McCaffery 20th Century Greatest Hits Reading Group discussion
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What are you listening to?
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by
Laure
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Nov 10, 2016 09:10AM
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I'm going to have a listen to it today, then hopefully report back. :)
I have studied musicology so I was always very found on classical music. Used to teach music for some time. Now my interest has widened. I also love jazz music. The old ones are still very good, I think. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Stan Getz.... Momentarily I'm listening to Nick Cave's 'Murder Ballads'. I read a very good dutch comic about this 'murder ballads': 'In the pines' by Eric Kriek. Like the ballads, the drawings were very dark, gloomy graphic drawings. The music is also very dark and mysterious. I love them.
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Yes, my tastes are very diverse too. I like Nick Cave! I listen to everything from black metal to classical music. I tend to like 'darker' songs or pieces but I am not averse to happy poppy songs - especially if I want to dance. :D
I try to keep up with new sounds if I can - I read and listen to Pitchfork recommendations mostly. Great music site to keep up with the good stuff coming out in pop rock music these days.
I have always liked playing an instrument - but not very good at it!
I started taking piano lessons again four years ago, but had to stop
this year. I am still on Level 3 and need to go back to it seriously if I want to make more progress with it. :P
I've been working on a "mixed" CD for some time now. My skills at manipulating the Itunes programs are rather limited, but I did survey it the other day:the play list includes, Bach, Corelli, Handel, Porpora, Chopin, Brahms, Shostakovich, Brahms, Shostakovich and Shostakovich.
The two featured pieces are the Brahms Adagio from the Clarinet quintet and the Brahms Adagio from his 1st Piano concerto.
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the play list includes, Bach, Corelli, Hand..."
itunes is not the easiest or most intuitive of software, that's for sure. I personally don't like it very much, but great to make mixed CDs. I had moved to 'stream' the music I listened to (using Spotify), but I am now going back to itunes and CDs as I am finding that streaming where I live (in the sticks!) is somewhat hit or miss. So back to CDs it is. :)
I love Handel and Chopin! I 've bought myself a music book with simplified versions of Chopin's waltzes - I intend to 'murder' these pieces very soon on the piano. :P
Coincidently, both the Handel and Chopin are for piano.The Handel is the "allemande" (the second mvmt.) from his Suite #5.
The Chopin is his "prelude" in Db, Op.28, #15, (the so-called "raindrop" prelude).
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The Handel is the "allemande" (the second mvmt.) from his Suite #5.
The Chopin is his "prelude" in Db, Op.28, #15, (the so-called "raindrop"..."
Beautiful! I just feel like opening my Spotify and listening to this right now. :)
I also love shostakovich. His 2nd pianoconcerto is beautiful. So dreamlike and with so much new sounds.
Laure wrote: "Mark wrote: "Coincidently, both the Handel and Chopin are for piano.The Handel is the "allemande" (the second mvmt.) from his Suite #5.
The Chopin is his "prelude" in Db, Op.28, #15, (the so-call..."
Cool!
Annelies wrote: "I also love shostakovich. His 2nd pianoconcerto is beautiful. So dreamlike and with so much new sounds."I also love Shostakovich! I used on my CD the second mvmt. from his string quartet #8, the final mvmt. of his violin concerto, and the fugue in C-major from his preludes & fugues, Op87.
Yes, I love the way he experimented with new sounds (new harmonies etc,) and the way his music sometimes moves from very lyric to chaotic. The moment when you say:'hey, this is something new and unexpected'.
Yes! "...from very lyric to chaotic." a very excellent description. I love his "chaotic"!
Interesting thread! I'm a classical music "nerd" as it is my soul food and takes up 95% of my listening time. Pieces from the middle ages all the way through the present time. There is a corner of my living room that consists solely of classical music box sets (as I refuse to go digital - so far) as I like browsing the cds and reading the pamphlets. Lately I have been listening to a lot of string quartets (mostly Beethoven and Mozart), but also plenty of symphonic pieces by Berlioz and Debussy. Love them! Anyways, the classical music realm is enormous and amazing to explore. Bach transcribed to piano is possibly my ultimate joy. :)
Annelies wrote: "I also love shostakovich. His 2nd pianoconcerto is beautiful. So dreamlike and with so much new sounds."I definitely need to listen more to Shostakovich. I have only heard a few of his symphonies and they all seem to be very different creatures.
