Week Forty-Three: October 23
A week of three additions, an opera, a choral masterpiece, and a piece of my whimsical choosing.
For the opera, I’ve chosen Antonin Dvorak’s Rusalka. I’ve listened through some of it before, and am familiar with the snippet that everyone is familiar with, but this will be my first deep dive. Feels very much like Das Rheingold from the beginning. It will be interesting to see whether that trend continues, as I don’t know the full story at all yet. My recording features Renee Fleming, so I’m sure it’s got to be good. Here’s to some happy listening the next few weeks!
The choral piece I have chosen comes to me from a CD that I have owned well over twenty years, but which I have never really played. You see, it came to me as some part of a record club deal. I probably forgot to send in the postcard or something like that. It’s Gounod’s Messe solenelle de St. Cecile. What a shock it will be if it ends up being awesome, and here I’ve squandered it all these years. 🙂
And finally, my weekly piece will be Aaron Copland’s Symphonic Ode, found at Tanglewood this summer. I know nothing of it, and couldn’t get myself a score, due to its age, but it’s not too long, I should be able to glean most of what I need from listening alone.
Week Forty-Four: October 30
This week I’ve got a Haydn symphony, No. 90 in C. I’m actually a few days late getting to this, so I’m hoping that I’ve chosen a piece that is pretty manageable on a short timeframe. I suspect that’s the case, listening to it now, courtesy of the Boston Symphony this past summer at Tanglewood. In spite of there being so many to choose from, I haven’t a lot of experience with Haydn’s symphonies, considering them, in the past, to be more like Mozart-Lite. But I know that that is unfair, and that they do have enduring value. I just need to get more familiar.
Week Forty-Five: November 6
A few pieces I’ve been looking forward to are added to my roster today. First up, is a Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings by Benjamin Britten, which I first came into contact with through a Cleveland Orchestra broadcast many months ago. November is Britten’s anniversary month, so it made sense to listen at this point in the project. It will be nice to have some 20th century music in my ear after Haydn last week.
Chorally speaking, I’m picking up the short but sweet Brahms Four Quartette, Op. 92. When I was in Massachusetts Central District chorus in the ’90s we sang the first movement of this set, “O Lovely Night” (which we had to sing in its English translation at the nearly last minute, when our director became pretty aware of the fact that we weren’t cut out for the German. Already, it’s rankling me a bit that I know exactly what’s coming next, but have no idea what the German words will be. Funny.
Week Forty-Six: November 13
Getting to the end of this overzealous mission. Today I am adding Liszt’s Totentanz for piano and orchestra. It is a “paraphrase” of the Dies irae plainchant. Back in college we learned to keep an ear out for that brief snippet of chant, and I end up hearing it all over the place now. As such, it’s quite recognizable in the opening phrases of this piece. I’m curious to find out whether it continues throughout, and how prominently it is varied in the later sections. Onward!
Additionally, it’s new opera week. Seems surprising, since I don’t feel like I really “nailed” Rusalka yet, but what’s more, I was really enjoying it and don’t feel quite ready to jump ship. But, today I add Der Rosenkavalier. I’ve never felt compelled to have much of a listen, and don’t expect to enjoy it for some reason. Although, other Strauss pieces I have gotten exposed to this year and last have ended up being quite fun for me. I think my aversion to Richard comes from an misplaced association with Johann, Jr., whose music rubs me the wrong way all these years. Still, I know a lot of people really enjoy this opera, so I’m leaping in wholeheartedly. There must be something great about it to attract all these fans.
Week Forty-Seven: November 20
This week I am going to become familiar with Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, a piece whose parts are heard fairly frequently, but which I haven’t spent any considerable amount of time digging into.
I’ll also take a closer look at the Advent Cantata of Daniel Pinkham, which is becoming relevant very quickly, this coming Thursday being Thanksgiving here in the United States.
Week Forty-Eight: November 27
In what I think will be the final new piece of the year, unless I come up with something additional that is seasonally relevant, I have chosen a piano piece by Franz Liszt called “Weihnachtsbaum”. It is one that I had not heard of, in spite of owning a copy of it in a “99 greatest…” album these last several years. A few weeks back when looking for a piece to survey, I came upon its title and thought it would be an excellent choice as we get into the Christmas season. I’m listening now at a low volume, and have noticed one or two carol themes.