WEEK OF 080630: SCHUMANN // BRAHMS // ILYAS AHMED
Schumann: Symphonic Etudes (Op. 13)
Wow, this solo piano set of etudes (studies) is nice, and mostly frantic. I think I'll be returning to this one, and greatly recommend it. It's actually a set of variations, but there isn't anything overtly academic to my ears, as some sets of variations tend to be. It is really more evocative. Whenever I listen to Schumann, I can't help but think "this man threw himself off a bridge". That really puts this strangled music in perspective. It's similar to how "emo" relates to the rest of rock and roll. I listened to the version by Pollini, which includes the posthumous variations. I don't really understand the "etude" form and how it's different from some of the other categories of solo piano music.
Brahms: Tragic Overture (Op. 81)
I listened to two different versions, and it really mattered. Unfortunately I don't know who conducted either of them, but one lasts 11:55, the other 13:26, thus one is fast and the other is slow. I much preferred the fast one, as the slow one made it sound too pretty, and not "tragic" at all!!!
Ilyas Ahmed: The Vertigo of Dawn
It's been a while since I listened to guitar spacy music, including Ilyas Ahmed. Sounds like crooning prayers for the suffocation of the future skies, to me. Love his stuff, and the percussion that has come aboard for a song reminds me a lot of early Six Organs of Admittance.
Here I list the "record of the week" (often a few records), which I listen to repeatedly all week long while I work, letting the music seep deep into my mind, and painting my activities with a color that I will forever remember whenever I later recall each piece. I also post other thoughts on music here too.
2008-06-30
2008-06-23
WEEK OF 080623: BRAHMS // BEETHOVEN
Brahms: Symphony 4 (Op.98)
I suppose I should be listening to Brahms more often, since I like Beethoven so much. I enjoyed the first Brahms symphony, so I decided to see where his last one would take me. Brahms is really an extension of Beethoven, but I feel like the turmoil is a bit forced. It's like how so many rock musicians sang like Kurt Cobain even though they weren't really going through the same kind of pain. Anyway, the movements are actually quite coherent with each other, which is nice. Supposedly this piece quotes many other works by other composers, and thus is a bit scholastic, but none of that matters to me. I can't quite pick a favorite movement, the whole thing is good. I listened to Solti. I also grabbed Bernstein and Ormandy, but didn't find much difference.
Beethoven: Piano Trio 6 (Op.70, no.2)
I originally selected the first Piano Trio because I saw it performed last year, but I had to reject it after a few listens because, despite glimpsing the mania later to come in Beethoven's work, the piece is too light for me, especially to go alongside the Brahms. This piece is a bit exuberant, too, it also got on my nerves. The third movement is like a pop tune (you'll want to hum it), and the fourth is jolly and fast, but the first two movements are more typical of the Beethoven I enjoy -- sweet and sour, with a couple of hot chili peppers hiding in there, waiting to knock you around...
Brahms: Symphony 4 (Op.98)
I suppose I should be listening to Brahms more often, since I like Beethoven so much. I enjoyed the first Brahms symphony, so I decided to see where his last one would take me. Brahms is really an extension of Beethoven, but I feel like the turmoil is a bit forced. It's like how so many rock musicians sang like Kurt Cobain even though they weren't really going through the same kind of pain. Anyway, the movements are actually quite coherent with each other, which is nice. Supposedly this piece quotes many other works by other composers, and thus is a bit scholastic, but none of that matters to me. I can't quite pick a favorite movement, the whole thing is good. I listened to Solti. I also grabbed Bernstein and Ormandy, but didn't find much difference.
Beethoven: Piano Trio 6 (Op.70, no.2)
I originally selected the first Piano Trio because I saw it performed last year, but I had to reject it after a few listens because, despite glimpsing the mania later to come in Beethoven's work, the piece is too light for me, especially to go alongside the Brahms. This piece is a bit exuberant, too, it also got on my nerves. The third movement is like a pop tune (you'll want to hum it), and the fourth is jolly and fast, but the first two movements are more typical of the Beethoven I enjoy -- sweet and sour, with a couple of hot chili peppers hiding in there, waiting to knock you around...
