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.

Wednesday 19th August 2009

Evening to those who like to know what the ears have been up to!

Just before I give today's report, the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that there is another blog in the list of "my blogs" on the side bit. Stuart Estell, who you may well know better as @5357311, has been reporting on the activities of his ears - so my ears now have company! How exciting is that then!!

Anyway, time to get down to business now. What have the ears been up to today?

In the car on the way to work:
Bloc Party - Intimacy (last few songs)
Green Day - American Idiot (nearly all of)

At work, very little except:
Pergolesi - Opening of Stabat Mater (blip DJd for me by @Danksound - thank you)

On the way home from work:
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

At home:
Morton Feldman - The Viola in my Life (again - hope I'm not boring you now)

In the bath (early evening):
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.2 and Piano Concerto No.3

I didn't listen to much at work this morning because I'd only just returned after being off sick and needed to catch up on stuff, so it was a bit of a quiet morning.
I also got a new (double) CD in the post today, which I really wanted to listen to but knew I didn't have time to do it justice, so it's a treat lined up for tomorrow's ears! Will report to you in approximately 24 hours - watch this space!!

Tuesday 18th August 2009

Here are today's ears.

Car music for a couple of short journeys:
Bloc Party - Intimacy (continued)

Acting on tweets:
Youtube - Bach Prelude played on ukulele by John King

This morning:
James Rhodes - Razor Blades, Little Pills, Big Pianos (still in the CD player, still fabulous)
J.C. Bach - Sinfonias Opp.18 No.s 2&4, Op.9 No.2, Op.6 No.3
Messaien - Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps
Arvo Part - Fratres (12 cello version), Tabula Rasa

On TV from Channel 4 last night:
Kasabian - various hits in a live show

Then, prompted by tweets:
Beethoven - Triple Concerto
Brahms - Double Concerto
Feldman - The Viola in my Life

Downloaded today:
Kasabian - Where Did All The Love Go

Then back to Messaien with:
Messaien - Couleurs de la cite celeste, Et Exspecto, L'Ascension

Then:
Beethoven - Violin Concerto

This evening:
Prokofiev - Overture on Hebrew Themes

Now:
Ukulele Orchestra Prom - currently Danse Macabre! Will have to leave it in a minute to go to bed, but it's great so I'll catch up on iPlayer!

Quite a busy day for the ears!

Monday 17th August 2009

Righty ho peoples, here are today's ears!

Car music for a couple of very short journeys:
Bloc Party - Intimacy

This morning:
Bax - Viola Sonata, Legend etc. (as yesterday).
Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I

At #elevensestime:
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree (very mellow - to go with coffee?)

Then a little pootling around on Spotify:
Calvin Harris - Disco Heat, Acceptable in the 80s, I'm not Alone
Eric Prydz - Call on Me, Pjanoo

Prompted by a conversation with my tweep @AliceMxx
Rossini - Duet for 2 cats

Downloaded from their site today:
Radiohead - These are my Twisted Words

Then a bit more:
Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II

Early Evening:
Gorillaz - Demon Days

Later, and still going:
James Rhodes - Razor Blades, Little Pills, Big Pianos (Bach French Suite No.5, Beethoven Op.90, Chopin Ballade No.4, Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Moszkowski Etincelles, Bach-Siloti Prelude.

Comments:
1. Slightly embarrassed by the amount I enjoyed the Calvin Harris. Isn't it TERRIBLY uncool to like Calvin Harris? Oh well.
2. James Rhodes is still fabulous & one of the best discs EVER!!!!

Sunday 16th August 2009

Today I have listened to music by composers beginning with B!

Beethoven - Fidelio
Bax - Viola Sonata; Concert Piece for Viola; Legend for Viola; Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola
Britten - String Quartets No.s 1-3; Three Divertimenti; Simple Symphony; Quartettino; Alla Marcia

Short list, but quite a lot of music!

Saturday 15th August 2009

Strange day today. Should have been out at a maths tutorial but wasn't really well enough to go, so thought I'd have a relaxing day. However, that didn't quite work out either. Was not a very happy person all morning (and still not REALLY happy), so no music until mid-afternoon. All out of sorts. Anyway, eventually I did listen to some music - not really sure whether it's made me happier or sadder - sometimes I am SO SAD that I still haven't found a way that I can make a living doing what I love.

Anyway, this blog is not about me, it's about my ears, so here we are.

In the bath this afternoon:
Bach - St Matthew Passion (end).
Mozart - Piano Concertos 1-5

Then at my desk:
Sibelius - Symphony No.2 (simply because it was in the CD player).

