July 2014 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (They will put you out of the synagogues (no.1))
• Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen (They will all come from Sheba)
• Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen (Jesus sleeps, what should I hope?)
• Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde (Blessed time of the new covenant)
• Violin Concerto No.2
• Brandenburg Concerto No.5
• Harpsichord Concerto No.1
• Oboe D'Amore Concerto in A (reconstruction - BWV 1055R) 

Bartok - Piano Concerto No.3
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.3
Bizet/Shchedrin - Adagio from The Carmen Ballet
Brahms - Piano Trio No.1
Chopin

• Fantaisie-Impromptu
• 3 Polonaises, op.posth.71
• Rondo in C, op.posth.73 

De Lisle - Le Marsellaise
Debussy - String Quartet
Debussy - Children's Corner
Diamond - Balcony Scene from Romeo and Juliet
Dvorak - Piano Trio No.3
Dvorak - String Quartet No.11 
Falla - Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Gliere - Waltz from Red Poppy Suite
Hanson - Symphony No.2, 2nd movement
Haydn - String Quartet in E flat, op.64/6
Holmboe

• Symphony No.12
• Violin Concerto No.2
• String Quartet No.5
• Liber Canticorum, Books V, Va and Vb 

Hovhaness - Four Bagatelles for string quartet, op.30
Kancheli - Styx (excerpt)
Korngold - main title music for Captain Blood
Liszt - Festklänge
Liszt - Heroide Funebre
Mozart - Piano Sonatas 3, 13 and 17
Myslivicek - Dunque Licide ingrato from L'Olimpiade
Obradors - Del Cabello mas sutil
Poulenc

• Flute Sonata
• Elegie for horn and piano
• Improvisations 13 and 14
• Novelette on a theme of Falla 

Purcell - Chacony in G minor
Rachmaninov - Etudes-Tableaux, op.39
Scarlatti, D. - Keyboard sonatas, K.8, 25, 29, 113, 141, 173, 259, 523
Schubert - Piano Trio No.1
Schumann

• Piano Trio No.2
• Waldszenen (Forest Scenes)
• Introduction and Allegro appassionato in G for piano and orchestra
• Tragoedie, op.64/3 

Shostakovich - String Quartet No.8
Sibelius - Symphonies 1 to 4
Sibelius - Finlandia
Simpson - Symphony No.9
Strauss, R.

• Metamorphosen
• Oboe Concerto
• 1st and 2nd Waltz Suites from Der Rosenkavalier

Telemann - Tafelmusik Volume 3
Vine - String Quartets 4 and 5
Vine - Knips Suite (String Quartet No.1), 2 movements
Vivaldi -In turbato mare irato (In an angry, rough sea)
Vivaldi - Sum in medio tempestatum (I am in the midst of stormy weather)
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PHEW!

That is a big list. One of the reasons for that is that July was one of the times I went through the spreadsheet to find some of the odds and ends that I hadn't listened to since 2009, when I started that system. So there are a few things on here that are from sampler CDs.

I also went through one of those phases of trying to better catalogue what I own... right about the same time as going through an exhausting process of deciding what to add to my collection (the fruits of which you still start seeing in the next classical entry). And that led to obsessive-compulsive behaviour like identifying all the string quartets I have, and all the piano trios, and all the symphonies...

It does add up. And naturally, I started listening to some of them (especially trios). One of the benefits of building a collection is that you can make your own little concert programs in the comfort of your own home.

Alongside all of that was my continuing thematic or chronological explorations of various composers, some new additions to that process, and various 'just because' ideas when I got sick of all of that.

My progression through the Bach cantata recordings by Maasaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan reached an interesting stage. Volume 21 is the last volume to have works from Bach's first year of employment in Leipzig, and they saved a couple of exceptionally colourful works until the end. Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen is about the arrival of the three wise men and uses different instruments to sound 'oriental'. Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen is based on the story of Jesus calming a storm, and the waves being whipped up are vividly portrayed.

July was also when I finished listening to Holmboe's Liber Canticorum, his collection of choral works written to Latin versions of passages from the Old Testament. I think it'll take some more listening before these appeal to me as much as his instrumental works, but I did enjoy them and certainly wasn't disappointed.

The biggest highlight of the month, though, was probably my reacquaintance with Sibelius' first four symphonies. I couldn't tell you why it's been so long since I last listened to these (it's been even longer for the symphonies yet to come), because there's a lot of truly fantastic music in there. Sibelius knows how to use an orchestra, and knows how to build structures and create drama from them. Of these, the 4th symphony continues to be my favourite, but the first two did a particularly good job this time around of reminding me how good they are.

July 2014 - Popular Music

Tori Amos

• Little Earthquakes
• American Doll Posse
• Gold Dust
• Unrepentant Geraldines

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Bryan Duncan - Mercy
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Pearl Jam - No Code
Radiohead

• The Bends
• Hail to the Thief
• In Rainbows

Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science

I made a brief mention of the album Emperor's Box when I first bought it last December (it was actually released in 2010), and wondered whether it would rival Katie Noonan's previous work with the band 'george' in my affections.

I think the answer is yes.

My growing familiarity with the album has brought it to the point where I know the overall shape of the songs, and can listen to the album in a more flowing way. Last month I found myself really, really enjoying the listening experience and wanting to repeat it.

The second of george's two albums, Unity, has arguably held a place as my 'favourite album released in the last decade' for quite some time, but it was released in 2004 and there needs to be a new contender. I don't know whether Emperor's Box is the replacement. For one thing, it's been such a long time since I've embarked on the painstaking and exhausting exercise of trying to rank my favourite albums that I've no idea where anything stands or what the contenders are (first rule: no more than one album per artist, so before we reach the main round there have to be sub-battles for Something for Kate, Radiohead and Patty Griffin at least). Secondly, I'm sure there are other serious contenders from the period, such as Fiona Apple's Idler Wheel and Radiohead's In Rainbows (if it survives the in-house contest...).

What I do know, though, is that Emperor's Box is very much a successor to Unity in terms of aesthetics and inventiveness. There's the same desire to play with the musical palette and come up with different combinations of sounds, with acoustic instruments blending with electric and electronic ones. There's the same desire to let the music flow and pulse and avoid square, flat-footed rhythms. There's the same emotional range with songs that sound passionate, even angry mixed with songs that are tender lullabies (although it's rather startling to read the lyrics of the fierce rocker 'Page One' and discover it's actually a wedding night love song).

I don't know if it's the best album to enter my collection in recent years, but I do know it's an album I'd recommend to anyone as well worth hearing, and it seems to be getting richer with more listens.