July 2014 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (They will put you out of the synagogues (no.1))
• Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen (They will all come from Sheba)
• Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen (Jesus sleeps, what should I hope?)
• Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde (Blessed time of the new covenant)
• Violin Concerto No.2
• Brandenburg Concerto No.5
• Harpsichord Concerto No.1
• Oboe D'Amore Concerto in A (reconstruction - BWV 1055R) 

Bartok - Piano Concerto No.3
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.3
Bizet/Shchedrin - Adagio from The Carmen Ballet
Brahms - Piano Trio No.1
Chopin

• Fantaisie-Impromptu
• 3 Polonaises, op.posth.71
• Rondo in C, op.posth.73 

De Lisle - Le Marsellaise
Debussy - String Quartet
Debussy - Children's Corner
Diamond - Balcony Scene from Romeo and Juliet
Dvorak - Piano Trio No.3
Dvorak - String Quartet No.11 
Falla - Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Gliere - Waltz from Red Poppy Suite
Hanson - Symphony No.2, 2nd movement
Haydn - String Quartet in E flat, op.64/6
Holmboe

• Symphony No.12
• Violin Concerto No.2
• String Quartet No.5
• Liber Canticorum, Books V, Va and Vb 

Hovhaness - Four Bagatelles for string quartet, op.30
Kancheli - Styx (excerpt)
Korngold - main title music for Captain Blood
Liszt - Festklänge
Liszt - Heroide Funebre
Mozart - Piano Sonatas 3, 13 and 17
Myslivicek - Dunque Licide ingrato from L'Olimpiade
Obradors - Del Cabello mas sutil
Poulenc

• Flute Sonata
• Elegie for horn and piano
• Improvisations 13 and 14
• Novelette on a theme of Falla 

Purcell - Chacony in G minor
Rachmaninov - Etudes-Tableaux, op.39
Scarlatti, D. - Keyboard sonatas, K.8, 25, 29, 113, 141, 173, 259, 523
Schubert - Piano Trio No.1
Schumann

• Piano Trio No.2
• Waldszenen (Forest Scenes)
• Introduction and Allegro appassionato in G for piano and orchestra
• Tragoedie, op.64/3 

Shostakovich - String Quartet No.8
Sibelius - Symphonies 1 to 4
Sibelius - Finlandia
Simpson - Symphony No.9
Strauss, R.

• Metamorphosen
• Oboe Concerto
• 1st and 2nd Waltz Suites from Der Rosenkavalier

Telemann - Tafelmusik Volume 3
Vine - String Quartets 4 and 5
Vine - Knips Suite (String Quartet No.1), 2 movements
Vivaldi -In turbato mare irato (In an angry, rough sea)
Vivaldi - Sum in medio tempestatum (I am in the midst of stormy weather)
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PHEW!

That is a big list. One of the reasons for that is that July was one of the times I went through the spreadsheet to find some of the odds and ends that I hadn't listened to since 2009, when I started that system. So there are a few things on here that are from sampler CDs.

I also went through one of those phases of trying to better catalogue what I own... right about the same time as going through an exhausting process of deciding what to add to my collection (the fruits of which you still start seeing in the next classical entry). And that led to obsessive-compulsive behaviour like identifying all the string quartets I have, and all the piano trios, and all the symphonies...

It does add up. And naturally, I started listening to some of them (especially trios). One of the benefits of building a collection is that you can make your own little concert programs in the comfort of your own home.

Alongside all of that was my continuing thematic or chronological explorations of various composers, some new additions to that process, and various 'just because' ideas when I got sick of all of that.

My progression through the Bach cantata recordings by Maasaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan reached an interesting stage. Volume 21 is the last volume to have works from Bach's first year of employment in Leipzig, and they saved a couple of exceptionally colourful works until the end. Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen is about the arrival of the three wise men and uses different instruments to sound 'oriental'. Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen is based on the story of Jesus calming a storm, and the waves being whipped up are vividly portrayed.

July was also when I finished listening to Holmboe's Liber Canticorum, his collection of choral works written to Latin versions of passages from the Old Testament. I think it'll take some more listening before these appeal to me as much as his instrumental works, but I did enjoy them and certainly wasn't disappointed.

The biggest highlight of the month, though, was probably my reacquaintance with Sibelius' first four symphonies. I couldn't tell you why it's been so long since I last listened to these (it's been even longer for the symphonies yet to come), because there's a lot of truly fantastic music in there. Sibelius knows how to use an orchestra, and knows how to build structures and create drama from them. Of these, the 4th symphony continues to be my favourite, but the first two did a particularly good job this time around of reminding me how good they are.

