, although, the original program note from the cycle's 1959 premiere acknowledges that all of the songs may be sung by a baritone, except for ""Hands, Eyes, and Heart"" ""which is a woman's song."" It is suggested that the four songs were originally intended to be two separate song cycles with ""Menelaus"" and ""Procris"" belonging to one cycle"
"Four Anniversaries Four Anniversaries is a composition for piano written in 1948 by the American composer Leonard Bernstein. ""Four Anniversaries"" consists of four movements, each written for a different person in Bernstein’s life. Leonard Bernstein composed four works using the same concept: ""Seven Anniversaries"" (1943), ""Four Anniversaries"" (1948), ""Five Anniversaries"" (1949–1951), and ""13 Anniversaries"" (completed 1988). Each movement celebrates the birthday of a different individual, such as Serge Koussevitzky, Paul Bowles, William Schuman, Stephen Sondheim, and Aaron Copland. The ""Four Anniversaries"" are dedicated to Felicia Montealegre, Johnny Mehegan, David Diamond, and Helen Coates. Critic Herbert Livingston described ""Four Anniversaries"": The"
"Four Orchestral Songs ""Four Orchestral Songs"", Op. 22 (in German: Vier Lieder für Gesang und Orchester or Vier Orchesterlieder) is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, scored for soprano and large orchestra. The songs were composed separately, even though they were published as a set. The first song was finished in October 6, 1913; the second one was composed between November 30 and December 3, 1914; the third one was composed between December 3, 1914, and January 1, 1915; and, after a hiatus, the fourth one was composed between July 19 and 28, 1916. These songs were the last"
"composed for the same ensemble: ""Thirty pieces for String Quartet"" of 1983, ""Music for Four"" of 1987–88 and ""Four"" of 1989. String Quartet in Four Parts String Quartet in Four Parts is a string quartet by John Cage, composed in 1950. It is one of the last works Cage wrote that is not entirely aleatoric. Like ""Sonatas and Interludes"" for prepared piano (1946–48) and the ballet ""The Seasons"" (1947), this work explores ideas from Indian philosophy. Cage began writing the quartet in 1949 in Paris. Prior to beginning to work on the piece, he told his parents that he wanted"
"rest and live"". Thus, the musical structure begins with a simple melody we can call A, then elaborates on it in the next command (A'), and next elaborates on the melody further (A<nowiki>""</nowiki>), and finally concludes on an E-flat major chord. Four Last Songs (Vaughan Williams) Ralph Vaughan Williams' Four Last Songs cycle is made up of four songs: ""Procris,"" ""Tired,"" ""Hands, Eyes, and Heart,"" and ""Menelaus."" All of the songs were composed between 1954 and 1958. The cycle is best suited for mezzo-soprano, although, the original program note from the cycle's 1959 premiere acknowledges that all of the songs"
"Vier ernste Gesänge Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121, is a cycle of four songs for bass and piano by Johannes Brahms. He composed the work in Vienna in 1896 and dedicated it to Max Klinger. Between 1865 and 1868, as a young man, Brahms had composed ""Ein deutsches Requiem"" (""A German Requiem""), dealing with death, based on a compilation of biblical quotations in Luther's translation. He wrote ""Vier ernste Gesänge"" late in life, again on words from the Bible. His friend Clara Schumann had suffered a stroke on 26 March 1896. Brahms completed the composition of this"
"of World War II seemed to bring the composer—who had grown old, tired, and a little jaded—into focus. The major works of the last years of Strauss's life, written in his late 70s and 80s, include, among others, his Horn Concerto No. 2, ""Metamorphosen"", his Oboe Concerto, and his ""Four Last Songs"". The ""Four Last Songs"", composed shortly before Strauss's death, deal with the subject of dying. The last one, ""Im Abendrot"" (At Sunset), ends with the line ""Is this perhaps death?"" The question is not answered in words, but instead Strauss quotes the ""transfiguration theme"" from his earlier tone"
"Christian Gerhaher and pianist Gerold Huber recorded the songs in 2002. Helen Traubel recorded the songs in 1949 with pianist Coenraad V. Bos. Vier ernste Gesänge Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121, is a cycle of four songs for bass and piano by Johannes Brahms. He composed the work in Vienna in 1896 and dedicated it to Max Klinger. Between 1865 and 1868, as a young man, Brahms had composed ""Ein deutsches Requiem"" (""A German Requiem""), dealing with death, based on a compilation of biblical quotations in Luther's translation. He wrote ""Vier ernste Gesänge"" late in life, again"
