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

[IsFuzzyBeagMise]

Year of Wonder (Part One)

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

All welcome to join in.

Glazunov I really like this though it does put me in mind of a 1930s score from a black and white movie where the heroine suffers unrequited love for the leading man. Lots of sighing, I was hoping that by the end he’d see what she was made of and passionately declare his love for her but it wasn’t to be.

Wistful is the word I’m looking for I think.

I’ve spent the morning listening to more Arnalds. What beautiful music.

I listened to the Chopin Project album yesterday and enjoyed it very much. Wonderful music. I'll listen to it again.

Locus Iste: Anton Bruckner

For some reason the theme tune for Mr. Bean came to mind when I heard this first though it isn't that similar, maybe just the first bar 😊

It is lovely, calming and restful (now that I have banished Mr. Bean from my mind!)

Ha to Mr Bean!

I've heard this one many times as my university always has it at graduations (I'm normally doing something lowly such as showing people to their seats). Never knew what it was called. It's good.

In A Landscape: John Cage

I really like this piece; it has grown on me. I find it very calming to listen to. It was composed for a dancer, but it's great music to read to or to meditate to, if you are inclined. Gentle, reflective and meandering, but the six-note motif keeps it grounded throughout. I think the piece may not have a key signature, which gives it a timeless feel.

I found the Cage piece very soothing.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

I like the trumpet and enjoyed today's.

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.