What are you listening to now?

[Harvey]

Wow...you must have been on cloud 9!

I like it! Cloud 9. The stairway is 1-8.

Now I am on the BeethovenOnly streaming site. It is Op 9, #2 currently.

[Peter]

Haydn's Op.77 quartets - incredible music and I'm not sure about Robbins Landon's theory that he didn't complete the set because of Beethoven's Op.18.

[AeolianHarp]

I like it! Cloud 9. The stairway is 1-8.

Now I am on the BeethovenOnly streaming site. It is Op 9, #2 currently.

[Rocco]

I'm loving that Beethoven only site too. I have the bookmark to it right there on my browser and I go there all the time!

[PDG]

I like it! Cloud 9. The stairway is 1-8.

Now I am on the BeethovenOnly streaming site. It is Op 9, #2 currently.

I once read in Gramophone (the 1994 year book, it was) a reviewer stating that if Beethoven had only ever written the Opus 9 trios, then he would still be regarded as one of the "greats." That's just three works to be an "Immortal" and yet still these trios are - in my opinion - underrated.

[PDG]

I'm loving that Beethoven only site too. I have the bookmark to it right there on my browser and I go there all the time!

It's nice to see that Florestan and Rocco have patched up their differences and are now happily re-settled in Detroit, Michigan.

[PDG]

Haydn's Op.77 quartets - incredible music and I'm not sure about Robbins Landon's theory that he didn't complete the set because of Beethoven's Op.18.

I'll have to dust these off and have another listen. When I originally heard the Opus 18 connection theory, I did lean towards that viewpoint, but H's Opus 77 will now be my next "careful listen".

[PDG]

The symphonies are fantastic!
Today I got a used copy Beethoven's Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (Op 56) paired with the Septet for Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Cello, and Double Bass (Op 20) conducted by David Zinman.

Another underrated Beethoven here! Opus 20. In all these "Complete" boxed sets (and I think I have them all - 3?), the volume chunks are always set up the same - you know, Vol 1 will be "the symphonies" (on about 6 discs), then it's "the concertos" all lumped together, etc. Now, I would love a set which showed more imaginative arranging. One classic disc for me would be the Septet, Op.20 paired with the First Symphony, Op.21. Not only consecutive opus numbers but also making for a well-balanced and varied listening experience. Happy days!

[Harvey]

Nothing! I was listening to the prisoner chorus of Fidelio when my mp3 player battery died. I'll be off to get another AAA ASAP!

[AeolianHarp]

Nothing! I was listening to the prisoner chorus of Fidelio when my mp3 player battery died. I'll be off to get another AAA ASAP!

A trip to the one dollar store for you sir!

Yeah, why do batteries always die at inopportune moments?

I made sure I have a big pack of batteries for my mp3 now.

[Sorrano]

This morning:
Beethoven: Variations in F on Mozart's "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen," Op 66
Dittersdorf: "Ovid" Symphony in D, "The Fall of Phaeton"

[Sorrano]

This morning:
Elgar: Four Dances for Winds (1879)
Weber: Symphony #2 in c
Franck: Les éolides

[Rocco]

All Beethoven

Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in C major Op. 56

Septet for Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Cello, and Double-Bass E flat major Op.20

[AeolianHarp]

Still stuck on Opus 131.

I regard Beethoven's String Quartets as absolutely central to his output (which means, to me at least) as central to all music.

But I have found that the most elusive quartet of all is the one in C sharp minor. It opens with a slow fugue and the only strictly sonata-form movement is the last one. Strangely enough, he composed only one other work in that key, and that also opens with a slow movement and ends with a sonata-form movement: Opus 27 No. 2 (The Moonlight).

Opus 131 is a strange piece of music - and I haven't got to the bottom of it yet - but that's the great thing about Beethoven: there is no end. I first heard Op. 131 in 1973 and it still eludes me. I love all the early, middle and late quartets but - this one is beyond love. I feel its sublimity and its reality. It is probably the most truthful piece of music I have ever heard.

Wagner regarded the opening movement as a representation of despair, and I agreed with him when I first heard it. But, like the slow movement of the Ninth Symphony, it is a harmonisation of sadness. Listening to it gives pleasure instead of depression.

(Now removing anorak)

You have got me intrigued Michael- I know I have heard some of it, but am now looking on you tube to hear the entire Quartet...can it be as sublime as Opus 132?.........

[hal9000]

You have got me intrigued Michael- I know I have heard some of it, but am now looking on you tube to hear the entire Quartet...can it be as sublime as Opus 132?.........

You're about to embark on a wonderful journey. I agree with Michael that it is his most enigmatic quartet of the late five. As for your question, I'm going to steal from good ol' Ludwig; "Each in its own way."