What classical music did you listen to today?

[White Knight]

Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.2 in D, Op.43 and Symphony No.3 in C, Op.52, both featuring Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. These passionate traversals are a breath of fresh air on this hot and sticky night; the icy magnificence of the Third's last movement has left me quite refreshed.
Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.10 and Symphony No.5 in F Major, Op.9, both performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Witold Rowicki. Very uplifting and lively renditions for both works.
Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.3, Op.27 {"Sinfonia Espansiva"} and Symphony No.4, Op.29 {"Inextinguishable"}. Both symphonies feature the Theodore Kuchar led Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

[White Knight]

Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.6 in D Major, Op.6; Symphony No.2 in B-Flat Major, Op.4 and Symphony No.4 in D Minor, Op. 1. All three symphonies are performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Witold Rowicki.
Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op.88, traversed by the Herbert Blomstedt led Staatskapelle Dresden.
Franz Schubert--Symphony No.6 in C Major, D 589, once again featuring Maestro Blomstedt and the Staatskapelle Dresden.
Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.3, Op.27 {"Sinfonia Espansiva"} and Symphony No.6 {"Sinfonia Semplice"}. Both works feature Ole Schmidt conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.

 

[John Watt]

A Dollarama purchase: The Essential Classical Collection, Master Serenades, two compact discs,
saying inside, Master Serenade with Ocean Sounds. Made in Quebec, Canada.

Gymnopedie No.1, Satie, 19:05
Gymnopedie No.2, Satie, 15:50
Gymnopedie No.3, Satie, 14:49
Claire De Lune Op.46, Faure, 3:06
Reverie Op 15/7, Schumann, 2:28
Moonlight Sonata Op.27/2, Movement 1, Beethoven 5:04
Moonlight Sonata Op.27/2, Movement 2, Beethoven, 2:02
Reverie, Debussy, 4:08
Sonata in C Major K.545, Allegro, Mozart, 2:18
Nocturne in E Flat Op. 9/2, Chopin, 4:06

Canon in D Major, Pachelbel, 51:46
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Bach, 3:24
Morning Mood (Peer Gynt) Grieg, 3:24
Prelude in C Major, Bach, 1:41
Arietta Op. 12, Grieg, 1:14
Mazurka in C sharp Minor Op.63/3, Chopin, 2:12
Nocturne Op.54, Grieg, 3:33
Song Without Words Op.85/1, Mendelssohn, 1:56
Minuet in G Minor, Bach, 1:46
Song of Spring Op.62/6, Mendelssohn, 2:16

Whoever dubbed in the ocean sounds, and that's before, after and during the music,
must be into Jimi Hendrix, washes of sound, adding to the overall effect.
The cover is a nice impressionist painting divided into three sections, in colour,
with the interior artwork being this painting in one piece, in black and white.
No other information, such as the musicians involved, is shown.
Cost: $1:00

 

[White Knight]

Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.4, Op.29 {"Inextinguishable"} and Symphony No.5, Op.50, both featuring Michael Schonwandt and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.5 in E-Flat Major, Op.82; Symphony No.6 in D Minor, Op.104 and Symphony No.7 in C Major, Op.105. All three symphonies are performed by the Lorin Maazel led Vienna Philharmonic.
Bohuslav Martinu--Symphony No.5 and Symphony No.6 {"Fantaisies"}, both performed by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Neeme Jarvi.

 

[White Knight]

Segei Prokofiev--Symphony No.7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op.131 and Symphony No.5 in B-Flat Major, Op.100, both featuring the Mstislav Rostropovich led Orchestre National de France. These are two of my favorite symphonies by Prokofiev; they have a haunting--almost "out of time"--feeling to them, which reminds me very much of the symphonies of Bohuslav Martinu, whom I have also come to greatly admire.
Dmitri Shostakovich--Symphony No.1 in F Minor, Op.1 and Symphony No.7 in C Major, Op.60 {"Leningrad"}, both passionately traversed by Maestro Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.
Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.5 in E-Flat Major, Op.82 and Symphony No.6 in D Minor, Op.104, both featuring paavo Berglund and the Bounemouth Symphony Orchestra.

