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A Lark Ascending

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  1. A Lark Ascending
    Shostakovich - 'Tea for Two' http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HoI_d_gQ62g Think I prefer Norma Winstone's version. [Though there's a bit 90 seconds in that sounds like the Wehrmacht arriving for elevenses in Leningrad].
  2. A Lark Ascending
    Stravinsky - Concerto in D. Answers my own question (well, maybe not upbeat) - typically detached, graceful, balletic. A lovely piece.
  3. A Lark Ascending
    Dvorak - Serenade for Strings. I'm new to this one this year - another of those pieces heard in passing and then tracked down. Wonder why these string pieces tend to dwell on the melancholy? Any upbeat string pieces?
  4. A Lark Ascending
    Delius - Two Aquarelles. Just four minutes of what is probably considered 'slight' music. The first is a typical Delius 'longing at twilight' piece - descending lines that have you reflecting on the things you miss. The second, a jaunty piece in 'Appalachia' style, anticipating Gershwin. Generally to be found tucked away on Delius compilations or multi-composer samplers.
  5. A Lark Ascending
    Me too! Though it always has me thinking of bombed cities - I've read one too many liner notes. Seek out a recording of Strauss' prelude to 'Capriccio' (for string sextet) which is full of the same 'longing' and sense of loss. Actually, if you don't know it already, try that Schoenberg too - it's an early work which comes from a similar world.
  6. A Lark Ascending
    Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht. Although originally for string sextet the version for string orchestra gets heard just as often. A marvellous piece of curdled Late-Romanticism.
  7. A Lark Ascending
    Korngold: Symphonic Serenade This one has been haunting me over recent weeks (and may be where this thread has come from). A substantial four movement work - the main theme of the opening movement is very strange and becomes a real ear-worm. I've been waking up in the night with it whirling round. Also a tremendous slow movement - that searing, chromatic string writing you get in late-Mahler. Strongly recommended for checking out on Spotify or whatever try-before-you-buy site you use. I have it on both of these:
  8. A Lark Ascending
    Tippett : Concerto For Double String Orchestra 3 movements, the outer ones international neo-classical in feel. The middle is just about the only piece of Tippett I can think of that fits under the English pastoral label. A gorgeous evocation of a shimmering landscape on a balmy summer day (whatever that is). I somehow doubt that's what Tippett intended but it frequently gets used on the TV when that sort of signalling is needed in a soundtrack.
  9. A Lark Ascending
    Good two part BBC thriller set in the present and the war years, based on a William Boyd novel:
  10. A Lark Ascending
    Britten wrote quite a bit for string orchestra - the Frank Bridge Variations are probably the best known. But this year I've been haunted by Lachrymae: Reflections on a Song of Dowland, for viola and string orchestra. A set of variations from 1948 that have Britten's wonderful agility and end in a beautiful, funereal final section. One of those pieces I've been playing on and off for years without really noticing. Then it hits you.
  11. A Lark Ascending
    York is lovely. We're lucky to have so many that survived the Reformation (and the Second World War!) intact.
  12. A Lark Ascending
    Yes, that Barbirolli disc has some absolute treasures in this area. One to really listen to is the lesser known (probably because it is short and therefore hard to programme as other than a passing piece) 'Sospiri' - achingly beautiful. The Tallis Fantasia - and this is the version I live by - is as close as you can get to standing inside a marvellous old English church without standing inside a marvellous old English church.
  13. A Lark Ascending
    Thanks. This is exactly what I had in mind. I have the Suk piece but have not given it due attention. Will rectify that. Don't know the Herrmann except in passing. I was listening to the Tchaikovsky "Serenade for Strings" this afternoon. Not something I'd paid much attention to until I woke up to it on the radio in the middle of the night about a year back. What struck me was how much Elgar had got from the main tune at the start and finish for his wonderful "Introduction and Allegro". That same declamatory opening using the full force of the orchestra.
  14. A Lark Ascending
    Lying between the full on symphony and the more rarefied world of the string quartet, there are scores of wonderful pieces for string orchestras of various sizes - Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Elgar etc. Things you especially enjoy? Request: one at a time with a line or two about what draws you to the piece rather than lists. ***************************** Frank Bridge - Suite for String Orchestra This one has haunted me for 30 years or so. For some reason there are a lot English pieces for string orchestra, usually melancholy in feel. This four movement piece has that aching, autumnal feel, rich in melody.
  15. A Lark Ascending
    Probably a good move. I've only recently come to notice CPO. Been enjoying their Panufnik series of late. They do a sterling job in the out of the way 20thC repertoire (amongst other things). I have their Pfitzner box heading my way and have my eye on the Wellesz, another composer from an era I really enjoy of whom I know nothing.
  16. A Lark Ascending
    More good news. Richard Branson is decommissioning all the diesel engines and replacing them with steam trains. Dyson are discontinuing their uber-tech vacuum cleaners and coming out with a new line in dustpan and brush. And the Big Bands are coming back!
  17. A Lark Ascending
    Don't be frightened by the 'Pastoral' in the title - it actually relates to his experiences as an ambulance man in World War I. The slow movement is an eerie piece that evokes a Somme like landscape, complete with a trumpet playing a heart-stopping melody alluding to a military bugle.
  18. A Lark Ascending
    This one would look good on the drive next to the BMW, Lamborghini and classic E-Type Jag: http://www.mdt.co.uk...imited-edition/ Only £500. Can see it in the window of one of those jewellers' shops on Regent Street,
  19. A Lark Ascending
    Unless you are intending to go for total immersion, it looks a bit excessive. A lot of RVW can sound quite gallumphing to the non-obsessive. The choral pieces in particular can take some time to adjust to. The symphonies in that box seem to be mainly the Vernon Handley versions - they are well regarded. There's a detailed review here: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/RVW_collector_2066362.htm If you are not that familiar with RVW hear Symphony 3 and 5 for the 'pastoral' angle, then 4 and 6 for the more disturbed side. And this disc (which is part of the blue Boult box) is glorious: If you can get access to a copy, this relatively recent film biography is beautiful:
  20. A Lark Ascending
    Possibly my favourite piece of music. I've lived with these two since the 70s: I'm sure there are many versions recorded since that are just as good and in better sound. The only one I know is Vernon Handley's which I never got on with - recorded in the 80s during the early days of digital recording, it always sounded distant to me. The Boult has the advantage of another incandescent RVW symphony. It can be obtained in an inexpensive box that has all the symphonies plus lots of other pieces including Boult's wonderful recordings of things like 'The Lark Ascending', 'Serenade to Music' etc. [Though many RVW buffs prefer his 1940s/50s recordings, available via Decca (corrected in the light of David's post below)] You might find this analysis interesting: http://www.classical...ks/v-w/v-w5.php This overview from a UK classical record shop surveys some BBC and Penguin first choices: http://www.prestocla...No-5-in-D-major
  21. A Lark Ascending
    The Rudy Van Gelder remastering of the Solti Ring is much more exclusive. According to the radio the other day already 2/3rds of the limited edition gone.
  22. A Lark Ascending
    Only to be outdone my 'Motorhead Play Wagner'
  23. A Lark Ascending
    Happy Midwinter, y'all. The days are getting longer, the nights shorter (unless you are in Australia in which case you're going the other way). Barbecue summer on the way. Bev
  24. A Lark Ascending
    Richard Strauss - Die heiligen drei Könige aus Morgenland. One glorious song that you tend to find in anthologies of Strauss orchestral songs or as an extra to the Four Last Songs. Deserves an outing of its own at Xmas.
  25. A Lark Ascending
    Don't know that. Will have to look out. Incidentally, it's the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2013. There should be enough box sets out to build your own Valhalla (or at least obscure a beautiful goddess).
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