Name: THE FALCON for Two Pianos, from The Force Awakens (Transcription by tomekkobialka) @tomekkobialka
Uploaded: 2024-10-19T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: THE FALCON for Two Pianos, from The Force Awakens (Transcription by tomekkobialka)

THE FALCON for Two Pianos, from The Force Awakens (Transcription by tomekkobialka)

tomekkobialka 2024-10-19 | THE FALCON for Two Pianos, from The Force Awakens (Transcription by tomekkobialka)

ANCIENT AIRS for Orchestra (composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2024-03-22 | Trying to get back into composing after a hiatus. This piece is very much inspired by Jeremy Soule's "wall-of-sound" style.

Enjoy!

Composed, orchestrated and produced by Thomas Kobialka
Painting is "Twilight in the Wilderness" by Frederick Edwin Church (1826-1900)

Time to Run from Tomb Raider (Nathan McCree/Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2024-02-10 | Many years ago I wrote a piano arrangement/paraphrase of the track "Time to Run" from the 1996 video game "Tomb Raider", composed by Nathan McCree. As a tribute, I decided to make an impromptu performance of it this weekend in anticipation of the upcoming release of the remastered editions of TRs 1-3, which comes out on February 14th.

Here's the original: youtube.com/watch?v=WGG_HKwXT3I

(If you're wondering what on earth this channel has to do with the Tomb Raider video games, many years ago I was actively involved in the TR music community).

GODOWSKY - Studies on Chopins Études (No.45 & No.34) performed by Thomas Kobialka

tomekkobialka 2024-01-28 | Composed by Leopold Godowsky
Performed by Thomas Kobialka

TIMECODES:
0:00 -No.45. E Major. 1st version from Nouvelle étude No. 2 in A-Flat Major
4:43 - No.34. C-Sharp Minor 'Mazurka'. 2nd version from Étude in E Minor, Op. 25 No. 5

This is a video of me performing two pieces from Leopold Godowsky's "Studies on Chopin's Etudes", which is a set of 53 arrangements based on Chopin's études composed between 1894 and 1914.

Godowsky's studies are some of the most challenging pieces in the piano repetoire, which is not surprising given that the bare Chopin Études are very difficult in themselves! So why in my right mind did I tackle and learn these two pieces? Because, despite their difficulty, they are brimming with aesthetic beauty and sophisticated craftsmanship. There are no superficial notes - each note draws attention to the inner beauty of Chopin's études. The fact that they are difficult to play is simply a by-product of the dense but beautiful style of writing that Godowsky is known for.

When Godowksy composed these studies, his motivation was to "upgrade" Chopin's etudes for the coming generation. However, Godowsky could have never foreseen the Second Viennese School and the atonal revolution in Western classical music. Hence, Godowsky's thinking might appear slightly dated nowadays. But if one ignores "historicity" and simply takes the studies at face value, I think it's hard to deny the staggering achievement in piano writing that they are, the likes of which we will probably never see again.

By the way, I highly recommend taking a listen to Marc-Andre Hamelin's complete recording of the Godowsky studies (can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=yd3kJGPo1r0). In my opinion, it's one of the most impressive pianistic achievements, ever.

Thank you for listening!

THE NUTCRACKER - Complete Ballet for Solo Piano (Tchaikovsky/Taneyev)

tomekkobialka 2023-12-01 | Composed by: Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1891-92)
Arranged by: Sergei Taneyev (1892)
MIDI realized by: Thomas Kobialka (2022-23)

TIMECODES:

OVERTURE
0:00 - Miniature Overture

ACT 1
3:13 - 1. The Christmas Tree
6:59 - 2. March of the Toy Soldiers
9:20 - 3. Children's Gallop and Dance of the Parents
11:36 - 4. Drosselmeyer's arrival and distribution of presents
14:12 - [Allegro molto vivace]
14:47 - [Tempo di Valse]
15:50 - [Presto]
16:48 - 5. Scene and Grandfather Waltz
18:04 - [Andantino, The Nutcracker scene]
22:25 - 6. Clara and the Nutcracker
24:02 - [Moderato con moto]
26:10 - [Moderato assai, The Growing Christmas Tree]
28:20 - 7. The Battle
31:28 - 8. A Pine Forest in Winter
34:36 - 9. Waltz of the Snowflakes

ACT 2
40:59 - 10. The Magic Castle in the Land of Sweets
45:01 - 11. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince

(Divertissement)
49:29 - 12a. Chocolate (Spanish Dance)
50:35 - 12b. Coffee (Arabian Dance)
53:30 - 12c. Tea (Chinese Dance)
54:25 - 12d. Trepak (Russian Dance)
55:26 - 12e. Dance of the Reed Flutes
57:37 - 12f. Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles

1:00:06 - 13. Waltz of the Flowers

(Pas de deux)
1:06:38 - 14a. Intrada
1:10:44 - 14b. Tarantella
1:11:24 - 14c. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
1:13:34 - 14d. Coda

1:14:46 - Final Waltz
1:17:56 - Apotheosis

Yes, it's that time of year again. Short days. Long, cold nights. Shopping. Asking your family members what they want for Christmas. More shopping. Buying a Christmas tree. Reserving your Christmas dinner. Shopping, shopping, shopping...

Though it is easy to be cynical about Christmas, this time of year is also associated with some of the greatest human creations and traditions. One such example is Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Ballet". Composed between 1891 and 1892, it is possibly the most famous ballet ever written. Though mass media have certainly played a part in making it an inescapable cultural phenomenon, there is no doubt that the Nutcracker's vivid musical imagery and crystalline beauty is a large reason for why people of all ages and all backgrounds come back to watch and listen to it year after year.

Tchaikovsky apparently did not show great enthusiasm for the ballet. While composing it, he wrote in a letter: "The ballet is infinitely worse than The Sleeping Beauty". It's not clear to me whether he was referring to his own music or the ballet as a whole (and if it was the former, it has to be remembered that Tchaikovsky was his own worst critic, and under immense work pressure at the time). Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky's music was immediately successful with the public, though the ballet was criticized for having a "lopsided" libretto when it premiered on the 6/18 December 1892 (at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg).

There were two piano arrangements of The Nutcracker ballet made before its premiere, by Taneyev and Tchaikovsky respectively. Piano arrangements were in high demand at that time, mainly because the lack of record players meant that people's only means of "listening" to a piece of music was by playing it on the piano. In the case of ballets or operas, piano arrangements also served as the musical accompaniment for rehearsals.

The arrangement used for this video is the first of the two arrangements, written by Sergei Taneyev, a past student and friend of Tchaikovsky (he would go on to teach Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Medtner, among others). Whilst Taneyev's arrangement is supremely faithful to the original score's orchestration, Tchaikovsky found the arrangement so difficult to play that, in the summer of 1892, he set out to make his own simplified arrangement. Taneyev's arrangement is indeed so difficult that I wouldn't be surprised if Tchaikovsky felt forced to make his own arrangement so as not to overwhelm the rehearsal pianist (though I don't have any hard evidence for this).

Still, ever since setting eyes on Taneyev's arrangement, I had always been curious how it sounded. Nobody had ever recorded it in full. Stephanie McCallum recorded a selection in 2011, and a MIDI version of the complete ballet was released very recently. Since I am not Marc-Andre Hamelin, rather than play it I decided to make my own MIDI "performance", which is what you hear in the video.

Ultimately, the aim of this video is to show The Nutcracker through a different lens. And I hope that you will agree that even when you reduce it to one instrument, The Nutcracker loses little of its magic and still holds up as one of the greatest ballets.

Enjoy the music! (...and Merry Christmas!)

SOURCES:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker
en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/The_Nutcracker
en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Letter_4759 (letter in which Tchaikovsky calls Taneyev's arrangement "so hard that it's unplayable" [того трудно, что нельзя играть]

SCRIABIN - Poem of Ecstasy (Condensed Score + Audio, v1.1)

tomekkobialka 2023-09-02 | "Harmony becomes melody and melody becomes harmony. For me there is no difference between melody and harmony." - Alexander Scriabin

Performed by: USSR State Symphony Orchestra live at the Royal Albert Hall on August 30th 1968 (Prom 38), conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov.

DESCRIPTION

I decided to revisit my orchestral reduction of Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy" which I worked on in the summer of 2015 (and was my first ever "reduction").

