What are you listening to now?

[Harry]

Cheers, Harry!

Good day to you Karl!

[Harry]

Despite mixed feelings, it is fantastic music.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/08/benjamin-arthur-1893-1960-solo.html?spref=tw

[Sergeant Rock]

So sorry. It's the worst Bear I have ever heard.

Since the forum is dividing on this issue, I'll jump in. I agree with you, Neal. The first movement is marked Vivace assai (very lively and fast). Kuijken's Bear is hibernating 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

But in his wintry dreams, he is tearing up the carpet . . . .

[Karl Henning]

"Very lively" would be Molto vivace. I should read Vivace assai as "rather lively" . . . there's wiggle room for interpretation, but if Vivace is 0, and Molto vivace is (say) +1, my sense is to set Vivace assai at (say) -1.

An even truer model might be:

Vivace assai :: -1
Vivace :: 0
Molto vivace :: +2 or 3

Edit :: pedantic refinement

[Sergeant Rock]

"Very lively" would be Molto vivace. I should read Vivace assai as "rather lively"

Is "piano expert" Brandy wrong then? 

http://piano.about.com/od/musicaltermsa1/g/GL_assai.htm

Seriously, another internet reference says assai means very.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assai

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Well, probably I am wrong (and misled by the French assez).  Bother . . . I am going to have to strike assai from my scores where I mean something other than (apparently) many musicians will read it . . . .

[Florestan]

Karl Henning - White Nights

Too bad the midi cannot do full justice to such great music. I can only hope that it'll be performed and recorded soon.

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

Our own weirdears . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/v/-t_AabU3-bc

[Karl Henning]

Karl Henning - White Nights

Too bad the midi cannot do full justice to such great music. I can only hope that it'll be performed and recorded soon.

Glad you like it, and think well of it!

[Madiel]

I have found several references to 'assai' meaning, at the time of Haydn, 'quite' or 'rather', not 'very'. So Vivace assai would be 'quite lively'.  The Harvard Dictionary of Music is apparently one reference that says this was the 18th century meaning.

One should not automatically be guided by modern Italian when one is not reading a tempo marking written in modern Italian.

PS Now if you'll excuse me, the Alban Berg Quartet is introducing me this evening to Mozart's 14th string quartet. Which funnily enough, begins with a movement marked Allegro vivace assai.

[Karl Henning]

I have found several references to 'assai' meaning, at the time of Haydn, 'quite' or 'rather', not 'very'. So Vivace assai would be 'quite lively'.  The Harvard Dictionary of Music is apparently one reference that says this was the 18th century meaning.

One should not automatically be guided by modern Italian when one is not reading a tempo marking written in modern Italian.

Thank you;  the question of how "Papa" might have understood assai did cross my mind . . . .

[Mookalafalas]

I have found several references to 'assai' meaning, at the time of Haydn, 'quite' or 'rather', not 'very'. So Vivace assai would be 'quite lively'.  The Harvard Dictionary of Music is apparently one reference that says this was the 18th century meaning.

One should not automatically be guided by modern Italian when one is not reading a tempo marking written in modern Italian.

Hmmm....the plot thickens

[Karl Henning]

Well, and the question of changing understanding/mindset has been one of my themes this year, as I read about (e.g.) Shakespeare and "the authorship controversy" . . . .

[Todd]

Some Handel to start the day off.

[Madiel]

Well, seeing as I'm listening to Mozart and already noticing the tempo markings in the booklet...

If 'molto' and 'assai' are interchangeable and mean the same thing, some of the tempo markings in works of the period are awfully random.  Mozart's 14th string quartet has a first movement that is Allegro vivace assai and a finale that is Molto allegro. His 17th string quartet also begins Allegro vivace assai but its finale is Allegro assai.

Now, either Molto allegro and Allegro assai meant subtly different things to Mozart, or he had a sudden burst of random fondness for the word 'molto' one afternoon, possibly because of something he ate.

Similar randomness afflicted Haydn when he wrote Allegro assai in Symphony No.93 and Allegro molto in Symphony No.94.

[Harry]

I am on a adventurous trail with this composer, which has grown into a personal crusade to get him listen to.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/08/arnell-richard-great-detective-angels.html?spref=tw

[Harry]

Some elegant and sensitive music, that will certainly relax your mood!

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/08/rosenmuller-johann-1619-1684-sonata-234.html?spref=tw

[Brian]

Faure's Requiem. I hope Robin Williams has found peace from his struggles.

[Karl Henning]

"Papa"
Cello Concerto № 2 in D, Hob.VIIb.2
Hidemi Suzuki, vc
La Petite Bande
Kuijken

[asin]B007AR7QZI[/asin]