For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
Happy Halloween, Everyone!
My favorite spooky music is by far the sweeping sounds of an orchestra transporting my muse to all the dark places that bring me to the stories I write.
Add a choral dimension into the mix, and it sends chills of delight along my spine.
Hope these pieces make your Halloween complete.
Happy Haunting!
1 - Masquerade Waltz - composed by Aram Khachaturian
2 - Danse Macabre - composed by Camille Saint-Saens
3 - Midnight from the Cinderella ballet score - composed by Sergei Prokofiev
4 - Totentanz - composed by Franz Liszt
5 - Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) from Requiem Mass - composed by Giuseppi Verdi
For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
Yesterday, October 1st was the second annual World Ballet Day, bringing ballet lovers from all over the world together online as we were invited to take part in the daily class and rehearsal periods of five major companies.
For a ballet freak like me, World Ballet Day is like being a kid and waking up on Christmas morning, with all of your presents waiting for you, all of your family gathering around, and an endless feast going on for hours and hours and hours, with none of it ever ending.
It was like heaven.
For this week's 5 on Friday, may I introduce the five companies who shared their lives with us yesterday.
For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
Well...
I'm trying to process the results of a Cognitive Function Evaluation which I just received today when I went to the clinic for my weekly sauna detox treatment. I don't know why I was a little more hopeful about those results, when my Physical Function Evaluation in June turned out to be equally as jarring.
To put it plainly, I'm a wreck.
I have multiple chemical sensitivities and chronic 24/7 pain issues, and although quite obviously they have been taking their toll on me, it's a weird feeling to see black-and-white results staring me in the face.
Luckily, I'm currently in treatment for both of these conditions. It helps that my physiotherapist and my nurse both experienced similar situations and have made successful returns to stronger health.
This week, I need to cheer myself up. Ballet to the rescue!
1 - Compilation of scenes from Spartacus - Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra - composed by Aram Khachaturian
Here's a little reason why I love Ivan so much: "Ballets without a story are always a little bit difficult," he says in an interview with The Telegraph's Mark Monahan. "When I don't understand what I must say to the audience, it's a problem, because I must just dance -- but for what? I can dance 'just to dance' when I'm drunk."
2 - A section of the Raymonda Grand Pas Classique - Paris Opera Ballet Orchestra - composed by Alexander Glazunov
The section I'm featuring here in particular is the female variation that begins at the 3:40 mark, featuring Marie-Agnes Gillot. This piece of music has really captured me lately, and her version of this variation is truly the best I've seen.
3 - Romeo Learns of Juliet's 'Death' from Romeo and Juliet - Mariinsky Ballet Orchestra - composed by Sergei Prokofiev
The section I'm featuring here begins at the 35:45 mark and ends at the 40:00 mark. My very favorite male dancer, Vladimir Shklyarov. As always with Vladimir, I just wish he would put some effort into it.
4 - Dulcinea dream sequence from Don Quixote - La Scala Ballet Orchestra - composed by Ludwig Minkus
Featuring the deceptive strength and balance of Natalia Osipova. Male dancers always showcase their strength moves, while this choreography is typical of the female dancer disguising her strength as delicacy. This is an aspect of dance of which all fans are well aware, almost like a secret language between performer and audience. We know that the more fragile and ethereal the movements appear, the harder it was to pull it off.
5 - Final pas de deux from Onegin - Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra - composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arranged from various sources by Kurt-Heinz Stolze
Nothing makes the hair rise all over my body or my gut wrench with emotion quite like this pas de deux from Onegin. Not only for the exquisitely tragic music -- my favorite kind -- but for the typically challenging partnering choreographed by John Cranko.
The roles of Onegin and Tatiana are danced here by the hunky and talented principal Vladislav Lantratov, whose dancing I've really enjoyed during last year's ballet series through Cineplex Front Row Centre Events, and leading soloist Olga Smirnovawho debuted in this role in the opening premiere rather than the reigning principal.
For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
Now that November has arrived, it's time for my monthly feature for 5 on Friday -- The Hit Makers.
Once a month I'm going to feature the songs that launched careers. I'll be looking at different musical styles and the groups or singers from those styles who I love the best.
This will come as no surprise to any of you -- my favorite music of all is ballet scores.
I know -- shocking, right?
Here are five of my favorite ballet composers and the scores that launched their careers in that musical form.
