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

[MamaNewtNewt]

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.

I've been listening and have just caught up. I'm a singer (good amateur) so I know some of the choral pieces like Crucifixus quite well and I have sung today's piece before. I found the strings rather than singing really evocative and interesting. I loved the Hildegard Von Bingen and Beethoven.

I really enjoyed today’s piece too, and definitely felt transported to France. This one felt very ‘accessible’ somehow - like I could connect with it more than yesterday’s for example.

I don’t have Spotify - I’m searching each piece in turn on either Amazon music or YouTube. There’s obviously a few different versions come up (or in the case of Amazon often none as I only have the free version) and I find it hard to know which to choose and presumably this might make a big difference to my enjoyment of the piece. I don’t know enough to know which are likely to be the best or the most authentic or whatever.

I listened to various versions of today’s actually - two vocals, a piano solo and one on strings. All lovely.

I’m not musical at all and don’t really have the vocabulary but I do wonder how much the musician/ version affects the piece. So say in popular music if someone does a cover of a song, it’s often very different - they can mess around with the arrangement, tempo, use different instruments or make it acapella, add a rap - whatever. I don’t know how much this happens in classical music - say two different pianists were playing a piece of Chopin, assuming they were equally talented how much difference would we hear in their two versions?

I listened to a few vocal versions too and I think I preferred the strings. Of the vocal pieces I much preferred the Sabine Devieilhe, Alexandre Tharaud version (on YouTube) - it seemed less fussy and more French although how on Earth did she hit that last note?

PiglingBlonde I have deep envy of anyone who can sing well, it must bring so much pleasure.

Place-marking to look into this later on.
This sounds wonderful.
I used to play in several amateur orchestras when I was younger. I play viola and violin. I love most classical music.

Please may I join? I have been listening too and really enjoying the experience. I actually really liked the piece today. I am listening to the Spotify list which seems to be good.

I don't really listen to classical music although I did more as a child as my parents were big listeners, so this it a good education for me. I went through a Classic FM phase when the Today program got too much and did enjoy it. I think I prefer the Baroque music such as the Bach and I loved the Hildegard Von Bingen, which is early. The Lotti was good too and I've gone back for another listen. Those have been my favourites but I am genuinely loving this process.

I downloaded a sample on the Kindle, but I think I'll end up buying the book.

Bach: Mass in B Minor. I love it. I really like Bach and baroque music in general. I love how he gives every voice an equally important part to play and how they all come together in one uplifting climax.

Chopin: Étude. I admire this piece without being moved by it. It's rather technical.

Hildegard von Bingen: O Virtus Sapientiae. I love it. Beautifully pure, yet soulful. I would listen to more of it.

Beethoven: String Quartet, Cavatina. I love it. Rich, warm, moving. A little gem of a piece.

Antonio Lotti: Crucifixus. I love it. Intense, atmospheric, dramatic. Full of tension. Full of sadness. The last chord is like a welcome release.

Bruch: Violin Concerto no. 1. I love it. Passionate, dramatic, tender. I played the viola part in this one before. There was one phrase that just leaped out at me where all the strings and generally everyone, were playing in unison. Marvelous stuff.

Francis Poulenc: Les Chemins de l'amour. I love it. Charming and uplifting. This is a cello piece. I would like to play this. I might transcribe it for viola :)

I have enjoyed all the pieces so far. I particularly liked the Bruch, so much so that I listened to all of it and realised that I was already familiar with the final movement. I love the choral ones too. I am already a big Beethoven and Bach fan. The Chopin just leaves me lost in admiration that anyone can play that (I am a bad pianist). Not quite so keen on today's, but I enjoyed it too.

Hello everyone,

I loved todays one. Definitely was transported to France. I even think that today was my favourite so far.

I appreciated the notes on today's piece - knowing the context really added to it.

I enjoyed the vocal versions of todays!

I agree that today's piece was really evocative, and the Frenchest thing ever, but it wasn't especially my cup of tea. I might have chosen the wrong version though. I saw there was one by Jessye Norman, and clicked on that, because Jessye Norman. But I wonder if her voice was maybe a bit too rich and big for the style of song? I will try to check out the recording @BestIsWest has recommended.

I didn’t like the Jessye Norman version either @TheTurn0fTheScrew.

In fact I preferred the cello version to all the vocal ones.

Corelli: Concerto Grosso. I love it. It's bright and balanced. 'Largo' as a tempo marking is usually very slow. This is not. It's rather upbeat. This movement is so short though, it's a bit of a tease. I'd to listen to more of it. I'm enjoying the notes in the book. The entries are short, but there are a lot of details that I hadn't known.

Loved it too but why so short? I was just getting into it. There seemed to be almost a mathematical formula to it.

I loved it too, what a shame he didn't get to see in his lifetime how his music was loved. The explanation of the difference between a concerto and concerto grosso was interesting too.

I didn't love the Corelli. It's the first selection that felt a bit like background music to me. To be fair I did listen to it walking around Tesco (the whole concerto grosso), so perhaps not fair to Corelli.

Catching up and listening again to this week's choices. My tastes incline much more towards earlier music - I love Bach and really like plainsong too, so the Crucifixus and Bingen were very much up my street. Chopin doesn't do much for me - it's pretty but doesn't stir many emotions. The Poulenc however was wonderful; so very very French. It really is very evocative and I can see a million movie images in my head when I hear it.

Today's was great. I'm going to seek out the rest of the work and tidy up my cupboards while I listen.

@BestIsWest

I listened to a few vocal versions too and I think I preferred the strings. Of the vocal pieces I much preferred the Sabine Devieilhe, Alexandre Tharaud version (on YouTube) - it seemed less fussy and more French although how on Earth did she hit that last note?

PiglingBlonde I have deep envy of anyone who can sing well, it must bring so much pleasure.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the Sabine Devielhe version in YouTube. I much preferred this to the Jessye Norman, and my DH now has a new crush.

I didn’t like today’s particularly, agree it felt like background music and I was a bit bored despite it being so short.

I am in an absolutely vile mood though (toothache) so could be partly to blame.

I liked the Corelli today but would have preferred a longer piece so am off to listen to some of the rest. I hope there is some more Corelli further down the line because I do like the style and think there are better ones lurking out there.

Sorry about the toothache @AliasGrape - I have managed to hurt my hip, which makes me sound rather elderly but alas I am still in my 40s (just) so am rather grumpy too.

Today's was rather short!

My favourites so far have been the Beethoven and the French one yesterday. Weirdly I like melancholy and sad songs in general and it appears my taste in classical music is reflected in that.

Verdi: Requiem Mass, Offertorio. I liked this very much. It's a very gentle piece of music. Harmonious voices and sympathetic strings. The story of the prisoners singing this in the concentration camp in Theresienstadt is very moving. That will stay with me, I think.

I can't disconnect my view of the music from the story. I found it very moving and sad and uplifting and beautiful. Would I have had the same reaction if I'd listened before reading today's book entry? I'm not sure, and I guess it doesn't really matter. As CBH says it's about the power of music.

A very moving story. Is this just one part of the requiem mass? I’m guessing it is a part of a longer piece of music.
I actually wasn’t that keen on todays, towards the end it felt a bit dissonant. Perhaps that was the intent?