Classical Musings | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I was going to post this in the ‘listening’ thread but there is a bit of backstory I wanted to waffle on about:

I mentioned the Beethoven Choral Fantasy earlier – this version is played on period instruments, including a harpsichord instead of the piano – because apparently that was the instrument used when the Fantasy had its premiere. Well, interesting in a museum display kind of way – but I’m sure that Beethoven was writing for the piano he had in his apartment and the piece sounds rather flat without it’s power and range.

The Liszt cantata is really interesting on a number of levels. It was written as part of the celebrations for the unveiling of a statue of Beethoven in Bonn in 1845; apparently one of the first major cultural monuments to be constructed in Germany. This is the first time it has been recorded, which I found interesting as it is a fairly lengthy work (25 minutes or so) from a major composer who was around relatively recently – why was it ‘lost’?

Well, it turns out that these sort of once-off musical moments from the 18th and 19th centuries often have been lost if they weren’t published at the time. The musicians disposed of their copies of the music, most of the world never even knew it was happening, and that was that. Except that in this case a musicologist was doing a close study of Liszt’s manuscripts and came across the original music – but with none of the words that went with it. He then scoured museums around Germany and managed to come across an original programme from the day – which had the words. Using prompts in the music he was able to glue the two together – one of the easier pieces of reconstruction once he had found the missing elements.

So there we have it – the world premiere of a ‘new’ composition by Liszt – and an entertaining and well-performed piece it is as well.

meanmistermustard said
No idea if you can use it considering your based in Australia or even if you are interested in the titles trcanberra but Pop Market has a handful of classical box sets on sale.  

Thanks @meanmistermustard – interesting boxes; but they have been on sale even cheaper elsewhere lately – but thanks again for the info.

meanmistermustard said

trcanberra said

meanmistermustard said
No idea if you can use it considering your based in Australia or even if you are interested in the titles trcanberra but Pop Market has a handful of classical box sets on sale.  

Thanks @meanmistermustard – interesting boxes; but they have been on sale even cheaper elsewhere lately – but thanks again for the info.

That’s some savings considering some of those boxes are nearly £100. Did you buy them?

Not those particular ones as there was too much duplication of works from what I already had from similar ones from DG, Philips and Decca. Yes, the prices can get crazy low – the local online store I am using now has some great boxes at 50% off and today they have an Australia Day sale with 25% off everything on their site – including their sale items!

I’m trying hard not to go (even more) crazy today. The discs on sale in the boxes here work out at around one pound each or less and they are all great quality works and performers.

^ Well, I bought them, if anyone was wondering 🙂

With all of this wonderful music at my disposal I’m really starting to appreciate how much difference a good orchestra / conductor can make to my enjoyment of a piece of music. Of course – I probably shouldn’t – it’s a bit like the difference between The Beatles and a lot of the “also-ran” 60s bands.

On a related tack – I now have access to various versions of some of the classic incomplete parts of the repertoire; such as Mozart’s Requiem in the Sussmayr, Beyer and Robbins-Landon completions. Some of the differences are subtle, some more overt – all are interesting.

More evidence that the Beatles will be considered part of the classical music canon one day:

http://www.readings.com.au/pro…..tles-album

Annadog40 said
What defines classical music?

Good question – and one for which there is no good answer. The wiki article has a decent discussion – starting with “Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music” and going on from there. I think time is an element, for example to see if songs (like the Beatles) are still performed a hundred years or so later. But then “contemporary classical music” complicates that view. As does performing John Williams film music in concert halls – is it classical or not?

I think most of us have a common understanding of the “classical core” – like Beethoven symphonies – as with any art form or definition of it the debates are around the edges.