Thursday 31st December 2009

In the car on the way to town:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco

At home:
Schubert - "Wanderer" Fantasy
Schumann - Fantasie Op.17

Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

And that was it for 2009!

Wednesday 30th December 2009

At home:
Puccini - Messa di Gloria, Preludio Sinfonico, Capriccio Sinfonico
Dvorak - Symphony No.6, Scherzo capriccioso Op.66

That was all.

Tuesday 29th December 2009

At home:
Schubert - "Trout" Quintet, "Death & The Maiden" Quartet
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Storm
Mahler - Symphony No.1

That was all.

Monday 28th December 2009

At home:
Josquin - L'homme arme Masses
Dvorak - Symphonies No.7 and No.8

That was all.

Sunday 27th December 2009

In the car on the journey to visit relatives:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Pendulum - In Silico
Reverend & The Makers - A French Kiss in the Chaos
Nirvana - Nirvana
Radiohead - The Best Of
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

At home:
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Mozart - Requiem

That was it!

Saturday 26th December 2009

At home today, on loop:
The Cure - Greatest Hits

That was it. Did watch TV & sleep a lot too!

Friday 25th December 2009

In the car on the way to Christmas lunch:
Muse - The Resistance
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

The above listening just about got me through. Felt far too depressed & miserable to listen to any music at home. Horrible horrible day. I'm not a fan of Christmas.

Thursday 24th December 2009

No car driving today owing to terrible weather conditions!

At home:
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6, Romeo & Juliet Overture
Bach - Christmas Oratorio (Complete)

That was all!

Wednesday 23rd December 2009

Christmas depression was really setting in.
In the car, managed a few:
Christmas Carols (see post on 17th December).

At home:
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.1, Swan Lake Suite

That was it!

Tuesday 22nd December 2009

In the car, some more:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

At home, following yesterday's Winterreise:
Schubert - Die Schone Mullerin, Schwanengesang

That was it!

Monday 21st December 2009

Felt rather low & not very musicy.
However did have in the car a bit of:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

And in the house:
Schubert - Winterreise

That was it!

Sunday 20th December 2009

The day started peacefully with:
Satie - Piano music (Gymnopedies, Gnossiennes etc.)

Then:
Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5, Lieutenant Kije
Eminem - Relapse
Saint Saens - Organ Symphony

Also:
Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name!

Comment - HAD to listen to the Christmas No.1 w00t!!!!!

Saturday 19th December 2009

This morning at home:
Bach - Harpsichord Concertos BWV 1052, 1053, 1055, 1056
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name

In the car:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio (Start of Part III)

At home:
Schubert - String Quintet

That was all!

Friday 18th December 2009

To start the day:
Kasabian - Empire

Music in the car:
Bach - Cantata No.80
Bach - Christmas Oratorio Parts I and II

At home later on:
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid

Had a bit of a break from Christmas carols today. To be honest, I'm not really being very Christmassy this year. They may emerge again a bit later though.

Thursday 17th December 2009

In the car this morning:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio (bit from part 5)

At home:
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5, Choral Fantasia
Strobegirl - Cover of "Sweet about me" (link here)
Kasabian - Empire

Then:
Bach - Cantatas No.140 and No.80
Bach - Christmas Oratorio (complete)
Hely-Hutchinson - A Carol Symphony

Then, since I had a friend round for Christmas lunch, the carols arrived:
Great Composers Christmas Record
BBC Music Christmas CD
Miscellaneous Christmas Music
(all these three from years ago - listings below)

01 Once in Royal David's City.mp3
02 In Dulci Jubilo.mp3
03 Angelus ad Virginem.mp3
04 Ding Dong Merrily.mp3
05 Star Carol.mp3
06 Stille Nacht.mp3
07 Il est ne le Divin Enfant.mp3
07 O Come all ye Faithful.mp3
09 Hodie Christus Natus Est.mp3
10 Sol Sol La Sol.mp3
11 God Rest you Merry Gentlemen.mp3
12 Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen.mp3
13 The Three Kings.mp3
14 L'Aideu des Bergers.mp3
15 Unto us is Born a Son.mp3
16 Hark the Herald.mp3
17 We wish you a Merry Christmas.mp3

01 In Dulci Jubilo 1.mp3
02 Daquin Noel.mp3
03 Joy to the World.mp3
04 Verbum Caro.mp3
05 Messiah Extracts.mp3
06 Liszt Adeste Fideles.mp3
07 Audite Principes.mp3
08 Swete was the Song.mp3
09 Dormi Jesu.mp3
10 Bach Sinfonia.mp3
11 Messiah Extracts.mp3
12 Liszt In Dulci Jubilo.mp3
13 The Burning Babe.mp3
14 Weihnachtsmusik.mp3
15 Lullay Lullow.mp3
16 In Dulci Jubilo 2.mp3


00 While Shepherds Watched.mp3
01 See Amid the Winter's Snow.mp3
02 As With Gladness.mp3
03 The First Nowell.mp3
04 Good King Wenceslass.mp3
05 It Came upon the Midnight Clear.mp3
06 O Little Town of Bethlehem.mp3
07 Away in a Manger.mp3
08 O Tannenbaum.mp3
09 The First Nowell.mp3
10 We Wish you a Merry Christmas.mp3
11 Nowell Nowell.mp3
12 Blessed be that Maid Mary.mp3
13 Christ was born on Christmas Day.mp3
14 The Holly & the Ivy.mp3
15 For Unto us a Child is Born.mp3
16 Fantasia on Carols.mp3
17 Bethlehem Down.mp3
18 Wassail Song.mp3

A couple of years ago I eventually got round to turning them all into MP3s. The Great Composers record (yes, actual record) is so old that I had it on cassette - at the time we got it I wasn't allowed to use the record player at home so had it on cassette for my bedroom!

If I refer to the Christmas Compilation over the next day or so, then this will be the one that I mean!

Wednesday 16th December 2009

The car, yet again:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

At home:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos 1-5, Choral Fantasia

I'll try to be a bit more varied, honest!

Tuesday 15th December 2009

In the car, a bit more:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

At home:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos 1 & 2

Bit similar to yesterday, sorry!

Monday 14th December 2009

Spent most of the day out with my friend, chatting, browsing the shops, eating meals, so very little music.

On the way home in the car though, I had a bit more:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

And once back at home:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Sunday 13th December 2009

The day started with:
Unknown (neighbour of a friend) - Symphony

Then:
Kasabian - Kasabian
Mozart - Concerto for 2 pianos K365, Concerto for 3 pianos K242, Fantasia K608

In the car on the way to meet up with a friend:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

That was it!

Saturday 12th December 2009

Music in the car:
Handel - Dixit Dominus (opening)

Music in the house:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Brahms - String Quartets Op.51 No.s 1&2

That was it! Had both Kasabian and Brahms several times though.

Friday 11th December 2009

Music in the car today:
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6, No.s 11&12
Monteverdi - 1610 Vespers

Music at a friend's house (all Rachmaninov piano arrangements):
Bach - Prelude, Gavotte en Rondeau, Gigue from Violin Partita BWV1006
Kreisler - Liebesfreud, Liebesleid
Rachmaninov - Prelude Op.3 No.2
Rimsky-Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee

Back home:
Inlight - Acoustic version of Icarus (see here)
Schumann - String Quartets Op.41 No.s 1-3
Brahms - String Quartet Op.67

Quite an interesting day for the ears!

Thursday 10th December 2009

Another ears update!

Music in the car today:
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6, No.s 9&10

Music in the house:
Stravinsky - Ballet Music (same as yesterday)
Orff - Carmina Burana

That was it!

Wednesday 9th December 2009

Today's music in the car:
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6 No.s 1-8

Today's music in the house:
Stravinsky - Firebird, Rite of Spring, Petrushka, Les Noces (details here)

That was it - although I did have the Stravinsky several times!

Tuesday 8th December 2009

In the car on the way to and from work:
Schubert - Piano Trios
Chopin - Piano Concertos

At work from listen live Radio 3:
Mozart - Piano Sonata K330

On my phone while walking:
Handel - Dixit Dominus

On the Radio at a friend's house:
Schubert - Symphony No.4 (last 2 movements)
J. Strauss - Voices of Spring

Back at home:
Mahler - Symphony No.2

That was all!

