What are you listening to?

[fergus]

Two of the best String Quartets that I know of; magnificent music that makes for compulsive listening.

[Seán]

This evening I watched last night's Prom broadcast twice, it is hugely enjoyable:

J. S. Bach
Easter Oratorio 38'
Ascension Oratorio 32'

Hannah Morrison soprano
Meg Bragle mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Peter Harvey bass

Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Sir John Eliot Gardiner conductor

I am delighted that you liked it Seán.

Thanks Fergus. It is one to keep. I will watch it again as soon as I have the home cinema system to myself, one needs uninterrupted peace and quiet to do so, JEG's passion for Bach's music is infectious. JEG has assembled a marvellous ensemble.

[Seán]

Two of the best String Quartets that I know of; magnificent music that makes for compulsive listening.

Oh now Fergus, that does get my attention, is it on vinyl? I have the Talich SQ playing four Beethoven Quartets and they are splendid. I do not have any of Janáček's chamber music and that does look very interesting indeed.

[mcq]

Listening today to the glories of the Takacs Quartet's complete survey of the Beethoven string quartets.  An extraordinary journey, especially if savoured over the course of (almost) a single sitting.  What lingers in my mind right now is the Takacs' exceptional  reading of no. 15 in A Minor, op. 132.  Written in 1825 in the midst of agonising stomach pains and an all-but-complete alienation from society, a truly great performance of this masterpiece is a uniquely powerful emotional experience, evincing the horrors of Beethoven's physical and mental sufferings contrasted with one of the most serenely beautiful sonic landscapes of his entire output, namely the heavenly, otherworldly third movement which the composer entitled "Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to a Divinity".  It is a prayer of thanks not simply for the easing of unimaginable pain but, crucially, the ability to articulate in his musical work the paroxysms of agony that punctuated his illness and the eventual deliverance from that pain.  A journal entry from 1802, when the reality of his deafness first began to dawn on him, is particularly relevant here: "I am driven almost to despair, a little more and I would have ended my life.  It was only my art that held me back.  It seemed to me impossible to leave the world  until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me."  These lines are key to understanding the unmatched emotional expressivity that Beethoven brought to his musical writings as a means of transcending the physical and mental sufferings he encountered in his life.

This Holy Song of Thanksgiving reminds me strongly of the Sanctus from Missa Solemnis, a vision of the Holy Spirit descending to Earth to deliver the penitent souls.   It shares with that movement a virtuosic command of space and sonority as a means to evince feelings of peace, serenity, humility and solemnity.  This is deeply human music with no room for empty bombast or trite sentimentality and which is written from the standpoint of a profound weariness of life that yearns for deliverance.  There is a coming to terms in this great music on the transitory pains and joys of life, the finiteness of all earthly things, a reflection on what is given to us as well as what is taken away, and a relief - as opposed to fear - in the face of impending death.  It is this "fear" that we are directly confronted with at the conclusion of Missa Solemnis because the transcendental serenity evoked by the Sanctus is thrown into stark relief by the darkly solemn and deeply fearful Agnus Dei, which represents to my mind a deeply unsettling intimation of impending mortality.  

It is worth noting that Beethoven retained this quote of Friedrich Schiller's framed underneath the glass of his writing table: "I am all, what is, what was, what will be; no mortal man has ever lifted my veil." When you listen to the serene, tranquil calmness of this Holy Song of Thanksgiving that represents the peace of God descending on Beethoven's brow, it is surely not too fanciful a thought that we are being granted a chance furtive peek under that most diaphanous of veils, so immediate is the impression that we, as listeners, are eavesdropping on something of the profoundest consequence.

[fergus]

well, our Fergus sent me a Bach calendar, so that I could listen to the right cantatas at the appropriate time of the year... not that i've ever paid the heed to it that I should...

Every year I relive the JEG Cantata Pilgrimage and it is just a very handy way to pinpoint exactly where you are and what is appropriate e.g. today is the twelfth Sunday after Trinity and the appropriate Cantatas for today are BWV35, 69a and 137....





BWV69a to which I am listening is a truly delightful work.

[fergus]

Two of the best String Quartets that I know of; magnificent music that makes for compulsive listening.

Oh now Fergus, that does get my attention, is it on vinyl? I have the Talich SQ playing four Beethoven Quartets and they are splendid. I do not have any of Janáček's chamber music and that does look very interesting indeed.

This is very personal and introspective music Seán which is quite akin to the musical language in the Shostakovich String Quartets. I always remember the first time that I heard it; it was many years ago driving home from somewhere that I now forget on a cold, wet winter night. I turned up the volume on the car radio so as not to miss a single note. Luckily I was very close to home that night and I soon arrived outside my house where I sat transfixed until the two works were finished. I simply had to have that music!

Unfortunately I do not have it on vinyl. If you are looking it up the cover image has changed over the years; I know of three versions. It is wonderful music and extremely well played here.

[fergus]

It is worth noting that Beethoven retained this quote of Friedrich Schiller's framed underneath the glass of his writing table: "I am all, what is, what was, what will be; no mortal man has ever lifted my veil." When you listen to the serene, tranquil calmness of this Holy Song of Thanksgiving that represents the peace of God descending on Beethoven's brow, it is surely not too fanciful a thought that we are being granted a chance furtive peek under that most diaphanous of veils, so immediate is the impression that we, as listeners, are eavesdropping on something of the profoundest consequence.

Your piece was beautifully written as always Paul.

I have extracted the quote above because it describes in a way that I could not the feeling that I frequently get when listeng to the music of Bach.

I must listen to the relevant Beethoven Quartet mentioned abobe with your thoughts in mind. Thank you again for sharing them.

[mcq]

Thank you, Fergus, that 's very kind.  I think the reference to the lifting of the veil is analogous to our own experience as listeners to the great music.  Close and repeated listening to a favourite piece of music over an extended length of time should never really be about a musical deconstruction of the piece but, rather, it should take us ever closer to the emotional heart that beats at its very centre and the truths that we thereby intuit when we are privileged with a furtive glimpse behind the veil of accreted layers of musical substrata that temporarily obscure our view.  

[fergus]

Thank you, Fergus, that 's very kind.  I think the reference to the lifting of the veil is analogous to our own experience as listeners to the great music.  Close and repeated listening to a favourite piece of music over an extended length of time should never really be about a musical deconstruction of the piece but, rather, it should take us ever closer to the emotional heart that beats at its very centre and the truths that we thereby intuit when we are privileged with a furtive glimpse behind the veil of accreted layers of musical substrata that temporarily obscure our view.  

Indeed Paul....it is all about the music in the final analysis.

[fergus]

I am sitting here trying to put some order into my CD collection which has become completely disorganised over the last few months. To help keep me calm I am listening to some very peaceful Palestrina, his Missa Brevis....