One of the things I took on my travels (via iPhone) was my collection of Haydn symphonies. I have recordings of 23 of them now - in fact the last 23, spanning the period from 1785 to 1795 when Haydn was an international star.
I had vague notions of listening to all of them during the month, but I only managed to listen to 4. Even that, though, was enough to show me that the symphonies are full of inventive ideas. However much Haydn might be thought to be the father of the 'standard' symphony, each work has something distinctive and memorable about it. Sometimes it's led to a nickname (rarely has a name been more apt than the 'Clock' for no.101), but the works that have to rely on a number each have some unique twist.
In fact, this was recognised at the time. Wikipedia helpfully tells me that a review of the first performance of that 'Clock' had this to say:
"Every new Overture he writes, we fear, till it is heard, he can only repeat himself; and we are every time mistaken."
So while I already have more symphonies by Haydn than by any other composer, I see no reason to stop at 23. There's another 80 or so to explore when I get around to it.
Well, not literally nothing. But it was just fragments, not albums.
This was caused by me spending the month travelling. I can't quite explain why this particular part of my usual routine - which I love - is so badly disrupted by travel, but this isn't the first time. I didn't even use music for drifting off to sleep, except for just a song or two on a couple of occasions.
I actually spent a considerable amount of travel time listening to podcasts, something I haven't had much interest in until a recent conversation, which led to a particular pop culture podcast, which led to a couple more dealing with a murder investigation and the story of starting a company.
There was a veritable explosion of Beethoven activity in March. Through a complex series of events I ended up with even more new (or newish) Beethoven recordings to listen to than I expected.
This was pretty marvellous. It's hard to pick out highlights. At one end there was some truly delightful music from the early part of Beethoven's career. Special mention needs to be made of the string trios, as performed by the Leopold String Trio on Hyperion, because every bar on these discs sparkles. At the other extreme, I was introduced to the 3 string quartets that Beethoven wrote for Prince Galitzin - extraordinary pieces, alternately wild and grand as performed by the Takacs Quartet. The famous hymn in the Lydian mode in (the inaccurately numbered) 15th quartet showed me from the first hearing just why it is famous.
My Chopin chronology backtracked because I acquired a recording of his orchestral works... although it's fairly clear that the teenage Chopin was writing the orchestra to be in the background of fairly dazzling piano parts. I seem to remember quite liking the Fantasy.
March also provided me with a fairly unique puzzle, but it was a good puzzle to have. The problem was how to classify Penelope, a song cycle with some theatrical origins inspired by Homer's Odyssey, composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider to lyrics by playwright Ellen McLaughlin, sung by Shara Worden with instrumental accompaniment by the group Signal. Which half of my blog does this fit in? Is this classical music, or popular music?
The truth is it's both. And neither. It's a true hybrid - not one of these embarrassing crossovers that has plagued the world since Hooked on Classics became a hit, but a work of art that uses elements of both musical languages. While getting to know Penelope, I switched back and forth repeatedly as to where it would live in my collection. That's a pop melody there... but then this section is something a pop song would never do... but that's layering that could only be created in a studio...
The performers weren't any help, as in both cases they are known for straddling different styles. In the end, the reason that Penelope has ended up in the classical list is that the composer is given prominence - first billing, in a way that is alien to pop music. So it goes under 'S' for Snider.
But really, more important than its classification is its quality. It has the resonances that distinguish the best song cycles, the sense of unity, of emotional narrative, the marriage of music and words so that both are heightened. More than anything, it's flat out beautiful.
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Missy Higgins - The Sound of White
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Sting - Mercury Falling
Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake
Chesapeake is Rachael Yamagata sounding relatively bright and happy.
Apparently, this is something she has semi-apologised for, promising fans that her next album will go back to being dark and miserable. First of all I worry about any fans that complained about her music not sounding tortured enough, but hey, she wouldn't be the first artist to get that reaction. But she really shouldn't have apologised in any shape or form.
It's not actually that happy anyway. The lyrics still have plenty of angst in them, with failed or flawed relationships making regular appearances. The main difference is that the music has a bit of energy and bounce to it.
It also, as a consequence, has variety. Yamagata's previous album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart has some fine music, but it is also seriously flawed due to the lack of variation. As much as anything this is due to her failure to wrestle Elephants into a single album, as she instead delivered 2 discs with contrasting musical styles. But the longer, ballad-laden disc needed an injection of energy from its companion.
