Gurn's Classical Corner

[mahler10th]

Over the past couple of days I have been listening to some Haydn (in between other stuff).  Haydn is actually quite remarkable, but I'm preaching to the converted in this thread!  There is a lot of feeling in his symphonies, plenty of melody, anger, love, and muiscal logistics.  What I've found is that while he can be perfectly soft and melodical in all the right places, he can also be unaccountably angry!
I'm starting a fuller exploration of the Classical Period with this composer - quite a history too!

[Opus106]

I'm starting a fuller exploration of the Classical Period with this composer - quite a history too!

Have you spent time looking around the Haus?

[Gurn Blanston]

Over the past couple of days I have been listening to some Haydn (in between other stuff).  Haydn is actually quite remarkable, but I'm preaching to the converted in this thread!  There is a lot of feeling in his symphonies, plenty of melody, anger, love, and muiscal logistics.  What I've found is that while he can be perfectly soft and melodical in all the right places, he can also be unaccountably angry!
I'm starting a fuller exploration of the Classical Period with this composer - quite a history too!

Well, John, if you are going to start a survey, there is no better place to start than with Haydn. I've been a fan for years, but when I recently decided to go deeper, I was damn near overwhelmed by the variety of ideas and execution logistics to be found. It is music that I simply don't get tired of since every time I hear a piece I hear it entirely differently. Enjoy, amigo!

[SonicMan46]

Myslivecek, Josef (1737-1781) - this composer has already been discussed in this thread (and also has his own 'short' thread - check the composer index, if interested), so will not review his life, nickname, or relationship to the Mozart family.

But just acquired the disc below (left) - String Quintets w/ a group called Pro arte antiqua Praha (two violas), recorded in Prague in 1996 (birthplace of the composer) on period instruments; liner notes divided into two parts; first a short bio of Myslivecek, and second a short discussion by the first violinist of the historic objectives of the recordings, i.e. trying to re-create the playing practices of the times - not sure about the strings (i.e. gut vs. metal)?  However, this is a wonderful recording, not only because Josef M. could write well for strings, but also the performance and recording are excellent; if you're interested in his 'chamber works' this is a worthwhile consideration.

Also, looking forward to a recent order, i.e. the Wind Works of Myslivecek on CPO - believe that one of our members (likely Harry) has already given this disc a good recommendation - these eastern European composers of this era really had a great talent for string & wind writing - looking forward to this disc! 

 

[SonicMan46]

Yet another composer of this era completely NEW to me, and my first disc:

Titz, Anton (1742-1810) - String Quartets, V.2 w/ the Hoffmeister Quartet - this group obviously has a first volume, and a V.3 is about to be released according to Amazon!  Not sure 'how many' future volumes will become available - chamber music, esp. SQs, seemed to be a major emphasis of this composer.

Titz was German, born in Nuremberg but spent time in Vienna and was befriended by Gluck; Titz was a virtuoso violinist which impacted greatly on his composing.  In 1771, he moved to St. Petersburg, and was employed at the Russian court during the reigns of Catherine the Great and Alexander I.  He seemed to have written a LOT of chamber works (of course w/ emphasis on the violin) - how much more will be discovered & recorded? - my first experience is quite positive! 

[Que]

Myslivecek, Josef (1737-1781) - this composer has already been discussed in this thread (and also has his own 'short' thread - check the composer index, if interested), so will not review his life, nickname, or relationship to the Mozart family.

But just acquired the disc below (left) - String Quintets w/ a group called Pro arte antiqua Praha (two violas), recorded in Prague in 1996 (birthplace of the composer) on period instruments; liner notes divided into two parts; first a short bio of Myslivecek, and second a short discussion by the first violinist of the historic objectives of the recordings, i.e. trying to re-create the playing practices of the times - not sure about the strings (i.e. gut vs. metal)?  However, this is a wonderful recording, not only because Josef M. could write well for strings, but also the performance and recording are excellent; if you're interested in his 'chamber works' this is a worthwhile consideration.

 

Dave, I have by Pro arte antiqua Praha a Dvorak disc and if that is anything to go by, performance must be topnotch! I was very impressed with their way of phrasing and by their warm and and subtle sound. 

