December 2013 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S. - Wachet! Betet! Betet! Wachet! (Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch!)
Bach, J.S. - French Suites 3 and 5
Barber - Canzone for flute and piano
Barber - Despite and Still
Beethoven - Meeresstille und glueckliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage)
Beethoven - 11 Bagatelles, op.119
Chopin - Nocturnes, opuses 9, 15, 32 and 62
Faure - Le jardin clos (The walled garden)
Faure - Barcarolle No.11
Holmboe

• Violin Concerto No.2
• Flute Concerto No.2
• Recorder Concerto
• Concerto for Orchestra
• Preludes 5 to 10 for chamber orchestra
• Epitaph
• Epilog
• Tempo variabile
• Primavera
• Quartetto Medico
• Aspects
• Quartetto, op.90
• Sextet
• Music with Horn
• Gioco
• Ballata
• Eco
• Sonata for solo flute
• Sonata for solo cello

Mozart - Piano Sonatas 17 and 18
Poulenc

• 3 Pastorales
• Sonata for piano, 4 hands
• Trois Mouvements perpétuels
• Valse for Album des Six
• Suite pour piano
• 5 Impromptus
• Promenades
• Napoli
• Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano

Rachmaninov - Symphony No.2
Rachmaninov - The Isle of the Dead
Ravel - Daphnis and Chloe
Scarlatti, D. - Keyboard Sonatas - K.3, 9, 17, 24, 213, 214, 257, 380, 404 and 519
Schubert - Symphony No.5
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in C, D.279 and 840 (both unfinished)
Schumann - Piano Sonata No.2
Schumann - Humoreske in B flat
Simpson - Symphonies 7 and 11

I rounded off my listening to new Holmboe, and threw in a few chamber works I already had for good measure. Of the new works, the violin and flute concertos were both big hits, and I was also particularly satisfied with Epitaph and the Sextet (which is for 3 winds and 3 strings). Some of the others will require a little more attention. The orchestral preludes are very good but tend to blur into each other at this stage.

My long-delayed chronological exploration of the relatively small amount of Mozart I own was completed, with the last two piano sonatas. There's no denying the increased sophistication of his compositions with age, and it's certainly a great pity he didn't live longer. I definitely need to buy quite a few more works, most likely starting with piano concertos and the mature string quartets.

Having got to the end of my Poulenc box set of piano and chamber music, I very soon went back to listen to the works again, this time chronologically. The very earliest pieces are not especially great in my opinion, but it didn't take all that long to reach some charming music. The trio for oboe, bassoon and piano, which is as far as I've got in this new traversal, is a lovely thing to listen to.

And finally, it's worth saying what a fine work The Isle of the Dead is. Symphonic poems are all about painting a picture in the mind, and in this case the music is wonderfully vivid. It unfolds at a slow pace, but each time I listened I found myself being transported, as if I was slowing down to fit in with Rachmaninov's music.

-------------------------------------------

The 2013 census was made slightly more difficult by a change in the way I keep records, but the final count is 383 different recordings. That's up on last year despite a lengthy period where classical music listening was quite limited. Holmboe was the winner with 68 entries, concentrated in a couple of major binges!

Obviously, the length of these works varies far more than with pop albums, so Dvorak's 70-minute (and rather exhausting) third string quartet counts the same as a Scarlatti keyboard sonata lasting less than 2 minutes. I can only take the music as I find it!

December 2013 - Popular Music

Beyonce - Beyonce
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
John Mayer - Paradise Valley
Katie Noonan & the Captains - Emperor's Box
Radiohead - Kid A
Radiohead - In Rainbows

A little flourish of new music at the very end of the year thanks to Christmas - either gifts, bought with gift money or spotted for myself while shopping!

Katie Noonan's album was a long-intended purchase. She was one member of george, a band responsible for just about my favourite album of the last decade.  Since then she has explored a variety of styles, but I knew this particular album was the most george-like work she had done. So far so good, although really after only a few listens I can't say whether this will match previous work in my affections.

John Mayer in Paradise Valley appears very much like John Mayer in Born and Raised, although it's perhaps a bit more straightforward and less adventurous than the previous album. Then again it might reveal a bit more with further listening. At this stage, one of the most impressive things on here is the duet with Katy Perry, mainly because of how different she sounds - as one review said, she has warmth here that is nothing like her usual highly-produced pop.

