Gurn's Classical Corner

[Gurn Blanston]

Dave,
here's what Grove's has to say about him. Birth year not really given, I think that "fl" means something like "first time we ever heard of him" ....

Mercy, Luis [Lewis]
(fl 1708–51). English composer and recorder player, presumably of French birth. On 26 July 1708 he played in a concert at Epsom, 'being the second time of his performance in public, since his arrival in England'. In 1716 he played two 'entertainments' in the interval of a play at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London. By 1718, when Walsh and Hare published his op.1, he was in the service of James Brydges, Earl of Caernarvon (and soon to become Duke of Chandos) at Cannons, Middlesex. The sonatas are dedicated to Brydges, 'under whose roof they were composed'. In February 1719 he played 'a concerto and solo' for the recorder in a concert at Hickford's Room. A month later, he had left Brydges' service and what he then did for a living is unknown. On 18 July 1730, while living in the parish of St Paul's, Covent Garden, he married Anne Hampshire at St Vedast-alias-Foster. From 1733 to 1737 he lived in Orange Court, Castle Street.
In the preface to his op.1 recorder sonatas, Mercy defended the instrument against the encroachments of the violin (not the flute, as one would expect), praising the recorder's technical capability, clean passagework, ability (though soft) to make itself heard in a 20-strong ensemble, and good intonation even on high notes. According to Hawkins, Mercy was involved in the proposal by Thomas Stanesby (ii) to make the tenor, not the treble, the standard size of recorder, but Stanesby's prospectus (1732) makes no mention of him. Hawkins also reports (in two accounts) that around 1735 Mercy published 'twelve Solos, the first six whereof are said to be for the Traverse-flute, Violin, or English Flute [recorder], according to Mr. Stanesby's new system' or 'six solos for the [recorder], three whereof are said to be accommodated to Mr. Stanesby's new system'; no such sonatas are extant.

The last notice of Mercy as a performer is for his benefit concert on 1 April 1735 at York Buildings, when he played some of his own compositions. Around the same time he published a set of six sonatas for bassoon or violoncello, and about ten years later a set of six flute sonatas (both designated op.3) under his own auspices. It seems likely that the decline of the recorder had forced him to take up other woodwind instruments. He is last heard of in a letter of 13 August 1751 from Lady Caroline Brydges (James's granddaughter) concerning her visit to the Long Room at Bristol. 'The master of ceremonies ... is one Mercie, formerly a hautboy in my grandfather's band of music. He scraped acquaintance with me, to my great astonishment, and was more amazed when I found all ... he had ... was by knowing my grandfather before I was born'.

Hawkins's claim that Mercy's recorder sonatas 'are among the best compositions for that instrument extant' is not borne out in practice. Although Mercy had some good ideas and an interest in rhythmic variety, the sonatas are gauche and repetitive. His bassoon sonatas represent a considerable advance in compositional technique: the awkwardness is smoothed out into a pleasing and balanced series of phrases of considerable rhythmic imagination. 

Gurn's Note: Don'tcha just love it when biographers make value judgments? 

WORKS
6 Solos, rec, bc, op.1 (London, 1718, 2/c1730)
6 Solos, rec, bc, op.2 (London, c1720, 2/c1730)
VI sonate, bn/vc, bc, op.3 (London, c1735)
VI sonate, fl, bc, op.3 (London, c1745)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HawkinsH
D. Lasocki: Professional Recorder Players in England, 1540–1740 (diss., U. of Iowa, 1983)
G. Beeks: 'Handel and Music for the Earl of Carnarvon', Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: Tercentenary Essays, ed. P. Williams (Cambridge, 1985), 1–20


Thanks for bringing him to our attention.



----------------
Now playing:
Academy of Ancient Music \ Hogwood  Hogwood (Chamber Organ) - Hob 18 01 Concerto #1 in C for Organ 2nd mvmt - Largo

[Gurn Blanston]

Actually, it is an abbreviation of the Latin term, floruit, "flourished" or when he was most active.

Ah, excellent! My lesson for the day. I am really surprised that I never ran across that before... 



----------------
Now playing:
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien \ Huss - Hob 02 23 Feldparthie in F for 6 Winds 1st mvmt - Allegro

[Leo K.]

Gurn - yes, I have that same Cramer 2-CD set w/ John Khouri; I went ahead and purchased several other recordings of his, including the two inserted above of Hummel & Eberl but on a different restored fortepiano; exchanged some e-mails w/ him and left a post in the Old Musical Instruments Thread HERE, for those who may be interested - Dave 

Man, that Cramer disk is very special. I've been able to hear two sonatas from that set, and I am deeply impressed. That set is now in my shopping cart for May's purchase (I allow myself to buy two or three CDs a month). The other recording in my cart is Volume 1 of Cerzny sonatas by Martin Jones:



For my June purchase, I'm very serious about getting that Eberl complete sonata set. I didn't see that until today, and I'm very curious how those sound, since I'm loving Eberl's symphonies by the Concerto Koln!



So, what are Eberl's sonatas like? In general, how long are his sonatas? Are they kinda romantic sounding or more classical?

[Leo K.]

By the way, Dave, thanks for the link to the old intruments thread, thats really cool you contacted the artist on his fortepianos...fascinating stuff ! 

[SonicMan46]

Dave,
here's what Grove's has to say about him. Birth year not really given, I think that "fl" means something like "first time we ever heard of him" ....

Hawkins's claim that Mercy's recorder sonatas 'are among the best compositions for that instrument extant' is not borne out in practice. Although Mercy had some good ideas and an interest in rhythmic variety, the sonatas are gauche and repetitive. His bassoon sonatas represent a considerable advance in compositional technique: the awkwardness is smoothed out into a pleasing and balanced series of phrases of considerable rhythmic imagination. 

Gurn's Note: Don'tcha just love it when biographers make value judgments? 

WORKS
6 Solos, rec, bc, op.1 (London, 1718, 2/c1730)
6 Solos, rec, bc, op.2 (London, c1720, 2/c1730)
VI sonate, bn/vc, bc, op.3 (London, c1735)
VI sonate, fl, bc, op.3 (London, c1745)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HawkinsH
D. Lasocki: Professional Recorder Players in England, 1540–1740 (diss., U. of Iowa, 1983)
G. Beeks: 'Handel and Music for the Earl of Carnarvon', Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: Tercentenary Essays, ed. P. Williams (Cambridge, 1985), 1–20


Thanks for bringing him to our attention.

Gurn - thanks for the additional information; the liner notes were of no help as to his origin except to state that he 'came to' England.  I've listened to that disc twice now and really like the music and the performances - cannot really agree w/ the statement in bold above; and am still interested in the Op. 3 bassoon works!  Dave 

[SonicMan46]

By the way, Dave, thanks for the link to the old intruments thread, thats really cool you contacted the artist on his fortepianos...fascinating stuff ! 

Leo - glad that you like the information on John Khouri's pianos (in fact there is a LOT of interesting information in that thread on these older keyboard et al instruments) - 

Concerning Carl Czerny, I do have 3 discs of his music (chamber & symphonies) but no solo piano works, so will be curious as to your thoughts; seems that Martin Jones plans to continue (or Nimbus bring out) more of these solo compositions?

Anton Eberl's Piano Sonatas et al - the piano writing is excellent and Kouri's playing virtuosic; however, the recordings are closely miked and the mechanisms of the pianos are often heard (which usually does not bother me - they are what pianos of the era were!), along w/ some intermittent low-pitch humming from the pianist (nothing close to a Glenn Gould - but don't want to get into that arena).

I've attached a review from Fanfare (2009) by Jerry Dubins (who I usually like) - he is more negative about the instruments used in these performances; now I cannot remember him reviewing a lot of PI recordings, so that needs to be taken into account.  I guess that my suggestion is to try to listen to some 'long' snippets (if available) of a few of these pieces before a purchase since this is a 3-disc set.  Dave 

[Gurn Blanston]

Enjoyable discussion, Leo & Dave.

I haven't heard Eberl's solo piano works, I have 2 disks of his chamber works (that duplicate a couple works, IIRC) and that's it. However, he was known for his piano works, so really I am missing out.   I will pick up those Khouri disks at the soonest point in my next fiscal cycle (I'm like Leo in that way. It helps curb impulse buys (a little)).

On the subject of noisy instruments and reviews of Khouri's disks; The first I ever got of him were the Clementi set and the Hummel "2 Sonatas for Fortepiano". I distinctly remember when fellow poster here, André, asked me about them so he might purchase them himself. I was momentarily at a loss for how to describe them, and finally decided to just tell him 'well, there disks are for people who really love fortepianos, warts and all. If the instruments give you problems to start with, then don't waste your money'. Still feel the same way today. They creak sometimes, and jangle a little too. Or maybe that's John jangling? No, it's the piano! Anyway, for a beginner who might be thinking of moving from modern Steinway's or whatever, I don't care how much you want to hear these composers. 



