Share your favorite classical music

ImaFungi
reply to post by leostokes

 

I respect your point of view, and slightly comprehend your sentiments, though I do not personally share the same perspective. I have listened to so much classical music, some of which is displayed on this thread (I cant say all of which because I think there are 2 midi pieces I have posted, which sound quite good in my opinion ill link at least one at the bottom of this post) most of which are human performances, all of which I would never experience the joy, love, and praise to the glory of the composer. The performers are mediums, instruments themselves. In the highest and most celebrated and there for listened to cases, do the composer and his minds creation most justice. Chopin was a human, who sat at a piano and wrote music, I will never be able to hear Chopin play a piece of his music, but I have countless opportunity to hear countless skilled pianists, who have trained their whole lives in the art and techniques of piano, who have studied Chopins life and musical ideals, and poured over his composition, studied how throughout history it was interpreted and played. Classical music more then any I can think of has a pretty strict tradition of following whats written on the page, and this is respected and sought by the musicians.

Like your shakesphere drama/poetry example, if I wanted to experience the raw humanless data of music, I would read the compositions note by note, but I love the spatial and sensual experience of music most of all, I love the sound of the acoustic instruments recorded and playing in synch in a concert hall. Thats flat out the reason I dont listen to pure midi or computer generated versions of compositions, to my ear, the sound quality and depth of sound is not as vibrant and..there as with computer generated versions. Some day perhaps it will be, and then in my opinion, it will be a very sad day for classical music, perhaps the death.

I think one of the hardest parts with me is getting the realest and truest sound of the instrument attempted to be replicated like here on the piano. I can tell its not real, and if the goal is to get away from the real, and train my ear to love the non acoustic fake, why not just listen to other genres of music, like electronic music, which is purely computer generated 'modern' composition?

The reverberation of the concert hall muddies the clarity indicated in the score. This can be witnessed in my Sokolnikov Furtwanger on soundcloud. The composer put the notes in the score but they are obscured by the echo of the hall. Furtwangler is muddy. Sokolnikov is clear.

As to the sonority of the orchestral instruments compare Ivan Sokolnikov and James Levine with the Reinzi Overture. The Levine version is on youtube. A clip of the Sokolnikov version is found at cyberchambermusic.com. Of course I much prefer the Sokolnikov version. The complete Reinzi by Ivan is available on iTunes.

Have you listened to Ivan Sokolnikovs adagio of the Moonlight Sonata on soundcloud? I would like to receive your comments on this.

Regards,

leostokes

ImaFungi
reply to post by leostokes

 

I respect your point of view, and slightly comprehend your sentiments, though I do not personally share the same perspective. I have listened to so much classical music, some of which is displayed on this thread (I cant say all of which because I think there are 2 midi pieces I have posted, which sound quite good in my opinion ill link at least one at the bottom of this post) most of which are human performances, all of which I would never experience the joy, love, and praise to the glory of the composer. The performers are mediums, instruments themselves. In the highest and most celebrated and there for listened to cases, do the composer and his minds creation most justice. Chopin was a human, who sat at a piano and wrote music, I will never be able to hear Chopin play a piece of his music, but I have countless opportunity to hear countless skilled pianists, who have trained their whole lives in the art and techniques of piano, who have studied Chopins life and musical ideals, and poured over his composition, studied how throughout history it was interpreted and played. Classical music more then any I can think of has a pretty strict tradition of following whats written on the page, and this is respected and sought by the musicians.

Like your shakesphere drama/poetry example, if I wanted to experience the raw humanless data of music, I would read the compositions note by note, but I love the spatial and sensual experience of music most of all, I love the sound of the acoustic instruments recorded and playing in synch in a concert hall. Thats flat out the reason I dont listen to pure midi or computer generated versions of compositions, to my ear, the sound quality and depth of sound is not as vibrant and..there as with computer generated versions. Some day perhaps it will be, and then in my opinion, it will be a very sad day for classical music, perhaps the death.

