World of Music

Alirio Diaz - Dos Valses Venezolanos

November 12/Alirio Diaz -- On this date in 1923, Venezuelan guitarist Alirio Diaz was born. Diaz began formal music studies in Caracas in 1945 and soon built a name for himself performing in military bands and dance orchestras which he used to pay for his courses. In 1950 the Venezuelan Ministry of Education granted him a fellowship to study in Europe and he completed four years of study under Maestro Andres Segovia, the preeminent guitarist of his generation. Segovia was so impressed with the young guitarist's technique he named Diaz as his professional substitute and Assistant Professor. Diaz went on to perform in concert halls around the world and has long been considered one of the great guitarists of our time. The Venezuelan composer Antonio Lauro was a contemporary of Diaz's who was well known for his guitar compositions. Diaz recorded Lauro's composition Dos Valses Venezolanos, a pair of very difficult waltzes, in 1993 at the age of seventy and his dexterity and alacrity had never been more stunning.

Bruckner - Symphony No. 2, mov. 3

September 4/Anton Bruckner, the Austrian composer, was born on this day in 1824. The tireless, some say obsessive, composer is perhaps best known for his symphonies of which there are nine though there are oftentimes several versions of each one. Bruckner revised his pieces continuously, reworking them long after they had been published and performed in earlier forms. He continued revising even his earliest pieces up until his death in 1896 at the age of seventy-two. This lifelong impulse to revise his works has led to much consternation among later orchestra directors and conductors as there is oftentimes no definitive version of the score for many of his compositions. In spite of this frustration and confusion, which gave birth to the commonly used term "The Bruckner Problem," his passionate and dynamic works, representative of the late-romantic period, are heralded as grand achievements of the style and he remains one of the most respected and performed composers of the 19th century. This is the third movement from his Second Symphony, first written in 1872 and later revised in 1873, 1876, 1877 and 1892. This version, recorded in 1980 by the Dresden Orchestra, is taken from the first publicized score and therefore thought by many to be closest to Bruckner's original intent.

Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8 Mov. 1 and 2

September 25/Dmitri Shostakovich -- Born in St. Petersburg on this date in 1906, Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He began his career as a child prodigy on the piano and began composing very early in life. His earliest great achievement as a composer was his first symphony written at the age of nineteen. He went on to write fifteen symphonies in total over the course of his long and, at times, quite difficult career. The continuous challenge for him throughout his life was trying to exercise artistic freedom under the severe restrictions of the communist government. He was forced (according to him) to sign his allegiance to the party, and asked to limit his individualism as a composer as it was counterproductive to the Soviet cause. Several newspaper articles were written in his name denouncing artistic individualism, which Shostakovich later stated had been planted by the authorities. He did his best to circumvent these limitations on his compositional output, and one method was through his use of musical codes -- pitch name messages, and sly employment of melodic quotations for example. One of his greatest works is the String Quartet Number 8, which Shostakovich treated as a subversively autobiographical piece and even snuck in an anagram for his name with the pitch names in the melodic theme. This is Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet Number 8, movement 1 and 2, as played by the Emerson String Quartet.

Quinteto Pirincho - La Cumparsita

July 9/Argentina -- Argentina declared itself independent from Spain on this date in 1816. Soon thereafter, the young nation experienced several waves of immigration from European countries, and the population levels of its larger cities, particularly Buenos Aires, grew quickly. Although its citizens were elated in 1816 to be done with the repressive obligations to the Spanish crown, Argentines have always embraced their European roots. Tango music, inextricably linked with the associated dance, is the country's signature art form and displays considerable European influence. Elements of Spanish, Italian, Jewish and Eastern European musical characteristics found their way into the burgeoning style in the 1880s. But a critical ingredient in this musical synthesis is the influence of African musical styles as well, which came by way of African slaves who were brought to South America, and this makes the tango distinct from its European counterparts. In 2009 tango was included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Released in 2003, this is La Cumparsita, performed by Quinteto Pirincho.

