I have a lot of classical music in my collection. There's no way I couldn't, what with the playing piano since age 4 and band and drum corps, etc., etc.
Plus, I just like it. There are pieces that have always spoken to me on such a purely visceral level (the Romantics, in particular, surprise, surprise) like Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, especially the Eighteenth Variation.
Or sticking to Rachmaninoff, the Adagio sostenuto from the Piano Concerto No. 2.
There's Chopin, the Grande Valse Brillante.
Beethoven, Mozart, even Bach and those damnable Fugues and Inventions. (I'm allowed to call them that, I had to learn the suckers. Brilliant to listen to, but OMG, what a pain to learn. I developed a hate/hate relationship with my metronome over those bad boys.)
So lately, I've been back on a classical music kick— Holst's The Planets (and I'm just enough of a snob that it has to be a Leonard Bernstein recording. IMO, he's the only one who does "Jupiter" at the right tempo). And a lot of stuff that's odd to be listening to in the dead of summer: Danse Macabre, Bacchanale, Night on Bald Mountain, Sorcerer's Apprentice...
One would think the Girls in the Basement might be trying to tell me something. What, I'm not sure. But it does make for good listening as I ponder.
(It could just mean that I'm already ready for summer to be over and for fall to arrive, since that's my favorite season, but who knows?)
It could also mean that summer's just begun and that means Drum Corps! Especially since that's the activity that SO SHE DANCES centers around, it's that much more meaningful to me. Every corps always had something unique to offer—the Phantom Regiment was always the "classical corps."
One of my favorite shows of theirs: The 1991 Phantom Regiment
Keep in mind, these are kids, age 14-21/22 who do this all summer, without pay, simply for the love of the music and the activity. It's honestly the only reason I wish I could be a teenager again.
- Music soothes or riles the savage beastie
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fashionista_35- June 13th, 2008
cheerful
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Yeah, the choreographing bug, I've had for a long time. That's usually why I buy music in the first place, is that I can see someone skating to it.
Yes, I love the du Pre recording of Elgar. Someone skated to it once - I think it was Jeffrey Buttle, but I can't remember for certain (oh, you know, now that I think about it, it was definitely Jeffrey Buttle, but he used Yo Yo Ma's version).
My taste in composers jumps around a bit. I love Brahms and Piazzolla, for example. I also pretty universally adore anything Mark O'Connor has composed, particularly his "Fanfare for the Volunteer" and "American Seasons."
Joshua Bell recently finished a 3 year guest artist stint with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, so I've seen him a lot in concert over the past few years. Probably my favorite was his performance of Bruch's Concerto in G Minor (another of my favorites).
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I find I write much faster and better with good classical music! I love Night on Bald Mountain and the Sorcerer's Apprentice when writing suspenseful scenes! My favorite to write to, though, is Pictures at an Exhibition.
I am taking notes on the others you mentioned, so thanks for the suggestions! We probably have them in our collection because my husband buys classical music like crazy, but I know them more by sound than by name.
I am taking notes on the others you mentioned, so thanks for the suggestions! We probably have them in our collection because my husband buys classical music like crazy, but I know them more by sound than by name.
Hee! Or as we always called it in band, "Pictures of an Exhibitionist!"
And yeah, if your husband buys a lot of classical, then you probably do have a lot of them or at least would recognize them.
And yeah, if your husband buys a lot of classical, then you probably do have a lot of them or at least would recognize them.
I just got Black Angels by the Kronos Quartet. Pretty wild.
I'm with you on the classical.
Eva
I'm with you on the classical.
Eva
I'll have to check that out. Every now and again, I'll even pull out Bond—for having impossibly long, toned legs and being absurdly hot, those girls can actually play.
I've been on a Puccini kick, and I feel Boris Gudonov beckoning, it's those weird clanging bells...
I love orchestral adaptations of opera classics. I know, I'm a mutant, but it's a byproduct of having played the music so often without the interference of the voices.
And another reason I love certain pieces of music is my involvement with drum corps. I edited the original post to add a link to the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle corps. What's amazing about corps is that these are kids, aged 14-21/22, who spend the majority of the year learning these programs and the summer, traveling around the country to competitions. And they're not getting paid-- they're simply doing it for the love of the activity.
And another reason I love certain pieces of music is my involvement with drum corps. I edited the original post to add a link to the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle corps. What's amazing about corps is that these are kids, aged 14-21/22, who spend the majority of the year learning these programs and the summer, traveling around the country to competitions. And they're not getting paid-- they're simply doing it for the love of the activity.
