Bach, J.S.
- Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! (Praise God in all lands!)
- Aria 'Spielet, ihr beseeleten Lieder' from BWV 210
- Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn ihn (Everything with God and nothing without him)
Beethoven
- Piano Concerto No.2
- Piano Trio No.1
- Piano Sonata No.2
- Serenade for string trio
Biebl -
Ave Maria
Chopin
- Ballade No.4
- Scherzo No.4
- Polonaise in A flat, op.53
Debussy
- La Mer
- Images for orchestra
- 2 Dances for harp and orchestra
- Chansons de Bilitis
- Images, Book II
- Children's Corner
- Le petit negre
- Hommage a Haydn
- Morceau de Concours
Dvorak -
String Quartet No.12
Gade -
Morning song from
Elverskud
Grieg -
Ave, Maris Stella
Holmboe
- Symphonies 9 and 10
- Chamber Symphonies 2 and 3
- Cello Concerto
- Recorder Concerto
- Tuba Concerto
- Flute Concerto No.1
- Violin Concerto No.2
- Concerto giocondo e severo
- Tempo variabile
- Suite from 'The Ill-Tempered Turk'
- String Quartets 8 to 15
- Sextet
- Brass Quintet No.2
- Violin Sonata No.3
- Quartetto (for flute quartet)
- Nuigen for piano trio
- Triade for organ and trumpet
- Sonata for solo cello
- Contrasti for organ
- Beatus parvo
- Beatus vir
- Cantata profana, 'Frieze'
- Two Border Ballads
- Hyld (Elder tree)
Mozart -
Symphony No.29
Mozart -
Piano Sonatas 3 and 9
Nystedt -
Salve Regina
Poulenc
- Sextet
- Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
- Napoli
- Nocturnes
- Songs from Banalités and Chansons villageoises
Rachmaninov -
6 Songs, op.4
Schubert -
Die schöne Müllerin
Schubert -
Octet
Schumann -
Arabeske in C
Shostakovich
- Symphonies 8 and 9
- String Quartets 2 and 3
- Piano Trio No.2
Sibelius -
The Oceanides
Vine -
Symphony No.2
The Holmboe listening sped by, covering music composed between 1965 and 1978. It probably didn't hurt that some of Holmboe's (personally) most interesting and rewarding music is from this period, from the tail end of his 'avant-garde' phase through to the translucent pieces he wrote during the 1970s, and the sudden burst of concertos. There are definitely distinct periods in Holmboe's career where he was particularly focused on 1 or 2 forms of music.
If you want to sample some Holmboe, you could do a lot worse than hunting down the
Concerto giocondo e severo, which at 10 minutes long is not too taxing and neatly encapsulates the way that he handles an orchestra.
I also continued to listen to a fair amount of Debussy. I've put
La Mer at the top of the list because it's one of his big, famous orchestral pieces, but... the truth is I'm not sure I like it all that much. I've no reason to think the recording I have (Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) is poor - indeed there are plenty of other things on the same set that I like a great deal - it's just that for some reason the particular piece doesn't make a strong impression.
Chansons de Bilitis, on the other hand, which was a brand new piece for me in March, made a very favourable impression and I'm keen to get to know Debussy's vocal work better. For a long time I had no idea he wrote so many songs. While many of them were in the early stages of his career before his style fully formed, there are still a decent number of mature works and judging from this they are worth hearing.
I slowed down a little on Shostakovich (well, at least if you count the works I own recordings of, rather than ones I stream), but Symphony No.9 made a particularly positive impression as something quite different from the grand epics that preceded it. I'm beginning to realise that Shostakovich could write rather fun music when he chose to.
And having started with the exact same 3 composers as last month... I'm going to mention Dvorak. The 12th string quartet, known as the 'American', is one of his most popular works, and frankly in the past I've not appreciated it much. Standing alongside his other chamber works it seemed simplistic, and unjustly elevated over other pieces that didn't come with some kind of nickname or gimmick attached.
While I'm certainly not alone in perceiving that it is different in style to Dvorak's other quartets, with more of a straightforward melody-plus-accompaniment texture, the sheer quality of the melodies and what Dvorak does with them is actually quite impressive.
