I’ve been listening to my state’s local streaming internet broadcast for NPR’s classical music statation (you can find the stream here). Yesterday they played Lohengrin, as I type this, I’m listening to Leo Delibes: Lakme: Flower Duet. Sometimes life is really beautiful.
Hobbes Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
yes.... and sometimes life is really sleepy...
Wha/...?! Oh... music.
Yes, NPR rocks my world in more ways than one. NPR makes me smile. Classical makes me smile. Put them together and you get
Whooo hooo!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oooh... I love Lakme.
I don't suppose you've ever heard the Vibe Tribe remix?
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
You know what REALLY beautiful... Vangelis!
They have the most glorious, epic, and haunting music out there.
Some of my favorit are: soundtrack for "Cosmos", "Blade Runner", and the best one of all time is "Conquest of Paradise" which was used for the Olypics.
Now, I'm not much of a religious person anymore, but that song makes me feel such spiritual joy I just can't describe it.
Whenever I hear that I imagine the Silmarills being presented to the Valar and the Two Trees of Light rekindled!
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
Does anyone here knows Loreena Mckennitt's music? She's a canadian singer (and harpist) whose voice is amazing. You can check some samples of her music at her personal site: www.quinlanroad.com.
Hope you enjoy it.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Hell yah! She rocks. I especially love her "Holy Tree" (go fig) song and "Mummers Dance".
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
The Mummer's Dance is amazing, but my favorite songs of her are "The Bonny Swans" and "The Lady of Shallott".
Which albums of her do you have/listened to, Telperion?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
I have to admit a certain fondness for Enya when I'm in a mellower frame of mind.
And yes, I have a Lorenna McKennit CD - good stuff.
-Trevor
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
I have two and my mom has two that I steal from time to time. I think we have all of them combined.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Vivaldi's Four Seasons on CD.
Hobbes Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
So dreamy! Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
MmM Lakme. You want to hear beautiful music? Try Yoko Kanno. She's got some songs that are possitively ethereal.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I'm a big fan of Azam Ali - former singer of Vas. She's got an album called Portals of Grace that's all medieval tunes in the original languages - Galician, Breton, Latin, Arabic... it's fabulous stuff. Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
Vangelis is actually just one guy. A crazy old Greek dude, but singular nonetheless.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite #2: Waltz #2
Hobbes Posted by Rolf Singer (Member # 3972) on :
Barbers Adagio for Strings does it for me every time.
Or anything by John Rutter who is a 20th century choral composer. Try "Open Thou Mine Eyes" or his 23rd Psalm. The words alone for open thou mine eys are beautiful "open thou mine eyes and I shall see/incline thy heart and I shall desire/ order my steps and I shall walk/ in the ways of thy commandments". I'm not christian so to me those words have as much resonance within the bounds of a relationship as much as between a person and their god.
Also becoming a huge fan of Allison Krauss. Check out a song of hers called "That Kind of Love"....beautifully crafted, sweet, with unexpected melodic turns.
Posted by MacBeth (Member # 5670) on :
Probably not spelled right but one of her songs Bonnie Shons never fails to bring a tear to my eye and an ache in my heart...ok so maybe I can be a softie Lorenna McKennit that is to say
[ August 02, 2004, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: MacBeth ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I really love classical guitar, all by itself. Vivaldi's guitar concerto in D is the most beautiful piece of music ever written.
Unfortunately, I have a hard time finding it and the version I have I got from a flower shop and has nature noises in the background.
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
Bonny Swans is the song's name, Macbeth.
And yes...it is powerfully haunting.
[ August 02, 2004, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: Eduardo_Sauron ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
The Swan (as played by Yo-Yo Ma).
Hobbes Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Hobbes, do you like any songs with words in 'em? Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Not a whole lot to be honest. Not that I don't like any... but for the most part, no.
Though the song I started this thread with does have words... just not English ones.
