Monday 30 November 2009

Monday 30th November 2009

In the car for a few short trips:
Schubert - Symphony No.5

At home:
Mozart - Piano Concertos K459, 466, 488, 467, 471, Rondos K382, 386
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Corelli - Violin Sonatas Op.5 No.s 1-6
Shostakovich - Violin Concertos 1 & 2
Josquin - L'homme arme Masses

That was it!

Sunday 29th November 2009

In the car, driving south:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos 1-5
Schubert - Symphonies 3 & 4

At home in the evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Saturday 28th November 2009

Started the day with:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

Then, in the car, driving north:
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Opp 106, 109, 110, 111
Haydn - Symphonies 101, 102, 103, 104
Schubert - Impromptus

While up north:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Friday 27th November 2009

When I woke up, still playing on repeat was:
Pet Shop Boys - Discography

I eventually turned it off to have:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos 1-5, Choral Fantasia

Then:
Shostakovich - Cello Concertos 1 & 2
R. Strauss - Romance in F for Cello & Orchestra

Through the evening:
Mozart - Concerto K365 for 2 Pianos, Concerto K242 for 3 Pianos, Fantasia in F Minor K608, Andante & Variations for Piano 4 Hands K501.
Brahms - Theme & Finale from Variations Op.56b for 2 Pianos

That was it!

Friday 27 November 2009

Thursday 26th November 2009

In the car on the way to London:

Schubert - Piano Trio D929
Chopin - Piano Concertos 1 & 2, Variations on 'La ci darem la mano'

In HMV while browsing:
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5 (Mvmts 2-4), Serenade for Strings

In the car on the way home from London:
Chopin - Fantasy on Polish Airs Op.13, Krakowiak Op.14, Andante Spianato etc. Op.22
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto, Bassoon Concerto, Oboe Concerto
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Op.81a, Op.90, Op.101

At home:
Bach - Goldberg Variations
Brahms - Cello Sonata No.1 Op.38

Then, following some random tweeting by @iamamro & @mahlerfan2:
Pet Shop Boys - Discography

Comments:
1. The Mozart Clarinet Concerto was the piece that I conducted the first time I ever conducted a full orchestra.
2. Yes, I did sing the rude words to Tchaik 5 while browsing the shelves of HMV! Ha!

Wednesday 25th November 2009

The day started with:
Vaughan Williams - Sinfonia Antarctica, Serenade to Music, Partita for Double String Orchestra

Then:
Ligeti - A Cappella Choral Works (Details here)

Then, in the car (on the way to and from a lunch meeting):
Haydn - Hornsignal Symphony
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488
Schubert - Piano Trio D898

Whilst at the meeting/lunch, from the radio:
Haydn - 'Sunrise' Quartet (snippets of, to which I was listening while looking at proofs)
Brahms - C Minor Piano Trio (end of)
MacMillan - Vocal work "So Deep"

At home again:
Vaughan Williams - Job, Fantasia on Theme by Thomas Tallis, Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus

In the evening:
Mozart - Concertos for 2/3 pianos K365 and K242
Mozart - Sonata for 2 pianos K448, Fantasia K608, Andante & Variations K501
Schubert - Fantasia in F Minor D940

That was it! Actually, quite a day looking at it!

Used to sing the Ligeti stuff in college. Widow Papai was a particularly entertaining piece!

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Here are today's ears! (at long last, I seem to be managing to keep up - just hope I can keep at it).

In the car for a couple of short trips:
Haydn - Concerto in F Major for Violin & Harpsichord

This morning, at home, felt in need of something comforting & familiar:
Mozart - Piano Concertos K488 & K466

Then following a tweet that I read:
Saint-Saens - Organ Symphony

After reading another tweet (question from @bcpiano):
Buxtehude - Praeludium in G Minor BuxWV 149 (in many different versions, a couple from tape, and all that were on Spotify - link here)

That got me in the mood for a favourite old organ tape:
Bach - Toccata & Fugue BWV565, Fantasia & Fugue BWV542, Prelude & Fugue BWV548, Passacaglia & Fugue BWV582

Then, for a reason mentioned in the comments, back to Spotify to save tape hunting:
Boellman - Toccata from Suite Gothique (link here)

Then to a bit more organ music, since I was still feeling organish:
Bach - Orgelbuchlein

