Classical Music - June 2015

Bach, J.S.

• Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our God)
• Herr Christ, der einige Gottesshon (Lord Christ, the only Son of God)
• Das neugeborne Kindelein (The newborn little child)

Beethoven

• Violin Concerto
• Piano Trios 5 and 6 (op.70)
• Violin Sonata No.9 (two versions)
• String Quartet No.16 

Brahms - Violin Sonatas 2 and 3
Brahms - Piano Trio No.3
Bridge

• Berceuse (instrumental piece - orchestral version)
• Berceuse (song)
• Chant d'espérance (Song of Hope)
• Serenade (orchestral version)
• Adoration
• The Pageant of London
• Where She Lies Asleep
• Love Went A-Riding
• Thy Hand In Mine
• Mantle of Blue
• Blow Out, You Bugles
• 2 Songs of Rabindranath Tagore  (orchestral versions)
• A Royal Night of Variety

Chopin

• Scherzo No.2
• Etudes, op.25
• Nocturnes, opp. 27 and 32
• 4 Mazurkas, op.30
• Impromptu No.1

Dvorak - The Noon Witch
Dvorak - The Golden Spinning Wheel 
Faure - Violin Sonata No.2
Haumann - Blomster fra de kejserlige haver (Flowers from the Imperial Gardens)
Haydn - Symphonies 82, 92, 95, 100 and 102
Holmboe

• Concertos 3 (for clarinet), 6 (for violin), 9 (for violin and viola), 12 (for trombone) and 13 (for oboe and viola)
• Epilog
• Piano Suite
• Small piano pieces
• Two Sarvig Psalms
• Speravi in Domino
• Simeon's Song of Praise
• Arrangement of Ólavur Riddararós

Janacek - Pohádka (Fairy Tale)
Koppel - Four Love Songs from Song of Solomon
Koppel - Epitaph
Mortensen - Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Nielsen - Piano Trio
Nordentoft - Three Studies for Brass Quintet
Nørgård - Spell
Nørholm - From the Merry Life of  a Spy
Rovsing Olsen - Two Lagerkvist Songs
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in A minor and E flat D.537 and 568
Schubert - Symphony No.5
Schumann - Carnaval
Schumann - Symphonic Etudes 
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.3
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues
Sibelius

• Symphony No.2
• The Dryad
• Dance-Intermezzo

Szymanowski - Four etudes for piano, op.4
Vine - String Quartet No.3
Whitwell

• Loopy Lady
• The Birds
• Some World Far From Ours
• In the Deep Heart's Core
• Warm Where Snowflakes Lie
• Flatworm's Heaven
• A Hundred Thousand Birds
• Echo
• Flying
• She Walks In Beauty
• Starlight Steeple
• To Your Shore
• Winter Love
• Road Trip
• The Insomnia Waltz

The general program of classical listening in June was much the same as it was in May, with new recordings of Holmboe and other Danish composers, newish Beethoven, and bits of my ongoing listening projects for Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak and Haydn. I also revived plans to listen to Bridge (done), Shostakovich (nearly done), Sibelius and Vine, and decided to thrown in some listening plans for Schubert, Schumann, Janacek and Szymanowski for good measure.

There's no rush with any of this...

The things I specifically want to mention in amongst this bounty are twofold.

The first is my first encounter with the music of Per Nørgård, his piece Spell for piano trio (apparently there's actually an original version with clarinet rather than violin, but the 'regular' piano trio version appears to be popular). I've no idea how it relates to the rest of his work, but on the basis of this one piece I definitely want to hear more. I found it riveting, with all the best potential of minimalism without the boredom I experience in some cases. I enjoyed it so much the first time that I played the CD again straight away.

The other thing to highlight is the music of Sally Whitwell. I believe she's recorded 3 albums of other composers' piano music (focusing on, ahem, minimalists), but now has an album of her own music. This recording is actually dominated by vocal and choral works (and also has some other instrumental groupings), but Whitwell's clear, crystalline piano playing is a feature throughout. The idiom is thoroughly tonal, and I suppose it would be labelled as "light" classical, but it is none the worse for that. It is highly enjoyable.

Here's a sample. Literally in the first case.