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.

@BestIsWest Cynthia Erivo was spectacular, wasn't she? Amazing performance.

Serenade for strings in E Major, 3rd mvt. vivace: Dvořák.

I like this a lot. It's charming and elegant, with a keen sense of excitement. I'd like to listen to rest of the work.

I loved the Guaracha - perked me right up

• *The Dvorak today was bright and light and enjoyable.

Serenade for Strings in E flat major Op 6, Adagio: Josef Suk.

This is gorgeous from beginning to end; very dreamy and romantic. I like the solo parts (maybe a quartet) that contrast with the main ensemble. It's hard to believe it was written when Suk was only eighteen. It's a really lovely piece of music.

I must know the wrong kind of teenage boy. That is very impressive.

Goyescas, Suite no. 1: Enrique Granados.

This is an expressive piece, full of warmth and colour. I was sorry to read about the composer's tragic death.

My favourites for this month are in chronological order; Brahms, Strauss, Arnalds, Elgar, Rachmaninoff, Débussy, Bernstein, Coleridge-Taylor, Suk and Granados.

The Blue Bird, Op 119 no. 3: Charles Villiers Stanford.

A new month and a new favourite! This is beautiful, I love it. It's like a restorative balm for the soul.

Not blown away by yesterday or today. For me, the highlight of August is the de Zespedes.

The Dvorak serenade for strings I found quite meh. I felt like I would have preferred to have some bassoon or French horn adding depth and colour. However the Suk serenade I loved - it had depth and heart, and I did feel it was cheerful (despite the notes) and uplifting. Will definitely listen to the rest of this work.

Not fussed about the Granados. Felt a bit full on and showy.

So for August my favourites were Strauss, Reich, Arnaulds, Bach (violin partita), Debussy, and Suk.

The Stanford today was fine, more interesting than lots of the choral stuff we've had recently, but didn't fully hit the spot.

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35, 2nd Mvt. Romanze: Korngold.

I have never heard of Korngold, so I found the notes very informative today.

I think that this is very atmospheric, dreamy and romantic. Impressionistic is a word that comes to mind too. It took me a while to absorb it, but I think it's an interesting piece and I like it.

I heard the Korngold for the first time in March, when we saw it performed by Ning Feng and the Halle. I must say this movement, sweet as it is, was my least favourite. The first has a gorgeous wistful melody, and the third has lots of sparkle and drive. Definitely worth catching up with the other movements.

That's really interesting, TheTurn! I will listen to the other movements later.

I like how Clemency takes a broader view of classical music and selects pieces from outside the mainstream.

The Korngold is a bit too lush and romantic for me.

It's a bit syrupy alright.

Gnoscienne no. 1: Eric Satie.

This piece is quite well known I think. As I was listening to it, I was wondering if it is used much in popular culture.

It's sparse in style, but rich in detail and very captivating. Another favourite for this month.

The Suk was beautiful and yes, a little sad whilst still managing to feel uplifting. I preferred it to Dvorak serenade.

The Granados I wasn’t sure but did start to get into it it towards the end of the piece, be interesting to listen to some of the others.

Faves for August - Deep River, the Guaracha and the nocturne by Arnalds. And of course thr Bernstein.

Stanford - wow, stunning.

Korngold - this does sound very cinematic. I liked it ok, wasn’t blown away.

Satie - I liked this, very meditative.
I don’t get what’s so different and iconoclastic about it or the thing about time signatures but I’ve given up trying to understand these things - I can tell it’s more minimalist and will assume that’s what it means!

I liked the restraint of the Satie.

Definitely! Me too.

Bella Figlia Dell'Amore from Rigoletto: Verdi.

I thought this was enjoyable. I can understand Verdi's popularity in his time and why it has endured.

I liked the Satie - it was very elegant and interesting, and for three minutes I imagined I was a très chic Parisienne drinking coffee on the balcony of my apartment. But I also didn't get the stuff about free time, as it seemed to my clumsy ears to have a pretty regular 4/4 time, with just a tiny bit of rubato here and there. Happy to be corrected though!

I'm no great opera lover, but this Verdi quartet was pretty easy on the ear while being amazingly intricate. It probably won't make one of my playlists but was really fun and enjoyable nonetheless.

The Satie seems to be in regular time to me too except for the sequence of rising notes in the middle of the piece which seemed a bit of kilter or rubato use the proper term :) Perhaps Clemency is referring to other compositions of his.

Clarinet Quintet in A Major, 2nd Mvt. Larghetto: Mozart.

I think that if you were to select one piece by Mozart for your playlist, this would be it. It's beautiful. It sounds very serene too. It's difficult to imagine how he wrote this while he was under so much stress in his own life himself.

I really enjoyed the Verdi it was indeed an easy listen whilst being very clever and intricate.

I really liked the Mozart for today too, I usually try to listen in the morning but only just getting round to it today and this was a beautiful way to unwind at the end of the day.

Sonata Duodecima: Isabella Leonarda.

This is a lovely piece of music. The opening bars have a particularly haunting quality. I like the contrasting sections and the changes of mood. The notes are very good in providing background to this piece. Great point about Isabella's exposure to music. It makes you think that it's a wonder how music composed by women ever survived and how much may have been lost.

The album from which this is taken sounds good; "Perla Barocca:Early Italian Masterpieces".

Today's notes really were interesting, and I'd not really thought about it that way - that the only way to experience music would have been to hear it performed live, and how limited women's opportunities to do that would have been.

It does make the piece more remarkable. I really enjoyed it.

I do love the baroque pieces - and love that I can now say that thanks to this book/ thread. And with that I'm off to listen to the Landi again, a contender for my stand out favourite so far :)