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Henry Purcell, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert & Johannes Brahms

I have a number of things in common with my beloved mother, two of which are: a love and facility with music and poetry. I had written her a couple of poems for her birthday in the past and had a mind to do so again. So I rang her and we discussed what such a poem would be about. Her love of classical music soon became the subject and I asked her to name her favourite pieces. Most of those are mentioned in the poem. Note that these are her choices not mine.

The poem is in the standard Martian sonnet form. You can read all about that in my sonnets on sonnets.

The world of music is a complex land,
With orchards full of fruit of every form,
And if banal simplicity's the norm,
There are yet trees whose crop is far less bland.
For those who fain¹ pop music would eschew,
And flee the endless deeply thumping beat,
For whom something cerebral would be meet,
For them it's only classical will do.
And so although the music's rather old,
And only played by experts in the field,
And steeped in lore confusing and arcane.
Yet still it is a wonder to behold,
With many pleasures ready ripe to yield,
To stimulate the cortex of the brain.

There's many think Beethoven is the best,
And many love his symphony in A²,
His 14th string quartet³ is fine they say,
As good as his sonata "The Tempest"⁴.
While others push young Mozart to the fore,
For Don Giovanni's best is hard to top,
Le Nozze Di Figaro⁵ is no slop,
E chi lo sa che cosa è amor?⁶
And don't forget Scarlatti's keyboard work,
Nor Handel's "Silent Worship"⁷ which is loved,
And also The Nutcracker⁸ is divine.
They shine like stars short-glimpsed outside the mirk,
A guiding hand unshackled and ungloved,
A friend who stands to fill your glass with wine.

Sometimes it's only Brahms' work will do,
His symphony in F⁹ is rightly praised,
While art song¹⁰ was by Schubert stoutly raised,
And his Quintet in C¹¹ a heady brew.
And then there's Bach's cantata number 4¹²,
His Brandenberg concertos there as well,
And Dido and Aeneas¹³ from Purcell,
And Abdelazer's rondeau¹⁴ what is more.
The greatest hold no truck with tiny minds,
They will not break their vision for hard cash,
Nor force their concept in too small a mould.
This world is full of music of all kinds,
Of all between the humble and the flash,
But you must seek to find the stuff of gold.


Warren Mars - September 2020

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1. Gladly - Archaic usage common in Arthurian romances.
2. Symphony #7. Along with 5,6 & 9, one of his 4 most famous symphonies.
3. In C# minor and Beethoven's favourite of his late quartets.
4. Piano Sonata #17 in D minor.
5. "The Marriage Of Figaro" one of Mozart's most famous operas.
6. "Who knows what love is?" A take on the title of Cherubino's aria from "The Marriage Of Figaro": "Voi che sapete che cosa è amor"
7. A 1928 adaptation by Arthur Somervell of the aria "Non lo dirò col labbro" from Handel's 1728 opera Tolomeo (Ptolemy).
8. Tchaikovsky's marvellous music from the ballet of the same name.
9. Symphony #3
10. Schubert wrote a great many "lieder" or songs, (over 600!), for voice and piano of a high art standard, basically reinventing the genre. Famous examples include "Death & The Maiden" and "Die Winterreise".
11. Franz Schubert's final chamber work, completed just 2 months before his death. A notable work and unusual ensemble as it uses 2 cellos instead of 1.
12. "Christ lag in Todes Banden", "Christ lay in Death's prison", BWV 4
13. An opera in three acts written around 1685 and based on Virgil's Aeneid. Dido, (aka Alyssa), was the Queen of Carthage. A mighty city and trading port that was destroyed by the Romans in the Third Punic War in 146 BC.
14. "Abdelazer" or "The Moor's Revenge" is a 1676 play by Aphra Behn. Henry Purcell wrote 10 pieces of incidental music to go with it, including #2 the Rondeau.