What Are You Listening to Now?

[Gurn Blanston]

Spacerl,
I have those 2 playing some Mozart sonatas, they are really quite excellent. Haven't heard them in B but I bet you're right on. Good choice!

Amalie,
That K 375 serenade is among his finest, and one of my favorites. He wrote it about the same time as the g minor K 388, and they are polar opposites in mood, or at tleast that is what they bring out in me!

Pastrl,
Yes, that IS the molto expressivo quartet, yes?

For me, it is the Symphony in d minor - #9 - Op 125 - El Maestro - This morning, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestre / David Zinman playing from the Barenreiter score with mostly modern instruments (except timpani and some of the brass). No tempo issues here, these fellows play a 9th that B would have recognized and, IMHO, approved! No golf today, the rain just won't stop, and that lightning has me wary


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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[Sorrano]

This morning I woke up to the incomparable piano concerto No. 20 in d minor by Mozart. That slow movement is among the most sublime pieces of music I have ever heard.

This afternoon it looks like a Bruckner 5th Symphony sort of day, followed by his Te Deum.

[Sorrano]

The finale to Sibelius' 5th Symphony woke me up this morning. Nice work!

[King Stephen]

I received, this past weekend, a collection of 20 symphonies of Michael Haydn, composed from between 1761 to 1789. I have started to listen to them today and I must say I am really impressed by Joseph's younger brother's compostions. His early symphonies have traces of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach where as in the later symphonies one feels the presence of his brother and Mozart. Another composer so sorely neglected. We wonder in what direction classical music is going and lo and behold we have a vast treasure of music not heard in our times. A big thank you goes out to Chandos, Naxos and CPO as well as others for their efforts to bring wonderful but 'forgotten' music to us.
KS

[Gurn Blanston]

Sorrano,
So, you like Sibelius then? I have always struggled a bit with his works, hard to get a warm fuzzy from them, even the ones I like, like the VC and Karelia. Of course, I AM a barbarian...

Kingrl,
Did MH even write that many symphonies!?! He must have been as prolific as his brother! I know he was the honcho in Salzburg when Mozart went to Vienna, did he write a lot of that same kind of music? Like serenades and divertimentos, I mean. I never see any, but that means nothing because as we know, there are really only 4 or 5 composers whose complete works are likely to see the light of day.

For me, it is some Baryton Trios by Joseph Haydn, right now the Trio in G major - #59 - Marvelous stuff, with that distinctive baryton sound.


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
King,
Did MH even write that many symphonies!?! He must have been as prolific as his brother! I know he was the honcho in Salzburg when Mozart went to Vienna, did he write a lot of that same kind of music? Like serenades and divertimentos, I mean. I never see any, but that means nothing because as we know, there are really only 4 or 5 composers whose complete works are likely to see the light of day.
[/B]

Gurn,
From all I have read about Michael Haydn he composed forty ( give or take 1)symphonies.A lot of the early symphonies were taken from music composed for Divertimenti and Serenades. (That accounts for the give or take). Twenty-one are three movement symphonies and the remainder are four movement works. He stopped composing symphonies in 1789 and devoted the last seventeen years of his life almost exclusively to vocal music. Quote from the booklet on the Haydn symphonies; ' Michael Haydn's almost 150 instumental works(symphonies,concerti, serenades and chamber works) account for only a sixth of his output. Among his instumental works, the symphonies form the most important catagory.'
KS

[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 10-11-2004).]

[Gurn Blanston]

King,
Ah, splendid! So nice to have that knowledge at your command So he really did span the genres too. Sounds like the sort of composer who would fit nicely into our "tragically overlooked and/or ignored" listing.

For me, it is the Symphony in Bb, #5, Anton Bruckner. Berlin PO / Barenboim. Heavy duty late Romantic intricately orchestrated intensely melodic etc.


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
King,
Ah, splendid! So nice to have that knowledge at your command So he really did span the genres too. Sounds like the sort of composer who would fit nicely into our "tragically overlooked and/or ignored" listing.

For me, it is the Symphony in Bb, #5, Anton Bruckner. Berlin PO / Barenboim. Heavy duty late Romantic intricately orchestrated intensely melodic etc.