----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Savall - Hob 20 1 The Seven Last Words - Orchestral version pt 3 - Sonata II. Grave e Cantabile

[Leo K.]

Enjoyable discussion, Leo & Dave.

I haven't heard Eberl's solo piano works, I have 2 disks of his chamber works (that duplicate a couple works, IIRC) and that's it. However, he was known for his piano works, so really I am missing out.   I will pick up those Khouri disks at the soonest point in my next fiscal cycle (I'm like Leo in that way. It helps curb impulse buys (a little)).

On the subject of noisy instruments and reviews of Khouri's disks; The first I ever got of him were the Clementi set and the Hummel "2 Sonatas for Fortepiano". I distinctly remember when fellow poster here, André, asked me about them so he might purchase them himself. I was momentarily at a loss for how to describe them, and finally decided to just tell him 'well, there disks are for people who really love fortepianos, warts and all. If the instruments give you problems to start with, then don't waste your money'. Still feel the same way today. They creak sometimes, and jangle a little too. Or maybe that's John jangling? No, it's the piano! Anyway, for a beginner who might be thinking of moving from modern Steinway's or whatever, I don't care how much you want to hear these composers. 



----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Savall - Hob 20 1 The Seven Last Words - Orchestral version pt 3 - Sonata II. Grave e Cantabile

I don't mind all those creaks and jangles of the fortepiano either, rather, to me it's a comforting sound, like being home 

I am now very interested in solo piano work from the early 19th century, particularly in sonatas, and my listening has tended towards this genre as of late. Another disk I was blown away by, is this disk:



It goes without saying how great Christine Schornsheim is in these performances. She plays on two fortepianos, the table piano Érard, 1802 (for the Capricos, op. 2) and the fortepiano Érard 1808, for the sonatas.

This is the first time I had heard of Alexandre Boely (1785-1858) and I dearly hope more of his sonatas are recorded sometime in the near future, or sooner! I have read about him on this board before.

Here is a copy of the review of this recording from musicweb:

In programmes of chamber music of the first part of the 19th century, French music doesn't feature very prominently. Many composers who were celebrities in their time in France, and particularly in the drawing rooms of Paris, are largely ignored today. Names which spring to mind are those of Kalkbrenner, Onslow, Franchomme, Pleyel or even Reicha. Alexandre Pierre François Boëly is another name which is hardly known. The kind of music he is best known for is his organ music. He wrote quite a lot of it, and his works regularly appear on the programmes of organists. But his contributions to other musical genres are almost unknown. He wrote a number of works for violin and pianoforte, string trios and string quartets and music for pianoforte, including pieces for quatre-mains.
 
Boëly came from a musical family: his first teacher was his father Jean François (1739 - 1814), who was a theorist, singer and harpist. He entered the Conservatoire in 1796, but when a conflict arose between his father and one of the directors of the Conservatoire, Gossec, he left the institution. It was the music of Bach, Couperin and the Viennese classics which were part of his self-teaching after he had left the Conservatoire. Later on he mainly acted as an organist, which explains the large number of organ compositions. In 1840 he became organist at St Germain-l'Auxerrois. But the clergy found his style too austere and he was forced to resign.
 
This assessment of his style can be explained from his great interest in music of the past. It is interesting to quote his lifelong friend, the violinist Eugène Sauzay (1809-1901):

"He composed, played the piano and organ, and performed the viola parts in our quartets as well as Haydn himself did. Music was his whole life and he believed that anything that got in the way of music, including eating, was a waste of time. He was so familiar with early music and the very substance of the old masters, Bach especially, that in the long run he could no longer distinguish his own works from theirs. (...) When everything was ready, he would sit down at his pedal-piano with his snuff-box close at hand and play through Bach's three-part Chorals or a whole book of his fine Etudes".

These Etudes are probably the 'Trente Caprices ou Pièces d'étude pour le piano' opus 2, which are featured on this disc. They were published around 1816 in Paris. They were dedicated to 'Madame Bigot'; Marie Bigot née Kiené (1786 - 1820) was a famous pianist who performed in Vienna where she came into contact with Haydn, Salieri and Beethoven. The latter gave her the autograph of his Appassionata sonata which she had played at sight. In 1809 she and her husband moved to Paris, where she performed in attendance of, among others, Boëly and Cherubini. In her concerts she often included music of previous eras, especially Bach and Handel. In his Caprices Boëly pays tribute to those masters, although without imitating them. I don't think anyone listening to these Caprices will confuse them with the genuine works of the past masters Bach, Handel or Scarlatti.
 