 

[John Watt]

If I'm playing an acoustic piano in Cm, half jamming to play,
and half jamming to get my fingers going because I plan to record tomorrow,
something I want to put up here,
can that be considered as half-listening to classical music?

 

[White Knight]

Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.5, Op.50 and Symphony No.6 {"Sinfonia Semplice"}, both performed by the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Theodore Kuchar.
Ludwig Van Beethoven--Symphony No.1 in C Major, Op.21 and Symphony No.6 in F Major, Op.68 {"Pastoral"}, both featuring the George Szell led Cleveland Orchestra.
Gustav Mahler--Symphony No.6 in A MInor {"Tragic"} and Symphony No.9 in in D Major, bothtraversedby Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.

 

[John Watt]

Blatant, even if emotional, but purely blatant content here,
me listening to myself.
Hey! I'm playing an acoustic piano. In Cm. It has to be classical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk34FXiSx5g

 

[JHC]

That was virtuostic John are you going to do more?

 

[John Watt]

JHC! Wow! Thank you very much!
I've been saying I want to be a symphonic-electric guitar virtuoso for years now,
and you're the first person to say that about me.
I'm not a practiced pianist, thinking I was showing my musical mind, and right hand.
I could do better, and record it better, but it would be more of the same.
I'll carry my camera again, hoping for a better version, wanting one piano video.
This did have an effect on me, seeing myself riffing away on a piano so relentlessly.
I've decided to get a harmonica, what I started out with, as a portable instrument I can play melodies on,
only this time, getting one with a slider to play like little Stevie Wonder,
who started me out on harmonica after seeing him on TV when I was twelve.

For once in my life I had someone say virtuoso,
after I've cared for my fingers for so long,
and for once in my life it's someone in New Zealand,
someone who knows more than just right or wrong.
For once in my life I won't let acoustics hurt me,
even if I can't turn them up loud,
and for once in my life I needed tuning,
if I'm going to do that piano proud.

 

[JHC]

I envy you John, a few weeks ago I had an urge, don't laugh, I took my Flute out of its case gave it a clean found some music scores nothing complicated and after a few scales to warm up reluctantly put it back in the case, I just ain't got the puff anymore, as a minimum you have to be able to do at least 3 scales up and down in one breath you know what I mean, well some fingering mistakes and a shortage of breath told me not to be so daft.

 

[John Watt]

Don't envy me! And I'm not laughing!
As far as I'm concerned, a flute is an instrument you have to graduate to,
expensive and hard to play, compared to common string instruments.
And if you don't mind my saying,
people who play flute for a living, who aren't symphonic players, are usually strange cats, as they say.
Back in high school, my flute playing friend and I went to Toronto to see Herbie Mann,
back when he had a version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" on the charts,
an alto flute cover of the Jackson Five song. Good for him, a little strange for me already,
but as a mature jazz musician he walked onstage for the second set without a shirt or undershirt on,
and he was very hairy.
Whenever I'm close to a flutist I'm always surprised how percussive it is to play,
not as bad as a bassoon or oboe, just a lot smaller.
I hope you have another musical instrument for fun.
Those Mayan flutes would sound good with the wind through your mountains,
and sometimes they can play themselves.

 

[JHC]

The Flute is an instrument that does not suit jazz IMO it is at its best when playing Ravel, Poulenc or whats his name that other frog oh I remember Debussy, it goes with the Harp to form a impressionist sound stage and of course an essential in orchestras, I used to muck about on the Clarinet which was easier than the Flute but I did not take it as far, the Flute, an easy instrument to start on but so very very easy to play badly.