Monday 7th December 2009

In the car today:
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488
Schubert - Piano Trios

At home:
Mozart - Piano Concertos K459, 466, 488, 467, 491 and Rondos K382, 386

On Spotify, following a link tweeted by @iamamro:
Schumann - Piano Quintet Op.44
Brahms - Piano Quintet Op.34

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

That was it!

Sunday 6th December 2009

Here are today's ears!

Started this morning with:
Muse - The Resistance

Continued after breakfast with:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio

And since I was enjoying the Bach, I had it again later!

Saturday 5th December 2009

In the car on the way to the doctors to get jabbed:
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488/I

At home:
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Bruckner - Symphony No.8
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

That was it! Bruckner and Elbow were both on repeat for extended spells though.

Friday 4th December 2009

Yesterday's ears!

In the car, driving to and from work:
Beethoven - Choral Fantasia, Triple Concerto
Haydn - Harpsichord Concerto in D, Hornsignal Symphony

At home:
Schumann - Piano Quartet (following a recommendation by @JAMES__RHODES)

Then later:
Schubert - Symphony No.9

That was it!

Thursday 3rd December 2009

In the car for a few short trips:
Beethoven - Choral Fantasia

At home this morning:
Bach - Cantatas BWV 172, 59, 74, 34
Bach - Sarabande from Cello Sonata No.1 BWV 1007
Creature with the Atom Brain - Transylvania
Purcell - Dido and Aeneas
Dvorak, Martinu, Janacek - Various songs (details here)

And later on:
Shostakovich - The Nose

Wednesday 2nd December 2009

In the car on the way to and from work:
Mendelssohn - String Quintet Op.18
Mendelssohn - Overtures: Hebrides, Fair Melusine, Midsummer Night's Dream, Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage

While out at work Christmas Lunch:
Pachelbel - Canon
Mozart - Slow Movement from Piano Concerto No.21
Brahms - Bits of St Antoni Variations
Vivaldi - "Spring" from the 4 Seasons
Adolphe Adam - O Holy Night
Handel - Hallelujah Chorus

At home in the evening:
Saint Saens - Symphony in A Major, Symphonies No.1 & No.2
Beethoven - Violin Sonatas "Spring" and "Kreutzer"

Comment: there was other music going on during lunch, but sometimes the noise of people chattering was too loud for me to hear the music. The bits I heard were (a) before too many people had arrived and (b) while food was there and people were too busy eating to chat!

Tuesday 1st December 2009

In the car today for several trips:
Schubert - Symphonies 6, 8 and 9.

At home:
Josquin - L'homme arme masses
Eminem - Relapse
Shostakovich - Sonata for Cello & Piano Op.40
Prokofiev - Sonata for Cello & Piano Op.119
Arvo Part - Fratres (Violin), Cantus in Memoriam Britten, Fratres (12 Cellos), Tabula Rasa
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

While out at a gig, a set by:
Mol Hodge

Comments:
1. Schubert 9 is magnificent. I always forget how wonderful this is. I've literally known it since I was very very small - it was the only thing that would stop my little brother crying when he was a baby so my parents took the record everywhere. I must have heard it thousands of times before I was even 2 years old. Probably the first piece of music I could recognise.
2. Been waiting for the Eminem to not be full-price. Well worth the wait. Absolutely brilliant stuff. One of the more surprising things about my musical taste (it surprises me anyway) is that I think Eminem is genius. Brilliant stuff.

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!

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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!

Friday 30th October 2009

Today's ears!

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

Following a Spotify link from @iamamro on facebook:
Schumann - Piano Concerto in A Minor

Then:
Beethoven - Fidelio Act I
Britten - Cabaret Songs, Blues
Cole Porter - Songs
Bach - Concertos for 3 & 4 Harpsichords
Bach - Motets BWV 225-230
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5, Capriccio Italien
Brahms - Serenade No.2
Scharwenka - Piano Quartet Op.37, Piano Trio Op.45
Hindemith - Ludus Tonalis, Suite 1922

Then, since Spotify was still open:
Satie - 6 Gnossiennes

Comments:

1. I have finally given up the unequal struggle to find my cassette of the Schumann piano concerto (it has a red spine, btw, if anyone sees it around), and just jolly well ordered myself a CD which I can convert to MP3. It is now driving me insane only being able to listen to it on the computer!

2. Britten Cabaret songs are brill - found the disc by accident while searching for Bach! Jill Gomez singing, btw.

3. Brahms Serenade - hee hee hee - a piece without violins! Violas reign supreme. Played this - it was great fun!

4. Scharwenka - memories of rootling about in C19th chamber music when I was doing my (unfinished) D.Phil.

5. I forget how much I like Hindemith. If I don't listen to any more Hindemith in the next day or so, can someone please remind me that I like Hindmith! Thanks!

6. Gnossiennes are perfect for a bit of late night internetting before retiring!

Thursday 29th October 2009

Yesterday's ears!

In the car, for a couple of short trips, the end of:
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos

At home:
Haydn - Baryton Trios 1-38 (the first four discs of my box set)

In the car on the way out:
Handel - Dixit Dominus, Nisi Dominus

While out at the Wonderspouse's bookreading, a set by:
Jessie Grace

On the way home in the car:
Bach - Concertos for 3 & 4 Harpsichords

I'd forgotten how fabulous those multiple harpsichord concertos are! I like muchly!

Wednesday 28th October 2009

Here are Wednesday's ears!

In the car for a couple of short journeys, the end of:
White Lies - To Lose My Life

In the doctor's waiting room (I assume this is meant to calm patients - hmmm!):
Barber - Adagio
Massenet - Meditation from Thais
Rachmaninov - Slow movement from Piano Concerto No.2

At home:
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies No.1, 2, 3, 4, Swan Lake suite, Francesca da Rimini, Marche Slave, Fatum

In the car on the way to a gig:
Little Boots - Hands

At the gig, sets by:
The Backhanded Compliments
Yves Klein Blue
Reverend & The Makers

After the gig:
Jon McClure, busking on the street outside the gig venue!!

On the way home from the gig:
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos

A fabulous gig. Another of those "I nearly didn't go because I really didn't feel up to it, but dragged myself there anyway and was really really glad I did".
Only thing that was a bit odd - after an evening of listening to northern accents my usually toned down northern accent returned rather strongly and I sounded like a real Donny lass for a while!
Reverend & The Makers SERIOUSLY rock though. Seriously ROCK!!

Tuesday 27th October 2009

For a couple of short car journeys, bits of:
White Lies - To Lose My Life

In the morning, on repeat:
Beethoven - Cello Sonatas Op.5 No.s 1&2

In the afternoon, on repeat:
Beethoven - Cello Variations on Theme of Handel & on Bei Mannern
Beethoven - Cello Sonata Op.69

That was it! No gig! Early night instead!

Monday 26th October 2009

On the way home from the gig, in the car (we stayed over in a hotel):
Passion Pit - Manners
The Dead Weather - Horehound

At home:
Beethoven - Piano Trios Op.1 No.s 1&2
Creature with the Atom Brain - Transylvania

In the car on the way to another gig:
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

At the gig, sets by:
The Joy Formidable
Max Tundra
Passion Pit

In the car on the way home from the gig:
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos

Totally different sort of gig! The Joy Formidable were formidably loud, but pretty cool - The Wonderspouse was particularly chuffed with himself when he acquired a copy of the handwritten setlist by speaking nicely to the security guard who passed it over the barrier for him.

Max Tundra was truly one of the oddest acts I have EVER seen, and is currently putting up a stiff fight against Har Mar Superstar (who we saw at the Boosh festival in 2008). Max's dance rendition of "So long, farewell" from The Sound of Music is giving him serious "weird" points, but Har Mar is still just about winning, since he took all his clothes off and stood on his head (having never come across him at that point, I didn't realise that was what he did - when he took the first jumper off I thought it was normal, by the time he was removing his trousers I was starting to pinch myself quite hard).

Passion Pit started late owing to major technical difficulties - the guy trying to plug in the leads & stuff looked like he was about to cry at one point. However, when they did get going they were great. Bouncy & happy. OK, it's a bit 14-year-old (and there were indeed lots of 14-year-olds there), but hey, it was fun!

Sunday 25th October 2009

Starting to return to some sort of normal listening routine (although it's not quite up to scratch yet, and I'm still not managing to update on the day).