The big surprise purchase, with Christmas money, was Beyonce.  I won't lie, the concept and method of delivery drew me in to begin with. Here was a singer explicitly saying 'this is an album, I want it thought of as a complete unit'. That's always a positive for me.  But then, as I watched 30-second samples of the videos, I was impressed. Then I read reviews saying how this was some of her finest work. Then I listened to 90-second audio samples on iTunes and was still impressed.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my life that I bought an album, and the first thing I did was sit down to watch it.

And you know what? I'm still quite impressed. After that first 'viewing' I've tended to focus more on the CD version. There are some differences, and it's actually nice to see that occasionally it's the audio version that is longer, not the visual version, but on the whole it plays/feels like the same work. That in itself is to be applauded.  But really the main point is there's some pretty good music here. It's not remotely what I could my 'normal' listening genre, and I wouldn't say I love all of it, but I do like all of it and it's constantly interesting and engaging. I find myself wanting to return to it to have another listen and explore further. I'd say that's a big win on Beyonce's part, in my little corner of the world.

---------------------------------------------

The tally for 2013 is in and it says I only listened in full to 73 pop recordings. Take away a few bits and pieces and it's just 65 albums. That's way lower than previous years. The reasons why include being away for a lengthy period, and probably a bigger focus on classical music. Still, I'm surprised and not pleased. There's plenty of other good music to be listening to.

November 2013 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes (For this purpose the Son of God was manifested)
• Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen (O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me)
• O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (O Eternity, you thunderous word)
• Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim (How can I give you up, Ephraim)
• Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf meinem Unglauben (Lord I believe, help my unbelief)

Barber

• Adagio for Strings
• Summer Music
• Nocturne (Homage to John Field)

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 31 and 32
Bernstein - Overture to 'Candide'
Bridge - Dance Poem
Bridge - Allegro moderato for string orchestra
Chopin

• Two Nocturnes, op.27
• Waltz in A flat, op.42
• Three Mazurkas, op.63 

Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Dvorak - Slavonic Dance No.9 (orchestral version)
Enescu -Romanian Rhapsody No.1
Faure

• Nine Preludes
• Nocturnes 9 and 10
• Barcarolle No.9
• Impromptu No.5
• Serenade for cello and piano

Giazotto - Adagio in G minor
Hindemith - Kammermusik Nos. 4 and 5
Holmboe

• Symphonies 2 to 5, 13
• Chamber Symphonies 1 and 2
• Sinfonia 3
• Viola Concerto
• Flute Concerto No.1
• Preludes 1 to 4 for chamber orchestra 
• String Quartets 2, 4, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19 and 20
• Violin Sonatas 1 to 3
• Trombone Sonata
• Sonata for solo flute
• Quartetto, op.90
• Aspects
• Monolith
• Tempo variabile
•  Haiduc (Marauders)
• Bagatelle No.1 'Arabesque'

Honegger - Cello Concerto
Humperdinck - Overture to 'Hansel and Gretel'
Janacek - Sinfonietta
Thomas Linley the Younger - Overture to 'The Duenna' 
Mahler - Songs of a Wayfarer
Mozart - Symphonies 40 and 41
Poulenc - Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
Poulenc - Clarinet Sonata 
Rachmaninov - Cello Sontat
Rachmaninov - 10 Preludes, op.23 
Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in A flat, F sharp minor and A, D.557, 571 and 664
Schumann - Fantasy in C
Schumann - Arabeske in C
Simpson - Symphony No.2 
Strauss, R. - Oboe Concerto
Vivaldi

• Laudate Dominum, RV 606
• Laetatus sum, RV 607
• Nisi Dominus in G minor, RV 608

Walton - Cello Concerto
Walton - Orb and Sceptre

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It happened again. I went completely Holmboe-mad.

I think it was stress-related, but whatever the precise cause,  I just had this moment where I knew specifically that I wanted to listen to Holmboe. Over the course of the next few days, not only did I listen to a sizable slice of the recordings I already had, I also ordered 6 new CDs. Which arrived in time for me to listen to about a third during the month.

Of the new pieces, the pick thus far would probably be the Viola Concerto. Fascinating music from late in Holmboe's life, but also a thrillingly good recording. It positively jumps out of the speakers.