July 2014 - Popular Music

Tori Amos

• Little Earthquakes
• American Doll Posse
• Gold Dust
• Unrepentant Geraldines

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Bryan Duncan - Mercy
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Pearl Jam - No Code
Radiohead

• The Bends
• Hail to the Thief
• In Rainbows

Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science

I made a brief mention of the album Emperor's Box when I first bought it last December (it was actually released in 2010), and wondered whether it would rival Katie Noonan's previous work with the band 'george' in my affections.

I think the answer is yes.

My growing familiarity with the album has brought it to the point where I know the overall shape of the songs, and can listen to the album in a more flowing way. Last month I found myself really, really enjoying the listening experience and wanting to repeat it.

The second of george's two albums, Unity, has arguably held a place as my 'favourite album released in the last decade' for quite some time, but it was released in 2004 and there needs to be a new contender. I don't know whether Emperor's Box is the replacement. For one thing, it's been such a long time since I've embarked on the painstaking and exhausting exercise of trying to rank my favourite albums that I've no idea where anything stands or what the contenders are (first rule: no more than one album per artist, so before we reach the main round there have to be sub-battles for Something for Kate, Radiohead and Patty Griffin at least). Secondly, I'm sure there are other serious contenders from the period, such as Fiona Apple's Idler Wheel and Radiohead's In Rainbows (if it survives the in-house contest...).

What I do know, though, is that Emperor's Box is very much a successor to Unity in terms of aesthetics and inventiveness. There's the same desire to play with the musical palette and come up with different combinations of sounds, with acoustic instruments blending with electric and electronic ones. There's the same desire to let the music flow and pulse and avoid square, flat-footed rhythms. There's the same emotional range with songs that sound passionate, even angry mixed with songs that are tender lullabies (although it's rather startling to read the lyrics of the fierce rocker 'Page One' and discover it's actually a wedding night love song).

I don't know if it's the best album to enter my collection in recent years, but I do know it's an album I'd recommend to anyone as well worth hearing, and it seems to be getting richer with more listens.

June 2014 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (I) (They will put you out of the synagogues)
• Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten (I) (If a man loves me, he will keep my words)
• Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut (Elevated flesh and blood)

Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Berwald - Piano Trio No.1 (2nd movement)
Brahms - Piano Trio No.2
Faure

• Violin Sonatas 1 and 2
• Cello Sonatas 1 and 2
• Piano Quartets 1 and 2
• Piano Quintets 1 and 2
• Piano Trio
• String Quartet
• Elegie for cello and piano
• Romance for cello and piano
• Papillon for cello and piano
• Sicilienne for cello and piano
• Serenade for cello and piano

Holmboe - Liber Canticorum, Book IV
Poulenc - Sonata for 2 pianos
Scarlatti, D. - Keyboard sonatas, K.11, 268, 386 and 387
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Piano Trio No.1
Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
Strauss, R. - Don Quixote
Strauss, R. - Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)
Tchaikovsky - Music from The Sleeping Beauty (two separate arrangements)
Vine - String Quartets 2 and 3

Yes, all the Faure kept coming out to play. At the start of the month it was still complete works. Later on it became movements on their own, and after that it ended up just being the 'slow' movements (some Adagios, but many of them Andantes) on their own.

And it was bliss.

But as well as that some normal service was resumed. There were some existing favourites, such as Poulenc's sonata (which was a highlight of my first run-through the box of Poulenc recordings I own), and Schumann's piano concerto which was one of the first concertos I took an immediate shine to.

There were also some new potential favourites. I've heard The Swan of Tuonela before, but I was paying a lot more attention this time and was very impressed. Sibelius is a master orchestrator. Every bit his equal, but in a different way, is Richard Strauss. Again, I'd heard both Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben before, but this time I read a bit more programmatic information and was astounded at how vivid some parts of each of these works is.  In Don Quixote the episode with the sheep is brilliant and the use of a wind machine astounding. And the part of Ein Heldenleben that takes a swipe at music critics is downright funny.

June 2014 - Popular Music

Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Joni Mitchell - Clouds
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
Pearl Jam - Vs
Radiohead - OK Computer

Fairly slim pickings here, really.  So let's talk about OK Computer. Partly because it seems I haven't talked about it specifically before, and partly because I was surprised how long it was since I had last listened to it.

