Ron Sexsmith [Eponymous]

Ron Sexsmith has been around a while now, this is his first album, released in 1995, i think he now has eleven studio albums, so that's an album every 16 months!, i bought this album because i heard that he was the new baby Jackson Browne, and there is a similarity in the voice.

Most people have probably never heard of him, he's certainly a low key Artist, and here's where he stays a secret, he's certainly no Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan, and he doesn't grab hold of you on first listen, in fact he doesn't really grab hold of you at all, but it's a very slow seeping into your consciousness.

One of the things i find about Ron Sexsmith, is that he has strange keys/meters, plus his words don't seem to fit the music exactly right, and things don't rhyme like they're supposed to, it can be offputting initially, but once you get over that hurdle, there's a world of Sexsmith-isms waiting for you!, i've had this disc since 1998, but only now am i beginning to see his worth, maybe i'll even buy another album of his!.

On this listen i really liked tracks 1 & 13, track 13 especially 'Galbraith Street', i've never really read the words, so it was really refreshing to study them a bit,

I woke up on Galbraith Street

Where the houses stood like twins

Oh and even though the door's been closed

I can find a way to get back in

For daydreams my mind returns

Like a ghost upon the hill

As i knock upon old doors again

And find my friends all live there still

So many good times to speak of in a life

But none compared to the good times i had there

The world looks so much brighter when

You believe in every word

Now i'm holding on to all those years

Like a tear before it falls unheard

So many goodbyes to speak of in a life

But none compared to the goodbyes i said there

The sun went down on Galbraith street

I saw it from my childhood bed

As the red and gold brick houses stood

Underneath a crimson sky that bled

Basically he returns to his childhood dwelling where he grew up, starting with waking up, and ending with going to sleep, juxtaposing his life now, with his life then, almost a world that's not changed [he's moved on, while his friends still live in the same place], basically speaking of memories that you can't really hold onto, 'Like a tear before it falls unheard', that's got to be the best line of the song!, important tears should be heard, but they don't make a sound!, Ron Sexsmith is a great lyric writer, his poetry can be interpreted so many lovely ways, the deeper you look the more you see.

Here's Ron Sexsmith singing 'Galbraith Street' live on YouTube.

Various Composers - Clarinet Souvenirs [Kam/Golan]

This recital is very much like yesterdays, except this time it's a Clarinet instead of Violin, even some of the pieces are the same, though most here are transcriptions, as there's not so much clarinet repertoire.

Sharon Kam was born in Israel, she's now 39, here's her Website.

I must admit that i liked tracks 1, 3, 6, 11-12, 15 & 18, but for the life of me i can't pick one that stands out from the rest, so i think i'll plump for track 18 'Apres Un Reve' by Faure [After A Dream], only because it's the only one which i can find an appropriate video for, 'Apres Un Reve' is of course a poem that Faure set to music to create a song, it's one of Faure's best, and here are the words,

In a slumber which held your image spellbound

I dreamt of happiness, passionate mirage

Your eyes were softer, your voice pure and sonorous

You shone like a sky lit up by the dawn

You called me and i left the earth

To run away with you towards the light

The skies opened their clouds for us

Unknown splendours, divine flashes glimpsed

Alas! alas! sad awakening from dreams

I call you, O night, give me back your lies

Return, return radiant

Return, O mysterious night

The piece starts off gentle with the piano, and the clarinet plays in the lower registers [0:00-0:51], creating a sense of mystery, then the clarinet plays higher and louder [0:54+], yet still the clarinet plays in deep sadness mode, and as the poem suggests, it ends on a sad note, of a dreamer wanting to return to the dream/afterlife where their lover is waiting, including right at the end, a delicious phrase on the piano, of a single tolling bell without the clarinet [2:29-2:39], a lovely little song turned clarinet lament.

Here's 'Apres Un Reve' being played by the Clarinet on YouTube.