This evening on TV:
Handel - Prom with The Sixteen, still going. Seems to be most of:
Solomon - The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Coronation anthem - 'Let thy hand be strengthened'
Semele - excerpts
Coronation anthem - 'My heart is inditing'
Coronation anthem - 'The King shall rejoice'
Motet - Salve Regina
Organ Concerto in F major Op.4 No.4 (original version)
Coronation anthem - 'Zadok the Priest'

Don't expect there'll be anything else tonight. I shall go to sleep with Handel in my head. He's VERY soothing.

Friday 14th August 2009

Hello there lovely ear readers. Here are the ears for today!

In the car on the way to work:
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

During my walk, on phone:
Ligeti - Piano Concerto
Ligeti - Unacc. Choral works: Ejszaka, Reggel, Idegen foldon, Magany, Ket kanon, Matraszentimrei dalok, Papaine.

In the car on the way home from work:
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid

At Home:
Lutoslawski - Symphonic Variations, Overture for Strings, Concerto for Orchestra, Funeral Music, Jeux venetiens, Paganini Variations (and a few more - Naxos Best of Lutoslawski CD).

Also:
Rugosa Nevada - from their myspace page.

This evening:
Sibelius - Symphony Number 2.

Planned for the bath in a short while:
Bach - St Matthew Passion (finished St John last night).

Comments:
Very jolly memories of performing Ligeti Papaine at college choir. Great fun.
Very significant memories of performing Lutoslawski funeral music in an orchestra when I was quite young - had never heard anything like it - was amazed!
I'm liking Elbow more and more.

Thursday 13th August 2009

Well, the ears have had a slightly better day today.

Music in the car has been:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

This morning I had:
Haydn - Baryton Trios, No.s 8-12, 14-17, 19-21, 24

This afternoon:
Sibelius - Symphony No.2, Pohjola's Daughter, Swan of Tuonela, Limminkainen's Return, Finlandia
(several times!!)

Later:
Cara Roxanne - from her Myspace page

And again for the bath tonight it'll be:
Bach - St John Passion

Huge thanks to all those of you taking an interest. And again, particular thanks to @MartinGBEdwards and the #elevensestime crew for their involvement in the project.

Wednesday 12th August 2009

So sorry, I've been in a terrible mood all day, so bad that I've been neglecting to feed the ears properly. They've had to subsist on VERY meagre rations.

In the car, to and from work:
Reverend & The Makers - French Kiss in the Chaos
The Dead Weather - Horehound

At home this afternoon:
Purcell - Dido & Aeneas

I'll probably have the St John Passion again in the bath shortly.

Poor ears. They'll be starving and miserable. Better rations tomorrow.

Tuesday 11th August 2009

Well, it's been quite a day for the ears - they have a further development in their internet life.
First, let's find out what they listened to!

Car on the way to work:
Green Day - American Idiot
The Horrors - Primary Colours

At my desk, on earphones from BBC iPlayer:
Prom 32, Britten Sinfonia
Faure - Dolly Suite (orchestrated)
Mozart - Concerto for 2 Pianos Eb K365
Anna Meredith - Left Light
Lutoslawski - Variations on a theme by Paganini
Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals

On my phone, while walking:
ACDC - Back in Black

In the car on the way home:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

Back home:
Bach - Suite No.2 for solo Cello (arr for viola)
Britten - Elegy for solo Viola
Reger - Suite No.3 in E Minor for solo Viola

Now:
Malcolm Arnold - Little Suites (on Spotify)

Planned for bathtime:
More Bach - St John Passion.

Now, to the other business.

One of my fabulous tweeps, @MartinGBEdwards, suggested that it might be a good idea to start a Spotify playlist for the pieces I listen to and talk about on this blog. I thought this was a fine idea, but mentioned to him that I quite often type up the ears late at night and may struggle to find the time to compile such a playlist (I didn't also say, because it was on Twitter, so I had to be brief, that I have only HAD Spotify for about a week - I've only had broadband for a couple of months and before that listening to any kind of music was impossible as I had a maximum connection speed of 44kbps (on a good day, often it was closer to 7kbps)).

Anyway, @MartinGBEdwards came up with a fabulous and exceptionally generous plan, which was that he would set up a Spotify playlist for the ears, which I and the other #elevensestime crew on Twitter could add to as we found time. So, you will notice a couple of new links on the side of this blog - one is to the playlist (you'll need Spotify to play it, obviously, and it's still under construction) and the other is to the Elevenses Time blog - from where I found the link to the playlist.

All very exciting really. The ears would waggle with joy if they could, but since they're not the waggling sort of ears, they're just having a trip down memory lane with a bit of Malcolm Arnold (we used to play the little Suites A LOT in my town youth orchestra, so I know the viola parts rather well)!!