In the morning, following yesterday's tweets by @RAHOrgan:
Saint-Saens - Organ Symphony

In the afternoon:
Bartok - Microcosmos Volumes 1-3

In the car on the way to a gig:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Muse - The Resistance

At the gig, sets by:
Creature with the Atom Brain
The Dead Weather

Really really enjoyed the gig. Creature with the Atom Brain were a great support band, and The Dead Weather were phenomenal. Jack White & Alison Mosshart singing into the same mike produced real electricity, and by the time they finished with Treat me Like Your Mother, the crowd was wild. Fantastic evening. Thoroughly polished, but with real passion. Brilliant!

Saturday 24th October 2009

Briefly, in the car:
Messiaen - L'Ascension (again, I know).

On repeat through the evening and into the night:
Bach - Orchestral Suites 1-4

I wanted to listen to all sorts of other things, but I'm afraid the task of finding the CDs amongst the chaos was really rather beyond me. Things will improve though!!

Friday 23rd October 2009

Home once again, although normal listening activities are still to resume, owing to chaotic state of house & mind!!

In the car:
Messiaen - L'Ascension

At home:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Brahms - Variations on a Theme of Handel Op.24
Beethoven - Eroica Variations Op.35

The last lot rather lazily on repeat I'm afraid - terrible habit of mine!

Thursday 22nd October 2009

In the car on the way from Honfleur to Dunkerque:

Bruckner - Symphony No.7 (complete this time)
Smetana - String Quartets
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.8
Shostakovich - Symphony No.8

Then, while waiting for the ferry at Dunkerque:
Shostakovich - Symphony No.10

Driving back home from Dover:
Janacek - String Quartets
Philip Glass - Excerpts from Akhnaten, Company, Violin Concerto
Bartok - String Quartets 1, 3, and 5
Messaien - L'Ascension

Fairly loud Shostakovich maybe not the obvious choice for a ferry queue, but it was actually rather excellent, and provided wonderful accompaniment for a while reading in the car.

Philip Glass not the obvious choice for driving home late at night either, but I didn't feel sleepy, so it was fine!

Wednesday 21st October 2009

An interesting day for the ears!

I was able to log on to twitter again thanks to free WiFi & terminal in hotel foyer. Tweets from @ClassicalReview and @jessicaduchen prompted me to listen to the opening of:
Bruckner - Symphony No.7

Then we went to the Satie Museum in Honfleur, where I heard LOTS of Satie. Too many random snippets to list here, but I'll try and decipher what I can from the photos I took a bit later on. However, I can tell you that I heard:
Satie - Gymnopedies
Satie - Gnossiennes
Satie - Parade

Back in the hotel room, on the MP3 player, whilst doing a bit of reading:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

The Satie museum, by the way, was fabulous. If you're in Honfleur, you must go. I've now been rather inspired to listen to more Satie, as well as exploring the works of Les Six, which I haven't really bothered with much since college. It was certainly one of the highlights of the holiday!

Tuesday 20th October 2009

A slightly better day for the ears, in the car driving from Chartres to Honfleur:

Handel - Organ Concertos, details here!
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6, No.s 1-4
Monteverdi - 1610 Vespers

An improvement upon yesterday anyway!

Monday 19th October 2009

Another rather lean day. Just one short trip in the car and a little bit of:
Blur - Midlife

Some of these holiday days are pretty shockingly earless I'm afraid. Next time I shall go on a listening holiday or something!!

Sunday 18th October 2009

Back in the car, driving from Cergy-Pontoise to Chartres:

Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Blur - Midlife (most of)

Then, in the hotel room on the MP3 player:
Beethoven - Razumovsky Quartets (while writing postcards)
Mahler - Symphony No. 1, 3rd & 4th movements (on Arte TV channel, the end of a rather excellent concert (LA Phil, Dudamel) that we caught while channel surfing)

That was it!

Saturday 17th October 2009

A very lean day for the ears - they were filled not with music, but the sounds of Paris metro trains, cafes, shops and so on!

However, I did put my MP3 player on as I went to sleep that night and listened to:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Word of warning though - if you doze off with earphones in, you may wake up half throttled by the wires, as I did!!

Friday 16th October 2009

In the car, while driving from Dunkerque to Cergy-Pontoise:

Mendelssohn - Overtures: Hebrides, Fair Melusine, Midsummer Night's Dream, Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage
Beethoven - Choral Fantasia, Triple Concerto
Haydn - Harpsichord Concerto in D, Hornsignal Symphony
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488
Schubert - Piano Trios D898, D929
Chopin - Piano Concertos 1 & 2, La Ci Darem Variations, Fantasy Polish Airs, Krakowiak, Andante Spianato & Polonaise

That was it!!

Thursday 15th October 2009

So far, today's ears have been:

In the car:
Passion Pit - Manners

At home:
Bach - Orchestral Suites

There may be more to add to this post, but I shall soon be away from my technology for a short while. Ears posts will resume shortly though - never fear, the ears will note down everything they hear in the meantime and fill you in on all their musical delights when they can!!

********************************

Some time later, upon my return from a holiday in France, having found the bit of paper upon which I scribbled information about Ears, here I am, ready to continue!

In the car on the way to Dover:
The Dead Weather - Horehound
The Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in The Chaos
White Lies - To Lose My Life
Little Boots - Hands

Wednesday 14th October 2009

Here are yesterday's ears (I'm afraid normal posting is still not quite there)!

First thing:
Faure - Requiem & Cantique de Jean Racine

Then, from my Scarlatti box set:
Scarlatti - Sonatas Kk485-519 (some brilliant ones in there!)

Then:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto (several times)

Then, in the car:
Passion Pit - Manners

When I got home:
Rachmaninov - Cello Sonata
Schumann - Fantasiestuke
Beethoven - Cello Sonata No.3

And in the evening:
Schubert - String Quintet

That was all!

Tuesday 13th October 2009

In the car:
Muse - The Resistance

Started the day with:
Richard Strauss - Tod und Verklarung, Metamorphosen, Vier letzte Lieder

Then:
Beethoven - Quintet in C Op.29, Sextet in Eb Op.71, Sextet in Eb Op.81b

And then:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

(yes, I know you've heard about that disc already, but it's a bit of a favourite at the moment).

Monday 12th October 2009

In the car:
Muse - The Resistance

Since it was still in the CD player, I had:
Haydn - Op.74 String Quartets (again)!

Then a bit later, prompted by a link in @iamamro's tweet and a subsequent conversation with @5357311:
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Then, for something rather different:
Elliott Carter - String Quartets 1-5

Then for something different again, the whole of:
Mendelssohn - Elijah!

I'd say that was a pretty varied day's listening!!

Sunday 11th October 2009

Sunday's ears (sorry people, I'm behind again - still not quite settled back into daily ear posting)!

Following a facebook link from the previous evening:
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

And then the rest of the CD:
Elgar - Introduction and Allegro
Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending
Elgar - Serenade for Strings
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Greensleeves

Then:
Russian Chant for Vespers - details can be found here!

Then:
Brahms - Symphony No.2 and Symphony No.3
Dvorak - Serenade for Strings and Czech Suite
Haydn - String Quartets Op.74 1-3

That was it for Sunday!

Saturday 10th October 2009

Wow, it's now been 3 months with the ears! I'm a quarter of the way through A Year With My Ears! Wasn't totally sure I'd still be going by now, but I am!

And I've caught up with the posts too! So, here are today's ears:

In the car on the way into town:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco

This morning:
Palestrina - Missa Papae Marcelli & Missa Brevis

This afternoon:
Shostakovich - Violin Sonata & Viola Sonata

Three months of ears done!!

Friday 9th October 2009

And more catching up!

In the car on the way to and from work:
Editors - An End Has a Start
Elbow - Leaders of the Free World

On Grooveshark, at work on earphones for calming effect:
Bach - Cello Suites, 2, 4, and 6.

While walking:
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6 No.s 4 and 8

On arrival at home:
Shostakovich - Symphony No.13

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

The Corelli is deeply nostalgic for me, particularly No.8, which is a favourite of my Mum's. Remember many evenings in my early teens sitting with my mum & stepfather, drinking Sancerre & listening to those concerti. As long as I could convince them that I'd done my homework, both Corelli & Sancerre were permitted!!

I guess those are slightly unconventional things for a teenager to like, but that's the sort of teenager I was!!

Thursday 8th October 2009

Another catch-up ears I'm afraid, I really will try to get back to posting daily soon!