Comments
1. The Mozart was supremely comforting. A very good choice.
2. The Fugue from the Buxtehude BuxWV149 was the music to which the Wonderspouse & I left the church after our wedding. I chose it for two reasons 1. it has a very nice chord in it that I get excited about every time and 2. it was the first piece of music the Wonderspouse & I ever heard together. The Wonderspouse wouldn't have known it, and it would have had very little impact upon him, but it was played to us as we sat in the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford waiting to matriculate, rather many years ago. Of course, what a chemistry matriculand like me was doing obsessing over the chords in the Buxtehude they were playing to us was another question altogether (and probably explains why I didn't last long as a chemist & went off to study music instead) but, nevertheless, the experience stuck in my head!!
3. The old Bach tape has been one of my favourites for years. It came on the front of a partwork called "The Great Composers" (in its first edition, issued with either records or cassettes, long before the later CD edition came out). The Passacaglia is a particular favourite of mine, although the opening of the "Wedge" fugue is pretty groovy too.
4. Since I'd heard the going out music from our wedding, I thought I'd listen to the coming in music too - which was the Boellman. I insisted upon the whole lot being played. Not sure whether it's exactly "cheerful bride approach" music! Judge for yourselves!

Monday 23 November 2009

Monday 23rd November 2009

Today's ears!

In the car, for a couple of short journeys:
Haydn - Harpsichord Concerto in D Major

At home this morning:
Schoenberg - String Quartets 1-4

At home this afternoon:
Beethoven - String Quartets Opp. 127, 131, 95, 130, 132, 135

At home this everning:
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

That was all!

Sunday 22 November 2009

Sunday 22nd November 2009

Here are today's ears!

Most of the day, at home:
Wagner - Die Meistersinger (complete)

This evening:
Beethoven - Violin Concerto

That was it!!

Saturday 21st November 2009

Yesterday's ears!

In the car for a few short trips, the second movement of:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

At home, on repeat (I was feeling a bit rubbish yesterday, so just put the player on repeat to avoid silence, which I suspected would make me feel even more rubbish):
Kasabian - Kasabian

In the evening, following a Spotify link from a friend on fb:
Mozart - Serenade No. 13 in G, 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' K525
II. Andantino from Flute and Harp Concerto in C K299/297c (extract)
Three German Dances K605 : No. 3 "Die Schlittenfahrt"
Clarinet Concerto in A K622 : II. Adagio
Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 4 in E flat major, KV495: Third movement
Die Zauberflöte: Overture, Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja, Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Così fan tutte K588: Soave sia il vento (Fiordiligi/Dorabella/Don Alfonso)
Ave verum corpus in D K618
Symphony no.29 in A major K 201: Allegro moderato - excerpt
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C K314/271k: III. Rondo (Allegretto)
Symphony No. 40 in G minor K550: Molto allegro

Comment: I very rarely listen to "extracts", but having followed the original link (to the slow movement of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, I then went back to the first movement, and left the whole lot to play. It was all rather comforting, late at night, all lovely things very familiar to me from childhood years ago. Felt a bit like the music equivalent of fishfingers or something.

Friday 20th November 2009

Now to Friday's ears!

In the car for a few short trips:
The Boxer Rebellion - Union

In the doctor's waiting room:
Various jazz violin bits of music (presumably meant to be calming)

At home in the morning:
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.6, Symphony No.9, Fantasia on Greensleeves

In the car on the way to visit a friend:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

In the evening at home:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

That was it!

Thursday 19th November 2009

In the car on the way home from the gig:

Nirvana - Nirvana
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Reverend & The Makers - The State of Things

At home:
Brahms - Violin Sonatas No.s 1-3
Schubert - Piano Trios D898 and D929

That was it - a much quieter day than yesterday.

Wednesday 18th November 2009

Ears for Wednesday - still getting a bit behind with posting I'm afraid!

In the car for a few short trips, bits of:
Muse - The Resistance

At home:
Brahms - Symphony No.2 and Symphony No.3
Haydn - Concertos for Organ and various instruments Hob XVIII:1 and Hob XVII:2, Sinfonia Concertante in Bb Major Hob I:105
Brahms - Sonatas for Viola & Piano Op.120 No.s 1&2, Songs for Alto, Viola & Piano Op.91 No.s 1&2
Satie - Gnossiennes, Gymnopedies, and other piano music as listed in previous posts.

In the car on the way to a gig:
Muse - The Resistance, Black Holes & Revelations, Absolution

At the gig, sets by:
Reverend & The Makers
Kasabian (setlist available here)

Absolutely amazing gig - fantastic evening out. Kasabian put on an AMAZING show! Great stuff indeed.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Tuesday 17th November 2009

Here are today's ears!

In the car, for a couple of short trips, the start of:
Muse - The Resistance

At home in the morning:
Handel - Organ Concerto Op.4, No.6
Mozart - Piano Concerto No.19 K459
Mozart - Serenade K361 "Gran Partita", Concert Rondo K371

Through the middle of the day:
Wagner - Parsifal

Following an extensive twitter discussion with @hornsolo:
Brahms - Symphony No.2, Symphony No.3

That was all! Quite a lot though really!

