April 2011 - Classical Music

We apologise for the delay in transmission...

Bach, J.S. - Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (all 6)
Bach, J.S. - 15 Sinfonias (or 3-Part Inventions)
Beethoven - Cello Sonata No.2
Beethoven - Sextet for Horns and String Quartet
Bizet - Farandole from L'Arlesienne Suite No.2
Brahms - 3 Intermezzi, op.117
Chaminade - Viens! Mon bien-aime!
Franck - Variations Symphoniques for Piano & Orchestra
Handel - Love and Hymen, Hand in Hand from the opera Hercules
Haydn - Piano trio No.31
Hindemith - Kammermusik No.7
Liszt - Anees de Perelinage, 2nd year: Italy
Mozart - Piano Sonatas 7 and 9 (K.309 and 311)
Schumann - Kreisleriana, 2nd movement
Schumann - selections from Myrthen
Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
Strauss, R. - Don Juan
Stravinsky - Feu d'artifice (Fireworks)

As the pop music list grew, the the classical music list shrunk - although there are a couple of fairly large items here.  The biggest listening exercise was undoubtedly the set of 6 works for solo violin by Bach.  And it was a rather enjoyable one.  I was actually a bit surprised to discover that I enjoyed the three Sonatas the most, because arguably the most famous sections are both from the Partitas - the Chaconne in No.2 and the Prelude in No.3.  Both of those are marvellous, but the works as a whole didn't attract me as much as the sonatas.

Partita No.3 in particular seemed a bit of a disappointment.  The tricky thing with classical music is that it's hard to know, without multiple versions, whether your reaction to a piece is because of the composition or because of the performance.  So, at the moment I don't know whether to blame Bach or Henryk Szeryng.  But I really should give them both praise for my enjoyment of the sonatas.

I'm still working through my New Year's Eve purchases - the Franck, Haydn, Hindemith and the Schumann songs all complete their respective CDs.  A pretty good crop on the whole. It will be interesting to see when I get back to some of them in the ordinary course of listening.  I've only got one new purchase that I still haven't listened to yet.

I'm working through my Mozart collection (essentially the piano sonatas and some symphonies) in a chronological order at the moment, albeit very slowly.  This month's stop was in Mannheim.  Soon I'll be listening to a couple of works from Paris around the time that Mozart's mother died.  I find that getting a bit of context around pieces enhances my listening experience.  It helps me get a sense of a composer's overall body of work.

I do a similar thing with popular music as well, but because it's current it's that much easier to be aware of things like chronology.  It's all too easy with a classical composer to think of their collected works falling out of the sky, fully formed.  But in reality their style developed and changed, and their contemporaries heard this before they ever heard that, or heard that already knowing this.

So, with Mozart, he's been moving from a very talented 17 or 18-year-old to a considerably more mature composer at the age of 21.  The skill with which he integrates his ideas is increasing.  Because of the small size of my current collection, it won't be all that long before he's establishing himself in Vienna.