Instrumental Music

[Steve5380]

 

1) Never knew playing the organ would be so demanding on a person's psychomotor skills. Just look at the man! He was practically 'dancing' (with his fingers and feet) while seated. Amazeballs!

 

2) Tell me I'm not the only one who feels uncomfortable listening to chords in this Toccata. It gives you this unnerving feeling, which probably explains why it is often used as the 'Vampire/Haunted House' entrance song. Although, it would be pretty cool to listen to a supernatural being playing this piece for you as you enter its domain. I would be thoroughly entertained. 

 

3) The organ itself looks aesthetically pleasing with its gilded keys and regal exterior. Too bad I can't have one in my HDB flat (let alone purchase an organ). Boohoo (not a ghost pun)

 

This is an excellent recording of Bach's Toccata and Fugue. 

Pleasant sound from this organ nearly 300 years old in a German Lutheran church.

I find this music highly emotional. I hold Bach among the few very best.

Having been educated a Christian, this emotion makes me desire so much that the Christian doctrine were real, even if as a gay I would have a hard time with it,  haha.

 

You can have something better than this organ in your HDB flat.  

Today's electronic pianos are very close to the good acoustic ones. 

A piano is musically superior to an organ, More fun to play, with an infinite literature.

And you can play it at midnight in your flat, without anybody hearing a sound but yourself (with headphones)

Edited May 16, 2015 by Steve5380

[eddyfai]

This is an excellent recording of Bach's Toccata and Fugue. 

Pleasant sound from this organ nearly 300 years old in a German Lutheran church.

I find this music highly emotional. I hold Bach among the few very best.

Having been educated a Christian, this emotion makes me desire so much that the Christian doctrine were real, even if as a gay I would have a hard time with it,  haha.

 

You can have something better than this organ in your HDB flat.  

Today's electronic pianos are very close to the good acoustic ones. 

A piano is musically superior to an organ, More fun to play, with an infinite literature.

And you can play it at midnight in your flat, without anybody hearing a sound but yourself (with headphones)

 

That's a very true and practical alternative to having an organ at home (i.e. HDB flat). While an electronic piano may suffice musically, it can never replace the towering majesty of an organ (especially the Trost-Organ in the video)! It is visually and aurally stunning that I wouldn't mind waking up to it everyday! 

 

And please do share your favourite Bach pieces (with an embedded link of course)    

[Steve5380]

That's a very true and practical alternative to having an organ at home (i.e. HDB flat). While an electronic piano may suffice musically, it can never replace the towering majesty of an organ (especially the Trost-Organ in the video)! It is visually and aurally stunning that I wouldn't mind waking up to it everyday! 

 

And please do share your favourite Bach pieces (with an embedded link of course)    

 

I agree. The Trost-organ and especially to hear it inside its impressive church must be a unique experience. Makes me want to make a trip there...

 

http://pleasuresofthepipes.info/Waltershausen-Stadtkirche.html

 

Now, from a practical point of view, a good set of headphones can reproduce nearly all of the musical part of this experience. 

And while the organ is the most majestic instrument, with its tones that can last indefinitely,  the piano offers much more musical expression.  Compared to the organ it has control of the force of the sound and it is much more flexible, able to play fast melodies that would be blurred on an organ.

 

About my favorite compositions of Bach, they are many and hard to prioritize. But some are steady favorites:  the Goldberg variations:

 

 

and the Finale of his St Matthew Passion: 

 

[upshot]

Talking about trumpet, heres one concerto. But this is old type so the tuning pitch is 440Hz

Finally another  jazz aficionado.... heh

Edited May 17, 2015 by upshot

[eddyfai]

 

 

I love it how changing the instrument could significantly alter the aural 'imagery' 

[daydreamingfish]

http://m.yinyuetai.com/video/124384

[eddyfai]

[Guest bbttaann]

Woah loving the Matthaus Passion finale!

[Guest wozzit]

 

1) Never knew playing the organ would be so demanding on a person's psychomotor skills. Just look at the man! He was practically 'dancing' (with his fingers and feet) while seated. Amazeballs!

I learned piano from the age of 6 n could play from a full orchestral score at university. But coordinating 2 hands, 2 feet, several keyboards n endless stops seated at an organ just defeated me!

Now en route to Leipzig for the annual Bach Festival. No St Matthew Passion unfortunately, but I start with the St John Passion, then all the Brandenburg Concertos, several organ events n end with the amazing B minor Mass.

[Steve5380]

I learned piano from the age of 6 n could play from a full orchestral score at university. But coordinating 2 hands, 2 feet, several keyboards n endless stops seated at an organ just defeated me!

