One of the best introductions to classical music - Page 5

violann · ‎03-10-2010

@suzyQ3- Unfortunately, there are no really good recordings of the Dvorak Legend #7 in A Major, available online that I can find. The Legends were first written as two piano duets, and the one that is available is played much too fast. The version I love (the orchestral version) is not online anywhere that I have found so far.

SO a substitution - Dvorak’s Serenade For Strings, in E Major.

There is a version of that on YouTube played by the Royal Northern Conservatory of Music that is beyond words. You will notice that there are many comments posted about that version. I have at least 3 recordings of it, and in my opinion, this interpretation, performed by students and a few professors, is among the best I’ve heard.

Listen to it a couple times then watch the performance as you listen.

You will find in this suite segments of the subtlety of Dvorak at his peak.

Please let me know what you think!

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@violann wrote:
@suzyQ3- Unfortunately, there are no really good recordings of the Dvorak Legend #7 in A Major, available online that I can find. The Legends were first written as two piano duets, and the one that is available is played much too fast. The version I love (the orchestral version) is not online anywhere that I have found so far.
SO a substitution - Dvorak’s Serenade For Strings, in E Major.
There is a version of that on YouTube played by the Royal Northern Conservatory of Music that is beyond words. You will notice that there are many comments posted about that version. I have at least 3 recordings of it, and in my opinion, this interpretation, performed by students and a few professors, is among the best I’ve heard.
Listen to it a couple times then watch the performance as you listen.
You will find in this suite segments of the subtlety of Dvorak at his peak.
Please let me know what you think!

@violann, OMG, yes! I didn't know it by name. It is breathtaking -- an evocative piece that sends shivers down my spine.

I need and love structure/repeated patterns) in music, art, and literature. It's hard to explain. This piece and the subject of the thread satisfy that for me.

Thanks!

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

In both grammar school and high school, we had Music Appreciation ... learnng musical terms, composers, etc. Add to that music lessons ...

This afternoon, I attended a concert by The Modus Orchestra and Singers -performance of Mozart's Veni Sancte Spritus K. 47 (1768).

The venue was a church with spectacular acoustics. You could actually "feel the music."

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

Love, love, love Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".

It takes me to my special place to relax.

skuggles · ‎11-20-2013

Love listening to classical because it ALWAYS sets me to wondering in amazement at the genius of the human mind and the beauty and elegance of evolution. A lovely piece @suzyQ3

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@skuggles wrote:
Love listening to classical because it ALWAYS sets me to wondering in amazement at the genius of the human mind and the beauty and elegance of evolution. A lovely piece @suzyQ3

@skuggles, very eloquently stated.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

My minor in college was Music History. My father instilled a love of classical music and I took history of music classes as a result. I even got my husband to appreciate it. When we traveled overseas, we always tried to add a concert to our itinerary. The most memorable was in Venice, Italy. We went to a performance of The Four Seasons in the church where Vivaldi had been a priest.

alliswell · ‎07-12-2012

Mozart

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

Another gorgeous piece, THIS meditative "lullaby" from Maurice Ravel called "Pavan for a Dead Princess."

I love this elegant interpretation from one commentator:

An elegy of dreamlike proportions, a testament to the awe that seizes the soul when the eye gaze at the infinite and the ears are caressed with untold secrets.

Pavane for a Dead Princess resonates with the calmness of the graves and cradles us with melancholic lullabies from the past. At 1:10, the moods shifts and hints to danger. The chords from icy become warm and as the remote string take over that same ominous theme become a sad lament.

What has been lost? A young star shining so bright, a princess whose laughter gave birth to each dawn and whose yawns allowed the moon to smile at the rest of us. More amazing, is the moment of wonder, that envelopes us in fleeting seconds of fantasy.

Doesn't the part starting 3:40 invite us to close our eyes and invite ourselves to drown ourselves in joy and foolishness. The rolling string with that angelic harp as a beacon of impressionism symbolize the state of reckless abandon joy can let us slide in. Alas memories often can do that.

This piece stands as one Ravel's gift to Humanity. Thank you for giving a theme to our dreams, a diary for a our lines of wonderment and a golden mirror to acknowledge the hold of the past on the present.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland