What are you listening to now?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Very rarely has a piece has affected me as much as Kate Soper's 'Voices from the Killing Jar' has. The music itself is captivating and with masterful word-painting of which I personally think can only compare with Britten for its theatrical nature, whereas Soper's score is both emotionally richer and more intricately detailed in orchestration than anything Britten has ever composed. This piece must be one of only a handful of pieces which I feel has truly managed to transport me into a sonic universe the likes of which could never be imagined before hearing the music for the first time. For the 40 plus minutes of its duration there was never a moment of exhaustion, never a moment of dullness or boredom, but only a logical transformation of one section to the next, one emotion to the next, one uniquely orchestrated moment to the next. The underlying rhythm of change in the music always keeps one on their toes and at the edge of their seat to find out what music lies ahead. What actually does lie ahead is never completely what one expects, but when it is finally heard it is impossible to imagine anything else it could have been. At the end of the piece, the final silence came almost as a shock as I had been so immersed in the universe of sound which Soper created that being brought back into reality is somewhat disappointing. 43 minutes of music just isn't enough, yet any change I feel would ruin the awesome experience of hearing this work for the first time. Highly recommended listen for anyone who hasn't heard this yet!

https://www.youtube.com/v/LCAt4mKhCpY

[San Antone]

Very rarely has a piece has affected me as much as Kate Soper's 'Voices from the Killing Jar' has.

I agree that Kate Soper is one of the more interesting composers working today.  You might be interested in the interview she gave me about a year ago.

[Madiel]

Very rarely has a piece has affected me as much as Kate Soper's 'Voices from the Killing Jar' has. The music itself is captivating and with masterful word-painting of which I personally think can only compare with Britten for its theatrical nature, whereas Soper's score is both emotionally richer and more intricately detailed in orchestration than anything Britten has ever composed. This piece must be one of only a handful of pieces which I feel has truly managed to transport me into a sonic universe the likes of which could never be imagined before hearing the music for the first time. For the 40 plus minutes of its duration there was never a moment of exhaustion, never a moment of dullness or boredom, but only a logical transformation of one section to the next, one emotion to the next, one uniquely orchestrated moment to the next. The underlying rhythm of change in the music always keeps one on their toes and at the edge of their seat to find out what music lies ahead. What actually does lie ahead is never completely what one expects, but when it is finally heard it is impossible to imagine anything else it could have been. At the end of the piece, the final silence came almost as a shock as I had been so immersed in the universe of sound which Soper created that being brought back into reality is somewhat disappointing. 43 minutes of music just isn't enough, yet any change I feel would ruin the awesome experience of hearing this work for the first time. Highly recommended listen for anyone who hasn't heard this yet!

https://www.youtube.com/v/LCAt4mKhCpY

I regret to say I lasted about a minute.

What you hear as keeping you on your toes, I hear as disrupting the flow of words for the sake of being... some kind of trendy modernist. And tonight I just don't have the patience for it.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Lmao I just bought the recording

[San Antone]

Sebastian Bach : Actus tragicus
Joshua Rifkin (HIP, OVPP)



Likely written after the death of his mother's brother, and for his funeral, this first major work foretells what the world could expect from the 22 year old master.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I agree that Kate Soper is one of the more interesting composers working today.  You might be interested in the interview she gave me about a year ago.

Thanks for the link!

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Listening to the Tana Quartet play Boulez's Livre pour quatour on the radio

[San Antone]

Birtwistle : The Triumph of Time

[Mahlerian]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1873 version)
Hamburg Philharmonic, cond. Young

[San Antone]

Conductus : Music from 13th Century France

[Marc]

Ok folks, time to rap it up for tonight 

I'll be taking a different aesthetic next, Mahler's Wunderhorn




Ironically, as much as Mahler has the very profound, personal and almost melancholic reputation with his music, Wunderhorn remains one of the most fun song cycles ever written       

Well, the lyrics are all from a collection of folk songs, and indeed there is plenty of humour and irony in this cycle (as in other Mahler music), but the songs about soldiers or the poor people are still quite melancholic and sometimes even sad IMO... btw: Lucia Popp sings a very ironic 'Fischpredigt' and a moving 'Trompeten' in this very recording. What a great soprano she was.