The single biggest change is the addition of instrument annotations. When I made the first version of this reduction 8 years ago, I was mainly concerned with reducing the score in a very strict sense, squeezing the music into as few staffs as possible, and instrumental annotations were not a concern. However, after condensing various other scores in the years since, I thought it would be a good idea to go back to the Poem of Ecstasy and "update" it with things I've gained more experience in. This includes instrument annotations, but also being a bit less aggressive with trying to "squeeze" all the voices together.

Hopefully the result is satisfactory!

v1.0 is here: youtu.be/8liLRWwt9O0

MINI BIOGRAPHY

Mini bio of Scriabin:

Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) was born on Christmas Day (6th January 1872) and raised in Moscow. His very early compositions were deeply influenced by the music of Chopin, but he soon began to develop his own unique style and extended harmony "to the limits of tonality".

Scriabin is probably best known for his piano works, especially his earlier works, which include his 24 Preludes (Op.11), 12 Etudes (Op.8) and 10 Mazurkas (Op.3). His piano concerto, Op.20, is perhaps his most popular work, and is regularly performed in concert halls around the world.

The Poem of Ecstasy (Op.54) was written between 1907-1908, and was Scriabin's penultimate orchestral work. It's a never-ending maze of melodies and harmonies and orchestral colours interweaving with each other (you can think of it as "Tristan und Isolde" squared). Most of the harmonies consist of 7th and 9th chords (and 11th and 13th chords), which is what gives the music that "Debussy-an" flavour, and the sense that it's always going somewhere. The work itself had a mixed reception from critics, and it won 2nd place in the annual Glinka Prize (1st place went to Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony).

HELENAS THEME for Solo Piano (from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny)

tomekkobialka 2023-07-29 | Composed by John Williams
Arranged by Thomas Kobialka

Note: This arrangement contains a mixture of material from "Prologue", "Helena's Theme" and "Helena's Theme (for Violin and Orchestra)" from the OST album.

BORODIN - Symphony No.2, IV. Finale (arranged for piano, performed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2023-05-27 | Composed by: Alexander Borodin (1833-87)
Date of composition: 1869-1876
Arranged by: Konstantin Chernov (1865-1937)

My attempt at performing a piano arrangement of the finale from Borodin's spectacular 2nd Symphony, a piece I fell in love with ever since I first heard it. Enjoy!

PERFORMANCE NOTES:
Symphony No. 2 in B minor by Alexander Borodin was composed intermittently between 1869 and 1876. It consists of four movements and is considered the most important large-scale work completed by the composer himself.

According to [Serge] Dianin, [Vladimir] Stasov believed that Borodin had the knights and heroic figures of ancient Russia in mind with this piece. "The first movement depicts an assembly of Russian knights […] the Scherzo could be intended to suggest a headlong chase, but it could equally well be a festive scene […] the third movement was to have depicted Bayan, the legendary minstrel who appears in the Lay of Igor's Campaign […] and the finale is meant to depict ‘the knights’ feast, the sound of the gusli, and a jubilant throng of people."

In summing up the work, [A. Peter] Brown had the following comment:

The Second Symphony proved to be Borodin's great work. Whatever Borodin's technical limitations as a composer, they fail to be revealed in this symphony. The power, the playfulness, the lyricism, and the liveliness incorporated into each of the movements make for a compelling gesture.

In the autumn of 1876, the Russian Musical Society showed an interest in performing the symphony; however, Borodin was disconcerted to find that he had lost the full score. Although the middle movements were eventually found, he had to reorchestrate the outer two movements while sick in bed. The work was premiered 10 March 1877 under the baton of Eduard Nápravník. This symphony fits in the debate over the merit of folklore elements and traditional western art music values, which was a central conflict of Romantic nationalism. The work was popular, but according to Rimsky-Korsakov, only enjoyed "moderate success" because Borodin had written the brass part too thickly.

Later in 1877, Borodin traveled to Germany in order to enroll some of his chemistry pupils in Jena University. While in Germany, Borodin visited Liszt in Weimar where the two played through both of Borodin's symphonies in four-hand piano arrangements. Liszt had been an admirer of Borodin's music and he arranged performances of Borodin's symphonies, making them the first Russian symphonies to be received abroad. Regarding Borodin's attempt to revise his score, Liszt said,

Heaven forbid! Do not touch it; alter nothing. Your modulations are neither extravagant nor faulty. Your artistic instinct is such that you need not fear to be original. Do not listen to those who would deter you from following your own way. You are on the right road. Similar advice was given to Mozart and to Beethoven, who wisely ignored it. Despite the adage that ‘there is nothing new under the sun,’ your Second Symphony is entirely new. Nobody had done anything like it. And it is perfectly logical in structure.

[adapted from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._2_(Borodin)]

HENRY V: A Shakespeare Scenario by William Walton (Audio + Sheet Music)

tomekkobialka 2023-05-05 | Performed by: Sir Neville Marriner cond/The Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields, The Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields Chorus, Choristers Of Westminster Cathedral
Narrated by: Christopher Plummer
Arranged by: Christopher Palmer

Composed by: William Walton
Date of composition: 1943-44

Recorded in St. Jude's Church, Central Square, London NW11 on 14-15 May 1990

TIMECODES
I
0:00 - Prologue/London Panorama
3:22 - The Globe
4:43 - "O for a muse of fire"
6:49 - [Allegro]

II
9:18 - Interlude: At the Boar's Head
11:03 - The Death of Falstaff

III
13:49 - Embarkation
14:40 - "Now all the youth of England"
15:42 - [Allegro vivo]

IV
17:20 - Interlude: "Touch her soft lips and part"

V
19:32 - Harfleur
20:01 - "Once more unto the breach"
21:42 - [Allegro precipitoso]
23:20 - The Night-watch
28:41 - "Upon the King!"

VI
32:24 - Agincourt
33:47 - "This day is called the feast of Crispian."
35:47 - Battle Preparations
37:44 - "Awake remembrance of our valiant dead"
38:24 - Charge and Battle*
45:04 - "The day is ours!"
46:25 - Agincourt Song

VII
47:47 - Interlude: At the French Court
48:27 - "My duty to you both"
49:17 - [Lento tranquilo]
53:02 - "The King of France hath granted every article"**

VIII
54:13 - Epilogue
58:21 - Agincourt Song: Reprise

* = 38:24-42:21 performed by William Walton cond/The Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, 15 & 16 Oct 1963

** = the score misses a verse from Act V Scene 2:

O Kate! nice customs curtsy to great kings,
Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined
to the weak list of a country's fashion:
We are the makers of manners, Kate;
Therefore, patiently, and yielding...
You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate.

SUMMARY
Henry V is a 1944 British Technicolor epic film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same title. It stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas Bower, and Alan Dent. The score is by William Walton.

Winston Churchill instructed Olivier to fashion the film as morale-boosting propaganda for British troops fighting World War II. The making and release of the film coincided with the Allied invasion of Normandy and push into France.

Henry V was the tenth film for which Walton composed incidental music. He had begun in 1935 with a score for Paul Czinner's Escape Me Never, and his later cinema scores included his first Shakespeare film, As You Like It (1936) which starred Laurence Olivier. When Olivier was planning his film of Henry V his co-producer, Dallas Bower, suggested that Walton should write the music, and Olivier agreed. The importance of Walton's score to the success of the film was widely recognised, and Olivier later called it "the most wonderful score I've ever heard on a film".

SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1944_film)

PROKOFIEV - The Gambler Suite (Four Portraits and a Dénouement), Op.49

tomekkobialka 2023-03-04 | Date of composition: 1915-17, 1927, 1931
Performed by: Neeme Järvi cond/ Scottish National Orchestra

The Gambler (Russian: Игрок) is an opera in four acts by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the 1866 story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Prokofiev had decided on this story as an operatic subject in 1914, and the conductor Albert Coates, of the Mariinsky Theatre, encouraged Prokofiev to compose this opera and assured him of a production at that theatre.[1] Prokofiev wrote the opera in piano score between November 1915 and April 1916, and completed the orchestration in January 1917.[2] Vsevolod Meyerhold was engaged as stage director. However, in the wake of the 1917 February Revolution, that production never occurred. The opera did not receive its first performance until 1929, after it had been extensively revised (in 1927).

