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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2013 11:49:08 GMT
E.K. Bluesboy, Would you elaborate some on Gorecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs", the music, era of composition, and the story behind it that makes it even more powerful? I would be very interested to know. Johnsan Love the kitty avatar, btw. My long gone "Toby" (named for Tobemory, Ontario, Canada....a Georgian Bay town of beautiful-ness) probably could play along.....little smartie, he was. J Henryk Gorecki (Polish) composed his Symphony No. 3, op.36 in the early seventies I think.
A soprano sings in all of the movements. The recording I have features Dawn Upshaw who has a beautiful, haunting voice.
Each movement is very slow and melancholy. The first movement takes about 2 minutes before you actually realise that you are hearing human voices at a really low pitch! From Wiki - A solo soprano sings a different Polish text in each of the three movements. The first is a 15th-century Polish lament of Mary, mother of Jesus, the second a message written on the wall of a Gestapo cell during World War II, and the third a Silesian folk song of a mother searching for her son killed in the Silesian uprisings. The first and third movements are written from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child, and the second movement from that of a child separated from a parent. The dominant themes of the symphony are motherhood and separation through war. The second movement uses the words of a teenage girl, Helena Błażusiak, which she wrote on the wall of a Gestapo prison cell in Zakopane to invoke the protection of the Virgin Mary. It is a very powerful piece and having lost my mother a few months ago, can be difficult to listen to now. Jeff
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2013 16:31:29 GMT
Thank you for the insights into Gorecki's music....tragic remembrances that must never be forgotten nor repeated. j
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2013 21:02:29 GMT
Hi Johnsan, How do we describe classical music in terms of what? I'm learning. First, I hope I "quoted" okay....Just hit the quote tab and begin writing? I'll get the hang of this yet. Describing Classical Music is usually done by type and type is described by date of composition and style of such. At the beginning of this thread it was debated as to how best to line up discussions of such a wide ranging class of music. Usually it is done by these: Baroque (middle to late 1600's into the 1700's), Classical (mid to late 1700's into the early to mid 1800's) and Romantic (mid to late 1800's and into the early 1900's). There are styles associated with all 3 types as well as types and # of instruments used...string trios, quartets, etc., piano duets, trios, etc., all manner of instruments in all manner of configurations..... Chamber orchestras of 30 or so musicians, full Symphony orchestras of over 100 musicians. And types of music can depend on country of origin of composers, or studies of countries of origin of composers by other composers (where one can hear influences of Russian romanticism in such works as "The Wasps" by Vaughn Williams who was studying with Maurice Ravel at the time Ravel was studying Russian romantic composers....a British composer studying with a French composer who is studying Russian composers). I hope I've begun to suggest how large and complicated the subject of Classical Music really is....and is very difficult to include it all by me, just one person. But, if I was to start to learn about Classical Music....in this day and age, I would find a streaming on line radio station (I use Accuradio) and just choose one of the Classical Music channels and let it play while doing other stuff. When something catches your ear, which it surely will...look to see what it is, who composed it, what orchestra or group is playing it....I usually keep a pad of paper and pen close by to keep a record of what I liked. That way I can expand my knowledge by surfing the net by composer, orchestra, etc. I am still, at 64 years old still learning about Classical Music. I hope to never stop discovering more of what I like. Such an adventure should never end. J
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Apr 17, 2013 5:27:53 GMT
Describing Classical Music is usually done by type and type is described by date of composition and style of such. At the beginning of this thread it was debated as to how best to line up discussions of such a wide ranging class of music. Usually it is done by these: Baroque (middle to late 1600's into the 1700's), Classical (mid to late 1700's into the early to mid 1800's) and Romantic (mid to late 1800's and into the early 1900's). There are styles associated with all 3 types as well as types and # of instruments used...string trios, quartets, etc., piano duets, trios, etc., all manner of instruments in all manner of configurations..... Chamber orchestras of 30 or so musicians, full Symphony orchestras of over 100 musicians. And types of music can depend on country of origin of composers, or studies of countries of origin of composers by other composers (where one can hear influences of Russian romanticism in such works as "The Wasps" by Vaughn Williams who was studying with Maurice Ravel at the time Ravel was studying Russian romantic composers....a British composer studying with a French composer who is studying Russian composers). I hope I've begun to suggest how large and complicated the subject of Classical Music really is....and is very