Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Classical Music - November 2015

Andresen - Three Norwegian Dances
Bach, J.S. - Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, saviour of the heathen) (BWV 62)
Bach, J.S. - Wohl dem, der sich auf seinem Gott (Happy is the man who on his God)
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No.10 (2 versions)
Brahms - Clarinet Trio
Chopin
  • Waltz in A flat, op.42
  • Waltz in E flat for Emile Gaillard ('Sostenuto')
  • Mazurka in A minor for Emile Gaillard
  • Mazurka in A minor for 'Notre Temps' 
  • 3 Nouvelles Etudes
  • Fugue in A minor 

Haydn - Symphonies 86, 90 and 93
Holmboe
  • Cantata Profana 'Frieze'
  • Omnia flumnia
  • The Heron of Oblivion
  • Elder Tree
  • What the Beech Tree Sang
Janacek - String Quartet No.1, 'Kreutzer Sonata'
Nørgård - Images of Arresø
Schubert - Piano Quintet
Senstius - Fantasia in D minor
Schumann - Introduction and Allegro appassionato in G for piano and orchestra
Sibelius - Night Ride and Sunrise
Szymanowski - Masques
Vine - String Quartet No.5
Vivaldi - Vos aurae per montes (You breeze through the mountains)

The Brahms Clarinet Trio is one of those works that really connects with me. Who knows why. It's inward, withdrawn music, and something about the way it hesitatingly unfolds makes me respond in ways that bolder music wouldn't.

That this is true is evidenced by the fact that, unlike so many of the works listed in my classical music spreadsheet, which I created precisely because some works just melted into an undifferentiated blur, I can immediately hear bits of the Clarinet Trio when I think of it. I certainly don't know all the notes by heart, but I know the mood, what it evokes. And when that spreadsheet told me I hadn't actually listened to the piece for over 5 years(!), I still had a clear notion of what I would hear when I finally pressed play again in November.


I don't want to just listen to my existing favourites. A key part of my listening decisions is to avoid that. And yet, at the end of the day the reason I keep exploring is to find music like this. Music that, when I need it, I know I will enjoy. Music that moves me.

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