Monday 16 November 2009

Monday 16th November 2009

Here are the ears for today!

For a couple of short car journeys, the end of:
Muse - Hullabaloo Soundtrack

At home from CD:
Handel - Chandos Anthems 4-11

Following Spotify links tweeted by @iamamro:
Mozart - Sonata in D Major for 2 pianos K448
Schubert - Fantasia in F Minor for piano 4 hands D940
Mozart - Piano Concertos No.23 K488, No.20 K466, No.21 K467

Later:
Schubert - Piano Trios D898 and D929

Comment: Rather lovely music today I think. :-)

Sunday 15th November 2009

Sunday's ears!

For a short car journey, a bit more:
Muse - Hullabaloo Soundtrack

At home:
Vaughan Williams - Flos Campi, Oboe Concerto, Symphony No.5
Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No.2, Violin Sonata No.2
Mozart - Piano Concertos No.23 K488, No.20 K466
Handel - Chandos Anthems No.s 1, 2, and 3

That was it!

Saturday 14th November 2009

Here are the ears for Saturday!

The Vaughan Williams Cycle continued with:
Vaughan Williams - English Folk Song Suite, A Pastoral Symphony, Symphony No.4

Then:
Satie - 6 Gnossiennes, 3 Morceaux en forme de poire, 3 Gymnopedies, Descriptions Automatiques, Pieces Froides, Heures Seculaires et Instantanees, Vieux Sequins et Vieilles Cuirasses, Je te veux, Prelude de la "Porte Heroique du ciel" (henceforth known as Satie - Gnossiennes, Gymnopedies etc.)

Then:
Bach - French Suite No.5
Beethoven - Sonata in E Minor Op.90
Chopin - Ballade No.4
Bach/Busoni - Chaconne
Moszkowski - Etincelles
Bach/Siloti - Prelude in B Minor
(in other words: razor blades, little pills, big pianos - James Rhodes's fabulous first album)

Comments:
1. Vaughan Williams Folk Song Suite reminded me of being a kid with a clarinet - we used to play it in a band arrangement when I was young!

2. Love the Satie disc. Bit of a nightmare to type everything out though!

3. The Bach French Suite from James's disc sends shivers down my spine every time. It's just amazing.

Saturday 14 November 2009

Friday 13th November 2009

In the car today for rather longer journeys:
Muse - HAARP
Muse - Hullabaloo Soundtrack

At home in the morning:
Brahms - Piano Concertos No.1 & No.2, Scherzo Op.4, Ballades Op.10, Piano Pieces Op.76

At home in the evening:
Mendelssohn - Octet
Beethoven - Septet

That was it! A day characterised by Muse and Brahms!

Thursday 12th November 2009

A slightly busier day again!

In the car:
Muse - Showbiz

At home, continuing the Vaughan Williams Cycle:
Vaughan Williams - A London Symphony, Symphony No.8
(odd order owing to the way the CDs are organised)

Then:
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

In the evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

That was it!

Wednesday 11th November 2009

A much more minimal day today!

In the car for a couple of short trips:
Muse - Showbiz

At home in the morning:
Muse - The Resistance

At home in the afternoon:
Beethoven - Symphony No. 3, Grosse Fuge

That was it!

Tuesday 10th November 2009

Quite a busy day for the ears today!

In the car on a couple of short trips, a bit more:
Handel - Water Music

At home:
Franck - Symphony, Symphonic Variations
Vaughan Williams - A Sea Symphony
Elgar - Introduction & Allegro, Serenade for Strings
Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on Greensleeves, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Piano Concerto, Papillons

In the car on the way to a gig:
Muse - The Resistance
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations

At the gig, sets by:
The Big Pink
Muse (setlist available here)

On the way home from the gig:
Muse - Absolution
Muse - Origin of Symmetry

Great gig, great great gig. Another one I didn't really feel up to going to but enjoyed massively once I was there. They put on a great show, lasers, lights, projections, cool staging, and also did a fabulous set of hits. Can't beat a bit of Supermassive Black Hole!!!

Monday 9 November 2009

Monday 9th November 2009

Here are today's ears.

In the car, for a couple of short trips, a bit more:
Handel - Water Music

Then, at home:
Bruckner - Symphony No.7 (again because I love it)
Bruckner - Symphony No.8
Bruckner - Symphony No.9

Then:
Mozart - String Quartets K464, K465, K387, Divertimento K138

Later:
Franck - Piano Quintet in F minor, Violin Sonata in A major, Symphony in D minor, Symphonic Variations, Prelude, Choral & Fugue

So the Bruckner cycle ended today. Jolly good too. Now I've been through them all I shall explore the ones I know less well further. If anyone has any suggestions of favourites I should go for first, then let me know. I already know 7, 9 & 4 pretty well.