"the violin. The score was published in 1850 by Breitkopf & Härtel. The original manuscript is in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Poland. String Quartet No. 6 (Mendelssohn) The String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1847. It was the last major piece he completed before he died two months later on 4 November 1847. He composed the piece as an homage to his sister Fanny who had died on 17 May of that year and it bore the title ""Requiem for Fanny."" The quartet was first heard in private on 5"
"Selective bibliography Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include ""Der Rosenkavalier"", ""Elektra"", ""Die Frau ohne Schatten"" and ""Salome""; his Lieder, especially his ""Four Last Songs""; his tone poems, including ""Don Juan"", ""Death and Transfiguration"", ""Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks"", ""Also sprach Zarathustra"", ""Ein Heldenleben"", ""Symphonia Domestica"", and ""An Alpine Symphony""; and other instrumental works such as ""Metamorphosen"" and his Oboe Concerto. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying"
"String Quartet No. 4 (Oswald) The String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 46, by Henrique Oswald was finished between July and August 1921. It is the composer's last major chamber work. Approximate duration is 15 minutes. In 1921 Oswald was already 69 years old. According to José Eduardo Martins, this quartet is a synthesis of his entire chamber production, with its musical texture being extremely pure. On this composition Oswald's wife Laudômia wrote in her diary: ""The daddy's Quartet is modern, splendid, especially the ""Adagio"" (November 29)."" Same year he composed the ""Étude for the left hand alone""."
"String Quartet in Four Parts String Quartet in Four Parts is a string quartet by John Cage, composed in 1950. It is one of the last works Cage wrote that is not entirely aleatoric. Like ""Sonatas and Interludes"" for prepared piano (1946–48) and the ballet ""The Seasons"" (1947), this work explores ideas from Indian philosophy. Cage began writing the quartet in 1949 in Paris. Prior to beginning to work on the piece, he told his parents that he wanted to compose a work which would praise silence without actually using it; after completing the first movement he was so fascinated"
"at the BBC's Maida Vale studios, broadcast live on Radio 3 with the composer's participation on 19 June 2014, in celebration of his 80th birthday. The music was played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and presented by Petroc Trelawny. The last months of his life, as he struggled with terminal illness, showed continuing creative power and energy. There was The Hogboon (op. 335, a children's opera), the epiphany carol A Torrent of Gold, and the short choral work The Golden Solstice. He was working on a String Quartet (op.338) at the time of his death; only the first movement was"
"his very last works. In recognition of the Queen Mother's Scottish ancestry, Britten chose seven poems by Burns, sung in the Scots language, and performed without a break. 'Hansel' is a Scots word meaning welcome gift or present. At Britten's request, Colin Matthews arranged four of the songs for voice and piano; these were published separately as ""Four Burns Songs"" in 1978. The songs are: A complete performance takes about 18 minutes. Musicologist Peter Evans has analysed the cycle. It is through-composed, with the harp supplying transitions from the mood of one poem to the next. As befits a birthday"
"""Ruhe, meine Seele!"" for piano and voice in 1894 but did not orchestrate it until 1948, just after he had completed ""Im Abendrot"" and before he composed the other three of his Four Last Songs. Jackson suggests that the addition of ""Ruhe, meine Seele!"" to the Four Last Songs forms a five-song unified song cycle, if ""Ruhe, meine Seele!"" is performed as a prelude to ""Im Abendrot"", to which it bears motivic similarity. The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3"
"Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include ""Der Rosenkavalier"", ""Elektra"", ""Die Frau ohne Schatten"" and ""Salome""; his Lieder, especially his ""Four Last Songs""; his tone poems, including ""Don Juan"", ""Death and Transfiguration"", ""Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks"", ""Also sprach Zarathustra"", ""Ein Heldenleben"", ""Symphonia Domestica"", and ""An Alpine Symphony""; and other instrumental works such as ""Metamorphosen"" and his Oboe Concerto. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status"
