Dead-Composers Society

[AC Benus]

Following on the heels of our 'Live-Poets Society' over in the Writer's Corner, I thought we'd do something similar with classical music.

The goal of this thread is to share videos on classical music we like. The idea is to introduce our fellow enthusiasts to pieces and composers we may or may not have heard of. Post a link to a video with a few words of introduction; mainly along the lines of who and how the piece interests you personally. Naturally, I encourage feedback on what others post, and suggest we all keep an open mind  

[[needless to say, the composers do not have to be deceased, lol, but oftentimes It's the best career move they ever made ]]  

Edited November 20, 2022 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

41,927 other Dead-Composers entries may be found here:

https://gayauthors.org/forums/topic/41927-dead-composers-society/

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

For you 17th century fans, I really like the opening of this performance...but the interest quickly fades. What do you think? 

Monteverdi Vespers at the royal chapel, Versailles. 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by AC Benus

[Thorn Wilde]

I love Stravinsky. The Rite of Spring and The Firebird are my favourites. That opening, to Rite of Spring... Perfection.

 

 

 

And the Firebird finale just fills me with joy.

 

 

[Tiger]

 

[Thorn Wilde]

@TigerI see your Morning Mood and raise you a Solveig's Song. So much beautiful music from Peer Gynt...

 

 

[Zenobia]

9 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Following on the heels of our 'Live-Poets Society' over in the Writer's Corner, I thought we'd do something similar with classical music.

 

The goal of this thread is to share videos on classical music we like. The idea is to introduce our fellow enthusiasts to pieces and composers we may or may not have heard of. Post a link to a video with a few words of introduction; mainly along the lines of who and how the piece interests you personally. Naturally, I encourage feedback on what others post, and suggest we all keep an open mind  

 

[[needless to say, the composers do not have to be deceased, lol, but it may help]]  

What a great idea ❤️

I haven't seen the 'old' thread before, so I gather you made this new one due to some technical changes of the page (just like it was necessary to open a new chat for example)?

The time of Monteverdi and the music of that era is something I especially love, and also Renaissance polyphony. But I always try to keep an open mind 😉

I also have a deeeeeep love for the harpsichord, so I'll post a link here of Scott Ross's interpretation of Francois Couperin's harpsichord oeuvre:

 

and also a link to Scott Ross in case someone is interested:

https://www.francemusique.com/musical-knowledge/scott-ross-rebel-cause-and-legendary-harpsichordist-19996

 

Les Barricades Mystérieuses are quite well-known but I still think his interpretation is the best (not that I know dozens but from comparing it with some other youtube versions, mind ya).

Hm, why do I always see threads like this one when I have absolutely no time?

But I'm glad I've found the Dead Composer's Society.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Zenobia

[Zenobia]

5 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

I love Stravinsky. The Rite of Spring and The Firebird are my favourites. That opening, to Rite of Spring... Perfection.

I have to admit I know Stravinsky from Disney's "Fantasia", which I watched many times as a child/young adult, but I think it was a good thing I encountered him there; even if I don't listen to his music very often, I learned to like it there

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Zenobia

[Thorn Wilde]

2 hours ago, Zenobia said:

I have to admit I know Stravinsky from Disney's "Fantasia", which I watched many times as a child/young adult, but I think it was a good thing I encountered him there; even if I don't listen to his music very often, I learned to like it there

 

 

Hey, where do you think I first discovered him? Rediscovered him when I was studying music.  

[Zenobia]

5 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

 

Hey, where do you think I first discovered him? Rediscovered him when I was studying music.  

How wonderful that you studied music.

I guess I longed too much for the so-called old music when I was younger; now, I still do but I try to be open to whatever encounters me. Which also includes non-classical music.

 

[Thorn Wilde]

On 11/18/2018 at 7:59 PM, Zenobia said:

How wonderful that you studied music.

I guess I longed too much for the so-called old music when I was younger; now, I still do but I try to be open to whatever encounters me. Which also includes non-classical music.

 

 

I went to a music school in high school. Did classical singing, but then later I started doing rock and pop music and got a bachelor in popular music performance.  

[Zenobia]

10 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

 

I went to a music school in high school. Did classical singing, but then later I started doing rock and pop music and got a bachelor in popular music performance.  

That sounds intense and also very diverse   I played the piano many years when I was in school, ceased afterwards and have been playing every now and then in the last years.

[Thorn Wilde]

On 11/20/2018 at 12:46 PM, Zenobia said:

That sounds intense and also very diverse   I played the piano many years when I was in school, ceased afterwards and have been playing every now and then in the last years.

