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Any fans of classical musicl lurking here?

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ryanbrennan		#41	[-]
May 5 12 6:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	FrozenGhost wrote: Thank you, Ryan, for bringing up Hovhaness' Mysterious Mountain. I've been pushing that one on my friends for years, even those not inclined to like classical music. The Mount St. Helens Symphony by the same composer is another good one. Yes, Frozen, I really love "Mysterious Mountain." It's very spiritual, contemplative, and moving. I like the "St. Helens" piece, too, as well as "Celestial Gate" and "And God Created Great Whales."
Liz.stoogeworld		#42	[-]
May 5 12 9:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I enjoy Beethoven. Why don't you do something to help me? The Psycho Ward's Classic Film Reviews - request a film to be reviewed!
blackbiped		#43	[-]
May 6 12 5:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"I have the Christopher Lee-narrated Peter and the Wolf conducted by Yehudy Menuhin which is a real hoot." I have the one narrated by Captain Kangaroo! Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. Porfle's Secret Blog HK and Cult Film News Andersonvision.com
Monstroso Sabroso	Might as well go here... props to Sterling Holloway!	#44	[-]
May 6 12 9:42 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"I consider it dispassionately as a possibility -- not hysterically as a fact." President William Windom
Rapfred		#45	[-]
May 6 12 12:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tip of the hat to TV's Adventures of Superman for turning me on to the classical works of film composer Miklos Rozsa. The 2nd season episode "The Clown Who Cried" boasts a memorable musical cue during a chase scene, namely Movement 7, "Allegro molto agitato e tumultuoso," of Rozsa's "Theme, Variations and Finale." Although m.i.a. from the Adventures of Supey soundtrack CD, it can be heard (and savored) on a Koch Label recording with James Sedares conducting the New Zealand Symphony. Big fan, too, of Borodin's String Quartet No.2, along with his no less rapturous Polovstian Dances, which has long been top of the classical charts for me thanks to Russ Meyer, Howard Keel, John "Tis a priceless introduction to the classics" Williams, and Cy Roth's Fire Maiden dancers. Last Edited By: Rapfred May 6 12 12:59 PM. Edited 2 times.
professor liebstrum		#46	[-]
May 6 12 5:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think there are a lot more people who like some classical music than they realise. So much, as SiBurning, said is lifted, influenced by it. It pops up in adverts all the times etc. And there are TV shows that make it part of the show. Back in the day, I used to enjoy the Inspector Morse series. There was a lot of classical music in that show, the lead character was a fan. I always wished there was a button you could press that would tell you what the music being used was. I've been listening to an audio book this week. Naxos' THE HISTORY OF THE THEATRE, by David Timson. Naxos are/were a cheaper classical music label and they use music from their library to support the tape. There's a track at the end of cassette side 5 that is really preying on me. It sounds like Satie, it might be Copland. Both are listed in the credits on the sleeve , but I've searched the net and can't find the track. The examples on Youtube don't match the track I really like. I hope this thread lasts. It would be nice if other posters could help us out with recommended versions/albums of stuff we'd like to buy. A few year's ago I'd have tried to find out if Deutsche Grammaphon did a version, and if they did, buy that. Today, There's so much about and it's not all good. To kick off, I'd like to ask for recommendations for the best available version of Copland's Appalachian Spring. Hope you can help, Russ Last Edited By: professor liebstrum May 6 12 5:53 PM. Edited 2 times.
SiBurning		#47	[-]
May 6 12 6:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	professor liebstrum wrote: I'd like to ask for recommendations for the best available version of Copland's Appalachian Spring. No such key. Each rendition might have good and bad things about it. Take one of my favorites, Beethoven's 6th Symphony, which I've already mentioned. There's a CD of Leonard Bernstein doing it which is rapturous in feeling, but a mess in terms of timing and precision, and not the cleanest recording. Other orchestras do a brilliant job on clean recordings. But there's also a period orchestra (I've lost the CD) that does the piece on period instruments, and that's worth listening to, even if it lacks something to a modern ear. Or you might have different soloists featured with the same orchestra, and the conductor almost certainly adapts the piece in subtle ways to highlight the soloist. So there's some good reasons to listen to different versions, some of which might be best (in someone's opinion) in some category and not another, though even picking a best at that level is awfully hard. I still have Beethoven's 6th on 3 different CDs, after losing the 4th, and would certainly pick up another. I have an out of print RCA Red Seal "High Performance" CD of Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra that includes Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and El Salón México by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. It's a fabulous orchestra for American works, and an excellent version of Billy the Kid in particular. While out of print, you can still find it new. Not a bad choice. Guide to Resources on CHFB Last Edited By: SiBurning May 6 12 6:16 PM. Edited 2 times.