The story centers on the snobbish denizens of a German spa in an imaginary city where casino gambling is the main pastime. Alexei, the title character, is a young man with a university education who has squandered his social standing through gambling. He has found work as a private tutor to the children of a disdainful retired general, another gambling addict, heavily in debt to a preening marquis. Alexei is in love with Polina, the general’s stepdaughter, who, as a demure young woman, must be discreet about her own gambling compulsion.

Prokofiev produced an orchestral suite from the opera in 1931. The four portraits are Alexei, Babulenka, the General and Polina; the dénouement is not, in fact, the last scene of the opera, but represents Alexei's winning streak at roulette. As The Gambler is not a number opera, none of the characters has any extended arias; Prokofiev, therefore, gathered the basic materials for the suite by tearing up the score and heaping the pages relating to each character together in piles.

TIMECODES:
0:00 - 1. Alexis. Allegro passionato
5:07 - 2. La Grand-mère. Moderato
10:51 - 3. Le Général. Moderato
13:43 - 4. Pauline. Moderato
19:21 - 5. Dénouement. Allegro (Gambling Scene)

SOURCES:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gambler_%28Prokofiev%29
nytimes.com/2008/03/29/arts/music/29gamb.html

The Day We Fight Back from INDEPENDENCE DAY - Cubase Mockup by tomekkobialka

tomekkobialka 2022-09-18 | Composed by: David Arnold
Orchestrated by: Nicholas Dodd
Mockup by: Thomas Kobialka

Mockups, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our MIDI tracks. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 18th of September and you will once again be fighting for our freedom not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution but from insanely complicated and over-orchestrated battle cues.*

We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist, and should we win today the 18th of September will be the day when the Orchestral Tools & EastWest ComposerCloud Conglomerate declared in one voice, “We will not play quietly into the pianissimo. We will not vanish without a fortissimo. We’re going to sample on. We’re going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”

*If I truly believed this I wouldn't have made this mockup in the first place! The fact is that the final battle sequence from Independence Day contains some of the most propulsive and wildest action music I know. For that reason, I couldn't help but give it a go. And, while it is insanely complicated, if this track is over-orchestrated then so is most of Strauss and Mahler.

Enjoy!

GLAZUNOV - Raymonda (Complete, Audio + Full Score)

tomekkobialka 2022-07-26 | Performed by:
Alexander Anissimov / Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Victor Fedotov / Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater Orchestra (Act I Variation IV, Act III Mazurka)
Evgeny Svetlanov / USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (Act III Mazurka Coda)

If you were to ask anyone on the street who Glazunov was, most likely they would not know. And that's understandable. His music lacks the heart-on-sleeve lyricism of Tchaikovsky, or the orchestrational flair of Stravinsky, or the "outside-the-box-iness" of Mussorgsky. But that's OK. Because Glazunov has found the box, lives comfortably inside the box, and has furnished it with utmost class. He has no need to venture outside, because he already has everything he needs.

A piece like his ballet Raymonda (1898) is a good example. On its surface, it might not sound that remarkable. It might even sound a bit bland. However, if you give it a chance, then you will find a composer who pays attention to every detail, handles every voice with care, and, in short, knows exactly what he is doing. His music may be old-fashioned for some, but one can certainly understand why he was in fashion during his time (or at least his early days!)

That's why, when I found out that the complete score had been published to IMSLP, I couldn't resist making this video. There's an elegance to Glazunov's writing that the full score displays and which, in my opinion, makes perfect material for a score video like this. So just sit back, relax, and...well, watch it, please. (Or dance!)

(I've already uploaded "highlights" of Raymonda in piano score version, which can be viewed here: youtube.com/watch?v=c6T0NVvdheQ)

DESCRIPTION

Born in 1865 in St. Petersburg, Glazunov was a leading Russian composer of the generation after Tchaikovsky.

Displaying an immense musical talent as a child, Glazunov started studying with Rimsky-Korsakov at the age of 15. Glazunov's progress was indeed astonishing, for he completed his Symphony No. 1 at 16. In fact, his symphony, premiered by Balakirev in 1882, established, practically overnight, Glazunov's reputation as a great Russian composer. In 1884, the rich merchant and publisher Belyayev took Glazunov to Weimar, where the young composer met Liszt. Although absorbing many musical influences, particularly those of Liszt and Wagner, Glazunov eventually crafted an individual style, composing symphonies, ballets, and concertos for various instruments. Owing to his growing international fame as a symphonist, Glazunov was invited to conduct his works in Paris in 1889; an invitation from London came in 1896. During the 1890s, Glazunov composed some of his most successful works, including the fourth, fifth, and sixth symphonies, and the ballet Raymonda.

Glazunov's score for the ballet Raymonda, Op. 57, props up a weak and fanciful narrative by novelist-journalist Lydia Pashkova, who submitted her ideas for a new scenario to Ivan Vsevolozhsy, director of the Russian Imperial Theatres, in 1895. Raymonda was originally produced in January 1898 at the Mariinsky (now Kirov) Theatre in St. Petersburg, with choreography by the great Marius Petipa. Prima ballerina Pierina Legnani (then in her benefit year) took the title role, with Sergei Legat as her suitor, the chivalrous knight Jean de Brienne.

The action takes place in medieval Hungary. Raymonda is to marry the crusader Jean de Brienne, but when he is summoned to take up arms abroad, Raymonda becomes the object of desire of the wicked Saracen infidel Abderakhman, who plots her abduction. The beneficent White Lady (a spirit committed to the guardianship of Raymonda's noble family line in perpetuity) suddenly appears at the critical moment. The planned kidnapping is thus foiled, and Jean de Brienne slays Abderakhman in battle with the sword.

The forgoing events, though entirely predictable, are spun out to occupy most of the ballet's first two acts. The third act focuses entirely on the betrothal and jubilant marriage celebrations for Raymonda and Jean de Brienne. Musically, this final act is composed of a series of divertissements and separate variations, one of which is the "pas classique hongroise," the most famous individual episode in the entire ballet. Though the somewhat ramshackle plot, with its banal and unsurprising outcome, is hardly an inspired literary creation, Raymonda survives in the repertory chiefly as the result of Glazunov's exquisite and imaginative score. Though Act III is occasionally presented on programs as a freestanding item, the complete ballet is seldom revived, overshadowed by the composer's more popular The Seasons (1898).

SOURCE: Allmusic

KHACHATURIAN - Gopak for Solo Piano (Arranged by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2022-07-16 | This is my arrangement of "Gopak", a dance from Aram Khachaturian's ballet Gayaneh (which also contains the famous "Sabre Dance" and "Adagio"). This arrangement was partly inspired by Georges Cziffra's arrangement of Sabre Dance, which holds a special place in my heart as it's one of the first memories I have of being awestruck by a piano recording. (That performance is also available on my channel here: youtube.com/watch?v=7PNMfluyxyk). Enjoy!

DESCRIPTION:

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was born on 6 June 1903 in Tbilisi, Georgia, into a poor Armenian family. In 1921 he moved to Moscow, soon entering the Gnessin Institute as a cellist and, in 1925, beginning composition studies, transferring in 1929 to the Moscow Conservatory and Myaskovsky’s class.

From earliest years he was fascinated by Armenian folk-music, and ‘oriental’ sounds and melodies, graduating with a work in this style, the First Symphony (1934). Around the same time he married the composer Nina Makarova, a fellow student from Myaskovsky’s class. In 1936, his substantial and popular Piano Concerto included Georgian as well as Armenian elements within a lushly romantic framework. This was followed by a first ballet, Happiness (1939), set on a Soviet-Armenian collective farm. During World War II Happiness was reworked as the patriotic ballet Gayaneh, with its famous ‘Sabre dance’.

The ballet Gayane was modestly successful when danced before Joseph Stalin. Excerpts from Gayane are performed by dance companies and dance schools, especially the wedding in the second act: wonderful duets and variations for Gayane and Kazakov, her lover. The choreography was unusual for its time—classical and folk dance combined—especially the stylized use of arms and hands from the folkloric Armenian culture that is the ballet's background.

The collective farm's ethnic diversity is the backdrop for each part of the music (adagio arrangements, lively Armenian and Caucasian tunes) and for the compelling tale of love between a couple from between different social classes.

Hopak (Ukrainian: гопа́к) is a Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks. It is performed most often as a solitary concert dance by amateur and professional Ukrainian dance ensembles, as well as other performers of folk dances.