Various Composers - Violin Encores! [Midori/ McDonald]

First off the booklet, what a gorgeous picture of Midori, it's everything yesterdays booklet should be and is not, a lovely meditative study by William Coupon, in lovely browns and oranges, very nicely lit to create lovely shadows, and the art design [lettering] is by Josephine DiDonato, only the Sony logo seems slightly out of place, full marks for creating something as visually stimulating as is aurally stimulating on the inside.

This is a great varied collection, i wish Midori would have recorded single items only, the Shostakovich and Bartok 'sets' sort of get in the way, there's truly great pieces on here, while others are somewhat average, it's also good to have pieces that are fairly rare as well.

The tracks/pieces i enjoyed the most are 3, 6, 12, 17 & 19, track 19 'Dance Of The Blessed Spirits' by Gluck [arranged by Kreisler] hit me the most, it starts off so solemn and restrained, the melody is truly otherworldly [0:00-0:35], the piece becomes more passionate and intense [0:35-0:54], and then the theme goes into a sort of coda-ish phase [0:54-1:14], where the resolution finds its peace, it's this untangling of knots that is a highlight for me, especially at 1:03 [1:15 on the video below], the piano in the background is gentle and rolling, the piece continues to weave its magic around this opening theme for another two minutes, it's one of those truly inspired moments in Classical music, and it's been transcribed for many other combinations as well.

Here's Renaud Capucon playing Dance Of The Blessed Spirits by Gluck on YouTube.

Haydn - String Quartet 76 [Kodaly Quartet]

At the moment i seem to be playing lots of String Quartets, so here's Haydn's first three of the Op76 set of six, it's a shame that these aren't put into a double disc box set, they would make a nice package.

About the booklet, this must be one of the worst covers ever, everything about it is boring and uninspired, from the painting which is flat and drab, to the white background which is bland, Naxos should get an award for being so uninventive, if it wasn't for the music, i wouldn't have bought this disc.

The Kodaly Quartet were formed in 1965 in Hungary, since their formation, they have had a complete new line up, and since this recording [1989], only one member remains in the Quartet.

I certainly liked the second String Quartet of the set, the one i refer to as number 76 [Op76/2], and especially the first movement, there's a lovely feeling of forward momentum at the start [0:00-1:47], and especially some very sour/sweet sounds [0:46+ & 0:52+], which create the very soundworld of this particular movement, of course the opening is repeated [1:47-3:30], and so of course are these bittersweet sounds [2:32+ & 2:38+], the opening returns a third time [4:51+], but it soon develops into a new and unique path, closing down the Quartet, a very satisfying String Quartet by Haydn.

Here's the first movement of Op76/2 being played by Seraphina on YouTube.

Beethoven - String Quartet 5 [The Miro Quartet]

Here's Beethoven's first foray into the String Quartet medium, and like Mozart and Haydn before him, he's issued a set of six String Quartets, and the actual works show Beethoven as trying to equal the best works of his forbears, it would only be in his next String Quartets that he would pass way beyond them into another realm.

The Miro Quartet are new to me, but they have been going for about 15 years now, they are based in the United States.

Again i bought this set, not only because i like these String Quartets, but also because the booklet image was fantastic, looks like a great pic by Faustinus Deraet, now i think it's four different photos collaged together, but really nice all the same, plus the orange theme works very well with the wood of the string instruments.

The fifth String Quartet of this set is my favourite, and i'm definitely impressed with the first movement, it has that easy going simple tunefulness which Schubert would have been proud of, the first violin has such an exuberance about the tune [0:00-0:30], it's so wonderful when the repeat of the opening comes around again [4:31-5:07], it's not complex Beethoven, and it really is the 'young' Beethoven stretching his wings, full flight would come later, but in this String Quartet i hear the first prototype of String Quartet 7 [composed roughly six years later], the Miro Quartet seem a little rigid round the edges, there isn't quite that liquidness about them yet, but they're young and they'll get better, but i enjoyed hearing this String Quartet again.

