Classical Music Thread

[Soi Woh Jak]

This private information is unavailable to guests due to policies enforced by third-parties.

A truly beautiful rendition with the harpsichord standing out, as it should.

ISRC: USX9P1102439
Hard to find online but here is the same recording on a different release.

It's such a great song. 75% of what I listen to is classical music and most of it is what I know from video games and movies. This is one of those I'm glad I found (from battle royale, the section where mitsuko souma dies) and listen to on repeat alongside the winter section of four seasons (Allegro non molto) and dies irae (both Mozart and verdi). It's hard to take it away from my brain, it's one of those "sad" songs alongside clair de lune which is hard to replace or modify. As an addition to the thread though, I want to see more of this

It's really cool seeing metal or rock covers of classical music when they're done well although they're rarely done at all. Ridiculon did an excellent job covering many classical tracks for the end is nigh soundtrack.

 

[Dr. Eldon Tyrell]

It's such a great song. 75% of what I listen to is classical music and most of it is what I know from video games and movies. This is one of those I'm glad I found (from battle royale, the section where mitsuko souma dies) and listen to on repeat alongside the winter section of four seasons (Allegro non molto) and dies irae (both Mozart and verdi). It's hard to take it away from my brain, it's one of those "sad" songs alongside clair de lune which is hard to replace or modify. As an addition to the thread though, I want to see more of this

It's really cool seeing metal or rock covers of classical music when they're done well although they're rarely done at all. Ridiculon did an excellent job covering many classical tracks for the end is nigh soundtrack.

Well, guess I'm gonna do the starter kit now:

Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 by Barber
Can't go wrong with modern composers - very feels, as heard in Platoon (1986)
sauce

Or try russians, for a more "metal" experience:

The Battle on Ice from Alexander Nevsky by Prokofiev
sauce

Also nice:

The Isle of the Dead, Symphonic poem Op. 29 by Rachmaninov
sauce

I think you might enjoy this compilation. Lots of well known classical film scores - those you know, you heard but can't name.

 

[Positron]

The early entries of Conlon Nancarrow's Studies For Player Piano (No. 1-12 according to James Tenney's introduction) are jazz influenced. To the ears they sound like a jazz session about to go haywire. The chamber music arrangements by Yvar Mikhashoff are even more evocative of this image. Mikhashoff arranged 13 of the Studies for chamber ensemble, following Nancarrow's preference for oboe, horn and trumpet and avoiding flute and strings. All Nancarrow's Studies are based on canon form (even though the later ones are very hard to follow as they are based on ratios of irrational numbers), and the different instrumental colors make the counterpoints clear.

This is No. 1, chamber version.

Original version of No. 1

The chamber version of No. 6 is surprisingly placid, almost like elevator music, and I don't like how the ostinato is downplayed. Still, enjoy the canon writing.

Original version of No. 6

No. 6 arranged for two human pianists. I think this is the most expressive version.

 

[x10r4]

some favorite pieces to rid myself of melancholia. it is okay to be retarded sometimes because johann sebastian bach took care of his retarded son until his death and he is a warm father that peers over my shoulder and guides me through playing and fosters no betrayal nor abandonment.

Spoiler

 

[x10r4]

Ivo Sillamaa plays scarlatti sonata Kk. 119 on fortepiano in medieval tallinn tower. it's vibrancy makes it one of my favorite. most of his videos on channel are played in this setting. i wonder if he receives cavernous reverberation from stone walls. i perform ffmpeg -i sonata.flac -i cover.jpg -map 0 -map 1 -b:a 320k -ar 44100 sonata.mp3. i do not know if flac->wav->mp3 (or to .m4a) conversion has any difference.

Kk. 119 jean rondeau harpsichord (cembalo) interpretation recorded october 2018

other favorite scarlatti sonatas:
Kk. 208 jean rondeau october 2018

Kk. 245 francesco corti harpsichord october 2024

johann gottlieb goldberg Psalm 12, Hilf, Herr favorite chorus movements. certainly does not sound as tightly woven as js bach yet i still enjoy very much and consider to be of high quality.
ex tempore recorded 2011
Hilf, Herr! die Heiligen haben abgenommen

Einer redet mit dem andern unnutze Dinge

Du, Herr, wollest sie bewahren

 

[Positron]

I have this collection of American composer Alvin Singleton but never paid much attention to it; I'm racist like that. But revisiting his music is a revelation to me: there is no influence of jazz or pop music; in this aspect some white composers such as Michael Daugherty are "blacker". Singleton draws mainly from European and earlier American art music. Shadows, for orchestra, is cast in a vast crescendo with an underlying drone. The music is composed with very few pitch classes; the endless, shimmering permutations of which drive the piece forward. The organization of the music recalls the antiphonal pieces by Giovanni Gabrieli, through the passacaglias of Bach, Brahms and Webern, through Ives's The Unanswered Question, and touch base with American minimalists.

