Midnight on the Water (Mark O'Connor album)

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Midnight on the Water
MidnightOnTheWaterMarkOConnor.jpg
Studio album by Mark O'Connor
Released 1998
Recorded 1996
Genre Classical/Bluegrass
Length69:43
Label Sony Classical
Producer Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor chronology
Liberty!
(1997)		Midnight on the Water
(1998)		 Fanfare for the Volunteer
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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Midnight on the Water is a solo classical/bluegrass album by Mark O'Connor. In it are six of his original caprices and four improvisations, as well as his arrangements of some traditional folk works.

Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the United States Appalachian region. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Irish, and Scottish ballads and dance tunes, and by traditional African-American blues and jazz. The Blue Grass Boys played a Mountain Music style that Bill learned in Asheville, North Carolina from bands like Wade Mainer's and other popular acts on radio station WWNC. It was further developed by musicians who played with him, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."

Mark OConnor American fiddle player

Mark O'Connor is an American violinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical music.

Contents

The caprices are loosely based on Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. They are in much the same spirit of technical difficulty - Mark O'Connor's word was that "This album easily represents my best playing on a recording." They contain many references to Paganini's Caprices, and draw upon O'Connor's repertoire of classic Texas fiddle motifs. In this, they represent a sort of bluegrass/classical virtuoso crossover, and a dedication to Paganini.

Niccolò Paganini Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, composer

NiccolòPaganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices for Solo Violin Op. 1 are among the best known of his compositions, and have served as an inspiration for many prominent composers.

24 Caprices for Solo Violin (Paganini) musical compositions by Niccolò Paganini

The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin were written in groups by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817. They are also designated as M.S. 25 in Maria Rosa Moretti's and Anna Sorrento's Catalogo tematico delle musiche di Niccolò Paganini which was published in 1982. The Caprices are in the form of études, with each number exploring different skills

Midnight on the Water, the first part of the album's Track 17 medley, is a tune that Mark O'Connor's Texas mentor, Benny Thomasson, attributed to his father and uncle. It is somewhat of a dedication to Thomasson.

Benny Thomasson was an American fiddler in the Texas style of fiddling.

Track listing

All tracks are traditional and arranged by O'Connor or original works by O'Connor, except as indicated.

  1. "The Cricket Dance" (violin) – 1:40
  2. "Caprice No. 1 in A Major" (violin) – 3:25
  3. "Improvisation #1" (violin) – 2:53
  4. "Caprice No. 2 in G Minor" (violin) – 3:02
  5. "Follow the Scout" (mandolin) – 5:47
  6. "Caprice No. 3 in A Major" (violin) – 4:35
  7. "Improvisation #2" (violin) – 3:22
  8. "Caprice No. 4 in D Major" (violin) – 2:29
  9. "Fancy Stops and Goes" (guitar) – 3:48
  10. "Improvisation #3" (violin) – 4:06
  11. "Caprice No. 5 in F Major" (violin) – 2:41
  12. "River Out Back" (mandocello) – 4:39
  13. "Improvisation #4" (violin) – 5:20
  14. "Caprice No. 6 in G Major" (violin) – 2:53
  15. "Flailing" (guitar) – 6:31
  16. "The Star-Spangled Banner" (violin) (Key) – 2:01
  17. "Midnight on the Water/Bonaparte's Retreat" (violin) – 7:36
  18. "Amazing Grace" (violin) (Newton) – 2:54

Personnel

Violin bowed string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths

The violin, sometimes known as a fiddle, is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused. The violin typically has four strings tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings, though it can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow.

Guitar fretted string instrument

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the finger(s)/fingernails of one hand, while simultaneously fretting with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar, or through an electrical amplifier and a speaker.

Mandolin musical instrument in the lute family (plucked, or strummed)

A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is usually plucked with a plectrum or "pick". It commonly has four courses of doubled metal strings tuned in unison, although five and six course versions also exist. The courses are normally tuned in a succession of perfect fifths. It is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass.

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Caprice No. 24 in A minor is the final caprice of Niccolò Paganini's 24 Caprices, and a famous work for solo violin. The work, in the key of A minor, consists of a theme, 11 variations, and a finale. His 24 Caprices were probably composed in 1817, while he was in the service of the Baciocchi court.

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Mandocello plucked string instrument of the mandolin family

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The Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141, are a series of six études for the piano by Franz Liszt, revised in 1851 from an earlier version. It is almost exclusively in the final version that these pieces are played today.

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References

  1. ↑ Owens, Thom. Midnight on the Water at AllMusic
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