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[BLOCH, Ernest (1880-1959)Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.Oleh Krysa, Violin.Poems of the Sea.Suite symphonique.Malmö Symphony Orchestra Sakari Oramo.Recorded: 1993-1994 at the Malmö Concert Hall, Sweden.]

#1

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Harry - Today at 03:34:42 AM

BLOCH, Ernest (1880-1959)

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.
Oleh Krysa, Violin.

Poems of the Sea.
Suite symphonique.

Malmö Symphony Orchestra Sakari Oramo.
Recorded: 1993-1994 at the Malmö Concert Hall, Sweden.

Excellent performance and sound.

#2

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Papy Oli - Today at 03:26:34 AM

Good afternoon all,

Mozart
Piano concertos #20 & #21
Perahia, English Chamber Orch.

Goody!
Very Goody!

 

#3

Composer Discussion / Re: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770...

Last post by Mandryka - Today at 03:16:30 AM

I saw the video, I commented after listening to all of it. Obviously, the observation that the tune has been used for different purposes by different ideologies is true. But it's also trite and very little follows from that.
The simplest explanation would be that it is so "neutral" that it can be used for these different purposes.
Another fairly simple one with which I could also agree is that Beethoven expresses that "togetherness" so well that it can be used for any boosting of morale of a collective. That's still not deep enough that I'd need to consult a professor to get it...

I should have been more precise in the points of disagreement. As I said I agree that "joyful community" can be said to be expressed by the Ode of Joy (and this agrees also with the text).
But someone like Zizek sees this expression of joy in community already as ideology because some are *excluded* and again, one can even find this in the text that has the line after the enumeration of causes for joy (friendship, marriage...) "und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle, weinend sich aus diesem Bund", i.e. who is not even joined to one other soul in friendship should go aways in tears. That's not very nice, in fact rather cruel unless one supposes that such a person must necessarily be so antisocial (by their own fault?) that the only solution is to exclude (not exterminate them). Again, Schiller's Ode was closer to a fraternity drinking song, so it's not a theory of morality.

So to "save" Beethoven from the charge of ideology Zizek claims that the "turkish music" section ridicules the ideology that would at least tend to flow from the "straight" version of the Ode. And here I think he is wrong in several ways, Beethoven would not have had such a fear of ideologization and need for deconstruction. Beethoven was himself a social misfit, even before his deafness and he enjoyed some kinds of musical deconstruction (e.g. in the Diabellis) but this is not such a case, as I tried to explain above. The alla marcia is not for the misfits (it would have helped not to disregard the text...) The deconstruction would in any case be overwhelmed by the clearly affirmative recap of the straight version of the Ode after the instrumental fugato and the rest of the movement with all kinds of affirmation/jubilation.

Beethoven and contemporaries were not stupid. They had witnessed the great ideological catastrophe, the French Revolution and the Terreur, the following wars, and many, like Schiller or Beethoven, had tempered their progressive attitudes (without abolishing the hope for enlightenment and more participative forms of government).

I think that even a drinking song can embody first order moral ideas actually.  Not moral theory, not meta-ethics. (Is this first order/second order ethics distinction familiar to you ? I don't know if it comes up in German universities.)

As I said I think he was wrong to make an historical claim --So to suggest he wants to save the historical Beethoven from the charge of ideology or whatever. Rather he's engaged in some sort of popular semiotics -- just providing a reading of the movement which may well be attractive and explanatory from our standpoint. (Explain how the music has been used for so many different purposes)

By the way, I'll mention to amuse you that I once went to one of his lectures where he argued that Wotan is the most Jewish figure in the Ring -- the Wondering Jew.  I got interested in Zizek because I wanted at one point to understand Lacan a bit better -- it's very difficult stuff!

[Holmboe]

#4

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Maestro267 - Today at 03:13:07 AM

The revival of this composer's thread has inspired me to listen to some of the symphones today.

Holmboe: Symphonies Nos. 10 & 8
Aarhus SO/OA Hughes

#5

Composer Discussion / Re: Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

Last post by Maestro267 - Today at 02:47:19 AM

I assume the essay was written sometime in the 1960s then, as it mentions that Holmboe had written 8 symphonies and was working on a Ninth at the time. The gap between Nos. 8 & 9 was one of the longest in his career, between 1951 and 1969.

[Latin American writers were favoured in the USSR, perhaps they were considered irreconcilable warriors against the domination of world imperialism,]

#6

The Diner / Re: What are you currently rea...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 02:37:17 AM

Not so much reading as remembering a book I read several decades ago in Russian translation. Back then, in the 70s, Mario Vargas Llosa was quite often translated into Russian and hugely published. I probably read 5 or more of his books then. Latin American writers were favoured in the USSR, perhaps they were considered irreconcilable warriors against the domination of world imperialism, anyway at the end we received good literature: Marquez, Cortázar, Carpentier, Fuentes, Amado, then Borges and Bioy Casares, and all the rest.

The irony being that ever since 1971 Mario Vargas Llosa has been an outspoken opponent of socialism and communism and a self-avowed classical liberal. 

#7

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by akebergv - Today at 01:48:45 AM

Robin is to the greenwood Gone

Thanks for the recommendation! Another O'Dette recording I love and have listened to a lot is Bach Lute works, vol. 1 from 2007. Ever since then I have been waiting in vain for vol. 2 to appear. Anyone knows anything about this, why it never appeared (or if it's out and I've missed it)?

#8

The Diner / Re: What are you currently rea...

Last post by AnotherSpin - Today at 01:38:39 AM

Not so much reading as remembering a book I read several decades ago in Russian translation. Back then, in the 70s, Mario Vargas Llosa was quite often translated into Russian and hugely published. I probably read 5 or more of his books then. Latin American writers were favoured in the USSR, perhaps they were considered irreconcilable warriors against the domination of world imperialism, anyway at the end we received good literature: Marquez, Cortázar, Carpentier, Fuentes, Amado, then Borges and Bioy Casares, and all the rest.

#9

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: Indian Classical Music

Last post by AnotherSpin - Today at 01:11:06 AM

More from Qobuz, a master of sarod Pandit Basant Kabra, another disciple of Annapurna Devi within Maihar Gharana tradition.

By the way, Annapurna Devi was Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's sister, her first husband was Pandit Ravi Shankar.

#10

Introductions / Re: Hello everyone

Last post by david johnson - Today at 01:07:44 AM

Greetings to you, and welcome among us