Dvorak - Stabat Mater
Holmboe - Concertos 2 (for flute and piano), 4 (for piano trio), 9 (for violin and viola) and 13 (for oboe and viola)
Nielsen - Symphony No.1
Here is the proof that June wasn't just a bad month for pop music. Classical music didn't get much of a hearing either. The 4 Holmboe concertos were all on the first Sunday of the month. The Nielsen managed to make an appearance during the overseas trip, surrounded by musical desert.
And the Stabat Mater was what I listened to while trying to process news of the terrorist attack around London Bridge. Which came so soon after a bombing in Manchester. Music is one of the tools we have to process grief.
Thursday, 21 September 2017
Tuesday, 19 September 2017
Popular Music - June 2017
Incubus - If Not Now, When?
Wendy Matthews - The Witness Tree
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
Oh dear.
There is in fact a key reason why the list is so very short: an overseas trip. Not only did I listen to less music in the lead-up to the trip as I stressed over the preparations, I weirdly didn't listen to music during the trip. Well, very little indeed.
Music is one of my major sources of pleasure, and it's often a part of how I relax and wind down in the evenings. But for some reason this didn't apply while I was travelling, and it's not the first trip where that has happened.
It's obvious that many routines will not apply when on a trip. That's actually half the point when the trip is a holiday. I just don't really understand why the music-listening routine is one of the ones that I jettison.
Wendy Matthews - The Witness Tree
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
Oh dear.
There is in fact a key reason why the list is so very short: an overseas trip. Not only did I listen to less music in the lead-up to the trip as I stressed over the preparations, I weirdly didn't listen to music during the trip. Well, very little indeed.
Music is one of my major sources of pleasure, and it's often a part of how I relax and wind down in the evenings. But for some reason this didn't apply while I was travelling, and it's not the first trip where that has happened.
It's obvious that many routines will not apply when on a trip. That's actually half the point when the trip is a holiday. I just don't really understand why the music-listening routine is one of the ones that I jettison.
Sunday, 17 September 2017
Classical Music - May 2017
Barber - Fadograph of a Yestern Scene
Barber - Canzonetta (orchestral version)
Beethoven
Dvorak - Lullaby and Capriccio for piano
Haydn - Symphonies 39, 41 and 58
Holmboe
Medtner - 2 Elegies
Nielsen - Symphonies 1 to 6
Poulenc - Suite française (version for cello and piano)
Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet
Rachmaninov
Schubert - Piano sonata in B flat, D.960
Schumann
Sibelius
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.7
The Debussy and Poulenc are from a disc of cello music that I finally acquired on the 2nd attempt. Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale was a purchase form the previous month. Otherwise this is still a lot of the same material as before, as I continue to work through purchases from late 2016.
The most notable entry here is the one for the Nielsen symphonies. After spending time in March/April getting to know the Brahms symphonies better, it was Nielsen's turn in May.
The Nielsen symphonies are certainly an interesting bunch of works, becoming less and less conventional as one works through the sequence. Not that the 1st symphony is entirely well-behaved by Classical standards, and the 6th is still in the symphonic tradition... but the latter is startlingly modern, sounding an awful lot like Shostakovich's 15th symphony. Chronologically of course, that's backwards: it's Shostakovich's symphony that resembles Nielsen's.
I've no doubt which Nielsen symphony is my favourite, and that's no.5. There's something about the long span of the opening movement, in particular, that strikes me as a perfectly judged combination of flow and drama. But I enjoy each of them and look forward to getting to know them even better.
Barber - Canzonetta (orchestral version)
Beethoven
- Symphony No.7
- String Quartet No.11, 'Quartetto Serioso'
- Piano Trio in E flat, op.97
- Allegretto in B flat for piano trio
- Violin Sonata No.10
- Piano Sonata No.26
- (Nocturne and) Scherzo for cello and piano
- Intermezzo for cello and piano
- Khamma (piano version)
Dvorak - Lullaby and Capriccio for piano
Haydn - Symphonies 39, 41 and 58
Holmboe
- Sværm (Swarm) (string quartet version)
- Quartetto Sereno
- Haiduc
Medtner - 2 Elegies
Nielsen - Symphonies 1 to 6
Poulenc - Suite française (version for cello and piano)
Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet
Rachmaninov
- Piano Concerto No.3
- Piano Sonata No.2
- 13 Preludes, op.32
- Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
Schubert - Piano sonata in B flat, D.960
Schumann
- Symphony No.4 (1851 version)
- Violin Sonata No.2
- Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for clarinet, viola and piano
Sibelius
- Symphony No.7
- Suite for violin and orchestra
- Tapiola
- 7 Songs, op.17
- The Rite of Spring (1947 version)
- Le Chant du Rossignol
- The Soldier's Tale
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.7
The Debussy and Poulenc are from a disc of cello music that I finally acquired on the 2nd attempt. Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale was a purchase form the previous month. Otherwise this is still a lot of the same material as before, as I continue to work through purchases from late 2016.