 

[x10r4]

from first observation does it seem this gigue is playable by two hands? i am unable to comprehend how fingerings would appear.

johannes pramsohler 1713 Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, Brescia playing js bach musical offering sonata released 2023

johannes pramsohler 1713 Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, Brescia playing antonio montanari Concerto in E-flat Major, Op.1, No.6 - II. Allegro recorded january 2015

leonidas kavakos 1734 willemotte antonio stradivari, cremona playing Violin Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1056 III. Presto released march 2024

favorite musical offering sonata interpretation? i have been listening to johannes pramsohler's interpretation. i love the precision of each part's playing and how clear, close the recording sounds to the listener but it always feels a little off because his violin sounds slightly shrill. maybe this is how it is supposed to be played? i do not know. i have included the second montanari piece to provide extra material including high notes that i find abrasive on the ear. kavakos's violin has a more mellow sound and i would like to find a musical offering interpretation similar to this. does not have to be played on ancient violin.

 

[Pomniman]

 

[Positron]

i have been listening to johannes pramsohler's interpretation. i love the precision of each part's playing and how clear, close the recording sounds to the listener but it always feels a little off because his violin sounds slightly shrill. maybe this is how it is supposed to be played? i do not know. i have included the second montanari piece to provide extra material including high notes that i find abrasive on the ear. kavakos's violin has a more mellow sound and i would like to find a musical offering interpretation similar to this. does not have to be played on ancient violin.

Agree with your observations. Sometimes the ear would like to hear a more plumped up sound than most HIP performers offer. I'm not an expert in The Musical Offering so I can't give recommendations.

 

[Positron]

For this Christmas I cue up for you a movement from Messiaen's Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus. Not the cacophonous "Noël" though. I choose the penultimate movement "Je dors, mais mon cœur veille" (I sleep, but my heart keeps watch).

The reason is that I was persuaded to re-read the Song of Songs, and this is where this title came from. Messiaen's personal commentary about this movement "It is not an angel’s bow that smiles, – it is the sleeping Jesus, who loves us on His Holy Day and who gives us forgetfulness ...", that most booklet notes dutifully reproduce, is less than helpful. So let's return to the Song of Songs. The Beloved is lying in her bedchamber, half awake, her mind fixed on the absent lover. We might take comfort in the oblivion of sleep, which Jesus grants us, but He Himself, the Beloved, is always keeping watch, waiting for the Lover, us, to return.

Listening to the recent recordings of Vingt Regards, such as those by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Roger Muraro, and the burgeoning ranks of young talents you can find on Youtube, I'm impressed by how far Messiaen interpretation has progressed in the past 30 years. The classic account by Peter Hill, recorded in 1992, nowadays sounds ponderous, bombastic, and not especially clear-sighted. As far as Messiaen is concerned, we are really in a celestial banquet of pianism.

 

[Space Police]

VivGODli

 

[Rodeo Roadrunner]

Anyone got any Mahler recording recomendations I like chamber music but a couple of symphony cycles would be interesting to listen to, I have somehow gone 10 years of listening to classical music and never consciously heard Mahler.

IMO Claudio Abaddo with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is the best. He recorded all the symphonies with them, I know Abaddo also did recordings with other orchestras as well. Unfortunately most of the Abaddo performances got taken down on youtube, but here is the 7th in full:

I enjoy all the Mahler symphonies, but I would start with 1, then 2. The 1st symphony is short enough to not feel like a slog if you are not used to very long symphonies, and while the 2nd is quite long, it has that archetypical power and emotion that Mahler became synonymous with.

Anyway some of the piano concertos I have been listening to. Not sure why Scriabin's concerto isn't more in the popular repertoire, each of the 3 movements is pleasing to listen to, and the 2nd movement is very poignant, but perhaps a little sappy if you want something more restrained.

Takashi Yoshimatsu is a criminally underrated (still living) composer. No clue why his music isn't more widely performed, especially his cello concerto. His piano concerto 'Memo Flora' is very contemplative, maybe not virtuosic enough for soloists to put into their repertoire. But some incredibly moving moments.

