Music Appreciation

Page 5 of 42 FirstFirst 1234567891015 ... LastLast
  1. Virgil
    Virgil
    Oh feel better Barbara. No let's discuss Grieg. I don't know much about him and wish to learn. I looked up one of his well know pieces, Peer Gynt. Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynt_Suite. I assume this is program music that follows Ibsen's play. Here are a ouple of youtube videos of parts of Peer Gynt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJIGL...eature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAbwMGZtIsY. Both very pretty pieces.
  2. Nyu001
    Nyu001
    In the Hall of the Mountain King It's fun to listen. It was used in one of the cartoons of Sonic The hedgehog together with other pieces and one of a sonic's game. I like how the original "In the Hall of the Mountain King" starts with the soft and slow tempo on the pizzicatos and accelerate till bring the full orchestra. Morning Mood is quite famous. Mostly used in the media. The original piece is very relaxing to me. I am wonder where I have it.

    Anyway, here I found the intro of Sonic the hedgehog which has parts of the piece mentioned previously and another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCcYBQ_f90Q
    Not the original but still related to the original composition of Grieg and others. ;p

    He also did a good collection of Lyric Pieces for solo piano.
  3. Janine
    Janine
    I will listen to "The Hall of the Mountain King" - thanks for the suggestion Nyu001. Currently I am listening to "Death of Aase"; you can find it on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxjw6...eature=related - I love it! It has a lot of pathos in it. Before this I listened to "Morning" - Virgil, thanks for providing the links. I loved that one and have heard it many times before. It was a nice recording and video and I thought the way it keeps gaining or building on the main theme is so beautiful and dramatic. I love the last part with the flutes - sounded just like birds singing, perhaps morning larks - so lovely. I grabbed my classical music folder, to see if it was in a sleeve; can't find it - darn; I thought I had a copy; perhaps my library does. Listening now to "In the hall of...King". That has been used in cartoons; I recognise it. How funny! Very dramatic with the bases and the drums - this also builds up nicely to a grand tempo and dramatic ending.
    Now I am listening to, "Arabian Dance" - lots of range and tempo changes and love it so far - dramatic and melodic, as well; with the Middle Eastern influences. I love the use of the violins about 1/3 through in contrast to the horns and the cymbals. Now the oboes are playing - I love oboes. Great stuff!

    Wow, check out this kid playing "Elfin Dance" on the piano - he is amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4yDZ...eature=related

    Another nice video of "Morning" - some lovely photography....
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya5IC...eature=related
  4. barbara0207
    barbara0207
    What a little wunderkind, Janine! And he knows all the music by heart!

    'Death of Aase' is my favourite piece of 'Peer Gynt'. When I'm in the mood, it makes me cry. The instrumentation of strings only goes very well with the theme. In the first part, the increasing volume and the deep sounds give the impression of a stirred-up soul, of desperation. In the second part, the low volume and the high notes of the violins make you feel the sadness, with occasional sighs of the mourner.

    Some people say that program music is of lesser value but I cannot understand that.
  5. Virgil
    Virgil
    Janine, the melody of "Morning" eally fascinated me. For some reason it sounded so American.

    Barbara, so glad to see back. I was wondering about you this morning and thinking you may be very ill. I hope you're better.
  6. Virgil
    Virgil
    Perahps this deserves its own post, because it may be a point of discusson. I personally think of program music as lesser. I don't know why. It has always seemed to me to be dubious that the program really captures the sense of the message and abstract music seems to be constructed as an integrated work. Abstract seems to be more artistic to me. I don't know why I look at program music as lesser. For instance Beethoven's sixth always strikes me as lesser than Beethoven's fifth. Does anyone else feel that way?
  7. Virgil
    Virgil
    Oh here's a piece of exiting news: "New Mozart piece of music found in French library." I postd the article in the News thread: http://www.online-literature.com/for...&postcount=912. You can read the details there.
  8. Janine
    Janine
    I don't know what that is 'program music' verses 'abstract'. Can someone explain?
    Yes, barbara, I agree, that one piece really is emotional and made me feel like crying also. I like the "Morning" part but it never reminded me of American music. Maybe it did to you Virgil because it is so well known and played here. Usually it is included in recording of mixes of different artists and their most well known compositions.

    While perusing youtube (it is addictive) I came across the ballet to one of my favorite pieces of music "Scheherazade" by Rimsy Kor... (don't ask me to spell his last name). Anyway, any chance we can discuss that next or after something by Beethoven or Mozart?

    Also, the ballet excerpt to "Scheherazade" is amazing - wonderfully sensual dancing. I think Nureyev first danced the role and was known for this famous performance. The costuming in this segment was very similar to photos I have seen of the great N.

    I want to make a correct also to something I wrote early about a piece the skaters Torval and Dean won their Olympic metal to - it was called "Bolaro"...I am fairly sure it was written by Ravel.
  9. Janine
    Janine
    Here is a quote by Aldous Huxley: The Music at Night - After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
  10. Virgil
    Virgil
    Janine, program music is music that is supposed to tell a story or create images with the music (no lyrics). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_music. Actually a better definition is here: http://www.answers.com/topic/program-music.
Results 41 to 50 of 419
Page 5 of 42 FirstFirst 1234567891015 ... LastLast