Monday 10th August 2009

Today's ears!

Car music today:
Green Day - American Idiot

This morning:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Then, a bit of a treat, while at my desk doing admin, the WHOLE of:
Britten - Gloriana
Then:
Purcell - Hail Bright Cecilia, Come Ye Sons of Art, Bell Anthem

Later:
Beethoven - Choral Fantasia, Triple Concerto

Now about to head bathwards with:
Bach - St John Passion

So there you are! Ears are up!

One Month With My Ears!

Well, I can hardly believe that a whole month has elapsed since I started this project. To celebrate, I thought I’d write just a few words about my experience of the project so far. If you’re new to this blog and want to know how it all started, you can find out here!

As with all new projects, I set off with considerable enthusiasm, which lasted about a week and a bit. A few people were obviously looking at my posts, although not many. In the early days I was worried about annoying my tweeps or facebook friends so I didn’t really advertise very much and consequently didn’t get very much traffic. I’ve now settled into a steady tweet once a day, simply telling people that “Ears are up!” and I stick a note on my facebook wall from time to time.

After about 2 weeks, when I was wondering whether it was worth continuing with the project, I had a bit of a breakthrough. The ears got their first follower and their first comment! They now have four lovely followers, and have received a few more comments too. I’ve also had tweets about the project or pieces I’ve listened to, so feel even more encouraged to continue.

So, has the project had any impact on my listening?

Well, yes it has! In an effort to make each day’s listening list just a little bit interesting and balanced, I have listened to a much wider range of music than I might have done before. I’ve been terribly conscious if I have a day when I only listen to classical music or one where I only listen to indie/rock music. I’ve also been trawling through my CDs, and even my cassettes, to find new things to listen to and I’ve rediscovered quite a lot of music I haven’t listened to for some time.

I’ve also started following up recommendations for listening sent to me by my tweeps (as much as time will permit at the moment). In this way, I’m actually starting to discover more and more new music (something which I find very exciting), as well as renewing my acquaintance with old friends.

I’ve also used quite a lot of post-it notes. Remembering the day’s listening is easy enough at home when I can just pile up CD cases by the computer, but when I’m listening in the car or on the iPlayer through earphones at work it gets a bit more difficult. I think I’m pretty much managing to keep track of everything though!

Anyway, I hope those of you that look at my slightly varietous listening lists are enjoying the experience. Feel free to say so below if you are, and thank you so much for bothering to peek into the world of my ears!

Sunday 9th August 2009

OK, here are the ears for today:

This morning, in the car, driving home from the North:
Smetana - Ma Vlast (from where I left it yesterday)
Smetana - String Quartets 1 & 2
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.8
Shostakovich - Symphony No.8

On arrival back home:
Haydn - Baryton Octets
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

So there you are. A bit too tired to comment, sorry!

Saturday 8th August 2009

Apologies for the late publication of this post - I was away from home last night, meeting up with old schoolfriends from a very long time ago!

At home, before departure:
Mozart - Rondo in D Major K382 (on Spotify, following a link from @iamamro)
Haydn - Baryton Trios No.s 1-7

In the car, travelling to the North:
Brahms - Piano Concertos No.1 and No.2
Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites
Smetana - Start of Ma Vlast

And apart from thudding basslines emerging from various clubs & pubs in a rather lively Doncaster, that was it.

Friday 7th August 2009

OK, here are today's ears:

Music in the car today - to and from work:
Reverend & The Makers - A French Kiss in the Chaos
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

On my phone while walking this morning:
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.4

At my friend's house:
Beethoven - Symphony No.4
Berlioz - Te Deum

Faure - Berceuse from Dolly Suite piano duet played by various members of the BBC Proms team on YouTube!

That's it for today. Fairly simple ears really.

Thursday 6th August 2009

Here are today's ears!

Day was largely spent at home, except for a couple of brief excursions in the car for Wonderspouse taxi duties. Car music was:

Saint-Saens - Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso

Playlist at home has been:

Inlight - Fire EP (Fragile, Give Me A Try, Bridges)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (twice)
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Mendelssohn - String Quintet No.1
Mendelssohn - Various Overtures
Schubert - Symphonies 5, 8 and 9
Beethoven - Op.101 1st Mvmt (played by @PianoGeek on his Tumblr blog)
Beethoven - Archduke Trio
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.3
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.4 (just started as I type this, and I will leave going for the bath)