And so Chesapeake is actually a vast improvement as a listening experience. I can't by any means say I've come to grips with the album yet, as I only had a relatively brief period of listening to it in March before having to lay it aside, but all the early impressions were favourable. As an overall album, it might well be Yamagata's best yet.
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben (Dearest God, when shall I die)
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (In you alone, Lord Jesus Christ)
Jesu, der du meine Seele (Jesus, you who have my soul)
Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut (Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good)
Beethoven
Violin Sonatas 1 to 3
Romance No.2 for violin and orchestra
Triple Concerto
String Quartet No.12
Brahms
String Quartets 1 to 3
Piano Quartet No.3
Violin Sonata No.1
Bridge
Suite for Strings
Two Songs of Robert Bridges
Two Old English Songs (orchestral version)
Two Intermezzi from 'Threads'
Two Entr'actes
Sir Roger de Coverley (A Christmas Dance) (string orchestra version)
Todessehnsucht (string orchestra version)
Valse Intermezzo à cordes
The Hag
Chopin
Ballade No.1
Scherzo No.1
3 Nocturnes, op.15
Mazurkas, opp. 17, 24 and 67/3, and in A flat, B flat, C and D
Waltzes opp.18, 69/1 and 70/1
Bolero
Fantaisie-Impromptu
Variations brillantes in B flat, op.12
Rondo in E flat, op.16
Prelude in A flat
Cantabile in B flat
Debussy
Images for Orchestra
Preludes, Book II
Rhapsodie for clarinet and orchestra
Jeux
Dvorak
Symphony No.9
String Sextet
String Quintet No.3
String Quartet No.12
Piano Quintet No.2
Edwards - O Quam Preciosa from Mountain Chant
Grieg - Borghild's Dream from Sigurd Jorsalfar
Handel - 'Larghetto' from Xerxes, arranged for oboe and orchestra
Haydn - Symphonies 88 to 92
Holmboe
Concertos 7 (for oboe) and 10 ('Wood-Brass-Gut')
Cello Concerto
Tuba Concerto
To the Calm Sea
Brass Quintet No.1
String Quartet No.6
Triade
Beatus Parvo
Liszt - Au bord d'une source
Mozart - String Quartets 20 to 23
Rachmaninov - Songs, opp.26 and 34
Rachmaninov - A letter to K. S. Stanislavsky from S. Rachmaninov
Schumann -Lehn deine Wang' and Mein Wagen rollet langsam, op.142/2 and 4 (both rejected from Dichterliebe)
Shostakovich - String Quartets 1, 6, 11 and 15
Sibelius
Lemminkäinen Suite
En Saga
Karelia Suite
The Wood-Nymph
The Bard
The Oceanides
Vine - Smith's Alchemy (excerpt)
Vivaldi
Laudate pueri in G, RV 601
Salve Regina in C minor, RV 616
Salve Regina in G minor, RV 618
Deus tuorum militum
Sanctorum meritis
There's been a delay in finalising this post, anticipated, but still regrettable. Coming back to this list... I did listen to a great deal of classical music in February! Partly that was due to continuing to work through recent purchases, which wasn't hard to do with their high quality.
Among the highlights were the Brahms string quartets - particularly the first two - and the first of his violin sonatas. This music was new to me, and I can see myself returning to this music a great deal. One of the most striking things to me is that the range of Brahms' moods is greater than I had thought. I tend to associate him with slightly inward-looking music, and while that's true in some cases (and might be emphasised by some performances), he also wrote some quite bright and bold music.
My Chopin exploration was also rewarding, with works from his time in Vienna and early years in Paris. As in his teenage works, the emphasis is often on brilliance, but there is increasing sophistication. And then there's the first Ballade, which to me is probably Chopin's first out-and-out masterpiece and a work of real substance.
My Dvorak exploration (mostly of new purchases) also reached a key period, focused on his time in America. Personally I don't love the 12th string quartet, and suspect the reason it is performed so much more than any of Dvorak's other string quartets is simply the gimmick of it being 'American', but the other music listed here was all first class.
In Haydn, I was introduced to the symphonies between 'Paris' and 'London'. I think symphonies 90 to 92, which were planned as a set, are particularly good and no.90 is an early favourite. The false ending caught me by surprise even though I had read about it beforehand.
And that ramshackle collection of anecdotes is all I'm capable of writing at this distance. Apologies.