Here's the first movement being played on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Concerto [Ricci/Del Mar-Sinfonia Of London]

Here's an inventive idea, Brahms's Violin Concerto with 16 different cadenzas, pick whatever one you want, i haven't listened to all these cadenzas, on this listen i played the one that's already recorded into the performance, the Busoni cadenza, strange in a way, it has a timpani drum roll throughout the first half of the cadenza.

Ruggiero Ricci is was born in the United States, he is now 92 [2 days ago], he retired from playing in 2003, and this recording was made in 1991.

I really enjoyed the first movement,

Here's Nikolaj Znaider playing the first movement on YouTube, with Valery Gergiev conducting.

Various Artists ['Sanctuary' 28 Gothic Anthems]

Well here's something different, just in case you think i'm a soft middle aged guy, i do like stuff that is heavy and loud too, this is an excellent compilation album, certainly Gothic, but it also has a flavour of Punk and Metal about it too, it's hard to pigeonhole the album.

Ultimately i feel that the album has too many average tracks within it, especially disc two, and there's a flavour of Indie music which is out of place, i'm sure i won't keep this album, however these type of albums can work out a wonderful way to sample a whole bunch of Artists/Bands, and give you a great introduction point to some you especially like, that's exactly what's happened here with my first listen of this album.

I really liked tracks 2, 7-8 & 14, especially track 7 'The Beautiful People' by Marilyn Manson, now i'm certainly not a Marilyn Manson fan, in fact i see him as a modern day Alice Cooper, and i hated Alice Cooper, in my mind Marilyn Manson was all image and no substance, a Shock Rocker doing obscene things to get noticed, because his music can't speak for itself, so it was a huge surprise to find this track is so phenomenally good, wow! i like it a lot, and come to think of it his stage persona is quite endearing too!, one of the other things that happened is that this track lead me onto 'Blitzkreig' by Deathstars, another wonderful discovery, i'll have to get their album too!.

'The Beautiful People' starts off with these delicious damn drums! [0:04+], that permeate through the whole song, it's this powerful tribal beat which makes the track, something that The Sweet or Adam & The Ants would do, a bass guitar comes in [0:11+], and then the buzz guitar [0:20+], and we've got a real riff going, Manson comes in on the first verse whispering loudly! [0:45+], a nice touch is him singing the word 'wrong' in a falsetto voice [0:53], it's dynamite, the chorus is screamed by Manson [1:24+],

Hey you, what do you see?

Something beautiful, something free?

Hey you, are you trying to be mean?

If you live with apes man, it's hard to be clean

another nice touch is singing 'the horrible people, the horrible people' in a mocking whining voice [1:51+], later when the words 'the beautiful people' are whispered four times, with an 'ahhh' at the end [2:45+], there's this lovely tick tock sound made by the drums, a nice moment indeed, the whole track is a genius of a creation.

Here's Marilyn Manson singing 'The Beautiful People' on YouTube, the video is really good, very arty.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 17 [Kuerti]

Only a couple of days ago i wrote about Schubert's Piano Sonata 17 [22nd July 2010], and here it is again!, this gives a different view of the same work.

Anton Kuerti is an Austrian, now living in Canada, now 72 years old, this disc was recorded in 1991, Kuerti has recorded the whole of the Schubert Piano Sonatas, i believe on 11 discs, they are available separately, and this is probably the best way of acquiring them, an individual or two, this is probably one of the better releases of the cycle, the sound of the piano is a little bit treble-y, there's somewhat of a lack of warmth in the recording.

Here are the different timings, compared alongside Brendel,

Brendel-----Kuerti

9:23--------7:59

11:53------13:38

9:00--------8:36

8:59--------7:51

Kuerti is faster in the faster movements, but slower in the slow movement, and it's this second movement that i enjoyed this time, it's marked 'con moto', which means 'with movement' or 'with motion', a Piano Sonata would invariably have a slow lyrical movement, in essence this one doesn't particularly have one, but Kuerti has somehow seen fit to slow things down here, and it's taken the role of something slower and gentle, very much sounding like a lieder tune, you expect the singer to come in at any moment, a very nice simple tune indeed, like i said, sounding like an intro to something, but the opening is the piece, Kuerti has some nice little outbursts [3:45 & 5:05], where the music takes on a greater intensity, and inbetween these two outbursts there's a quieter passage [4:13-5:05], where this greater intensity continues in its lyricism, here Kuerti is at his best, and this lyrical passage is repeated in a lovely reprise later [10:12-10:48], and Kuerti also makes the very most of the musics contrasts nicely, but the final analysis is that Brendel brings out the more dancelike aspects of the music to a greater degree, but it's nice to hear Kuerti's take on the music. 

