What are you listening to now?

[Roehre]

Welcome here, Haydnguy
--------------------------------

Today:

Naxos CD “Seized by Sweet Desire”
Women Trouvères and Notre Dame repertoire (i.a. Leoninus and Perotinus)(12 C)

Dvorak:
Symphony no.9 in e opus 95 “From the New World”

Mathias:
Piano concerto no.2 op.13 (1961)
Intrada op.54 (1971)
Songs of William Blake op.82 (1979)
Horn concerto op.93 (1984)
Threnos (1990)
Hobed o Hilion (1971)

Stenhammar:
Florez och Blanzeflor op.3 (1894)
Ithaka op.21 (1904)
Interlude from Sangen op.44 (1921)

[Roehre]

Today:

Stenhammar:
Prelude and Bourrée (1891)

Badings:
Symphony no.2 (1932)

Bainton:
Symphony no.3 in c (1955)

Rathaus:
Symphony no.1 op. 5 (1922)

[Megan]

Franz Schubert — Piano Sonata in B flat, D960
Performers: András Schiff (piano)

--:--
Ludwig van Beethoven — Grosse Fuge, op.133
Performers: Juilliard Quartet


Georg Philipp Telemann — Quartet no. 8 in A minor (Paris quartet) for flute, violin, gamba & continuo [1738] no.2
Performer: Barthold KUIJKEN - Flute Performer: Gustav LEONHARDT - Director Performer: Sigiswald KUIJKEN - Viola da gamba Performer: Wieland KUIJKEN - Viola da gamba

[Megan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017t0cp



Today's programme looks at the second phase of the Concert Spirituel, marked by the administration of the Académie Royale de Musique (that is, the Paris Opera), who rescued the whole enterprise from collapse following the financial calamities suffered by the first directors. The concerts' venue continued to be the Salle des Cent Suisses of the Tuileries Palace, which until its destruction in 1871 stood next to the Louvre. The hall was cavernous, which made it more suitable for some musical instruments than others. One that came to be favoured was the new-style Italian violin, whose piercing tone carried far better in that enormous space than that of the old-fashioned viola da gamba. This promoted the growth of a new school of French violin virtuosos, foremost amongst them Jean-Marie Leclair, who made dozens of appearances at the Concert Spirituel, often in concertos of his own composition. (He was to meet a violent end in 1764 - stabbed in the back, perhaps in some family dispute.) A prominent musical visitor to Paris in 1738 was the composer Telemann, who attended performances at the Concert Spirituel of his grand motet Deus judicium tuum, which, he recorded in his diary, "was performed twice in three days by almost 100 select musicians". He also wrote a series of 'Paris Quartets' in the city, several of which were performed at the Concert Spirituel in the 1740s. Another fascinating figure is Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, who took the unconventional step of selling his compositions direct to the public rather than going the traditional route and finding himself a wealthy patron - as a result of which he became extremely wealthy himself. Two names not so familiar nowadays are Michel Pignolet de Montéclair and Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, who after Lalande was the second most frequently performed composer in the 65 years of the series.

.

[Chris]

Bach:

Flute sonatas BWV 1030-1035
Sonata BWV 1020 played on the flute
Trio sonatas BWV 1038 and 1039
Partita for solo flute BWV 1013
Partita for solo flute transcribed from BWV 29 and 1006

These are some very spirited performances by Jed Wentz and Christiane Wuyts.

[Roehre]

Today:

Britten:
Saint Nicholas op.42 (as it’s St.Nicholas today)

Rathaus:
Symphony no.2 op. 7 (1926)

Badings:
Symphony no.12 “Symphonic sound figures” (1964)

Markevitch:
Sinfonietta in F (1929)
Ouverture cinématographique (1931)

[Chris]

Observation: Roehre's daily listening always seems to include music by at least one guy I have actually heard of. This makes me feel somewhat better about my incredibly deficient lack of knowledge about music, comparatively speaking.

[Chris]

Bach:
Italian Concerto, BWV 971
French Overture, BWV 831
4 Duetti, BWV 802-805
Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue, BWV 903

Played by Rousset

This is one of the only discs I have found to contain the 4 duets played on harpsichord. They are listed among the keyboard works in the BWV, but usually recorded on the organ, presumably because they were published with organ works in Clavier-Übung III and because their ranges fit on the organ when many of the works Bach was writing for harpsichord at the time used an expanded range. Though I think they might work better on the harpsichord, so I'm glad I found this disc.

J.S. Bach:
Concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061a
The Art of Fugue: Contrapunctus 13

W.F. Bach:
Concerto for two keyboards, F10

C.P.E. Bach:
Four Duets, Wq 115

J.C. Bach:
Duet in G major, Op. 15

Played by Hogwood and Rousset

This disc is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, for the works themselves: the rarely heard version of BWV 1061 for two harpsichords alone, and these works by the sons of Bach. Secondly, different keyboards are used, with harpsichords for the J.S. works, clavichords for the W.F. and C.P.E. works, and square pianos for the J.C. works. Normally I am not too fond of clavichords or square pianos, but the recorded sound is very good here, and the fact that there are two playing together helps beef up the sound. Particularly interesting is that the disc was mastered to reflect the relative volumes of each of these instruments, meaning, for example, the clavichord tracks are much quieter than the harpsichord tracks. There is even a warning on the back of the case to this effect. Some people apparently found this annoying, but I thought it was quite interesting, since you don't often get to hear a side-by-side comparison like this. It puts the different qualities of the instruments into perspective.

[Roehre]

Today:

Boughton:
Symphony no.1 “Oliver Cromwell” (1905)

Ravel:
Alborado del grazioso (R3-Ao3)

Montsalvatge:
Sinfonia da Requiem (1985) (R3-Ao3)
Partita (1957/’58) (R3-Ao3)


Tallis:
Spem in alium

[Peter]

Today:

Boughton:
Symphony no.1 “Oliver Cromwell” (1905)

Ravel:
Alborado del grazioso (R3-Ao3)

Montsalvatge:
Sinfonia da Requiem (1985) (R3-Ao3)
Partita (1957/’58) (R3-Ao3)


Tallis:
Spem in alium

Was the Ravel piano or orchestral version?

[Peter]

Just finished listening to the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets over the past week or so - fascinating journey! I think you get a much better sense of Beethoven's development listening that way rather than just at random though of course it isn't always possible. My next project will be the violin sonatas in the same way.

[Roehre]

Just finished listening to the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets over the past week or so - fascinating journey! I think you get a much better sense of Beethoven's development listening that way rather than just at random though of course it isn't always possible. My next project will be the violin sonatas in the same way.

I fully agree. When I like to explore a musical genre, or a substabtial trunk of a composer's output, this is the way to do it.
Those are remarkable and fascinating journeys indeed.

[Roehre]

Was the Ravel piano or orchestral version?

It wasn't Miroirs, and therefore the orchestral version, as overture (if you like) to a spanish themed concert on BBC Radio 3.

[Preston]

I just wanted to say this. Roehre, if I were Peter and Chris I think I would make a thread called, "What is Roehre Listening To Now"! Lol!

I think the thread would work out, .

[Michael]

Just now listening to Handel and Mozart at the same time. Well, mostly Handel via Mozart's arrangement of the "Messiah". (The only version I have).