What are you listening to now?

[Megan]

Schubert, Impromptu No.4.

[Hofrat]

Joachim Raff:

2 violin concerti
Cavatina
Ungrischer

I especially like the 1st violin concerto with its opening allegro patetico (=pathetic) and its fire-ball finale allegro trionfale (=triumphal)!!

[Salvador]

Joseph Martin Kraus
Olympie Ouverture
Symphony in E flat Major VB144
Symphony in c minor VB142
Swedish Chamber Orch. - P. Sundkwist

yesterday:
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Piano Quintet in eflat minor op. 87
(Allegro risoluto assai - Minuetto: allegro con fuoco - Largo - Finale: allegro agitato)
performed by Atalanta Fugiens quintet

among Hummel's works that I know, it's the most "beethovenian"

[Hofrat]

Dear Salvador;

Wow, you and I have the same taste in music. My modest CD collection has a disproportionately high number of recordings of Kraus and Hummel works. As I have written in the past, Kraus has a wonderful brillance. Hummel is the composer that bridges Mozart to Chopin. His piano quintet calls for a violin, viola, 'cello, and bass instead of the usual string quartet. This format will later be used by Schubert in his "Trout" quintet.

[Salvador]

Dear Hofrat

I'm happy to find a similarity of musical taste with you
In regard to bridges from Mozart to Chopin and the romantic age, do you know Hiacynthe Jadin?
He was a french pianist and composer, who died too young (1776-1800), and lived in hard revolutionary times
I have listened to three of his fortepiano sonatas in mp3 from the site of the american pianist Richard Fuller
here is the link to the site.
in the homepage you can find some mp3s, among them the three movements of Jadin's sonata in c minor
two other sonatas (in two movements) are downloadable from the page dedicated (in the same site) to Jadin (click on the thumbnail of the CD of Jadin's sonatas on the top of the page).
I especially like the c min sonata, with the dark main theme of the first movement (somewhat reminiscent of Mozart's e minor violin sonata K304) and the dreamlike "romantic" developements. Very charming also the "finale".

on the web I have also found a composition of his more long-lived brother Louis-Emmanuel (1768-1853), but in it I've not found the evidence of the genius, so conspicuous in Hiacynthe's works

[Hofrat]

Dear Salvador;

I know of Jadin. Gossec, Beck, and Pleyel also lived and worked in Revolutionary France and all three lived rather long and productive lives (Gossec died at the age of 95). I have not had the pleasure of hearing any of his music yet. I will look into your suggestion.

[Peter]

Beethoven last quartet op.135

[Salvador]

let's forget for a while the classical age
and turn to an extraordinary late-baroque masterwork:

Domenico Scarlatti
Stabat Mater
(for ten voices and continuo)
Immortal Bach Ensemble - M. Schuldt-Jensen conductor
Naxos

a great classical "Stabat":
Luigi Boccherini
Stabat Mater
Daniela Longhi - Quartetto Amati + C. Bortolomei (double bass)

and finally the romantic "Stabat" par excellence
Antonín Dvořák
Stabat Mater
The Washington Chorus and Orchestra
Brewer - Simpson - Aler - Gao
cond. Robert Shafer
Naxos

[Sorrano]

At the moment I'm listening to Dvorak's 5th Symphony.

[AlexOv]

I have been taking a short break from the classics to listen to another type of classic. Copy and paste this into your addressbar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHCeS...eature=related

The sound is a little patchy to start with but gets better. What I like about this music is its speed and the virtuoso talent needed to make it. A lot of this stuff was improvised -although it was sure to have been well rehearsed - and noone plays a wrong note. And this quartet was a bit of a groundbreaker, having two whites and two blacks. In the US of the time, this was a taboo, in terms of record companies at least.

In my view, it's a knockout.

Does anyone else like this sort of music?

[Hofrat]

Ah, Dvorak's 5th symphony! A wonderful work. It must be the most numbered symphony in the world. The F-major symphony started out, chronologically, as his 5th symphony with an opus number of 24, but Dvorak thought it was his 4th symphony because his 1st symphony was lost/misplaced/unworthy. It was published as his 3rd symphony with an opus number of 76. When his 1st symphony was found in 1923, his symphonies were renumbered and the F-major symphony became the 5th symphony again, but the opus 76 remained.

So, there you have it. From 5th to 4th to 3rd to 5th again, with 2 opus numbers. I do not think there is another symphony that can beat that!

[Arno]

I am now listening to symphony 2 of Havergal Brian.

Arno

[Peter]

I am now listening to symphony 2 of Havergal Brian.

Arno

Now there's a rarity! Is that the 'Gothic'? I'd be interested to know what you make of these vast symphonies.

[Sorrano]

Ah, Dvorak's 5th symphony! A wonderful work. It must be the most numbered symphony in the world. The F-major symphony started out, chronologically, as his 5th symphony with an opus number of 24, but Dvorak thought it was his 4th symphony because his 1st symphony was lost/misplaced/unworthy. It was published as his 3rd symphony with an opus number of 76. When his 1st symphony was found in 1923, his symphonies were renumbered and the F-major symphony became the 5th symphony again, but the opus 76 remained.

So, there you have it. From 5th to 4th to 3rd to 5th again, with 2 opus numbers. I do not think there is another symphony that can beat that!

And after listening to it, it was well worth keeping in spite of all the renumbering!

[Arno]

Now there's a rarity! Is that the 'Gothic'?

No, it isn't. The "Gothic" is number 1. It was the first time I listened to this symphony. I am not sure what to think of it . It was not an easy symphony.

Arno