There was another new purchase for the month, only it was really an old one... one of my early classical cassettes was an Andre Previn recording simply called 'Classical Favourites'. I believe it's culled from a couple of albums released when he had a television show (a fairly remarkable thing for a conductor when you think about it).  I haven't listened to the cassette for years, but I did love it and had long had a vague idea I should try getting it on CD. I finally acted, after some random thought about Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice reminded me just how long it was since I had heard that marvelous work. Other highlights of the disc include Barber's Adagio and Enescu's Rhapsody, but really the whole thing is a great listen.

I listened to more of the Bach cantatas, and BWV 60, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort was a highlight.  It's full of dialogue between different voices, rather than solos, and I found that helped it tell a dramatic 'story'.

I finally reached the end of my set of Bridge's orchestral works, having proceeded chronologically, and immediately thought about going back to listen to the works in the order they're actually presented in the set. So many silly completist plans, so little time...

This is all rather bits-and-pieces and not my finest writing, but the last thing I want to mention is the relatively late Faure piano music I've now reached. On one wonderful evening, I played the nocturnes, barcarolle and impromptu listed above, written in 1908 and 1909, and arranged them almost as a kind of romantic sonata. Except it wasn't that 'romantic' - Faure by this time was writing music that is more austere and often more knotty than his earlier work. And it's glorious stuff.

November 2013 - Popular Music

Tori Amos - Gold Dust
Paula Cole - This Fire
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
Over the Rhine - Ohio
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance 

I wasn't listening to pop music a lot during the month, and when I was I was tending to go for tried and true classics.

In one case, Gold Dust,  it wasn't a classic album but a selection of classic songs. Which I was pleased to discover I enjoyed quite a lot. I hadn't listened to the album for quite a while, since the initial period of listening when it was first released.

All the other albums were basically things that I could be confident of enjoying. I wasn't in a very exploratory mood (at least, not in popular music).  I'm still conscious of the fact that I haven't completely catalogued my pop collection in the period since I started keeping records (now getting towards 3 years), much less listened to everything that's in there. And so there's a large untapped reservoir to tackle... when I feel more inclined to tackle it.

It's also perhaps worth mentioning, not for the first time, that for pop music I generally only keep track of albums.  Or more accurately, complete discs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which means that the above list doesn't reflect a song I became completely obsessed with during the month: Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake'.

And Glee's 'Wide Awake'. Yes, the show did it to me again. As far as I know I had never heard the song before its Glee appearance. But unlike previous times, I didn't end up deciding either that Glee didn't really live up to the original OR that Glee had rescued a beautiful song from overproduction.  No, this time, I became completely obsessed with two distinct versions of the same song.

And bought them both.

...I had no idea how much longer it was possible to extend an obsession with a song if one has two different versions to switch between.

Now, on the whole, I don't really like Katy Perry all that much.  The occasional song attracts some admiration.  Bizarrely, I had read this Katy Perry review a short while before hearing 'Wide Awake', which mentions the song as one of her finest. Given that much of the review fits my thoughts about Perry more generally (including mentioning 'Hot n Cold' as another of one her strong moments), I perhaps should have paid more attention. But it didn't occur to me to hunt out this song I'd never heard because... well, because it was a Katy Perry song and I don't spend a lot of time hunting out Katy Perry songs.

Instead, the song found me. And lodged in my brain. And tapped into surprising emotions - mostly to do with a previous relationship which ended some time ago, but which I was reevaluating more recently in the light of subsequent behaviour.

This little pop song, in some ways ridiculously simple in its construction (4 chords going around and around and never hitting a proper resolution) first struck me for its beautiful sound, and stayed with me as much for its lyrics. It gave my feelings voice. And I played it again and again, declaring that I was over the relationship while secretly knowing that was a lie, and hoping that sheer repetition would turn it into the truth. And marvelling at how the song could bear both interpretations.

Well played, manufactured pop industry. Well played.

