Jump to content
Thank You for Sharing Your Feedback

northie

Signature Author
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,772

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by northie

  1. northie
    I love the sort of psychological horror stories which involve plants, trees or other vegetation. You can't reason with a tree if it's coming to get you ... The ivy is less overtly threatening but its continued health and vigour (or lack of it) increasingly dominates the story. This tale of poverty, love and sacrifice is touchingly related and the ending is deserved – happy ever after!
  2. northie
    I also love the music for LOTR - this is a selection of music for Rohan (film 2) https://youtu.be/2IOyNjCSnf8
  3. northie
    Wonderful, masterful playing. It's not something I would pay to go and hear but I can certainly understand why it's one of the most popular concertos for the violin. Thanks for posting it.
  4. northie
    Tallis is right in the middle of the C16 English choral tradition which I can listen to for ever. He was writing religious music at an extremely dangerous time but whether he's writing in Latin, in English or in the stripped down new Protestant hymns, I find his music soothing for my soul and my mind. (And it's great to sing, as well.)
  5. northie
    As I see it, Handel's belief in the essential goodness of mankind shines through all his music.
  6. northie
    Yes, it is wonderful. I know it well but not in this performance. Handel weaves the two horn parts in and around the voice beautifully. I'm not sure I'd want to hear it in a counter-tenor version as is much more the fashion now.
  7. northie
    This is not the sort of thing I would usually think of listening to. I did this time and though I can admire the technique and artistry of both composer and performer, it doesn't speak to me. Just my taste ...
  8. northie
    Listening to that first made me think of Vivaldi, then Mozart and then shades of Michael Nyman. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be that trumpeter at the end - stratospherically high and long, long notes. Film music can be seen as the poor relation of all sorts of other musical genres.
  9. northie
    Tim and Peter Handel is one of those composers I can't live without, especially his vocal / choral music although I still have much work to do on his operas. I shall probably be making more than one selection as we progress. This is Emma Kirkby singing 'Sweet bird' from his oratorio L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjqx8rUUklg
  10. northie
    Wow! You're on the up and up ... Enjoy 'wearing' the purple.
  11. northie
    Tim, these are some of the things I listen to if I'm 'wound up'. One person's music for relaxation is someone else's boring so feel free to try and discard if you don't like it. John Tavener: The lamb; Angels; God is with us Henryk Gorecki: Totus tuus; Amen Rachmaninoff: Vespers; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Tchaikovsky: Orthodox church music
  12. northie
    Thanks, dugh. Trespassing is how it felt at the start but not now after the welcome from everyone.
  13. northie
    This is how I felt when I first started trespassing over at live poets and how I still feel whenever the posts take on a technical aspect ...
  14. northie
    I second this wholeheartedly - you don't need to have any belief to be able to appreciate music originally written for a religious setting.
  15. northie
    There's nothing wrong with Ethyl Smythe - an amazing English eccentric if ever there was one.
  16. northie
    It's about time we introduced a woman into the proceedings ... This is a recording I was about to inflict on AC before he went 'public' with this thread. Lili Boulanger was a French composer from the beginning of the C20 - she would probably be much better known if she had lived longer but she died aged only 24. This setting of Psalm 24 knocked me sideways when I first heard it - the sheer impact of the opening with its powerful, rhythmically-urgent music grabbed my ears like little else.
  17. northie
    Like dugh, I've got a lot of affection for the Brandenburgs although I have to say it's been a long time since I last listened to them. Each concerto uses a different combination of instruments and Bach, being the master he is, uses them to their full in each. My favourite is No.1 - who else could use three oboes and two horns together to such stunning effect? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQBHLziS1OY
  18. northie
    It's quite a 'romantic' interpretation and wouldn't be to my taste particularly. What it has done though, is to remind me that I've been avoiding the French harpsichordists and it's about time that I did something about it That sounded approachable and not excessively decorated. Thank you for giving me an unintentional prod!
  19. northie
    I enjoy playing the early Beethoven piano sonatas and this one is a favourite. However, I wouldn't think of listening to it - a small part is because I don't want to be listening to a performance which will always be way out of my reach, the other reason is piano music as a whole doesn't feature. A lot of people think like you, Val, and find much enjoyment and relaxation from listening to the piano - just not my thing.
  20. northie
    On my way to the slow movement, I dipped into the first as well. That, I found identikit sub-Mozart - definitely nothing to write home about. The slow movement was quite different. It has all sorts of interest: harmonically, rhythmically and in its use of the orchestra. It reminds me of early Beethoven (which is a pretty good thing, in my book).
  21. northie

    Tradesmen

    northie commented on Parker Owens's story chapter in Tradesmen

    I loved both the content and the structure of these. Would I have noticed the structural element if you hadn't mentioned it? Possibly. Does noticing the structure make any difference? Only in so much as it increases my admiration for your craft. Two phrases stood out for me: 'machining new parts' - the lover adding strength and resilience to his beloved. 'Weft and warp' - both words with an element of onomatopoeia which always 'work' wherever I read them. [This review is guaranteed bus free ... ]
  22. northie
    Happy birthday, Emi!
  23. northie
    Your poems are perfect for passing long, hot bus journeys. We could all invent our own guest list of the great and good but very few could present it so wittily and with such good humour. (I have to say neither Wagner nor Tchaikovsky would be on mine ) 'Luxury homes for sale - K. Khan developer'. Picturing this sign after reading this poem was great fun. Thanks for both!
  24. northie
    I'm reading this while broiling gently on a bus home on by far the hottest day of the year. Perhaps I might have enjoyed a poem about cold and snow more ? But that's a bit mean ... Enjoyed them both in different ways.
  25. northie
    Emi, check your pms. I think I've managed to send you a photo of your poem from my printed copy.
×
×
  • Create New...