What Are You Listening To Now?

[Hofrat]

Beethoven:
String quintet in C-major opus 29.

Crusell:
2nd clarinet concerto in F.

[Chris]

Still on a piano sonata kick. Listening to Brendel play 30, 31, and 32. These final three are great, but I only listen to them rarely - they seem to really take it out of me. Listening to late Beethoven can really do that. I don't know many other composers who have that effect - Bach, at times, maybe.

[Preston]

Listening to late Beethoven can really do that. I don't know many other composers who have that effect - Bach, at times, maybe.

I think that the author of, Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, says something like, when it comes to the use of the orchestra Beethoven stands among the greatest, but that when it comes to thought in the music he cannot be matched.

I would imagine this to be true of Beethoven's late period. The string quartets, the 9th, the Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations, piano sonatas, etc.

Am I wrong about this?

[Michael]

Now I'm listening to the songs from Woo 158 from various countries. Some I have never heard before! Pretty, but...I think If he only had the opportunity to write a Requiem instead instead of losing time and creativity...

Beethoven's folksong arrangements have never been granted their true status, and "pretty" is not the word I would use to describe them. He sacrificed none of his creativity in those works. Admittedly, he did write them for money (as he did the late quartets!), and he did commence the work with slight condescension, but he very quickly recognised the melodic quality of those folksongs and those "backing tracks" contain some of his finest music. His preludes and postludes are amazing; he latches onto a motif in the main melody and subjects this to an almost symphonic development and he always tries for unconventional harmony.
There are some recordings of these works that emphasise the vocals at the expense of the accompaniment (which is always a piano trio). Even the great DGG set is guilty of this to a certain extent but I have come across two other complete sets that bring forward the instrumentalists and lets us here exactly what Beethoven was doing. Even though he composed almost a hundred songs of his own, he wrote more of these arrangements than any other type of composition.

[PDG]

What about "Maxwell's Silver Hammerklavier"?

Michael, trust you to know just how to waken me from my Golden Slumbers...

[PDG]

Beethoven's folksong arrangements have never been granted their true status, and "pretty" is not the word I would use to describe them. He sacrificed none of his creativity in those works. Admittedly, he did write them for money (as he did the late quartets!), and he did commence the work with slight condescension, but he very quickly recognised the melodic quality of those folksongs and those "backing tracks" contain some of his finest music. His preludes and postludes are amazing; he latches onto a motif in the main melody and subjects this to an almost symphonic development and he always tries for unconventional harmony.
There are some recordings of these works that emphasise the vocals at the expense of the accompaniment (which is always a piano trio). Even the great DGG set is guilty of this to a certain extent but I have come across two other complete sets that bring forward the instrumentalists and lets us here exactly what Beethoven was doing. Even though he composed almost a hundred songs of his own, he wrote more of these arrangements than any other type of composition.

I may yet change my opinion of these pieces if only somebody, somewhere would allow us to hear them without the pesky singing - a 'privilege' Beethoven himself was granted...

[Michael]

Michael, trust you to know just how to waken me from my Golden Slumbers...

I thought my Beatles reference might wake you up, Peter.
However, we had better stay on topic or we'll get into trouble. Yesterday I was listening to Elvis but today I have been playing some Bach keyboard concertos - on my CD player, I hasten to add. Murray Perahia was the culprit and I cannot say I was overly impressed. I have mixed feelings about Bach on the piano and this recording didn't do a whole lot for me. The usual suspects were in evidence, i.e. No. 3 which can never make up its mind whether it is a keyboard or a violin concerto, and No. 6 which turns out to be an arrangement of the Fourth Brandenburg. Maybe it was just me but even the excellent Academy of St. Martin in the Fields didn't help. Anyway, this was no summer to be out in the fields.
Listen again to the Beethoven arrangements on your shiny new CD set ............

[Preston]

Holy Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Divinity

[Chris]

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 this morning.

[Tony John Hearne]

Karol Szymanowski,
Symphony No. 3, Op. 27, "Piesn o nocy" (Song of the Night)
Minkiewicz, Ryszard, tenor
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Wit, Antoni, Conductor


On NAXOS and well worth a listen

[Quijote]

Good evening, children. Not so much 'what I'm listening to now', rather what I've just been listening to : I'm back from my first concert at the Strasbourg "Musica" contemporary music festival. On the programme :

a) Enno POPPE, "Gelöschte Lieder" for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and 'cello;

b) Enno POPPE, "Trauben" for piano, violin and 'cello;

c) Stockhausen, "KLANG - 7. Stunde : BALANCE", for flute, cor anglais and bass clarinet.

All new works for me, and the Stockhausen a French première! By far the Stockhausen was the "centre" piece (phew, I nearly said "better"), really mellow, beautifully written - I love the sound of the bass clarinet and cor anglais. I came out of the concert intending to write a piece for solo bass clarinet straight away, but then I came home and had to cook for my kids, talk about 'bathos' !!!!

The first POPPE piece above had me agog too - extremely dissonant, virtuosic writing (especially the 'high-altitude' cello part), wonderful timbral control. I can't offer you any particular mental images, I'm afraid. The second POPPE piece left me cold - I found the integration of parts to be incoherent, but there were moments of 'trio parody' in the gestures, which was a redeeming feature.

Back to the Stockhausen - truly a work by a Master, with just a touch of theatricality.

[PDG]

Thanks, Phil. We'll take your word for all of that. BTW, why was I not cast in your epic play?

[Quijote]

Thanks, Phil. We'll take your word for all of that. BTW, why was I not cast in your epic play?

You will be, don't worry. A very special role, I assure you. Any jokes for the "Comedy Corner", PDG?

[PDG]

You will be, don't worry. A very special role, I assure you. Any jokes for the "Comedy Corner", PDG?

Many, and most of them concern the French!...

[Sorrano]

Earlier today I listened to Sibelius' 3rd and 4th Symphonies. While they did not conjure up any specific mental imagery that can be described they were, nonetheless, enjoyable. The 4th reminded me much of Bruckner's music.