NOTE: I will be traveling to beaches along North Carolina's Outer Banks for the next several days, so this selection will be for the weeks of 7/31 and 8/7. I'll be back to a weekly schedule as of 8/14.
My search that led to a work by Charles-Marie Widor for this week began with an exploration into composers known as “one hit wonders.” I first found this list, HERE, but did not go with it as it includes Bedrich Smetana as a “one hit wonder” (for “The Maldau”), and my list of Top 100 classical music favorites (HERE) includes other works by Smetana. He’s not a “one hit wonder.”
I ended up checking out the pieces catalogued on this list, HERE, and decided to listen to a work by Charles-Marie Widor. However, I did not choose the “one hit wonder” listed in the article. Instead, I gravitated to the statement “Another work by Widor you might like: Marche Pontificale from Organ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op 13.” I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the organ – unless I’m sitting in a church, skating in a roller rink, or watching a game at a ballpark (though I fear most ballparks don’t employ organists any more). Still, I thought I’d give Widor’s march a try. I mean, who doesn’t love a good march? And is Widor’s march a good march? Well, it’s an okay march. It’s loud (marked triple forte) but not particularly rousing. It has a couple of quiet sections too, but they are more ho-hum than hum-along. By the way, when I mentioned above that “I’m not a big fan of the organ – unless I’m sitting in a church,” I have to confess that I am not a religious person at all. The only reasons I would enter a church would be to see the stained glass windows (I’m a glass and antique bottle collector) or to listen to a concert (be it organ music, chamber music, art songs, or whatever). So I will confess that I did not know exactly what “pontificale” meant (other than its obvious association to a Pontiff), so I looked it up: “The Pontifical is the compendium of rites, for the enactment of certain sacraments and sacramentals which may be celebrated by a bishop, including especially the consecration of holy chrism, and the sacraments of confirmation and holy orders.” (HERE). As expected, very churchy. And that’s Widor’s work in a word: churchy. Very churchy. And very processional-y I can just imagine some ancient dude in robes and a pope hat processing down the aisle of a cathedral. So if you love religious processionals, this might just be the march for you! ; )
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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