Busoni's piano concerto is quite a marathon listen, at almost an hour and 20 minutes. Approaching Mahler symphony lengths in 5 movements. It requires multiple listens to get to the full power and start to understand what Busoni was doing. Performance I am linking is performed by Garrick Ohlson, not sure how he got permission to record this live but it is worth it, one of the best versions of this concerto. And there aren't many recordings of it, since it is so long and difficult for both the pianist and the orchestra.

 

[x10r4]

contrapunctal oboe in purest form.
georg philipp telemann andreas böhlen (direction, recorder) + compagnia transalpina sonata for 1 recorder, 1 oboe, 1 cello, 1 harpsichord in c minor twv 422 iv allegro vivace recorded klosterkirche (monastery church), beinwil, switzerland march 28 - april 1 2022

georg philipp telemann matthias höfs (direction, trumpet) + die deutsche kammerphilharmonie bremen concerto for 1 trumpet, 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 1 harpsichord in d major twv 43:d7 iv allegro recorded waldorfschule (waldorf school), bremen, germany april 10 - 14 2017

georg philipp telemann adrian chandler (direction, violin) + la serenissima concerto for 3 trumpets, 1 timpani, 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 1 harpsichord, strings + continuo in d major twv 54:d3 ii allegro fugue recorded cedars hall, wells cathedral school, wells, england february 11 - 14 2019

george frideric handel bernhard forck (direction, violin) + akademie für alte musik berlin concerto grosso (grand concert) for 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 2 violins, 1(?) viola, 1(?) cello, 1 double bass, 1 lute, 1 harpsichord in f major hwv 320 ii allegro recorded nikodemuskirche (nicodemus church), berlin, germany september 2018

johann sebastian bach francesco corti (direction, harpsichord) + il pomo d'oro concerto for 1 harpsichord, 1 oboe, 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello, 1 violone in d minor bwv 1059 iii presto reconstructed by francesco corti recorded villa san fermo, lonigo, italy april 17 -21 2021

Agree with your observations. Sometimes the ear would like to hear a more plumped up sound than most HIP performers offer. I'm not an expert in The Musical Offering so I can't give recommendations.

this is the perfect description. i have found again the other interpretation i had listened to before. this one is titled sonate sopr'il soggetto reale, bwv 1079 instead of sonata from musical offering but it is the same piece. for some reason it does not seem to sound as precise as the johannes pramsohler interpretation and instead lethargic in some places. i do not mind too much that it is played a bit slower.
johann sebastian bach café zimmermann (sonate sopr'il seoggetto reale, bwv 1079) sonata for 1 flute, 1 violin, 1 cello, 1 harpsichord bwv 1079 recorded temple saint-jean, mulhouse, france november 2020

in this same album there is a piece in which the harpsichordist plays for 3 minutes straight and i find this contrast slightly amusing:

johann sebastian bach café zimmermann sinfonia for 1 harpsichord, 1 violin, 1 flute, 1 cello in d major rearranged by café zimmermann from opening sinfonia of cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, BWV 29 for voice and organ (harpsichord replaces organ and flute replaces voice), adapted by johann sebastian bach from prelude of partita for solo violin no. 3, bwv 1006 recorded temple saint-jean, mulhouse, france november 2020

 

[dvorak]

Anyone here ever listen to Stravinsky's rendition of the American National Anthem? I have only a small amount of knowledge of the inner workings of classical music, but to me, I feel like I'm hearing some similar progressions -- especially in the bass -- that make me think of Tchaikovsky or other Russian classical composers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHnDs8W36E

There's a few changes that apparently caused some serious controversy when it was first performed. Honestly, I think you'd have to be reasonably adept at music theory to really grasp the change and find it offensive.

 

[x10r4]

lautenwerck well-tempered clavier some favorite pieces.
recording 2012-2014 by john paul st. andrew's episcopal cathedral jackson, mississippi, usa. lautenwerck built 1998 by anden houben tuscaloosa, alabama, usa.

anden houben building a lautenwerck 2006
Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor BWV 847

Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E minor BWV 855

Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G major BWV 860

Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-flat major BWV 862

Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A minor BWV 865

Book I Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-flat major BWV 866

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor BWV 875

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F minor BWV 881

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G major BWV 884

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A major BWV 888

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-flat major BWV 890

Book II Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B minor BWV 893

i had never known of the nyckelharpa mechanism. it seems similar to mechanism of clavichord (clavicembalo.) i do not know if it has the same bebung functionality but i surmise it would not be as precise. the mechanism pushes up on the string instead of the fingers pushing down.
johann sebastian bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 I Prelude, III Courante, V Menuet I & II (it seems there is no recording of other movements.)

