What are you listening to now?

[Enrique]

Barcarola e scherzo by Alfredo Casella

How do you do, Megan? Back in the forum after so long. Casella has a book on piano playing. I think it's worth reading. One thing I remember from it is that he distinguished three kinds of memory: tactile, auditive and visual memory. From among them, he assigned the greatest importance to visual memory. I hope you are well.

[Enrique]

Tchaikowsky: symphony no.6.

Tchaikowsky has a host of admirers but a host of detractors too. These, I do not understand. Look at this work, for instance. What a powerful architecture it is, each movement per se and the symphony as a hole, the latter because of certain elements which give it unity (for instance, the syncopated triplets in the last measures are also present in the third movement). Though I must have heard it hundreds of times, the pleasure has not diminished. Sometimes I think I understand why he disqualified the music of Brahms.

[Megan]

How do you do, Megan? Back in the forum after so long. Casella has a book on piano playing. I think it's worth reading. One thing I remember from it is that he distinguished three kinds of memory: tactile, auditive and visual memory. From among them, he assigned the greatest importance to visual memory. I hope you are well.

Thanks very much indeed for the recommendation Enrique. Welcome back to the forum.
The book sounds fascinating and I wonder if you would just give me the title, I have done a quick search but to no avail.
The various types of memory that we use in music does interest me a lot and particularly the relation between short and long term memory.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts.

[Peter]

How do you do, Megan? Back in the forum after so long. Casella has a book on piano playing. I think it's worth reading. One thing I remember from it is that he distinguished three kinds of memory: tactile, auditive and visual memory. From among them, he assigned the greatest importance to visual memory. I hope you are well.

I've always considered the analytical memory the most important which is why studying the score away from the piano is vital for a reliable memory.

[Sorrano]

Whoops, I meant Munch, not Monteux.

Today, Offenbach's La Périchole opera.

That is munch better.

[Sorrano]

Tchaikowsky: symphony no.6.

Tchaikowsky has a host of admirers but a host of detractors too. These, I do not understand. Look at this work, for instance. What a powerful architecture it is, each movement per se and the symphony as a hole, the latter because of certain elements which give it unity (for instance, the syncopated triplets in the last measures are also present in the third movement). Though I must have heard it hundreds of times, the pleasure has not diminished. Sometimes I think I understand why he disqualified the music of Brahms.

My introduction to this great symphony was a performance of the 3rd movement at a graduation. It left a great impression and Tchaikovsky remains a favorite of mine.

[Peter]

Tchaikowsky: symphony no.6.

Sometimes I think I understand why he disqualified the music of Brahms.

Yet that's always puzzled me! Mind you he only really had a full admiration for Mozart. Late Beethoven he detested, Handel he thought 4th rate, Verdi, Chopin, Liszt and Berlioz didn't even merit a comment! He was also of course very disparaging even of his own works. Yet rather hypocritically in his diaries he writes critically of Tolstoy (who he greatly admired) about his opinion that Beethoven was without talent - "to reduce to one's own incomprehension a genius acknowledged by all is characteristic of limited people."

[hal9000]

When did Tchaikovsky make each of those comments? Was it in his spirited youth that he made the comment about late Beethoven? Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but I've generally found that the older one gets, the more late Beethoven resonates.

[Peter]

When did Tchaikovsky make each of those comments? Was it in his spirited youth that he made the comment about late Beethoven? Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but I've generally found that the older one gets, the more late Beethoven resonates.

In his mid 40s he wrote down exactly what he thought of various composers and of Beethoven he admired especially the middle period works but disliked the late quartets. I agree with your own assessment of late Beethoven - for me that is his greatest achievement.

[Enrique]

My introduction to this great symphony was a performance of the 3rd movement at a graduation. It left a great impression and Tchaikovsky remains a favorite of mine.

How are you, Sorrano. But tell me: were you among the public or on the stage?

[Enrique]

Thanks very much indeed for the recommendation Enrique. Welcome back to the forum.
The book sounds fascinating and I wonder if you would just give me the title, I have done a quick search but to no avail.
The various types of memory that we use in music does interest me a lot and particularly the relation between short and long term memory.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts.

Il Pianoforte (Roma-Milán, 1937) has to be the book I was speaking about. I read a translation into Spanish. All the more so, then, there should be one into English.

[Sorrano]

Haydn: Kyrie from Mass in C Major

[Sorrano]

Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Our Savior On the Cross (Orchestral version)

[Michael]

Classic FM's "Hall of Fame" is on again this weekend. This year Beethoven is the clear winner with 19 entries and Mozart is second with 16. I think it's only the second time in 20 years that B has beaten Mozart in this particular poll.

An annoying trend over the last few years (in my opinion anyway) is the inclusion of music composed for video games. This has caused a lot of genuine "classical" works to drop down the popularity chart.

Now they are playing a waltz from "Swan Lake".





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[Peter]

Hummel's excellent piano concerto in B minor played by Stephen Hough - this was one of the staples of the young 13 year old Liszt which if you listen to the finale in particular gives you an appreciation of his amazing technical facility - it starts at 24'48 in this video. The influence on Chopin's own concertos is quite apparent.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fd4jRw840M[/YOUTUBE]