Sekouba Bambino Diabate - Ka Souma Man

September 22/Mali -- On this date in 1960, the Republic of Mali was established soon after the French colonial power had been thrown out of the region. A large, landlocked country in northwest Africa, Mali sports one of the continents most ethnically and musically diverse societies. It has long been common for African musicians to transfer performance techniques from traditional instruments to modern instruments such as the electric guitar and electric bass -- for the musicians of other countries this often means disposing with the original instrument, but in Mali it is far more routine to blend the old with the new during performances. This has given birth to a sound that is unique to Mali -- one which combines modern influences with a firm sense of tradition. A fine example of this combination, one among countless fascinating musical treasures, is the hit from 1994, Ka Souma Man, performed by the singer Sekouba Bambino Diabate. With the traditional balafon and kora, a wooden xylophone and a cross between a harp and lute respectively, performing alongside the electric guitar and electric bass, it is typical of the "old meets new" aesthetic found in Malian music.

Culture - Two Sevens Clash

July 7/Jamaica -- This date marks the anniversary of predicted chaos and apocalypse as described by the Jamaican roots group, Culture. Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey was held up as a spiritual prophet by the Rastafarian religion, which was exploding on the scene in Kingston at the time, and this prediction was attributed to Garvey. The lyrics of the song retell, almost word for word, a speech he gave decades earlier. The cataclysmic event was destined to take place when the two sevens clash, that is, on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 1977. Culture recorded and released their song Two Sevens Clash early that year and it quickly became a huge hit, testament to the mushrooming popularity of Rastafarian themes. The influence of the song also underscores the enormous impact popular music plays on Jamaican culture. As the fateful day neared, private citizens armed themselves and the army was put on alert. On the day itself businesses and schools were shuttered and people stayed off the streets. Fortunately, the world did not end, and the sun rose again on July 8, but the position Rastafarianism and its form of musical expression, roots music, held in the country's consciousness was indisputable. This is Culture's Two Sevens Clash, from 1977.

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder

July 10 -- On this date in 1938, trumpeter Lee Morgan was born in Philadelphia. Having first come to prominence at eighteen years old as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band, and soon thereafter by performing on John Coltrane's seminal "Blue Train" album, Morgan came up through the ranks of upper echelon bebop musicians to become one of the top two or three trumpeters on the scene in the 60s. His life was tragically cut short at thirty-three when he was shot and killed by his common-law wife as he performed on stage in New York City. By the time of his murder his career had suffered many ups and downs due to years of substance abuse and the shifting tastes of the public, but his place in the pantheon of jazz giants had already been long established. His best known recording is The Sidewinder, a soul-jazz classic heard here from the 1964 album of the same name. The tune became so popular that it cracked the pop charts and even made its way into a Cadillac commercial which aired during the Super Bowl. After Morgan's typically melodic and playful solo, Joe Henderson takes a memorable tenor saxophone solo.

John Coltrane - Giant Steps

May 4/John Coltrane -- John Coltrane recorded his groundbreaking composition, Giant Steps on this date in 1959. The performance established him as the tenor saxophone heavyweight champion of his day, a position he would cement with later recordings, and one which later generations of musicians and fans argued was still ongoing. The chord structure he established for this tune, one which he worked into several other compositions, used an entirely new approach to harmonic theory and tested his sidemen's abilities to follow the difficult pattern of chord changes. This approach, now commonly referred to as the "Coltrane changes" chord cycle, is regularly used to separate the amateurs from the professionals. "Sure, you sound good, but can you improvise over Giant Steps?" became a common challenge. Not only is improvising over the chord structure difficult, but the bright tempo at which it is usually played makes it all the more difficult. This is the composition which sent millions of aspiring jazz musicians back to the practice rooms, from the album of the same name.

Thelonious Monk - Pannonica

October 20 -- Twenty- four years ago today, "Straight No Chaser," the Thelonious Monk biopic was released. A labor of love for jazz-fan producer Clint Eastwood, the film garnered wide critical acclaim for its treatment of the brilliant and highly eccentric piano player. In the early 1980s a treasure trove of archival footage was found, much of it centered around Monk's successful 1967 European tour, and Eastwood's film was, in large part, built around this footage. The revelatory and wonderfully intact images from the 50s and 60s, as well as posthumous interviews with surviving contemporaries and family members, captivated international audiences and the film remains a classic. Pannonica, a lyrical paean to Monk's mysterious patroness, baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, was featured on the soundtrack accompanying images of her cat-filled high-rise home where Monk spent much of his later years in seclusion . One of many he made throughout his career, this rendition of the piece appears on the 1964 album "Monk." The typically angular Monk melody is played by saxophonist Charlie Rouse.