professor liebstrum		#48	[-]
May 6 12 6:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gee Si, that was quick and I'm already out of my depth. Just looking thru Youtube this Pm to find the track I liked, bought up so much info I didn't understand. Perhaps I shouldn't have said "best". No, I really shoudn't. But I already have an idea of what to look for in a recording of Beethoven's 6th. This is the sort of thing I hope to encourage, Thanks for the post Russ
SiBurning		#49	[-]
May 6 12 6:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	reread. I added a suggested cd Truth is, it's kind of hard to go far wrong with most of Copeland. American music of the Copeland variety is very direct, without the tentativeness you find on some other pieces that make for difficult music. You can pick up pretty much any top American orchestra and be mostly concerned with whether you're getting a 50 year old recording (that's so great, they repro it on CD anyway even if it sounds poor) or a clean modern version. Appalachian isn't as straightforward as Billy the Kid, but it's no Lark Ascending. I'm sure there are better versions of Appalachian Spring than the CD I suggested, but the orchestra never falls apart (there's a lot of slow parts where it's easy for a musician to drift or falter), and it's quite accessible and clean sounding. I really like the Billy the Kid though. I don't have a better suggestion, so you might want to keep looking. Then again, I just put it on again, and they are rather slow to get started. Maybe you should find a different recording. Okay... my second copy is from Sony Classics: A Copeland Celebration, volume 1. The discs feature several orchestras, but Appalachian is done by the Columbia Chamber Ensemble, and it's the original chamber orchestration. Just the first note is enough to tell that this is a better version. Being a chamber ensemble, there's a lot fewer instruments, so it lacks something in strength and depth, and has a much thinner sound. A lot more piano, fewer different instruments which limits the range (of music and emotion) that can be expressed, a single instrument instead of a section, less excitement and dynamics in the loud sections, etc. I think it's a lot less accessible, but the performance is much better, every musician being on the ball at all times. It might be interesting to pick up both to compare and contrast. Guide to Resources on CHFB Last Edited By: SiBurning May 6 12 6:50 PM. Edited 9 times.
professor liebstrum		#50	[-]
May 6 12 6:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Okay... my second copy is from Sony Classics: A Copeland Celebration, volume 1. The discs feature several orchestras, but Appalachian is done by the Columbia Chamber Ensemble, and it's the original chamber orchestration. Just the first note is enough to tell that this is a better version. Being a chamber ensemble, there's a lot fewer instruments, so it lacks something in strength and depth, and has a much thinner sound. A lot more piano, fewer different instruments, a single instrument instead of a section, etc. I think it's a lot less accessible, but the performance is much better, every musician being on the ball at all times. See, this what's causing me trouble. I like to think I've always been open to all sorts of music. When I was younger and stores used to have a seperate classical dept, I used to think you could look at the sleeve and "sense" if you were being ripped off. I know that's poop these days and just poor marketing. You mention fewer instruments... doesn't the composer say which instruments are required, no more, no less. Don't the muscians have an obligation to try and do their best to present the work as the composer intended? I'm mostly from a pop sensibility so I'm not thinking about the type of album where a group interpret a classical work or vicey versa where "classical ensemble" help out Paul McCartney and Lou Reed. Like I said, I'm out of my depth. Russ
SiBurning		#51	[-]
May 6 12 7:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	(I have to remember that there's no E in Copland) From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Spring "Appalachian Spring is a modern score composed by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The ballet, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra... In 1945, Copland rearranged the ballet work as an orchestral suite, preserving most of the music." Translation: Copland originally wrote some kind of opera type thing for a 13 piece chamber orchestra, then rearranged it himself into an orchestral suite. It's the orchestral suite people like, and you'll probably prefer the orchestral version, too. When you hear "chamber orchestra" or "chamber ensemble" or chamber-whatever, think Bach, think polite, think birdcage dresses and silly dances where people don't touch, or snooty people with perfumed kerchiefs sitting around looking at each other through opera glasses, and dozens of slaves servants standing by with champagne. Basically, very boring music, with hardly any dynamics, punch, energy (to modern ears), etc. (My music teachers would slap me to hear me say it like that.) But I encourage you to listen to and become familiar with both versions to see how a piece can be done differently. Guide to Resources on CHFB Last Edited By: SiBurning May 6 12 7:12 PM. Edited 1 times.
