WEEK OF 080728: ARCHDUKE TRIO // EMERALDS
Beethoven: Archduke Piano Trio, No.7 (Op.97)
I'm listening to several versions, with Previn, Ashkenazy, Barenboim, or Kempff as the pianist. So far I can't tell any difference, and all of them are unfortunately softening Ludwig's outbursts (which I cherish). I must find a version of this that is true to the composer's idiosyncrasy. This was written a year after the 5th Symphony, so we know Ludwig was not all clear in the head, including his struggle with accepting his deafness. Supposedly at the premiere of this piece (Beethoven's last performance as a pianist), he banged so hard the strings jangled in the loud spots, and so soft in the quiet spots that entire notes were omitted.
Emeralds: Golden Swirl, and Planetarium
I've never heard of this band, but they were recently recommended by Volcanic Tongue. It's quite lovely, quiet space drone. One record is a bit more substantial than the other. I think I like this group and will try to find out more about them.
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.
2008-07-29
2008-07-21
WEEK OF 080721: SCHUMANN
Schumann: Symphony 4 (Op.120)
Bravo! I like it a lot. This final symphony of his ("Zwickau" is incomplete) is the only one that touches on Schumann's anguish. I listened to a few different versions -- a fast one, and a slow one, and one in between. I can't decide which I like best, but I see how important it is to listen to multiple versions. The version with the in-between tempo was actually the "revised" version (Brahms said he preferred the original version, though). I didn't sit and scrutinize the two versions, and so I can't really tell the difference.
Schumann: ABEGG Variations (Op.1)
These piano variations are lighthearted and not too complicated. I'll take what I can get. It's nice to hear the seeds of the style that will later characterize Schumann's excellent sweep of grandiose and morose. It's there in these pieces, but it is barely there.
Schumann: Symphony 4 (Op.120)
Bravo! I like it a lot. This final symphony of his ("Zwickau" is incomplete) is the only one that touches on Schumann's anguish. I listened to a few different versions -- a fast one, and a slow one, and one in between. I can't decide which I like best, but I see how important it is to listen to multiple versions. The version with the in-between tempo was actually the "revised" version (Brahms said he preferred the original version, though). I didn't sit and scrutinize the two versions, and so I can't really tell the difference.
Schumann: ABEGG Variations (Op.1)
These piano variations are lighthearted and not too complicated. I'll take what I can get. It's nice to hear the seeds of the style that will later characterize Schumann's excellent sweep of grandiose and morose. It's there in these pieces, but it is barely there.
2008-07-15
WEEK OF 080714: RV PAINTINGS // LISZT
RV Paintings: Trinity Rivers
Back to some good space drone. This is a side-project of the Starving Weirdos, who make incredible cricket summer night hot heat drone artifacts, but RV Paintings is more full and velvety, with overt loops and tinkling and shimmer. This is really quite good, and is getting better as the week progresses. Good for sleeping or studying or walking or thinking.
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes (S.139)
These piano pieces are supposedly some of the most difficult pieces of music to play. While how it makes one feel is arguably the most important aspect of a piece of music, such radicalism seems like it might be able to offer something that cannot be found elsewhere. I've always, all my life, been in favor of esoterica and the deviation from the norm -- the jewels that are rare and irreproducible. These pieces have their moments, but they don't evoke as much as some of the Hungarian Rhapsodies had done for me. I'm sure Liszt has some other incendiary pieces, but I wouldn't say these etudes are such. I'd love to hear someone re-interpret these pieces for some other instrument. No, not transcribe, reinterpret. Or maybe flesh out with multiple instruments. They are very colorful, indeed.
RV Paintings: Trinity Rivers
Back to some good space drone. This is a side-project of the Starving Weirdos, who make incredible cricket summer night hot heat drone artifacts, but RV Paintings is more full and velvety, with overt loops and tinkling and shimmer. This is really quite good, and is getting better as the week progresses. Good for sleeping or studying or walking or thinking.
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes (S.139)
These piano pieces are supposedly some of the most difficult pieces of music to play. While how it makes one feel is arguably the most important aspect of a piece of music, such radicalism seems like it might be able to offer something that cannot be found elsewhere. I've always, all my life, been in favor of esoterica and the deviation from the norm -- the jewels that are rare and irreproducible. These pieces have their moments, but they don't evoke as much as some of the Hungarian Rhapsodies had done for me. I'm sure Liszt has some other incendiary pieces, but I wouldn't say these etudes are such. I'd love to hear someone re-interpret these pieces for some other instrument. No, not transcribe, reinterpret. Or maybe flesh out with multiple instruments. They are very colorful, indeed.
2008-07-08
WEEK OF 080707: DVORAK // TCHAIKOVSKY // (VxPxC)
Dvorak: Dumky Piano Trio (Op. 90)
I was searching for some more composers that incorporate non-Western music into their orchestral or chamber pieces. Dvorak was, of course, well known for including eastern European melodies, which of course were often sour-sounding, because rural life can be tough.
Tchaikovsky: Dumka (Op. 59)
I ought to try out all of the latter Tchaikovsky pieces that lack vocals.
(VxPxC): Porchmass
These guys hosted the Bottling Smoke festival that I went to last spring, in LA. I quite enjoyed their languorous instrumental set, as I have also enjoyed some of their other albums. This is a bit more percussive than the other things I've heard. Their music makes me think of high heat in summer, but that's perhaps because I first heard it in LA, and we don't get much heat here in SF, so the music has nestled into my sensory emotions.
Dvorak: Dumky Piano Trio (Op. 90)
I was searching for some more composers that incorporate non-Western music into their orchestral or chamber pieces. Dvorak was, of course, well known for including eastern European melodies, which of course were often sour-sounding, because rural life can be tough.
Tchaikovsky: Dumka (Op. 59)
I ought to try out all of the latter Tchaikovsky pieces that lack vocals.
(VxPxC): Porchmass
These guys hosted the Bottling Smoke festival that I went to last spring, in LA. I quite enjoyed their languorous instrumental set, as I have also enjoyed some of their other albums. This is a bit more percussive than the other things I've heard. Their music makes me think of high heat in summer, but that's perhaps because I first heard it in LA, and we don't get much heat here in SF, so the music has nestled into my sensory emotions.
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