Q

[karlhenning]

Nice to see that the truth about Mozart has finally come to light!

[Gurn Blanston]

Although not known for his pianoforte music, Cherubini turns out (not surprisingly) to have been a very fine composer for the keyboard. Despite the difficulty of getting much information about this particular facet of his oeuvre, I nonetheless enjoy the little bit that I do have. One piece is a Capriccio ou Etude for Piano composed in 1789. Unless I'm sadly mistaken (which I admit to having been lately ), in 1789, Luigi was still in Vienna getting educated and building his reputation.

The other works I have I got just recently, on the disk pictured here. It just turned up in a used bin, I was totally unaware that Luigi even composed any sonatas! However, it is a nice disk, and I would place the music in the same time frame as the Capriccio. The booklet is singularly uninformative in any regard, I'm hoping that someone or other here may have run across this or another recording of these 6 little works and can share some knowledge with me/us.




----------------
Listening to:
Francesco Giammarco - Cherubini Sonata #4 in G for Keyboard 2nd mvmt - Rondo: Andantino

[kishnevi]

Speaking of Cherubini, are you familiar with this one?


It's one of those recording I'm not sorry I bought, but which I can't honestly say that you would be missing out on something if you didn't get it.

[Gurn Blanston]

Speaking of Cherubini, are you familiar with this one?


It's one of those recording I'm not sorry I bought, but which I can't honestly say that you would be missing out on something if you didn't get it.

No, I haven't seen that recording before. However, I have 2 complete cycles of the SQ's; Quartetto David on BIS (modern instruments), and Hausmusik London on cpo (period instruments). This is some very fine music, so anyone who hasn't heard it, any of the 3 cycles recommended here would be a good choice. Never a regret.



----------------
Listening to:
Luc Devos \ Sigiswald Kuijken - K 317d 378 Sonata in Bb for Fortepiano & Violin 1st mvmt - Allegro moderato

[Sorin Eushayson]

Speaking of Cherubini, are you familiar with this one?

It's one of those recording I'm not sorry I bought, but which I can't honestly say that you would be missing out on something if you didn't get it.

We reviewed that one over at CMM a while back.  Very exciting performances, better than Hausmusik in that respect, though I'm sad to say they're not on period instruments.

[kishnevi]

No, I haven't seen that recording before. However, I have 2 complete cycles of the SQ's; Quartetto David on BIS (modern instruments), and Hausmusik London on cpo (period instruments). This is some very fine music, so anyone who hasn't heard it, any of the 3 cycles recommended here would be a good choice. Never a regret.



----------------
Listening to:
Luc Devos \ Sigiswald Kuijken - K 317d 378 Sonata in Bb for Fortepiano & Violin 1st mvmt - Allegro moderato

Hmm, that suggests it's due for a new listen. 
I have, btw, also seen (but did not buy) a cycle by the Melos Quartet on Brilliant.

[Gabriel]

Hmm, that suggests it's due for a new listen. 
I have, btw, also seen (but did not buy) a cycle by the Melos Quartet on Brilliant.

And it's brilliant. In general, there are not too many recordings available of Cherubini's music (it is really a shame), but in the case of the string quartets it's possible to choose among some good ones.

Moving to the operatic area, I've noticed that Jérémie Rhorer will conduct Lodoïska this year in Paris. I hope it will be recorded, even if there is already a good recording available (Muti). But even in that case, a big gap will remain, because many of the most important operas haven't been recorded at all (I'm thinking most of all of Démophon, Eliza, Anacréon, Faniska and Ali Baba, unless there are ancient recordings that I'm not aware of).

[Lethevich]

I just finished reading Dittersdorf's autobiography. It is just as enjoyable (though less over-the-top) as Berlioz's memoirs, and along with the usual fun stuff, Dittersdorf offers a lot of interesting points - the biggest being that even in their lifetimes Haydn and Mozart seem to have been considered the most impressive of living composers, and despite there being many others who scarcely have a bad word said against them (Dittersdorf himself, Cherubini, Pleyel, etc), it is indicated that H&M are considered "special" by contemporaries of good taste. It goes against what I had considered about Haydn, which was that much of his music was undiscovered during his lifetime, but the book seems to indicate his chamber music and even masses were reasonably widespread during his lifetime. It also somewhat runs contrary to popular classical music anecdotes offering great composers considering what we now find lesser lights to be the finest they know, and the classical "canon" being a 19th century invention.