 

[John Watt]

Yeah, I had to listen to a lot of bad flute players doing "the Jethro Tull thing",
fluttering the keys while you blew yourself up another octave.
That always sounded like the record, but Ian Anderson did play more than that.

I'm surprised cellos got so popular in the rock world, and not clarinets.
Clarinets were the big band solo instrument, and you think that would have migrated to pop.
I knew an electric clarinetist in Edmonton, 1970, who plugged in and he could sound like anything,
and you would think an instrument that amplifies so easily would be more desirable than a cello.
I think alto flutes sound sexy, a soft female sound.

Are you familiar with "Swinging Shepherd Blues", by Moe Kaufman? He's local.
A brother of a keyboardist I was working with answered an ad for a flute for sale,
and Moe Kaufman answered the door.
He said he bought a new one, gold, and wanted this flute to go to a new player,
the flute he recorded Swinging Shepherd Blues with.
He put on the album and played along,
and my friend couldn't believe his ears or eyes, or the used flute price.
A truly musical moment.

What do you mean by IMO?

 

[JHC]

It's all in the way you hold your mouth John oh IMO=In my opinion

 

[White Knight]

Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.7 in D Minor, Op.7 and SYmphony No.8 in G Major, Op.88. Both works feature Witold Rowicki and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Ludwig Van Beethoven--Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.55 {"Eroica"} and Symphony No.8 in F Major, Op.93, both performed by the George Szell led Cleveland Orchestra.
Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.3, Op.27 {"Sinfonia Espansiva"} and Symphony No.6 {"Sinfonia Semplice"}, both traversed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Ole Schmidt. The Sixth Symphony has always been a hard one for me to "crack", but lately I've been "getting it" a little more with each subsequent listen; nevertheless--at this juncture, anyway--it remains my least favorite of the Nielsen Symphonies in terms of its accessibility regarding motifs, thematic connections and developments.

 

[White Knight]

Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.10; Symphony No.5 in E Minor, Op.9 and Symphony No.6 in D Major, Op.60. All three works feature Witold Rowicki and the London Symphony Orchestra in some very uplifting performances here.
Felix Mendelssohn--Symphony No.3 in A Minor, Op.56 {"Scottish"} and Symphony No.4 in A Major, Op.90 {"Italian"}.Both symphonies are performed by the Herbert von Karajan led Berliner Philharmoniker.
Robert Schumann--Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.97 {"Rhenish"} and Symphony No.4 in D Minor, Op.120, once again featuring Maestro Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

 

[White Knight]

Robert Schumann--Symphony No.1 in B-Flat Major, Op.38 {"Spring"} and Symphony No.2 in C Major, Op.61, both traversed by the Herbert von Karajan led Berliner Philharmoniker. The Second Symphony I find to be especially moving, with its plaintive calls from the French Horns and trumpets, especially in the outer movements.
felix Mendelssohn--Symphony No.1 in C Minor, Op.11 and Symphony No.5 in D Major, Op.107 {"Reformation"}, once again featuring Maestro Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

 

[White Knight]

Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.1 in C Minor, Op.3 {"The Bells of Zlonice"}; Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.10 and Symphony No.5 in F Major, Op.76. All three symphonies are performed by the Witold Rowicki led London Symphony Orchestra.
Franz Schubert--Symphony No.3 in D Major, D200; Symphony No.5 in B-Flat Major, D485 and Symphony No.8 in B Minor, D759 {"Unfinished"}. All three works feature Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Royal Concergebouw Orchestra.

 

[White Knight]

Anton Bruckner--Symphony No.6 in A Major, traversed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan.
Ludwig Van Beethoven--Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op.67 and Symphony No.6 in F Major, Op.68 {"Pastoral"}, once again featuring Maestro Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Ludwig Van Beethoven--Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op.67 and Symphony No.6 in F Major, Op.68 {"Pastoral"}, in this instance performed by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique under the baton of John Eliot Gardiner.