difficult to include it all by me, just one person. But, if I was to start to learn about Classical Music....in this day and age, I would find a streaming on line radio station (I use Accuradio) and just choose one of the Classical Music channels and let it play while doing other stuff. When something catches your ear, which it surely will...look to see what it is, who composed it, what orchestra or group is playing it....I usually keep a pad of paper and pen close by to keep a record of what I liked. That way I can expand my knowledge by surfing the net by composer, orchestra, etc. I am still, at 64 years old still learning about Classical Music. I hope to never stop discovering more of what I like. Such an adventure should never end. J Good morning J (from Singapore), Excellent! Now I can try what you had taught me here. That's the beauty of the Internet which allows us to mix around internationally without even flying out of the country to learn something from a far distance international pal. You surely is way ahead of me in this arena as I'm 54 and you are at this kind of things in your job before you retire from it and now at the golden age of 64. (Ah, the Beatles sang that age before, you know. ) I wish those terrorists and politicians would quit disturbing the international peace and start listening to classical music to calm themselves down as this type of music is obviously with the most mood changing in a musical way. They can learn about death too in the classical music that describes it or in a bulldozer mood play Beethoven 5th. Nah, they should learn more about Love and Peace of the hippy years. Any hippy classical to sent to them? Yeah, the learning curve is until death do us part. Once stop learning, we are already literally dead for sure. You see being dead will not allow us to learn any further, right? At least brain dead if body is still alive. What for in a "comatose" state. Might as well be a man and die away as a man! Not like cowards like those terrorists or politicians. I really respect those involved at Ok Corral although not the event. Those involved at least died or got wounded as men and not cowards.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2013 18:15:49 GMT
XTRProf...Excellent sentiments. I am amazed that this world can create such beauty of art, music, cinema, etc., yet such destruction also. It is up to us who believe in the beauty of life to ennumerate those feelings and beliefs to the rest of the World. I believe that the Internet will accomplish this. Probably not in my life time or even my son's, but soon. Non violent, peaceful coexistence between the people of Earth is mandatory. And the Universal Voice of Music is one of the ways this will happen.
Just a matter of time my learned Internet friend from Singapore! j
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Post by XTRProf on Apr 18, 2013 4:29:13 GMT
Excellent sentiments. I am amazed that this world can create such beauty of art, music, cinema, etc., yet such destruction also. It is up to us who believe in the beauty of life to ennumerate those feelings and beliefs to the rest of the World. I believe that the Internet will accomplish this. Probably not in my life time or even my son's, but soon. Non violent, peaceful coexistence between the people of Earth is mandatory. And the Universal Voice of Music is one of the ways this will happen. Great and well written! We are Brothers-In-Arms (Oops, not taking up the weapons like in the bloody army days but join in arms on this matter ) on this about peace and coexistance. Let the music be the food of love. Heh, heh, I still remember some Shakespeare from my school days.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2015 20:20:07 GMT
Well, it's been a while since I added a music title to the Classical Music Thread but am listening to quite the wondrous cd set today and thought I should at least mention this gold mine....
Featuring the great German conductor, Wilhelm Furtwangler, who brought the Berlin Philharmonic back from the ravages of the Second World War, this box set from Deutschlandradio, on the Audite label, in monaural on cd is, even in it's far from audiophile-ness, one that brings the live concerts of the late 1940's/early 1950's to life...with the always present choking/coughing paying customers in the background. Lol!, I love those guys...
Selections from Wagner, Bruckner, Handel, Schubert, Brahms, Hindemith, Beethoven, Gluck, Weber, Strauss, et al., literally leap out of the speakers in a monaural sort of way that still manages to capture the power of this orchestra, the finely crafted conducting, and the quality of timbre of the instruments. While I say not exactly audiophile in quality...this production is amazing still in it's recreation of the live events at that time and place. This is the highest quality musicianship on display here.
This is a 12 cd collection and I believe it sold/sells here in the States for around $70 to $80. I say I believe at that price, because this set was left anonymously at my door when I arrived home from my job as a music dept. manager at a bookstore, sometime around 2005 or so. I suspected a someone I knew that always preferred to communicate indirectly, but really don't know for sure who sent it.
Cleaning and sorting out a huge cd collection and listening to and re-discovering the gems of the past, is a fantastic "chore" on a sub-zero, blustery, arctic day/weekend. I hope you get the chance to hear these disks for yourself and own them as a collection of wonderment and beauty of the finest Classical music.
