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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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

Rachmaninov - ha, yes, recognized "All by Myself.*

Went straight on to the Zappa, which was, er, a change of pace. I'm not even sure if I liked it or not - perhaps not - but it woke me up anyway.

'La fleur que tu m'avais jetée' from Carmen: Bizet.

This is a lovely aria; heartfelt, tender and sweet. It was nice to listen to it again.

I think I liked the Zappa, bonkers but good fun

The Bizet was lovely. I think Carmen is the opera I’d like to see when I eventually do go.

I thought the Ysaye was witty and clever but I found myself wishing I was listening either to the Bach, or to Ysaye's third sonata, which is a total banger.

Mozart was...Mozart I guess. Blah.

Enescu I liked the more lyrical parts, but the fast technical runs left me cold and I wish they weren't there.

The Rachmaninov was melodramatic and overblown and a bit soppy in parts and I love it so very much.

The Zappa was spiky and fresh. I don't know how often I'd choose to listen to it, but as a palate cleanser straight after the Rachmaninov it worked brilliantly. The long double tongued flute notes did have slight car alarm vibes though.

The Bizet today was lovely. I'm not massively into opera but Carmen is by far and away the one I know and like the most.

slight car alarm vibes 😂

Beau Soir: Débussy.

I think this is really beautiful* *and I like the cello version on the Spotify playlist as well as the original version for voice and piano. The harmonies in this piece are what make it really interesting, I think.

I loved today's Debussy - he's one of my favourite composers. I love how he often takes melodies and harmonies to places you'd never guess, but which always feel completely right when you get there.

I went for Véronique Gens recording, which was cool and calm and just the Frenchest thing ever.

Partita no. 1 in B flat major BWV 825 2. Allemande: JS Bach.

I like a bit of Bach, which is just as well because it's another partita!

I'm a big JSB fan, so very happy to hear this partita today. Beautiful counterpoint, so sunny and joyful. I'm listening to the rest now, under the watchful eye of Playmobil JSB:

Excellent! 😁I love little JSB 🎼
I must listen to the other movements now.

'Somewhere' from 'West Side Story': Leonard Bernstein.

I'm not really into musicals but I love this.
I didn't know that Bernstein drew inspiration from Beethoven and Tchaikovsky for this song. I'll listen to that second movement later on and see if I can spot the phrase :)

Set Me as a Seal: Nico Muhly

I have mixed feelings about this piece. I think I admire it more than I like it. I quite like the choral parts, but I find the piano's "little anxious interjections" a bit jarring. I find the overall effect more unsettling than hypnotic as suggested in the notes.

Haven't had much to say about the last few days, but today's one was more interesting. Wouldn't say I loved it exactly, but it made me want to engage with it.

"Deep River" from 24 Negro Melodies Op 59 No. 10: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

I think this is a wonderful piece of music with big, bold, sweeping melodies. It's very heart-warming. It does warm the cockles of my heart :) I like the jazzy inflections that put a twist on the notes at times. It comes across as a structured classical piece but the influence of the spirituals elevate it to something wonderful. A favourite for sure.

The Debussy was lovely, very dreamy

Enjoyed the Bach too, it was more jolly than I was expecting.

Oh my days the Bernstein is one of my favourites. I grew up watching/ listening to the soundtrack to West Side Story and I still play it regularly. My parents had Somewhere played at their wedding, and in tribute to them we played it at ours to (they’d both died by the time I got married). I would sing it (appallingly) to baby dd often - quite often when it was taking hours to get her back to sleep through the middle of the night I’d work through a songs from the shows medley, poor child will probably never recover but kept me sane during those times.

Muhly- ‘hypnotically calm in the choral parts with little anxious interjections from the piano’ - indeed. This made me feel a bit anxious myself actually, I quite liked it though.

Coleridge-Taylor - wow. I listened to a piano version played by Julian Joseph, absolutely loved it and definitely a favourite. What depressing notes though.

Deep River is very likeable.

Guaracha: de Zéspedes.

This is bright and cheerful; the kind of music that puts you instantly in a good mood.

Loved the Guaracha - best one in ages.

I am a big soppy musical theatre fan, and it doesn't get better than West Side Story, so the Bernstein was a hit.

I really like the Muhly. I sometimes find that choral music doesn't hold my attention, but I loved the layering of the piano adding a lot of character and interest. One for the playlist.

The Coleridge-Taylor I found a little bland, and didn't love the tempo changes.

The Guaracha is definitely a mood-elevating toe-tapper, but I'm not sure I would listen again.

I love todays as well.
I’ve also enjoyed the Bizet, the Debussy and the Coleridge-Taylor.

Somewhere - just been listening to Cynthia Erivo singing this after watching her at the Proms last night - wonderful.