In full, that is. I strongly suspect that this is one of those albums that's been on my player at work, and I've been interrupted, and I haven't gone back to it. That happens to me fairly frequently in general (more than I'd like, but, you know, they're not paying me to listen to music and if something comes up that requires me to speak to other human beings instead of just quietly work away at my desk, the music has to take second priority), but it's especially difficult when listening to a rich, dense album.

Let's face it, OK Computer has been talked about an enormous amount since it first came out in 1997. It's one of the more acclaimed albums in rock music history. I think that's not only because it's good, but because in some ways it was unexpected.

I don't have my figure on the pulse of current, up-to-date music in the way that music journalists supposedly do, so I can't tell you what music generally sounded like in 1997, and therefore I can't tell you whether OK Computer was unlike anything else on the market. I do sometimes get that impression from what's been written about it. It also was frequently praised for somehow tapping into the zeitgeist, or even being ahead of the curve: a 21st century album written before the 21st century began. Lyrically, there are hints of a high-speed, impersonal and isolating world that certainly do seem relevant to our age of technology.

What I can say for myself is that I'm fairly sure this album was unexpected from Radiohead. Their first album was that of a fairly average rock band, all set for one-hit wonder status. It's difficult to remember any song besides 'Creep' and it's difficult to muster up much interest in listening again - apparently, I haven't sat through Pablo Honey since I started this blog.

Their second album, The Bends, is a vast leap in quality. It's a fine record, but it's a fine record from a fairly straight-ahead rock band that sounds like it wants to fill arenas. Actually that's probably not entirely fair, as the album does have lots of nice touches that aren't completely straightforward, and point in the direction of later Radiohead if you already know what you're looking for.

But back in 1997, people didn't already know what later Radiohead sounded like. And what OK Computer sounded like was a vast collage of sounds. Layer upon distorted layer. 'Airbag' opens proceedings with processed drums, jangling guitars and something that sounds like sleigh bells. 'Paranoid Android' throws in a computerised voice and changes sound and pace multiple times. 'Subterranean Homesick Alien' features great washes of keyboard sound, and so it goes on.

There are times when it's quite difficult to work out what sort of instrument is used, as acoustic, electric and electronic contributions collide. 'Climbing Up The Walls' features the scariest string section you can imagine.

Every song contributes something a little different, and pretty well every song is a winner. My favourite, though, has always been 'Let Down'.  The melody line of the song is sheer genius, with steps constantly falling downwards even while each sequence manages to take the melody slightly higher than before. Each of the 3 verses has a different melodic shape, with the last of the 3 expanding gloriously into a kind of ecstasy. Somehow, a song with lyrics about the 'emptiest of feelings' and being 'crushed like a bug in the ground' ends up being one of the most achingly beautiful and uplifting things I've ever heard.

May 2014 - Classical Music

Dvorak - String Quartets 10 and 13
Faure

• Violin Sonatas 1 and 2
• Cello Sonatas 1 and 2
• Piano Quartets 1 and 2
• Piano Quintets 1 and 2
• Piano Trio
• String Quartet

It was a difficult month.

I stopped listening to classical music for a couple of weeks, roughly coinciding with the start of the month. And then the month got more difficult on a personal level, and I found myself anxiously searching for music that would both express my mood and change it.

And I grabbed for the chamber music of Gabriel Faure.

All 10 of his large-scale works ended up loaded onto my iPhone. There were times in the last 6 or 7 weeks when I listened to little else. I drowned myself in these masterpieces. I listened over and over again, hoping to grasp every note. In some cases I ended up listening while reading the score.

This was actually the first time I'd ever listened to the string quartet, which was Faure's last work, because I decided to save it for the end of my chronological journey through his compositions. That started in September 2012, by the way, so that's... 21 months of occasional listening to get to the end of his career. With 60+ years of music.

There are still more works to collect, choral music in particular. I still don't even own a copy of the Requiem which for many people seems to be the one work of Faure's that they do own! Aside from that there are a few violin works, a couple for harp, two operas and various incidental music (some of which I'm not even sure is recorded).

I suspect, though, that it will always be this chamber music that I'm drawn to, with its subtle interplay of lines, its constant evolution, its yearning, its passion. There are 34 movements here, and it's difficult to find a weak one anywhere. There's certainly enough quality to sustain many hours of listening.