I have a lot in my collection as well. Partly because I like classical music, and partly because I skate (and do some figure skating journalism) and I'm always choreographing programs in my head (classical works better for that). I don't get to use the programs in my head, though, because I'm ideally choreographing programs that want more than a single lutz.
What's been coming up a lot on my playlist is:
-Praeludium and Allegro, by Fritz Kreisler, played by Joshua Bell
-Gidon Kremer's _Eight Seasons_ Album, where he plays Vivaldi and Piazzolla. Before I had an MP3 player that CD never left my travelling case.
-Brahms Second Piano Concerto (performed by anyone)
-Edgar Meyer's Violin Concerto, Performed by Hilary Hahn
-and I'm loving the Ahn Trio's new CD, Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac
What's been coming up a lot on my playlist is:
-Praeludium and Allegro, by Fritz Kreisler, played by Joshua Bell
-Gidon Kremer's _Eight Seasons_ Album, where he plays Vivaldi and Piazzolla. Before I had an MP3 player that CD never left my travelling case.
-Brahms Second Piano Concerto (performed by anyone)
-Edgar Meyer's Violin Concerto, Performed by Hilary Hahn
-and I'm loving the Ahn Trio's new CD, Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac
I'm always choreographing too—it's a sickness, isn't it? *G*
Have you ever had a listen to Jacqueline du Pre's recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto? Amazing stuff and so, so dramatic.
(And I love Joshua Bell.)
Have you ever had a listen to Jacqueline du Pre's recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto? Amazing stuff and so, so dramatic.
(And I love Joshua Bell.)
Yeah, the choreographing bug, I've had for a long time. That's usually why I buy music in the first place, is that I can see someone skating to it.
Yes, I love the du Pre recording of Elgar. Someone skated to it once - I think it was Jeffrey Buttle, but I can't remember for certain (oh, you know, now that I think about it, it was definitely Jeffrey Buttle, but he used Yo Yo Ma's version).
My taste in composers jumps around a bit. I love Brahms and Piazzolla, for example. I also pretty universally adore anything Mark O'Connor has composed, particularly his "Fanfare for the Volunteer" and "American Seasons."
Joshua Bell recently finished a 3 year guest artist stint with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, so I've seen him a lot in concert over the past few years. Probably my favorite was his performance of Bruch's Concerto in G Minor (another of my favorites).
I love, love, loooooooove classical music. I listen to that more than anything else.
No Brahms on your list? I come back to him again, and again. Mendelsohn, too, to a lesser extent. I'm also listening a lot to a number of 20th century and contemporary not-pop composers: Edgar Meyer, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Lou Harrison, Wojciech Kilar, Mark O'Connor, Bela Bartok, Alban Berg (love Wozzeck, it just kills me it's so powerful).
Understand your mixed emotions about Bach. You might consider Edgar Meyer's recording of the cello concertos on upright bass though, truly a thing of beauty, and Glenn Gould playing Bach never fails to make me joyful.
Understand your mixed emotions about Bach. You might consider Edgar Meyer's recording of the cello concertos on upright bass though, truly a thing of beauty, and Glenn Gould playing Bach never fails to make me joyful.
Oh, I have Brahms, definitely, but he's not one of the ones I tend to come back to time and again. Same for Mendelsohn.
I love listening to Bach—and the St. Matthew's Passion is one of the most exquisite pieces ever. Right up there with Beethoven's 9th (again, I'm a horrid snob about my Beethoven-- I love hearing the 9th, especially conducted by Bernstein.)
And talking about 20th century composers, have you ever listened to Bernstein's Mass?
Edited at 2008-06-14 09:03 pm (UTC)
I love listening to Bach—and the St. Matthew's Passion is one of the most exquisite pieces ever. Right up there with Beethoven's 9th (again, I'm a horrid snob about my Beethoven-- I love hearing the 9th, especially conducted by Bernstein.)
And talking about 20th century composers, have you ever listened to Bernstein's Mass?
Edited at 2008-06-14 09:03 pm (UTC)
I have listened to Bernstein's Mass - don't love it or hate it. Maybe it was the recording I heard (haven't heard it live)? I don't find him quite as bombastic as Rubinstein, but he leans in that direction for me. I get a bit tired of what I think of as thumpthump music, whether it's classical or rock. Really, I don't need to be beaten about the head; really, I don't. I'd prefer understatement to overstatement.
I've been listening to some Copland, though, which I find stunningly joyful.
I've been listening to some Copland, though, which I find stunningly joyful.
2008-06-13 01:26 pm (UTC)