From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V16 #385 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, April 5 2012 Volume 16 : Number 385 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: classical listening [bill r ] Re: ecto-digest V16 #384 [Karen Hester ] Re: Classical [Robert Lovejoy ] Re: Classical [Paul Blair ] Re: Classical Listening [neile ] Re: Classical Listening [Sue Trowbridge ] Re: Classical Listening [jessica spurling ] Re: Classical Listening [Bob Brown ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:59:13 GMT From: bill r Subject: Re: classical listening Alexander covered this really well but I would like to add a few names in connection with one particular composer he mentioned (Philip Glass). Glass is a well knowm minimalist but I would like to reccomend a few others (there are many). Namely Steve Reich, Terry Riley and David Borden (composer for Mother Mallard). Also Ludovico Einaudi though he is stylistically different ftom the others I listed. There are different types off minimalism. I'm particularly fond of drone music. Imagine if "row, row, row your boat" was written by a classical composer. Indeed Reich has been known to record himself, create a loop and then record himself playing against the loop. The variations are incredibly subtle Done right, drone/minimalism has a hypnotic quality that can be quite relaxing. If you enjoy this you may also want to check out Indian classical music and Balinese gamelon music which can often have the same effect imho. And if you really like this you may want to check out the Qatsi trilogy, a mesmerising trio of films directed by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass. Just not while you are driving home (or anywhere else). Of course you could try an escapist approach and seek out the work of professor Peter Shickele. He has amassed the largest (ok, the only) collection of the works of P D Q Bach known to man (or farm animal). P D Q was the 21st of J S Bach's 20 children. The Richard Cheese of classical music. Humor is also a great form of stress relief and (to my limited knowledge) relatively uncommon in the world of classical music. np: Satie's Gymnopedies- quite possibly the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Thank you Alexander, for reminding me of these. It's been far too long. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 22:21:45 -0400 From: Karen Hester Subject: Re: ecto-digest V16 #384 Thanks for the epic post, Alexander! Now I'll disappear down your youtube rabbit-hole. I hope you got to hear Monteverdi's Vespers performed last year during its anniversary. > Coll - Spanish hero of the Folia de Espana, an Ecto of instrumental > art form that is far more important to music history than we tend to > think, although Jordi Savall and his many merry men and women do this > part justice. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=5Frq7rjEGzs) > In fact, listen to anything Jordi touches. I love that piece and all its variations. So sad that Montserrat died, her voice is an excellent way into early music. For ectophiles who dislike the strong vibrato of classical singers, try Montserrat Figueras and some other early music singers. > ... Lully Have you seen William Christie's production of 'Atys'? Best opera I've ever seen, even from up in the gods where I couldn't see the top half of the stage :) Gah, I feel teary, divine musical experiences like that don't happen often. I'm not sure where the production has traveled. K ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:05:25 -0400 From: Robert Lovejoy Subject: Re: Classical Not to forget P.D.Q. Bach, Peter Schickele's brilliant creation. You Tube has his play-by-play calling of Beethoven's Fifth as well as a multitude of other gems! Bob Just played Peteris Vasks "Message", truly prog modern orchestral music. - -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 22:55:22 -0400 From: Paul Blair Subject: Re: Classical In no way do I want to damp anyone's enthusiasm for the Canon in D, but this rant from a former cellist about why he can't stand the Canon in D is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 12:19 PM, Varker, Patrick wrote: > Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and > Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D > > Both are among my favorite's. > > I find that listening to classical late in the afternoon (on my drive home > from work especially) helps sooth me from the everyday hassles of getting > on > the highways! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:55:14 -0700 (PDT) From: neile Subject: Re: Classical Listening For me, it's Beethoven's Late Quartets, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Bach's Goldberg Variations, Mozart's Requiem, then odd individual pieces. I'm also a fan of much early music. - --Neile On Wed, 4 Apr 2012, Adam Kimmel wrote: > Well, here's a strange thing: after acquiring a new music player with four times more storage than my old one, I have started to fill it with classical music in an effort to educate myself. I've been surrounded with it my whole life but I've just never really been into the stuff, and suddenly I have an insatiable thirst for it. These days I seem to do most of my serious music listening on the commute, and I find classical music the perfect way to forget about my surroundings and ease myself into the day. It's a strange, difficult, but quite wondrous odyssey, and I hope I never get jaded. I mean, I've started out with a box set of Beethoven String Quartets by the Albern Berg quartett, and I swear they contain some of the most astonishingly beautiful music I've ever heard. I was amazed at my capacity, after all this time, to still be awestruck by a piece of music. And then I heard Schubert's Quintet in C....well, holy cow, that's just BREATHTAKING. Now I'm loading up w! it! > h box sets of Mozart and Beethoven Piano Concertos and a set of Schubert piano music. There's....just so much. I mean, I think I'm starting with the basic big guys, and have no idea how long it will take me to even get to Mendelssohn or Brahms or Tchaikowsky. I appear to be without a map, which is kind of nice. Anyone have any favourite classical pieces? so far, for me, it's