von hier an nicht mehr schleppen: tone fixture
Classical music is tremendously distracting. Lately, nothing has helped me procrastinate as much. I’m on Spring Break, by the way. I have a lot of music to catch up on in my field, embarrassingly enough (Next endeavor is violoncello works? The Mozart violin sonatas? Beethoven string quartets? String trios?…probably trios…I really don’t know trios.) but these three in particular keep getting in the way of progress…and to some extent – dangerously – eating and/or practicing (Which is essentially the same thing, right?) (Just kidding.) (Maybe.):
+ Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F, BWV 1047 (with Brandenburg 3 in G coming in close…)
- Allow me yet another suspension of belief in stating that while simultaneously listening to these concertos and reading over numerous reviews and recaps of the Battlestar Galactica series finale that have popped online since its airing, somehow all the elegant yet simple complexities and details of both these compositions went hand in hand. Douglas Adams once wrote that he was convinced that Bach wrote the Brandenburgs when he was happy and I completely agree.
+ Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5
- A few weeks ago, the university orchestra stumbled rather hilariously through the symphony as the conductor’s way of stressing how unforgivingly difficult this piece is (We perform it next month…I use the term “perform” loosely right now.) Last night, the Miami Symphony Orchestra put on a rather nice performance of the Mahler 4. Even more so than Brahms, Mahler is an interesting fellow indeed. There are so many ways to go about the guy. But he does write a mean melody, and I’m prepared to experience a lot of headaches and bright lights, or vice versa.
+ Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E Minor (aka the ~30 minute piece that I have been listening to for the last hour and a half)
- A successful quintet performance is a truly definitive marker of achievement. Five is a hefty number. Getting two people to cooperate and agree on the same page of thought for any period of time is already a difficult task. Any more with no mediation is asking for trouble. This is probably why I avoid playing quintets these days, though they may be my favourite ensemble setting. That could be another discussion sometime.
Last semester I accidentally stumbled across Lin-Cho Liang, Joseph Kalichstein, William de Rosa, Adele Anthony, and Roberto Diaz rehearsing this piece and the Brahms Quintet in f minor (another perennial favourite) for their Festival Miami concert. Watching them work (in stealth, as no lowly graduate student/stalker skipping work should dare disturb actual musicians) was addicting, but I am still stunned, after all these months, by the resulting pure, uninhibited music at the next night’s concert. After the performance, Mrs. Anthony commented to me that they had only worked on both pieces together for a day. I almost gave up on music right there and then, if she hadn’t also been very encouraging. Thank you.
And now time to actually let that fourth movement end…
Also, as a side maintenance note, I’m going backwards again soon to re-editing lots of old posts. My writing should evolve, but you readers shouldn’t have to suffer with all the old awfulness. Or reading this at all. Shoo.
March 23 2009 02:18 am | BSG (and such) and music and travels