Here's Joy Smith playing the second movement on YouTube.

Beethoven - 32 Piano Variations [Uchida]

Here's a real revelation!, this short bunch of variations, lasting roughly 11 minutes, with each variation lasting roughly 15-20 seconds, is in fact a work of genius, they may seem slight and insignificant at first glance, what the hell can you do in fifteen seconds?, well with Beethoven that's a lot!.

Here's the secret, with huge statements like his Symphonies, he speaks chapters over an hour at times, with these variations he speaks pithy one liners, but they reverberate within, not only this, but also each variation builds up the next, the preceding variation creates a hunger for the next, a bit like a boxer, who has little effect with a single hard punch seldom delivered, but a flurry of smaller punches all add up into something big, even if non of them are real 'hits'.

I find myself musing on one genius of a variation, only to be surprised at the turn of the next, which seems to substantiate the one before, certainly no variation outstays its welcome, how could it in 20 seconds?, but the opposite is true, you are left wanting more, here's where the hunger comes in.

The variations i enjoyed the most were 11, 13-17, 19, 21, 23-25 & 31-32, with probably 13, 21, 23, 25 & 32 as the most favourite of all, yes there's this middle section from variations 11-25 that really gelled together [barring 3 variations], variation 13 [3:42-3:57] is a nice rolling legato in the right hand, with the left hand handing out the tune in staccato beats, variation 21 [5:59-6:13] is a dizzy and frantic rush slowly up the keyboard with the left hand, while the right hand stamps out the beat, variation 23 [6:29-6:51] is gentle, but full of dark mystery, as both hands play towards the bass notes, variation 25 [7:05-7:20] is actually similar, but louder, and more mid keyboard, variation 32 [9:17-9:36] skitters up and down the piano in the right hand, its reach gaining in octave depth each time, while also speeding up and getting louder, while the left hand bass growls away, it's hard to know which one i like best, because it's like asking which petal on a flower you like best, well i like them all, one missing would create an imperfection!, a very underestimated bunch of variations indeed.

Here's Murray Perahia playing these variations on YouTube.

Schubert - Piano Sonata 17 [Brendel]

All the Piano Sonatas written about in my Blog so far this year, are all Schubert!, hmmm, how come he's got a monopoly on my Piano Sonata time?, plus all the other posts are about Piano Sonata 21, so it's good to talk about another one of his gems.

The Austrian Alfred Brendel is now retired from performing, he will be 80 next January, he now lives in England.

I really liked the first movement of this Piano Sonata, there's an exuberance here, the whole movement feels like a Fantasia, it freewheels all over the place, never really settling on a solid structure, it's a nice fast and flowing opening, with squirming little piano runs punctuated by outbursts [0:00-1:00], the second theme is a nice skipping tune, but then there's the stumbling hesitations [1:00-1:32], a contrast is made in the middle section, changing key and into a fanfare [4:57+], and then the fanfare gets darker [5:40+], at the end the fanfare comes back to close things down [8:41+], one of Schubert's more exhilarating movements.

Here's Ivan Donchev playing the first movement on YouTube.

Albeniz - Iberia [Larrocha]

I bought this set in late 1992, and played it quite extensively, i must admit i don't play it as often today, but i fell in love with these very Spanish pieces, and Larrocha being a native, has for years been the leading interpreter in this music.

Larrocha was born in Spain, she died last September, these recordings come from the late eighties, she was in her mid sixties when she recorded them, i must admit the sound is not ideal, it's somewhat blunted and dull sounding, there isn't that distinctive ring in the treble.

