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Year of Wonder: Classical Music For Every Day (Part Two)

505 replies

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 18/07/2022 09:18

Year of Wonder (Part One)

New thread to accompany the book Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton Hill.

All welcome to join in.

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BestIsWest · 21/08/2022 09:38

Rachmaninov As the book says, ‘ This is what they call classical music. Gorgeous.
Zappa great fun, a toe tapper.

BestIsWest · 21/08/2022 09:35

Just doing another mammoth catch up.

Love the Cage

Mahler didn’t mind though I don’t usually like lieder.

Godowsky arr Heifetz This was great fun.

Elgar - sad and moving.

Bach - not for me, just not getting Bach. It all seems a but technical. And the same for the Ysaye.

Mozart. Liked the pompous jolly majesty of this.

Enescu. Fabulous. Like AliasGrape I have also discovered that I like a bit of trumpet.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 21/08/2022 09:09

G-Spot Tornado: Frank Zappa.

This is a bit bonkers, but I like it!

The flute entry sounds very random half-way through as if the flautist is playing a prank :)

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AliasGrape · 20/08/2022 21:40

They played this on classic fm this morning whilst I was driving to meet my friend, I recognised in as much as I knew I’d heard it before (I always break into ‘all by myself’ at some point - which Google confirms was based on it!) and remember thinking ‘oh this is lovely I wonder if It will feature in year of wonder at any point’! How weird.

Just gorgeous and very much a favourite.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 20/08/2022 10:48

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor Op. 18, 2nd Mvt. Adagio Sostenuto: Rachmaninov.

This is a fantastic piano concerto from beginning to end. I love all of it. The opening bars sweep you away and it just gets better and better as it goes along. Beautiful, all of it, with so many gorgeous moments to sink into. This must be the best piano concerto, surely.

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AliasGrape · 19/08/2022 14:33

That I enjoy the trumpet is one of the (many) things I have learned from this book/ experience. I enjoyed today’s piece, felt quite sultry and jazzy somehow.

bibliomania · 19/08/2022 10:09

I like the trumpet and enjoyed today's.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 19/08/2022 09:20

I think it's a shame that we haven't had an excerpt from the Bach Brandenburg Concertos on the playlist (not yet anyway). They are lovely and easy to listen to. Baroque chamber music. Highly recommended if you don't know them already.

Légende: Georges Enescu.

I like the opening and close of this piece very much and I enjoyed hearing the trumpet. Although I listened a few times, I found myself drifting off a bit. I like Enuscu though. He wrote a fabulous piece for the viola.

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bibliomania · 19/08/2022 07:07

I agree that I liked the Mozart better - "bright and lively" is a good description.

AliasGrape · 18/08/2022 16:38

I didn’t really like the Bach - I do wonder if by the end of the year I’ll finally ‘get’ Bach but my overriding thought is just that it doesn’t sound very nice! I liked it better than it’s mate the following day though.

similarly ‘meh’ about the Mozart to be honest, though liked it better

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 18/08/2022 09:04

Symphony no. 35 in D Major, 1. Allegro: Mozart.

This is nice, bright and lively with a measured dash of excitement.

I think it must have been very exciting to see the original score of this work.

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bibliomania · 17/08/2022 19:00

The Ysaye - as I didn't like yesterday's, I didn't expect to like today's, although actually I did like the bit in the middle where the violinist plucks at the string. I just don't see why the whole thing needs to go on so long. I'm a philistine, I accept it.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 17/08/2022 09:05

I also loved the harp in the Elgar, TheTurn.

Violin Sonata in A Minor Op. 27 no. 2: Eugène Ysaýe.

This sounds like yesterday's piece but with added melodrama.
I prefer the original.

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TheTurn0fTheScrew · 16/08/2022 20:47

The Elgar was so wistful and peaceful. Loved the harp details in particular.

If it's JS Bach then it has to be Hilary Hahn. Lively, bright, pure and clear.

bibliomania · 16/08/2022 10:44

The Bach is just caterwauling to me. I just don't get it at all.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 16/08/2022 09:48

Partita no. 3 in E Major BWV 1006, Prelude: JS Bach.

It's time for another Bach double bill!
The Spotify playlist has a piano version* *of this, while Clemency specifies the original violin piece.

This is good. I also think it clears the air, rather like the breeze that we are experiencing here today after the recent hot weather.

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AliasGrape · 15/08/2022 20:26

I agree biblio, definitely more resonant because of that context, I really enjoyed the piece though.

bibliomania · 15/08/2022 19:53

Thinking about the Elgar piece in its historical context really added to it - all those young men, not yet knowing their fate.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 15/08/2022 08:31

Sospiri Op. 70: Elgar.

I hadn't heard this before, so I was very pleased to discover it. I like it a lot. I also think that there is a nostalgic feel to it. The opening bars are very Downton Abbey :) The title is very apt; the piece is like one long sigh.

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TheTurn0fTheScrew · 14/08/2022 13:02

Catching up as well!

Glazunov was perfectly nice, but agree there are other violin concerti I'd rather hear again.

Bruckner was calming but didn't grab me.

Love the Cage - it was delicate without being insubstantial. the shifting structure reminded me a bit of Debussy and Ravel, whom I love.

Mahler was meh. I could hear the lineage from Zemlinsky earlier this year, but without the bonkerness that I loved in that piece.

Godowsky arr Heifetz This was great. I love the jazzy inflections of much of the classical stuff from this era. So light and summery.

AliasGrape · 14/08/2022 11:34

Catch up time again

Glazunov - I loved the first 4 minutes or so,
It all got a bit OTT for me in the middle section and then I liked it again once it had calmed down!

The Bruckner was very beautiful

Cage - I really liked this to start with but got bored around the 4 minute mark. I suspect I’m just not really in the right headspace today.

Mahler - Not really for me,

Godowsky, arranged by Heifetz - I thought this was really charming and it made me smile.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 14/08/2022 09:10

Alt Wien: Leopold Godowsky arr. Jascha Heifetz.

This is enjoyable to listen to. It won't make the favourites list, but I like it.
I can see how it would be a good piece as an encore.

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bibliomania · 13/08/2022 09:48

Frustrating for her to be so constrained. It's not really my sort of thing though.

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 13/08/2022 09:35

Laue Sommernacht: Alma Mahler

I like this. It has some unexpected harmonies which make it interesting.

It's short but not too sweet, wistful without being cloying. Alma is another woman who could have achieved more if she had the chance.

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bibliomania · 12/08/2022 22:28

I found the Cage piece very soothing.

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