2008-06-18
WEEK OF 080616: PHILIP JECK // R.STRAUSS // BEETHOVEN
Philip Jeck: Sand
I haven't listened to any experimental music in a while. I don't really know much about this person. I think the drones he makes are more electronic-based, but he apparently is indeed doing knob-twiddling and looping. I just wonder how much of it is analog. Maybe it doesn't really matter. These are nice shimmering soundscapes, not too sleepy, even a bit melodic at times. They are even dynamic enough to keep you interested, were you to sit and listen to them in an active way, unlike the passive way I tend to use drone music. They really struck an emotion in me during the week in rotation because of the heatwave we encountered late in the week. These pieces made me feel as though the air was thick and there was some sort of majesty to the Earth's extreme environments.
R. Strauss: Don Quixote, Op.35
I haven't listened to anything by Strauss prior to this, mainly because everyone says he was complicit with the Nazis, and that weighs in on my Holocaust-surviving heritage. But music is only what we make of it, and I must admit that I'm intrigued to hear what other non-opera music was made by the composer of the well-known "Also Sprach Zarathustra" tone poem. This tone poem about Don Quixote, a set of variations, is from around the period he wrote the famous "2001" piece. In high school I was obsessed with Don Quixote and the symbol of individuality; I wrote about him in my college entrance essay, in fact. But to be honest, I really don't enjoy the musical programs that get attached to wordless pieces of music; it's a bit limiting to the experience of the music. I don't think the program gets in the way of this piece. There are some fine moments, but unfortunately they are too brief, and are mixed in with a lot of ordinary music that likely has been a strong influence on film scores -- boring. I also don't see how these pieces are variations. There are definitely themes that come back, but the work as a whole is very scattered. I think it will be a while before I try another piece by R.Strauss.
Beethoven: Kakadu Variations, Op.121a
I'm trying to fit in a short piece by Beethoven each week, just because I love him so much. But in searching for the piece this week, I realized that his happy major-key pieces are representative of the high society that was supporting him. The Beethoven that most people know (regarding his frantic slashes, or desperate low and slow movements) is quite a different category than the music that I enjoy most. These variations sound great, but are not as arousing as the Eroica Variations nor as circuitous as the Diabelli Variations. I was tempted to remove the fluffy variations, but I think they serve as a nice contrast to the poles of grandeur and depression from which Beethoven vacillated.
Philip Jeck: Sand
I haven't listened to any experimental music in a while. I don't really know much about this person. I think the drones he makes are more electronic-based, but he apparently is indeed doing knob-twiddling and looping. I just wonder how much of it is analog. Maybe it doesn't really matter. These are nice shimmering soundscapes, not too sleepy, even a bit melodic at times. They are even dynamic enough to keep you interested, were you to sit and listen to them in an active way, unlike the passive way I tend to use drone music. They really struck an emotion in me during the week in rotation because of the heatwave we encountered late in the week. These pieces made me feel as though the air was thick and there was some sort of majesty to the Earth's extreme environments.
R. Strauss: Don Quixote, Op.35
I haven't listened to anything by Strauss prior to this, mainly because everyone says he was complicit with the Nazis, and that weighs in on my Holocaust-surviving heritage. But music is only what we make of it, and I must admit that I'm intrigued to hear what other non-opera music was made by the composer of the well-known "Also Sprach Zarathustra" tone poem. This tone poem about Don Quixote, a set of variations, is from around the period he wrote the famous "2001" piece. In high school I was obsessed with Don Quixote and the symbol of individuality; I wrote about him in my college entrance essay, in fact. But to be honest, I really don't enjoy the musical programs that get attached to wordless pieces of music; it's a bit limiting to the experience of the music. I don't think the program gets in the way of this piece. There are some fine moments, but unfortunately they are too brief, and are mixed in with a lot of ordinary music that likely has been a strong influence on film scores -- boring. I also don't see how these pieces are variations. There are definitely themes that come back, but the work as a whole is very scattered. I think it will be a while before I try another piece by R.Strauss.
Beethoven: Kakadu Variations, Op.121a
I'm trying to fit in a short piece by Beethoven each week, just because I love him so much. But in searching for the piece this week, I realized that his happy major-key pieces are representative of the high society that was supporting him. The Beethoven that most people know (regarding his frantic slashes, or desperate low and slow movements) is quite a different category than the music that I enjoy most. These variations sound great, but are not as arousing as the Eroica Variations nor as circuitous as the Diabelli Variations. I was tempted to remove the fluffy variations, but I think they serve as a nice contrast to the poles of grandeur and depression from which Beethoven vacillated.