The most notable entry here is the one for the Nielsen symphonies. After spending time in March/April getting to know the Brahms symphonies better, it was Nielsen's turn in May.
The Nielsen symphonies are certainly an interesting bunch of works, becoming less and less conventional as one works through the sequence. Not that the 1st symphony is entirely well-behaved by Classical standards, and the 6th is still in the symphonic tradition... but the latter is startlingly modern, sounding an awful lot like Shostakovich's 15th symphony. Chronologically of course, that's backwards: it's Shostakovich's symphony that resembles Nielsen's.
I've no doubt which Nielsen symphony is my favourite, and that's no.5. There's something about the long span of the opening movement, in particular, that strikes me as a perfectly judged combination of flow and drama. But I enjoy each of them and look forward to getting to know them even better.
Wednesday, 6 September 2017
Popular Music - May 2017
Marc Cohn - Marc Cohn
Deborah Conway - Bitch Epic
Joni Mitchell - Shine
Nichole Nordeman - Woven & Spun
Agnes Obel - Aventine
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Sting - The Soul Cages
Tears for Fears - Elemental
Not a very large pop music list (yet again), but an interesting one because I clearly was trying to pull out some albums that I hadn't listened to for a long time.
But one of the albums on that list is quite startling to me. It seems scarcely possible that I spent nearly 5 years without listening to The Soul Cages, but that's what my magic spreadsheet is saying. And this blog is backing that up.
(Additional thought: oh my goodness, have I really been posting this blog for that long?)
I wrote about The Soul Cages back in 2011, and the things I said then are still accurate. How could they not be, given that I appear to have listened to the album twice more in 2012 before completely shelving it? There's been no real opportunity for my opinion of the album to change. All of the associations the album already held for me remain in place.
I just really, really don't listen to it very much any more. Despite considering it a masterpiece.
Deborah Conway - Bitch Epic
Joni Mitchell - Shine
Nichole Nordeman - Woven & Spun
Agnes Obel - Aventine
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Sting - The Soul Cages
Tears for Fears - Elemental
Not a very large pop music list (yet again), but an interesting one because I clearly was trying to pull out some albums that I hadn't listened to for a long time.
But one of the albums on that list is quite startling to me. It seems scarcely possible that I spent nearly 5 years without listening to The Soul Cages, but that's what my magic spreadsheet is saying. And this blog is backing that up.
(Additional thought: oh my goodness, have I really been posting this blog for that long?)
I wrote about The Soul Cages back in 2011, and the things I said then are still accurate. How could they not be, given that I appear to have listened to the album twice more in 2012 before completely shelving it? There's been no real opportunity for my opinion of the album to change. All of the associations the album already held for me remain in place.
I just really, really don't listen to it very much any more. Despite considering it a masterpiece.
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Classical Music - April 2017
Bach, J.S. - Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay with us, for evening falls)
Bach, J.S. - Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust (Delightful rest, beloved pleasure of the soul)
Barber
Beethoven - String Quartet No.10
Brahms - Symphonies 1 to 4
Brahms - String Quartet No.1
Bridge - String Quartet No.4
Debussy - Twelve Etudes
Dvorak
Faure - La bonne chanson
Haydn - Symphonies 34, 35 and 38
Holmboe
Mozart - Piano Concertos 1 and 3
Nielsen - Symphony No.3
Nørgård - Symphonies 5 and 6
Rachmaninov - The Bells
Schubert - Schwanengesang
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in C minor and A, D.958 and 959
Schumann
Sibelius
Stravinsky
Villa-Lobos - Suite Populaire Brésilienne for guitar
While I was still working through some of the purchases from late last year (Barber, Bridge, Dvorak, Medtner, some Schumann, Villa-Lobos, the Haydn symphonies which aren't even close to finished), I went and bought a few more things on a trip at the tail end of March.
And so the discs with the Shostakovich cello concerto, the Sibelius songs and the Schumann violin sonata were all added to the already sizeable collection of music "needing" to be listened to. I also bought some Stravinsky, but rather than starting with my purchase of The Soldier's Tale I decided it was time to start on a chronological survey of all of Stravinsky's music.
The biggest focus for April, however, was on Brahms' 4 symphonies. Having heard them all over the previous months, and having revisited the first 3 in March, this was the month when I listened to them enough to really feel some familiarity. I ended up listening to all of them together in the space of a few days.
And everyone of them is a first-class work. If pressed I would probably nominate Symphony No.3 as my favourite at the moment, but I would quite happily re-hear any of them. Brahms has a reputation as a bit of a perfectionist who tried very hard to suppress any music he wasn't satisfied with. This means that the quality of the things he allowed to be published is remarkably consistent. But along with that, each of the 4 symphonies has a different character. Two in minor keys (one more dramatic, one more tragic), and two in major keys (one more pastoral, one more heroic). Together they form a fine set and help show why Brahms is considered one of the true greats of classical music.
Bach, J.S. - Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust (Delightful rest, beloved pleasure of the soul)
Barber
- A Hand of Bridge
- Vanessa: Intermezzo from Act III
- Mutations from Bach
Beethoven - String Quartet No.10
Brahms - Symphonies 1 to 4
Brahms - String Quartet No.1
Bridge - String Quartet No.4
Debussy - Twelve Etudes
Dvorak
- Suite in A, 'American' (original piano version)
- Two Little Pearls
- Album Leaf in E flat
Faure - La bonne chanson
Haydn - Symphonies 34, 35 and 38
Holmboe
- Sonatina for oboe and piano
- Trombone sonata
- Eco
Mozart - Piano Concertos 1 and 3
Nielsen - Symphony No.3
Nørgård - Symphonies 5 and 6
Rachmaninov - The Bells
Schubert - Schwanengesang
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in C minor and A, D.958 and 959
Schumann
- Violin Sonata No.1
- Nachtlied
- Märchenbilder for viola and piano
Sibelius
- Symphonies 5 and 6
- 7 Songs of Runeberg, op.13
- Serenad
Stravinsky
- The Firebird
- Petrushka
- Fireworks
- Scherzo Fantastique
Villa-Lobos - Suite Populaire Brésilienne for guitar
While I was still working through some of the purchases from late last year (Barber, Bridge, Dvorak, Medtner, some Schumann, Villa-Lobos, the Haydn symphonies which aren't even close to finished), I went and bought a few more things on a trip at the tail end of March.
And so the discs with the Shostakovich cello concerto, the Sibelius songs and the Schumann violin sonata were all added to the already sizeable collection of music "needing" to be listened to. I also bought some Stravinsky, but rather than starting with my purchase of The Soldier's Tale I decided it was time to start on a chronological survey of all of Stravinsky's music.
The biggest focus for April, however, was on Brahms' 4 symphonies. Having heard them all over the previous months, and having revisited the first 3 in March, this was the month when I listened to them enough to really feel some familiarity. I ended up listening to all of them together in the space of a few days.
And everyone of them is a first-class work. If pressed I would probably nominate Symphony No.3 as my favourite at the moment, but I would quite happily re-hear any of them. Brahms has a reputation as a bit of a perfectionist who tried very hard to suppress any music he wasn't satisfied with. This means that the quality of the things he allowed to be published is remarkably consistent. But along with that, each of the 4 symphonies has a different character. Two in minor keys (one more dramatic, one more tragic), and two in major keys (one more pastoral, one more heroic). Together they form a fine set and help show why Brahms is considered one of the true greats of classical music.
Saturday, 5 August 2017
Popular Music - April 2017
Tori Amos
george - Polyserena
Radiohead - Kid A
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volume 4: Earth
Another month of records where I think... is that all the pop music I listened to? Possibly not, but it's all the albums that fulfilled the criteria for being entered into the records.
The Tori Amos merry-go-round is, of course, unlikely to ever stop spinning. It surprised me a little how long it had been since I last listened to Kid A (almost a year).
The only genuinely interesting entry on here is Polyserena, the first album by the Brisbane band george (the lack of a capital letter is their choice). It's quite some years since I listened to it because I've always reached for their second (and last) album Unity, which is one of my favourite albums of all time.
But Polyserena is a pretty good album. All of the knowledge of musical styles that makes Unity so great and which has continued to show in the later careers of the members (first and foremost Katie Noonan) is detectable in Polyserena. The only weakness is that sometimes it feels like the skills are being shown off rather than being fully integrated and used in the service of the music. But it's well worth a listen.
As the debut single showed.
- Under the Pink
- From the Choirgirl Hotel
- The Beekeeper
- Abnormally Attracted to Sin
george - Polyserena
Radiohead - Kid A
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volume 4: Earth
Another month of records where I think... is that all the pop music I listened to? Possibly not, but it's all the albums that fulfilled the criteria for being entered into the records.
The Tori Amos merry-go-round is, of course, unlikely to ever stop spinning. It surprised me a little how long it had been since I last listened to Kid A (almost a year).