professor liebstrum		#52	[-]
May 6 12 7:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thank you for the trouble to post and the patience, Si. I like Bach, what I've heard is kind of mechanical, but very relaxing and I don't like those TV adaptions of Austen and Bronte where people dancing just touch gloves etc. either There are some very affordable Copland albums on I tunes. I can give several interpretations a listen. Thanks Russ Last Edited By: professor liebstrum May 6 12 7:26 PM. Edited 1 times.
SiBurning		#53	[-]
May 6 12 7:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	professor liebstrum wrote: Don't the muscians have an obligation to try and do their best to present the work as the composer intended? There's two different approaches. On the one side are orchestras that take pains to reproduce music as it was originally intended, going so far as to do intense research, and even play on period instruments that noone's used for hundreds of years, which, by the way, often have to be hand made from scratch. On the other end are Pops bands, such as the most famous Canadian Brass, who try to make the music more accessible to modern folks. I think it's all good. Most orchestras are somewhere in the middle. Hey! I'm enjoying this conversation, and am learning from it too. I never knew it was originally a chamber piece until I saw the note on the cd that said "original chamber version", then looked it up on wikipedia. ... I left that Copeland Celebration CD running, and there's a track of Copland rehearsing the piece. He says things like "Don't play so sentimental. It should have that American spirit." And "Don't play too sweet. It's meant to be happy and bouncing." And "Why is that so hard, gentlemen?" ... Just to add to the different orchestrations for period, pops, etc. You also have marching bands, high school bands, orchestras vs bands with their different instruments. All of these need the music to be rewritten at a different level of difficulty, or to account for different sized bands with different instruments. You can pretty much call a distributor and get any standard work in any orchestration you want to fit your particular needs. The copyright holders get their tuppence either way. You might even have a ringer in your school or community band where you rewrite a part for the soloist (or first whatever) giving everyone else the dumbed-down score. Guide to Resources on CHFB Last Edited By: SiBurning May 6 12 7:51 PM. Edited 6 times.
FrozenGhost		#54	[-]
May 6 12 8:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Leonard Bernstein's version of The Appalacian Spring is a classic and at least one critic suggested it was better than the one Copland conducted himself. Of course, this comment dates back many years. The piece has been recorded so many times since then. I still suspect the Bernstein is still the way to go. Copland always admired Bernstein's handling of his work.
SiBurning		#55	[-]
May 6 12 9:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Good call. I'm listening to it on youtube. Typical Bernstein. He wastes no time making it lively--making it his own. It's certainly accessible. Darker at times, lighter at others; now faster, then slower. It's chaotic and corny, and majestic in a dopey way, so Copland can complain that it's too sentimental. It's a NYC cab ride down the Appalachian trail. Bernstein's definitely a showman and a brilliant artist, and it all shows here. Guide to Resources on CHFB Last Edited By: SiBurning May 6 12 9:41 PM. Edited 1 times.