The disc opens and closes with the two sonatas which were published as his opus 1 in 1810. These are influenced by Beethoven, whom Boëly greatly admired. According to a contemporary these sonatas were unique for France for their "love of liberty and youthful energy". In particular the first sonata is very Beethoven-like. The second movement, adagio con espressione, is dark and pathetic, and the sonata closes with a presto movement full of virtuosic passage work. The second is of a more light-hearted nature, reflected by the key of G major and the fact that the three movements are all written in a fast tempo: allegro con brio, scherzo (allegro) and rondo vivace ma non troppo presto.
 
It is quite difficult to understand why these two sonatas have been neglected. It could well be, though, that they need a historical piano to reveal their real character. For instance the passages in the closing movement of the first Sonata from opus 1 could easily sound empty and shallow. That is not the case here, because of the differences in colour between the descant, the middle and the bass of the piano played here, which results in a broad sound palette. Also the dynamic possibilities of the two pianos are used to great effect by Ms Schornsheim. In addition the Érard piano has some registers which have disappeared from modern concert grands, like the 'jeu de basson' which is used in the last movement of the second Sonata. It is put into effect by a knee lever which brings a roll of paper to touch lightly on the strings from the middle of the compass down to the last bass note. This paper vibrates on the strings when they are played, giving a bassoon-like sound.
 
The other instrument is a square piano, which was quite popular at the time and which was especially used at home. It is a very appropriate instrument to play the caprices which are more suitable to be played at home than in a public concert. As each of the caprices is rather short, the differentiation of sound the square piano is able to produce is very welcome. Apart from the registers additional variation is created by closing, opening or half-opening the lid.
 
Christine Schornsheim is one of the world's leading players of historical pianos and has produced a number of very fine recordings. She has a special interest in music which is largely neglected, and her choice of these pieces by Boëly is fully justified. Hopefully it will open the ears for the music of Boëly and his French contemporaries which fare well if played with historical instruments. One could argue that it is a shame that only a selection of the Caprices has been recorded, but the whole opus has been recorded before on a historical instrument (by Laure Colladant) and this way there was enough space left to record the two fine sonatas. Christine Schornsheim plays the programme splendidly and uses the two magnificent instruments to great effect. The recording engineer also has done a very good job and the booklet contains informative notes on Boëly and his music as well as information about the instrument - and the development of Érard pianos - by Michael Latcham.
 
--Johan van Veen

[Leo K.]

Leo - glad that you like the information on John Khouri's pianos (in fact there is a LOT of interesting information in that thread on these older keyboard et al instruments) - 

Concerning Carl Czerny, I do have 3 discs of his music (chamber & symphonies) but no solo piano works, so will be curious as to your thoughts; seems that Martin Jones plans to continue (or Nimbus bring out) more of these solo compositions?

Anton Eberl's Piano Sonatas et al - the piano writing is excellent and Kouri's playing virtuosic; however, the recordings are closely miked and the mechanisms of the pianos are often heard (which usually does not bother me - they are what pianos of the era were!), along w/ some intermittent low-pitch humming from the pianist (nothing close to a Glenn Gould - but don't want to get into that arena).

I've attached a review from Fanfare (2009) by Jerry Dubins (who I usually like) - he is more negative about the instruments used in these performances; now I cannot remember him reviewing a lot of PI recordings, so that needs to be taken into account.  I guess that my suggestion is to try to listen to some 'long' snippets (if available) of a few of these pieces before a purchase since this is a 3-disc set.  Dave 

Thank you so much for including a copy of that review from Fanfare Dave 

And thanks for your thoughts on this recording. It very much appears this will be my June purchase. 

[Leo K.]

Now that I've read that Fanfare review on Eberl's sonatas, I've been tempted to move my purchase up to May, and waiting on the Czerny and Cramer for June!

Decisions! Decisions! 

[Gurn Blanston]

yeah, doesn't that suck? To me, the wonderful thing is that now matter how many months come and go when I am presented with having to make choices like that, still happens to me nearly every month!   

