What are you listening to now?

[Quijote]

And I forgot a brief bis bald to our antipodean (and former teacher / ex-criminal stock) member Bonnie "whatever-the-date-is".

[Maurice Colgan]

You must be in cahoots with that 'fisher of men' we know and love as Herr 'Pedro' Bechstein. As a true 'Cage-ian' all sound reaching my ears can be construed as "sonic art". But no, I must go now, as I have other windmills (à la Don Quijote) to tilt against. Ciao, bambini. Hasta la proxima, mis ninos / à plus, mes enfants ...

Philip, reading too much into an innocent post may cause you great consternation as did it the Don.
While quietly flowed the other Don. :-)

[Quijote]

Reading too much into an innocent post? Nah, just a quip on my part. Catch you later, Mauricio. In the meantime (before I rejoin the forum), don't forget to revise that Reader's Digest book I mentioned to you before. Ciao, baby.

[Maurice Colgan]

Reading too much into an innocent post? Nah, just a quip on my part. Catch you later, Mauricio. In the meantime (before I rejoin the forum), don't forget to revise that Reader's Digest book I mentioned to you before. Ciao, baby.

Readers digest? Not often I refer to such CIA literature :-)

Have a nice time. Curb that appetite.

[Quijote]

Readers digest? Not often I refer to such CIA literature :-)
Have a nice time. Curb that appetite.

Still the eve to my départ, so I allow myself some late comments. CIA literature? Really, Mauricio, you need to explain what you mean; I know you can do it. I will have a nice time, no worries. My appetite is irrepressible. See : you are already digested; but then you are rather a small fry. Oh, what fun on the eve of my departure ...

PS : You have 12 hours or so.

[Bonn1827]

We have a saying in Australia: "s/he's had more farewells than Nellie Melba" (famous opera singer).

[Maurice Colgan]

We have a saying in Australia: "s/he's had more farewells than Nellie Melba" (famous opera singer).

Bon voyage. Philip. 12 hours is far too long after a whole evening at a hospital to find out my wife Maureen now has gout!

Explain myself? If only I had a century. :-)

[Chris]

Today I am beginning a journey through all the Bach cantatas, which will take...quite a while. A while back I posted a thread about looking for a set of these, in particular Koopman's and Gardiner's sets. I loved what I heard of both, but Gardiner's is not complete yet and Koopman's includes the secular cantatas as well. Add to that that Koopman's was just released as a boxset, which represents a significant savings in cost (and shelf space) over trying to collect all the individual volumes, and Koopman it was.

I am looking forward to this very much, because even though the cantatas are Bach's largest body of work, it is the one with which I am least familiar. I probably don't know more than a dozen or so of these works.

In any case, I am beginning the journey now with BWV 21 and BWV 131.

[Zevy]

Today it's Symphony #8, Bernstein/NYP. I can see why LVB is said to have liked it better than #7, although I beg to differ.

[Bonn1827]

Chris, your exploration of the Bach sounds a noble endeavour. I do hope you enjoy it. With regard to the Cantatas I have an anecdote. In 2000 the Monteverdi Choir/EBO/John Eliot Gardiner did a "Bach pilgrimage" through Europe, performing many of the cantatas on the church days for which they were written. They performed at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, of course. A friend of mine accompanied the ensemble as he is very close friends with one of the sopranos, Suzanne Flowers, from Monteverdi Choir. He sent me pictures, emails and recordings from the pilgrimage, which was also made into a documentary by BBC and put to air Xmas 2000. It was wonderful having that contact with such a fabulous event. The singer in question has now retired from the Monteverdi Choir, by the way.

[Preston]

Today I am beginning a journey through all the Bach cantatas, which will take...quite a while. A while back I posted a thread about looking for a set of these, in particular Koopman's and Gardiner's sets. I loved what I heard of both, but Gardiner's is not complete yet and Koopman's includes the secular cantatas as well. Add to that that Koopman's was just released as a boxset, which represents a significant savings in cost (and shelf space) over trying to collect all the individual volumes, and Koopman it was.

I am looking forward to this very much, because even though the cantatas are Bach's largest body of work, it is the one with which I am least familiar. I probably don't know more than a dozen or so of these works.

In any case, I am beginning the journey now with BWV 21 and BWV 131.

Chris, I haven't heard too many of the Bach Cantata's. Though, one that I really like is Sleeper's Wake (BWV 140). It is quite peaceful and beautiful.

This is the most touching version I have found on the internet, the strings really sound great and flow so well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lCZeePG48

[Zevy]

Symphony #9!!! Bernstein,/NYP. Vocals weren't as good as the band

[Chris]

Chris, your exploration of the Bach sounds a noble endeavour. I do hope you enjoy it. With regard to the Cantatas I have an anecdote. In 2000 the Monteverdi Choir/EBO/John Eliot Gardiner did a "Bach pilgrimage" through Europe, performing many of the cantatas on the church days for which they were written. They performed at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, of course. A friend of mine accompanied the ensemble as he is very close friends with one of the sopranos, Suzanne Flowers, from Monteverdi Choir. He sent me pictures, emails and recordings from the pilgrimage, which was also made into a documentary by BBC and put to air Xmas 2000. It was wonderful having that contact with such a fabulous event. The singer in question has now retired from the Monteverdi Choir, by the way.

Sounds like a fantastic experience! Yes, like I said, I love Gardiner's recordings from the Bach Pilgrimage, but he hasn't finished releasing it yet. I believe the record company canceled the project, and Gardiner had to start over and release them on his own label. In fact, I believe the same thing happened to Koopman. These foolish record companies!

Chris, I haven't heard too many of the Bach Cantata's. Though, one that I really like is Sleeper's Wake (BWV 140). It is quite peaceful and beautiful.

This is the most touching version I have found on the internet, the strings really sound great and flow so well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lCZeePG48

Yes, 140 seems to be the most well-known. I have performed that one, actually (on violin). I will have to check out your link later!

[Bonn1827]

In a way I can understand the recording companies' dilemma - so many people download stuff from the internet nowadays for free and this is one of the consequences: lack of investment in works being recorded. All businesses want a return on their investments, just as Beethoven's publishers once did. Also, diminishing audiences for serious art music which is, of itself, catastrophic enough. I've wondered to myself, whilst reading Solomon on Beethoven, how many more generations before none of this music is heard at all. It may become 'niche', like Shakespeare - the stuff of academia and the cogniscenti. Again, schools have a lot of answer for!! When I've discussed this in the past with colleagues and friends I've had the usual cultural relativist response: you have no right to suggest that popular culture isn't just as valuable as the music you like. WHAT CAN ONE DO?

[Chris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lCZeePG48

OK, I have heard this recording before, and honestly, I think the tempo ruins it. Compare it to Koopman's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rUz0GM-NM

That may be a bit fast, but I think that is far nearer the mark.