performed again by Szeryng/Fournier/Kempff, or as below Again, same opus number, same year, same performance dates as yesterday. What’s new is a quiet, serene, classical personality, the “quiet middle child” as expressed in this fantastic article that was an excellent … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Trio no. 2 in G, op. 1, no 2.
The third in G major was written (it is believed) between 1760 and 1762. It shares its orchestration with its predecessors, (two oboes, bassoon, two horns, strings, continuo) but is Haydn’s first symphony to be written in four movements, and one of the earliest in general to do so. The winds in this symphony are also absent from the slow movement, as in the previous symphony. This symphony is more ‘complex’ no only for its four-movement structure, but also for the structure of two of the movements: the minuet is a canon between high and low voices, and the finale … Continue reading Haydn Symphony no. 3
So the thirty-seventh symphony wasn’t the thirty-seventh. The first symphony might also not be. Haydn certainly isn’t the only (or first) composer to switch around the orders of his compositions, or to have begun a piece earlier than another but published it later. As we have also already seen, the cataloguing and numbering and organizing of such a large body of work from so long ago has also proven to be somewhat troublesome. To me, it isn’t terribly important. We’re covering these earliest symphonies together. It’s not like they would be decades apart, so I’m not terribly susceptible to being … Continue reading Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 1
performed by the Basel Symphony Orchestra under Marko Lentoja So this is (perhaps thankfully) where our saga of the Beethoven quote ends. It’s been with us for around a month now, and it’s time we close that chapter. Mahler 3 … Continue reading Felix Weingartner: Symphony No. 1 in G
performed by Martha Argerich, with the Berlin philharmonic under Claudio Abbado (this link is of Argerich with her ex-husband, not the above recording with Abbado) I really like Ravel. Quite a bit. We’ve talked about Gaspard before. It’s stunningly gorgeous. … Continue reading Ravel Piano Concerto in G
performed by the ASMF/Marriner This is one of Mozart’s later childhood symphonies. He would still have been only about fifteen. It was written in Salzburg. Also, this is a very half-hearted Mozart Monday. Partially because I’m exhausted, and partially because this symphony was…. just another early Mozart symphony. There’s nothing bad about that, but there’s nothing spectacular about it either. A few things to note, though. It is in four movements, and the first is longer than any movement he had written up until that time. I suppose this symphony is close to being the longest of his symphonies so … Continue reading Mozart Symphony no. 12 in G
performed by the ASMF/Marriner This one was likely written during Mozart’s first journey to Italy, completed in 1770. That’s about all the information we get from Wikipedia about this piece. Mozart would then have been a young teenager. The first movement is pleasant enough, very classical, with high horns responding to lots of strings. The first part of this movement has a delightful dainty sort of energy. The only non-strings are oboes and horns. This string-heavy orchestration makes it feel even more classical and antique than some of his earlier pieces. What feels like a second movement is actually just … Continue reading Mozart symphony no. 10 in G
Fugue for Thought 