February 2013 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.- Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht (Do not vex yourself, my soul)
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 24 and 25
Dvorak - String Quartet No.13
Holmboe - String Quartet No.11, 'Rustico'
Janacek

• Violin Sonata
• Romance for violin and piano
• Dumka for violin and piano

Poulenc

• Suite pour piano
• Theme varie
• Improvisations 11 and 12

For anyone who bothers to follow this blog closely (ie, myself), the most notable thing here is the completion of my Bach cantata box.  In fits and starts, it took me almost 11 months to listen to 34 new works.  Of course I may have been slowed down by the avalanche of other new works I purchased despite having 10 new discs of Bach to listen to!

The amazing thing, though, is how many more of these cantatas Bach wrote.  This chronological survey has only taken me into the first couple of months of the peak period, where for several years he was producing a new work most weeks.

I am already seeing if I can find the next box in the series.  It's hard to come by so I may have to buy the discs separately.

Elsewhere, Beethoven continues to prove himself consistently as I sporadically work through his chronology (or at least his opus numbers).  These piano sonatas reminded me that he isn't given enough credit for being a lyrical composer, or a light-hearted one.  Yes, he can be incredibly dramatic and part of the reason for his reputation is that he created music with an astonishing muscularity, but that's not the only quality his music possesses.  The piano sonata (no.24) in F sharp major has an exceptionally lovely first movement that sings and caresses rather than confronts.

February 2013 - Popular Music

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos - Under the Pink
Missy Higgins - The Ol' Razzle Dazzle
John Mayer - Born and Raised
Something for Kate

• Beautiful Sharks
• Echolalia
• The Official Fiction
• Desert Lights
• Leave Your Soul to Science
• Shotgun Karaoke EP

Thrice - The Alchemy Index

As can be seen, I went completely nuts for Something for Kate during February.

The reason was the ongoing transformation in my reaction to the new album, Leave Your Soul to Science.  In my entry for January I consciously stopped at the end of January in terms of my reaction, because (being rather tardy in my blogging... as I am again now) I was well aware that over the first couple of weeks of February I had completely fallen in love with the album and scarcely listened to anything else... except other Something for Kate albums.  And then I just shuffled them all together into a giant celebration-of-SFK playlist.

I simply could get enough of the soaring, intense melodies and Paul Dempsey's glorious voice.

Different songs on Leave Your Soul came forward at different points, as some took longer to appreciate than others. Although, even on an album that's quite strong throughout, tracks 2 through 6 represent a golden patch.  Five songs that are as diverse representations of this band as you're likely to get, but on different days in February each one of them became something that would get completely stuck in my head or have me pressing repeat or have me just living and breathing every moment of the music as I listened, feeling transported.

The fact that music can do that is, well, wonderful. Uplifting. Just like this...