Sunday 8 November 2009

Sunday 8th November 2009

Started the day with:
Deep Purple - The Very Best Of

Later on:
Faure - Requiem, Cantique de Jean Racine
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem
Mozart - Requeim
Berlioz - Requiem

Then, again:
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem

A very requiemish sort of a day, started by a tweet from @PeeteerSmith!

Saturday 7 November 2009

Saturday 7th November 2009

Here are today's ears!

The day started with the next part of my Bruckner cycle listening:
Bruckner - Symphony No.5

Then, on a short car trip:
Handel - Fireworks Music

Back home:
Bruckner - Locus Iste (beautiful, sang it at school, lovely)

Then:
Bruckner - Symphony No.6
Bruckner - Symphony No.7
Wagner - Die Walkure (opening)

I'll leave the Wagner running as far as it goes for tonight!

Friday 6th November 2009

Here are the ears for yesterday!

In the car for a couple of short trips:
Handel - Acis & Galatea (the end of)

In the morning at home:
Bruckner - Symphony No.2

In the doctor's waiting room:
Elgar - Nimrod from Enigma Variations
Mahler - Adagietto from Symphony No.5
Assorted Jazz Violin Stephane Grappelli style music

In the car on the way to and back from a friend's house:
Vivaldi - Concertos for lute, lute & viola d'amore, mandolin, 2 mandolins, assorted instruments (in C Major)
Handel - Fireworks music (opening)

At home in the afternoon:
Bruckner - Symphony No.3

At home in the evening:
Bruckner - Symphony No.4

Comment: Has anyone got the idea that I'm doing a Bruckner cycle at the moment? In case anyone's interested, it's Barenboim and the Berlin Phil on Warner Classics.

Thursday 5 November 2009

Thursday 5th November 2009

Today's ears started early!

At around 4am in bed:
Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1

When I got up properly:
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Papillons
(I had this on repeat for quite a long time)

Then I thought I'd have something a bit different:
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

This evening:
Mozart - Violin Concerto No.5, Sinfonia Concertante (Violin & Viola), Violin Concerto No.4

Then later:
Bruckner - Symphony No.1, Helgoland

Think I'll post this now - if there's anything that isn't just Bruckner 1 again, I'll add it afterwards, but I'm planning on sticking with Bruckner 1 tonight because it's good!

Comment: I had an argument with a school headteacher about Eminem. I was asked the question in interview "What would you do if a group of kids approached you and wanted to form a band based on Eminem's stuff?" I replied that I would say it was perfectly reasonable for them to use him as a MUSICAL model, but that some of his lyrics were not suitable for school! She grudgingly accepted the point about the musical model, but took massive issue with my "for school" and said that all words that he used should be banned etc etc etc (with which I rather disagreed). Needless to say, I wasn't offered the job!! Fighting with the headteacher at interview probably wasn't a good "getting employment" strategy, but I could never have worked with the woman in any case!!

Wednesday 4th November 2009

Again, in the car for a short trip, a bit more:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

Then, throughout much of the day:
Schubert - The Complete Symphonies

Then:
Satie - Various Piano Works, Gnossiennes, Gymnopedies etc. Details here!
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Schumann - Papillons

To go to bed with:
Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1, Scherzo Op.4, Ballades Op.10

Quite a good day I'd say!

Tuesday 3rd November 2009

Here are Tuesday's ears!

In the car, for a couple of short trips, a bit more of:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

At home through the day:
Bach - St John Passion
Bach - St Matthew Passion

Then:
Reverend & The Makers - Live in the UK 2009
Reverend & The Makers - A French Kiss in the Chaos
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of The Moon

Very much a day of two contrasting parts!

Monday 2 November 2009

Monday 2nd November 2009

Here are today's ears!

On a few short car trips, a bit more of:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

At home:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Mozart - Vesperae de Dominica, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Ave Verum
The Backhanded Compliments - EP
Faure - Piano Nocturnes 1-7
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Mozart - Violin Concerto No.4

That was it!

Sunday 1st November 2009

In the morning:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (on repeat)

In the late afternoon, on BBC Radio 3 Discovering Music:
Jose Pablo Moncayo - Huapango
Silvestre Revueltas - Sensemaya
Copland - El Salon Mexico

In the evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

That was it!

Saturday 31st October 2009

Here are the ears for Saturday!

In the car on the way into town to go to the butcher's:
Handel - Acis & Galatea (small part of)

At home in the morning:
Hindemith - Der Schwanendreher, Trauermusik, Sonata for Piano 4 hands, Sonata No.3 for Viola & Piano

At home in the evening:
Mozart - Vesperae de Dominica K321, Vesperae solennes de confessore K339

That was it folks!