The classical music thread

[leemond2008]

beethovens 5th 6th and 9th symphonies are great

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Understudy, 19 going on 50

[theunderstudy]

Has cultural tastes you mean?

[mjmooney]

beethovens 5th 6th and 9th symphonies are great

If I could only have ONE piece of music, any genre, it would be Beethoven's 9th. Specifically the 1976 Von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra recording.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

No, definitely the one I said!

Although I do like the obvious Pachelbel Canon in D...but who doesn't.

[andym]

saw craig ogden playing rodrigos Concierto de Aranjuez at the lichfield garrick last week. very good.

i do prefer the baroque and classical periods though. im not a huge fan of romantic and modern stuff. dunno why, it just doesnt really catch my ear as much

[theunderstudy]

If only more 19 year olds appreciated the classics.

[maloneyt]

my friend has just inherited some old mozart albums thinking they were worthless. checked them out on ebay, going for 2 grand ish... lucky so and so.

[thecraft]

I like Beethoven though I listen to the piano sonatas probably more than anything else by him. I've been listening to quartets too a lot, Schuberts Death and the Maiden by the Takacs Quartet most recently. I missed the chance to see them performing it in Cheltenham last year which is a bit annoying!

Shostakovich again, prob the most common thing I listen to is the 8th quartet.

I also don't mind some early music, things like John Dowland and the odd bit of Purcell.

[mjmooney]

my friend has just inherited some old mozart albums thinking they were worthless. checked them out on ebay, going for 2 grand ish... lucky so and so.

Signed by Mozart?

[mjmooney]

I like Beethoven though I listen to the piano sonatas probably more than anything else by him. I've been listening to quartets too a lot, Schuberts Death and the Maiden by the Takacs Quartet most recently. I missed the chance to see them performing it in Cheltenham last year which is a bit annoying!

Shostakovich again, prob the most common thing I listen to is the 8th quartet.

I also don't mind some early music, things like John Dowland and the odd bit of Purcell.

Some good stuff there. String quartets are like a whole genre on their own. Bartok's are... interesting.

[maloneyt]

my friend has just inherited some old mozart albums thinking they were worthless. checked them out on ebay, going for 2 grand ish... lucky so and so.

Signed by Mozart?

not sure, ill find out tomorrow for you

[Anthony]

Sibelius appreciator here, although Shostakovic ain't far behind.

Sibelius' violin concerto in D; Viktoria Mullova has made an excellent recording.

Shostakovic's Gadfly seems to crop up through my speakers very regularly (all my music is lossless ripped so I can listen to it from a PC, which is connected to my amp)

Umm, Yoyo Ma doing Bach's cello concertos is another - was used in the film Master & Commander .

I do like Mozart, but I use it to help me concentrate, not relax.

Mahler 4th symphony.

There are probably more. Oh, and Dickens - thirded. Just tedious.

[Xann]

El Negrito is a very good work by Lauro - Very ticky bugger to play though. His music is very distinctive.

I like Lauro. 'Joropo' is a fave, 'El Marabino' nearly made it onto my last classical comp, but didn't.

The next two things on the 'to buy' list are the Schnittke Symphonies box and...

... which is absolutely gob smacking.

[theunderstudy]

Have to look into that Xann. in fact I might play a bit of Lauro now.

[Xann]

Here's a few recommendations.

These are the notes for a classical comp made last year for some chin stroking recordy types.

Claude DEBUSSY – The Martyrdom Of St Sebastian, Michael Tilson-Thomas: London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Debussy didn't go in for lengthy pieces. He only completed one opera, Pelléas et Mélisande. TMOSS was finished by one Andre Caplet. Unfortunately for Monsieur Caplet his contribution is usually surgically removed, the remains being sewn back together how the performing conductor sees fit. It isn't recorded very often.

Khaled ARMAN - Laïli Djân, Hespèrion XXI

Hespèrion XXI are an international early music collective. This track is fronted by the arranger Khaled Arman, though they're usually led by bowman in chief Jordi Savall.

It's taken from a collection of traditional melodies that have their roots in the territory of the Persian Empire. This tune hails from Afghanistan.

Peter WARLOCK – Capriol Suite, Bransles, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

Peter Warlock was friends with Aleister Crowley, was known to the police for riding a motorcycle in the buff (50 years before a certain Japanese band) and died young - probably suicide.

There's a number of transcriptions of this piece. Warlock wrote three himself: orchestra, string orchestra and piano duet. There's a strong one for brass that I've been meaning to track down.

John ADAMS – Short Ride In A Fast Machine, Simon Rattle: City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Simon Rattle's 18 year stint with the CBSO lifted both to unexpected heights.

The CBSO accumulated some great recordings on their catalogue – The Szymanowski cycle in particular.

Rattle's choice of repertoire and ability to get the best from his orchestra would land him the top job at the Berlin Philharmonic, where he now battles with the German press.

Rattle has previous with American material. His Porgy & Bess is a real contender with the operatic luvvies - One of the best ever, anywhere.

Chris & Gerald SCHÖNFELDINGER - Das Tor Zur Seele

AKA the Wiener Glasharmonika Duo. Alive, well and gigging. One on glass harmonica, one on verrophone (same principle, different design).

Shortest piece on the four track CD 'Intuition'.

The glass harmonica had a reputation in past centuries for turning its players mad. Listening to one you can hear why, it has an eerie, edgeless, almost supernatural sound.

In reality the unfortunate musicians were likely given lead poisoning by their instruments.

Apologies to GK, you've had this from me already.

