Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #36)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Apr 21, 2012.

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  1. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    I bought that disc soon after it was released in the States. If it wasn't for Bernstein . . .

    The one disc of his that blows me away and totally deserves the Steve Hoffman treatment is the 'Phase 4' recording of Orchestra Set #2 of Charles Ives coupled with Messiaen: L'Ascension.

    [​IMG]

    Incredible music and a great example of how musically evolved the 'Old Wizard' really was.
     
  2. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    Dvorak's string works I find, some of most easily likeable and assessible chamber music works around, As well his opera Rusalka (now seen as a true major work) is starting to lead the way for opera lovers to investigate other Dvorak operas. Dvorak's 9 symphonies are MAJOR stuff. His shorter orchestral pieces are also capable of free standing recognition.

    Now I will go so far as to say if we have to drastically jettison either - Bruckner or Dvorak's works : I could easily drop Bruckner's.:) (And....I do have at least 3 complete Bruckner Symphonic cycles on my shelves!) Bruckner's 'signature' is monumentally grand - carrying on , struggling and thrashing about and seemingly never getting to the vapid points, he wishes to make. IMHO it is music, only for a certain mood. I generally start running out of patience...hit 'stop' and change the CD. Eack person has their own individual litmus test and/ or quirks to judge music.
    I listen often to music for up to 6 hours at a stretch. I find that music wanting to leave any impression on me, 'automatically recalls ' and plays back in my mind....two days later, out of nowhere. Not one day... strangely !!!
    Other than parts of Bruckner's 4 and 7th Symphonies ...Bruckner comes up always 'a blank'.
     
  3. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Don't Stop Believing

    Speakin' as a 'true believer', have to say there are times when Bruckner and Only Bruckner seems to work. He certainly does a number on your consciousness if you're into meditative/hypnotic states. And I've been a 'space case' from the get-go. To these ears, the Eight Symphony is the sound of the gates of heaven swinging wide open, your milage may vary.

    But if you're impatient, fugeddaboudit.
     
  4. SBurke

    SBurke Nostalgia Junkie

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    That's a great cover.

    After downloading the HJ Lim Beethoven today from iTunes and messing around with the files to get them into the right spot I started listening to No. 11 in my office. Sounded, frankly, bizarre -- distant & muffled recorded sound and the performance seemed very willful. I will have to listen to this stuff at home to give a fair assessment. Which I'm sure everyone's waiting on. :laugh:
     
  5. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
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  6. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    As a clarinet player, I prefer the wind serenade. I remember hearing it for the first time, performed by students at Tanglewood.

    I have a CD by Orpheus with both serenades. It has gotten a lot of play over the years.
     
  7. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    This from a review of Feldman's Piano and String Quartet in today's NY Times:

    "Some music can instantly seduce with eclectic elements, whether Bach’s counterpoint and Schubert’s melodies or Steve Reich’s hypnotic energy and Georg Friedrich Haas’s soundscapes. Then there are works, including pieces by Morton Feldman, that often require substantial effort from listeners. Indeed, those who have mastered the art of lengthy meditation may be best equipped to concentrate on his glacially slow, highly repetitive sounds."

    As someone who has attempted meditation, but never practiced it regularly, I would say that Feldman's work (and this one in particular) has the remarkable ability to effortlessly induce a state equivalent to meditation for me. Admittedly, I can rarely remain in it for the 80 minute length of the piece But I couldn't meditate for 80 minutes either.
     
  8. WorldB3

    WorldB3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    On the continent.
    I have heard of Curzon, I will keep an eye for him. Thank you. Brendel Beethoven and Schubert that i just got have been very enjoyable.
     
  9. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    The Trout Quintet with Curzon and members of the Vienna Octet rules!
     
  10. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    I'm not sure we're even supposed to pay attention in a completely sustained way over the course of Feldman's expanses. During much longer pieces like String Quartet II, For Phillip Guston, Violin and String Quartet etc., Feldman's disrupting our sense of time by causing our attention span to wax and wane. It's sort of like taking in a giant Pollock: you really can't see it entire, you either focus on small details, standing close to the painting; or you move away from it and see it entire, but the details are lost. Both artists push us past the limits of how we're used to hearing and seeing, respectively.
     
  11. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    That's sort of an odd criticism of Bruckner, who if anything errs on the side of narrative structure-- Beethovenian symphonic story-telling recast as tales of salvation, with (usually) a happy ending in the form of his monumental finales (e.g. Nos. 4, 5, 8).
     
  12. SteelyTom:

    Collector Man's comment on "Bruckner vs Dvorak" is not "odd criticism". The subject point he is candidly making and referring to is about "MOOD", You are missing his point.... Mood is what makes your day, what makes you select a composer and a certain work of his, which is written in a sad, happy, spiritual, or nationalistic, etc. Mood!

    We also look a paintings the same way.


    Cheers, Long Play Fan.
     