[Gurn Blanston]

I just finished reading Dittersdorf's autobiography. It is just as enjoyable (though less over-the-top) as Berlioz's memoirs, and along with the usual fun stuff, Dittersdorf offers a lot of interesting points - the biggest being that even in their lifetimes Haydn and Mozart seem to have been considered the most impressive of living composers, and despite there being many others who scarcely have a bad word said against them (Dittersdorf himself, Cherubini, Pleyel, etc), it is indicated that H&M are considered "special" by contemporaries of good taste. It goes against what I had considered about Haydn, which was that much of his music was undiscovered during his lifetime, but the book seems to indicate his chamber music and even masses were reasonably widespread during his lifetime. It also somewhat runs contrary to popular classical music anecdotes offering great composers considering what we now find lesser lights to be the finest they know, and the classical "canon" being a 19th century invention.

Wow, lot's of things going on in this post, Sara.  

Haydn, from 1765 or so, was famous in Austria (-Hungary) and even as far as Berlin and Paris. The dissension that you may have read about concerning him stemmed from the (already) influential critics of Berlin and Northern Germany in general who were extremely conservative in terms of musical construction and thought that Haydn was a frickin' loony. Haydn attributed their criticism to "they weren't good enough musicians to play my works properly". I'm sure the truth is somewhere between these two extremes.   

Mozart was always recognized by his peers as a genius. The dissension there came from the same faction who thought Haydn was too extreme, believing that Mozart was also OTT; he used unusual rhythms and harmonic chromaticism. The remainder thought he was excellent. Still his fame didn't extend to the common man, it was pretty much connoisseurs only. It wasn't until after his death that he really became well known to all classes. Actually, in that regard I look at him as a victim of historical circumstance. Public concerts were just not done, and the huge growth of Hausmusik didn't get legs until a couple of years after his death. So it goes.

[DavidW]

I just wanted to say that the whole canon thing is not recognizing men of genius (Bach and Monteverdi were also recognized as such, so it extends well before classical era) it's catering to the point of nearly excluding all else.

[Lethevich]

Thanks for the reply

Somewhat related to the thread, I'm spinning a disc of Sammartini's symphonies. Now it's twice that I've been surprised at the invention and fun of these things - reminicent of Boccherini, maybe, but with their own clunky charm.

[DavidW]

Thanks for the reply

Somewhat related to the thread, I'm spinning a disc of Sammartini's symphonies. Now it's twice that I've been surprised at the invention and fun of these things - reminicent of Boccherini, maybe, but with their own clunky charm.

Hey that's not canon dude!   jeje

[Gurn Blanston]

I just wanted to say that the whole canon thing is not recognizing men of genius (Bach and Monteverdi were also recognized as such, so it extends well before classical era) it's catering to the point of nearly excluding all else.

Oh sure, can't argue with that. In the 18th century, music was played when it was fresh and new, and then allowed to fade out as it was replaced with newer music. Rather like music today (damn, I hate to compare it to pop music, but that IS a similarity). "The Canon" really was a 19th century thing in the sense that we recognize it today. You are correct in saying that it isn't really a recognition of men of genius so much as it is an adoption of certain works as "immortal" and others as .... not immortal. Which is why the entire oeuvre of Beethoven, for example, isn't in The Canon.

I personally think the entire concept sucks, but hey, what do I know?  Not like I'm Josquin or someone like that...



----------------
Now playing:
Academy of Ancient Music / Hogwood - Hob 01 007 Symphony in C 1st mvmt - Adagio - Allegro

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks for the reply

Somewhat related to the thread, I'm spinning a disc of Sammartini's symphonies. Now it's twice that I've been surprised at the invention and fun of these things - reminiscent of Boccherini, maybe, but with their own clunky charm.

Yeah, I like Sammartini, I have just the one box of 3 disks of his early string symphonies, but I do quite enjoy them. Nice to feast on precursors now and again...



----------------
Now playing:
Academy of Ancient Music / Hogwood - Hob 01 007 Symphony in C 1st mvmt - Adagio - Allegro