I think one of the hardest parts with me is getting the realest and truest sound of the instrument attempted to be replicated like here on the piano. I can tell its not real, and if the goal is to get away from the real, and train my ear to love the non acoustic fake, why not just listen to other genres of music, like electronic music, which is purely computer generated 'modern' composition?

The reverberation of the concert hall muddies the clarity indicated in the score. This can be witnessed in my Sokolnikov Furtwanger on soundcloud. The composer put the notes in the score but they are obscured by the echo of the hall. Furtwangler is muddy. Sokolnikov is clear.

As to the sonority of the orchestral instruments compare Ivan Sokolnikov and James Levine with the Reinzi Overture. The Levine version is on youtube. A clip of the Sokolnikov version is found at cyberchambermusic.com. Of course I much prefer the Sokolnikov version. The complete Reinzi by Ivan is available on iTunes.

Have you listened to Ivan Sokolnikovs adagio of the Moonlight Sonata on soundcloud? I would like to receive your comments on this.

Regards,

edit on 11-10-2013 by leostokes because: add iTunes

I see that I did not answer all of your questions.

When it comes to Chopin I will say the following.

Is it not true that Chopin did not in fact write many of his scores? Did he not dictate them to an accomplice?

The piano keyboard is built scaled so that it fits the average sized hand. With the thumb of the right hand on middle C, the little finger can reach the C an octave above. Chopin may have had oversized hands because his scores often indicate chords that reach beyond this limit. Thus we often hear arpeggios when Chopin is played. Using the computer to replace the human gives us the option to play the chords whole without the arpeggios.

There is no tradition as to the style of a Chopin performance. I say this because of the different versions of performances of his works. Take the A-Flat Polonaise for example. Two different pianists will render the Moonlight Sonata in a similar style. Not so the A-Flat Polonaise. Not to mention the Etudes.

Ivan Sokolnikov has been influenced by Jose Iturbi when it comes to Ivans rendering of the Polonaise in A-Flat.

Ivan has been influenced by Guiomar Novaes for the Fantasy in F-Minor, Op.49.

For the Fantasie Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 No. 4, Ivan has been influenced by no one. This piece has one hand playing 16th notes while the other hand plays triplets. Most performers blur the sound. Of course, it is no problem for Ivans computer.

I am done with Chopin now.

One concert pianist, whose name I will not mention, said in his book about his career that his interaction with his audience was so strong that each performance was different. He went on to say that indeed it was not possible for him to play the same piece the same way twice. So much for tradition. I will say again that the piano is a machine and it takes a mechanic to operate it. The magic comes from the composer and not the pianist.

When it comes to vibrant sound I would direct your attention to Ivans latest release: Dance of the Apprentices from Die Meistersinger, Act III, by Wagner. I mean the whole piece. Not the Sokolnikov Furtwangler clip. The only way for you to hear the whole piece is to purchase it say from iTunes. The title of the album is: Abstract Wagner.

The goal is not to get away from the real. In the triple alliance of the composer-performer-listner the goal is to reduce the impact of the middle man and bring the composer and listener into a closer communion.

I will now overstep the bounds of modesty. I hate the way Leonard Bernstein danced like a clown on the podium. Calling attention to himself and away from the composer. His performance of The Dance of the Apprentices is mediocre.

I love the way Toscanini was on the podium focused on the music in honor of the composer. However, in the rehearsal, Toscanini was like a wild man.

reply to post by leostokes


Can the world not have both or will you not be satisfied until there are no more performers of music? Do you think if the great composers of history were born today they would all, or most, agree with you? I personally enjoy a few performances where Bernstein is conducting, his Mahler is quite praised I think, and I like some Beethoven pieces ive heard, the piano concertos and the 9th, also his lectures on music although at times most likely subjective and debatable theories and interpretations are quite educational and deep. I presume his energy comes from the energy within the music, and he is not acting that way for his egos sake, im sure if it were up to him he would be invisible to the audience.

