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| Author |
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| 25 new of 203 responses total. |
arabella
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response 150 of 203:
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Feb 24 22:00 UTC 1995 |
Hmm, I don't kow about the *best* piece of music ever written,
but I certainly have some personal favorites. The Berlioz
Requiem, the Brahms requiem, the Mozart requiem, Walton's
"Belshazzar's Feast," These are a few. I guess my mind is
in "large choral work" mode right now, especially as I sang
three concerts with the Choral Union and the DSO last weekend
(Mahler's 2nd Sympohny -- Resurrection).
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hedgehog
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response 151 of 203:
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Feb 26 03:03 UTC 1995 |
I simply adore Mozart's Requiem. It has long been one of my very
favorite pieces. Included with my CD of the Requiem is an enormous
book of liner notes, anylising which aspects are true Mozart, and
which were defiled by Sussmayr's completion. It gives historical
evidence for its findings and uses letters of correspondence between
Mozart and his contemporaries, but strangely enough, it never looks
to the music itself for evidence. It seems to me, that unless there
is something evident about the quality of the music between Mozart
and Sussmayr than it should not make a difference who composed it.
If there is a clear difference between the two, this should be
discernable from the music, and all evidence should appear therein.
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Franz Schubert yet. I love
the Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" and just recently I heard Ave Maria
played with deep emotion and fell in love. His impromptus are also
quite amazing.
Can anybody recommend some intensely emotional Operas? I am unfamiliar
with the realm of Opera in general, but recently having the chance to
hear a live portion of Purcell's "Dido and Aneas" and now must have more.
Thank you.
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rcurl
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response 152 of 203:
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Mar 6 06:31 UTC 1995 |
Try "Tosca", by Puccini. The music is glorious, but there is not a
moment of happiness in the whole opera, except perhaps to find happiness
in death.
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arabella
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response 153 of 203:
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Mar 13 07:45 UTC 1995 |
Puccini in general is intensely emotional. In addition to "Tosca,"
I really like "Turandot." Also, "La Boheme" is a really good opera to
start with for the average opera neophyte. No matter how many times I see
Boheme, and no matter how few surprises are left in it, it still makes
me cry each time.
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krj
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response 154 of 203:
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Mar 31 07:24 UTC 1995 |
Last weekend I bought a new set of Bach's Brandenberg Concertos.
The set was conducted by Philip Pickett, who I know from his long
association with Richard Thompson; he's an early music specialist,
and he has some ideas about tempi which seem just a bit odd to me.
The Third, in particular, sets some sort of speed record,
clocking in at TEN MINUTES! for the whole thing.
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chelsea
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response 155 of 203:
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Apr 1 07:01 UTC 1995 |
Aside: The U of M Museum of Art will be presenting the second program
of Brandenberg Concertos (4th, 5th, and 6th) tonight, with a repeat
performance on Sunday afternoon. The first three were performed two
weeks ago and the concert was simply amazing. This is not to be missed
if you like such things.
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birdlady
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response 156 of 203:
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Sep 13 23:44 UTC 1995 |
I *love* classical music, and my favorites happen to be Beethoven,
Tchaikovsky, Bach, and Mozart. I don't have any truly favorites songs, but
I've always been known to put on "Danse Macabre" by Saint Saens, "1812
Overture", and "Kanon" by Pachelbel the most out of any songs. Beethoven is
my favorite to play on the piano because he has such light melodies in his
songs with lots of eighth notes, which to me, equal happiness and flow...
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bjorn
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response 157 of 203:
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Sep 18 16:58 UTC 1995 |
My Mass Communications Professor says that acceptance of Classical Music
requires a high level of sophistication. I have never listened to Classical,
except by coincidence, so I do not really know whether that is true or not.
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rcurl
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response 158 of 203:
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Sep 18 19:47 UTC 1995 |
I wouldn't say it *requires* sophistication to love classical music. Love
of music is an emotion of pleasure, and a newborn baby can "love"
classical music if it pleased him/her. I bet Mozart loved classical music
before he had any "sophistication". The problem of "accepting" classical
music arises because popular music is so simple in regard to rhythm,
harmony, melody, etc, that listeners can recognize it most readily, while
classical music generally has more complex rhythms, harmonies and
melodies, which it takes more effort to hear what is occurring if one
comes from a popular music background. I progressed from (e.g.) Glenn
Miller to Tschaikovsky to Beethoven to Bach, as I discovered the added
content of each. It took time, and no one forced me: it was a process
of discovery.