October 2013 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft (Now is come salvation and strength)
• Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben (You shall love the Lord your God)
• Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens (Give to the Lord the glory due to his name)
• French Suite No.6

Barber

• Hermit Songs
• Melodies Passageres
• Souvenirs (solo piano version, 2 movements only)

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.30
Bridge

• Phantasm
• Rebus
• Todessehnsucht (string orchestra version)
• A Royal Night of Variety

Delibes - Coppelia
Dvorak - Cello Concerto
Faure - La chanson d'Eve
Faure - Barcarolle No.8
Haydn - Piano Trio No.30
Hindemith - Kammermusik Nos. 2 and 3
Janacek - Glagolitic Mass
Liszt - From the Cradle to the Grave
Mahler - Piano Quartet movement
Mozart - Symphony No.39
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.16
Poulenc

• Sextet
• Elegie for horn and piano
• Improvisation No.15

Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No.2
Ravel - Sonatine
Ravel - Miroirs
Scarlatti, D. - Keyboard sonatas - K.1, 27, 283, 284, 443
Schubert - Piano Sonata in E, D.157 (unfinished)
Schumann - Kreisleriana
Schumann - Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)
Vivaldi

• Beatus vir in B flat
• Laudate pueri in C minor
• Laudate pueri in A

I'm continuing to revisit the Vivaldi sacred music that I originally bought in 2011, with a more systematic approach. The C minor version of Laudate pueri (Psalm 113 or 112, depending on which denomination's Bible you're using), was a particular highlight. That's mostly thanks to the singing of Susan Gritton on the version that I have, which is incredibly beautiful, particularly in a couple of the slow movements.

Someone has put the whole performance on Youtube. I've only put the second half in here, partly because it happens to start with one of the movements that I find especially magical - it's just over 2 minutes of utter bliss. If you want to hear the whole thing, I'm sure you can manage it!

Some excellent Samuel Barber works were on the October listening schedule. Melodies passageres (which I think are his only songs not in English) was improved from all my previous listens simply because this time I had access to a translation!  But I like the Hermit Songs even better. They are in turns visionary and humorous.

But the things I probably listened to most enthusiastically, and several times over, were the Ravel piano works.  In my chronological revisiting of Ravel, I've reached works that really mark him, for me, as one of the great composers for piano. Sonatine is a piece of great clarity and beauty, showing Ravel's liking for combining old and new styles.  Miroirs is... well, it's a masterpiece.  Five wonderful pieces full of atmosphere, character and amazing harmonies. He turns a piano into fluttering moths, bird calls, a rolling ocean, a Spanish guitar, and tolling bells - and it all works.

October 2013 - Popular Music

Tori Amos

• The Beekeeper
• American Doll Posse
• Audience bootlegs - Seattle 17 July 1996 (early show), Seattle 26 July 2003, Seattle 22 April 2005, Seattle 5 December 2007

Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Brooke Fraser - What to do with Daylight
Garbage - Garbage
Gomez - How We Operate
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
k d lang - Invincible Summer
Wendy Matthews - Lily
John Mayer - Born and Raised
Moloko - Statues
Simply Red - Picture Book
Sons of Korah - Shelter
Tears for Fears - The Seeds of Love
Thom Yorke - The Eraser

I have a weirdly schizophrenic view of this month's list.  On the one hand I have a certain sense of listening to the same old things - even though in some cases the statistics tell me it's quite a while since the last full listen to the same album.  I think that's partly because I'm conscious at the moment of how much of my pop music collection still hasn't been catalogued properly, which is arguably preventing me from being more deliberate in getting to some of the more hidden corners of the collection.

On the other hand, there are a couple of things on here that feel like I'm being reunited with old friends.  I hadn't listened to Invincible Summer for a tremendously long time simply because I didn't have it in my possession. I lent it to a family member and the loan became rather long-term.  It's easily my favourite of the several k d lang albums that I know. It has a lovely warmth to it (pun intended), and just feels like a nicely consistent record in terms of tone and quality - although the opening track, 'The Consequences of Falling', has its own peculiar ability to get stuck in my head.

The opening track of Shelter has that ability to, thanks almost entirely to one small section of the song.  It's actually a little amazing to me that Sons of Korah have been out of listening circulation for me for as long as this.  They are an Australian Christian band whose work consists entirely of sung versions of Biblical psalms.  That might sound extremely limiting, but what's superb about them is their sensitivity to the words of each text.  Songs change mood and tempo in a way that frequently feels very organic.

Shelter is, by their own description, a particularly melancholic and introspective album. I'm a couple of albums behind now, but of the ones I have it's also one of the ones I respond to the most (the other being the much brighter Redemption Songs).  The first track, 'Contend', their version of Psalm 35, is a pretty good indication of much of the mood of this particular album, but also encapsulates the band's overall sound quite well.