In the car:
Little Boots - Hands

At home, all morning, on repeat:
Little Boots - Hands (yes, ALL morning, just what I was in the mood for)

Then:
Candle Thieves - The Sunshine EP (bought at the gig on Tuesday)

Then I went into Russian mode:
Shostakovich - Symphony No.11, Symphony No.12

And in the evening:
Schubert - Trout Quintet & Death & The Maiden Quartet

That's it!

Wednesday 7th October 2009

And finally, on my bid to catch up, here are today's ears!

In the car, bits of:
Little Boots - Hands

At home this morning:
Sibelius - Symphonies 4 & 6

This afternoon:
Haydn - Piano Concerto in D, No.11, 1st Mvmt (Spotify link tweeted by @iamamro)

This evening:
Haydn - Harpsichord (Piano) Concerto in D, No.11
Haydn - Harpsichord & Violin Concerto
Haydn - Hornsignal Symphony

The Haydn disc from this evening has a bit of a story attached. I bought it many years ago, when I was a small 1st year undergrad about to fail some exams fairly spectacularly (I came bottom of the school & got the record for the lowest mark ever, simply by sitting for most of the exam doing absolutely nothing).
Highly stressed & wondering what to do about it, I wondered into the classical bit of HMV on Cornmarket, and there was this most wonderful music playing. I instantly started to feel better, so simply walked up to the counter and said "Whatever this is that's on, I'll buy it". Fortunately for my bank manager's blood pressure it was a budget CD and not a complete works box set!
It was my constant listening for the rest of term & I know it rather well. In fact, I can still smell my college room whenever I listen to it!
The spotify link put me onto it, and it's on repeat for the rest of the evening!

Tuesday 6th October 2009

More live music for the ears today!

At home in the morning:
Sibelius - Symphonies 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, Violin Concerto, The Oceanides

In the car, on the way to & from a gig:
Passion Pit - Manners
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos
White Lies - To Lose My Life
Little Boots - Hands

At the gig, sets by:
Candle Thieves
The Molotovs
The Boxer Rebellion

I wasn't actually feeling terribly well and very nearly didn't go to the gig. Jolly glad I did go though. Candle Thieves were really fab (including duetting glockenspiels, sparklers, teddy bears, multi-tasking like you've never seen, and rather lovely music too). The Molotovs were on great form (3rd time we've seen them), and The Boxer Rebellion just get better and better (7th time we've seen them). They did a fabulous set, with loads of favourites. The crowd were amazing, we were right at the front. It was truly a gig to remember. Glad I was able to go.

Monday 5th October 2009

Today's Ears!

In the car:
Muse - The Resistance

At home:
Bach - B Minor Mass
White Denim - Fits
Beethoven - String Quartets Op.59, 1-3, Op.74, Op.127, Op.131, Op.132

That's it!

Sunday 4th October 2009

Today's ears!

Schubert - Wanderer Fantasie
Schumann - Fantasie Op.17
Mahler - Symphony No.2
Faure - Requiem & Cantique de Jean Racine
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas 2, 26 & 32
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.1 & Swan Lake Suite

That's it!

Saturday 3rd October 2009

Well, this was a treat day for the ears!

In the morning, at my desk, on the stereo:
Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre

In the car on the way to and from London:
Editors - An End Has a Start
Elbow - Leaders of the Free World
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
Muse - The Resistance

At the Coliseum, live, the most AMAZING production of:
Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre

At home later in the evening:
Brahms - Violin Sonatas 1-3

Comment: I believe Calvin Harris is meant to be uncool, but I like it anyway!
Comment: WOW - an opportunity to see the Ligeti live. I'm going to try, like last week's piano recital, to think of more words to say about this - maybe a blog post on my main blog. Suffice to say for now, it was amazing. I'm quite a fan of Ligeti's music, and the production was pretty wild. Fantastic evening out. The ears were well pleased!!

Friday 2nd October 2009

Well, at long last I've got a new MP3 stick sorted for the car.

On the way to work:
White Lies - To Lose My Life

While walking, on my phone:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

On the way home from work:
Little Boots - Hands

This evening (partly because there's a load of paperwork on top of the CD player which I'd have to move to change the CD - excuses excuses):
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

(I promise I'll change the CD soon)!!

Thursday 1st October 2009

You know when you just get one of those days that it's one thing and one thing only. Well, that's how it was for the ears. One disc, on replay, all day. I do this sort of thing from time to time.

Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto

Sorry if that's a bit tedious dear readers, but it's the truth.

Oh, and 5 minutes each in the car of:
Smetana - String Quartet No.2
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos
(but really only a few minutes of each)!

Bit embarrassing putting up a post like that!

Wednesday 30th September 2009

Today's ears!

In the car on the way to and from work:
Smetana - Ma Vlast
Smetana - String Quartets

On my phone while walking:
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488

At work, on my earphones:
Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre

At home this afternoon:
Beethoven - Piano Concertos No.5 and No.2
Bach - Goldberg Variations

This evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

No comments. That's it!

Tuesday 29th September 2009

In the car on the way to work:
Schubert - Symphonies 1-3

On my phone, while walking:
Bach/Rummel - Various piano transcriptions (see very first post for details).

At a friend's house, on the web:
Blumenfeld - Etude pour la main gauche seule (James Rhodes)

At friend's house, on my phone:
Shostakovich - Symphony No.10/II

On the way home from work:
Chopin - Piano Concerto No.1

This evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

That's it!

Monday 28th September 2009

A more normal day for the ears!

In the car:
Beethoven - Piano Sonata Op.109

At home:
Chopin - Piano Sonata No.2 Op.35
Chopin - Etudes Op.25
Sibelius - Symphony No.2
Sibelius - Symphony No.3
Schumann - Symphonies 1-4
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Quite symphonic & pianistic!

Sunday 27th September 2009

A very quiet day. Just:

Bach - Christmas Oratorio (Parts 4-6).

That was all!

Saturday 26th September 2009

This was a very very special day for the ears!

It started normally enough with:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Handel - Fireworks Music and Water Music

Intermediate comment: Hadn't heard the Schumann for years, which I now realise was because the tape is missing (unfindable even after a lengthy search - if you see it, it has a red spine and the Grieg on the other side, do let me know). Spotify to the rescue. VERY VERY nostalgic.

Then, prompted by a tweet from @iamamro:
Bach - Christmas Oratorio, Parts 1-3

Out of season, very unusual choice for September, but the tweet meant that I had to do it.

Then, in the car:
Blur - Midlife (end of)
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (about half of)

And then the real treat of the day, James Rhodes, live at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill.
Marcello arr. JSB - Adagio from Oboe Concerto in D Minor
Beethoven - Sonata No.30 Op.109
Moszkowski - Etincelles
Blumenfeld - Etude pour la main gauche seule
Chopin - Polonaise-Fantasie Op.61
Chopin - Etude Op.25/12
Chopin - Ballade No.4 Op.52
And then (if my memory serves me correctly):
Chopin - 2 songs, sung by Natalia Romaniw
Bellini - from La Somnambula, again sung by Natalia Romaniw
Chopin - Last mvmt from Sonata No.3
Chopin - Prelude Op.28/4 (may have been before Sonata).
Groovy version of "alla turca" rondo

I've spent the last 3 days trying to think of something to say about such an amazing gig, and have so far failed. I may think of words later. I'll keep you posted.

On the way home in the car, I couldn't go back to Muse, yet couldn't cope with silence while trying to stay awake on the M40, so we had:
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas Opp81a-109 (quite softly).

Friday 25th September 2009

And here are the ears for Friday!

In the car on the way to work:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

On my phone while walking:
Beethoven - Spring Sonata

In the car on the way home from work:
Blur - Midlife

In the evening:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto

Thursday 24th September 2009

Here are the ears!

On a few short car journeys the beginning of:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

At home:
New Order - Substance 1987 (disc 1)
Scarlatti - Sonatas Kk 49-80, 82-87, 92-93
Miklos Rozsa - Viola Concerto Op.37, Hungarian Serenade Op.25
The Molotovs - And The Heads Did Roll (bought at gig previous night)
Passion Pit - Manners

Later, from Spotify:
Beethoven - Overtures: Coriolan, Prometheus, Ruins of Athens, Fidelio, Leonore x3, Egmont.

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

A slightly late posting of Wednesday's ears - hopefully better late than never!