May 2014 - Popular Music

Tori Amos

• Little Earthquakes
• Under the Pink
• From the choirgirl hotel
• Unrepentant Geraldines

Avicii - iTunes New Year's Eve Mix
Joe Cocker - The Essential Collection
Patty Griffin - American Kid
Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Janelle Monae - Metropolis Suites II and III
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Over the Rhine - Ohio

Yes, a new Tori Amos album came out. Yes, I like it. A lot. Any surprises there?

Unrepentant Geraldines is warm, relaxed, confident, small-scale and intimate. It's entirely a family affair, with Amos and her husband performing all the instruments, and their daughter contributing one guest vocal. A highly impressive guest vocal, one might add.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about the album is that it generally hides this relative lack of resources extremely well. It's true that there are far more solo piano songs on here than on previous albums, but in no way does it come across as "I'm doing solo piano because I haven't got any choice". For one thing, the solo piano songs are uncommonly good, with 'Weatherman' and 'Oysters' being among the very best tracks on the album.

In addition, the album is perfectly capable of sounding rich and full when that is called for. 'Wedding Day' certainly creates the illusion of a whole band playing.

That's about all I have to say about it at the moment. Like all Tori Amos albums, there's a sense that it'll take some time to really delve into all the nuances and know the album as much as I'd like to. That's a large part of why I enjoy her music so much.

Plus, I won't lie: right now I want to get a post or two out of the way here...

April 2014 - Classical Music

Bach, J.S.

• Du Hirte Israel, höre (Hear you shepherd of Israel)
• Wo gehest du hin? (Where are you going to?)
• Erwünschtes Freudenlicht (Awaited light of joy)
• Violin Partita No.2

Bartok - Piano Concerto No.2
Bartok - Violin Concerto No.2
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.14, 1st movement
Brahms

• Double Concerto
• Clarinet Sonata No.2
• Piano Pieces, op.119

Dvorak - Piano Trios 3 and 4
Dvorak - Piano Quartet No.2
Faure

• Piano Trio in D minor
• Nocturne No.13
• L'horizon chimérique 

Holmboe - Liber Canticorum, Book III
Mozart - Symphony No.40
Mozart - Quintet for Piano and Winds
Poulenc

• Violin Sonata
• Theme varie
• Capriccio for 2 pianos
• L'Embarquement pour Cythère 

Rachmaninov

• Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
• Symphony No.3
• Symphonic Dances

Ravel

• Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
• Piano Concerto in G
• Violin Sonata No.2

Schubert - Piano Trio No.2
Schumann - Dichterliebe
Schumann - Der arme Peter
Sibelius - En Saga
Sibelius - Karelia Suite
Simpson - Symphony No.8
Strauss, R. - Also sprach Zarathustra
Strauss, R. - Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Suk - Elegy in D flat (piano trio version)
Symanowski - Masques
Tchaikovsky - Pezzo capriccioso
Tchaikovsky - March from The Seasons
Vine - String Quartet No.3
Vivaldi

• Canta in prato, ride in monte (Sing in the meadow, smile on the mountain), RV 623
• In furore iustissimae irae (In wrath and most just anger)
• O qui caeli terraeque serenitas (You are the tranquility of heaven and earth)

Walton - String Quartet in A minor

There is some marvellous music here, but I find myself not really inclined to say much about it. I delayed this post partly in the hope of finding more to write, but various circumstances mean that hasn't happened.

The one thing perhaps most worth mentioning is the string quartet from Carl Vine, from a disc performed by the Goldner Quartet. This was a new purchase, of a CD that had been on my Christmas list. The desire for it was partly driven by this article, which includes the strongest recommendation imaginable from the composer himself.

And the third quartet is, in the hands of the Goldners, electrifying stuff.

Vine's name has always stuck in my mind since I first heard his first piano sonata, performed in the Sydney International Piano Competition. It's a great piece, and every now and then something would happen to remind me of it. I've heard little else of Vine's work, but that piano sonata was enough to consistently draw me back in curiosity.

But it's taken a decade or more for that curiosity to translate into a purchase. I haven't even listened to the rest of the disc yet, but it already seems a worthwhile purchase. I listened to the third quartet over and over again, across several days...and kept wanting to have another go. To be astonished at the sheer speed at which the outer sections flash by, to be gripped by the virtuosity, feeling that it was nevertheless musical virtuosity.

I'm only just getting a taste of who Vine is as a composer. It seems that he is quite intellectual in some ways, but it also seems to me that this is not an arid kind of intellectualism. There is force and passion.

I'm looking forward to hearing more.