I like electronic music, ambient and experimental and I tinker with making it myself. My real passion and love and dream however is becoming a composer and I personally would be insulted to hear my compositions played by computer or another way of saying that, the only reason I want to create music is so that people can play it.

Why did the role of the pianist not become extinct when the player piano was born?

I (do you?) understand you are biased because it is your discovered hobby and passion to enjoy and do with music what you deem appropriate, but do you think I am wrong for seeing things my way?

I did look up the Chopin Polonaise in A by you, and didnt think it was too bad, I liked some things in it I dont hear in other interpretations, including a brisker tempo if im not mistaken, almost had a polka feel...though dont think im close to being converted just yet!

ImaFungi
reply to post by leostokes

 

Can the world not have both or will you not be satisfied until there are no more performers of music? Do you think if the great composers of history were born today they would all, or most, agree with you? I personally enjoy a few performances where Bernstein is conducting, his Mahler is quite praised I think, and I like some Beethoven pieces ive heard, the piano concertos and the 9th, also his lectures on music although at times most likely subjective and debatable theories and interpretations are quite educational and deep. I presume his energy comes from the energy within the music, and he is not acting that way for his egos sake, im sure if it were up to him he would be invisible to the audience.

I like electronic music, ambient and experimental and I tinker with making it myself. My real passion and love and dream however is becoming a composer and I personally would be insulted to hear my compositions played by computer or another way of saying that, the only reason I want to create music is so that people can play it.

Why did the role of the pianist not become extinct when the player piano was born?

I (do you?) understand you are biased because it is your discovered hobby and passion to enjoy and do with music what you deem appropriate, but do you think I am wrong for seeing things my way?

I did look up the Chopin Polonaise in A by you, and didnt think it was too bad, I liked some things in it I dont hear in other interpretations, including a brisker tempo if im not mistaken, almost had a polka feel...though dont think im close to being converted just yet!

edit on 13-10-2013 by ImaFungi because: (no reason given)

edit on 13-10-2013 by ImaFungi because: (no reason given)

Thank you ImaFungi for your very interesting comments. I think we are closer than we think. I wrote a long reply but I lost it by hitting the delete key at the wrong time. Next time I will us the text editor.

reply to post by ImaFungi


Duet

This duet is really a trio. The piano right hand (alto), the flute (soprano), and the piano left hand (bass). The dialog between the three is wondrous. A sub woofer is required to do justice to the bass.

All comments acknowledged.

reply to post by leostokes


I thought it was absolutely great, when did you create that piece? I personally thought it would be much better played by 2 living people, but that can be expected knowing my perspective by now. One of my favorite qualities of music ( in this sense there are 2 really) is flowiness, the other quality is straight, blocky, the difference between rounded and square. I really think its hard to carry across some of the subtleties and nuances and dynamics of human emotion involved in flowy music, which is to my mind usually a signature of accentuated flute performances ( the piano too really, and all instruments really which is why I like them better).

reply to post by ImaFungi


We had a 7.2 earthquake at 8:12am local time. I am on the 15th floor. The room shook maybe 5 inches from side to side at the maximum. It is 3:30pm now and we have returned to the 15th floor. If you hear no more from me you know the reason.

Thank you for taking the time to listen.

The Schubert theme and variations was sequenced long ago. It was released in 2005. There are many changes in tempo not indicated in the score. The 2nd variation has heavy octaves running in the bass to set up the 3rd lyrical variation. The change is at the 5:24 mark. I regard these measures as one of the high points in western culture. In the soundcloud clip I have skipped several repeats. I have used these flute samples since the start. I do not recall the source of the samples. Thank you for your positive comments.

Regards,

reply to post by leostokes


Oh I thought that flute duet was something you might have composed. Bummer about the earthquake, I searched for it, is it in Philippines? Glad your ok though and hope everything settles down.