performed by the LaSalle Quartet I owe very, very much to Mozart; and if one studies, for instance, the way in which I write for string quartet, then one cannot deny that I have learned this directly from Mozart. And … Continue reading Schoenberg String Quartet in D major
performed by the Lasalle Quartet or as below: I’m not going to take the time now to discuss why Alexander von Zemlinsky is as important a name as it is and do an Influential People post or anything; I’m not even sure … Continue reading Zemlinsky String Quartet no. 1 in A, op. 4
performed by the Fine Arts Quartet and Gil Sharon. People (rightly) think of Bruckner as a craftsman, a constructor of enormous, highly-developed, colossal symphonies, and there’s a reason for that. As we saw this week (with the exception of his study symphony, a … Continue reading Bruckner String Quintet in F major, WAB 112
performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken under Stanisław Skrowaczewski Those names. The effect of its breadth and grandeur has remained with me ever since. -Robert Simpson (This article is tons longer than I thought it’d be.) So you may or may not … Continue reading Bruckner Symphony no. 2 in Cm, WAB 102
performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski That’s a mouthful, but it’s likely who I’ll feature in the rest of my Bruckner symphony articles. I’ll get to why on Thursday. For now, this. … much about the work betrays the style … Continue reading Bruckner Study Symphony in Fm (no. 00)
performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Claudio Abbado (That’s the first movement. Here are the second and third/fourth.) “O Mozart! immortal Mozart! what countless impressions of a brighter, better life hast thou stamped upon our souls!” Schubert’s diary entry … Continue reading Schubert Symphony no. 5 in B-flat, D. 485
Truly in Schubert there is the divine spark. Ludwig van Beethoven His influence is interesting, and we’re not really going to be discussing his influence as much as his potential influence, or something. This article that I scanned quickly asks … Continue reading Influential People: Franz Schubert
performed by the Melos Quartet There don’t seem to be any portraits of the Young Franz, at least not that I could dig up in a lazy search. Let’s listen. “Wait… isn’t this in C major?” It’s the darkest C … Continue reading Schubert String Quartet no. 4 in C, D. 46
ASMF/Marriner It’s a bit ridiculous to say I hear development or progress from this work as compared with yesterday’s piece that didn’t move me much, because they were written within weeks of each other, in May of 1772, but this symphony is, at least to me, … Continue reading Mozart Symphony No. 18 in C, K. 130
ASMF/Marriner (who I think is playing below) After telling us that Mozart composed this work in 1772 at 16 years of age (the very same month he completed K. 128) (and that “some of its sections may have been written earlier”), … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 17 in G, K. 129
ASMF/Marriner, who I believe also plays in the video below: Of the sixteenth symphony, Wikipedia says “The form is that of a standard three-movement Italian overture,” unlike yesterday’s work. Both the first and second movements are ‘essays in sonata-allegro form,’ … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 16 in C, K. 128
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner The second of the Salzburg symphonies, no. 15 in G is in four movements and clocks in at a whopping 12 and a half minutes. Wikipedia’s … Continue reading Mozart Symphony No. 15 in G, K. 124
performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner, or below by the Vienna Philharmonic under James Levine, who observes some repeats that make the work an extra 4-ish minutes longer Well, hello again, Mr. Mozart. … Continue reading W. A. Mozart Symphony no. 14 in A, K. 114
performed by the Buchberger quartet, or in a nice performance by the Quatuor Mosaïques This! This is the kind of thing we’ve been working toward. Haydn’s next quartet (reflecting the order in his own catalogue) is the string quartet no. … Continue reading Haydn String Quartet no 23 in Fm, op. 20 no. 5
performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under Adam Fischer, or below with the Philharmonia Hungarica under Antal Dorati Well, here we are… at our final Haydn (symphony) for a while, after another stretch of works. Again, I promise once we … Continue reading Haydn Symphony no. 11 in E-flat (H. I/11)
performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under Adam Fischer, or below with the Philharmonia Hungarica and Antal Dorati Phew. Good thing this symphony is awesome, because they were starting to seem a little similar. There are a few notable differences with … Continue reading Haydn Symphony No. 25 in C (H. I/25)
Adam Fischer/Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, or below by the Philharmonia Hungarica under Antal Dorati Bam. Here we are again. More Haydn. Also, MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU. If it’s still the third, come back in twelve hours. Similar to yesterday’s … Continue reading Haydn Symphony No. 19 in D (H. I/19)
Adam Fischer/Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, or below with The Philharmonia Hungarica under Antal Dorati I’ll be typing that a lot this week. Symphony number 17. H. C. Robbins Landon’s The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn states that the work might have been written by 1757, … Continue reading Haydn Symphony No. 17 in F (H. I/17)
performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under Adam Fischer, or below by the Philharmonia Hungarica under Antal Dorati Haydn symphonies, man. There’s a ton of them. I feel bad-ish for burning through them in quick stretches like this, but if … Continue reading Haydn Symphony no. 20 in C (H. I/20)
performed by the Buchberger Quartet, or per the below links We’re just burning through the early Haydn quartets! (Maybe he should have, too! I kid, really.) The opus 17 quartets are as follows: Quartet No. 17 in F major, Op. … Continue reading SQS: Haydn String quartets 17-22, op. 17
performed by Mitsuko Uchida and the Cleveland orchestra under Pierre Boulez Finally! It’s here. I’ve been eager to write this article now for years. It was a strange experience I had with this work, as I was describing to someone the … Continue reading Schoenberg Piano Concerto, op. 42
Fugue for Thought 