What Classical are you listening to?

M

mtrot

Senior Audioholic

  • 1Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: 1. Toccata02:51
  • 2Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: 2. Fugue06:45
  • Johann Sebastian Bach:
  • 3Johann Sebastian Bach: Herr, wie du willst, so schick's mit mir, Cantata BWV 73: 1. Herr, wie du willst, so schick's mit mir (Arr. Reymaier for Organ)04:52
  • 4Johann Sebastian Bach: Was willst du dich betrüben, Cantata BWV 107: 1. Was willst du dich betrüben (Arr. Reymaier for Organ)04:57
  • 5Johann Sebastian Bach: Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben, BWV 102: 1. Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben (Arr. Reymaier for Organ)07:25
  • Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): Sonata for Organ, Op. 28
  • 6Sir Edward Elgar: Sonata for Organ, Op. 28: I. Allegro maestoso09:22

  • 7Sir Edward Elgar: Sonata for Organ, Op. 28: II. Allegretto04:25
  • 8Sir Edward Elgar: Sonata for Organ, Op. 28: III. Andante espressivo08:22
  • 9Sir Edward Elgar: Sonata for Organ, Op. 28: IV. Presto (comodo)07:14
  • Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877 - 1933): 3 Compositions for Organ, Op. 108
  • 10Sigfrid Karg-Elert: 3 Compositions for Organ, Op. 108: 1. Sunset04:06
  • 11Sigfrid Karg-Elert: 3 Compositions for Organ, Op. 108: 2. Starlight05:33
  • 12Sigfrid Karg-Elert: 3 Compositions for Organ, Op. 108: 3. Elegiac Poem06:12
  • Louis Alfred James Lefebure-Wely (1817 - 1869):
  • 13Boléro de concert, Op. 16605:57
  • John Williams (b. 1932):
  • 14Main Title02:21
  • 15Parade of the Ewoks04:04
  • 16Ben Kenobi's Death and TIE Fighter Attack04:48
  • Total Runtime01:29:14
Apart from being packed full of great music superbly played on a spectacular new organ, this is quite the best and most realistic sound I have ever heard from any source short of being there. It is incredibly good and the first evidence I have experienced first hand that this new technology can lead to greater realism in recorded sound. Anyone who has a well set up and balanced Atmos system should buy this album. To give it a fair chance make sure everything is set to Dolby specs. Speakers firing to the ceiling don't count.
Whew, I tried listening to that and I guess it's just not my cup of tea, no matter how well recorded. Give me some Mahler!
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Whew, I tried listening to that and I guess it's just not my cup of tea, no matter how well recorded. Give me some Mahler!
Listen carefully to that beautiful performance of that Elgar organ sonata. It is so superbly atmospheric. That is a real masterpiece. Pretty much everything Elgar wrote is a gem. I listened to the Dream of Gerontius last night with "Glorious John" ( Sir John Barbirolli), conducting. That was the name given him by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Glorious John was conducting his Halle Orchestra and Choir. Dame Janet Baker sings the angel. This is a gem recorded in 1965. At the end of the score Elgar wrote; "This is the best of me." The finale, the Angel's Farewell, "Softly and Gently" is sung so beautifully by Dame Janet. That has to be one of the most gorgeous melodies written by anyone.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Listen carefully to that beautiful performance of that Elgar organ sonata. It is so superbly atmospheric. That is a real masterpiece. Pretty much everything Elgar wrote is a gem. I listened to the Dream of Gerontius last night with "Glorious John" ( Sir John Barbirolli), conducting. That was the name given him by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Glorious John was conducting his Halle Orchestra and Choir. Dame Janet Baker sings the angel. This is a gem recorded in 1965. At the end of the score Elgar wrote; "This is the best of me." The finale, the Angel's Farewell, "Softly and Gently" is sung so beautifully by Dame Janet. That has to be one of the most gorgeous melodies written by anyone.
Yes, I have that gem recording with the Collector's Edition of Elgar's works on EMI:
Elgar.jpg


I even have the beloved mezzo's 5 CD box set on the now Warner Classics label. It also contains the Finale of the Dream of Gerontius :

Janet Baker - The Beloved Mezzo 5CDs.jpg
 
Last edited:
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Yes, I have that gem recording with the Collector's Edition of Elgar's works on EMI:
View attachment 58425

I even have the beloved mezzo's 5 CD box set on the now Warner Classics. It also contains the Finale of the Dream of Gerontius :

View attachment 58426
I also have that 30 CD set, of all the Elgar recordings EMI made. Our collections seem to have a lot in common.

There are some real gems in there. Take CD 26 and that beautiful recording of the three Marian anthems from Worcester Cathedral. That disc 26 is actually one of the real highlights. Of course the set contains, Jaqueline Dupres definitive reading of the Elgar cello concert0 under "Glorious John". That is one in a series of usually misunderstood works. It was written right after WW 1. It is another of that large body of works of many composers deeply affected by the horrors and effects of WW1. The work oozes with nostalgia, regret and the lament of the passing of the Edwardian age. Of all the cello concertos this is the finest. It is I think his most performed work in the concert hall, partly due to the fact that cellist to not have a huge range of options. Unfortunately many, if not most, cellists miss the point.