 

I played piano when I was a kid, about four years, and then gave it up because I joined the Norwegian Opera children's choir and had to perform so much. Picked it up again a few years ago and started to write songs. I'm not a very good pianist, mind, but I accompany myself on my own songs.

[Thorn Wilde]

We performed Mozart's Requiem when I was in school. I soloed on Benedictus, which still remains a favourite. Here performed by La Chapelle de Québec. Most recordings you find of just the movement alone, the soloists are so operatic; I prefer this simpler approach. Requiem isn't opera, it's meant for a completely different kind of performance, and Benedictus in particular is such a lyrical piece of music, it doesn't suit that overly dramatic approach, in my opinion. As such, this is the full mass, but it'll start at the Benedictus movement. 

 

 

[AC Benus]

@Thorn WildeI haven't listened to your posted video yet, but I 100% agree about operatic recordings of sacred music. Since you are a Mozart fan, check out K.195. Beginning at minute 16:00, the brass instruments and use of hair-raising counterpoint could easily fit into his much-later Requiem. The concluding agnus dei is one of his most perfect compositions. It's surprising it's not better known, but then again, his litaniae are ignored for the most part.  

 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by AC Benus

[Saraband]

Well, this is interesting. I go away for a month and return to find that the forum threads I follow have had CHANGES, and there are no notifications lingering w/r/t unseen replies on the old threads. Whatever; I figured it out. On the upside, everything so far in Dead Composers 2.0 looks GREAT (although I have not yet spent 2 hours listening to Gardiner's take on the Monteverdi Vespers).

 

I thought I'd share this nutso recording of a little Chopin ditty I recently started with one of my students. Full disclosure: I don't generally like playing Chopin -- for oh so many reasons, including Scriabin-sized hands -- but this Prelude is the *moment* when I really viscerally came to understand the interaction of rubato and melodic gesture, both as a performer and a composer. (I mean, a 10th grade version of such, but still. It also didn't hurt that I went over and played it on the marimba, which had the effect of amplifying the physicality of the gestures -- and that really made a difference back at the piano.) Now, I like plenty of Artur Rubinstein recordings (Brahms, op 118, anyone?) but seriously -- what the ring-tailed rambling hell is up with this? It's not just the tempo. . .the top voicing is surprisingly agitated, too. If you find you love this version, please tell me what/why? I feel a little uneasy hating on Rubinstein this strongly. . .

 

For a contrasting take (significantly more in line with my own performance preference) here is Maurizio Pollini's 1974 version -- B minor prelude #6 starts at around 7:15, in case the time code doesn't work.

[Thorn Wilde]

Since I'm about to go to bed, and this is my favourite music to fall asleep to, here's some Erik Satie

 

 

I've tried to learn how to play this, but as I believe I mentioned above, I'm not really much of a pianist.

[Zenobia]

On 11/21/2018 at 1:43 PM, Thorn Wilde said:

 

I played piano when I was a kid, about four years, and then gave it up because I joined the Norwegian Opera children's choir and had to perform so much. Picked it up again a few years ago and started to write songs. I'm not a very good pianist, mind, but I accompany myself on my own songs.

Wow! Hey - accompanying oneself is a difficult skill. It's something I never tried and I'm sure I would need a long time to learn it at least a little bit.

[Zenobia]

On 11/22/2018 at 5:04 AM, Thorn Wilde said:

here's some Erik Satie

Mais oui, c'est magnifique. I discovered him late and only played two or three of these pieves but I think it's not so much about the technical skills but more about the rhythm.

Thank you for the reminder... actually, Satie is the only composer for the piano on my mind so far because I usually prefer baroque music and the harpsichord but interestingly I find Satie's and also Debussy,'s pieces for solo piano really captivating.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Zenobia

[Thorn Wilde]

8 minutes ago, Zenobia said:

Mais oui, c'est magnifique. I discovered him late and only played two or three of these pieves but I think it's not so much about the technical skills but more about the rhythm.

Thank you for the reminder... actually, Satie is the only composer for the piano on my mind so far because I usually prefer baroque music and the harpsichord but interestingly I find Satie's and also Debussy,'s pieces for solo piano really captivating.

 

Debussy is also fantastic, I completely agree. ❤️ 

[AC Benus]

Here is a worthy rendering of the agnus dei from K. 195. I find Hendricks to be a sensitive interpreter, and the development sections here (starting min. 1:54) is very moving. Hope you listen 

 

 

[AC Benus]

On 11/18/2018 at 2:53 AM, Zenobia said:

What a great idea ❤️

I haven't seen the 'old' thread before, so I gather you made this new one due to some technical changes of the page (just like it was necessary to open a new chat for example)?