In the car on the way to work:
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Reverend & The Makers - The State of Things

On my phone while walking:
Britten - Death in Venice (latter part of Act I)

In the car on the way to Boxer Rebellion Gig:
The Boxer Rebellion - Union
Pendulum - In Silico

At the gig:
Sets by support bands Broken Links and The Molotovs
Set by The Boxer Rebellion:
These Walls Are Thin
Flight
Semi-Automatic
Evacuate
We Have This Place Surrounded
Cowboys & Engines
Soviets
Flashing Red Light Means Go
Both Sides Are Even (NEW!!)
Forces
Misplaced
The New Heavy
Watermelon

Great evening!!!

On the way home in the car:
Radiohead - Best Of
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid

Tuesday 22nd September 2009

In the car on the way to work:
Green Day - American Idiot

On my phone while walking:
Britten - Death in Venice (Act I)

On the way home from work:
Bartok - String Quartets 1 & 3

This afternoon & evening:
Scarlatti - Sonatas Kk1-48

That's all folks!

Monday 21st September 2009

Sorry folks, yet another late post. Struggling a bit to keep up with my own ears at the moment!!

Went for a day out in London. On the way there and back in the car we had:
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
Bloc Party - Intimacy

On getting home I listened to:
Brahms - Violin Sonatas 1-3

Also heard all sorts of snippets in shops and so on!

Sunday 20th September 2009

Today's ears are rather few - too much time asleep on the sofa!

Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Coldplay - X&Y
Muse - The Resistance

Now ending the day with:
Bach - Cantatas No.140 and No.80

That's all for today!

Saturday 19th September 2009

Here are today's ears, all at home in my study:

Beethoven - Diabelli Variations
Mozart - Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail
Mozart - Symphonies No.39 & No.29
Faure - Requiem
Shostakovich - Symphony No.4 (promted by tweet from @5357311)

That's it! Quite a short post really.

Friday 18th September 2009

A little late, but here are yesterday's ears!

In the car on the way to work:
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto, Bassoon Concerto, Oboe Concerto.

On my phone, while walking:
Dvorak - Symphony No.6

On the way home from work:
Schubert - Piano Trio D898

At home in the evening:
Nirvana - Nirvana

Later:
Mozart - Quintet for Piano & Wind K452 (recommended by @iamamro)

Comment: Dvorak's 6th Symphony. This is a great one for me, because I played it with an orchestra I used to be in (and was chairman of for a while), when I was in a particularly happy and stable state. One of the few times in my life where my income was almost enough to cover my expenditure, I had a rewarding job during the day, and a decent social & musical life outside of work time. Consequently, it's a very happy sort of a piece for me. Although the stability didn't last, the associations of that time with Dvorak 6 are still very much with me, which is, I think, why I keep it on my phone.

Thursday 17th September 2009

Here are today's ears!

In the car:
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto (1st Movement)

At home this morning, while demolishing my study:
Mozart - Flute Quartets in D, A, C and G, Sinfonia Concertante in Eb K279B
Mozart - Flute Concertos in G & D, Concerto for Flute & Harp
Handel - Music for the Fireworks, Water Music Suites 1 & 2
Schubert - String Quintet (several times)

This afternoon, on repeat, zillions of times:
Muse - The Resistance

I should imagine the Muse will be on until bedtime, so I can safely post this now!

Wednesday 16th September 2009

Here are today's ears!

In the car on the way to work:
Mozart - C Minor mass (nearly all)

At work, on youtube, tweeted about by @MMmusing:
Beethoven - Cello Sonata No.3, 1st mvmt (Ma & Ax)

During my walk - on my phone:
The Boxer Rebellion - Union

On the way home in the car:
Mozart - C Minor mass (end)
Mozart - Linz Symphony

At home:
Mozart - Flute Concertos in G, D. Andante in C, Flute & Harp Concerto

In an early bath:
Bach - St Matthew Passion (first 30 mins or so)

On Spotify following tweet & fb recommendation by @iamamro:
Vivaldi - Concerto for 2 trumpets in C Major RV537
Vivaldi - Concerto in Bb RV548
Vivaldi - Concertos Op.8 No.s 5 onwards.

Apologies for the lack of comments on ears recently. Been a bit busy, so just keeping up with what I've listened to has been all I've managed. Will try to return to slightly more interesting posts soon.

Tuesday 15th September 2009

In the car on the way to and from work:

Haydn - Symphonies No.103 and 104
Mozart - Piano Sonata K457
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488

During my walk, on my phone:
Schubert - String Quintet Movements 1&2

Back home:
Schubert - String Quintet Complete (several times)

That's it!

Monday 14th September 2009

Ears for today!

In the car while on wife taxi duty:
Haydn - Symphony No.102

At home, while failing miserably to get maths done:
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (Norrington, LCP)
Schumann - Liederkreis Op.39, Frauenliebe und Leben Op.42 (Felicity Lott)
Schubert - Winterreise & Erlkonig (Fischer-Dieskau)
Berlioz - Harold in Italy, Rob Roy, Corsair overtures
Sibelius - Symphony No.2, Pohjola's Daughter, Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkainen's Return
Sibelius - Violin Concerto, Finlandia, Tapiola, Symphony No.7

So songs, Berlioz and Sibelius then!!

Sunday 13th September 2009

A very quiet day today. Lots of snoozing and TV, so not much music. Just:

Handel - Fireworks Music, Water Music (both suites)
Beethoven - Piano Concertos No.5 and No.2

Did listen to the Handel several times, and the Beethoven's on for the second time now, but that's it I'm afraid!!!

Saturday 12th September 2009

The day started off with another online playing of:
Muse - The Resistance

Then continued with the whole of:
Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre

Then:
Scriabin - Symphony No.1

This evening:
The Last Night of The Proms
Oliver Knussen - Flourish with Fireworks
Purcell, arr. Henry Wood - New Suite
Purcell Dido and Aeneas – 'Thy hand, Belinda ... When I am laid in earth' (Dido's Lament); 'With drooping wings ye cupids come'
Haydn - Trumpet Concerto in E flat major
Mahler - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Villa-Lobos - Chôros No.10, 'Rasga o Coração'
Arnold - A Grand, Grand Overture
Ketèlbey - In a Monastery Garden
Piazzolla - Libertango
Gershwin, arr. Barry Forgie - Shall We Dance'They can't take that away from me'
BBC Proms Inspire composers Fireworks Fanfares world premiere
Handel - Music for the Royal Fireworks – excerpts
Arne, arr. Sargent - Rule, Britannia!
Parry - Jerusalem
Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No.1
The National Anthem

If I have music in the bath a bit later on it will be:
Bach - St Matthew Passion

Friday 11th September 2009

And now to today's ears.

In the car today going to and from work:
Handel - Acis & Galatea (end of)
Haydn - Harpsichord Concerto in D
Haydn - 'Hornsignal' Symphony
Haydn - 'Clock' Symphony

At work, from their facebook link:
Muse - The Resistance (first full hearing)

This evening:
Mozart - Church Sonatas (complete)
Beethoven - Choral Fantasia

Comments:
1. MUSE - LOVE IT. WANT IT. MONDAY!!!!!
2. Beethoven's Choral Fantasia is a crazy mixed up animal, but I love it anyway!

Thursday 10th September 2009

Hello, here are the ears for yesterday!

In the car, bits of:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

At home:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Bach - Cantatas BWV 140 and BWV 80
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10

In the evening, in the bath:
Bach - St Matthew Passion

A much shorter day than the 9th!!

Wednesday 9th September 2009

Well dear followers and readers of the ears, it has been a bit of a special day today!

The more numberly orientated of you will have noticed that today's date is 09/09/09, and a few weeks ago @DrGeoduck tweeted something along the lines of "Who's going to listen to nine ninth symphonies on 09/09/09?" So I thought I would. I believe several other tweeps were doing so too, including @Danksound, @MahlerFan2 and possibly @Wheresrunnicles.

Most of this post will therefore be about the ninth symphonies!

However, in the car I've heard snippets of:
Handel - Acis & Galatea.

Now to the nine ninth symphonies. They were:
Beethoven - in D minor Op.125 - Berlin Phil, Herbert von Karajan
Vaughan Williams - in E Minor - RLPO, Vernon Handley
Mozart - in C Major K.73 - Northern Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas Ward
Bruckner - in D minor - BBC Phil, Bernhard Klee
Schubert - in C D944 - LPO, Adrian Boult
Malcolm Arnold - Op.128 - National Symph Orch of Ireland, Andrew Penny
Shostakovich - in Eb Major Op.70 - WDR Sinfonieorchester, Rudolf Barshai
Mahler - Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Leonard Bernstein
Dvorak - Op.95 - Berliner Philharmonkier, Rafael Kubelik

And that was the order in which I listened to them. An order selected partly on familiarity - interspersing works with which I was very familiar (Schubert the most familiar of all - my little brother even used to rock his high chair to it when we were very small, and Malcolm Arnold the least familiar - my first ever hearing), and partly on trying to get contrasting works next to each other - the briefer works being generally juxtaposed against the weightier ones. I started with Beethoven because I knew I'd be missing my morningly Triple Concerto, and ended with Dvorak because I love it!