Annelies wrote: "Yes, me too!"That's cool! it's not every day you meet another Shostakovich fan.
Yes, strange, isn't it. I think Poulenc is very alike concerning new sounds but more softer. Do you love his music also? I recently bought a box and I must say I like it.
Haaze wrote: "Interesting thread! I'm a classical music "nerd" as it is my soul food and takes up 95% of my listening time. Pieces from the middle ages all the way through the present time. There is a corner of ..."YES! "Bach on piano is possibly (the/my) ultimate joy." Yes, if it just wasn't for those "pesky" stringquartets.
Haaze wrote: "Annelies wrote: "I also love shostakovich. His 2nd pianoconcerto is beautiful. So dreamlike and with so much new sounds."I definitely need to listen more to Shostakovich. I have only heard a few ..."
His piano quintet is very interesting.
Mark wrote: "His piano quintet is very interesting. "I was thinking about digging deeper into the symphonies. Do you think the quartets as well as the quintet is a gentler path?
Mark wrote: "YES! "Bach on piano is possibly (the/my) ultimate joy." Yes, if it just wasn't for those "pesky" string quartets. "Which string quartets are you thinking about (as Bach didn't write any). The trios? ; -)
I love (LOVE) JS Bach's "Well-tempered Clavier" played by Rosalyn Tureck ! :)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ONGD...
Annelies wrote: "Yes, strange, isn't it. I think Poulenc is very alike concerning new sounds but more softer. Do you love his music also? I recently bought a box and I must say I like it."I'm embarrassed to say that Poulenc is not on my radar.
I went to my old diary where I always marked things I had heard on the radio: I found three stars:
Sonata for Clarinet & Piano (1962)
Sonata for Piano, four Hands (1918)
Mouvements perpetuels, for Piano (1918)
Maybe it is worth a try. I think you would like it. His vocal music is very beautiful.
Haaze wrote: "Mark wrote: "YES! "Bach on piano is possibly (the/my) ultimate joy." Yes, if it just wasn't for those "pesky" string quartets. "Which string quartets are you thinking about (as Bach didn't write ..."
I'm sorry. I sort of meant string quartets in general: just sort of trying to disturb the notion - in my mind - of Bach's keyboard stuff being un-impeachable.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I am a sucker for French Baroque music. Anybody else in that realm? Perhaps it is an acquired taste? :PGo Rameau! I'm such a nerd! LOL Fantastic stuff!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zegt...
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Go Rameau! I'm such a nerd! LOL Fantastic stuff!
https://www.yo..."
I am totall with you - Go Rameau! Baroque music is high on my favourite type of music.
I don't listen to as much classical music as I should though- I like the adrenaline of good guitar riff - one of my 'peche mignon'. :D
Mark wrote: "I'm sorry. I sort of meant string quartets in general: just sort of trying to disturb the notion - in my mind - of Bach's keyboard stuff being un-impeachable."Ah, yes, I know what you mean. It is a different state of mind for sure. Bach on the piano and SQ's are definitely different worlds. I guess it depends on one's mood?
Haaze wrote: "Mark wrote: "His piano quintet is very interesting. "I was thinking about digging deeper into the symphonies. Do you think the quartets as well as the quintet is a gentler path?"
"...a gentler path." Boy, that is an interesting question. I don't think I would ever use the word "gentle" with any of Shostakovich string quartets, but the way the question is framed, the answer must be yes. (one of our favorites is the Violin concerto)
Mark wrote: ""...a gentler path." Boy, that is an interesting question. I don't think I would ever use the word "gentle" with any of Shostakovich string quartets, but the way the question is framed, the answer must be yes. (one of our favorites is the Violin concerto) "I will follow your advice... :)
Haaze wrote: "Oh, I forgot to mention that I am a sucker for French Baroque music. Anybody else in that realm? Perhaps it is an acquired taste? :PGo Rameau! I'm such a nerd! LOL Fantastic stuff!
https://www.yo..."