J
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2015 3:30:06 GMT
Some of the best of the best Classical music available on cd are compilations taken from separate productions...and...usually found in bargain bins in music stores. One such cd is the Decca/Universal Classics re-issue of Mozart music taken from several productions from the mid 80's of Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble consisting of: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, 3 German Dances, Divertimento for Strings Salzburg Symphony 1, Serenade in D, A Musical Joke K. 522. This is a wonderful representation of some of Mozart's more famous compositions, and the Ensemble and the recording tech's do not disappoint. Very dynamic and true to timbre. Highly recommended. j
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2015 3:54:19 GMT
And fear not fellow "Rockers" for which this blog was named, I'm sure (I hope) for the one and only "shredder" extraordinaire and former guitar wizard from rock bands Racer X and Mr. Big fame, Paul Gilbert, takes us on a "shredders" rocket ride of Franz Joseph Haydn's "Finale" from his Symphony #88 on his (Gilbert's) cd titled "Get Out of My Yard". Gilbert takes on this fast paced "finale" sounding like a violin section in a hurry to finish in time for lunch...or something of the kind. The rest of the album is hard rock driven themes that Gilbert drives through the listener unashamedly. A great rock album and a show piece for a rocking modern rendition of a symphony finale circa 1780 or so. Check it out....j
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2015 5:39:44 GMT
Mono isn't as simple as some think - a really good recording in mono can project a stage full of musicians with lots of musical energy and tone quality. Unfortunately there are many bad recordings.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2015 15:50:48 GMT
Mono isn't as simple as some think - a really good recording in mono can project a stage full of musicians with lots of musical energy and tone quality. Unfortunately there are many bad recordings. Dale, yes you are right. The liner notes on that box set of Furtwangler's makes it known they used some very special tech to get the results they did. It was interesting playing the Brahms cd and writing something on the computer during it, and finding I had stopped writing to really listen to what was going on between the speakers. I turned up the wick and jeez, what a huge performance it really is....100+ musicians "bringing it"! Absolutely right, Dale, BTW, I've been meaning to ask you if you've experienced any TDS (True Dimensional Sound) kit in your search for better sound. I read your posts and you seem to use an eq. of some sort, adjusting levels for this and that sonic problem. I have an Alesis 32 band analog studio eq. that I use sometimes in my speaker based system as the room is fairly lively and some (a lot) of recordings/cd's are processed with a 1khz bump that I try to alleviate with gradual lowering of frequencies starting before the 1khz slide. And, amazingly, SoundBlaster's have a not too shabby sound shaping suite for their soundcards. But, the TDS technology, while not for every source, does some great "magic" to some lower res. sources. Just thought I'd ask you. I read some of your posts on Amazon as well...good info. j
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 13:31:30 GMT
There are many DSPs these days, and one thing the new (still Beta) Audioforge has is a 'crossfeed' (not to be confused with 'crossfade') feature, which starting at 100 percent (full stereo) can take you back to full mono (100 percent back down to zero percent) by sliding the mixer bar. What's interesting about that is that I haven't heard anything dropping out with that control, as I have heard with the classic stereo-to-mono switches. That same control also goes above 100 percent to create ambiance, but that feature, as well as similar space-enhancers from other vendors, requires application on a track-by-track basis, so not very convenient unless it becomes a full-time habit. With the projects I'm trying to juggle now, I don't think I can work on anything like that.
One thing I'd like to do sometime when I can sit in on someone's speaker-centric audio system for a couple hours a day for perhaps a week, is tune it with Audioforge, so the owner can flip the on-off switch to hear the system with and without EQ on music they're very familiar with. The reason I think that this technique would override any number of other tweaks is because it tames resonance etc. effects very effectively, and thereby the soundstage just jumps out at you in a way that's hard to believe. I don't have a better explanation, but when applied properly, there's a palpable sense of all manner of crud just going away and letting the music breathe.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 14:07:38 GMT
I read some of your post on Audioforge...I'll look into, Dale...thanks
The oft times elusive quest to make all musical reproduction events sound as live continues. As some manufacturers of hifi gear have said...don't blame the equipment for the falsehoods heard, blame the mixing engineers. Well, sometimes yes...and sometimes maybe/no. I am disappointed more often than not with the variations in the sound presented thru all the different sources available these days. Not so much the type of source, but the engineering accessed by those sources. And EQ-ing, in whatever dimension is available, seems to sound better than? I've just changed out all of the tubes in a string of equipment ending in my ATH W5000 headphones...going all NOS USA made vintage 1958-9. THAT made a difference...a good one. Pretty definitive and coherent (best word in hifi) so, I'll stay with that combination for awhile. j
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