Although Elgar lived another 20 years or so, he largely wrote himself with that concerto. This was probably because he was so deeply affected by the cataclysm of WW1 and the total transformation of society in its wake.

That set is packed with wonderful music, although I think Caractacus King of the Briton's is a little wide of the mark!

This is a good time to point out that this year is the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughn Williams. A great and under appreciated composer.

He in the early days felt he needed further instruction. He asked Elgar, a superb orchestrator for help. Elgar refused, I think because he thought he was not the correct individual, as he had no formal education in music, and was entirely self taught. So he turned to Morris Ravel, and never looked back. Maurice Ravel said of him that he was the only one of his students that did not try to write his music.

I think Vaugh Williams is misunderstood, and that is partly because, for some reason he laid traps for the unwary. The best example is his Pastoral Symphony, No.3.

This is what VW said. "I have written this symphony in four movements, all of them slow ones. I wrote it laying on my back on the South Downs, on a sunny afternoon, watching the clouds pass." It is these remarks that have led Germans to totally misunderstand, and caused them to refer to this symphony in particular, as English "Cow Pat Music." Of course this symphony written after WW1 is full of suppressed rage, with hints a plenty, such as the twisted and contorted bugle calls. It is also a touching and moving elegy for the dead. VW left it to the listener to work it out.

VW seems to be in danger of being remembered as a one work composer. His work, "The Lark Ascending" is the most played work on Classical radio stations and the most requested. The problem is that most performers, and certainly listeners have no idea what it was about.

It was written at the start of WW 1. VW was sitting on the cliffs of Dover overlooking the port as the troops were embarking on ships to take them to France. In fact as he was making notes, the authorities arrested him, mistaking him for German spy. So it is widely assumed the work is just about a Lark soaring high and higher on a sunny afternoon. In fact the work is an allegory for these young men sailing off into the unknown to face the horrors of war. The problem is that most of the performers, just think it is a "pretty piece" and miss the whole point, and miss the brooding uncertain intent it is intending to convey.

Vaughn Williams signed on as an Ambulance driver and saw the horrors first hand. Interestingly Maurice Ravel also spent WW1 as an ambulance driver.

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis has suffered a similar fate. This work was commissioned by the Catholics in Dresden. This work gave Beethoven a lot of trouble and he turned it in 12 years late! Most conductors miss the conflict in the work, even though Haydn's Mass in Time of War is alluded to at the outset. People even miss the most dramatic conflict towards the end. In the Dona Nobis Pacem the sublime melody is suddenly interrupted as the drums and trumpets of war sound, with force. This is Beethoven at his most cynical.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I also have that 30 CD set, of all the Elgar recordings EMI made. Our collections seem to have a lot in common.
Our collections seem have a lot in common indeed. Being of the same generation is one of the factors. Also being born in Montreal with a paternal grandmother whose father was Scottish, has somehow contributed to the English language being spoken by both my father and my older sister.

Over time, I got really interested in British music. I own box sets of Delius, Vaughn Williams and Walton works, all on the EMI label. While I have not listened to all of them as yet, I am slowly going through my collection of over 2500 CDs. At least ninety percent of those are classical stuff.. That excludes over 300 musical DVD/Blu-ray discs.

By the way, I also own Jacqueline Du Pré's 17 CD box set.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Last night's classical. I'm slowly working my way through these. I'm up to the 3rd disc. Only 30 left :)

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3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
I'm now here in the continuing listening saga of Haydn's Symphonic works.

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Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Sorry this took so long @D Murphy but here is the CD that I brought over in October. Beethoven: Symphony No.3 >>Eroica<< / Schubert: Symphony No.8 >>Unvollendete<<. The Met Orchestra, Lames Levine conducting. Deutsche Grammophone D 105753. Listing on Discogs.
Beethoven Symphonie No.3 “Eroica” by the Met Orchestra with James Levine conducting.jpg

Couple others I would mention.
Mozart Symphonies Nos.28, 29 and 35 >>Haffner<<. Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado conducting. Sony Classical label SK 48063. Discogs listing.
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And if you like Dvorak.
Dvorak Symphonies 8 & 9 'From the New World'. Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta conducting. Polygram Special Projects / BELART 76974 3134-2. Discogs listing.
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3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Good morning friends
:)
I thought I try and say good morning first before getting caught up in day to day activities and working on Emby. Didnt do a lot of listening but here are the last two nights listening sessions. Its not a coincidence that I'm listening more to classical at this time as its the last genre I'm working on.

Launched Emby from my cell phone the night before and listened to some Schubert.
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Last night's listening session
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kmidst

kmidst

Enthusiast
Some of my most played classical lately has been Rameau's Pieces de Clavecin, especially Allemande. I like this artist's performance of it a lot.
 

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