The time of Monteverdi and the music of that era is something I especially love, and also Renaissance polyphony. But I always try to keep an open mind 😉

I also have a deeeeeep love for the harpsichord, so I'll post a link here of Scott Ross's interpretation of Francois Couperin's harpsichord oeuvre:

 

and also a link to Scott Ross in case someone is interested:

https://www.francemusique.com/musical-knowledge/scott-ross-rebel-cause-and-legendary-harpsichordist-19996

 

Les Barricades Mystérieuses are quite well-known but I still think his interpretation is the best (not that I know dozens but from comparing it with some other youtube versions, mind ya).

Hm, why do I always see threads like this one when I have absolutely no time?

But I'm glad I've found the Dead Composer's Society.

This is a great entry. Thank you, Zenobia. I always like it when this thread becomes personal and we find out how and why a particular piece of music (or performance) moves a person. 

 

The video is great, and reminds me I have something you'll like tucked in my back pocket

 

[AC Benus]

On 11/21/2018 at 4:55 AM, Thorn Wilde said:

We performed Mozart's Requiem when I was in school. I soloed on Benedictus, which still remains a favourite. Here performed by La Chapelle de Québec. Most recordings you find of just the movement alone, the soloists are so operatic; I prefer this simpler approach. Requiem isn't opera, it's meant for a completely different kind of performance, and Benedictus in particular is such a lyrical piece of music, it doesn't suit that overly dramatic approach, in my opinion. As such, this is the full mass, but it'll start at the Benedictus movement. 

 

 

The benedictus is always an interesting part of the mass when set to music. It's fun to wait for it, particularly in Haydn's many masses, and his always explore the most interesting harmonic and rhythmical overlays. But this being a requiem, it immediately makes me think of Paisiello's great missa defunctorum of less than two years previous to Mozart's. The prayer calls for the hearer to remember that it is always right to praise the Lord, and thus it's usually set as a soulful and peaceful moment of musical reflection. Not so with Paisiello - in a minor key and jagged rhythms, he has the soloists basically demand that the hearer respect God's decision to take the life he has. It's a hair-raising and utterly brilliant moment.

[AC Benus]

On 11/21/2018 at 7:45 PM, Saraband said:

Well, this is interesting. I go away for a month and return to find that the forum threads I follow have had CHANGES, and there are no notifications lingering w/r/t unseen replies on the old threads. Whatever; I figured it out. On the upside, everything so far in Dead Composers 2.0 looks GREAT (although I have not yet spent 2 hours listening to Gardiner's take on the Monteverdi Vespers).

 

I thought I'd share this nutso recording of a little Chopin ditty I recently started with one of my students. Full disclosure: I don't generally like playing Chopin -- for oh so many reasons, including Scriabin-sized hands -- but this Prelude is the *moment* when I really viscerally came to understand the interaction of rubato and melodic gesture, both as a performer and a composer. (I mean, a 10th grade version of such, but still. It also didn't hurt that I went over and played it on the marimba, which had the effect of amplifying the physicality of the gestures -- and that really made a difference back at the piano.) Now, I like plenty of Artur Rubinstein recordings (Brahms, op 118, anyone?) but seriously -- what the ring-tailed rambling hell is up with this? It's not just the tempo. . .the top voicing is surprisingly agitated, too. If you find you love this version, please tell me what/why? I feel a little uneasy hating on Rubinstein this strongly. . .

 

For a contrasting take (significantly more in line with my own performance preference) here is Maurizio Pollini's 1974 version -- B minor prelude #6 starts at around 7:15, in case the time code doesn't work.

Rubinstein was my mother's favorite pianist, although for me, I preferred the madness of Horowitz (quote-un-quote Horrible Horowitz, as my dear friend @J.HunterDunnonce called him ). As for Chopin, I can't recall a piece that I've ever felt moved my heart or engaged my intellect, so I guess that means I'm not a fan either. Although, I do recall the selfsame Horowitz saying he always advised his young students to "Play Mozart like you play Chopin, and Chopin like Mozart" to get it right.

 

Thanks for posting this. As I say, I always like for people to share personal connections (or lack thereof, lol) with the music they post. 

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

On 11/21/2018 at 8:04 PM, Thorn Wilde said:

Since I'm about to go to bed, and this is my favourite music to fall asleep to, here's some Erik Satie

 

 

I've tried to learn how to play this, but as I believe I mentioned above, I'm not really much of a pianist.

This is a beautiful recording, Thorn. Thanks for posting. As for sleep, there is a legend that Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations for an insomniac! Can you imagine staying up all night, every night playing that piece... lol