OK, well speaking of turn of century France, fortepiano sonatas etc. (and no, I don't have Böely... yet), here is the disk that got ME started down that road:



Look at the composers, all first rate sonata writers. And Raynaud really plays well on a nice fortepiano. Just sayin...   0:)



----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall - BWV 1046 Concerto #1 in F 3rd mvmt - Allegro

[Leo K.]

yeah, doesn't that suck? To me, the wonderful thing is that now matter how many months come and go when I am presented with having to make choices like that, still happens to me nearly every month!   

OK, well speaking of turn of century France, fortepiano sonatas etc. (and no, I don't have Böely... yet), here is the disk that got ME started down that road:



Look at the composers, all first rate sonata writers. And Raynaud really plays well on a nice fortepiano. Just sayin...   0:)



----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall - BWV 1046 Concerto #1 in F 3rd mvmt - Allegro

That looks like a very interesting disk, I've never come across that one in my travels  Are the sonatas complete or excerpts?


Here are a couple more interesting sonatas I'm just hearing...sonatas by Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849) and Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871), alas not on fortepiano in this record, but still very nice playing by Adrian Ruiz



From this record, I've only heard the Kalkbrenner Grand Sonata and I love the early romanticism of it. The Thalberg sonata, is more from the romantic period of course, but I'm also reaching for sonatas from the later 19th century. The history of the piano sonata is very interesting. A modern piano sonata (early 20th century modern) I dearly love is Charles Ives' famous Concord Sonata, which the more I hear, the more it sounds like Lizst!

[Gurn Blanston]

That looks like a very interesting disk, I've never come across that one in my travels  Are the sonatas complete or excerpts?


Here are a couple more interesting sonatas I'm just hearing...sonatas by Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849) and Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871), alas not on fortepiano in this record, but still very nice playing by Adrian Ruiz



From this record, I've only heard the Kalkbrenner Grand Sonata and I love the early romanticism of it. The Thalberg, is more from the romantic period, but I'm reaching for sonatas from the later 19th century. The history of the piano sonata is very interesting. The most modern piano sonata that I've loved a long time, is Charles Ives' famous Concord Sonata, which the more I hear, the more it sounds like Lizst!

Oh, complete, of course! Although the Edelmann and the Hüllmandel are just 1 movement works anyway. Raynaud is playing a 1786 Stein copy.

Pierre Verany label disks can be hard to find. As it happens, I got this one at BRO for $4.99. I saw it just one time after that in the Marketplace for $50 or so.    Which is just wrong, of course.    




----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall - BWV 1047 Concerto #2 in F 1st mvmt - [Allegro]

[Gurn Blanston]

Here are a couple more interesting sonatas I'm just hearing...sonatas by Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849) and Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871), alas not on fortepiano in this record, but still very nice playing by Adrian Ruiz



From this record, I've only heard the Kalkbrenner Grand Sonata and I love the early romanticism of it. The Thalberg, is more from the romantic period, but I'm reaching for sonatas from the later 19th century. The history of the piano sonata is very interesting. The most modern piano sonata that I've loved a long time, is Charles Ives' famous Concord Sonata, which the more I hear, the more it sounds like Lizst!

Thalberg was primarily a virtuoso, he composed in order to have things that were hard enough for him to play and influence people. I have a disk of his concerto-like works on Naxos (also not on pianoforte).

[asin]B00004RGDH[/asin]

Not a lot of depth, but plenty of flash! Which in 1835 would have made him King of the Hill.

Kalkbrenner was also known as being pretty flashy, but maybe a bit better of a composer. I would like to have 1 disk of his best sonatas played on a good pianoforte by a good player and I would probably have all I need. I hate not having any, but I don't want it all either.

I'm going to recommend to you a book. It's called The Sonata in the Classic Era by William Newman. Quite by coincidence I am re-reading it right now. Its original purchase in 2004 initiated my great affair with the Classical Sonata. He discusses every composer known to him and their works in view of the development of the genre. It is actually volume 2 of a 3 (4?) part set called A History of the Sonata Idea that goes from the early Baroque to what was then modern times (1960's). It has been a huge help for me in building up my collection in some sort of rational way.  I got mine "Used - Like New" at the Marketplace for $7, but I wouldn't count on that sort of luck. You wouldn't regret it if it cost you $25. Just sayin'....




----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall - BWV 1047 Concerto #2 in F 1st mvmt - [Allegro]

[Leo K.]

Oh, complete, of course! Although the Edelmann and the Hüllmandel are just 1 movement works anyway. Raynaud is playing a 1786 Stein copy.