Hobbes Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
I also have a great fondness for Lorena McKennit and Enya, although sadly, I can't stand Allison Kraus for some reason. I really wanted to after O Brother, but her music isn't really like that. There are some great spin-off cds, though (O Sister).
*takes notes*
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I sang the Flower Duet acapella (sp?) with a friend for a music end-of-year project. It is indeed very beautiful, although we cheated and used the music...
Posted by Child of the Mind (Member # 1740) on :
Scarlatti Sonata in A major K322.
I heard it played on guitar, and it was defintely one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.
Classical guitar can be really great.
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Try any of the Slavonic Dances of Dvorak.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Summer 03 Concerto in G minor Presto, Le Quattro Stagioni, Antonio Vivaldi.
Hobbes Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
The opening notes to Bill Evans' piano solo in 'Flamenco Sketches' on Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue". The most beautiful 20 seconds of music ever.
Posted by digging_holes (Member # 6237) on :
Handel's Messiah. The whole thing.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Exactly. What digging_holes said. Also, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
Does anyone else here find the Choral movement from Beethoven's 5th to be perversely unholy? Maybe Clockwork Orange has just ruined that piece for me...
EDIT: That, along with the Great Gates of Kiev from Mussorgsky's Pictures.
[ September 06, 2004, 12:15 AM: Message edited by: Book ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Lohengrin-Prelude to Act III, Wagner.
I actually once had the privledge of preforming this in Carnigie Hall.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasia-Montagues and Capulets, Love Theme and Finale, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Hobbes Posted by amira tharani (Member # 182) on :
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Just... wow.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
In one of those 11 CD's for a penny deals I selected "Classical Barbra". It's actually really good.
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
quote: Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasia-Montagues and Capulets, Love Theme and Finale, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
I played that piece in orchestra and hated it. I think it was just because the bass part was annoying. It was all simple to the point of being boring, with the exception of like 25 measures which were near impossible.
I really like:
Bach unaccompanied cello suites, esp. when played by a bass player.
Mendelssohn Octet in E flat major
Most of the Beethoven Symphonies. Esp. Eroica.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
*High-Fives Speed*
Bolero - Conclusion.
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Enigma Variations - Troyte (Variation No. 7)
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Requiem-Tuba mirum, Giuseppe Verdi.
Romeo and Juliet Ballet Suit - Dance of the Knights.
Carmen-Prelude, Act I (March of the Toreadors), Georges Bizet.
Hobbes Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Hey Hobbes, I've performed at Carnegie Hall too!
And I love all music from Carmen, I definitely agree with that. I sang "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante" with my voice teacher last year. It's Michaela's big aria. It was beautiful. And I've done more Bizet besides that... it's all great!
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Music is great isn't it? So powerful.
La Gioconda-Dance of the Hours, Amilcare Ponchielli.
Hobbes Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Who is "La Gioconda" by? That's the Italian name for the Mona Lisa. Songs about art? Very cool. Almost as cool as "Pictures at an Exhibition."
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Cool link in the initial post.
Right now they're playing Robert Shumman's Spring Symphony.
Posted by rubble (Member # 6454) on :
Hobbes,
I had just read this post prior to driving home work. I turned on the radio and got to hear most of Shostakovich Festive Overture. I thought, "Hobbes is so right about the ability of music to brighten our lives."
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Dance of the Hours (by Amilcare Ponchielli). (Warning: long mp3, my recording is only the last few minutes, the whole wongs great but it's the end that most people would recognize. And this isn't that great a rendetion but ... well still good)
quote:the ability of music to brighten our lives
Hobbes Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
OK, so myabe it's cliche, but after recieving the complete Beehtoven Symphony collection:
Beehtoven's 9th, Allegro assai vivace alla Marcia-Ende.
Ahhhhhhh, yes.
Hobbes
[ December 26, 2004, 06:16 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
And in that spirit (or more precisley, that movement ):
Symphonie Nr. 9 d-moll op. 125 - II. Molto vivace.
