A fine performance of the piece “Melancolie” by Francois Poulenc, played and uploaded by a YouTube user:
Happy Sunday everyone.
Music For The Day
Music For The Day
Rachmaninov Prelude Op.32 No.13 in D flat major, performed here by Vladminir Ashkenazy:
A fitting end to Rachmaninov’s wonderful cycle of 24 preludes.
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Music For The Day
“Fantasy in C” by Orlando Gibbons, performed here on the piano by Glenn Gould:
This piece always reminds me of New York. I first heard it while listening to Glenn Gould’s “Great Pianists of the 20th Century” album on the sample headphones at a Barnes & Noble store somewhere near Chinatown, a decade ago, after having walked all the way downtown from my cheap, two-star hotel.
The liner notes to this CD, if I recall correctly (and I’m paraphrasing here), pay homage to Gould’s plausible, natural “English accent” when playing the pieces from this release. Listening again now, it’s hard to disagree.
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Music For The Day
“Quiet City”, by Aaron Copland, 1941. A beautiful, haunting piece for english horn, trumpet and strings, but most remarkable for the beautiful, yearning, pure, melismatic trumpet solo which soars over the still, muted orchestral accompaniment.
My favourite recording of this piece is by the London Symphony Orchestra and their principal trumpet of the time, Howard Snell, conducted by the composer himself; but in this case the images of still, quiet cities in the accompanying YouTube video make this the version to share.
The original version, scored for trumpet, saxophone, clarinets and piano (written as music for a play but never used) can be found here.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and productive start to the new week.
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Music For The Day
Grieg Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op 7, second movement, performed by Glenn Gould:
Those final falling chords at the end of the movement (and the sense of stillness and reflection that they create) are rendered beautifully in this recording by Gould.
The whole sonata is well worth a listen.
Happy Friday, everyone.
Semi-Partisan Politics 