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Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday (Part 1)

990 replies

MamaNewtNewt · 04/01/2022 15:50

This thread is for the 50 bookers (or in fact anyone else who wants to join in!) who are reading Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton-Hill.

The author has selected one piece of music for each day in the year, and includes a brief overview of the piece and the composer to provide some context. There's a playlist on Spotify and we can share links to each piece of music for those without access to Spotify.

I think most of us are planning on (roughly) sticking to the daily setup but feel free to read / listen ahead although the discussions are likely to stay around the music for the current date.

Thanks to @TheTurn0fTheScrew for bringing this book to our attention on the thread. Really looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

OP posts:
BestIsWest · 09/02/2022 10:54

I liked it but reading the notes made me realise that I have no musical knowledge at all and I didn’t really understand them. I don’t even know what ‘in the key of’ means. I think I’d really benefit from an overview of technical terms.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 09/02/2022 09:17

I thought the concept was interesting, I didn't enjoy listening to it. It reminded me of someone sitting down at the piano and pretending to play it Grin

Original poster
MamaNewtNewt · 09/02/2022 09:03

Piano Sonata, op. 1* by Alban Berg (1885–1935)*

I didn't like this one, I found the fact it was all over the place off-putting, although it definitely kept my attention. Music that doesn't do what you expect can't really fade into the background I guess. It was interesting reading the notes after about it not being in the normal harmonic tradition. I remember watching something with George Martin (the 5th Beatle) and he was explaining our preference for mostly sequential notes, otherwise we find it unsettling, but he felt that the exception to this was God Only Knows by the Beach Boys.

OP posts:
Original poster
MamaNewtNewt · 09/02/2022 08:56

Fantasie nègre - I quite liked this, at first I found it a little meandering but enjoyed the exuberance.

Trumpet Concerto in D major - Not keen, but I think that may be to do with the fact I'm not keen on the trumpet.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - I quite liked this, very epic feel. It was interesting to read about the separation of art and the artist.

Miserere - Oh I liked this one. I can just imagine it being sung in a medieval church. I love anything that can transport me in this way and I find it really soothing and relaxing.

Homo fugit velut umbra - Although this definitely had a medieval feel it also sounded very modern as well. I didn't mind it but not one of my favourites.

OP posts:
Original poster
MamaNewtNewt · 08/02/2022 22:59

I am so very behind. Work is crazy at the moment but planning on catching up tomorrow then sticking to my listen per day.

OP posts:
IsFuzzyBeagMise · 08/02/2022 20:56

It sounds authentic to me. I've been listening to the other movements and it all sounds right to my ear.

I'm discovering L'Arppegiata. They are very good, aren't they.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 08/02/2022 20:40

did everyone listen to the L'Arpeggiata version? I have some of their other work (Music for a While - the versions Curtain Tune and When I am Laid in Earth are stand outs for me ) and it is characterised by some adding some improv and jazz inflections into the early music. I wonder how much of the modern feel is written into the music and how much is L'Arppegiata's interpretation.

BestIsWest · 08/02/2022 19:45

I thought it felt very modern too.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 08/02/2022 19:44

I've had it in my head all day too :) Die we must, but eat, drink, dance, be merry!

MsNorth · 08/02/2022 18:29

@AliasGrape I thought the same- something modern about it.

bibliomania · 08/02/2022 18:06

I've been cheerfully caroling "morire bisogna" since listening to today's piece. Die we must. Who knew it could be such an upbeat thought?

AliasGrape · 08/02/2022 14:29

Today’s was a BANGER Grin So catchy, I loved it.
It felt weirdly modern somehow.
A favourite.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 08/02/2022 10:50

Landi: Homo Fugit Velut Umbra

I thoroughly enjoyed this and it's on my favourites list for this month. I love the energy in this piece. I've been listening to other movements of this work on Spotify and am also enjoying them.

BestIsWest · 08/02/2022 07:13

I would Cherryana. It’s partly about Aberfan which is difficult to read but handled sensitively. There’s a lot going on in it but on the whole yes.

Cherryana · 07/02/2022 22:12

I really liked todays piece. It is so beautiful.

Best - would you recommend your book?

AliasGrape · 07/02/2022 20:32

Today’s gave me shivers too. It felt cleansing somehow.

I was imagining how powerful it must have been in that evening service, with the candles being extinguished one by one.

bibliomania · 07/02/2022 19:26

Reread my post and want to clarify that I didn't love the whole castrati thing. Pretty heartbreaking.

bibliomania · 07/02/2022 19:19

I love this. I read a YouTube comment that said the high parts were originally sung by castrati, which took me down a rather odd wormhole.

MsNorth · 07/02/2022 10:53

Beautiful, I love this. I heard it sung live last year, although I didn’t remember that until I listened this morning.
I wasn’t moved by the Wagner yesterday.

BestIsWest · 07/02/2022 10:12

Beautiful, haunting, ethereal.
This piece plays a central role in a book I read recently - A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe - so I’ve listened to it a few times in the last month. I’d never heard it before that.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 07/02/2022 09:25

It's a beautiful piece and it also gives me the shivers. It's funny. I remember learning that fact about Mozart a long time ago in music theory class, but have only just realised that this was the psalm that he transcribed.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 07/02/2022 07:50

Allegri - Misereri

A piece I know well and love. The top C gives me shivers. It's so atmospheric. Also I am gobsmacked that Mozart transcribed this from memory after listening once!

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 06/02/2022 22:52

It's not a particularly interesting piece. Pleasant enough but not very memorable. I like it because it brings me back to a particular time and place.

PermanentTemporary · 06/02/2022 22:51

It's nice to connect this piece, which i know some of, to what it actually is. I don't know. It's never appealed hugely and it still doesn't. I'm reminded of Clive James' dated comment that with Wagner, the memorable bits are never at the edges of the records. I think perhaps I would appreciate it more if I saw the opera? But then Swan Lake was a favourite piece for years until I saw some of the ballet and the dancing I'd imagined didn't happen - I haven't listened to it since.

Cherryana · 06/02/2022 22:25

I felt the same way about it. I kept drifting off and talking to my husband and usually I just listen. When I did give it some attention it seemed nice but it didn't hold me.

How funny.