Hobbes Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
hey Hobbes, I love that movement too! In fact, I adore that entire work. Which version of the symphonies do you have?
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Who can forget that second movement from Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony...that horn theme is utterly, extremely melodic and catchy. I especially like it when it returns on strings later on in the movement. It is the adante cantabile I'm I'm refering to. Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Link to my version my Dad got me, it's David Zinman; Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich recording, it won an award for the best German recording of the year. It has two versions of the final movement of the 9th, one which is the mroe modern interpretation (a bit slower) and then one which is the way Beethoven had invisioned (faster, in this case, better).
Great links!
Hobbes
[ December 26, 2004, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Right now I'm abstaining from every single orchestral work of beethoven's (with the exceptions of the overtures) because they are my favorite works and I run the risk of wearing them out. So no Beethoven symphony or concerto till the arbitrary month of June.
If you presumably don't already know those works though you are in for a treat! Every one of them is a delight, from the odd-numbered (with the exception of the first) "beethoven the thunder" ones to the calmer, more lyrical even numbered ones (I consider his 6th symphony to be his oddest work because it's the only one where LvB is trying to actually depict something--but the whole thing is just adorable!)
Gotta love the playfulness of the 8th (his shortest, not received well when it was first premiered and when questioned about why everybody seemed to prefer the 7th to it, LvB replied, "because the 8th is so much better." =D
And notice the third movement of the 5th...that horn call early on is in the same form as the ta-ta-ta-TA motive. It was after making that connection and feeling utterly invigorated by the triumphant final movement that I fell in love with the man's music.
I must stop gushing about this stuff now. I could go on all day.
Final thing: If you know/love the choral ending to the ninth, check out man's Fantasia for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus (frequently called the "Choral Fantasy") as it was the predecessor to it. The main theme is very, similar to the Joy theme but quite unique as well...
Say, what do you think of Mozart??
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Actually I'm very framilar with them, and I love choral fantasy almost as much as the 9th and more than some of his other symphonies, it's one of his absolute best piano works (well ... I consider it a piano work). My Dad has like the complete everything classical collection on Vinyl, especially Wagner. I have very little but I'm trying to start building a CD classical collection.
I don't much care for Mozart. Don't get my wrong, I think he's a musical genuis and I am happy enough while listening to his music, but it always strikes me that each note is perfectly placed melodically, so it's all very pretty, but it's abstract, there's no emotional depth. When I listen to Mozart I hear pretty, when I listen to Beethoven I hear power.
Hobbes Posted by Lisha-princess (Member # 6966) on :
anything and everything by Jon Schmidt
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Cool Hobbes--, my collection is quite modest compared to some, but it was enough to free me from listening to NPR all night in hope that that one really good piece may come on.
Regarding Mozart--you're right about his lack of a powerful sound but come on--there's considerable emotional depth! And along with Haydn he's the quintessential composer of the classic era...I think power a la beethoven (the link to the romantic era) may have been inappropriate with Mozart! (But if you want pieces where he grips you by the throat and won't let you go, explore [if you haven't already) the piano concertos 20 and 24--both of these are unique because, out of the 27, they're the only ones in a minor key and boy are they emotionally involving!
And Clarinet Concerto in A Major, one of his last orchestral pieces before he died (K. number 622...the requiem is 626) is divine. It's happy and cheerful, true, but to think it evokes those moods while his health was declining rapidly!
I generally stay away from his earlier works though where it's just unmatured genius on display (the violin concerti, in the early k 200s are where he starts to control his talent--but it's the ground breaking double concerto for viola and violin (sinfonia concertante--k. 364) where he officially becomes a mature composer. Anything after that point is gold. And generally happy and intensely melodic. I happen to love those attributes but you're not alone in your position on Mozart. a well known music critic agrees with you.
[ December 26, 2004, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: the_Somalian ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Strauss's "Last four songs".
Right now I'm listening to Vier letzte Lieder: Im Abendrot.
