Various threads or chunks of history or music organized into strings of posts.
performed by Andreas Bach, or below by Jenő Jandó (cover image by Roman Mavrin) While Bartók’s music may not strike you as something that would challenge your perception or definition of ‘classical music,’ I think this little set of pieces might. … Continue reading Bartók: Hungarian Folksongs from Csík, Sz. 35a
performed by Manuel Ignacio de Íñigo, or below by Stanislav Neuhaus (cover image by Mike Sharp) Scriabin’s op. 45 dates from 1904, putting it between the fourth and fifth sonatas. In this work, you can still hear the kind of … Continue reading Scriabin: Trois Morceaux, op. 45
performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet (cover image by Sophie Sollmann) It has been some time, about three and a half years now, since we’ve seen anything from Satie on the blog, and we’re remedying that now (and again later in the … Continue reading Satie: Ogives
performed by the Quartetto Italiano and Maurizio Pollini, or below by the Amadeus Quartet with Christoph Eschenbach (cover image by Vidar Nordli Mathisen) Have you ever had that experience of meeting (well, more like being in the presence of) someone … Continue reading Brahms Piano Quintet in Fm, op. 34
performed by Barry Douglas, or below by Anatole Kitain (cover image by Simon Matzinger) The sixteen waltzes of Brahms’ op. 39 are dedicated to Eduard Hanslick and were completed by 1866. They were originally written for piano-four-hands. There were two … Continue reading Brahms: 16 Waltzes, op. 39
performed by Luka Okros, or below by Maria João Pires (cover image by Annie Spratt) I have been waiting for your letter and have in the meantime filled several books with pieces…. You once said to me that I often … Continue reading Schumann: Kinderszenen, op. 15
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy, with the fourth below it played sublimely by Eric Lu (cover image by Jez Timms) Chopin composed his op. 17 mazurkas between 1832 and 1833, and they were published in Leipzig in 1834. The composer … Continue reading Chopin: Four Mazurkas, op. 17
performed by Alfred Brendel A rapid glance shows us eleven pieces of music on a small scale; but an infinite amount lies bewitched in their magic circle! They contain few musical words, but much is said with them—as every initiated person will willingly … Continue reading Beethoven: 11 Bagatelles, op. 119
(cover image by Celia Spenard-Ko) It’s July again, and you know what that means. Actually, you probably don’t. Just another series, not really any different from all the other stuff I do, except that I pick themes along a different line. … Continue reading Petite Piano Pieces
performed by the Amadeus Quartet, or below by the Festetics Quartet (cover image by Rachel Lynette French) Well, here we are again, continuing to slog away at Mozart’s enormous catalogue of works. Just kidding; it’s not a chore. It’s just … Continue reading Mozart String Quartet no. 8 in F, K. 168
(cover image by Christin Hume) Apologies in no particular order to: Charles-Marie Widor Jacques Ibert Rameau Cécile Chaminade Tristan Murail André Jolivet Pierre Capdeveille Jean Rivier Francis Poulenc Andre Gedalge Paul Le Flem Yves Ramette Henri Sauguet …among many others, … Continue reading The French Symphony in Review
performed by the Ensemble Risognanze under Tito Ceccherini, or as below, with the Ensemble Recherche under Kwam Ryan We are musicians and our model is sound not literature, sound not mathematics, sound not theatre, visual arts, quantum physics, geology, astrology or acupuncture. … Continue reading Gérard Grisey: Vortex Temporum
performed by the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Jean-Jacques Kantorow (available on this album on Spotify) My music is not neo-Classical, it is Classical, for it retains the timeless aspect of Classicism : the rigour of expression. My music is not neo-Romantic, it … Continue reading Nicolas Bacri: Symphony no. 4, op. 49 ‘Classique Sturm und Drang’
performed by the Orchestre Radio Symphonique de Strasbourg under Charles Bruck (this work isn’t on YouTube, but this performance, perhaps the only one in existence for now, is on Spotify. It can be found here.) (cover image by Hieronymus Bosch, … Continue reading Serge Nigg: Jerome Bosch Symphonie
performed by the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot, or as below with the Orchestre National de l’ORTF under Roger Albin (cover image by John Towner) (this piece is featured on a list of pieces I heartily recommend to music directors for inclusion … Continue reading Dutilleux Symphony no. 1
performed by the Quatuor Ravel (cover image by Jose Tebar) Jean Francique-Étienne Martinon was born on January 10, 1910 in Lyon. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Albert Roussel for composition, Charles Munch for conducting, and harmony under … Continue reading Jean Martinon: String Quartet no. 1, op. 43
performed by the Orchestre National de la RTF under Jean Martinon, or below by somebody under Manuel Rosenthal The music of Elsa Barraine wins over its listeners by a contrapuntal independence of line, virtuosity, and expressive intensity through motivic and rhythmic … Continue reading Elsa Barraine: Symphony no. 2
performed by the Orchestre National de France under Charles Dutoit (cover image by Soroush Karimi) Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was born on April 5, 1869, and turned to music only as an adult, after seven years as a midshipman. … Continue reading Albert Roussel: Symphony no. 3 in Gm, op. 42
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Kawin Harasai) So this one really tops them all, I think. What do you to to top off a symphonic cycle, even if it’s just a … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 6, op. 79
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Samuel Zeller) Here we are at Milhaud’s op. 75, the opus number right after his fourth. It was composed in 1922. As the previous little symphony was … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 5, op. 75, ‘Tentet’
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Daria Shevtsova) The fourth little symphony was completed in 1921, the same year as the third. It’s longer than the previous works, at about six minutes, of … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 4, op. 74