Helen & Sharon, and the Concerto, and Music

I have done my homework---most of it---and gone through "Concerto" for the third time, and taken out yet more redundancy, and thrown in a few images, just for fun.

My fiction contains lesbianism, which was one of the original focuses when I started writing; it contains dance, it contains some athletics: mainly tennis, swimming, skating and running, and martial arts; and it contains a lot of classical music.

On one hand, if someone loves all these topics, then there will be something to interest her; on the other hand, if someone does not like more than one of these topics, they're likely to be bored a lot of the time!!  This is one reason that I am not too upset at the low sales rate I'm getting.  The total number of downloads and sales are around 6000 books, which is low for most authors who have been in the game for 5 years, more or less.

Honestly, the music component needs to be taken seriously by me.  I refer to so many pieces in the stories which a typical reader will not be motivated to look up---and might not like, even if they do look one up---that I thought of putting links here to as many of the pieces mentioned in Helen & Sharon, and Helen's Concerto as I can remember.

1. Right at the beginning of Helen & Sharon, we mention The St. Matthew Passion.  This is a major, 2-hour long work, and has four kinds of pieces (numbers) in it.
1. Chorales: these are just hymns,
2. Arias: these are solos, and there are occasionally duets as well,
3. Recitatives: a sort of sung explanation, in essentially free rhythm,
4. Choruses: these are major choir numbers; there are only about 4.  Here is one of them: O Mensch, bewein dein' Sundre gross.  (When you finish listening, use the [back] button to return here.)
2. Helen practices the Partitas, and Nadia is appreciative!  These are nice, short, keyboard pieces by Bach in 3 parts.  Let me find one for you: Partita No 1.
3. The second Sharon Vuehl movie was a remake of a famous Charlie Chaplin movie, which you're sure to have heard.  Chaplin composed this theme himself: Limelight 
4. Helen first meets Sita when she is invited to Philadelphia to conduct Die Meistersinger, an opera that is around 3 hours long.  Here is just the Overture, which is 9 minutes long!  You don't have to listen to the whole thing, but I love it so much I can't resist!
5. There is a brief mention of Helen singing in Messiah, which also comes up later in Helen, Handel's Messiah, and the Piano, and in Concerto as well.  Let's listen to this lovely double-aria, a contralto first, followed by a soprano: He shall feed his flock.
6. Helen's father dies while she is partying in California, and she is flown out to Helen's father's little farm, where they might have sung this common funeral hymn: Abide With Me.  I would have preferred to link to "For all the Saints," but I couldn't find a video that I really liked...
7. One of the works mentioned on the Georgia trip is the Brahms Violin Concerto in D.  This is Hilary Hahn.  It's a lot of fun.
8. In Florida, Helen conducts one of Bach's orchestral suites, so let's play this one.  There are several movements; just the Courant (the second movement) is enough to listen to.
9. Next is a solo violin concerto that Helen plays: the Bach A minor.  Let's cut you a break, and listen to the last movement, Allegro Assai, "very fast."

I'll add in a couple of pieces from "Concerto" after I have lunch!

OK, had lunch (and lots of other meals).

Concerto starts out---at present---with a recap of Helen's entire life; this could change.  There is a mention of music by Dowland, Farnaby and Byrd, I believe, and I will add those later (though they're awesome composers, and the pieces are lovely, as Helen exclaims).

The first major reference to music is about Helen's concerto itself, and (in case you didn't guess) it is a fictitious work, and does not exist!  (I wish it did!)  However, the Dvorak works do exist:

1. Violin Concerto in A minor, by Dvorak.  Here it is.
2. The Bagatelles are a set of several pieces for a small group; here is the whole set, arranged for a small orchestra.  (Try this original version for two violins, harmonium, and cello.)
3. The Slavonic Dances are well known.  This is number 2.
4. The duet which Vicky brings to Sita's attention, and Sita brings to Helen's attention: Et in unum dominum
5. Helen is persuaded to sing this well-known Scottish ballad, by Robert Burns, I believe: Loch Lomond.
6. A song by Mozart, from The Marriage of Figaro.
7. Four Last Songs: Im Abendrot

Kay.