Hobbes Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I'm listening to Vaughan Williams, although not the London Symphony, which is my favourite. It's Symphonu No. 5 in D .
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
I'm listening to some Debussy preludes. Aahhhh....
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Alain Lefèvre's Lylatov. The album, but especially the title track. I have the sheet music and I'm learning it, but the way he plays it is just unbelievably beautiful.
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
I think the most beautiful song in the world is an Estonian folk song called "Olematu Laul". It's by V. Ojakāāl.
I have the sheet music, but it's handwritten and really hard to make out. And I can't do it justice. If I could ever find a recording of this song, I'd be in Heaven. (Anyone, by random chance, have it?) Someone named Leelo Tungal seems to have recorded it but I can't find it anywhere. I haven't heard it since the first time, live, about 6 years ago.
But I make do with Smetena's Moldau in the meantime. It's my second favourite.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
What's it written for, Astaril?
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
What's what written for? The sheet music? The song? Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean... Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Didn't you know I expect everyone to automatically figure out exactly what I mean by the most cryptic of statements?
What I mean is what is the sheet music written for, which instrument? Is it a song, or a score, or for a single instrument...?
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
I'm new - give me a break! Another month and I'll be able to read your mind. (Umm. But that's not a promise.)
Anyway, ahhhhhhhhhh. I understand now. It's just the treble clef melody written out with some very basic harmony in the chorus and the chord names above, with a one bar easy accompaniment riff in the intro. So it's presumably for piano, but it could be anything. It's a faxed copy of a handwritten version, so not all the notes are legible.
[ April 08, 2005, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Astaril ]
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Hm. I was hoping It'd have the words etc. written out- I'm always looking for a good song to add to my collection and Folk Songs are often especially beautiful.
Anyway, if I ever by chance come across I will tell you.
Have you considered transposing it yourself, filling in the notes you don't know from memory?
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
Oh, it also has the words, though some of them are illegible too. I didn't think to list that. Actually, you can look up the lyrics on Google, I believe. And I've played with it a bit. It's one of those songs that I feel I ruin by playing it though, because I heard it done so fantastically well by my Estonian friend/singer to begin with, and it's one of those completely mesmerizing songs where the world just *stops*, which doesn't happen when you're badly hammering out notes. I feel like it will lose its magic if I play it too much! (That may sound ridiculous, but perhaps you know what I mean.)
I'll copy it/rewrite it out for you and bring it to TO though, if you like. I always love spreading good art. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Ooooh, could you? You people are all so generous! I wish I had something to send to you. You could just scan in, if you have a scanner, and send it to me by e-mail, if that's easier for you.
Anyway, even if you don't, you should write it out yourself so you have the clean notes .
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
Yeah, no problem. I don't have a scanner so I'll just write it out and photocopy it. I've been meaning to write it out for myself for a while anyway, you're right! And really, what's the point in hoarding good music? (Besides, if I can spread this song to enough people, someone new will record it by popular demand and then I'll get my wish! It's all part of my master scheme - mwa ha ha ha ha!!!!! )
Posted by Clive Candy (Member # 11977) on :
So weird to see my posts from five years. God how the time passes.
Right now I have a Mahler obsession.
Around the time this thread was made I went to a Tower Records and bought Mahler's 5th symphony. I did not manage to "crack the work" so to speak till just about a week ago. In 2006 I bought his first symphony, which I liked more than the fifth symphony, and about a year ago I bought his second symphony which after listening through several times became one of my all time favorite works. His third symphony is the longest symphony ever written, and I really think he should have kept things more concise but the work contains many great moments.
The last movement of his fourth symphony, for some reason, had already been familiar to me and I adored it, so it was on the whole easier for me to digest his fourth symphony. It also helped that it's his shortest and simplest symphony.
Now just about a week ago I finally got to his fifth symphony again and, being more familiar with Mahler's sound world, found it more enjoyable on the whole, though I do still find it moments of it baffling.
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Not that I don't like any... but for the most part, no.![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)
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