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bjorn
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response 159 of 203:
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Sep 19 16:18 UTC 1995 |
Interesting... Well, learning is life-long.
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rcurl
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response 160 of 203:
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Sep 19 16:43 UTC 1995 |
I recall an event long ago when I changed a roomate's listening
preferences dramatically. He liked show tunes and some classical
romantics. I was playing lots of Bach. He asked me how I could like "that
stuff". So I gave him a "guided tour" of Bach's 2nd Brandenburg Concerto -
the main points of which were how the two instrumental groups (the "tutti"
and the "ripenello") in the chamber orchestra passed the themes back and
forth between them. He was entranced, and became a Bach nut on the spot.
(I was amazed myself. I never again had similar success with anyone, but
maybe it was because this friend was *willing to listen and learn*.)
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md
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response 161 of 203:
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Oct 4 12:42 UTC 1995 |
The latest BBC Music CD arrived yesterday. It has the first
recordings of two unfinished pieces by Edward Elgar, an
opera called "The Spanish Lady," and his Third Symphony.
Elgar fans know that he only completed two symphonies. He
was working on #3 when he took sick and died in 1933. His
deathbed wish was that no one should try to complete the
symphony from his sketches, and his family honors (sorry,
"honours") his wish to this day. Elgar left a few fully
orchestrated sections and many piano sketches. The British
musicologist responsible for this performance complies with
the Elgar family's wishes by presenting the fragments
exactly as Elgar left them. The effect is like a weird
piano concerto in which the piano and orchestra alternate
but never play together. The music is really striking,
recognizably Elgar but quite new. This disc is a major
event, at least for me.
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srw
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response 162 of 203:
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Oct 5 04:53 UTC 1995 |
I have never heard those sketches. They sound fascinating.
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bjorn
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response 163 of 203:
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Oct 6 13:12 UTC 1995 |
Coo.
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rcurl
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response 164 of 203:
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Oct 9 21:06 UTC 1995 |
bjorn, if you respond with a q it marks item as read without your
entering a response (really re Item 1 #175, but apropos anywhere).
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bjorn
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response 165 of 203:
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Oct 10 12:33 UTC 1995 |
Thanks. I'll try to remember not to do that.
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bano
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response 166 of 203:
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Nov 23 23:28 UTC 1995 |
My favorite composers are Mozart (Clarinet Concerto K. 622) and Weber
(Concertino for Clarinet in Eb). I played the Mozart last year and it is just
overwhelming. You can just feel how his life is reflected through the music.
The Weber that I am playing this year is very exciting.
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orinoco
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response 167 of 203:
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Nov 24 21:03 UTC 1995 |
<orinoco has a sneaking suspicion that bano plays clarinet>
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bmoran
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response 168 of 203:
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Nov 25 02:53 UTC 1995 |
You win a piece of (candy).
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orinoco
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response 169 of 203:
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Nov 25 15:22 UTC 1995 |
<orinoco wolfs down his piece of (candy) with parenthetical delight>
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srw
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response 170 of 203:
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Nov 25 22:55 UTC 1995 |
We clarinet players worship that Mozart K622, but I like the two Brahms
sonatas Op. 120 (1 & 2).
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birdlady
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response 171 of 203:
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Nov 26 23:39 UTC 1995 |
I play the piano...don't even get me started on favorites... But I *do* have
it narrowed down to Pachelbel's Canon in D and Beethoven's Fur Elise. I also
LOVE Mozart, and am struggling with Chopin because I like his music so
much...it's just so hard to play!!! ;)
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rlawson
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response 172 of 203:
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Nov 27 00:10 UTC 1995 |
I am a huge fan of Canon in D. Always a good relaxer. I play it whenever I'm
stressed (which is quite frequently). :)
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chelsea
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response 173 of 203:
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Nov 27 04:33 UTC 1995 |
My son, who tends toward Marley, Hendrix, and blues, came home the
other day an announced he is getting interested in Classical music,
and had I hever heard of a piece called Pachelbel's Canon. He went
back to school with a CD containing the piece. Lordy, lordy. Life
does tend to run in circles.
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birdlady
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response 174 of 203:
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Nov 28 04:26 UTC 1995 |
<smiling at Mary's story> Robert, I use Canon in D to relax also. It's
something about how it starts off so simple and delicate, goes into a climax
of rhythms, then slows back down to a meditative melody and tempo. *sigh*
I wonder about people who can't get into classical music...it just comes from
the *heart* of the musicians and is so *pure*. <drifts into pensiveness>
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