2008-06-09
WEEK OF 080609 PLAYLIST: RACHMANINOV / TCHAIKOVSKY / SCHUMANN / BRAHMS
Rachmaninov: Trio Elegiaque 2
(written, as a young adult, in response to the death of Tchaikovsky)
I think I prefer the first trio elegiaque, but this one is quite nice too. I feel like I need to listen to them both side by side again, for another week, but I have so many things to try out before I can start repeating pieces!!
Tchaikovsky: Op.50, Piano Trio in A minor
The first movement is quite sad, sinister, frantic; typical late-Tchaikovsky, and suits my major interest in classical music. The second movement is lighter, but a set of variations, which is largely my only other interest in classical music. This is a nice piece, but it's a bit triumphant at times, and that breaks up the mood of imminence of death that surrounds the concept of the work, "In Memory of a Great Artist" (Nikolai Rubinstein).
Brahms: Op.34, Piano Quintet
(I heard this played by Classical Revolution for free, in some person's living room, this past weekend, as a part of MAPP.) Someone on Wikipedia said that this is one of the three most excellent piano quintets by any composer, which is an opinion and also a statement that means little (for I cannot accept, in our postmodern age, that there is anything particular about a title such as "piano quintet" that merits the measure of one quintet versus another). I think the piece is a joy to listen to, but I found myself skipping over it to hear the Trio Elegiaque and Tchaikovsky trios more often.
Rachmaninov: Trio Elegiaque 2
(written, as a young adult, in response to the death of Tchaikovsky)
I think I prefer the first trio elegiaque, but this one is quite nice too. I feel like I need to listen to them both side by side again, for another week, but I have so many things to try out before I can start repeating pieces!!
Tchaikovsky: Op.50, Piano Trio in A minor
The first movement is quite sad, sinister, frantic; typical late-Tchaikovsky, and suits my major interest in classical music. The second movement is lighter, but a set of variations, which is largely my only other interest in classical music. This is a nice piece, but it's a bit triumphant at times, and that breaks up the mood of imminence of death that surrounds the concept of the work, "In Memory of a Great Artist" (Nikolai Rubinstein).
Brahms: Op.34, Piano Quintet
(I heard this played by Classical Revolution for free, in some person's living room, this past weekend, as a part of MAPP.) Someone on Wikipedia said that this is one of the three most excellent piano quintets by any composer, which is an opinion and also a statement that means little (for I cannot accept, in our postmodern age, that there is anything particular about a title such as "piano quintet" that merits the measure of one quintet versus another). I think the piece is a joy to listen to, but I found myself skipping over it to hear the Trio Elegiaque and Tchaikovsky trios more often.
2008-06-02
WEEK OF 080602 PLAYLIST: RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a theme from Paganini.
(two versions, a recent one and another that is quite old, where the strings sound like wind instruments!) These are variations, and quite fun to listen to and compare, and hum. But skip the 18th variation. It has been overplayed in Hollywood movies, and is quite sentimental and fluffy.
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances.
(the orchestral version, and the adaptation for two pianos). I thought I'd like this, but it's not so enveloping. It probably merits its own weeklong study, but it was too complex to sink in this week. The two versions seem very different from each other; I prefer the orchestra version, but there is a lot to pay attention to in the piano version too. This is the last thing that Rachmaninov wrote.
Rachmaninov: Trio Elegiaque 1.
Can't get the theme out of my head. The arrangement of the parts is symmetrical. This goes along with my "sinister symphonies" original interest in classical music, it's a keeper.
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a theme from Paganini.
(two versions, a recent one and another that is quite old, where the strings sound like wind instruments!) These are variations, and quite fun to listen to and compare, and hum. But skip the 18th variation. It has been overplayed in Hollywood movies, and is quite sentimental and fluffy.
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances.
(the orchestral version, and the adaptation for two pianos). I thought I'd like this, but it's not so enveloping. It probably merits its own weeklong study, but it was too complex to sink in this week. The two versions seem very different from each other; I prefer the orchestra version, but there is a lot to pay attention to in the piano version too. This is the last thing that Rachmaninov wrote.
Rachmaninov: Trio Elegiaque 1.
Can't get the theme out of my head. The arrangement of the parts is symmetrical. This goes along with my "sinister symphonies" original interest in classical music, it's a keeper.
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