1 - Swan Lake main theme - composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikoksky - 1876
Main theme begins at the 1:46 mark and ends at the 3:22 mark
2 - Romeo and Juliet main theme - composed by Sergei Prokofiev - 1935
3 - The Firebird final theme - composed by Igor Stravinsky - 1910
Final theme begins at the 37:33 mark and ends at the 40:26 mark
4 - Giselle main wilis theme - composed by Adolphe Adam - 1841
Wilis theme begins at the 6:05 mark and ends at the 8:42 mark
5 - La Bayadere's Nikia theme - composed by Ludwig Minkus - 1877
Nikia (who is the temple dancer or bayadere of the title) theme begins at the 0:00 mark and ends at the 3:13 mark
For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
I'm still in a ballet state of mind -- music from my favorite ballets has been going through my head all week as I readjust to being back in the office at my day job.
So -- let's get seated, watch the lights go down, the curtain go up -- and on with the show.
1 - Adagio -- Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K488 from Le Parc-- composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This lovely piece of music has definitely been going through my head this week. Mozart is mainly associated with lighter music, but I've always been a fan of his darker, more emotional pieces.
I absolutely love the 'high-flying kiss' section of this dance piece, which starts at the 6:15 mark and ends at the 7:00 mark.
2 - The Young Prince and The Young Princess from Scheherazade -- composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Another beautifully sensual pas de deux...sigh...
3 - First Galop of the Prince from Cinderella -- composed by Sergei Prokofiev
And now for something completely different. The piece I'm referring to begins at the 17:08 mark and ends at the 18:19 mark.
It's the perfect rushing-around music.
Of course, if you also wanted to check out the romantic closing pas de deux beginning at the 39:25 mark and ending at the 44:35 mark, I wouldn't discourage you.
4 - Pas de deux from the Le Corsaire -- composed by Adolphe Adam
For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
Just wrapping up a glorious two weeks of vacation from my day job. Had a short trip down to Yarmouth at the beginning of my time off to celebrate my mom's best friend's 80th birthday.
That's my mom, Paulette, above with my brother-in-law Newt, my sister Michelle, me and my husband Brad.
And here's the birthday boy -- Bill -- in light blue at right, with Jim, also a longtime family friend.
A great time was had by all (although we managed to refrain from getting written up in the papers.)
For the most part, I've been having a staycation and getting lots of rest, although Brad and I have been going on lots of adventures (you can check out our A For Adventure Challenge HERE.)
One thing I've been indulging in -- non-stop -- is watching ballet on You Tube. Sending out gratitude to all the people who secretly videotape live performances and then post them on You Tube (not allowed by any stretch of the imagination, as all live performances are copyrighted by the show's producers.) It used to be my job to stop people from doing just that when I worked as an usher at the performing arts theatre in Toronto. That was before the arrival of cellphone cameras.
I shouldn't be grateful to all of these people taping the footage -- but I am! I can't fly around the world at the moment to see all of these performances, so spending hours watching ballet on You Tube is the next best thing.
So, since I'm most definitely in a ballet state of mind, here are five lighthearted pieces from ballet scores that, unless you're a massive ballet freak like me, you likely haven't heard. They aren't the main musical themes, so you would need to hear the full ballet score in order to discover these. They've always been favorites of mine.
1 - Reconnaissance from Carnaval-- composed by Robert Schumann -- performed by Manon Hutton-DeWys
Well, almost all of these have been favorites of mine for years. This one is a brand new discovery after watching the Harlequin and Columbine pas de deux (dance for two) from Carnaval during this vacation.
2 - Diamond Fairy Variation (or solo dance) from Sleeping Beauty -- composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
3 - Morning Serenade from Romeo and Juliet -- composed by Sergei Prokofiev
4 - Andante from the Peasant Pas de Deux, Act I of Giselle -- composed by Adolphe Adam
5 - Neopolitan Dance from Act III of Swan Lake -- composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Giselle is, at its heart, a ghost story. In this scene the vengeful spirits known as the Wilis (pronounced 'will-eeze') - as in, 'you're giving me the willies' - trap spurned lover Hilarion in the forest and force him to dance to death.
In the ballet, the Wilis are the spirits of young betrayed women who were denied their wedding day and died of broken hearts.
4 - The Augurs of Spring: Dances of the Young Girls - The Rite of Spring - Mariinsky Ballet Orchestra
The main spooky theme runs till the 1:35 mark. It definitely brings to mind John Williams' Jaws theme, which followed Stravinsky's composition 62 years later.
This particular performance is a reconstruction of the 1913 original choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. At the turn of the last century, this music and dance's modernism was so disturbing to the audience at the premiere, they literally rioted.
5 - 1st Tableau and The Enchanted Garden of Kashchei (an evil immortal who terrorizes young women) - The Firebird - Bolshoi State Academic Theater Orchestra
My blog friend Travis began a new feature at his blog, Trav's Thoughts. He's already on his third set, but this is my premiere for 5 on Friday.