 

[x10r4]

warm and woolly counterpoint.
wolfgang amadeus mozart adaigo (after sonata no. 3 in d minor, bwv 527 by johann sebastian bach) and fugue (after the art of fugue, bwv 1080 by johann sebastian bach), kv 404a recording mulhouse, france november 2020

georg philipp telemann canonic sonata for 2 violas in d minor, twv 40:121 recording berlin, germany july 2020

georg philipp telemann paris quartet no. 4 sonata 2 in g minor, twv 43:g1 ensemble formed december 2020, recording place, date unknown

johann sebastian bach sonata for flute and continuo in e minor, bwv 1034 recording paris, france december 2013

johann sebastian bach brandenburg concerto no. 6 in b-flat major, bwv 1051 recording berlin, germany may 2021

 

[x10r4]

Miki Higashino (pictured right) Suikoden 2 Praise Be To My Master, fugue, composed 1998, played on church organ

Miki Higashino Suikoden Neclord's Castle, passacaglia, composed 1995, digital organ cover remake

Yoshihisa Hirano Death Note Mikami Concertino, composed 2006

 

[Positron]

Franz Schmidt was a student of Anton Bruckner, and was a very competent cellist and organist. Posterity was not kind to his reputation and works, because Schmidt had suffered the same problem that has just befell Elon Musk: he was seen making the Roman salute in a concert. His students, many of them jewish, attested that he was not an antisemite. At any rate, today we have good recordings of his symphonies, and from Youtube one can find many recordings of his magnum opus, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book Of Seven Seals).

Even people who know about Schmidt dismissed him as a Romantic hold-out when Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School were in ascendant, somewhat like Strauss and Korngold but not as good, but listening to this oratorio again, I was impressed by how he adroitly commanded different compositional styles. Let me illustrate it with the passages about the Four Riders.

Schmidt regarded the White Rider as Jesus, and his music is jubilant: the chorus could have written by Handel, but in Beethovenian orchestral grab.

The Red Rider is the Bringer of War. The syncopated ostinato immediately brings to mind Holst's Planets. There is good chance that Schmidt knew of that work, which predated Seven Seals by some 20 years. What Schmidt brought on the table are the tightly woven counterpoint writing.

The Black Rider brings Famine. Schmidt introduces a dialogue between a suffering daughter (soprano) and her mother (mezzo). The daughter questions why the pious is punished thus, while the mother encourages her to keep faith. This is set to some rather melodramatic woodwind music. This section ends with a celestial chorus that promises the faithful that all will be redeemed.

The section for the Pale Rider, who symbolizes Death, is the most modern-sounding: two male voices singing what sounds like an operatic recitative, in front of a sparse instrumental backdrop of xylophone and low, rumbling strings. The strings swells up at the end of the section: hope is still available.

So far, so variegated. But to hear what Schmidt's home style is, we need to break open another seal: upon opening of the Fifth Seal, John saw the martyrs crying out for satisfaction. A solemn organ solo opens this section, while the chorus follows with intricate counterpoint.

 

[x10r4]

morceaux d’orgue.
Kirche San Mauritius, zernez, grisons, switzerland, organ built 1741 recording july 1 - 4 2021
Michel Corrette Organ Concerto No. 3 in D Major, Opus 26

Michel Corrette Organ Concerto No. 4 in C Major, Opus 26

Michel Corrette Organ Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Opus 26

unlisted organ specifications, published april 2024
johann sebastian bach jörg halubek (organist) organ concerto, bwv 1058

johann sebastian bach jörg halubek (organist) organ concerto, bwv 1052

Spoiler: nur für Zippelfagottist Homofürsten

i take your freundin to my orgelempore to show her my fingersätze.
terveisin kapellmeister johann :D

 

[Positron]

You are a 17-year old composer with a promising career ahead of you; one year later you will study in the Royal Academy of Music on scholarship. Your girlfriend is a pianist, so you wrote her four little pieces, bound the manuscript yourself, and give it to her as a birthday present. How will the story go? As Howard Blake (best known for his score for the Christmas favorite cartoon The Snowman) found out: the girl turned down the gift and broke up with him.