CucamongaDan		#56	[-]
May 7 12 8:43 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've enjoyed discovering a piece I liked, then listening different recordings of it. I did this with Pictures at an Exhibition and Scheherazade, then with Gershwin, Ravel, and Debussy. One rendition might be brassier, faster, slower, understated , etc., compared to another. Not to mention the effects of the recording quality and technique, and the playback media (LP, cassette, CD, streaming), and one's hi-fi equipment. Anything on the Telarc label is usually very good. If you like hearing all the details- they're all there. Erich Kunzel and The Cincinnati Pops are on that label, and while some of their interpretations of some works might offend some purists, they're usually real high in the fun quotient. I have the 2-CD set of Gershwin's orchestral works which I treasure. The Mercury Living Presence (and later Mercury Living Stereo) recordings tend to have a distinctive sound and a concert-hall feel to them. An expert could tailor their stereo system and room with just the right speaker placement to optimize them. A list of some works and which recording I really, really like: Ravel- Daphnis and Chloe, complete ballet- Charles Munch, Boston Symphony- RCA (Anything from a French composer done by Munch and the BSO is worth getting!!) Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade- Termikanov, New York Phil Respighi- Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, etc- I haven't picked a favorite between the Telarc CD with Lane & Atlanta Symphony, another by Neville Mariner and Academy of St Martin, and I also have Charles Munch and the New Philharmonia Orchestra on LP. Guess I better listen more and narrow it down! Stravinsky- Firebird, complete ballet- Antal Dorati, & Detroit Symphony. I see that Dorati also did it with the London Symphony & that's on Mercury. Also, for Stravinsky the entire Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky series on Columbia is a good starting point. Tchaikovsky- The Tempest. If you've heard Romeo and Juliet too many times try The Tempest for variety. (And if you're wearying of 1812, try Marche Slave). I've been looking for a version of The Tempest that matches the excitement of a long-deceased, muddy sounding cassette from which I first heard it. It was called Best of Tchaikovsky & didn't say who did it. The CD of Claudio Abbado and Chicago Sym doing it and Symphony no 2 is excellent. There's one called Tchaikovsky after Shakespeare by Russian Symphony that includes The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet- also definitely worth having. I think my favorite Tempest so far might be Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony. It gets very bombastic where it needs to. That's a few off the top of my head, I have a book around here somewhere on the topic- its very opinionated but a fun read. I also enjoy reading the reviews on Amazon. As for music shopping, if you have any good thrift stores or Friends of the Library bookstores I love to shop them, you can get a music education on the cheap and you never know what you'll find. As for on-line music if you don't have Spotify you really should get at least the free version (and make sure you have your computer hooked up to some nice speakers.) There is a thread that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on my friends. Some people started it not knowing that a tree can walk, And they'll keep posting forever about a movie they can mock...
monochrome		#57	[-]
May 7 12 9:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My mother and I enjoyed the Dteroit Symphony yesterday. They are season ticket holders and occasionally I join them or just just go. Yesterdays big fixes were THE SORCERES APPRENTICE and PICUTRES AT AN EXHIBITION. The DSO at Orchestra Hall wow, the occoustics are just incredible there.
ryanbrennan		#58	[-]
May 8 12 1:14 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	blackbiped wrote: "I have the Christopher Lee-narrated Peter and the Wolf conducted by Yehudy Menuhin which is a real hoot." I have the one narrated by Captain Kangaroo! I've got another one read by Sean Connery. And I want to say I've got another one read by Boris Karloff.
HalLane		#59	[-]
May 8 12 5:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't think anyone's mentioned my favorite classical music film experience, Disney's FANTASIA. If you've ever been surrounded by it in an antique theatre setting it's a uniquely intoxicating experience. The rest of my top 5, in no particular order, would be Flash Gordon serials, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the '43 PHANTOM, and SONG OF SCHEHEREZADE (Universal, 1947) with Yvonne De Carlo and the adventures of Nick Rimsky-Korsakov, which turned me onto classical music and dance all in one schmaltzy gulp (as much fun and just about as obscure as SALOME WHERE SHE DANCED). With Flash Gordon, 2001 and as Rapfred reminds us, FIRE MAIDENS showing us the way, without classical music Outer Space just wouldn't be the same place.
The Batman of Gotham		#60	[-]
May 8 12 6:31 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HalLane wrote: I don't think anyone's mentioned my favorite classical music film experience, Disney's FANTASIA. If you've ever been surrounded by it in an antique theatre setting it's a uniquely intoxicating experience. Hal, see post #28 http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/43380/Any-fans-of-classical-musicl-lurking-here?page=2 - GJS

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Any fans of classical musicl lurking here?