You mean like Marais & Couperin?
F.B.m. may be acquired - I sort of think it hits you like a bolt of lightening and you just know you can't live without it - but I don't
think it's "nerdy". Cool, hip, sophisticated: yes! Nerdy, no!
Ha ha! Hip yes! Yes, definitely Marais and Couperin, but Rameau is probably my favorite. That being said I think it was Marais that sucked me into the realm in the first place. I came across this fantastic set a few years ago and I was trapped in the web of the French Baroque!
Laure wrote: "I am totall with you - Go Rameau! Baroque music is high on my favourite type of music.I don't listen to as much classical music as I should though- I like the adrenaline of good guitar riff - one of my 'peche mignon'. :D "
It is good to have a nice blend of music in one's life. 'Peche mignon' indeed!!!!
Haaze wrote: "Ha ha! Hip yes! Yes, definitely Marais and Couperin, but Rameau is probably my favorite. That being said I think it was Marais that sucked me into the realm in the first place. I came across this f..."Let's not forget Henry Purcell! (Marais sucked a lot of us in.)
Well, he is of course British, but I like him very much as well! I went to a performance of "Dido and Aeneas" twice this last summer. First one due to curiosity and the second one because it was sooooooo good! LOL It seems like musical life across the channel (British Baroque) was kind of lonely!
There's just something about people who go to the same concert twice! (maybe, quitely: Purcell, John Dowland, and William Byrd)
:) - ah, Dowland's lute music is delicious. Do you like the realm of lute?
Haaze wrote: ":) - ah, Dowland's lute music is delicious. Do you like the realm of lute?"Yes. but my experience is limited. (and the theorbo).
Oh - the theorbo!! :) In terms of lute music - you have to check out Robert Barto's recordings of Weiss' sonatas for lute. They are fantastic. I think there are eleven volumes of them now..... !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDGcp...
https://smile.amazon.com/Weiss-Sonata...
The first volume:
Haaze wrote: "Oh - the theorbo!! :) In terms of lute music - you have to check out Robert Barto's recordings of Weiss' sonatas for lute. They are fantastic. I think there are eleven volumes of them now..... !!! ..."Cool! thank you. :-)
(we seem to share a similar passion for baroque music.)
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That is one of my favourites! I have the CD and play bits of it regularly. Purcell is amazing!
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I am going to have a listen to that tomorrow.
Laure wrote: "Haaze wrote: "Well, he is of course British, but I like him very much as well! I went to a performance of "Dido and Aeneas" twice this last summer. First one due to curiosity and the second one bec..."Yes! Purcell is amazing! :-)
Laure wrote: "That is one of my favourites! I have the CD and play bits of it regularly. Purcell is amazing!"Really! :) This summer Dido almost made me cry - it was so freaking beautiful on stage. Actually, Belinda's voice at the very beginning had me reeling! I had not expected it so it completely took me by surprise. Very talented students with voices that soared!
*burst into tears*
Manda wrote: "One of my favourites....https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2DURLkS..."
Yay for Mendelssohn! That is a wonderful overture. Is this version your favorite, Manda? I hadn't listened to it for a while. As a matter of fact I have very much neglected Mendelssohn lately - just like books, there are so many recordings to traverse and return to over and over. Hmm, I recall that I in particular enjoy his music for the piano (Songs Without Words). It is gentle and romantic throughout. Have you heard these pieces?
I am impressed with you being first violin in the orchestra! You must have some wonderful memories from those years! I, too, very much enjoy live versions - Youtube definitely helps - and have been trying to get more into opera these last few years. Live performances (singers, soloists, orchestras) are exciting! Perhaps that is why I really took to Dido and Aeneas this summer. Nothing beats live sound!
Still, school orchestras can be challenging, and being first violin (I suspect) can be stressful....Did you have a good teacher/professor/conductor to guide you all?
Manda wrote: "One of my favourites....https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2DURLkS..."
That was cooler than cool! Manda.
Thank you. I've never done that before.