The front cover is excellent, the photo is by Christian Steiner, a nicely lit subject, with a jet black background, Alicia really stands out, and very pleasing writing, very well done Decca!.

One of the things i notice about Iberia, is the fact that all the pieces sound fairly similar, it's hard to pick out individualism amongst the twelve, but on this listen i did like track 2 'El Puerto', and track 5 'Almeria', with El Puerto just edging it, it's actually the shortest piece of the set at just over 4 minutes, a happy skipping tune, but there's some tumbling involved here and there, there's a slightly dissonant episode in the middle [1:33-1:56], the piece is very free-wheeling, towards the end there's a very reflective moment [3:21-3:41], the piano plays in the higher registers, and slower/quieter, very nice, which turns into a slow coda of sorts [3:42+], but fun has the last word as the piece ends on two 'irreverent' bass notes! [4:06], it's like a mischievous child.

Here's Alicia De Larrocha playing El Puerto on YouTube.

Various Composers - French Clarinet Music [Soames/Higgins]

Here's a lovely set of short French clarinet pieces, each one is over 5 minutes, but yet under 10 minutes, eleven pieces with a total time of 79 minutes, what makes this extra special is that there's quite a number of 'unknown' pieces, and yet they're superb, the shortness of the pieces actually adds to their listenability, they never outstay their welcome, weave a nice bit of magic and then they're gone!.

Victoria Soames is the creator of 'Clarinet Classics', an innovative Record Label dedicated to the clarinet, what a clever idea!.

The idea for this disc was to bring together the best music of an annual French clarinet competition, which would commission pieces from French Composers, which would prove the dexterity of those Clarinetists in the competition, each piece was designed to be hard, either in its fast complexity, or in its more tranquil expression, but usually both, in many ways the music composed has become more enduring than the winners it has created.

I very much enjoyed tracks 1, 5 & 11, especially Messager's 'Solo De Concours', it's the most ideal piece for the competition, by turns it's complex and difficult, then it's lyrical and sweet, but no less difficult to interpret and bring forth its beauty, the start is a tremendous tune, but also a challenge for the Clarinetist [0:00-1:27], full of showing what the clarinet is made of, by opposite contrast, the piece turns to a reflective mood [1:27-3:08], into a beautiful lyrical melody of refinement, even within this section there's a middle section, where the piano plays the main tune, and the clarinet adds melismas [2:14-2:38], slowly getting louder, probably the very best part of the whole piece, a very varied piece, that goes into all four corners of what can be done, and all welded together to create perfection, one of the loveliest short pieces for clarinet.

Here's Jose Franch-Ballester playing Messager's 'Solo De Concours' on YouTube.

Schumann - Piano Concerto [Larrocha/ Davis-London Symphony Orchestra]

This is the sixth time that the Schumann Piano Concerto has featured in my Blog this year, almost once a month, maybe it just happens to be a blitz, playing lots of versions regularly, or maybe it really is popular in my life, certainly every time i hear it i enjoy it so much.

I bought this disc for two reasons, one was the coupling of the piano Concerto with the Piano Quintet, a logical coupling when you think of it, the other reason is the booklet/presentation, a clever picture of some tropical leaf fronds, a nice layout on the back inlay too, plus Larrocha is a good Pianist.

Alicia De Larrocha was a Spanish Pianist, who passed away in 2009, the queen of Spanish music [especially Albeniz], this disc was recorded in 1991.

For me the first movement is a lovely Fantasia, a Concerto that seems very free-wheeling and unstructural, i must admit that listening to this performance, i notice that Larrocha is very much in the 'staccato' camp of Pianists, and at certain points it just seems a little overdone, when a lovely legato would have worked wonders, the opening is inspired, an orchestral outburst followed by jumpy piano chords, and then the lyrical oboe lines, and the piano mirroring those lines, a great introduction [0:00-0:53], and it's this piano mirroring the woodwind that features elsewhere [3:37-3:52], there's a gorgeous sweet and gentle central section between the piano and clarinet, where a dialogue takes place [5:05-6:51], this time the piano speaks and the clarinet replies, for me it's the best section of the whole Concerto, after a fairly long cadenza where Larrocha shows off her pianism, the coda comes in [15:29], and it's an inspired ending, i especially like the way the piano has some nice warblings just before the end [16:04], no wonder the first movement seems 'a Piano Concerto within a Piano Concerto', it was composed as a complete piece, and with its slow lyrical middle section, it was already a Piano Concertina of sorts, the two following movements were added later.