Pierre Verany label disks can be hard to find. As it happens, I got this one at BRO for $4.99. I saw it just one time after that in the Marketplace for $50 or so.    Which is just wrong, of course.    




----------------
Now playing:
Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall - BWV 1047 Concerto #2 in F 1st mvmt - [Allegro]

Oh man, I really want that disk then!  Right now, it's not under 30 bucks so i'll have to wait and see

[Leo K.]

Thalberg was primarily a virtuoso, he composed in order to have things that were hard enough for him to play and influence people. I have a disk of his concerto-like works on Naxos (also not on pianoforte).

[asin]B00004RGDH[/asin]

Not a lot of depth, but plenty of flash! Which in 1835 would have made him King of the Hill.

Kalkbrenner was also known as being pretty flashy, but maybe a bit better of a composer. I would like to have 1 disk of his best sonatas played on a good pianoforte by a good player and I would probably have all I need. I hate not having any, but I don't want it all either.

Until recently, flash and virtuoso playing was not my preference in a piano work, but now I've had a change of heart, not sure why exactly. I'm not seeking a steady diet of flash, but maybe a little here and there  I'm just getting into Liszt, who was not someone I was previously interested in hearing!

I'm going to recommend to you a book. It's called The Sonata in the Classic Era by William Newman. Quite by coincidence I am re-reading it right now. Its original purchase in 2004 initiated my great affair with the Classical Sonata. He discusses every composer known to him and their works in view of the development of the genre. It is actually volume 2 of a 3 (4?) part set called A History of the Sonata Idea that goes from the early Baroque to what was then modern times (1960's). It has been a huge help for me in building up my collection in some sort of rational way.  I got mine "Used - Like New" at the Marketplace for $7, but I wouldn't count on that sort of luck. You wouldn't regret it if it cost you $25. Just sayin'....

Thank you very much for the book recommend! I am going to seek that out for sure! 

[SonicMan46]

Now that I've read that Fanfare review on Eberl's sonatas, I've been tempted to move my purchase up to May, and waiting on the Czerny and Cramer for June!

Decisions! Decisions! 

Leo & Gurn - can't keep up w/ you guys! 

Love Schornsheim and the price is right, although I don't know the composer - may order anyway! 

Also, believe that I'm attracted to the Bassoon Works of Merci - listened to that flute disc for a third time and really enjoy the performances - so 'how many' bassoon discs are there available?  Worth a chance - 

[Philoctetes]

Out of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, which would you say are the most interesting (as you would define it)?

Edit: Please give the reason that it is interesting (to you).

[Leo K.]

Out of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, which would you say are the most interesting (as you would define it)?

Edit: Please give the reason that it is interesting (to you).

Piloctetes, all of the symphonies of those composers are interesting! In particular, out of Haydn and Mozart, symphonies in minor keys are always an interesting listen, and the differences between Haydn and Mozart when writing in the minor key are interesting to consider too.

For Mozart, I tend to gravitate towards the late symphonies, starting with the Prague, and up to no.41 in C Major ("Jupiter"). For Haydn, I tend to listen to the Paris and London symphonies. Why? Thats a great question.

I like the sound world of Mozart's mature style. I also appreciate how, like Haydn, each work exists in it's sound world, it's own "gastalt" if you will. I also like the profound slow movements of Mozart and Haydn in thier later symphonic works. Also, in Haydn, it's fun to hear for his sense of humour in his Paris and London symphonies, where even some slow movements seem transcendent in wit and humor (The "Clock" movement in Symphony no. 101 to name an example, or the "Surprise" symphony), but there is that quality in all his works in some measure or quality.

Thats not to say I never listen to the earlier works, of course I enjoy those. For Mozart, I LOVE no.22, 25, and 29. As for Haydn, I still need to get to know his earlier symphonies. I've heard many, but there are so many to catch up on!

[Leo K.]

Leo & Gurn - can't keep up w/ you guys! 

Love Schornsheim and the price is right, although I don't know the composer - may order anyway! 

Also, believe that I'm attracted to the Bassoon Works of Merci - listened to that flute disc for a third time and really enjoy the performances - so 'how many' bassoon discs are there available?  Worth a chance - 

I feel you will love the Schornsheim Boely disk. The music has such a wonderful mood and quality, like these early romantic works do!

Thanks for the thoughts on Merci too...I could use a little more basoon in my life. As for flute, I have enjoyed getting into the Johann Hasse works for flute