Classical Music - April 2016

Alfven - Och Jungfrun hon gar i ringen (The Maiden walks in the ring)
Bach, J.S. - Orchestral Suite No.1
Beethoven

• Sextet for horns and strings
• String Quartet No.5
• Piano Trio No.2
• Cello Sonatas 1 and 2
• Horn Sonata
• Piano Sonata No.3

Britten - The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Chopin

• 2 Nocturnes, op.55
• 3 Mazurkas, op.56
• Moderato in E

Debussy

• Premiere Rhapsodie for clarinet (orchestral version)
  
• Jeux
• Khamma (piano version)
• Preludes, books I and II
• La plus que lente 

de la Halle - Madrigal
Dvorak

• Scherzo capriccioso
• In Nature's Realm
• Carnival
• Piano Quintet No.3
• String Quartets 13 and 14 

Faure - Mirages
Franck - Violin Sonata
Grieg - Sangerhilsen (Singers greeting)
Haydn - Piano trio in D, Hob XV: 24
Holmboe

• Symphony No.11
• Flute Concerto No.2
• Preludes 1 to 4 for chamber orchestra
• String Quartets 16 to 20
• Gioco
• Ballata
• Music with Horn
• Two Sarvig Psalms
• Hominis dies
• Laudate dominum
• Brúgvar (Bridges)

Janacek - Capriccio
Kodaly - Sonata for solo cello 
Milhaud - Psalm 121
Mozart

• Symphony No.41
• String Quartet No.15
• Piano Sonata No.11 

Nielsen - Aftenstemming (Evening Mood)
Palm - Under ronn och syren (Beneath mountain ash and lilac)
Poulenc

• Flute Sonata
• Quatre petites prières de Saint François d'Assise
• Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon
• 2 songs from La Courte Paille 

Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin
Schubert - String Quartet No.13
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.4
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues 
Sibelius - Symphony No.5
Stravinsky - Agon 
Szymanowski - Mythes
Vivaldi - In exitu Israel
Vivaldi - Lauda, Jerusalem
Wikander - Kung Liljekonvalje (King lily-of-the-valley)

Holmboe era for the month was from 1980 to 1987. When I think about the dates, it still feels slightly odd to be listening to classical music that overlaps with my experience of popular music - not just popular music I know, but popular music that I actually remember hearing on the radio or seeing on TV when it was first released. Holmboe was writing his last string quartets around the same time that Whitney Houston and Prince were ruling the airwaves.

Of the Holmboe works listed here, I'd particularly recommend the 2nd flute concerto, and the two chamber works Gioco (for string trio) and Ballata (for piano quartet). But that's just today's recommendations off the top of my head. Catch me on another day and different works will have made the strongest impression - and that's a characteristic I admire in all of my favourite musicians, the difficulty of singling out favourite works.

Jumping back a couple of centuries, I completed my survey of Beethoven's works from around 1795-97, and then just starting dipping my toes into the next period, roughly 1798-1800, with the Horn Sonata and string quartet. The two cello sonatas were definitely a highlight of the earlier period, in which a lot of pieces are 'nice' without being strongly memorable. The greater power in the next set of works is already apparent, and I'm feeling that it's when Beethoven really started sounding distinctive.

The other works I'd particularly like to single out come from a newly purchased disc. Franck's Violin Sonata and Szymanowksi's Mythes (also for violin and piano) are performed by Kaja Danczowska and Krystian Zimerman. And while I don't have any other recordings to compare them to, I certainly got a heck of a lot of enjoyment out of these performances. Really excellent music that I want to get to know better.

Popular Music - April 2016

Tori Amos

• Under the Pink
• From the Choirgirl Hotel
• Abnormally Attracted to Sin
• Unrepentant Geraldines

Sheryl Crow - The Globe Sessions
Lifehouse - No Name Face
Madonna - Ray of Light
Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Volume 1 (Fire)
Thrice - Major/Minor

Hmm. I honestly don't remember there being this little pop music in my month.

In truth there probably wasn't. I was doing things like exploring Prince's back catalogue after news of his passing, which doesn't count because I don't own any albums (as yet - turns out that Purple Rain really is rather good). So this (as always) is just the list of what I own and listened to in full.

When I started this blog, that rule seemed a lot less significant than it does now. Back then I simply wouldn't have done things like streaming albums. I'm a long way from abandoning the process of buying music, but there's no denying that technology has affected how I explore music that I'm less familiar with while figuring out what to add to my collection.

I also often get surprised by how long it is since I've listened to something. The last spin of Ray of Light was in 2014? Okay, well the spreadsheet says so. That Sheryl Crow album has been in storage since 2012? Lifehouse since... well okay, I kind of knew I don't listen to that one all that often.

But listening to Unrepentant Geraldines has, as I observed last month, become a surprisingly regular event.

Classical Music - March 2016

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.

Popular Music - March 2016

Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Beyonce - Beyonce
Paul Dempsey - Everything Is True
Eskimo Joe - A Song is a City
Eurythmics - Be Yourself Tonight
Peter Gabriel - So
george - Unity
Jars of Clay - If I Left the Zoo
Katie Noonan's Vanguard - Transmutant
Radiohead - Kid A
Tears for Fears - The Seeds of Love
Megan Washington - There There


My somewhat fitful revisiting of the Jars of Clay catalogue continued with their 3rd album, If I Left the Zoo, which I would generally rate as my favourite of all their albums. Which in typical fashion means it's the album that marked a decrease in their popularity from their initial success.

So why is it my favourite? Fundamentally it's because I feel there aren't any weak songs, with each having its own distinct style. There are upbeat numbers, mid-tempo ones and slow ones, and they all contribute, and at no stage do I start getting bored.

A big part of the success is the production. It has lots of quirky little touches which heighten the interest without overwhelming the songs. It also makes sure that the songs sound sufficiently different from each other while still belonging together. There isn't anything on the first 2 albums that is quite as distinctive as the toy piano on "Sad Clown" or the mandolin on "No One Loves Me Like You" (even though they had used mandolin before) or the gospel choir on "I'm Alright".

The other album I think is worth mentioning is Unrepentant Geraldines, simply because I found myself listening to it so regularly. While I love all of Tori Amos' albums, some of them are undoubtedly challenges that I have to be in the right mood for. Their length or intensity means that I will only reach for them occasionally. Geraldines, with its warmth and intimacy, seems to have become an album I can listen to just for the sheer pleasure of listening to Tori Amos. I see the album on my iPhone, start hearing the opening of "America" in my head and it's a gentle invitation.

(Apologies for the tacky video, just close your eyes...)

Classical Music - February 2016

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.19
Beethoven - Variations on 'Ein Maedchen oder Weibchen' for cello and piano
Brahms - Clarinet Sonata No.2
Debussy

• Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
• Nocturnes for orchestra
• Marche ecossaise (orchestral version)
• String Quartet
• Images, Book I
• Images (oubliees)
• Estampes
• Pour le piano
• Suite Bergamasque
• L'Isle Joyeuse
• Masques
• D’un cahier d’esquisses
• Deux Arabesques
• Mazurka
• Reverie
• Tarantelle styrienne
• Ballade slave
• Valse romantique
• Nocturne for piano

Dvorak - Piano Quartet No.2
Dvorak - Piano Trio No.4, 'Dumky' 
Faure - Cinq mélodies 'de Venise'
Haydn - Symphony No.103
Holmboe

• Concerto No.13
• Sinfonia in Memoriam
• Sinfonias 1 to 4
• Epitaph
• Monolith
• Epilog
• Requiem for Nietzsche
• String Quartets 4 to 7
• Piano Trio
• Brass Quintet No.1
• Aspects
• Quartetto Medico
• Sonata for solo flute
• Liber Canticorum, Books III and IV
• Simeon's Song of Praise
• Hevjið í homrum (Raise in the Passes)
• Glemselshejren (The Heron of Oblivion)
• Sange mod Vårdybet (Songs Towards the Deep of Spring)

Mozart

• Piano Sonata No.17
• String Quartet No.23
• Quintet Movement for clarinet, basset horn, violin, viola and cello 

Shostakovich - Symphonies 3 to 7
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.1 
Vine - Symphony No.1, 'Microsymphony' 

Well, it's fairly obvious where my focus lay during February. The explorations of Debussy, Holmboe and Shostakovich dominated.

The Shostakovich focus may be less obvious until you realise that there are 5 symphonies listed here, and several of them are very large works indeed. The 3rd symphony lived down to its reputation, and the 4th I struggled with, but the others made a strong impression.

Much of the Debussy was from the new set of the piano music that I purchased in late January (performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet), which I found very rewarding indeed. Certain pieces that I thought I already knew came to life when heard this way. Suite bergamasque was a particular standout.

The Holmboe exploration covered music from 1953 to 1964, moving further and further away from the more folk-influenced works into some of his most complex music. The material from the 1960s is about as avant-garde as Holmboe ever managed, though I suspect by the standards of some other 20th century composers it's still fairly traditional.

I want to mention a couple of other pieces, though. Vine's 1st symphony does exactly what it says on the tin; it goes through the elements of a symphonic form in less than 11 minutes, and I found it highly effective.

Listen for yourself. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has uploaded it (and indeed, the entire set).

The other work I ought to tip my hat to is Haydn's 103rd, possibly greatest symphony. It certainly is a masterpiece, from its opening drumroll onwards. I deliberately left it last in working through the 23 Haydn symphonies that I own, in a listening exercise that took me about 10 months. And now, I want to get some more.

Popular Music - February 2016

Tori Amos - To Venus and Back (venus orbiting)
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man
Toni Childs - House of Hope
Paul Dempsey - Everything Is True
Bryan Duncan - Mercy
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Sophie B. Hawkins - Whaler
Jars of Clay - Much Afraid
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Metropolis Suites II and III)
Something for Kate - Echolalia
Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science

It's really happened this time. I've left it too late, and too much has been happening in my life, and frankly I don't even remember listening to some of these albums recently.

