What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Coopmv]

I like the performances, and the sound. However, there are a few manufacturing glitches I was warned about (momentary dropouts, etc). Not many, though, and doesn't really bother me.

Sarge

I enjoyed the Mozart Violin/Piano set by Szeryng and Haebler very much.  I listened to their LP's years ago when I first started listening to classical music. At any rate, I hope many of the now OOP Philips recordings will make their way into Newton Classics' future releases ...

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm about to experiment with Roussel's Fourth Symphony, rearranging the movements according to Brian.

A funny thing happened to me recently. I got a CD of Roussel's Third and Fourth Symphonies, with Charles Munch and the Orchestre de Concerts Lamoureux, as a MusicWeb reviewing assignment. And lo and behold, a technical glitch had resulted in the tracks getting switched up so that the Fourth Symphony played as follows:

I. Lento - Allegro con brio
III. Allegro scherzando
IV. Allegro molto
II. Lento molto

....having the slow movement at the end sounds so much better! Try it for yourself.

Sarge

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD2 from this twofer for a first listen.  Moroney's performance was quite outstanding in this set ...

[Brian]

I'm about to experiment with Roussel's Fourth Symphony, rearranging the movements according to Brian.

And... am I crazy?
Don't answer that

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I'm about to experiment with Roussel's Fourth Symphony, rearranging the movements according to Brian.

I wonder if you can fool your memory... Someone once suggested reversing the order of movements in Brian's Seventh Symphony, because the progression was much more logical then (I don't agree, btw). I simply couldn't forget the original order...

[Lethevich]

Earlier:
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Now:


Johan: that may have been me, although I have many problems with that symphony besides that

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Johan: that may have been me, although I have many problems with that symphony besides that

That's funny - it was once suggested in the pages of the Havergal Brian Newsletter! So there appears to be more than one person who struggles (or struggled) with the symphony's trajectory... 

[Sergeant Rock]

And... am I crazy?
Don't answer that

Don't worry. I don't think you're crazy (or maybe I just belong in the asylum too  )  I do actually like it better your way (while acknowledging it screws up the neo-classical arrangement of the original order). I think the Scherzo works best coming after the first movement, and with the slow movement ending with two chords that sound like an "amen" it works well for a finale. This way it's almost a mini-Mahler Ninth (begins slow, ends slow, sandwiching two faster movements).

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

I wonder if you can fool your memory... Someone once suggested reversing the order of movements in Brian's Seventh Symphony, because the progression was much more logical then (I don't agree, btw). I simply couldn't forget the original order...

I'm not that familiar with the Roussel symphony (I've only heard it a few times over the decades) so I didn't have that problem.

Sarge

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD1 from this twofer from my baroque collection ...

[Antoine Marchand]

It is Reinken to the right, but there is some dispute as to whether the one on the left (the gamba player) should be Buxtehude or the composer Johann Theile.

Reinken is a composer who left only a few but fine works, not the least his Hortus Musicus, and I am of course interested to know, if this recording is one I should consider.

And this as well.

Both discs are highly recommendable, Premont. Superbly recorded and performed. I would say that both of them are mandatory for every Bachian. Yes, for every Bachian. Listening to these discs I have insistently recalled a quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson (writing about Plato) that I did read many moons ago:

"Plato, too, like every great man, consumed his own times. What is a great man, but one of great affinities, who takes up into himself all arts, sciences, all knowables, as his food? He can spare nothing; he can dispose of everything. What is not good for virtue is good for knowledge. Hence his contemporaries tax him with plagiarism. But the inventor only knows how to borrow; and society is glad to forget the innumerable laborers who ministered to this architect, and reserves all its gratitude for him. When we are praising Plato, it seems we are praising quotations from Solon, and Sophron, and Philolaus. Be it so. Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests, and mines, and stone quarries; and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors. And this grasping inventor puts all nations under contribution".

Actually, this kind of discs brings to my mind the fascinating theme of Bach's apprenticeship, but also that Bach was a great teacher himself for his own sons as for a great number of other people. I mean it's possible to trace an imaginary long line from his predecessors (and,  as every genius, at some extent he "created" his predecessors) to his direct students and the students of their students. That's to not to mention his theoretical-practical treatises (among them his clavier-übungs) and his relationship with some of the greatest musicians of his time (not a mere relation of conservatory).

And these two discs are excellent to suggest all these ideas. La Reveuse is an excellent ensemble, totally in style, with perfect musicians, but also deeply passionate and a bit more alert than Mortensen and Co... And Celine Frisch: Well, I loved this disc, IMO she should listen to it many times in order to avoid hurries in her future discs... BTW, those two suites by Rei(n)ken are truly excellent and I would like to include the complete painting of the cover:   


Johannes Voorhout, Scène musicale familière (1674)
Stifung Historische Museen Hamburg

One interpretation of the painting:

"We are in 1674, with our two friends (Buxtehude and Reinken) nearing forty. The sumptuous interior belongs to the rich Reinken, seated at the harpsichord . In the center of this illustrious company, he is making music with Buxtehude, who is playing the gamba (contrary what is sometimes wrongly claimed), and the other figures present. In the hollow of the harpsichord, Johann Theile, cupping a hand to his ear, is listening attentively to the work he has written, with the score at his knees".

[Lethevich]

Np this too.

[zorzynek]

[Coopmv]

Now playing this CD from my baroque collection ...

[Conor71]

Now Playing:

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Haydn: The Creation, H 21/2

I've owned this for a couple of years and only listened a few times - time for another spin
I'm not sure why I've neglected this work as it is an interesting listen with plenty of inspired moments!.

[PaulR]

Symphony #6

[Coopmv]

Now Playing:

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Haydn: The Creation, H 21/2

I've owned this for a couple of years and only listened a few times - time for another spin
I'm not sure why I've neglected this work as it is an interesting listen with plenty of inspired moments!.

Hey,  I have not spun this twofer in ages.  How do you like it?

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD1 - S1 & S7 from this set for a first listen ...

[PaulR]

Symphony #3 "Rhenish".

I love this symphony, especially the 4th movement. 

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD6 - Hymnus Amoris, Sovnen and Wind Quintet from this set for a first listen ...