Gurn,
Nice to see Bruckner getting his dues on this site. A very underated romantic composer. Mahler, Mr. Death fixation, thought very highly of Bruckner, to bad he didn't learn how to handle a symphony of significant lenght the way Bruckner did. My point being, I find Mahler wears heavy on me before half the work has been listened to, and Bruckner keeps my attention from start to finish. Oh! I can see the rocks headed my way now...

[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 10-11-2004).]

[Amalie]

Vivaldi: Concerto for Cello, strings and continuo, Bb major. RV423
Yo-Yo Ma, (Baroque Cello)
Ton Koopman,( Harpsichord)
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, A major.
David Greenlees (viola)
Jonathan Aasgaard (cello)
Nicholas Cox (Clarinet)
Royal Liverpool Orchestra.


JS Bach, Concerto for Violin & Oboe,
Hilary Hahn [violin]
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

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~ Unsterbliche Geliebte ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 10-11-2004).]

[Gurn Blanston]

King,
Yeah, Mahler is waaayy too depressing for me, even MY boyish optimism gets nipped in the bud! But Bruckner is generally very pleasant, it is just the sheer size of the works that is imposing, it is hard to get your mind around that big a work. My mother told me, on her knee, "son, don't ever eat anything bigger than your head"! I guess I have carried that over to music, too. Hey! WAYLTN??

Amalie,
Nice list of music, one that I could have put together for MY evening, and maybe will! I see you found that Cox/Mozart disk. Was it readily available there? I had to go through the tortures of the damned to find it here, albeit 2 years ago. Probably grows on trees today!

And now, it is the lovely Caucasian Sketches Suite 1 - Op 10 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. Buy, talk about music that evokes a scene! This is splendid, and by another obscurity too. Huzzah! A day for obscure music!


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[King Stephen]

More music from the obscure composers vault. Music by Samuel Wesley, born in Bristol England 1766-1837. He composed six symphonies between the years of 1781 and 1802. His music runs the line from JS Bach to Mozart and Haydn. Wonderfully enchanting in spots and vigorously melodic in other sections. Nothing enlightning new about Wesley's music but he is from that period that produced so many wonderful and great composers. His last symphony, composed in 1802 is a late Classical gem.

[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 10-12-2004).]

[Amalie]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gurn Blanston

Amalie,
Nice list of music, one that I could have put together for MY evening, and maybe will! I see you found that Cox/Mozart disk. Was it readily available there? I had to go through the tortures of the damned to find it here, albeit 2 years ago. Probably grows on trees today!


Indeed Gurn, The Mozart Clarinet Quintet is a lovely dreamy piece. It seems the Mozart/Cox CD is still avalaible.


From my morning playlist:

Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Lark Ascending
Hilary Hahn (violin)
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis

Mozart: Divertimento, K205
Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra
Janos Rolla (concert master)

Locke: Suite of Brawles Bb,
Parley of Instruments Renaissance Violin Band/ Peter Holman (director)

Beethoven: Cello Sonata in D, 0p.102 no.2
Miklos Perenyi (cello)
Dezso Ranki (Piano)
A lovely piece and lovely playing, just like being in the presence of and communicating with my dear old friend,Ludwig. I love it!


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~ Unsterbliche Geliebte ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 10-12-2004).]

[Chris]

Hmm...I usually never post in these threads, but I bought something new, so what the heck.

Mozart's Complete Piano Sonatas and Variations, by Daniel Barenboim.

I'm just starting work for the day, so maybe I'll make it through all eight discs. Sure makes the day go by faster!

Anyway, I've only made it part of the way through the first disc, but I like what I'm hearing so far.

[Sorrano]

I, too, find Bruckner more palatable than Mahler. When I listen to his music I think of grand edifices and wonderful architecture.

Gurn, have you listened much to the Sibelius Symphonies?

This morning, the 1st movement of Dvorak's 9th Symphony and the finale to one of the quartets (darned if I can remember which one--morning came a bit early today).

[urtextmeister]

I don't usually chime in here, but listening seems to more and more important to me these days. Here are some things:

Music by Albert James Fillmore
(A friend of mine put together this recording of piano, vocal, string music by this American composer. Very pleasant, nostalgic sort of stuff).

Prokofiev Concerto #1 with Argerich.
(I am a sucker for this concerto. That first theme always sends chills).

Schubert #9 with Norrington.
(Could it be that Schubert and Bruckner are not that far apart? Big, broad chunks of music that just won't go away. Kind of like inviting someone for the weekend and two months later they are still there.)