[Karl Henning]

"Papa"
Symphony № 59 in A « Il fuoco » (H.I/59)
AAM
Hogwood

[asin]B009LNI0T0[/asin]

[Wakefield]

Sebastian Bach : Actus tragicus
Joshua Rifkin (HIP, OVPP)



Likely written after the death of his mother's brother, and for his funeral, this first major work foretells what the world could expect from the 22 year old master.

Wonderful piece, indeed; although I'm even more radical: here one sees a complete master, without anything to be built.

About the occasion, it's highly uncertain.

Alfred Dürr suggests a memorial to Bach's uncle Tobias Lämmerhirt of Erfurt, who died on 10 August 1707, leaving fifty Gulden to Bach.

Hermann Schmalfuß ("J. S. Bachs 'Actus tragicus' (BWV 106): Ein Beitrag zu seiner Entstehungsgeschichte', BJ 1970, 36–43)— suggests the burial of Dorothea Susanna Tilesius (née Eilmar) on 3 June 1708— but in Dürr's view is too late in the light of the cantata's stylistic attributes.

J. Rifkin (recording notes, 1985) suggests the funeral of Johann Christian Hofferock, a prominent Mühlhausen citizen who died on 25 October 1707.

Who knows...

[Alfred Dürr: The Cantatas of J.S. Bach (revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones), Oxford University Press, 2006]

[San Antone]

Wonderful piece, indeed; although I'm even more radical: here one sees a complete master, without anything to be built.

About the occasion, it's highly uncertain.

Alfred Dürr suggests a memorial to Bach's uncle Tobias Lämmerhirt of Erfurt, who died on 10 August 1707, leaving fifty Gulden to Bach.

Hermann Schmalfuß ("J. S. Bachs 'Actus tragicus' (BWV 106): Ein Beitrag zu seiner Entstehungsgeschichte', BJ 1970, 36–43)— suggests the burial of Dorothea Susanna Tilesius (née Eilmar) on 3 June 1708— but in Dürr's view is too late in the light of the cantata's stylistic attributes.

J. Rifkin (recording notes, 1985) suggests the funeral of Johann Christian Hofferock, a prominent Mühlhausen citizen who died on 25 October 1707.

Who knows...

[Alfred Dürr: The Cantatas of J.S. Bach (revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones), Oxford University Press, 2006]

After listening to Rifkin I then listened to the Ricercar group, which I liked better. 



Yes, a wonderful piece, and you are right, for whom it was written is uncertain, although I think his uncle is the best bet.





Now:

Machaut : Messe
Schmelzer

[Mirror Image]

I regret to say I lasted about a minute.

What you hear as keeping you on your toes, I hear as disrupting the flow of words for the sake of being... some kind of trendy modernist. And tonight I just don't have the patience for it.

I have to agree with orfeo here. I didn't last too long either. It just sounds like someone playing with music just for giggles. Definitely not the kind of thing I'd ever actively listen to.

[Harry]

The last two discs in the Deutsche Barock Weihnacht was a very pleasant surprise for me. New acquisition, first listen to a lovely Weihnachts oratorium.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2016/12/deutsche-barock-weihnacht-graupner.html?spref=tw

[HIPster]

Angel-themed music from the 12th - 17th Centuries ~

[asin]B000005WC0[/asin]

An excellent Early Music "sampler" - Gio review via the amazon link. 

[Wakefield]

Yes, a wonderful piece, and you are right, for whom it was written is uncertain, although I think his uncle is the best bet.

"Show me the money!"... Me too, the generous uncle is a very reasonable bet. 

After listening to Rifkin I then listened to the Ricercar group, which I liked better. 

I love Rifkin recordings, but the Ricercar Consort is... well, just perfect.

If you're in "funeral" mood  , please give a chance to the "Tombeau De Sa Majeste La Reine De Pologne", a wonderful disk too.

[HIPster]

"Show me the money!"... Me too, the generous uncle is a very reasonable bet. 


I love Rifkin recordings, but the Ricercar Consort is... well, just perfect.

If you're in "funeral" mood  , please give a chance to the "Tombeau De Sa Majeste La Reine De Pologne", a wonderful disk too.

Thanks for your informative posts Gordo and sanantonio.   

I confess to finding The Ricercer Consort's Actus Tragicus not to my liking!  I will try again. . .

Odd, since I've really loved everything else I have heard from them.

[Karl Henning]

Not any surprise:

"Papa"
Symphony № 65 in A (H.I/65)
AAM
Hogwood

[asin]B009LNI0T0[/asin]