Classical Listening

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=stlukesguild;1225449]Well yes, of course, but great music is a very personal pursuit and each will find in it that with which they identify. In the case of the Strauss piece posted, this music has a great emotional meaning for someone who spent much of his youth in Germany, immersing himself in German history, the language and the people. For me it's not just a piece of music to be enjoyed like any other, it is Germany and, while many may plump for Bach, to my mind Richard Strauss is the summation of German genius .

A great many might choose this as a more apt summation of Germany... and German history of the 20th century:

They might but they would be wrong, for history doesn't stop and, economically, Germany is once again the master of Europe. As for the 20th century, the roots of what happened are easily traced back to the development of Frederick the Great's Prussia, Napoleon Bonaparte's Confederation of the Rhine and Bismark's unification of the German nation. For anyone who watched the rise of the German economy, while his own sank beneath a wave of wishfull thinking, Messrs Adenauer and Erhard must rank as the two outstanding statesmen of the post-war period.

[Emil Miller]

Last night I saw this conductor and violinist play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in London with the Philharmonia although here they are in Russia with the St Petersburg orchestra in a fabulous performance.

http://youtu.be/GAkw_Wi4yIo

Also on the programme was the same composer's Francesca da Rimini but here it's another Russian orchestra and conductor in the last couple of minutes of the work. If you thought Leonard Bernstein was an energetic performer just watch this guy.

http://youtu.be/rqhhk4iBO2k

[stlukesguild]

Neely and Emil... I'm going to be interested in your responses to the desert island thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...panded-Version

[Emil Miller]

Neely and Emil... I'm going to be interested in your responses to the desert island thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...panded-Version

Yes I saw the post but haven't got round to making the selections. Anyhow, I would be prepared to bet that Woody Allen will feature in Neely's film choices and that Mozart will be in his music selection. As for the literary choices, I'm fairly confident the Pedigree Mum will not feature.

[Darcy88]

Wagner's Das Rheingold and Mozart's Requiem in D minor, been playing them a lot recently. My two favourite composers though Wagner is my number one. Who influenced Wagner? I am only familiar with a handful of major composers and the closest to Wagner's sound in my opinion is Beethoven.

[Lokasenna]

Went to Opera North's much-acclaimed production of Siegfried the other night - a truly astonishing experience.

Anyone else been listening to the 1955 Keilberth Bayreuth recording of the Ring? (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Der-Ring-Nib...ds=Wagner+Ring). I've been listening to bits of a friend's set (can't afford it myself!) - it really is astounding. Why don't we have singers like that anymore?

[prendrelemick]

Listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony from the Royal Albert Hall on BBC 2 tonight. Beautiful sounds washing over me.

Very English. I wonder how he is thought of in other countries.

[stlukesguild]

Oops duplicate. Typing from iPhone.

[stlukesguild]

Wagner was admittedly influenced by Beethoven... especially by the 9th Symphony. Carl Maria Von Weber set the example of the leitmotif and this was further developed by Berlioz. Berlioz also was a likely inspiration with regard to the use of grandiose orchestration and theatrical bombast. Like most artists, Wagner admired and was influenced by any number of his predecessors who may not seem immediately obvious. Bach's use of counterpoint, Gluck's and Mozart's development of German opera... we're all major sources of inspiration. Even Meyerbeer and Medelssohn, who he later repudiated, were influential upon his development.

[prendrelemick]

Wagner's Das Rheingold and Mozart's Requiem in D minor, been playing them a lot recently. My two favourite composers though Wagner is my number one. Who influenced Wagner? I am only familiar with a handful of major composers and the closest to Wagner's sound in my opinion is Beethoven.

Lizst is the most obvious.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01shyl1

[Emil Miller]

Listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony from the Royal Albert Hall on BBC 2 tonight. Beautiful sounds washing over me.

Very English. I wonder how he is thought of in other countries.

As with Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams is not a composer who is often played abroad but the 'Englishness' of his music
is very noticeable to his fellow countrymen.
Enjoying the unusually glorious weather we are currently having, I spent yesterday walking from Oxted in Surrey to Sevenoaks in Kent
and I have never seen the English countryside looking so beautiful. While I was sitting on a stile looking out on the vast landscape
towards 'blue remembered hills' this music inevitably came to mind:

http://youtu.be/PJRlqWMTl5o

[stlukesguild]

Just got back from my older daughter's wedding on the beach in the Outer Banks, North Carolina:













After a good 600-700 mile drive back home we decided to stretch the vacation out to one more day... heading out to our favorite Mexican restaurant and two or three Margaritas each. Now I'm sitting with a glass of Tequilla listening to some real roots American "classic" bluegrass: Hank Williams!

[Lykren]

Just got out of the Music Academy of the West's production of The Magic Flute. It was wonderful!

[prendrelemick]

Listening to more Vaughan Williams tonight from the Albert Hall - The Lark Ascending- played by Nigel Kennedy. Spellbinding.

[Emil Miller]

I like to play this piece myself but listening to this I wonder why I bother. It's absolutely sublime and plays down the Sturm und Drang of the middle section to give a seamless stream of beauty.

http://youtu.be/Bbje2CU9Ltw