"principal theme in its original form to the development section. After its second appearance the slightly changed theme of the ""Adagio"" leads straight into the recapitulation. String Quartet No. 4 (Oswald) The String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 46, by Henrique Oswald was finished between July and August 1921. It is the composer's last major chamber work. Approximate duration is 15 minutes. In 1921 Oswald was already 69 years old. According to José Eduardo Martins, this quartet is a synthesis of his entire chamber production, with its musical texture being extremely pure. On this composition Oswald's wife Laudômia"
"and ""Tired"" and ""Hands, Eyes, and Heart"" belonging to another. However, there is debate in the scholarly community about this proposed song cycle grouping. Renée Chérie Clark in her essay, ""A Critical Appraisal of Four Last Songs"" suggests, citing a letter from the composer to a friend at Cornell University, that Vaughan Williams actually intended for ""Menelaus"" and ""Hands, Eyes, and Heart"" to be grouped together. The composer's death in 1958 left both cycles unfinished, and in 1960, they were assembled by the composer's widow, Ursula Vaughan Williams, and published as set by Oxford University Press. The texts of all"
"Concert à quatre Concert à quatre (""Quadruple concerto"") is one of the final works of the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It is written for four solo instruments (piano, cello, flute, oboe) and orchestra. Messiaen first considered writing an oboe concerto for Heinz Holliger then a piece for oboe, cello, piano, harp and orchestra on the subject of Grace. In its final form (oboe, cello, piano, flute and orchestra), ""Concert à quatre"" was conceived in 1990 and begun in the summer of 1991. Messiaen worked on it steadily until December of that year. He originally intended the piece to have five"
"from the time of their first bewildered reception: their forms and ideas inspired musicians and composers including Richard Wagner and Béla Bartók, and continue to do so. Of the late quartets, Beethoven's favourite was the Fourteenth Quartet, op. 131 in C minor, which he rated as his most perfect single work. The last musical wish of Schubert was to hear the Op. 131 quartet, which he did on 14 November 1828, five days before his death. Beethoven wrote the last quartets amidst failing health. In April 1825 he was bedridden, and remained ill for about a month. The illness—or more"
"Four Piano Blues Four Piano Blues is a collection of pieces for piano by American composer Aaron Copland. The collection was composed between 1926 and 1948. The set of short blues for piano is the assembling of two pieces from the '20s and two more from the '40s. The first two pieces were written in 1926, as separate movements of an incomplete suite for piano, entitled ""Five Sentimental Melodies"". This work was largely drawn from other melodies extracted from Copland's Piano Concerto. One of the pieces was initially intended to become a part of another set of two blues. However,"
"String Quartet No. 4 (Glass) String Quartet No. 4, also known by its other title Buczak, is a string quartet by the American composer Philip Glass. It was commissioned by Geoffrey Hendricks in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak. It was premiered on July 4, 1989 at the Hauser Gallery. It was commissioned by Geoffrey Hendricks in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak, who succumbed to AIDS in 1987 at the age of 33. It was premiered at a memorial service on the second anniversary of the artist's death on July 4, 1989 at the Hauser Gallery. Glass wanted his"
"second. Musicologist Peter Evans: Teacher and composer Robert Saxton: Composer David Matthews: Musicologist Roger Parker: Musicologist Brian Hogwood: String Quartet No. 3 (Britten) String Quartet No. 3 in G major, Op. 94, by English composer Benjamin Britten (191376) was his last completed major work, and his last completed instrumental work. It was written in OctoberNovember 1975 during his final illness: the first four movements at his home, The Red House, Aldeburgh, and the fifth during his last visit to Venice, at Hotel Danieli. It was dedicated to the musicologist Hans Keller. In December 1975, brothers Colin and David Matthews performed"
"Symphony No. 4 (Brahms) The Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms is the last of his symphonies. Brahms began working on the piece in Mürzzuschlag, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1884, just a year after completing his Symphony No. 3. It was premiered on October 25, 1885 in Meiningen, Germany. The symphony is scored for two flutes (one doubling on piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon (third and fourth movements), four horns, two trumpets, three trombones (fourth movement only), timpani, triangle (third movement only), and strings. The symphony is divided into four"