The Hopak developed initially as a Cossack social dance (Ukrainian: побyтовi танці), and was practiced in the lands of present-day Ukraine beginning in the 16th century. While the militaristic Zaporizhian Sich generally frowned upon amusements and diversions from military training, such regulations were overlooked when Kozaks returned victorious after battle. Kobzars and other musicians would gather their instruments - violins, bagpipes, bandura, cimbaloms, and fifes - while other participants would dance.

The modern-day Hopak is a choreographed dance made to appear full of improvisation. Much of the seemingly improvised parts involve solo dancers, usually male, performing visually and technically amazing acrobatic feats. These include jumps and spins and are usually the highlight of the performance. The name hopak is derived from the verb hopaty (Ukrainian: гопати) which means "to hop," as well as the corresponding exclamation hop! (Ukrainian: гоп) which can be uttered during a jump as an expression of surprise or amazement.

Music for the Hopak is not standardized by tempo or melody, although 2/4 time predominates most arrangements. The dance is supposed to evoke a sense of improvisation, so the pace of the music changes from segment to segment, allowing dancers to distinguish themselves. The melodies of the songs Hop, moyi hrechanyky (Ukrainian: Гоп, мої гречаники) and Od Kyeva do Luben (Ukrainian: Од Києва до Лубень) can be found in many Hopak arrangements. Hopaks usually end on a fast and furious pace, with some incorporating boisterous Ukrainian marches, such as Zasvystaly kozachen'ky (Ukrainian: Засвистали козаченьки).

Joseph Stalin once famously forced his eventual successor Nikita Khrushchev (who had been the Communist Party chief in Ukraine) to dance the Hopak.

SOURCES:
boosey.com/pages/licensing/composer/composer_main?composerid=2750&ttype=BIOGRAPHY
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayane_(ballet)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopak

SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No.10 II: Allegro (Audio + Condensed Score)

tomekkobialka 2022-02-11 | Composed by: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75)
Year of composition: 1953
Performed by: Bernard Haitink cond/ London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded live at Royal Albert Hall, London, 28 August 1986

BARTÓK - VI: Finale from Dance Suite Sz.77 (Audio + Condensed Score)

tomekkobialka 2022-01-25 | Composed by: Béla Bartók
Year of composition: 1923
Performed by: Georg Solti cond/ London Symphony Orchestra

This was great fun putting together. Solti's spiky conducting style, combined with the dazzling virtuosity of the LSO, is a perfect match for this particularly vivacious Bartók piece - an "Étude for orchestra", if there ever was one. Enjoy!

ERRATA:
1:47: 2 Hns are stopped, and all Hns unstopped at 1:51

SZYMANOWSKI - Harnasie (Audio + Sheet Music)

tomekkobialka 2021-12-31 | Composed by: Karol Szymanowski (1882 - 1937)
Date of composition: 1923-31
Premiered: 1935 (Prague)

Harnasie ("The Highland Robbers") is a ballet composed by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.

Performed by Simon Rattle cond/ City of Birmingham Orchestra

SYNOPSIS:

Scene 1 (Mountain Meadow)
0:00 - "Redyk". [2:07] Pastoral scene; Shepherds in a mountain meadow at spring time. Bells + sheep bleating. [3:32] An Old Fiddler plays a tune.
4:20 - "Mime Scene". Boy tries to attract Girl [4:49]. Widow [5:08] tries to attract Boy, but fails.
6:24 - "Highland Robbers' March". Pistol shots, and the sound of singing, signal the arrival of Harnasie. A crowd of girls try to pull Girl away, but Girl doesn't listen. [7:53] Harnasie enter the scene.
8:02 - "Mime Scene". The leader looks Girl up and down. He notices Boy and threatens him. Boy tries to take Girl, but the leader gets mad and chases Boy away [8:48]. Girl finally yields to the leader after some resistance [10:09].
11:38 - "Highland Robbers' Dance" The Highlanders dance the night away with Girl. Morning; Highlanders leave Girl, telling her she should expect them to return. [14:01] The Old Fiddler appears, and takes Girl to the inn...

Scene 2 (Inn)
15:58 - "Wedding". Inn is filled with people singing a wedding song. [16:34] Drunken guests enter and join in.
18:28 - "Here comes the bride". Girl enters with Boy. It's their wedding, but Girl is sad.
20:20 - "Stable-boys' Song"
21:32 - "Wedding Dance/Highlanders' Dance". Boy and Girl open the dance, after which the rest of the inn follow. Suddenly, pistol shots [24:37] are heard. [25:12] The Harnasie barge into the inn. Everybody is terrified, with the exception of Girl, who shows relief.
25:18 - "Assault of the Robbers". Girl throws herself into the arms of the leader. The leader orders the band of musicians to play a new tune [25:52]. As the dance progresses, the remaning robbers begin grabbing the other female guests in the room, with diminishing resistance. [28:12] The male guests attack the robbers in revolt, after which one of the robbers breaks the lamp [28:43], plunging everything into darkness. [29:58] The scene calms down. Widow finds Boy in a corner, miserable. She takes him away [NOTE: This last scene has no corresponding sheet music.]

Scene 3 (Mountain Meadow)
30:51 - "Epilogue; In the Mountains". Moonlight. The singing of Harnasie can be heard in the distance. The Old Fiddler appears on stage and plays a sad tune.

NOTE: The lyrics have been removed for copyright reasons.

LISZT - Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (performed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2021-12-18 | Composer: Franz Liszt (1811-86)
Year of composition: 1847
Performed by: Thomas Kobialka

No.3 from "Harmonies poétiques et religieuses III", S.173

0:00 - Moderato
7:57 - Andante
11:02 - Più sostenuto quasi preludio

VECSEY/CZIFFRA - La Valse Triste (performed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2021-10-09 | Performed by: Thomas Kobialka

Here is something I've been working on lately. Chopin Competition-worthy it is perhaps not, but it _does_ make you feel like Cziffra for 3 minutes...at least partly. Enjoy!

KAPUSTIN - Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespies Manteca, Op. 129 (performed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2021-08-28 | Playing both parts of a two-piano arrangement of some highly syncopated Afro-Cuban bebop music? What could possibly go wrong?!
Yes, this is my *attempt* at performing Kapustin's lively "Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespie's Manteca" for two pianos. I don't know what possessed me to take on the challenge, but ever since I first heard the piece I knew I had to at least try.
I hope this video brings a modicum of enjoyment to some listeners out there!

Piano visualization generated by: piano-vfx.com

DANCE OF THE GOBLINS for Orchestra (composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2021-07-10 | Composed, orchestrated and produced by Thomas Kobialka

I always thought it would be fun to write a "spooky" composition, after such pieces like Lyadov's "Baba Yaga", Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and Berlioz's "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath". Well, here is the result. I hope you enjoy!

This work appears as the last track in my new album "Pieces for Orchestra I". If you would like to support this channel, please consider purchasing the album here: thomaskobialka.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-for-orchestra-i You will receive a lossless version of this track + lossless versions of my other orchestral compositions:

- The Sea
- Evening
- In the Mountain Valley

Painting/thumbnail: Landscape in Moonlight, 1879 by Arkhip Kuindzhi

CORONATION SCENE (Original 1869 Version) by Modest Mussorgsky (Audio + Sheet Music)

tomekkobialka 2021-06-17 | Performed by: Kirov Opera & Orchestra
Conducted by: Valery Gergiev

Boris Godunov (bass): Vladimir Vaneyev

Taken from the opera "Boris Godunov", which premiered in St Petersburg in 1874.

HEKLA by Jón Leifs

tomekkobialka 2021-03-22 | Performed by Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by En Shao
Date of composition: 1961

Jón Leifs was a highly individual voice who ushered in a style of Icelandic nationalism in music, much the way Sibelius did in Finland. Not that his music sounded anything like that of Sibelius: Leifs was a modernist, perhaps not as radical as Schoenberg and his disciples, but a creator of imaginative, often compelling scores that were not easily accessible. His music typically features string tremolos, chordal progressions that evolve slowly, frequent use of parallel fifths, as well as thirds and fourths, and an often harsh and primitive sound. He also frequently used folk melodies and styles, and like Bartók, made several efforts to collect folk themes. As an orchestrator he set himself apart from most of his contemporaries in his colorful manner of scoring and use of primitive-sounding percussion instruments: anvil, chains, and even rocks. His choral and vocal writing is often just as unusual, making enormous demands on the performer, with challenging leaps and uncomfortably high notes, as well as other bewildering requirements. While Leifs' music is not internationally popular, many of his compositions are available on recordings, and renewed interest in his works since the late twentieth century augurs well for his future reputation.

