Classical Music

Carl Andreas Goepfert (1768-1818) - Sonate für Fagott und Gitarre, Op. 13: I. Allegro spirituoso ·

Ferrara Duo :

Alessandro Besozzi (1702-1793) - Trio No. 6 for oboe, violin and basso continuo: I. Adagio ·

What Is the Pentatonic Scale Anyway? Imagine a musical toolbox with only five tools – but those tools can build almost anything! The pentatonic scale is a group of five notes that sound great together because they don’t clash much. It’s like picking colors that always match. Learn how to apply pentatonic scales on the guitar:…

Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944) - Serenata morisca ·

Carlo Zuccari (1704-1792) - Flute Sonata in G Major: I. Allegro (2) ·

Prokofiev - Sonata no. 6 in A Major

I first heard this sonata in high school and honestly it was THE angsty bangy piano piece that my rebellious self could relate to. Of course, that was me focusing on the more garish parts and the unstable tonality. I haven’t listened to that sonata in forever, and it recently came up in my “recommended videos” on YouTube. I listened through again, following the score, amazed how much I remembered it. Like, with every passing bar, I could only recall what happens right after, and this strange recollection of memory, in patches, made it feel surreal. I know more about music now and about Prokofiev’s overall style, and I was captivated by all of the small details coming through that I hadn’t known before. The sonatas nos. 6, 7, and 8 were written between 1940-44, and so are known as the “War Sonatas”. No.7 is the most popular, but I’ve always had a soft spot for no. 6. Because of current political trends, the threat from the Nazis, the fear under Stalin, loss of his close friend to the regime [Vsevolod Meyerhold was an opera director and was arrested by secret police and shot. A month later, Meyerhold’s wife was found murdered under “mysterious circumstances”], and being basically forced to write an obnoxious and saccharine cantata for Stalin’s 60th birthday, Prokofiev had to channel his true anger and pain in these sonatas. The sixth opens with an unstable main theme, that rides forward like a grotesque and cold machine. The second melody has a thinner texture and is almost dreamlike, before the machinery of the opening takes over in a grotesque march. The second movement is kind of like a march, built of staccato chords throughout. The third is like a very slow waltz, lushly written and elongated, full of longing. The final is a rushed speed through hell, as dark as you’d expect a Soviet toccata to be.

Movements:

1. Allegro moderato

2. Allegretto

3. Tempo di valzer lentissimo

Intervals:

Supermajor: major interval raised 50 cents

Subminor: minor interval lowered 50 cents

Neutral: major interval lowered 50 cents/minor interval raised 50 cents

Superaugmented: augmented interval raised 50 cents

Subaugmented: augmented interval lowered 50 cents

Superdiminished: diminished interval raised 50 cents

Subdiminished: diminished interval lowered 50 cents

Triads:

Major triad: root + major third + perfect fifth

Supermajor triad: root + supermajor third + perfect fifth

Minor triad: root + minor third + perfect fifth

Subminor triad: root + subminor third + perfect fifth

Neutral triad: root + neutral third + perfect fifth

Augmented triad: root + major third + augmented fifth

Superaugmented triad: root + major third + superaugmented fifth

Supermajor triad (#5): root + supermajor third + augmented fifth

Hyperaugmented triad: root + supermajor third + superaugmented fifth

Half-augmented triad: root + major third + subaugmented fifth

Half-superaugmented triad: root + supermajor third + subaugmented fifth

Diminished triad: root + minor third + diminished fifth

Subdiminished triad: root + minor third + subdiminished fifth

Subminor triad (b5): root + subminor third + diminished fifth

Hypodiminished triad: root + subminor third + subdiminished fifth

Half-diminished triad: root + minor third + superdiminished fifth

Half-subdiminished triad: root + subminor third + superdiminished fifth

Escalated triad: root + neutral third + augmented fifth

Superescalated triad: root + neutral third + superaugmented fifth

Half-escalated triad: root + neutral third + subaugmented fifth

Abated triad: root + neutral third + diminished fifth

Subabated triad: root + neutral third + subdiminished fifth