On the grounds that they were all "Symphony No.9", and because people may be interested, I decided to say which recordings they were. In general, I'm afraid, I choose my recordings often on the basis of price, because I simply can't afford to get all the expensive ones. Nor, generally do I own multiple recordings of very many pieces - if I'm to own a second recording of one piece, it often means there is something else I can't have at all, so multiple recordings come at the expense of more repertoire, and I generally go for more repertoire. In these days of Spotify and so on I do get chance to hear more recordings, so that's an improvement, but being a recording afficionado will have to wait until I have a little more spending money!!

In addition, I left the CDs on after some of the symphonies and heard:
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Greensleeves (played an arrangement for grade 5 viola!)
Mozart - Symphony No.10
Shostakovich - Symphony No.10

It was quite some experience listening to that much symphonic music, and quite so much "heavy romantic" music. So the ears then had a little rest!

To finish the day I moved onto something a little different:
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World (recommended by @iamamro)
About 6 further tracks from the Album Louis Armstrong & Friends (on Spotify)

Early evening:
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (with the extra bonus disc)

Really a very interesting way to have selected a day's listening. I'm wondering about possibilities for the future. Maybe listening to all the Op.1s I can get my hands on on New Year's day or some such. I'll keep you posted if I come up with anything jolly!

In the meantime, I thought today's little adventure merited a photograph:

Tuesday 8th September 2009

After yesterday's mammoth typing effort I've tried to listen to longer pieces today!

In the car, the opening of:
Handel - Acis & Galatea

At home:
Handel - Acis & Galatea (complete)
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Wagner - Lohengrin (yes, all of it)
Mendelssohn - Elijah
Beethoven - Piano Concertos 5 & 2

I've got TV on at the moment, but if I listen to more music tonight it'll probably be the Beethoven Piano Concertos again. Unlikely though.

Watch out for tomorrow's post - should be a special one for 09/09/09!

Monday 7th September 2009

Hello, here are today's ears!

Car music today:
Handel - Nisi Dominus

Home music today:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto (did you guess?)
Brahms - Double Concerto
Beethoven - Symphony No.3
Beethoven - Grosse Fuge (orchestrated)

Then a couple of old tape compilations that I happened to locate:
One I called "Music for Warm Afternoons"
Brahms - 1st mvmt of vln sonata No.1
Schubert - 2nd mvmt of string quintet
Brahms - 2nd mvmt of vln concerto
Haydn - 4th mvmt of symphony 31
Chopin - E Major prelude Op.28
Brahms - slow mvmt from Op.18 sextet
Tchaikovsky - slow mvmt from symphony 1
Schubert - 2nd mvmt D959 piano sonata
Beethoven - slow mvmt Symphony 7
Villa-Lobos - Aria Bachiana Brasiliera 5

The other I called "Slow Music for Wistful Moods"
Wagner - Prelude to Lohengrin
Mendelssohn - Op.44 No.3 slow mvmt
Liszt - Consolation No.3
Brahms - Symphony No.1 slow mvmt
Taverner - O Wilhelme Pastor Bone
Mozart - Linz symphony slow mvmt
Britten - Phaedrus dialogue from Death in Venice
Brahms - Funeral Hymn
Haydn - Op.76 No.5 slow mvmt
Beethoven - Slow mvmt from Pathetique sonata
Mozart - Slow mvmt from Gran Partita
Bruch - Kol Nidre (played by Huberman)
Pergolesi - Quando Corpus from Stabat Mater
Schumann - Dichterliebe no.s 10 & 12
Mozart - Masonic Funeral Music

Crumbs, that was rather more typing than I bargained for!

Then:
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6, Romeo & Juliet Overture, Symphony No.5, Capriccio Italien

The compilations both date from 1995. I used to be very keen on making such things. These days I tend to listen to whole works and don't really do odd movements in quite the way I used to. However, most of those pieces (even just the isolated movements) are such favourites of mine. I also find it quite interesting to know what I was listening to back then. These compilations are on cassette, so it would have taken me a bit of time to make them. I've also written every track on the outside of the box, which would have taken even longer.

Sunday 6th September 2009

Here are today's ears.

First thing this morning:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto (yes, I KNOW you've had this before)
Brahms - Double Concerto

Then:
Beethoven - String Quartets Op.18 No.1, Op.59 No.1, Op.18 No.2, Op.18 No.6, Op.135, Op.18 No.3, Op.18 No.5, Op.95.
Apparently random order created by the way they've been arranged on my CD box set (Alban Berg Quartett). A bit bonkers I know.

This evening:
Schubert - Trout Quintet (and if I'm here late enough I'll get Death & The Maiden too).

Fairly simple apart from the crazy Beethoven quartet ordering. Must do something about that.

Saturday 5th September 2009

Finally, doing the ears on the correct day!

At home all day today. Started off with:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto (is this getting familiar?)
Brahms - Double Concerto

Then, prompted by a bunch of tweets last night from @wheresrunnicles, @_FK_, @Cigleris
Bach - The Art of Fugue (Walcha)
Bach - 18 Chorales of Diverse Kinds, Schubler Chorales, Chorale Partita "Sei gegrusset"

Then the prom broadcast on BBC2:
Purcell - Abdelazer suite: No.1 Overture; No.5 Minuett ; No.3 Aire (in D major); No.8 Hornpipe; No.4 Aire (in G major); No.2 Rondeau
Handel - Water Music Suite No.2 in D major - 1) Allegro; 2) Hornpipe; 3) Minuet; 4) Lentement; 5) Bourree
Haydn - Scena di Berenice
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.3 in A minor, 'Scottish'

Then, following from the Mendelssohn:
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 'Italian'

This evening:
The Beatles - Abbey Road

Quite a good day for the ears I'd say!

Friday 4th September 2009

Another day that's late, but I'm getting there!

In the car on the way to work:
Vivaldi - Concertos for Viola d'Amore & Lute, Mandolin, 2 Mandolins, Various things in C Major
Bach - Opening of Easter Oratorio

In the car on the way home from work:
Bach - Rest of Easter Oratorio
Handel - Dixit Dominus (to which I sang loudly because the traffic was slow & I was bored)

At home:
Handel - Chandos Anthems No.4, 5 and 6 (still feeling Handelian)

Then:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto (a bit keen on that at the moment)
Brahms - Double Concerto (on the same disc as the Triple)

Relatively straightforward day really. Should have been able to type it up last night, but somehow didn't manage it. At least I'm caught up now.

Comment: There's quite a lot going on in my life at the moment. I'm finding I'm reaching for old familiar music that I've known and loved for many years. Much of this is Baroque (my Mum is a bit of a Baroque music fan, so I grew up with lots of Handel, Bach, Corelli and stuff around).
One of the things that is interesting (well, I'm finding it interesting anyway, you're probably a bit confused by it), is the variation in what I listen to. Last weekend was all about Reading and Radiohead and so on, now I seem to have stepped back in time several hundred years.

Thursday 3rd September 2009

Finally, I'm going to try to catch up on the ears. So sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. Now digging into memories and gathering up assorted post-it notes and CD boxes.

In the car:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Back home, at my desk:
Schubert - Piano Sonatas, D959, D784, D157 (as before)
Haydn - Both Cello Concertos on Spotify (tweeted by @iamamro)
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Schubert - Trout Quintet
Schubert - Symphonies No.8 and No.9

In the car on the way to @inlight gig:
Corelli - Concerti Grossi Op.6 No.s 9-11

At the Jericho Tavern in Oxford (Live), sets by:
Alphabet Backwards (solo)
Inlight
The Family Machine

On the way home in the car:
Corelli - Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.12
Vivaldi - Lute Concerto

Comments:
1. Inlight were FAB, they did some new stuff, which was great. It was also great to be at the gig and meet up with a whole bunch of people I'd only previously known on Twitter. We've heard Inlight several times now & enjoy their stuff every time.
2. Schubert's Trout is one of my all-time faves. I pinched my Mother's cassette of it when I was about 12 and have been in love with it ever since. It was a total bonus for me when it was one of my set works to study for O-Level music. Bliss - at school, listening to Schubert in lessons. They call this work? I don't think so. I never thought so at college either when studying things such as Beethoven Piano sonatas in analysis classes. Never felt like work. Those were the days.