(Source: arkivmusic.com/composers/leifs-jon-25712#taboverview)

Video inspired by the recent eruption of Mount Fagradalsfjall.

Romeo and Juliet: FIGHT Scene (for Solo Piano) by Sergei Prokofiev/Thomas Kobialka

tomekkobialka 2021-02-14 | Performed by: The Grandeur

Here is my solo piano arrangement of the fight scene from Act I of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet".

There are numerous recordings of the original to be found elsewhere on Youtube - my own favourite rendition is Rozhdestvensky's: youtu.be/1_RETj1KPGM?t=625

Score link (for the masochists out there): drive.google.com/file/d/1vXDLpahaYkbqasqSX7Be2M4XHaOLiXhS/view?usp=sharing

THE SEA for Orchestra (composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2020-09-19 | My latest composition for orchestra. Enjoy!

Performed by: Orchestral Tools sample libraries

Picture: "The shipwreck" by Ivan Aivazovsky (1875)

ANOTHER OPNIN, ANOTHER SHOW by Cole Porter (from Kiss Me, Kate)

tomekkobialka 2020-05-20 | Performers:
Anne-Jane Casey
Maida Vale Singers

John Wilson Orchestra

Music and lyrics by: Cole Porter (1891-1964)
Arranged by: Don Walker (1907-1989)
Year of composition: 1948

Kiss Me, Kate is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.

Kiss Me, Kate was Porter's response to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and other integrated musicals; it was the first show he wrote in which the music and lyrics were firmly connected to the script. The musical premiered in 1948 and proved to be Porter's only show to run for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway. In 1949, it won the first Tony Award for Best Musical.

Tomb Raider: The Dark Renaissance - Soundtrack (composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2020-05-16 | Bit of a different post today from my usual posts.

In 2012 I joined a fan video game project which aimed to produce a sequel to "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness" (2003). Unfortunately, after many twists and turns in development, the project failed to properly materialize, and an incomplete version of The Dark Renaissance was published in 2019 on GitHub: github.com/Castigavi/the-dark-renaissance

Though a few music tracks of mine were included in the 2019 release, a lot got left out, so I decided to post an album containing most of the music I composed - on the off-chance that somebody might enjoy it (though keep in mind that virtually everything you hear was written over 5 years ago so please don't judge, haha!).

Credit to cover art goes to instagram.com/daledrau

TRACKLIST:
00:00 - The Dark Renaissance (Main Theme)
05:59 - In the Desert
07:33 - Puzzle Theme
08:27 - Danger Ahead
08:41 - Shootout
10:11 - German Backstreets
13:00 - The Ruined Abbey
14:43 - Breath of the Black Spirits
15:03 - Approach of the Black Spirits
15:39 - Vision of the Black Spirits
16:01 - The Unseen Attacks
18:23 - Mountain of the Martyr
20:35 - The Fallen Warriors
22:39 - The Operating Theatre
25:28 - Battle Suite
28:39 - The Black Isle
30:38 - Underworld
32:25 - The Darkness
33:57 - A Disturbing Discovery
38:41 - Forgotten Memories

---- BONUS
40:29 - In the Shadows [no vocals]

---- EXTRAS
44:17 - The Dark Renaissance (Main Theme) [alternate beginning]
44:59 - In the Desert [Alternate]
46:16 - Forgotten Memories [Alternate]
48:02 - Mountain of the Martyr [with ambience]
50:14 - Danger Ahead [alternate]
50:28 - Lux of the Veritatis [Drum Loop]

HEDWIGS THEME Cubase Mockup (by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2020-04-11 | Composed by: John Williams (1932 - )
Year of composition: 2001
Mocked up by: Thomas Kobialka

A quick mockup I made of Hedwig's Theme as it appears in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone suite for orchestra.

All orchestral samples used come from Berlin Series.

CLEVER GIRL from Total Recall (1990) by Jerry Goldsmith (Audio + Condensed Score)

tomekkobialka 2020-04-05 | Composed by: Jerry Goldsmith (1929 - 2004)
Performed by: Jerry Goldsmith conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra of London

Although Goldsmith was the king of the action score Total Recall remains pretty special, even by his own high standards. Working for the first time with Paul Verhoeven, who clearly deserves much credit for eliciting outstanding music from his composers (he also worked with the terrific Basil Poledouris), Goldsmith’s blisteringly complex, seamless fusion of dizzying orchestral writing with otherwordly electronics remains a high watermark in sci-fi/action scoring: intuitive, innovative and relentlessly exciting. His music zipping around as quickly as Arnie dodges on-screen bullets, Goldsmith himself marvelled at the sheer number of notes he’d composed for the project. Easily a candidate for the greatest action score of all time.

[SOURCE: denofgeek.com/movies/the-30-greatest-film-scores-of-jerry-goldsmith]

LA PERI by Paul Dukas (Audio + Score)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-17 | Composed by: Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
Year of composition: 1912
Performed by: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande cond/ Ernest Ansermet

At the end of his days of youth, the Magi having observed that his star had faded, Iskender travels throughout Iran in search of the Flower of Immortality. After three years of looking and wandering, he finally arrives at the Ends of the Earth, a place of utmost tranquility and calm. Iskender finds a temple to Ormuzd, and on its steps is a Peri. With a star flashing above her head and a lute in one hand, the Peri carries the Flower of Immortality, a lotus decorated with emeralds, in the other.

Later, as the Peri is sleeping, Iskender steals the Flower, careful to avoid making noise so that she does not wake up. Immediately the Flower sparkles brightly in his hands, and when the Peri wakes up, she strikes her hands against each other and lets out a great cry, because without the Flower she cannot enter into the presence of the light of Ormuzd. Upon this realization, Iskender delights at the power he now seemingly has over the Peri.

While in his hand, however, the Flower is transformed by Ormuzd to Iskender’s earthly and material desires. This is a sign to the Peri that possession of the Flower is not intended for Iskender, and so she performs a dance, gradually coming closer and closer until she is able to wrest the Flower from him. As the Peri slowly disappears in the light and returns to Paradise, Iskender realizes with calmness that he has been stranded and left to die.

SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_P%C3%A9ri_(Dukas)

PANAMBI (Suite) by Alberto Ginastera (Audio + Score)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-15 | Composed by: Alberto Ginastera (1916-83)
Year of composition: 1934–37
Performed by: Sir Eugene Goossens cond/ London Symphony Orchestra

Panambi (1934-37), subtitled Choreographic Legend in One Act, is Ginastera’s Op.1. It is a precocious work from his folkloric years, one which also includes modern tendencies. Notable are the composer’s varied percussion writing and his seeking out of innovative low-register combinations. Rather than dwell on obvious influences from early 20th-century Paris, I would like to emphasize his successful evocation though imagery and sound of the Argentinian pampas, suggesting feelings associated with nature and the past.

SOURCE: www.thewholenote.com

Interlude/Dance No.1 from LA VIDA BREVE by Manuel de Falla (Audio + Score)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-13 | Composed by: Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Year composed: 1913
Performed by: Ernest Ansermet cond/ L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

La vida breve (Life is Short or The Brief Life) is an opera in two acts and four scenes by Manuel de Falla to an original Spanish libretto by Carlos Fernández-Shaw. Local (Andalusian) dialect is used. The first performance was given (in a French translation by Paul Millet) at the Casino Municipal in Nice on 1 April 1913. Paris and Madrid performances followed, later in 1913 and in 1914 respectively.
Only an hour long, the complete opera is seldom performed today, but its orchestral sections are, especially the act 2 music published as Interlude and Dance, which is popular at concerts of Spanish music. (Fritz Kreisler in 1926 arranged for violin and piano the dance from this pairing under the spurious title Danse espagnole.) Indeed the opera is unusual for having nearly as much instrumental music as vocal: act 1, scene 2 consists entirely of a short symphonic poem (with distant voices) called Intermedio, depicting sunset in Granada; act 2, Scene 1 includes the above-referenced Danza and Interludio, with the latter ending the scene, i.e. in the opposite sequence to the excerpted pairing; and act 2, scene 2 begins with the a second and longer Danza (with vocal punctuation).