Here's the first movement being played by Amir Katz on YouTube.

Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites [Ormandy-Philadelphia Orchestra]

It's actually been a long time since i played these suites, and i truly forget how very good they are, even those numbers that are not so famous came across as masterpieces this time, plus this was recorded in the early to mid seventies, but the recording is incredibly good, my only gripe is that the last number 'Solvejg's Song' is the vocal version, instead of the orchestral, it seems an odd sore thumb that sticks out.

The Hungarian Conductor Eugene Ormandy was born in 1899, and died in 1985, a long life, he conducted this Philadelphia Orchestra for 44 years, a considerable tenure compared to today.

The Booklet in this RCA Navigator series is wonderful, most of them are maps, some of them are poor, but this is nice and sharp, showing colours of borders, mountains and rivers etc, also there's nice latitude lines, and even sea/coastline gradings, all tremendously sharp, a joy to own, i saw it on Ebay and snapped it up.

So of course i was concerned, would the music and the quality of the recording match up to the visual quality?, the answer was amazingly yes, even the Piano Concerto which was recorded in 1959 was of outstanding quality, with only a degree of analogue hiss to betray it's age, but your ears soon adjust to this.

'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' was excellent, it starts off with pizzicato cellos [0:04-1:01], representing Peer Gynt creeping into the cave of the Mountain King, while the searching trolls represent the bassoons, it moves up a notch to include violins for Peer Gynt, while the trolls move up to oboes [1:01-1:52], the music becomes frantic as the trolls discover Peer Gynt and give chase, with Peer Gynt running away symbolized by the pacey bowing strings [1:52-2:29], eventually the Mountain King himself encounters Peer Gynt, who runs out of the cave, with the Mountain King in pursuit, represented by clashes on the cymbals and timpani [2:29-2:48], i like the start, and how it builds up, like i said, i haven't heard this for quite a while, it was good to refresh my ears, and especially to get to know some of the lesser known numbers in the suites.

Here's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' conducted by Neeme Jarvi with the Berliner Philharmoniker on YouTube.

Dvorak - Piano Quintet 2 [Nakamura/Tokyo String Quartet]

The Japanese Pianist Hiroko Nakamura is not a well known name, she hasn't made a lot of recordings, one thing is she's stayed in Japan, which means western recordings are few, she is now 65, and this recording was made in 1988.

I really enjoyed the first movement,

Here's the first movement being played on YouTube.

Bach - 6 Brandenburg Concertos [Hogwood-The Academy Of Ancient Music]

This set of the Brandenburg Concertos is great, early/authentic instruments work so well with Baroque music, probably Haydn is the watershed mark, after that this type of instrumentation works less well.

Christopher Hogwood is English, now 68, he founded the Academy Of Ancient Music in 1973, and they have helped pioneer the art of performing music as it was heard in the day it was composed.

Also the booklet/back insert is nice, red is a great colour scheme.

Each Brandenburg Concerto seems to focus on a certain instrument or style of playing, i very much notice that the best movements of these Concertos always seem to be the opening movements, and i very much enjoyed the second Brandenburg Concerto, the opening movement is full of vigour and brilliance, the trumpet [Friedmann Immer] especially has a major voice out front, almost this could be a Trumpet Concerto,

Here's the Freiberg Baroque Orchestra playing the first movement of Concerto 2 on YouTube.