Wednesday 2nd September 2009

Hello! Here are today's ears.

In the car, for a couple of short trips to the bus stop and back:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (first few tracks).

Other than that, all listening has been at my desk, in my study. It has been a day devoted to music for the piano. Just the piano.

Chopin - Ballades 1-4, Scherzi Opp.20 & 31 (Rubinstein)
Beethoven - Sonatas 2, 26, 32 (Garrick Ohlsson)
Bach, Beethoven, Chopin etc. - razor blades, little pills, big pianos as previously described (James Rhodes)
Brahms - Opp.116, 117, 118, 119, 79, 76, 24, 35 (Fantasias, Intermezzi, Rhapsodies, Variations on Handel & Paganini etc) (Kovacevich etc on Philips)
Schubert - Sonatas D959, 784, 157 (Lupu)

Highlights:
Last movement of Beethoven Op.111
Bach Chaconne from razor blades...
Brahms Pieces Op.119
Schubert - slow mvmt from D959

For some reason it has been that sort of day. The sort of day where I want to comment about it all, but words are woefully inadequate. The slow movement of the Schubert is a particular favourite of mine. I love that sonata SO SO much. That is all for tonight. If I listen to anything more it will be the Schubert disc again - it's still playing now in any case.

Tuesday 1st September 2009

Hello there! Here are today's ears.

On the way to work in the car:
Pendulum - In Silico

At work on the computer:
Ben Folds - Not the Same (from This Reality Podcast)

Then, irresistibly drawn back to:
Radiohead - Reading coverage from BBC3 on iPlayer (twice)

Walk music, on phone:
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Then more from Reading:
Kaiser Chiefs
Little Boots

On the way home in the car:
Radiohead - Best of

At home:
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas No.2, 26, 32 (Garrick Ohlsson, recommended by James Rhodes - an excellent choice I might say, especially Op.111 which is fantastic & very moving).

Then a bit later, more from Reading:
Arctic Monkeys

And, prompted by tweets from @5357311 and @PianoGeek
Webern - Variations for Piano

Comments:
1. I had decided that after Reading I would stop constantly listening to Radiohead (you may have noticed that I've been working through their albums for a little while), and have a break. However, they've got inside my head and I can't get rid. I also have a load of really happy smiling memories from Sunday night, so they've become even better now! Hmmm! Might be another day or so before I can move on.
2. First met Webern in 2nd year at College. Couldn't make head nor tail of him. However, he's like olives. When I had my first olive I thought it was revolting, but after a couple of years of eating the little black & green things I decided I didn't mind them too much. 10 years later & I actually seek them out and enjoy them. Webern's a bit like that. Gone from WTF is that noise? to not unpleasant, and now, many years later, finally reached the stage where I actually listen & enjoy. He'll never be like Beethoven to me, but then olives will never be fillet steak either!

Monday 31st August 2009

Very few ears today. Really just a musical hangover from yesterday, since I slept for rather a lot of the day.

Twice through, BBC3's coverage of Radiohead and others on the BBC iPlayer.

Is this the sparsest day of the year for the ears so far? Mind you, they had so much yesterday that a quieter day for them today was probably inevitable!

Sunday 30th August 2009

Dear followers of the Ears! Sorry this post is late, but you'll probably understand why in a minute!

The ears started innocently enough with a CD of Purcell harpsichord music "The Purcell Manuscript". This is a recording made from a manuscript believed to have been written by Purcell that was discovered when I was in my final year of my BMus. Curtis, our professor, was working on it and incorporated it into our final year coursework. I did quite a lot of stuff on it for him and he gave me the CD as a thanks :)

Then we got into the car and headed off for something completely different. In the car:
Radiohead - In Rainbows

READING FESTIVAL
Here's what we heard:
Noah & The Whale - Main Stage - felt like where we'd left off at Y-Not (1 August).
Lethal Bizzle - NME Stage - Well cool, I'm surprised by how much I like Urban stuff, but I do.
The Living End - Main Stage - Pretty good guitar band.
The Joy Formidable - Festival Republic Stage - Brilliant. Great stuff!
The View - Main Stage - also pretty good.
Frontiers - BBC Introducing Stage - V. young Nottingham band. Friends of Rugosa Nevada, who we saw at Y-Not
Brand New - Main Stage - quite good, but we were a bit hungry so wandered off for food!
Passion Pit - NME Stage - WOW, well cool, excellent new discovery! Fun & summery.
Vampire Weekend - Main Stage - I really enjoyed. People took clothes off - yes, really! All very rock & roll.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Main Stage - Faster numbers were ace, saw about 2/3 of the set.
Lady Sovereign - Dance Tent - Refreshing change after lots of guitar bands. More stripping - a man stood on the top of the tent with no clothes on, dancing. I raised my eyebrows politely!
Bloc Party - Main Stage - AWESOME. Fabulous. Great energy, brilliant set, enhanced by Kele's stunning physique!
The Living Daylights - BBC Introducing Stage - Loud & guitary, great synchro strumming action.
Radiohead - Main Stage - What can I say? Setlist available here. Amazing, such an experience. These guys are just incredible. Words fail me. 'Twas historic!

Since the Wonderspouse & I don't do camping, we returned home very late last night (well actually this morning), hence the lateness of this post. Still feeling pretty tired, but it was very well worth it!

Ooops, had to go in and edit this post. We also had music on in the car on the way home.
Reverend & The Makers - The State of Things (end)
The Boxer Rebellion - Union (complete)
Pendulum - In Silico (beginning)

Saturday 29th August 2009

Been a bit of a mixed day for the ears today! Maybe that's true every day, but I jumped back a LONG way in time in the middle of today!

This morning:
Kasabian - CD of Where Did All The Love Go along with a remix of Vlad The Impaler (arrived in the post this morning along with a SIGNED poster - YAY). Sorry - I get a bit excited about Kasabian!

To celebrate, I then listened to all of:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.

Then we went shopping, and in the car had:
Radiohead - Amnesiac

I succumbed to a very cheap CD in Tesco, which I played when I got home:
Calvin Harris - I Created Disco (uncool I know, but...)

Then we watched the TV for a bit, and I caught a tiny bit of a prog. on Sacred Music, which I've already seen (a friend taped it for me when it was on BBC4 since we don't have digital) and is spooky because it is full of my old tutors from college being interviewed. But it prompted me to listen to:

Perotin - Viderunt omnes, Veni creator spiritus, etc. etc. See here for details!

I actually had the Perotin disc on several times.

Finally, I caught the end of the Prom on BBC2 tonight:
Mahler - Symphony No.4 (last movement - the rest is videoed for future watching).

That's it for today's ears. Calvin Harris to Perotin - my biggest temporal leap yet I think!!!

Friday 28th August 2009

Here are today's ears!

Music in the car today:
Radiohead - OK Computer & Kid A

On my phone while walking:
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Snippets while at my friend's house:
Prokofiev - Overture on Hebrew Themes
Bach - Allemande from French Suite (James Rhodes on YouTube)

Snippets of BBC3 coverage of Reading Festival on Web:
Little Boots - Remedy
Kaiser Chiefs

That's it. Already had an early, and today, musicless bath!

Thursday 27th August 2009

Here are the ears!

In the car today:
Radiohead - The Bends

At my desk:
Bruckner - Symphony No.4
David Fanshawe - African Sanctus
Mendelssohn - Octet
Beethoven - Septet
Blur - All the People (Live at Hyde Park July 2009)

Planned for the bath:
Schoenberg - Verklaerte Nacht

Comments:
1. I'd forgotten how lovely that Bruckner is. I always forget how very much I do like Bruckner. Mental note - listen to more Bruckner!

2. Hadn't listened to the Fanshawe for YEARS. I have it because I had to teach it when I was in charge of the Music International Baccalaureat programme in my first teaching job. Couldn't make head nor tail of it then. Makes more sense to me now that I have a much broader perspective on music in general, but I don't think I'll ever be in love with it. Quite like the description though:
For African tapes, choir, operatic soprano, light soprano, shouter, African drummer, rock drummer, two percussion, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, and Hammond M. 100 organ.

