What are you listening to now?

[Peter]

Vaughan-Williams symphony no.5, the beautiful Romanza.

[Chris]

I'm not much for listening to movie soundtracks outside of their movies, but I have been listening to some music from The Last Starfighter, from 1984. This was just a sci fi movie following in the wake of Star Wars, covering some of the same ground, remembered more for its early use of computer graphics than anything else. But it was a fun movie that I enjoyed as a kid, and I really think the soundtrack, by Craig Safan, is fantastic. It was from a time when we weren't afraid to take a silly concept like this and treat it seriously, with a suitably grand score. Like the scores to Star Wars and Superman, the music really elevated the movie to more than it otherwise could have been. Some nice performances, especially from Lance Guest and Robert Preston (of The Music Man fame), really made a difference too. Anyway, here's the main theme:

[Quijote]

I'm not much for listening to movie soundtracks outside of their movies, but I have been listening to some music from The Last Starfighter, from 1984. This was just a sci fi movie following in the wake of Star Wars, covering some of the same ground, remembered more for its early use of computer graphics than anything else. But it was a fun movie that I enjoyed as a kid, and I really think the soundtrack, by Craig Safan, is fantastic. It was from a time when we weren't afraid to take a silly concept like this and treat it seriously, with a suitably grand score. Like the scores to Star Wars and Superman, the music really elevated the movie to more than it otherwise could have been. Some nice performances, especially from Lance Guest and Robert Preston (of The Music Man fame), really made a difference too. Anyway, here's the main theme:

Well crafted music, superb orchestration really. It seems you Americans know how to score a film!
Here's one of my favourites that can be listened to outside of the movie theatre:

[Sorrano]

Well crafted music, superb orchestration really. It seems you Americans know how to score a film!
Here's one of my favourites that can be listened to outside of the movie theatre:

The movie isn't bad, either! However, whenever I hear the opening of the music I always remember the Marlboro adds.

[Chris]

Yes, The Magnificent Seven - a great score!

[Quijote]

The movie isn't bad, either! However, whenever I hear the opening of the music I always remember the Marlboro ads.

Is that right, Marlboro cigarettes? That big country, big flavour? Ironic really, when we consider that Yul Brynner, the lead actor in the film, was a smoker and died of lung cancer!
I hear the galloping horses in the music.

Here's how Bruckner conveys galloping horses (4th movement, 8th symphony), fast forward to the 54:28' mark, no Marlboro cigarettes!!

[Sorrano]

Is that right, Marlboro cigarettes? That big country, big flavour? Ironic really, when we consider that Yul Brynner, the lead actor in the film, was a smoker and died of lung cancer!
I hear the galloping horses in the music.

Here's how Bruckner conveys galloping horses (4th movement, 8th symphony), fast forward to the 54:28' mark, no Marlboro cigarettes!!

I'm listening to that 4th movement now. I have to confess when I saw Bruckner linked to galloping horses that is where my mind went. Also, the Marlboro man that was in the TV ads died of lung cancer. It was a wonderful score but in my mind forever linked to the cigarette. I never saw the movie until I was an adult and then it was too late to correlate the music anywhere else.

[Quijote]

Remember what Beethoven said about Handel on his deathbed? That Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived?

Not surprising when you hear this stuff. Again, the Jupiter Ensemble, with Lea Desandre. This is true musicking, as musicologist Nicholas Cook calls it.

[Quijote]

And another piece by Handel, this time with Le Concert d’Astre.

[Peter]

Remember what Beethoven said about Handel on his deathbed? That Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived?

Not surprising when you hear this stuff. Again, the Jupiter Ensemble, with Lea Desandre. This is true musicking, as musicologist Nicholas Cook calls it.

Yes he rated him very highly, interesting how Tchaikovsky felt quite differently describing him as 4th rate! Some fine singing here, but perhaps a little less theatrics with the hand motions?

[Chris]

Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "The Kreutzer", played by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil:

I don't think I've ever listened to this recording before, which is odd considering Grumiaux is probably my favorite violinist for this kind of repertoire. The performance is fantastic, but something seems off about how the piano was recorded or mixed - it sounds a little distant and echoey, and it comes out a bit muddy at parts.

[Quijote]

Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 "The Kreutzer", played by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil:

I don't think I've ever listened to this recording before, which is odd considering Grumiaux is probably my favorite violinist for this kind of repertoire. The performance is fantastic, but something seems off about how the piano was recorded or mixed - it sounds a little distant and echoey, and it comes out a bit muddy at parts.

Thanks for that, Chris.
Yes, the acoustic space for the opening solo violin part is completely different to the piano's first entry a few moments later. Weird.

[Chris]

Thanks for that, Chris.
Yes, the acoustic space for the opening solo violin part is completely different to the piano's first entry a few moments later. Weird.

Also, despite being labeled stereo, this is clearly in mono.

[Quijote]

We all know the cadenza that Beethoven wrote for his own Piano Concero No. 3 in C minor. It's always a pleasure to hear another performer's take and here's one such version.

[Chris]

We all know the cadenza that Beethoven wrote for his own Piano Concero No. 3 in C minor. It's always a pleasure to hear another performer's take and here's one such version.

I like that a lot. Of course it's tempting to just use cadenzas provided by the composers themselves (and thus draw no criticism for one's own efforts), but it's nice to have some variety among so many recordings and performances of the same piece, and it's nice to hear the creativity of the pianist expressed in way that goes beyond regular interpretational choices.