  13. Collector Man,

    Thanks for you kind reviews regarding the Brahms Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The Heifetz/Reiner (RCA Victor-Lewis Layton Recording Engineer) LP was recorded 57 years ago, on Feb. 21 & 22, 1955 and is still one of my favorites. Following close behind is the Nathan Milstein (EMI Capitol) LP version. It was recorded in the Syria Mosque, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 11/29/53 & 4/13/54, one year earlier than the RCA LP.

    In regards to your well made phrase, "Music for a Certain Mood". Once again, you put together some great insight on all of our "personal" listening habits. Thanks for bringing yours upfront and center. We all read in LP & CD editorial notes about how "moody" many and or all classical music composers were in their time and day. They had to feed themselves, they had to put a roof over their heads, and they had to care for women and children that they also "composed" on the side. The word "Mood" always appears when a reviewer is painting a picture of the composer and the piece he wrote. Just refer to the mood "label" placed on the title on each of the four movements found in this classic symphony.

    Here is a great example regarding one very well known symphony:

    (1) Andante sostenuto; Moderato con anima; Moderato assai; Quasi andante; Allegro con anima.

    (2) Andantino in modo di canzona.

    (3) Scherzo.

    (4) Finale; Allegro con fuoco.

    Can anyone guess the "Symphony" I am referring to?

    For sure the composer is putting you into "his" mind frame and mood!

    As listeners, we carry a mood "on our backs" all day long, which manifests into the piece of music we select to sit down and listen to. I have found myself, like you, getting up and turning off the CD or LP, after just a few minutes of playing. I made a mistake. I then fall back on just a few composers, who bring a spirit and mood, that I want to immerse myself into. One of those composers has always been Anton Dvorak! I enjoy all of his music.

    I have a good friend from Czech Republic who moved to San Diego with his family, about five years ago. Every year they return home for the Christmas holidays. Two years ago my buddy, brought back a CD from Czech Republic, as a gift to me. This is what he said, when the handed me the wrapped CD.

    "This is a beloved National Opera by Dvorak! It is the most successful Czech opera performed in our country, a beloved work that is presented and listened to again and again."

    Recorded at the Domovia Studio, May 16-22, 1952
    Recording Directors: Jan Seidel, Frantisek Burda
    Recording Engineers: Miloslav Kulhan, Jaroslav Zach
    Digitally remastered (24 bit) sound from the original mastertapes by Stavislav Sykora, SR Studio Prague, 2005
    Editor Daniels Rozkova
     

    Attached Files:

  14. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    Thanks for clearing that up.
     
  15. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.


    No wonder they were so moody.

    You left out the time spent chasing chicks, Liszt, Debussy et al., which was another time-consuming, mood-altering activity
     
  16. More Dvorak for my day and night listening pleasure....

    By the way, "The Noon Witch", is a very dark moody tone poem, which directs children to obey their parents at all times, if not, there will be dire circumstances that will happen to them....Oooooo.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. Yea, there are too many examples of Classical Music Composers who's music is a direct reflection of their womanizing traits: Wagner is a great example!
     
  18. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    :righton: And of course Feldman had such a close connection to the abstract expressionists.

    If the critic is using "substantial effort" to appreciate this work, she is missing the point. Feldman's music slows time. It puts me in the moment, from moment to moment, or, musically speaking, from arpeggio to arpeggio. I don't listen to the work that often, but when I am in the proper mood the effect is magical.
     
  19. SteelyTom

    Can you guess the composer of this world famous "symphony" just by reading the mood titles of each of the four movements. If not no worries.


    (1) Andante sostenuto; Moderato con anima; Moderato assai; Quasi andante; Allegro con anima.

    (2) Andantino in modo di canzona.

    (3) Scherzo.

    (4) Finale; Allegro con fuoco.
     
  20. Here is another example of "Mood" written by the same composer listed above.

    This should help you name the famous composer wrote these two famous symphonies.
    This can very hard or easy to guess.

    It all depends if you have recently listened to them.

    The last movement is the best clue!

    How many of us stop and actually read the mood title of each movement?

    (1) Adagio; Allegro non troppo

    (2) Allegro con grazia

    (3) Allegro molto vivace

    (4) Finale; Adagio lamentoso; Andante
     
  21. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    Well, he was pretty moody, throwing himself into a freezing river....
     
  22. canzld

    canzld Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    just pathetic really :D
     
  23. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    Exactly! Maybe she was trying to discern vague outlines of sonata form ;)

    One effect listening to Feldman leaves me with, is an impatience with other composers's music-- I'll listen to Mozart and think, why is this so rushed? Why the haste? Does music always have to be one damned thing after another?....
     
  24. canzld

    canzld Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    +1. I distinctly prefer it over the 9th which many seem to favour. Was listening to Horenstein's impressive account a month or two ago - can't remember the orchestra off the top of my head.
     
  25. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
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