[SOURCE: opera-arias.com/falla/la-vida-breve]

EVOCATIONS by Ernest Bloch (Audio + Score)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-12 | Composed by: Ernest Bloch
Year of composition: 1937
Performed by: James Sedares cond/ New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

“Evocations” does not need many “explanations,” I think. The subtitles seem to be sufficient to enlighten and perhaps stimulate—orient—the listener. The music is simple at the outside—and does not present, for the listener, and “technical” difficulties.

However, as simple as it appears, this work has caused me a terrific amount of labor; sketches and sketches and infinite changes and modifications until it reached its actual concise form. But this is the “cooking” and, I believe, does not concern the public.

Perhaps it may interest the listener, on the other hand, to know how it was conceived, that is, its “outside” story. For the “inside,” all artistic creation, is so mysterious and complex that the composer himself may be deluded. It would take a Freud-musician to trace the real sources, probably very different from the appearances. But what can the composer say? If not what he wanted to do, what was his aim, “to the best of his knowledge,” as they say officially in the U.S.?

It was, thus, in the spring of 1930, in the spring of San Francisco, that I wrote down two sketches, the No. I in part, only, and a few measures of the No. II. There were no titles, but on the No. II, the mere vague indication, “War.” The first one bore no mark; in my mind, was related to a very quiet and peaceful “Stimmung” —Buddhistic. I had just been looking through an illustrated book on Chinese art which, undoubtedly, had stimulated my imagination, with these musical results. Then the sketches were abandoned for a long time. Gestation is very slow with me, and often lasts for years.

I left San Francisco, and lived several years in Roveredo, Switzerland. There I composed my Sacred Service (1930-33), and sketched other works, here and there. Among other sketches, a reminiscence, or nostalgia, of San Francisco’s Chinatown was laid down. It is the initial motif of Evocation No. III.

In the spring of 1937 I found the sketches for “Evocations” but had no title. My booklet of notes bears “Esquisses Orientales,” and I had once thought of “Upanishads,” but this applied only to the No. I.

Thus, in August, 1936, I restarted I and II and was interrupted again, by studies of orchestration. In October I spent a few weeks in Italy, achieved the II and sketched the III. Later, in Geneva, I made innumerable changes again! In December, back in Chatel, I began the instrumentation—and again, modifications! 1937, Paris, I finished the instrumentation on March 4, but the title—provisory—had changed again into “Gods,” which did not please me, either!

I knew vaguely what it was all “about,” but it is so subtle, the musical language, what we imagine it to be and a title is so precise and limiting, whereas music is vague and unlimited.

I tried to find one. I re-read parts of the “Upanishads,” the “Bhagavad Gita,” the “Thoughts of Buddha,” and Lao Tse, went to the Musee Quartet, read books of Marcel Granet—“La Civilisation Chinoise.”

Here and there I found marvelous quotations which might apply to the first (in Buddha and “Bhagavad Gita” especially), but nothing which would fit the II and still less the III as there was no God of Spring, of Renouveau. But Houang-Ti, God of War, as well as a little statue of said master of war (as well as Tche-Yeou) seemed to be possible!

For the first movement I thought of “T’ai-P’ing” (“The Great Peace”), but this first movement seemed more related to Hindu philosophy than to Chinese. And the last one is more “Chinese” again! Finally, I rejected all these suggestions sae “Houang-Ti,” and became conscious once more that these three pieces were not at all descriptive or imitative or attempt even to “picture” oriental subjects, but were merely my personal reactions to certain Oriental stimuli, as in many other works of mine, particularly the “Nirvana.” The pieces were much less descriptive than the “Chinese Theatre” of the “Episodes,” in which I use, beside motives of my own, authentic Chinese melodies. Thus they were merely “Interpretations,” and I was about to use that title, when a friend of mine suggested “Evocations,” which seemed preferable to me, and I adopted it, with the subsequent subtitles.

—Ernest Bloch

[SOURCE: wisemusicclassical.com/work/26406]

UTRENJA: The Burial of Christ/The Resurrection of Christ by Krzysztof Perendecki (w/ subtitles)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-11 | Composed by: Krzysztof Penderecki
Year of composition: 1971
Orchestra: Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic, Warsaw
Conductor: Andrzej Markowski

Written separately, the two parts of Krzysztof Penderecki's Utrenja (The Entombment, 1970, dedicated to the renowned American conductor Eugene Ormandy, and Resurrection, 1971) form a triptych with his St Luke's Passion that deals with the events of the Paschal Triduum. Utrenja, which was inspired by the Orthodox liturgy of the Holy Saturday with its focus on the lamentation of Christ's death and of the Easter Sunday morning service commemorating the Resurrection, uses an Old Church Slavonic liturgical text, yet does so much more liberally than did St Luke's Passion.

Like Passion, so was The Entombment commissioned by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Its first performance in Altenberg near Cologne on 8th April 1970, by soloists from various countries (Stefania Woytowicz, Krystyna Szczepańska, Louis Devos, Bernard Ładysz and Boris Carmeli), German choirs and a German orchestra under Andrzej Markowski, was followed by the Polish premiere in Cracow's St Catherine church on 26th June 1971. The Entombment is intended for three male voices - tenor, bass and basso profondo - corresponding, respectively, to the roles of the chaplain, the deacon and the lector, and two female voices, soprano and mezzosoprano, with purely musical roles. These are supported by two choirs and a symphony orchestra. The duration as per the score is ca. fifty minutes.

After the performance of The Entombment the management of the Westdeutsche Rundfunk commissioned Penderecki to write the second part of Utrenja, setting the deadline for May 1971. The score was ready by 1st May (!), and Resurrection had its premiere on 28th May in the same Münster cathedral in which Passion had been performed five years earlier. The musicians included the soloists from the year before, the radio choirs from Cologne and Hamburg, and the Westdeutsche Rundfunk orchestra under Andrzej Markowski. The performance of Resurrection was preceded by a year younger Entombment at that concert, and ever since the two parts of Utrenja have been performed together.

The Polish premiere of the complete Utrenja took place in Cracow on 16th September 1971 with Jerzy Katlewicz conducting. Like Passion, both parts of Utrenja stirred up a lot of excitement. While the audience was enthusiastic, the critics' opinions were mixed: some wrote about Penderecki's final parting with avant-garde, his conformism and his pandering to the listeners to score an easy success, whereas others considered Utrenja another great work by a great composer. In any case, Penderecki marched from success to success.

Prepared by the Polish Music Information Center, Polish Composers' Union, January 2002.

[SOURCE: https://culture.pl/en/work/utrenja-krzysztof-penderecki]

EVENING for String Orchestra (Composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2020-03-08 | Composed by: Thomas Kobialka
Performed by: "Berlin Strings" String Orchestra
Conducted by: Cubase 8.0 (after a few beers)

My latest composition. Enjoy!

RAYMONDA by Alexander Glazunov (Excerpts) Audio + Score

tomekkobialka 2020-03-04 | Composed by: Alexander Glazunov
Year composed: 1896-97
Premiere: 19th January 1898, Imperial Mariinsky Theatre
Performed by: Moscow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Anissimov

Glazunov's score for the ballet Raymonda, Op. 57, props up a weak and fanciful narrative by novelist-journalist Lydia Pashkova, who submitted her ideas for a new scenario to Ivan Vsevolozhsy, director of the Russian Imperial Theatres, in 1895. Raymonda was originally produced in January 1898 at the Mariinsky (now Kirov) Theatre in St. Petersburg, with choreography by the great Marius Petipa. Prima ballerina Pierina Legnani (then in her benefit year) took the title role, with Sergei Legat as her suitor, the chivalrous knight Jean de Brienne.

The action takes place in medieval Hungary. Raymonda is to marry the crusader Jean de Brienne, but when he is summoned to take up arms abroad, Raymonda becomes the object of desire of the wicked Saracen infidel Abderakhman, who plots her abduction. The beneficent White Lady (a spirit committed to the guardianship of Raymonda's noble family line in perpetuity) suddenly appears at the critical moment. The planned kidnapping is thus foiled, and Jean de Brienne slays Abderakhman in battle with the sword.

The forgoing events, though entirely predictable, are spun out to occupy most of the ballet's first two acts. The third act focuses entirely on the betrothal and jubilant marriage celebrations for Raymonda and Jean de Brienne. Musically, this final act is composed of a series of divertissements and separate variations, one of which is the "pas classique hongroise," the most famous individual episode in the entire ballet. Though the somewhat ramshackle plot, with its banal and unsurprising outcome, is hardly an inspired literary creation, Raymonda survives in the repertory chiefly as the result of Glazunov's exquisite and imaginative score. Though Act III is occasionally presented on programs as a freestanding item, the complete ballet is seldom revived, overshadowed by the composer's more popular The Seasons (1898).

(SOURCE: allmusic.com/composition/raymonda-ballet-op-57-mc0002397936)

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER for Solo Piano - Performed and Arranged by Thomas Kobialka

tomekkobialka 2019-12-28 | Following tradition, here's my arrangement of the track "The Rise of Skywalker" (composed by John Williams) from the most recent Star Wars film of the same name. You can listen to the original orchestral version here: youtube.com/watch?v=l-9reMkxTjw

Enjoy!

My other Star Wars piano arrangements:
[Ep VII] March of the Resistance (solo piano): youtube.com/watch?v=I6zp3FWdn2I
[Ep VII] The Falcon (two pianos): youtube.com/watch?v=zXjPhN-j_Qw
[Ep VII] The Jedi Steps & Finale (two pianos): youtube.com/watch?v=ebKiRHW34aY
[Ep VIII] The Fathiers (two pianos): youtube.com/watch?v=9XoXagkXTN0
[Solo] Reminiscence Therapy & Into The Maw (two pianos): youtube.com/watch?v=kYDN3r-63Mk

+ Condensed score of the Star Wars Main Titles: youtube.com/watch?v=xjlq_vuegyg

ANYTHING GOES by Cole Porter/John Williams (Mockup by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2019-11-27 | Performers:
(Mostly) Orchestral Tools, conducted by Cubase 8.0

Mixing / Audio Engineer / Orchestra Manager:
Thomas Kobialka

A slightly different side of John Williams from Close Encounters...here is a mockup of the Cole Porter song "Anything Goes" as arranged by John Williams for the opening of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984).

Enjoy!

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND - Final Act by John Williams (Condensed Score by tomekkobialka)

tomekkobialka 2019-11-18 | pf: Charles Gerhardt cond/ National Philharmonic Orchestra

Condensed by tomekkobialka

The musical final act from Steven Spielberg's 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", as performed on the Charles Gerhardt disc "Music From John Williams' Close Encounters Of The Third Kind / Star Wars" (released in 1978).

Enjoy!

LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK (Shostakovich) - Act I Intermezzo and Scene 3 (Orchestral Reduction)

tomekkobialka 2019-08-06 | pf: Mstislav Rostropovich cond/ London Philharmonic Orchestra

Galina Vishnevskaya: Katerina Lvovna Ismailova
Nicolai Gedda: Sergey
Dimiter Petkov: Dimiter Petkov

0:00 - Act I Intermezzo No.2
1:57 - Act I Scene 3

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (Russian: Леди Макбет Мценского уезда, or Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uyezda) is an opera in four acts and nine scenes by Dmitri Shostakovich, his Opus 29. The libretto, jointly written by Alexander Preys and the composer, is based on the novel of the same name by Nikolai Leskov. (The opera is generally translated in English as Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.)

Dedicated by Shostakovich to his first wife, physicist Nina Varzar, the roughly 160-minute opera was first performed on 22 January 1934 at the Leningrad Maly Operny, and on 24 January 1934 in Moscow. It incorporates elements of expressionism and verismo, telling the story of a lonely woman in 19th-century Russia who falls in love with one of her husband's workers and is driven to murder.

Despite early success on popular and official levels, Lady Macbeth became the vehicle for a general denunciation of Shostakovich's music by the Communist Party in early 1936: after being condemned in an anonymous article (sometimes attributed to Joseph Stalin) in Pravda, titled "Muddle Instead of Music", it was famously banned in the Soviet Union for almost thirty years, until 1961.

The composer in 1962 revised Lady Macbeth, renaming it Katerina Izmailova (Russian: Катерина Измайлова) and assigning his Opus 114. He replaced two of its intermezzos, adjusted Act 1 Scene 3, and made smaller changes elsewhere. Katerina Izmailova was first performed on 26 December 1962 in Moscow at the Stanislavsky-Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre, and first given a studio recording in 1964. But since Shostakovich's death the original version has been more often performed. The original uncensored version was not performed again in Russia until 2000. Despite the opera's difficult history of censorship, the work has entered the standard repertory, in 2017-18 being the fourth most-produced Russian opera, and 54th most produced opera overall worldwide.

(Source: Wikipedia)

NOTE: Shostakovich left out the rape sequence from the Act 1 Finale when he revised the opera in 1962, instead replacing it with beating drums. I guess he retrospectively found it in poor taste, and while I'm inclined to agree, from a purely musical point of view I don't think there's anything quite like it out there (at least not in classical music!)

DAS RHEINGOLD by Richard Wagner (Audio + Full Score) [RE-UPLOAD]

tomekkobialka 2019-07-06 | pf: Georg Solti cond/ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Year/Date of Composition: 1853-4

Wotan: George London
Donner: Eberhard Wächter
Froh: Waldemar Kmentt
Loge: Set Svanholm
Alberich: Gustav Neidlinger
Mime: Paul Kuen
Fasolt: Walter Kreppel
Fafner: Kurt Böhme
Fricka: Kirsten Flagstad
Freia: Claire Watson
Erda: Jean Madeira
Woglinde: Oda Balsborg
Wellgunde: Hetty Plümacher
Floßhilde: Ira Malaniuk

SYNOPSIS: http://www.wagneroperas.com/indexrheingold1.html
LIBRETTO: http://www.murashev.com/opera/Das_Rheingold_libretto_English_German

0:00 - Scene One (The Rhine River)
4:13 - (Woglinde's lullaby)
5:25 - (The dwarf Alberich appears)
6:38 - (Alberich tries to catch Woglinde...but fails)
7:36 - (Wellgunde's seduction)
9:12 - (Flosshilde's seduction)
11:09 - (Alberich's anger and accusation as he falls for the Rhinemaidens' pranks)
11:36 - (The Rhinemaidens don't give a damn)
13:57 - (The sun shines on the Rhinegold)
17:17 - (Wellgunde: "Making a ring from the gold grants world-power.")
17:56 - (Woglinde: "One must renounce love to make the ring of power.")
19:46 - (Alberich renounces love and steals the Rhinegold.)

24:11 - Scene Two (On a meadow outside Valhalla. Construction of Valhalla has just been completed.)
25:29 - (Fricka: "A debt is due.")
33:04 - (Freia fleeing from the Giants)
35:04 - (Entrance of Fasolt and Fafner)
41:22 - (Fafner considers taking the Golden Apples from Freia)
42:31 - (Froh and Donner try to defend Freia)
43:25 - (Wotan intervenes with his Spear)
44:12 - (Entrance of Loge)
47:57 - (Loge talks of his search for payment for the giants, and his hearing the Rhinemaidens' tale)
59:21 - (The Giants take Freia)
1:00:57 - (The Gods grow older)
1:07:22 - Interlude (Wotan and Loge descend to Nibelheim to steal the Rhinegold from Alberich)

1:09:48 - Scene Three (Nibelheim)
1:10:31 - (Alberich takes the Tarnhelm, forged by his brother Mime)
1:13:51 - (Wotan and Loge converse with Mime about Alberich's tyranny over the Nibelungs)
1:29:25 - (Alberich transforms into a dragon, then a toad, and gets captured by Wotan)
1:32:30 - Interlude

1:35:55 - Scene Four (Outside Valhalla)
1:46:12 - (Alberich curses the Ring)
1:50:21 - (The mist clears)
1:56:17 - (Loge and Froh heap treasure on top of Freia)
1:59:51 - (Fafner turns his attention to the Ring, which Wotan refuses to give)
2:01:26 - (The goddess Erda rises from the ground: "A darksome day dawns for your godhood:
be counseled, give up the Ring!)
2:07:55 - (Wotan gives up the Ring, releasing Freia)
2:09:17 - (The curse takes effect...the giants fight over the Ring; Fafner kills Fasolt)
2:14:22 - (Donner clears the fog on the mountain top with his hammer)
2:16:16 - Rainbrow Bridge Scene; The gods (all except Loge) cross the bridge to Valhalla
2:22:03 - (The Rhinemaidens lament the loss of the Rhinegold.)

Mahlers 4th Symphony (Audio + Score) [RE-UPLOAD]

tomekkobialka 2019-07-05 | pf: Ivan Fischer cond/ Budapest Festival Orchestra

The Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler was written in 1899 and 1900, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. The song, "Das himmlische Leben", presents a child's vision of Heaven. It is sung by a soprano in the work's fourth and last movement. Although typically described as being in the key of G major, the symphony employs a progressive tonal scheme ('(b)/G--E').

A typical performance of the Fourth lasts about an hour, making it one of Mahler's shorter symphonies. The performing forces are also small by Mahler's usual standard. These features have made it the most frequently performed Mahler symphony, though in recent years the First has gained ground.

0:00 - Bedächtig, nicht eilen (Moderately, not rushed) (Sonata Form)

16:50 - In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (Leisurely moving, without haste) (Scherzo & Trio)

26:18 - Ruhevoll, poco adagio (Peacefully, somewhat slowly) (Theme & Variations)

48:13 - Sehr behaglich (Very comfortably) (Strophic)

DIE GEZEICHNETEN by Franz Schreker [Taster w/ English Captions]

tomekkobialka 2019-06-04 | Composed by: Franz Schreker (1913)

RELEASE INFORMATION: allmusic.com/album/schreker-die-gezeichneten-mw0001828408

SYNOPSIS: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Gezeichneten#Synopsis

DER FERNE KLANG (The Distant Sound) [Taster] by Franz Schreker

tomekkobialka 2019-05-15 | pf: Gerd Albrecht cond/ Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Years composed: 1903-10
Vocal score prepared by: Alban Berg ("'Lulu' would not have been possible without 'Der Ferne Klang'")

FULL CAST: arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=984746

SYNOPSIS: The storyline for Schreker’s opera covers a period of 15 years. The opera takes place in Germany and Venice circa 1900. Young composer Fritz leaves his Grete, no longer able to stand the petit bourgeois confines of his surroundings and feeling that he is destined for greater things. His plan is to return when he is famous and offer her riches, celebrity and his undying love. Grete is gambled away by her alcoholic father to a landlord and goes on the run. At the end of her tether, she is taken up by a matchmaker and agrees to follow her. After some time, Fritz – driven by a yearning for Grete – finds her again in the dance salon “La Casa di Maschere”, where she is now a courtesan called Greta. Fritz calls her a harlot and leaves again. Greta succumbs to the advances of a Count who had been wooing her for a long time in vain. Five years later, Fritz succeeds in having his opera “The Harp” premiered in a court theatre. Grete, who has since been abandoned by the Count and is now a common streetwalker called Tini, was at the performance. However, when she recognises herself in the main protagonist, she feels faint. The premiere turns into a fiasco. Grete learns that Fritz is terminally ill. The two of them meet again. However, their new-found happiness together comes too late: Fritz finds his mysterious “distant sound”, the mirage of which he has been chasing all his life, while dying in the arms of his long-lost love, Grete. (Source: universaledition.com/franz-schreker-659/works/der-ferne-klang-1882)

LIBRETTO: ?????

No subtitles this time, because I don't have an English translation of the libretto. If anybody happens to have one, please let me know.

Excerpt from Scriabin-Nemtins Prefatory Action (Tres lent, contemplatif)

tomekkobialka 2019-05-10 | pf: Vladimir Ashkenazy cond/ Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

One of my favourite excerpts from Alexander Nemtin's monumental "Prefatory Action" project, it is described in the album booklet as follows:

This follows straight on from the end of Part Two, which ends with the banishment of the Superman who has brought wars and havoc to the earth, and his expulsion in the desert, where he recalls his deeds and longs for death. And Death comes to him in the image of the White Sister [four-note ostinato]:

"Fear not, my child, it is I you wished to see.
Blinded by my appearance, you could not recognise me!
Time and again I have come without warning
but feaful of death, you kept running away."

Death tells the exile that having acquired full awareness through insight and repentance, he must now explain it to others...

[Nemtin:] "The exposition of this part falls into two halves. First, the evil-doer's emotions and the recollection of his deeds, and finally, his sinking into complete prostration. I made use here of the Prelude, Op.74 No.2, which Scriabin said 'lasts millions of years'...Then the elaboration begins. The repentant evil-doer goes to the people and finds them still occupied with the same kind of deeds as in the past. They are fighting the same internecine wars..."

LE CHASSEUR MAUDIT (The Accursed Huntsman) by César Franck

tomekkobialka 2019-05-08 | pf: Riccardo Muti cond/ The Philadelphia Orchestra

Year composed: 1882
(arranged for two pianos by Pierre de Bréville, 1911)

Inspired by Burger's ballad "Der wilde Jäger" (The Wild Hunter).

STORY: "On a Sunday morning, as church bells summon the faithful to worship and sacred chants fill the air, the Count sets off on a hunt. Pious elders plead with him to call off his expedition, but he responds contemptuously and rides roughshod through the village farms, trampling crops and applying the whip to the peasants in his way. Eventually he finds himself lost in the woods, where a stern voice from unseen heights pronounces his sentence: "Accursed hunter, be thou eternally pursued by Hell!" The Count tries to flee, but flames surround him and his horse. Imps and demons pursue him, now goading him on, now blocking his path; through daylight and darkness the wild ride continues. Even when horse and rider fall into an abyss there is no respite; they are borne through the air to ride on and on in unremitting punishment for blaspheming the Lord's Day."
(Kennedy Center)

Liza from The Queen of Spades (Prokofiev/arr. Jurowski)

tomekkobialka 2019-04-27 | pf: Michail Jurowski cond/ Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin

A little something to commemorate Prokofiev's 128th birthday.

SCHERZO CAPRICCIOSO by Antonín Dvořák (Audio + Full Score)

tomekkobialka 2019-04-19 | pf: István Kertész cond/ London Symphony Orchestra

REMINISCENCE THERAPY & INTO THE MAW for Two Pianos (arranged by tomekkobialka)

tomekkobialka 2019-04-13 | From the film "Solo: A Star Wars Story" (2018)

Composed by John Powell, with original themes by John Williams.

Enjoy!

Original tracks:
Reminiscence Therapy: youtube.com/watch?v=gWCl_JWfmw4
Into the Maw: youtube.com/watch?v=kfyPpphOu2k

John Powell has even released a piano roll video of a section of "Into the Maw", you can view it here: youtube.com/watch?v=3AYWBSSMlUI

DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE [Taster w/ English Subtitles] by Erich Wolfgang Korngold

tomekkobialka 2019-04-05 | CREDITS: gramophone.co.uk/review/korngold-das-wunder-der-heliane-bollon
SYNOPSIS: http://www.korngold-society.org/synopsis3.html

0:00 - Introduction (w/ angelic voices)
2:34 - The Stranger learns that he is to be put to death the next morning + first meeting with Heliane
16:59 - "Ich ging zu ihm": Heliane explains herself to the Ruler and judges
24:02 - ACT 3 - The crowd prepares for the resurrection
29:10 - Heliane, the Ruler and judges enter the market square
31:55 - Resurrection
41:48 - The Seventh Gate & Finale

DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN [Taster] by Richard Strauss [w/ English subtitles] (Audio + Vocal Score)

tomekkobialka 2019-03-21 | pf: Wolfgang Sawallisch cond/ Tölz Boys' Choir, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

CREDITS: gramophone.co.uk/review/r-strauss-die-frau-ohne-schatten-3
SYNOPSIS + GERMAN LIBRETTO: http://opera-guide.ch/opera.php?id=355&uilang=de

00:00 - (ACT 1) Beginning
01:35 - The Emperor describes how he came upon the Empress / 6:04 - The Empress tells her point of view
10:13 - Flight down to the world of Men
14:18 - The Vision of the Pavillion
17:34 - The Unborn Children sing (a.k.a. the Fish Frying sequence)
19:14 - (ACT 2) Emperor's Aria
32:30 - The Empress' Dream of the Cave under the Mountain
35:26 - ACT 3 (Complete)

IN THE MOUNTAIN VALLEY for Orchestra (composed by Thomas Kobialka)

tomekkobialka 2018-10-22 | Performed by Berlin Series, conducted by Cubase 7.

Enjoy!

PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to keep up to date on my future compositions then please subscribe to my other channel, 'Thomas Kobialka' (youtube.com/channel/UCiV_RjqFBnJ6masSymQWTCA) where all my future compositions will likely be uploaded. The 'tomekkobialka' channel will be reserved for the occasional classical music video.

(Image credits: lkedzierski.com)