I'm not good with techie stuff, so rather than figure out the cool player he's got on his blog, I'm going to stick to You Tube clips.
Travis invites anyone to play - just let him know over at his blog, so he can come and visit.
5 on Friday showcases five songs or pieces of music which express a theme of your choosing. With Valentine's Day about to unfold, how could I turn to anything else but the music that beats along with every pulse inside my veins?
Here are five of my favorite pas de deux, or dance duet, which embody the reverence, symmetry, passions, awestruck recognition and depth of emotion so raw it hurts which love brings to those lucky enough to be so blessed.
1 - Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
Spartacus - music by Aram Khachaturian - danced by Ludmila Semenyaka and Irek Mukhamentov
2 - Bedroom pas de deux, Manon and des Grieux
Manon - music by Jules Massenet - danced by Sylvie Guillem and Zoltan Solymosi
Carmen - music by Georges Bizet - danced by Alessandra Ferri and Laurent Hilaire
The music at the 2:37 mark is a huge favorite of mine.
4 - Balcony pas de deux, Juliet and Romeo
Romeo and Juliet - music by Sergei Prokofiev - danced by Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun
I listened to this music compulsively while writing my first draft of my NaNo vampire story. The kiss and Juliet's reaction at the 7:50 mark is one of my favorite ballet moments.
5 - Pas d'action, Odette and Sigfried
Swan Lake - music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - danced by Alla Mikhalchenko and Yuri Vasyuchenko
1 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Pas de Deux: Adagio and Coda (romantic dance between the Sugar Plum Fairy and either the Prince or Peter)
2 - Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake No. 28 and 29 Scene finale (the battle between Siegfried and Rothbart at the end, the tragic parting of the Swan and Siegfried)
3 - Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet No. 19-21 The Balcony scene/ Romeo's variation/ Love Dance
4 - Puccini's Tosca "E Lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars were shining") / the prison lament of painter Mario Cavaradossi
"How the stars seemed to shimmer, the sweet scents of the garden, how the creaking gate whispered, and a footstep skimmed over the sand, how she then entered, so fragrant, and then fell into my two arms! Ah sweetest of kiss, languorous caresses, while I stood trembling, searching her features concealed by her mantle. My dreams of pure love, forgotten forever! All of it's gone now! I die hopeless, despairing, and never before have I loved life like this!"
5 - Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries Beginning of Act III of "Die Walkure" / about eight minutes in length, the Ride consists of four Valkyrie sisters who prepare to transport the fallen heroes to Valhalla. As the four other sisters join them, the Valkyries greet one another with their battle cries as the orchestra provides the thunderous, hair-on-the-back-of-my-neck-raising motif.
6 - Puccini's Turandot "Nessun dorma" ("None shall sleep") / the hope for victory by Calaf that he will be the one to finally win the heart of Princess Turandot
"The Prince - Nobody shall sleep!... Nobody shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope. But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know... No!...No!... On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines. And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
The Chorus of women - No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.
The Prince - Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!"
7 - Mozart's Requiem Rex tremendae majestatis / this pretty much sums up my feelings about the Creator. I was lucky enough to sing this with my old choir in Toronto.
"Rex tremendae majestatis, King of awful majesty, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Who freely savest the redeemed, Salve me, fons pietatis. Save me, O fount of goodness."
8 - Carl Orf's Carmina Burana I got to sing this amazing piece as well. What a heart-stopper!
9 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Snow Queen Pas de Trois (from the National Ballet of Canada version) or Tableau II, a pine forest in winter / the part of the winter scene that comes before the Waltz of the Snowflakes
10 - Puccini's Madama Butterfly The "Humming Chorus"
While Butterfly awaits the return of her American lover when his ship returns to port in Japan, her lovechild and her servant Suzuki fall asleep when he does not arrive. But Butterfly never stops waiting. / this part usually has the men in the audience in tears
11 - Vivaldi's Gloria
Another choral piece I was lucky enough to sing. This goes through my head often.
12 - Satie's Trois Gymnopedies The 1st Gymnopedie / one of my favorite pieces of music, and when my bridesmaids and I were arranging our bouquets, etc. before my wedding, I heard the pianist start to play this. I got chills and knew it was a good sign.
13 - Handel's Messiah The Hallelujah Chorus / of course, which choir hasn't sung this one? But when we get to the part where we're singing "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" I have never been able to get through it without crying. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.
Champion of the Arts - I write historical and paranormal fiction, as well as poetry. I love to showcase creative works by artists of all stripes. Blogging from Nova Scotia, Canada
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