"end in a resigned and conclusive manner. Notable recordings of this composition include: String Quartet No. 4 (Glass) String Quartet No. 4, also known by its other title Buczak, is a string quartet by the American composer Philip Glass. It was commissioned by Geoffrey Hendricks in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak. It was premiered on July 4, 1989 at the Hauser Gallery. It was commissioned by Geoffrey Hendricks in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak, who succumbed to AIDS in 1987 at the age of 33. It was premiered at a memorial service on the second anniversary of the"
"1999, aged 93. Perhaps his finest recorded performance was preserved on mid-1950s late mono Columbia LP, Johann Christian Bach's Symphony in D major, Op. 18, No. 4, distinguished by its overall serenity, stylishness and smooth flow but also by his taking BOTH repeats (including the second long one, apparently never since taken in later recordings) of the rondo finale quintessentially representative of Johann Christian's serene melding of pre-classical galant (in the opening and closing rondo theme) and sensitive styles (in the canonic middle episode in D minor). On the occasion of Sacher's 70th birthday, twelve composer-friends of his (Conrad Beck,"
"last four concluding with the refrain ""Tain't nobody's biz-ness if I do"". The song's eight-bar chord scheme was a model for subsequent ""bluesy"" Tin Pan Alley songs and R&B ballads in an AABA form. The music and lyrics are usually credited to two pianists – Porter Grainger, who had been Bessie Smith's accompanist from 1924 to 1928, and Everett Robbins, who had his own bands and worked briefly with Mamie Smith. Clarence Williams, who played the piano on Bessie Smith's recording, is sometimes listed as a co-author of the song.BMI, the performing rights organization, lists Grainger, Williams, Witherspoon, and Robert"
"49 texts in ""Last Poems"", thirteen still remain unset by composers. Thirty separate settings are due to the enthusiasm of John Ramsden Williamson (1929-2015), who also compiled some into two cycles. ""4 Housman Songs"" (2001) included single poems from ""A Shropshire Lad"" and ""Additional Poems"" as well as Poems 43 and 19 from ""More Poems""; ""3 More Housman Songs"" (for baritone and piano, 2004) contained “Parta Quies” (48) from ""More Poems"" and two more from ""Additional Poems"". Other song-sets also combine poems from more than one of Housman’s collections. Of the five in Jake Heggie’s ""Here and Gone"" (2005), two"
"String Quartet (Fauré) Gabriel Fauré's String Quartet in E minor, Op 121, is his last work, completed in 1924 shortly before his death at the age of 79. His pupil Maurice Ravel had dedicated his String Quartet to Fauré in 1903, and he and others urged Fauré to compose one of his own; he declined, on the grounds that it was too difficult. When he finally decided to write it, he did so in trepidation. The quartet is in three movements, the last movement combining the functions of scherzo and finale. The work has been described as an intimate meditation"
"listening to a performance of the Op. 131 quartet, Schubert remarked, ""After this, what is left for us to write?"" Of the late quartets, Beethoven's favorite was the Fourteenth Quartet, op. 131 in C minor, which he rated as his most perfect single work. Transcriptions of some of the late quartets for string orchestra have been made by Arturo Toscanini and Felix Weingartner, among others. Ensembles that have recorded all the late string quartets by Beethoven include: Late string quartets (Beethoven) Ludwig van Beethoven's late string quartets are the following works: These six works are Beethoven's last major completed compositions."
"Symphony No. 4 (Hanson) Symphony No. 4 Op. 34, ""Requiem"" (1943) by Howard Hanson (1896–1981) is Hanson's fourth symphony. It was inspired by the death of his father, taking its movement titles from sections of the Requiem Mass. He was awarded the 1944 Pulitzer Prize for Music, unanimously selected by the jury, for the piece. Hanson regarded it as his finest work. It was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 3, 1943, conducted by the composer and the radio premiere was January 2, 1944 by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with Leopold Stokowski. One of his least heard symphonies,"
"The Four Sections The Four Sections is an orchestral work by the minimalist American composer Steve Reich. The piece was commissioned for the San Francisco Symphony in honour of its 75th Anniversary by the widow of Ralph Dorfman. It was completed in August 1987 and given its premier that year on 7 October conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in Davies Hall. The title of the work refers to the four sections of the orchestra and the four harmonic sections dividing each movement. The work consists of the following movements: The original idea for ""The Four Sections"" was suggested by Tilson"