So there you are.
Comments:
1. Check out Inlight (@Inlight on twitter too). Wonderspouse interviewed their frontman last night - he's a deeply lovely & cool person. Knows his wine too :)
2. Pink Floyd - an old fave. Coming to the desert island. Nostalgia & good memories.
3. Mendelssohn Op.18 SQnT - I wrote my M.Mus. thesis on this piece!
4. Schubert Symphonies are gorgeous.
5. Beethoven Piano Concertos are gorgeous - esp No.4, to which I am now listening.
6. I find it amazing that I met @PianoGeek through Twitter, then can look at a video of him playing Beethoven on his Tumblr blog, and, through poor sound quality & all, feel the power of Beethoven & music & stuff coming to me as I sit in my study in England, watching something recorded by a man I've never physically met in a country I've never been to, but somehow, something...
(never try to type something like that after a few glasses of wine. Suffice to say that the whole experience was something on some kind of deep level that isn't the sort of thing I usually admit to, being generally of a cynical disposition. Words are useless anyway, which is why my ears blog about music...)

Wednesday 5th August 2009

Okey dokey, been quite a busy day for the ears today. Off we go:

In the car on the way to work:
Last movement of Haydn Symphony No.104
Monteverdi - 1610 Vespers

At work, on earphones from iPlayer:
Haydn - String Quartet Op.50/4
Britten - String Quartet No.2
(Proms Chamber Music Concert)

While walking:
The Charlatans - You Cross My Path

Then, again on the iPlayer, Early Music Show:
Bach: In dulce Jubilo
Pablo Bruna: Tiento sobre la letania del la Virgen
Ton Koopman (organ)
Handel: Organ Concerto in G minor, HWV289 No 1
Haydn: Keyboard Concerto in C, H XVIII 1
Ton Koopman (organ)
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Louis-Antoine Travenol: Sonata No 3 in D (excerpts)
Michele Mascitti: Sonata No 3 in G minor (excerpt)
Le Tic Toc Choc
(recorded at the York Early Music Festival's Young Artists competition final on 18th July 2009)
Tarquini Merula: La Lusignuola
Sweelinck: Mein junges Leben hat ein End
Anon (14th century): Estampie (Robertsbridge Codex)
Purcelli Abubu
(recorded at the York Early Music Festival's Young Artists competition final on 18th July 2009).

Then, also from the iPlayer, and a Prom:
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto

In the car on the way home:
Saint-Saens - Organ Symphony & Danse Macabre

At home:
Radiohead - Harry Patch song (downloaded today).
Chopin - Ballades, Scherzi Opp 20 & 31
The Boxer Rebellion - Union
Amparito Roca - Brass Band music tweeted about by @Trumpette2
Mozart - Symphony No.29

Quite a busy day for the ears really!

Tuesday 4th August 2009

Today the ears have had a varietous time!

On the way to work in the car:
Nirvana - Nirvana

Listening on my phone while walking:
Deep Purple - The Best Of

On the way home from work in the car:
Haydn - Drumroll Symphony

At home, while doing my accounts:
Schubert - Wanderer Fantasie
Schumann - Fantasie Op.17

Then, on the recommendation of tweep @5357311:
Public Image Limited - Metal Box/Second Edition

In the bath:
Mozart - Piano Sonata K457
Mozart - Piano Concerto K488

Comments:
Was feeling very edgy & a bit hyper when I went for my walk - Deep Purple suited the mood perfectly.

Brain was feeling pretty jumbled & I needed to drive home safely. Haydn is just wonderful in such circumstances. Feels like every note is placed just right, and with each note, a bit more of my brain just gets popped back into a more suitable place. Order, structure, beauty, wonderful.

Schubert & Schumann - long been faves of mine. Lovely disc - Pollini

Public Image Limited - WAHEY. This is cool stuff. Sounds way ahead of its time. I particularly liked the instrumental stuff. Will go back to it again soon I hope for another listen.

Mozart - one of the MP3 players seems to be having a random time - this was just what came. Lovely though, both of them!!

Monday 3rd August 2009

Here are today's ears:

This morning, at home:
Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber
Grieg - Piano Concerto & Peer Gynt Suites
Mozart - C Minor Mass
Mozart - Davidde Penitente

Later:
Reger - Viola Romance, Sonata, & E Minor Suite
Muse - Uprising, on the Web
Gorillaz - Demon Days

Car music today:
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations

A relatively normal sort of day for the ears!

Sunday 2nd August 2009

A much quieter day than Saturday:

In the car on the way home:
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Blur - Midlife

At home:
Blur - Live from Hyde Park 2009
(Newly downloaded, memories of a fantastic day - somehow the crowd noise on the live recording annoys me much less than it usually would because I WAS THERE!!! - it was even more special because I thought I would be too ill to go, but (just) managed to get there and really enjoyed it.)