Maryanne AMACHER - Living Sound, Patent Pending Music For Sound-Joined Rooms Series

Amacher constructed soundscapes in spaces where visitors could roam. Reel to reels playing drones and suchlike would be strategically placed around a site. The Doppler effect combined with constructive and destructive interference created a complex sonic landscape - Constantly ebbing, flowing and shifting as the listener moved around the installation.

Robert SCHUMANN - String Quartet #1 In A Minor, Op. 41/1 - 2. Scherzo, Zehetmair Quartet

A strident string quartet, nicely recorded. Just the sort of recording that ECM should get round to pressing on LP.

George ENESCU – Romanian Rhapsody, Antal Dorati: London Symphony Orchestra

The longest piece on here, quite well known, gets about a bit. A real orchestral firework, and available new on 180g vinyl. Fab recording.

Thomas TALLIS – Te Lucis Terminum, Stile Antico

Earliest piece on here. A choral number from the first Englishman to get his head around polyphony for larger choirs (by copying someone else). Stile Antico don't have the numbers to approach the Tallis epic Spem In Alium, but they do have the right approach to early choral music.

Giovanni Gieralomo KAPSBERGER – Toccata Arpeggiata, Matthew Wadsworth

Early piece, just precedes the musical revolution that J.S. Bach ushered in. Matthew Wadsworth is a blind Brit with skillz on lute and theorbo.

Frederic CHOPIN – Waltz in D Flat, Op64/1 'Minute', Alfred Cortot

The most familiar tune on the disk.

Alfred Cortot was one of France's finest musicians of the 20th Century. He would perhaps be better known if his career hadn't suffered a sizeable blip.

When the panzers rolled into Paris he got on rather too well with the Vichy government. Following the war Team DeGaul made him persona non grata. He wouldn't play again in France for a couple decades, and when he finally did his powers had faded.

His recorded legacy includes benchmark interpretations of Chopin and Schumann, mainly from the 20s & 30s. He would also tutor a remarkable clutch of talent, including another historically important pianist, Dinu Lipatti.

Cortot recordings are available on Shellac, Vinyl, Compact Cassette, Compact Disc. Avoid later recordings – the 40s and 50s stuff.

Jean-Phillippe RAMEAU – Platée – Orage, Marc Minkowski: Les Musiciens Du Louvre

On this (vinyl!) LP the conductor has constructed an imaginary Baroque symphony from the overtures of Rameau's operas. It's the stuff of genius. Period instruments, played with understanding.

As a footnote for Hi Fi buffs - I'm told the SACD remaster is stunning.

Frederic CURZON – The Boulevardier, Barry Wordsworth: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

A light British classic. Don't know much about Curzon himself. President of the Light Music Society and mostly composed for theatre. Sleeve notes reckon he wrote 300+ pieces.

There's a Studio 2 Concert Orchestra version of this track, recorded at Abbey Road in '69 and released in '71 - I have it, it plods a bit tbh. The version here was recorded for Warners in 2005.

Alun HODDINOTT – Severn Bridge Variation, Jac Van Steen: BBC Symphony Orchestra

Written for the opening of the Severn Bridge. This is from the NMC catalogue, well worth investigating in general. Look to Lyrita for Hoddinott on vinyl.

Tarik O'REGAN – Care Charminge Sleepe, Craig Hella Johnson: Conspirare, Company Of Strings

Modern Choral piece written by a then 30 year old Brit for an American label. Released in 2008, It got to #10 on the Billboard charts.

Benjamin BRITTEN – Balulalow, David Hill: Westminster Cathedral Choir

From Britten's Ceremony Of Carols. Plenty of versions of this around. On LP you can't go wrong with the King's College Choir conducted by David Willcocks, a 50p album the last couple of times seen in the chazzers. This is a Hyperion recording, a present for my girlfriend, the most expensive of the 10(!) versions in the shop at the time.

[Juju]

I notice the Rev mentions our own villa supporters fiddling. And therein lies the joy of classical. That it is "the four seasons" (and its not a bloody pizza), do you actually "hear" the seasons in the piece? Especially bearing in mind it's Italian, and not english.

For example, I hear winter, and yes, the piece is eminently reminiscent, in that falling "cascade" of the main "riff" of say sleet or snow blown blown across land in driving gusts. And in "Summer", doesnt the violin seems to be "struggling in the heat", a much heavier, more oppressive tune, whereas spring is much more spritely. Thats perhaps how you explain classical music to a beginner.

Once you see it, your halfway there. When you can get a few versions of a favourite piece, and suddenly appreciate how different orchestras with different conductors, make the piece sound their own, and find favourites, your halfway there.

For example - this is a funky little version of "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" -

and compare that fun little outing to a more traditional rendition -

But its odd that on an "english" forum, theres very little "english" classical. Certainly my funerals going to worth turning up to - just for Handel's Zadok the priest (more usually at weddings and the like - it was the coronation music) but I like it.... it builds so slowly and gently, to the rousing corale.

And of course, on the english theme - sometimes I find this sad, and certainly reflective,

Bet you can't help but think of Ralph and Ted fromt he fast show listening to this...

And of course, if you like this sort of thing, then organ music probably appeals... who doesnt love a huge organ eh rob?

and thats not the best rendition by a long way...

So, 2-3 of the "top ten tunes of old England". And note how there isn't a big "tune" in any of them, in the way of the weightier Germans or Russians. No canons going off - no Wagner overlarge orchestras. Its about the emotion.

[rjw63]

I like Wagner - SIEG HEIL

[theunderstudy]

Well put Juju.

[Xann]

I like Wagner - SIEG HEIL

He likes you too mein liebling.

:winkold: