tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46193189038677736512024-03-08T22:14:24.303+08:00a SNAPSHOT of what we are listening tosimply a music journalScheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-53158052471157880882010-09-22T23:20:00.008+08:002010-09-23T00:57:32.616+08:00Beyond: <情人> / <喜歡妳><strong>1. how you come across to it:
<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">坐小巴回家途中聽到<喜歡妳>, 然後便很想聽<情人></span>
<br />
<br /></strong><strong></strong><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><strong></strong><strong>
<br /></strong><strong></strong><strong></strong><strong></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">聽來</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">清新純情, </strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">少有</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">沒什麼哀怨仇恨</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">的</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">分手</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">情歌</strong>.<strong>
<br /></strong><strong>
<br />3. (and...)
<br /></strong><strong></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">在小巴逐句聽</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"><喜歡妳>的歌詞</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">, 發現內容與Eternity and a Day中老詩人的追悔相應. 還有就是那</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">很單純</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">的</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">puppy love</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: normal;">有點傻傻的可愛</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">.</strong>
<br />
<br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;"></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"><情人>的歌詞表面跟內裡意思</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">有自相矛盾之處</strong>. <strong style="font-weight: normal;">這首歌是當年Beyond打算離開香港去日本</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">開拓</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">市場寫來寄語樂迷. 似乎至少有兩種解讀方式, 由誠懇到狡猾都說得通:
<br />
<br />1. 口說怎麼無奈</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">也不及身體力行要離開意思明顯,</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"> 於是聽來更像為自己開脫而去安撫哄人以取得諒解.
<br />2. 因</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">生死相隔或</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">非常非常不得已的理由要離開, 希望未亡人別太難過.</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">
<br />
<br />想來Beyond可能是1. 的意思, 後來變成2.是當時無法預料的. 就像<抗戰20年>本來意思跟VIIV也無關呀.
<br />
<br /><</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">喜歡妳>:</strong>
<br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk-KVNex_kM
<br />
<br /></strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">其實我更喜歡陳奕迅唱的</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"><情人>, 因為他很投入和激動, 聽來更莫名其妙像doublespeak:
<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5zoCC88XRw
<br />
<br />黃家駒原唱</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;"><情人></strong><strong>:
<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL0t2PvXL0Q&NR=1</span>
<br /></strong>Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-28065389756694083062009-08-21T09:58:00.004+08:002009-08-21T10:03:46.199+08:00Poulenc: Stabat Mater<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />It's a frequent piece on my iPod.<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Many are familiar with the somber yet graceful melody. Detailing the piece will reveal that Poulenc has put a lot of intriguing orchestrations to the music. Despite the fact that the orchestra is occassionally heavy and pompous, Poulenc masterfully manages the instruments into a weaving and colourful support. This is illustrious.<br /><br />I think that's why I like this more than the <i>Gloria</i>. I think many would agree.<br /><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br /><br />On my iPod there's a Naxos version conducted by Michel Piquemal. This is pleasant.Dennishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739361102922928725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-75063266125377479242009-06-12T00:30:00.003+08:002009-06-12T00:33:41.583+08:00Mussorgsky (orch. Julian Yu): Pictures at an Exhibition<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Forgot. Probably from the publisher's page or somebody told me.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Got the score, and finally the CD from my friend. After initial listen, I played it again a few more times.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />After piano and numerous thundering orchestral versions, Julian Yu put the piece successfully in a fairy-tale-like miniature, with a Chinese stamp here and there (by fusing the theme of 早天雷 into his arrangement). A delight.kunolamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877477493282756224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-85492583598857044722009-05-23T01:04:00.003+08:002009-05-23T01:13:29.307+08:00Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947): Café Music for Piano Trio (1986)<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />I first heard two movements of it at an MIT concert last year when I page-turned for a trio playing this piece.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />My friends and myself attempted to read this last night. <br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />We found it too difficult to sight-read it even after dividing the piano part between two pianists!<br /><br />A rendition of the first movement by the Triple Helix Trio can be heard here:<br />http://www.triplehelixpianotrio.org/music.html<br /><br />A nice performance of the first movement by the Lincoln Trio:<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w6aDx3l5t2g&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w6aDx3l5t2g&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.triplehelixpianotrio.org/music.html"></a>ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-36096020618139513132009-05-18T22:23:00.003+08:002009-05-18T22:36:04.186+08:00Nobuo Uematsu: One Winged Angel, from the Final Fantasy VII series<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br /><strong></strong>After a talk with my dear colleague, I suddenly got an impulse to dig out Nobuo Uematsu's music to listen. He is long regarded as a master in game music. However, one could only listen to the music and realise how masterful one could be in writing music for something "just for fun." This is, seriously, a piece of art.<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Uematsu wrote nearly all the music for the RPG series <span style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">One Winged Angel </span>is written originally for Playstation and the composer opted for MIDI output. The composer has put this seemingly "limited technology" into full use, not only creating complex music but also employing vocal to the <span style="font-style: italic;">One Winged Angel</span>. This is now considered influential.<br /><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">These musicians seriously performed the piece.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yn71hIsm0U8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yn71hIsm0U8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.animelyrics.com/game/ffvii/ff7owa.htm">Also the lyrics</a>: the text is allegedly from <span style="font-style: italic;">Carmina Burana</span>. So it's in Latin.<br /></span>Dennishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739361102922928725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-75807790603218118192009-05-06T04:37:00.007+08:002009-05-06T04:51:39.601+08:00Andrew Lloyd Webber: Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (from The Phantom of the Opera)<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />In a midnight, I told my friend I suddenly think of the song "All I Ask of You" (though Andrew Lloyd Webber's music is NEVER my cup of te.... what make me think of the song is the wonderful lyrics by Charles Hart), then my friend said, "Oh, I prefer Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again". Then I find a youtube recording immediately. Yes, the song is haunting.<br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Today chatted with that friend again and I made a joke that "I don't look like your father!" (Sorry, it's difficult to tell you the complete context of the joke), at night I listen to this song again.<br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />To me, the lyrics is more attractive then music....<br />"Help me say goodbye", never imagine such a simple sentence can have such heartbreaking impact....<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAIMbYSwSWg&hl=zh_TW&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JAIMbYSwSWg&hl=zh_TW&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05588188875072515206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-49004754808830902382009-04-13T01:41:00.004+08:002009-04-13T01:49:10.040+08:00Nam June Paik: Solo for Violin (1962)<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J41s_VnKrcM&hl=zh_TW&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J41s_VnKrcM&hl=zh_TW&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>kunolamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877477493282756224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-69766604511360052442009-04-06T06:09:00.006+08:002009-04-06T07:01:52.959+08:00Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango for Cello and Piano<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />My cellist introduced this piece to me.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />We have been working on this for her upcoming recital (in less than a month!).<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />I am somewhat embarassed to say that before playing this I haven't even listened to any piece by Piazzolla, though I am also pleasantly surprised to find this first encounter with the founder of <i>nuevo tango</i> so enjoyable to listen to, and also, to work with. The opening may give one an impression that this piece is all about strong accents and intricate rhythmic patterns, though gradually, listener-friendly and lyrical themes are introduced one after another. The 3+3+2 rhythm, characteristic of the <i>milonga</i> style, repeats itself stubbornly throughout most of the piece, but somehow one doesn't find this rhythmic regularity dull or bothersome. As in many other Piazzolla, this tango is, no doubt, sensuously passionate, even flirtatious. But on repeated hearings, one finds, deep underneath, a certain melancholy, the kind lamenting the passing of an age, or the death of a hero. This is really the most personal and unique tribute to the great cellist Rostropovich, who originally commissioned this piece.<br /><br />Here are two very different (but equally good) renditions of this piece. I like the first better.<br /><br />I. (part 1 only):<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZxQer419RdM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZxQer419RdM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />II. (parts 1 and 2):<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hZ4c3_tmqHk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hZ4c3_tmqHk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />II. (part 3):<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w33e1lXmNX8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w33e1lXmNX8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Finally, this is a very theatrical 4-hand rendition of the <i>Libertango</i>. Enjoy!<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R0INlumRpL8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R0INlumRpL8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-58459859649161906292009-01-21T23:58:00.003+08:002009-01-22T00:01:42.915+08:00Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br /><strong></strong>The first time I hear it is preparing for the RTHK TV score-cuing. That's a late discovery for anybody serious in music. That's me. I've repeated the music in office and that was annoying to the level that I got complain from my colleagues. They are serious music lovers and are bothered by that high-tension music and brutally repeating motif.<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br /><strong></strong>I can't stand but to play this again when I was trying to review another cello item. This is irrepressible.<br /><br /><strong>3. (and...)<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Maybe except Han-na and Rostropovich, all others could be trashed.</span><br /></strong>Dennishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15739361102922928725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-85424612818054413512009-01-04T02:58:00.003+08:002009-01-04T03:20:32.024+08:00Silvestrov: Silent Songs<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />The <a href="http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/New_Series/1800/1898.php?cat=%2FArtists%2FSilvestrov+Valentin%23%23Valentin+Silvestrov&we_start=0&lvredir=712">CD</a> has been with me at the moment once it is available on the market. But sometime in 2007 when I attempted to survey all the Silvestrov pieces, I dig up my still mint copy of it and listened the entire song cycle. I was stunned, and gradually I switched off all the lights to listen to it again. Eventually in 2008 I listened to the entire cycle a few times, and on 1 Jan 2009 I picked it up again, and it was my first piece that I listened in 2009.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Almost the entire set require the Baritone soloist sung in <i>sotto voce</i>, and pianist <i>una corda</i>. The whole thing comes like a noctural whisper from a chain of laments. Without any loud passages, one felt totally alone and with one's spirit immensed in this 2 hour song cycle.<br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />This little <a href="http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=chbZrdN5tUg">film</a> used Song No. 5 of the cycle - "Farewell, o world, o earth". May mail you lyrics if interested.kunolamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877477493282756224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-41354428485382150042009-01-02T21:02:00.006+08:002009-01-02T21:19:40.569+08:00Schnittke: String Trio<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Actually this is the original version of what Bashmet later arranged as <a href="http://hoeren-sie.blogspot.com/2008/06/schnittke-trio-sonata-orch-yuri-bashmet.html"><i>Trio Sonata</i></a> for strings.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Strangely, what I have been listening since 2009 are all in minor keys. Just acquired an out-of-print <a href="http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=37433">recording</a> played by Kremer-Bashmet-Rostropovich trio which I longed for. Immensely intense playing. No matter in the original chamber form or version for strings, both are highly recommended. Schnittke makes all densely dissonant chords sound like a sharp knife piercing on salted skin. Tonal passages no longer bring resolution, but just prelude to another storm of dissonances. The ending is no ending.<br /><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />Once again, <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">DO NOT</span></strong> listen to this when one is extremely pressed, or depressed.kunolamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877477493282756224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-48340670183438089092008-12-27T01:26:00.007+08:002008-12-27T01:51:36.623+08:00Debussy: Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maison (Christmas for the Homeless Children), L. 139<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Discovered it while doing a random search for Debussy's vocal works.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Composed both the text and music by Debussy during the First World War, it is possibly the saddest Christmas song ever, depicting the revengeful thoughts of those miserable orphans in war.<br /><br />Thinking of the hatred it may have generated, the song can be quite chilly. The effect is reinforced by the fact that it is scored for children's chorus.<br /><br />The text is self-explaining:<br /><br />We have neither house nor home!<br />Enemies took all we owned, all gone, even our own little bed!<br />They burned our school, they even burned the teacher too.<br />They burned the church and statue of the Savior.<br />And the old begger that could not move very fast!<br /><br />We have neither house nor home!<br />Enemies took all we owned, all gone, even our own little bed!<br />Papa has gone off to war, Poor Mother dear is in heaven!<br />she did not foresee all this.<br />Oh, what shall become of us?<br /><br />Jesus, O little child, don't go to their house, never go to them again, Punish them all!<br />Avenge the children of France!<br />The little Belgians, and the little polish children too!<br /><br />But if we should forget, please pardon us.<br />Jesus, Jesus above all we want no toys!<br />But may we please have once again our daily bread!<br />For the little Belgians, for the little Serbians, too!<br /><br />We have neither house nor home!<br />Enemies took all we owned, all gone, even our own little bed!<br />They burned our school, they even burned the teacher too.<br />They burned the church and statue of the Savior.<br />And the old begger that could not move very fast!<br /><br />Jesus! hear now our plea, we no longer have our wooden shoes.<br />Give victory to the children of France!<br /><br />another English translation is available here:<br />http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=4342<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hope this kind of vindictiveness limits itself to history in the past. Let there be peace on earth.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iCVO7Pv6T5M&hl=zh_TW&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iCVO7Pv6T5M&hl=zh_TW&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br /></strong><br /><br />[12]Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-70198709664482645522008-12-14T02:17:00.008+08:002008-12-14T04:22:04.420+08:00Wagner: Tristan und Isolde<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />I first learned about Wagner and his many operas from a music dictionary (written in Chinese) that I read (and sometimes, studied) as a primary-school boy.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />I was fortunate enough to have the chance to attend Daniel Barenboim's debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera last week. The cast included Katarina Dalayman (Isolde), Peter Seiffert (Tristan), Michelle DeYoung (Barangaene), and Kwangchul Youn (King Marke). <br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />This is a great opera with the most trivial plot. The story is there just to provide a framework for a mood brought out by the music, for Wagner's musical study of love. Or, instead of love, should I say the feeling of falling in love? Wagner is able to capture this complex psychological state so well with his music and lyrics. This feeling is not just a maddening desire of another person, but also, a sense of guilt, a feeling of lost (in Act I, the word "verloren" is even set to the first leitmotiv in one of Isolde's lines), a craving desire to escape reality, and an intense blissfulness defying any verbal description.<br /><strong></strong><br />I have ambivalent feelings toward this opera. To my taste, the sentimentality of the music is excessive, almost decadent, though whenever I listen to the prelude or <i>Liebestod</i> I could only confess my secret enjoyment of the music's hypnotic power. Wagner's music is literally like a love potion that transports his audience to the dream castle of King Ludwig, ruled not by the King, but by fantasy, visions, flickering stars, and shiny moon.<br /><strong></strong><br />As to the performance I attended, Barenboim's interpretation is overall satisfying. Kwangchul Youn sang an extremely memorable King Marke with nuanced expression and authority. Dalayman's Isolde was also good, though I preferred slightly her Barangaene in her previous Met production with James Levine. Seiffert's Tristan was overall disappointing, though he did manage to showcase his intensity in Act III. Barenboim's tempo at the final <i>Liebestod</i> was not too slow (as compared with, say, Furtwaengler's in the following recording) but it sounded surprisingly calm and peaceful. Perhaps this is really the way to interpret this famous piece: could Isolde still have any agitated passion when she is dying so blissfully?<br /><strong></strong><br />Kirsten Flagstad singing <i>Liebestod</i> (live), with Furtwaengler conducting:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4tgn511ceNQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4tgn511ceNQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><strong></strong><br />Waltraud Meier singing <i>Liebestod</i> (live), with Daniel Barenboim conducting at la Scala (2007):<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qGbmjX7AYyU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qGbmjX7AYyU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-4913882368846281442008-12-06T16:47:00.013+08:002008-12-27T01:48:00.150+08:00Fauré: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Continual listen to the 1st movement, and then the remaining ones. It often takes me quite a while to thoroughly digest a movement by listening to it repeatedly, before I can move on to another.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />The 1st movement is the piece I play on the piano most these days, particularly when the temperature drops recently, as playing piano is a way to keep myself warm.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)<br /></strong>Materials used in the 1st movement transfigured in the 2nd and the 3rd are not quite obvious (at least to me), unless you get more familiarized with the melodious 1st movement.<br /><br /><strong>4. (also...)</strong><br />Again, it's the subtlety which captures my attention - things which are there but not obvious at the first glance, but amaze you upon further investigation; things which are deep and intense that deserve a steady gaze to unveil, which takes time (or maybe I'm slow...).<br /><br />The experience resembles how one savors tea, that you may experience a range of different combination of tastes - starting with aroma that enters the nose, followed by actual drops of tea going from the tip of tongue, to the end of throat.<br /><br />This may as well serve as an excuse for my ignorance in grandiose music :p.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">[8]</span>Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-2325986575006984202008-11-15T13:16:00.007+08:002008-11-16T14:29:41.962+08:00Schubert: Meeres Stille (Calm at Sea), Op. 3 No. 2 / D. 216<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />This is one lied included in the first CD of Graham Johnson's Complete Schubert Edition (Hyperion). I have been collecting CDs from this edition, and eventually, intend to listen to all of them.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />I brought this CD along with me as I departed Boston for Washington, DC. Just now I played this amazing song on my laptop, enjoying it by myself in the hotel room.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br /> <blockquote>Profound calm reigns over the waters,<br /> The sea lies motionless,<br /> Anxiously the sailor beholds<br /> The glassy surface all around.<br /> No breeze from any quarter!<br /> A fearful, deathly calm!<br /> In the vast expanse<br /> No wave stirs.<br /> Goethe (1749-1832)</blockquote> Music is an art defined by motion of sound across time. To represent this fearful, deathly stillness envisioned by Goethe with music must therefore be counted as one of the most difficult tasks with which the 18 year-old Schubert has challenged himself. The entire lied lasts only for a little more than two minutes; yet, it has this uncanny power of bringing the listener to a world ruled by an eternal but stifling presence. The piano accompanies the voice only with slow arpeggiated chords; yet, the chord sequence and its associated modulations magically recreate an atmosphere in which one feels a certain nervous energy quietly looming behind a peaceful and calm facade. By portraying, with music, such an abstract and subtle aspect of human experience, Schubert is pushing the impressionistic potential of music almost to its limit.ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-30500481845302826742008-11-10T01:59:00.004+08:002008-11-10T12:59:19.662+08:00黃友棣:遺忘<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />It is on of the programme in the 2002 CU Chorus concert. I was one of the choristers.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />I will conduct this piece in the 2009 CU Chorus concert.<br />This piece is a haunting piece. Very touching. The lyrics is heartbreaking.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />People love to be tortured by forbiddened love.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGz5AIYn7Dw&hl=zh_TW&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGz5AIYn7Dw&hl=zh_TW&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05588188875072515206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-38203718704000373342008-11-08T01:28:00.004+08:002008-12-27T01:49:26.032+08:00Fauré: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120 - I. Allegro, ma non troppo<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />A random try-out for French chamber music.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />This is the only piece of music which can surmount the predominating Brahms Clarinet Sonata/Quintet these days.<br /><br />Seamlessly lyrical, the underlying strong passions are expressed in a very graceful way, without sounding too forceful or awkward - I could only wish to express/use words the way Fauré organized music notes in this movement. La-de-da.<br /><br />Not knowing what exactly this piece strikes me, particularly in the last minute where the piano enters with persistent As, I have looped this movement for 2 days already.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />There was a time I thought I was quite immune to Brahms’ music, until recently when the wave of Brahms addiction sweep through.<br /><br />It would be nice if this Brahms craving and having a little peace of mind are not mutually exclusive.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">[3]</span>Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-48010340561457137822008-10-29T15:57:00.005+08:002008-10-29T20:35:35.448+08:00Lee Kesselman: Mbiri Kuna Mwari (Shona Mass)<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />It is introduced by Paul Hondrop at the workshop in Taipei International Choral Music Festival 2008.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />MAYBE my choir will pick this piece for their Mus. Fest. competition.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />Primitive music is the real "international/intercultural/transcultural/cross-cultural language" (metaphor only).Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05588188875072515206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-16178508180157419282008-10-26T18:01:00.008+08:002008-11-06T00:58:42.272+08:00J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (complete)<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br /><strong></strong>Probably ABRSM syllabus. I started to appreciate it after listening to No. 13 in F sharp major and No. 18 in G sharp minor from Book II on Dino Lipatti and Maira Yudina's CD. This time, the overwhelming experience of listening to the complete WTC played by Angela Hewitt, one book for each night, in the length of over two and a half hours for each performance, as part of her Bach World Tour.<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Not only it is intellectually challenging to listen to the complete WTC at a time, but emotionally intense. Thanks to Hewitt's humanistic, or at times, sentimental approach, emotions of different kinds that were wrapped in musical lines are disclosed. I am not sure if I can have another chance to listen to the complete WTC in live concert ever again in my life.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />Listening in the sequence of C-c-C#-c#-D-d-Eb-d#-..., it was like inspecting a whole spectrum of keys manifested themselves in carefully articulated matrixes of notes. I have an impression that a certain preludes and fugues sound like they were composed exclusively for the keys they are now in, that they should only be played in that key, but not otherwise.<br /><br /><strong>4. (also...)</strong><br />Being someone vulnerable to the sound of the piano, there are moments I was moved to tears in both evenings, out of joy and gratitude. I didn't expect to shed tears in an all-Bach recital.<br /><br />If I have to limit myself to the oeuvre of only one composer, he would definitely be Johann Sebastian Bach.<br /><br />BWV 883<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LcQzFp8rC7E&hl=zh_TW&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LcQzFp8rC7E&hl=zh_TW&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />BWV 893<br /><a href="http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=jj12th02yT4" target="_blank">http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=jj12th02yT4</a>Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-70110183180297696932008-10-25T22:10:00.001+08:002008-10-25T22:16:06.089+08:00Vaughan Williams: Sea Symphony<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br /><strong></strong>- forgot<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br /><strong></strong>- A true choral symphony that the choir is used throughout the work and is an integral part of the musical texture<br />- the 70-minute music is simply a great soundtrack while the choir sings out what is going on in the motion picture<br /><br /><strong>3. (and...)<br /></strong>- Ravel paid Vaughan Williams the great compliment of calling him “the only one of my students who does not write my music.” (Vaughan Williams studied with him for three weeks in Paris in 1908)Alfredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12425112696651586891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-65908934381286327812008-10-20T06:26:00.010+08:002008-10-25T22:16:40.653+08:00Richard Davy (flourished c.1490-1510): Salve Regina (from the Eton Choirbook)<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />I first learned about the Eton Choirbook (Eton College Library Ms. 178; compiled c.1500) some 10 years ago in a Renaissance music history class at UBC taught by Prof. J. Evan Kreider. He played a <em>Salve Regina</em> setting of William Cornysh (d. c.1502 or 1523) from the first Eton-Choirbook CD of The Sixteen (dir. Harry Christophers). I was instantly blown away by its incomparable beauty.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />I loved these antiphons to the point that during my last undergraduate year, I decided to do a thorough directed study on this manuscript with Prof. Kreider. Last week, some unknown forces prompted me to reread my undergraduate thesis, motivating me also to listen to these wonderful pieces again.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />I regard the Magnificats and antiphons in the Choirbook as one of the most significant contributions of England to the Western classical music tradition. Most of them were composed on texts in praise of the Virgin Mary, expressing the choristers' devotion to this dedicatee of the Eton College. Written mostly in 5 to 13 voices, they have sectionalized structures alternating between full and solo sections. Different solo sections are written for different voice combinations for color variation across the antiphon. In the full sections, the highest voice tends to sound separated from the dense middle voices owing to its very high register and florid lines, resulting into a sound that is both transparent and magnificent.<br /><br />The Sixteen has recently reissued their <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eton-Choirbook-Collection-Box-Set/dp/B000I8OOR4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224455450&sr=8-1">5 Eton-Choirbook CDs</a> under the Coro label after Collins went out of business.ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-35249712222997976272008-10-08T23:15:00.007+08:002008-11-06T00:59:32.144+08:00Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 100<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, in cinema house. Later on, re-visit it on the Beaux Arts Trio webcast last month.<br /><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />I found myself humming the fourth movement on the streets in India. And I still haven't had enough of it since coming back to HK! :)<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />The unabridged version of the fourth movement contains a passage with themes from both the second and fourth movment intertwining together.<br /><br />a scene from Barry Lyndon, on how Barry got together with Lady Lyndon:<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2fWiOinTzOs&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2fWiOinTzOs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Piano Trio No. 2, second movement<br /><br />Piano Trio No. 1, first movement, performed by Menuhins + Gendron:<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZR5pWFZpx2g&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZR5pWFZpx2g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k8HIzv61ZKE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k8HIzv61ZKE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Scheherazadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398157449231409006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-45204050678228626952008-09-29T05:26:00.003+08:002008-10-25T22:27:39.705+08:00Stravinsky: Suite Italienne, for Violin and Piano<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />My violinist gave me the music one evening, and we sight-read the entire suite.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />She wanted to play this in her recital.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />After sight-reading it, I ended up liking it very much. It is beautiful in an austere way, much like the kind one finds in, say, a beautiful mathematical proof or an elegant physical law. The music doesn't have even a trace of sentimentality or passion. In this neo-classical experiment, the Swiss-clock maker has gone so much further than Hindemith. I can only wonder how the original Pergolesi pieces (on which this Suite is based) sound like.ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-65293071919936284962008-09-16T23:20:00.005+08:002008-10-25T22:28:47.950+08:00J. Haydn: Symphony No. 47 in G major<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />I must be in primary school when I first heard that there was this remarkable man, Haydn, who composed over a hundred symphonies.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />The saga continues...<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />In the opinion of Charles Rosen, this is one of Haydn's most brilliant symphonies before his Paris series. Mozart copied down themes of this symphony in his sketches, apparently planning on conducting it himself. The first movement opens with a line passing between the horns and unison strings: a dialogue so full of tension, and so exciting for the listener. The second movement is a variation built upon a gracious two-voice melody; perhaps not surprisingly, the voices are inverted in the theme's second half. The counterpoint employed here is not sophisticated, though it adds richness to this elegant movement. As in many other Haydn symphonies of this period, the Minuet is the most interesting: the second half of the dance is a literal, note-to-note repetition of the first half, except in retrograde motion. At the end of the first half, the downbeats are all accented so that in the beginning of the second half, the accented upbeats (as a result of the backward motion) are dramatic enough to alert the listener of this intricacy. The finale is, unfortunately, a disappointment. Neither is it substantial enough to sustain the drama in the previous movements, nor is it jovial enough to resolve any tension. But overall, this is no doubt an admirable work.ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619318903867773651.post-87214499841897247922008-09-07T12:07:00.004+08:002008-10-25T22:29:25.635+08:00J. Haydn: Symphony No. 46 in B major<strong>1. how you come across to it:</strong><br />Listening to this symphony is part of an ongoing project of systematically surveying Haydn's oeuvre.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. why this piece?</strong><br />Haydn's complete symphonies is too important to be omitted in such a listening project.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3. (and...)</strong><br />This is a very gallant work composed during his Storm-and-Stress period. The B-minor second movement sounds like Barbarina singing in the beginning of <em>Figaro</em>'s Act IV (i.e., melancholy over trivia). In the finale, before the theme's final statement, the middle of the minuet, played by solo strings, all of a sudden reappears. The portion of the minuet cited even happens to resemble the finale's theme. Has Beethoven learned from Haydn in his Fifth?ckcheunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17578282502521644808noreply@blogger.com0