"Shouter" eh? What on earth I managed to teach my students I'll never know! I did however, get to go to a local private school for a day to see what they were doing with IB music there - fascinating, but mainly because I'd never been in a private school before and I was staggered to discover they had TWO school orchestras! Wow!

3. Today's recording of the Octet was the Vienna Octet one, which is my fave (yesterday was Hausmusik). I don't generally make much of which recordings I listen to because I cannot generally afford to own more than one (I'd usually prefer own more music, rather than more recordings of stuff I already have, unless the performance is TERRIBLE), and I've nearly always had to just go with what's cheapest! However, as I used to be a Mendelssohn scholar (yes, really!!), he is the composer for whom I'm most likely to own multiple recordings.

Wednesday 26th August 2009

Here are today's ears!

In the car on the way to and from work:
Radiohead - Pablo Honey, My Iron Lung, The Bends

While walking:
Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture, String Quintet Op.18 Mvmts 1&2

Once home:
Mendelssohn - String Quintet Op.18 Mvmts 3&4, Octet
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Locatelli - L'Arte del Violino Op.3 No.2 & No.1

Planned for the bath:
Berlioz - Grand Messe de Mortes (from just after Rex Tremendae onwards).

That's it really!

Tuesday 25th August 2009

Well, here are today's ears:

In the car, on the way to and from work:
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas from Op.81a to Op.109 (and all in between)

At work on the iPlayer (BBC Prom given by @londonsymphony):
Schnittke - Nagasaki
Shostakovich - Symphony No.8

While walking, from my phone music library:
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (finished at my desk)

From the web:
Muse - 30 second snippets of each track from The Resistance
To The Moon - sample tweeted on twiturn (check out @To_The_Moon for more info)

At home, on Grooveshark:
Az Yet - Last Night (something on TV reminded me of it)
The Field Mice - Sensitive (liking the guitar sound here @5357311)
Primal Scream - Velocity Girl
The Primitives - Stop Killing Me (you tube).

Later:
Radiohead - My Iron Lung

Planned for the bath:
Berlioz - Grande Messe de Morts (following some tweeting with @Cigleris this evening)

Comments - WOW, that was some prom @londonsymphony! I was expecting to love the Shostakovich as it's one of my favourites in any case, but I was also blown away by the Schnittke. Great stuff!

Monday 24th August 2009

Ears for today will go up tomorrow. Too tired tonight. Sorry.

THE NEXT DAY
Sorry about last night - yesterday was a strange day and I crashed with nervous and nauseous exhaustion in the middle of the evening and was unable to post last night. Here's what the ears heard yesterday:

In the morning, at my desk:
Beethoven - The Creatures of Prometheus Op.43, Harnoncourt.

In the car on the way to the Wonderspouse's Granny's Funeral:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
Bloc Party - Intimacy (start)

In the crematorium:
Organ music, which I can't remember - sorry.
Hymns - Amazing Grace, Lord of all Hopefulness (variable speed organ - surreal)
More Organ music - slow mvmt of Dvorak New World Symphony

On the way home in the car:
Bloc Party - Intimacy (end)
Green Day - American Idiot
The Horrors - Primary Colours

Back home at my desk:
Boyce - The Eight Symphonies
Locatelli - L'Arte del Violino Op.3, No.10 and No.11

Nothing in the bath - too tired and felt very ill by that time!

Sunday 23rd August 2009

Oh dear, another terribly sparse day for the ears. Another day sleeping a lot, watching TV (the Grand Prix, detectives and so on), and listening to very little music.

I did however manage to listen to:
Mozart - ALL the horn concertos today. Perennial favourites of mine, all of them. Used to have them on tape when I was little, then when the tape wore out and CDs were invented I bought a CD. Same recording, Gerd Seifert and the Berlin Phil.

On video, while catching up on a few old "Culture Shows", snippets of:
Elbow (with the Halle), Arctic Monkeys, Dead Weather.

In the bath this evening I revived my inner rock chick with:
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Nirvana - Nirvana (beginning of)

In my further defence, when I wasn't asleep, bathing, eating, watching TV, or listening to the meagre offerings listed above, I was playing my viola. There's no way I can keep a practice diary as well as a listening diary, but you may be interested to know that I worked on Bach Cello Suite No.2, the Rebecca Clarke Sonata First Movement, and one bar of Morton Feldman (which comes 3 times), as well as playing through Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata and hammering out rather a lot of diminished sevenths! I stress that this does not hail the start of "A year with my fingers" or some such, but is simply to console those of you who are disappointed by the terribly poor showing on the listening this weekend!

Saturday 22nd August 2009

Well, a fairly minimal day for the ears today, partly because I spent most of the day catching up on sleep! By the time I surfaced today, the morning was almost gone, and once we'd breakfasted and been to the butchers, that was that.

In the car on the way to the butcher and back:
Gary Numan - A bit more "Best of" including "Cars" (fab song)

This afternoon, at my desk:
Mozart - Horn Concertos No.1 and 2

This evening, on TV:
Beethoven - Fidelio (from the Proms)

Planned for bath:
Beethoven - Op.29 String Quintet.

A couple of comments about bath listening.
Last night - I remembered how utterly, heartmeltingly beautiful the second movement of the Emperor concerto is. Truly one of the most amazing things in all of creation. I was too tired to log back into the blog so just tweeted a tweet. It seems I am not alone in my thoughts on this matter.
Tonight - I heard Op.29 on the radio when I was quite small and loved it. At the time I was too young to buy music or have access to decent record shops. I kept the piece of paper with "Beethoven Op.29" written on it for about 10 years before I was eventually able to buy a copy and listen to it again. I never forgot that first hearing though.

Friday 21st August 2009

Well, today has been another exciting day for the ears. Not, in fact, because they have had a particularly exceptional listening day, but because they have been joined by another pair of ears! So, they're now delighting not only in company from @5357311's ears (Listening In - under Listening), but also from @wheresrunnicles's ears (Ears Today). So, I have now also placed a link to @wheresrunnicles's blog in the sidebar! Furthermore, the wonderful #elevensestime Spotify playlist continues to grow. WOW!

So, what have my ears been up to today?

On the way to work in the car:
Santana - The Very best of Santana
(so cool, so chilled, perfect for keeping calm on the way to work, I love the latin rhythms)

At work by earphones on iPlayer:
Proms Chamber music concert:
Mendelssohn: Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op 35 No 1
Bach, transcr Busoni: Chorale Preludes: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme; Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein; Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel.
There was also a Brahms Encore, which I could sing, but can't remember what number it was Op.117 maybe?

Then, following a tweet by @rolytaylor:
R+J - On the Edge of Silver Wood (http://www.last.fm/music/R%252BJ/on+the+edge+of+silver+wood)

On the way home in the car:
Gary Numan - Best of Album
(we saw him live at the Boosh festival last year and he was AWESOME!!! Great memories)

Planned for the Bath:
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 (since I did indeed have no. 4 last night).

Considering it was a busy Friday at work and I was out all afternoon at a friend's house not listening to music, not a bad day for the ears, all things considered.

Thursday 20th August 2009

Hello there! Here are today's ears!

Music for a couple of shortish car journeys today:
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (again)

This morning, at home, I kicked off with:
Pergolesi - Stabat Mater (complete, following yesterday's taste).
Morton Feldman - The Viola in my Life No.s 3 & 4

Then, my new disc from @londonsymphony:
Verdi - Requiem (LSO Live - great performance guys! Fabulous).

Then, following a tweet a while ago by @krashangel:
Schutz - The Christmas Story

and since they were on the same disc set:
Schutz - 6 Double Choir Motets, The Resurrection Story, Motets 'Quid commisisti'

A bit later:
Casting down your pod - tweeted by @skinnermike
Faure - Piano Quartet in C Minor - tweeted about by @jenniferstumm

Then, at long last, the whole of the:
Ukulele Prom!

After that:
Brahms - Serenade No.2, Op.16

And to finish the afternoon (and again this evening):
Haydn - Baryton Trios Nos.88-95

If I have music in the bath, it will be:
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.4 (next thing on the playlist).

I have to say, it has been a fine day for the ears. I particularly enjoyed the Schutz, especially the Double Choir motets - played them at a fine volume, probably disturbing the whole village. Wonder if it is more acceptable to be a music lout with music from the early 1600s! Felt very naughty, but was very fine.