various Beethoven quartets (I can never remember the numbers!), the Schubert Quintet in C and Beethoven's Third. > > Anyway, Happy Easter to all. > > Adam K > > ____________________________________________________________ > FREE 3D MARINE AQUARIUM SCREENSAVER - Watch dolphins, sharks & orcas on your desktop! > Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/marineaquarium ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:52:05 -0700 From: Sue Trowbridge Subject: Re: Classical Listening On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 8:04 AM, Bob Brown wrote: > Adam, not strange at all. Two months ago I got but by the same bug. I'll PM you unless others here are interested too. I'm definitely interested in a discussion about classical recommendations; I go through phases of listening to a lot of classical music too. I'm particularly fond of the Romantic period. My favorite is Ravel, with the exception of his most famous piece, "Bolero." Never liked that one, but I love his String Quartet and piano compositions. I also like Dvorak's New World Symphony, and as a Scandinavian-born person of course I have to advocate for Grieg... check out his "Lyric Pieces." - --Sue ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 13:50:30 -0700 From: jessica spurling Subject: Re: Classical Listening I'm also interested in/enjoying this thread and looking forward to checking out all your recommendations. - -jessica On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 8:55 AM, neile wrote: > For me, it's Beethoven's Late Quartets, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Bach's > Goldberg Variations, Mozart's Requiem, then odd individual pieces. > > I'm also a fan of much early music. > > --Neile > > On Wed, 4 Apr 2012, Adam Kimmel wrote: > > > Well, here's a strange thing: after acquiring a new music player with > four times more storage than my old one, I have started to fill it with > classical music in an effort to educate myself. I've been surrounded with > it my whole life but I've just never really been into the stuff, and > suddenly I have an insatiable thirst for it. These days I seem to do most > of my serious music listening on the commute, and I find classical music > the perfect way to forget about my surroundings and ease myself into the > day. It's a strange, difficult, but quite wondrous odyssey, and I hope I > never get jaded. I mean, I've started out with a box set of Beethoven > String Quartets by the Albern Berg quartett, and I swear they contain some > of the most astonishingly beautiful music I've ever heard. I was amazed at > my capacity, after all this time, to still be awestruck by a piece of > music. And then I heard Schubert's Quintet in C....well, holy cow, that's > just BREATHTAKING. Now I'm loading up w! > it! > > h box sets of Mozart and Beethoven Piano Concertos and a set of > Schubert piano music. There's....just so much. I mean, I think I'm > starting with the basic big guys, and have no idea how long it will take me > to even get to Mendelssohn or Brahms or Tchaikowsky. I appear to be > without a map, which is kind of nice. Anyone have any favourite classical > pieces? so far, for me, it's various Beethoven quartets (I can never > remember the numbers!), the Schubert Quintet in C and Beethoven's Third. > > > > Anyway, Happy Easter to all. > > > > Adam K > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > > FREE 3D MARINE AQUARIUM SCREENSAVER - Watch dolphins, sharks & orcas on > your desktop! > > Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/marineaquarium ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 18:58:14 -0400 From: Bob Brown Subject: Re: Classical Listening I got the classical bug a few months ago and thanks to two really good sources I've been discovering music I wouldn't have known much about. I had known about the Steve Hoffman music forums but hadn't paid much attention to the interest and knowledge that people had there of classical music until I stumbled a couple of interesting threads. Hopefully, these links will get you in without registering first. I have found the people in the Classical Music Corner to be very helpful to newbies like myself. One was - "An Intro To Classical Music" -- http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=273777 And another called "The Classical Music Corner", which is now up to 35 threads of info - http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=280152 Additionally, I have found the MOG music service to be a great resource. I've tried all the other streaming services and am settled on MOG for various reasons. I won't bash the others, and I have no connection with MOG other than I am a very happy subscriber. I will say that there are a lot of classical albums that I found in their entirety on MOG whereas even if found on Spotify have some tracks of the album you can't listen to. 1) The best classical music selection of all of them 2) The iPhone and iPad clients have really good search capability 3) The ability to download music (at no extra fee) from MOG to my iPhone and play it later even without WiFi or cellular connectivity 4) Interfaces wonderfully with my Sonos music system. 5) Listening during commutes is a breeze either from the stuff I've downloaded or via Bluetooth connectivity to my car stereo (or Aux connect). You'll notice that in the first thread listed above that the first post (by John Greenwood) contains a very good playlist of a mixture of classical that he created for MOG. Some of the favorites I've *purchased* lately are: Alessandro Piccinni: Qui comincia la intavolatura di chitarrone <- I love theorbo and lute music Bruckner: The Complete Symphonies Box Set. --- Eugen Jochum, Conductor How Slow The Wind [SACD] --- Takemitsu, Composer Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra [SACD} --- Fritz Reiner, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Jacqueline Du Pre, The Complete EMI Recordings Box Set Boccherini Cello Concertos Box Set, Anner Bylsma (artist) I've listened to a whole lot more on MOG but I liked these enough to buy them. My MOG tagged favorites of classical is getting bigger everyday. - --- Bob * * ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V16 #385 ***************************