And then, 2 minutes in, is the utterly glorious moment where the music opens up...

[For some mysterious reason, Blogger and Youtube absolutely refuse to let me link to the full, 5-minute version of the song. So here's a version that's missing about the last 2 minutes.]

And then, there's Picture Book.  Which I have managed to listen to occasionally in the last couple of years, but haven't talked about here.  Opinions vary wildly on the quality of Simply Red, and for my own part I think they did a lot of not especially inspired things.  But when I got to know this first album properly, quite some years after its release, I was thoroughly impressed by its quality.

I already knew quite a few songs because there were some big hits - none bigger than 'Holding Back the Years' - but there really isn't a single weak track on the whole album. There's some great jazz-oriented tracks, a couple of excellent fast ones, a couple of very nicely done covers that you wouldn't necessarily know are covers, long songs, short songs... everything contributes to keeping it interesting.  It's definitely one of my favourite albums from the 1980s, and when I first tried to do my own 'official' top 10 albums list it scored an entry.  It would still rank pretty highly now, over a decade later.

September 2013 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Ich hatter viel Bekümmernis (I had many afflictions) - 1723 version
• Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe (There is no health in my body)
• Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei (Behold and see, if there is any sorrow)
• Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget (Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us)
• Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele I (Praise the Lord, O my soul, No.1)
• Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and mouth and deed and life)

Barber

• Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
• Excursions
• Nuvoletta

Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 28 and 29
Beethoven - Cello Sonatas 4 and 5 
Brahms - Horn Trio
Bridge

• Enter Spring
• Oration
• Phantasm 

Dvorak

• Symphony No.9
• Cypresses for string quartet
• Songs my Mother Taught Me (transcribed for violin)

Faure

• Piano Quintet No.1
• Barcarolle No.7
• Impromptu No.4
• Le don silencieux
• Chanson
• Vocalise-etude 

Janacek - Říkadla (Nursery Rhymes) - choral version
Janacek - Suite for string orchestra
Liszt - Faust Symphony
Liszt - Anees de Pelerinage, Third Year
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.15
Poulenc

• Sonata for 2 pianos
• Sonata for piano, 4 hands
• Violin Sonata  

Rachmaninov

• Symphony No.1
• Suites 1 and 2 for 2 pianos
• Prelude in C sharp minor for piano

Ravel

• String Quartet
• Jeux d'eau
• Pavane pour une infante defunte (original piano version and orchestral version)

Schumann - Carnaval
Schumann - Symphonic Etudes
Vivaldi - Ascende laeta (Gladly climb) with Dixit Dominus, RV 595


My approach of listening to some composers chronologically seemed to be hitting some very rewarding moments in several cases this month.

Of all the magical things that Faure composed, his first piano quintet is one that holds an extremely special place for me.  It sometimes seems to be regarded as a difficult work - difficult for the composer, who took many years to complete it, and difficult for the listener because of it's somewhat withdrawn and reticent nature.  But it's exactly that reticence that makes me adore it.  This is not the music of big, grand tunes, but something inhabiting a deep inner world.

Beethoven is heading that way, too, as my listening reached the works that seem to be generally regarded as marking the start of his late style.  There's certainly a lot of inner depth here, although piano sonata no.29, the 'Hammerklavier' has its showy side too.

And then there's Bridge.  All three works I listened to this month are considered to be pretty major works from Bridge's later, more modern period.  Oration, which is essentially a cello concerto, is often considered the pick of the bunch, but while I did enjoy it I responded to it less than the other two.  I found Phantasm, essentially a piano concerto, to be particularly appealing.  It seems I may have a thing for single-movement piano and orchestra works from this period, as I've realised that Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand are nearly contemporaneous.  Rhapsody in Blue isn't that far off in chronology either.

I haven't been listening to Poulenc chronologically, but I'm continuing to notice a trend of appreciating some of the later works, and the Sonata for 2 pianos is probably the first larger-scale work I've listened to from that period, and also one of the best yet.  I'm definitely intending to explore this composer's later years more extensively once I've finished with the current set.

Elsewhere, from composers where I'm not focused on late works, Barber delivered a very nice surprise with the Excursions for piano.  I'm sure I've listened to these before, but probably in the midst of a lot of other pieces without the same sense of focus.  This time I thoroughly enjoyed the work, and was particularly taken with the second piece, 'in slow blues tempo'.

Hope you are too.