I believe this might be the first time an Elbow album has appeared on the list, after a couple of false starts, but I can't recall enough to comment on The Seldom Seen Kid in any detail except to confirm that I liked it. Bizarrely, it's the 3rd Elbow disc I've bought. Having streamed all of their albums a year or so ago, and deciding that I liked them, my first purchase was actually a B-sides collection owing to some peculiar circumstances. I decided, however, that it was best not to listen to that first!

And then their most recent album was bought, but somehow I didn't manage to sit down and listen to it the whole way through as required by my "rules" for this blog and my spreadsheet. So The Seldom Seen Kid has crossed the line first. Barely.

Jar of Clay's second album, Much Afraid, was listened to for the first time in a number of years, and I was reminded how much better I think it was than their debut. The songs are in general a lot more nuanced and interesting, though the album still doesn't quite hold together as some songs don't seem to contribute the right tone. But that tone overall is tentative, questioning, troubled... afraid. And when it works, it's very affecting.

I have the impression that in some Christian circles, though, the tendency of Jars of Clay to express trouble and doubt are somehow seen as wrong. A Christian band should be all happy and clapping and telling everyone how joyful it is to be a Christian.

For me, the song on the album that best captures how beautiful and powerful the Jars of Clay approach can be is "Portrait of an Apology". It's dark, melodramatic, full of self-condemnation... and ultimately a cry for rescue.

Classical Music - January 2016

Bach, J.S.

• Ach Gott, von Himmel sieh darein (Oh God, look down from heaven)
• Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (Oh God, how many a heartfelt woe)
• Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (In deep distress I cry to you)
• Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (Oh Lord, do not punish me)

Beethoven

• String Quartet No.14
• Große Fugue 
• Piano Sonatas 1, 4 and 20
• Piano Trio No.3
• Theme and variations for piano trio, op.44
• Piano trios in  E flat (WoO 38) and B flat (WoO 39)
• String Trio No.1
• Clarinet Trio
• Quintet for piano and winds
• Ah! Perfido
• Variations on 'See the conquering hero comes' for cello and piano 

Brahms - Clarinet Sonata No.1
Chopin - Three Mazurkas, op.50
Chopin - Impromptu No.3
Debussy - Piano Trio
Debussy - Danse bohémienne
Dvorak

• String Quartet No.11
• Piano Trio No.3
• Piano Quintet No.2 

Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Haydn - Symphony No.98
Holmboe

• Symphonies 6 to 8
• Chamber Symphony No.1
• Concertos 10 to 12
• String Quartets 1 to 3
• Primavera
• Suono da Bardo
• Liber Canticorum, Books I and II
• Moya

Janacek - Concertino
Mozart

• Symphonies 28 and 40
• Piano Sonatas 2, 8 and 10
• Oboe Quartet 

Rachmaninov - Songs, opp. 8 and 14
Rachmaninov - Suite No.1 for 2 pianos
Schumann - Kreisleriana
Shostakovich - Symphonies 1 and 2
Shostakovich - Piano Trio No.1 
Sibelius - The Bard
Snider - Penelope
Stravinsky

• The Firebird
• Petrushka
• The Rite of Spring
• Jeu de Cartes
• Orpheus

Whitwell - Flatworm's Heaven - A Train Song 

Having taken some time to listen to all the Beethoven I had acquired, I finally reached the pinnacle of his late string quartets. No.14 in C sharp minor is something very special, and I also listened to the "great fugue" which I hadn't heard before.

And so, I promptly went back to the beginning again.

Because Beethoven's opus numbers are at times quite misleading, I've used a couple of resources to create a more chronological picture of his work. This doesn't just apply to the music I have recordings for, but all sorts of other items as well.

I decided that Beethoven was yet another composer who should be subjected to a chronological listen, only this time I would lump together a few years at a time. I only have recordings of a couple of works from the early 1790s, so the rest of the entries here are works from 1795-97. This includes his earliest opuses, but also works that were published without an opus number or published much later.

And this earlyish Beethoven is... nice. It is consistently of high quality, but to modern ears it's not often that ground-breaking (however contemporaries might have reacted). And it's actually a bit surprising how sunny much of it is. We tend to think of Beethoven as a rather stormy figure, but a lot of the early chamber music in particular is designed to be light and enjoyable.

Debussy and Shostakovich also started receiving the chronological treatment in January, prompted by some new purchases of both (piano works for Debussy, and symphonies for Shostakovich). I'm using online streaming to hear those works I don't own.

I also explored Stravinsky's ballets, including 2 later ones from a disc that I bought last year but listened to for the first time in January. Both Jeu de Cartes and Orpheus were quite enjoyable, and I think Stravinsky is yet another composer I would like to know more about.