The only genuinely interesting entry on here is Polyserena, the first album by the Brisbane band george (the lack of a capital letter is their choice). It's quite some years since I listened to it because I've always reached for their second (and last) album Unity, which is one of my favourite albums of all time.
But Polyserena is a pretty good album. All of the knowledge of musical styles that makes Unity so great and which has continued to show in the later careers of the members (first and foremost Katie Noonan) is detectable in Polyserena. The only weakness is that sometimes it feels like the skills are being shown off rather than being fully integrated and used in the service of the music. But it's well worth a listen.
As the debut single showed.
Sunday, 23 July 2017
Classical Music - March 2017
Bach, J.S.
Dvorak
Holmboe
Medtner - Three Pieces, op.31
Medtner - Etude in C minor
Nielsen - Cupid and the Poet: Overture
Rachmaninov - Etudes-tableaux, op.33
Rachmaninov - 14 Songs, op.34
Schubert - String Quintet
Schumann - Violin Sonata No.1
Schumann - Requiem for Mignon
Sibelius
Smetana - Tábor
Villa-Lobos - Choros No.8
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 3 and 4 (orchestral version)
A lot of this still represents working through new acquisitions, mostly several months after the actual purchase.
I made relatively good progress with the Bach cantatas (a number of years after purchase). I can't claim to have much memory of individual pieces, but the impression remains a good one, of music that is well worth getting to know better.
I also spent some time getting to know Brahms' symphonies better - a rather easier task with only 4 works that fit on a couple of CDs! But the rewards here were considerable. I think perhaps the 3rd symphony is my favourite, but they're all of high quality and I love the differences in emotional character between each one.
But the thing I simply much talk about here is the Schubert String Quintet. And it's worth specifying the album I've been listening to:
This is the same album that I'd already enjoyed so much for the Schoenberg (which is a sextet). The Schubert - music that I didn't previously know - is if anything even better. It's utterly magical music and is played with such perfectly controlled passion. And, despite the cover image, there's no sense of one "star" and the other players accompanying.
Obviously there's something to be said for the proposition that I ought to get know the recordings better, but... right now I feel as if this has already become one of my desert island discs, one of the very best things in my classical collection.
So there.
- Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats (On the evening, however, of the same Sabbath)
- Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten (II) (He who loves me will obey my commands)
- Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten (Until now you have asked for nothing in My name)
- Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (You shall weep and wail)
- Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe (It is good for you that I leave)
- English Suite No.6
- Capricorn Concerto
- Toccata Festiva
- Third Essay for Orchestra
- Symphony No.5
- Piano Trio in E flat, op.70/2
- Cello Sonata No.3
- Mass in C
- Symphonies 1 to 3
- Double Concerto
- Intermezzos, op.116/4 & 117/1 (orch. Klegel)
- String Quartet No.3
- Piano Trio No.2
- Sir Roger de Coverley - string quartet version
- Two Old English Songs - string quartet version
Dvorak
- Poetic Tone Pictures
- 8 Humoresques
- Dumka and furiant for piano
- Piano Quartet No.2
- Barcarolles 2 to 4
- Poème d'un jour
- Songs, opp. 18, 23, 27, 39, 43, 46, 51, 87
Holmboe
- Symphony No.11
- String Quartets 19 and 20
- Ballata
Medtner - Three Pieces, op.31
Medtner - Etude in C minor
Nielsen - Cupid and the Poet: Overture
Rachmaninov - Etudes-tableaux, op.33
Rachmaninov - 14 Songs, op.34
Schubert - String Quintet
Schumann - Violin Sonata No.1
Schumann - Requiem for Mignon
Sibelius
- The Bard
- Humoresques for violin and orchestra
- Two Serious Melodies for violin and orchestra
- Five pieces for violin and piano, op.81
Smetana - Tábor
Villa-Lobos - Choros No.8
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 3 and 4 (orchestral version)
A lot of this still represents working through new acquisitions, mostly several months after the actual purchase.
I made relatively good progress with the Bach cantatas (a number of years after purchase). I can't claim to have much memory of individual pieces, but the impression remains a good one, of music that is well worth getting to know better.
I also spent some time getting to know Brahms' symphonies better - a rather easier task with only 4 works that fit on a couple of CDs! But the rewards here were considerable. I think perhaps the 3rd symphony is my favourite, but they're all of high quality and I love the differences in emotional character between each one.
But the thing I simply much talk about here is the Schubert String Quintet. And it's worth specifying the album I've been listening to:
Obviously there's something to be said for the proposition that I ought to get know the recordings better, but... right now I feel as if this has already become one of my desert island discs, one of the very best things in my classical collection.
So there.
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