Dvorak - Cello Concerto [Fournier/Szell-Berliner Philharmoniker]

Here's a lovely coupling of probably the two most popular Cello Concertos, played by the Frenchman Pierre Fournier, who died in 1986, these recording were made in the early [Dvorak] and late [Elgar] sixties, and yet the sound is tremendously good, even though they're analogue recordings, they could easily pass for more recently recorded.

In my mind the booklet artwork is wonderful, called 'Pastoral Landscape' by Mick Durrant, a nice symmetric painting, nice and stark, with lovely colours, enhances this re-issue of these Concertos.

The central Adagio movement is truly bittersweet, lovely and gorgeous sounding one moment, but melancholy and sad another,

Here's Pierre Fournier playing the second movement on YouTube, with Celibidache conducting.

Brahms - String Quartet 1 [Takacs String Quartet]

This booklet i took from an original single disc issue of the first two Quartets, and put it with the two disc re-issue of the three Quartets and Piano Quintet with the back inlay card, the original booklet scanned here is so much better, a very clever shot, looking up in a Concert Hall? balcony, the brown marble column, and the detail in the wooden railing is lovely, plus the poses of the Quartet, and the blue of the back inlay works well against the brown, a wonderful set of the Brahms String Quartets.

The Takacs String Quartet was formed in 1975, and has intensively recorded for the Decca Record Label, these recordings are from the early nineties, since then the Takacs Quartet have had two new members, and now they record for the Hyperion Record Label, and in fact in 2007-2008 they re-recorded these String Quartets.

The first movement again took me by surprise, it's full of vigour and power, Brahms's textures are quite thick, and the Quartet are relentless in their drive, there's hardly a moment to slow down and enjoy a major key respite, it starts off in a whirlwind [0:00-0:14], the first violin comes in with something lyrical [0:22-0:42], but it's also sad because it's in a minor key [C Minor], near the beginning there's an agitated section, the main string is always pressed by others playing agitated in the background [1:03-1:58], within this section the strings become more forceful towards the end [1:40-1:58], this is for me the most exciting part of the movement, and there's an exposition repeat at [2:46], and the same agitated section repeats [3:27-4:42], with the forceful section at the end again [4:24-4:42], and again at [8:58-9:16], other little memorable parts are the going down the scale, from high violins to low cello in rapid succession four times [6:54-7:02], this movement is a real tour de force, i love its relentlessness!.

Here's the first movement being played on YouTube.

Various Artists [The Female Touch]

These types of discs don't usually find their way into my Blog, but this one is a clever compilation, it's certainly got some more interesting Artists, it either goes beyond the 'pop chart female', or it has the more cutting edge individual, with a few exceptions, it's a good mix too.

The booklet cover isn't great, the pic is somewhat out of focus, but the face / hair / pose is great, and the redeeming feature is the use of dark pink as the main colour, nicely listed on the front, and even better on the back inlay, pink and black on a white background works a treat, Artists and their tracks are differentiated by colour, a clear and distinctive track listing which is a joy to read.

This is the first time i've listened to these discs, most of the songs i know, some are unfamiliar, the tracks i liked the best are, tracks 5, 7, 22, 26, 29, 32 & 36, with track 29 'She Cries Your Name' by Beth Orton really catching my eye / ear, it's very much Adult Contemporary music, i've heard some Beth Orton before, and she's very good indeed, but her work isn't consistent, she is English, and will hit 40 at the end of the year, this is the first time i've heard this track, and immediately it struck me as inventive and clever, it starts off with what sounds like atmospheric out of tune violins [0:00-0:47], very effective indeed, possibly this could be created electronically, or maybe warped with electronics, but it sets the scene for the whole song, the song is actually quite acoustic, three short verses, the violins come back in on the chorus [1:05-1:26], this time with the addition of what sounds like a penny whistle, but this time it is created electronically, with some nice morse code vibes at the end of the chorus, the opening violins come back between the chorus and the second verse [1:27-1:46], but this time with drums, that are nice and uneven, here's the second verse, nice words,

Cut beneath the surface screen

Of what we say and what we seem

Is a trick to be seen

She keeps cryin' out your name

But her screams sound the same

How fickle fate can be

It actually sounds like the chorus 'she cries your name, three times again', is a reference to multiple orgasms!, that the guy has left the singer, and now is with the new girl, but is it all fickle?, the more i listen to this song, the more wonderful things i notice about it, it has those little touches that turn a good song into a great one, and it's those damn violins that get into your soul!.

