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CLASSICAL MUSIC
When I was in High School, I was introduced to classical music by the school's solitary music teacher, a Mr McGee, to whom I shall always be grateful for introducing me to some of the world's greatest music. Back then my leanings were towards the music of the Baroque period, Handel's Messiah, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and organ works being among my first record purchases. Over the years my tastes changed and my musical repertoire expanded to include music from the Classical and Romantic periods (I'm still waiting to warm to 20th Century compositions but I suspect it's going to be a long wait).
Brandenburg Concerto No 3
(JS Bach) BWV 1048
 The five Brandenburg Concertos were written by Bach in the early 18th century, the third is believed to have been composed sometime between 1711 and 1713. The individual composition dates for the Brandenburg Concerti cannot be precisely determined. The only thing that can be said with certainty about their chronology is that they were all composed by March 1721, the date on Bach's autograph copy. By 1721, Bach's third year as Kapellmeister at Anhalt-C?then, he was becoming restless and began looking for career opportunities outside the small town. As the story commonly goes, on March 24, he assembled these six concertos (which had almost certainly been performed at C?then) and presented them, by way of a job application, to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg. (The application was not successful). The concertos have little in common; the dedication page Bach wrote for the collection merely indicates they are six pieces for several instruments. Indeed, the six works seem to reflect an effort by the composer to write for as many different ensembles as possible. The concertos have been called a "microcosm of Baroque music," because they seem to exemplify the potential of the musical style of the era, in all its variety - in only six concertos. This concerto is often cited as the prototype of the modern string quartet as Bach here calls for only stringed instruments. The three violins, three violas, and three cellos are accompanied by a basso continuo. The second movement consists of only two chords played by the strings; it is likely that these chords surrounded or followed a cadenza improvised by a keyboard or violin player.
I first heard recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos in my High School music class and the 4th Brandenburg Concerto, featuring a treble recorder as the solo instrument, was played in the first classical music concert I ever attended when I was 15 years old. No 3 came to prominence for me in the 1970s when Walter Carlos produced the album Switched On Bach, which featured the concerto played on the Moog Synthesiser. Back then it was an experimental instruments and had to be played one note at a time so the task of playing a full concerto like this would have been tedious, requiring multi layering of numerous tracks.
1. Allegro (without tempo indication)(Basis of the Sinfonia for Cantata BWV 174.)
2. Adagio
3. Allegro (Derived from the Pastorale, BWV 590.)
Instrumentation: violin, viola cello, double bass, continuo
Key: G Major
Clarinet Concerto in A major
(WA Mozart) K 622
 This work was composed by Mozart (1756-1791) in 1791 just a few weeks before his death and is part of an incredible output of work the composer produced during the last year of his life, which also includes his symphonies 39 to 41. Like Mozart's Clarinet Quintet K 581, his Clarinet Concerto was written for Mozart's friend, clarinettist Anton Stadller, to be played on the basset clarinet, which was invented in 1788 by Lodz, court instrument maker. It is sad to realise that Mozart probably never heard the piece performed live. My favourite recording of the work is in EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series featuring Sabine Meyer on basset clarinet performing a transcription of the work for that instrument not heard since Mozart's time. I have also had the pleasure of hearing Ms Meyer perform the work live at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. How blessed am I?
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Rondo (Allegro)
Instrumentation: solo clarinet, 2 flutes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings
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My Favourite Composers: WA Mozart; JS Bach; J Haydn; J Rossini
My Favourite orchestral instruments: Recorder, Cello, Harp, French Horn
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Guitar Concerto No 1 in A
(M Giuliani) Op.30
 Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) is a little known Italian guitarist and composer of duets, quartets, concertos, sonatas, and ?tudes for guitar, this concerto being the most well known of these. The first of three guitar concertos by Giuliani, it premiered on 3rd April 1808. Written for guitar and string quartet and cast in the classical form of two robust outer movements in sonata and rondo form respectively, which sandwich a a slower, more retrospective one, the pieces brim with catchy, singable melodies which reflect the Italianate delight of Mediterranean sunshine under which it was composed. My favourite recording (there aren't too many available) is in the Phillips Classics Series featuring Pepe Romero on Guitar and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner. It was recorded in July 1974.
1. Allegro maestoso
2. Andantino (Sicilano)
3. Polonaise (Allegretto)
Instrumentation: guitar, violin 1, violin 2, viola, and violoncello.
Symphony No 40 in G
(WA Mozart) K.550
Mozart's last three symphonies (No.s 39 to 41) were written during an intensely creative six week period in 1788, the year in which the city of Sydney was established after the arrival of the First Fleet. They are the work of perhaps the greatest composer the world has ever seen at the peak of his creative brilliance. It has been speculated that he was preparing these works for a planned journey to England which never occurred. The 40th Symphony is sometimes referred to as the "Great" G minor symphony, to distinguish it from the "Little" G minor symphony, No. 25. The two are the only minor-key symphonies Mozart wrote. We have no documentary evidence that the 40th Symphony was performed in Mozart's lifetime at all. There is one clue, namely the fact that the work exists in two versions, the initial version from 1788 plus a later revision in which Mozart added parts for two clarinets and altered the oboe parts. It seems fairly likely that this revision would have been created with a specific performance in mind.
The symphony is scored (in its revised version) for flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, and a string section containing the usual first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Notably missing are trumpets and timpani. The work is in four movements, in the usual arrangement (fast movement, slow movement, minuet, fast movement) for a classical-style symphony:
Every movement but the third is in sonata form; the minuet and trio are in the usual ternary form. The first movement begins darkly with a pulse in the violas, soon joined by the first subject. This technique of "dropping" the listener immediately into the action, foregoing a formal introduction, would become a favourite technique of the Romantics. Examples of this technique used in Romantic music include the first movement of Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin, or the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. The second movement is a lyrical work in 6/8 time, in E flat major, the subdominant of the relative major of the overall G minor key of the symphony. The minuet begins with an angry, cross-accented hemiola rhythm; various commentators have asserted that while the music is labelled "minuet," it would hardly be suitable for dancing. The contrasting gentle trio section, in G major, alternates the playing of the string section with that of the woodwinds. The fourth movement is written largely in eight-bar phrases, following the generally tendency toward rhythmic squareness in the finales of classical-era symphonies. A remarkable modulating passage occurs at the beginning of the development section, in which every tone but one in the chromatic scale is played. Unlike many minor-key finales of the Classical era, this movement remains resolutely in the minor mode to the very end.
1. Molto allegro
2. Andante
3. Menuetto: Trio
4. Allegro assai
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