jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the premier of Richard Strauss' symphony in F in 1881. It is one of my favorite works of his along with his Violin Concerto (Opus#8) I like his early works better. I do like his mature works. Strauss was only 17 when he wrote this.
His most famous works are Also Sprach Zarathustra (Opus#30) and Eine Alpensinfonie (Opus#64) which is in English Alpine Symphony. Also Sprach is used in the movie @001 a Space Odyssey. I am not that much in to Schience fiction. Much of it is too eerie for me. The Symphony in F is in four movements; Allegro, Presto, Andante Cantablie and Allegro Assai. It runs about 40 minutes. As I write this I am listening to it being played on Spotify. It is of the Deutsche Radio Orchestra with Herman Baumer conducting. The version that I have on Cd is Of Neeme Jarvi conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It also contains Sic Songs (Opus #68) and the Romance for Cello and Orchestra (no opus number). The last movement has similar themes as the beginning of the first movement. The first movement sounds almost like a work by Bruckner. I have only seen seven recordings available of this work on Arkiv Music. i like this work and it is sad that there are only a few recordings available of this work and that it is not as popular as Strauss' other works. Strauss also wrote a symphony in D which I can only find one recording of. I know very little about this work and as of now, I have not heard it.
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Today is Annunciation Day. when the angel told Mary that she would bear the Christ Child. Nine months until Christmas.
I have recently found a new toy: Spotify. it is another streaming service. I have it on my phone. it has a lot of Classical Music. It does not show videos like You Tube. I have found a lot of good music on it. i am still getting to know it. Last week James Levine the conductor at the Met died. He had been on medical leave. Unfortunately, his reputation is marred by sexual harassment allegations. He was born in Cincinnati Ohio. he conducted other music in addition to opera. I have at least one CD of his. It is of him conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Matt Haimovitz on the cello. It features Lalo's Cello Concerto, Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei (Opus #47) and Saint-Saens' Cello concerto #1 (Opus#33). I dot' think that it is in print at this time.
Levine is known for his iconic afro. He also conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Rest in peace. The Grammys were yesterday. I don't pay much attention to the award shows. Most of the winners in the Oscars are movies that nobody watches! Ives complete Symphonies won best orchestral performance Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Best Chamber award went to "Contemporary Voices" By the Pacifica Quartet.
I did not watch the show. I don't think that any of my CDs have received Grammy Awards. There are many artists and performers that deserve the Grammy award. too many to mention. I am not much in to Public Radio. I listen to NPR sometimes on the way to work. They have good classical programming. American Public Media (APM) which is not affiliated with NPR does have some good classical programming. Check out their web page americanpublicmedia.org . It has a good section on classical music called yourclassical.org . This has some good sections and good features such as composers Datebook.I usually tune in to it every day. it is hosted by John Birge. My hats of to him and this organization.
They have several other segmentys on their web page including: Chamber Music, Concert Band adn Symphony Cast. This is a good web page to check out especially composers Datebook. I always look forward to new episods! |
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