Well now i notice that there's 'The Female Touch 2', so i'll have to get this too, and it's got some more Beth Orton on it.

Here's Beth Orton singing 'She Cries Your Name' on YouTube.

Bruckner - Symphony 4 [Masur-New York Philharmonic]

Again first off, the booklet, what a glorious atmospheric shot, of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, a huge castle, but yet dwarfed by the mountains in the background, it's the haze which makes the shot, from the light blue of the sky at the top, down through darker blues at the bottom, full marks to Teldec Records.

Kurt Masur is German [formerly East German], and will be 73 next week.

Bruckner's Fourth Symphony is his most popular, and it's the Symphony to start out on if you are coming new to Bruckner, in listening to this again, i was struck by the great architecture of the first movement,

Here's Gunter Wand conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Ravel - String Quartet [Quatuor Ysaye]

This Quartet, especially the first movement, really hit me hard early last year, while walking down a country lane with my portable, since then i've listened to it more, and also i've anticipated the joy and love that i'm about to get from listening to it once again, this is a wonderful feeling.

Also i've acquired more versions of these works, and this is one of them, each String Quartet has a slightly different interpretation, and it adds to the comprehension and understanding of the work to hear someone different, it's like visiting another Doctor and getting a second [or third or...] opinion [of the work].

Certainly this time i was impressed with the opening movement, but again i find myself drawn to the second movement Assez vif - Tres rythme, if there's one feature of this movement, it would be 'pizzicato', it seems the whole idea is to create a movement to showcase this device, and Ravel has pulled it off with aplomb, the movement starts out with the tune in forte pizzicato [0:00-0:16], and the first violin is the one to come in with some sweet bowing [0:16-0:36], however all the strings take it in turns doing some pizzicato, especially the cello, and there's some very fast bowing [0:36-0:48], before the whole episode returns again, with slight variations [0:48-1:47], and of course this very episode returns right at the end [5:14-6:18], the first violin has a lyrical yet sour new theme [3:25+ & 4:08+], but agitations abound, with the cello and viola threatening with soft pizzicato to return to the opening theme [3:45+ & 4:30+], of which the cello eventually achieves exactly that [4:51+], with the viola, then the violins joining in, until it explodes into the opening pizzicato reprise [5:14], right at the end there's a powerful pizzicato chord to end on, nicely staggered, a great finish, and an exhilarating String Quartet showpiece.

Here's the Hagen Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube.

Brahms - Violin Sonata 3 [Weithaas/Avenhaus]

One of the purposes of my Blog, is to examine some aspect of the music i'm writing about, overturn a musical rock and see what lies beneath, one of these things is examining what key the work is written in, in the case of this Sonata, it's written in D Minor, the only minor key of Brahms's three Violin Sonatas, it's interesting to note some other major works written in the same key, i would call these 'key cousins',

Mozart-Piano Concerto 20

Mozart-Requiem

Shostakovich-Symphony 5

Sibelius-Violin Concerto

Schumann-Violin Concerto

Brahms-Piano Concerto 1

Schubert-String Quartet 14

they give you a feel for what D Minor is trying to convey, i love all the works above, they have that dark quality about them, tragedy and death maybe, certainly profoundness.

The first movement opening starts with a very lyrical violin, but yet there's an underlying sadness there [0:00-0:42], the piano bounces along a rhythm in the background nicely, but the waters are often troubled in this Sonata, later the violin has a softer yet darker theme [2:29-3:45], while the piano is equally restless in the background, ticking away time like a metronome, there's a forceful and passionate passage for both violin and piano [4:31-5:24], where both become agitated and somewhat angry, a sad yet beautiful Violin Sonata movement.

Here's Akiko Suwanai playing the first movement on YouTube.