Now en route to Leipzig for the annual Bach Festival. No St Matthew Passion unfortunately, but I start with the St John Passion, then all the Brandenburg Concertos, several organ events n end with the amazing B minor Mass.

 

There is no doubt that at this Bach festival they don't miss one note.  And their program, going on at this time, is carefully chosen. Enjoy!

[Steve5380]

Talking of J.S. Bach, it fits well to bring in one of his worthy admirers, Frederic Chopin. He belongs well in this thread "Instrumental Music" since few people have done so much for one musical instrument.

 

I find that the enjoyment of his music is enhanced with a visual experience of the classical ballet Les Sylphides, danced to his music. Several of Chopin's piano compositions were transcribed for orchestra, and they are played very slow to fit the steps of ballet.  It is precisely this slowness that bring out details of Chopin's style of composition, his amazing chromaticism and rhythmic detail, that can be overheard at their original tempo.  Here is a good video of this ballet:

 

 

And here is the first composition in the previous video played on the piano.  Pianist Kissin plays with the right emotional expression deserved by a "nocturne".  Every one of Chopin's Nocturnes has this dreamy beauty that makes them so precious.  I'm sure that Bach would have been delighted listening to this music. 

 

 

Ah.. and I could not leave out this Mazurka Op. 33 No. 2 danced in the first video,  played here by Yundi Li.

 

Edited June 15, 2015 by Steve5380

[Guest wozzit]

Still on Bach (sorry but having had little sympathy for his music in my teens I have now grown to adore it) here's a novelty. In 2003 I was at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. To celebrate the Festivals 10th anniversary - n also the 150th anniversary of Steinway pianos, Steinway had lugged up the mountainside no less than 8 concert grand pianos.

The concert started with a Mozart 4-hand sonata with Martha Argerich n Yevgeny Kissin. It ended up with 8 pianists - including Lang Lang n others - playing a selection including the Ride of the Valkyries!

At the end of the first half, Argerich n Kissin r joined by Mikhail Pletnev n James Levine to perform the Bach 4-keyboard concerto. What makes this totally special is that the orchestra is led by the great Gidon Kremer n includes such major solo artists as Sarah Chang, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Nobuko Imai n Mischa Maisky!

(Although the text under the you tube clip says 2002, it was actually 2003)

Edited June 17, 2015 by wozzit

[Steve5380]

At the end of the first half, Argerich n Kissin r joined by Mikhail Pletnev n James Levine to perform the Bach 4-keyboard concerto. What makes this totally special is that the orchestra is led by the great Gidon Kremer n includes such major solo artists as Sarah Chang, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Nobuko Imai n Mischa Maisky!

 

 

This must have been a very enviable and unique experience you had.  Not so much from a musical side, since the participating artists could not reveal all their talent in the Bach concerto.  I have a surely controversial opinion that this concerto would sound all as enjoyable and even more interesting programmed onto a synthesizer.  More than one piano performing together does not provide higher value than a single instrument,  and even the single piano performed at 4 hands is not twice as good. **  

 

But your event was unique in its splurge of talent and superior pianos.  Maybe such events should be limited, to avoid the possibility that something happens to the place like a meteorite falling on the concert hall and erasing a significant chunk of today's top musicians.  A risk that would be similar to the concentration of the presidents of the G7 nations convening in one place, except that these politicians are not worth so much.

 

**  I would make an exception for Schubert, one of my favorite composers, who wrote this inspired piece Marche Militaire for piano at 4 hands.  Here is an interesting performance by Barenboim and Lang Lang that is also hilarious watching the faces made by the Chinese. 

 

Edited June 18, 2015 by Steve5380

[Guest wozzit]

I wonder if anyone knows this short movement from Mendelssohn's Symphony no. 3 nicknamed the "Scottish"? Mendelssohn made more than one trip to Scotland n loved its rugged scenery n coastline. His Hebrides overture, sometimes nicknamed "Fingal's Cave", is a concert favourite.

I can only find the full symphony on YouTube. So start at 14'25" for this jaunty little movement. It ends at 18'52". The conductor is one of today's 'greats' Mariss Jansons. Cute young Principal Oboe player!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRescaT_ya4

Edited June 21, 2015 by wozzit

[Steve5380]

I wonder if anyone knows this short movement from Mendelssohn's Symphony no. 3 nicknamed the "Scottish"? Mendelssohn made more than one trip to Scotland n loved its rugged scenery n coastline. His Hebrides overture, sometimes nicknamed "Fingal's Cave", is a concert favourite.

I can only find the full symphony on YouTube. So start at 14'25" for this jaunty little movement. It ends at 18'52". The conductor is one of today's 'greats' Mariss Jansons. Cute young Principal Oboe player!

 

 

This movement of the Scottish symphony of Mendelssohn is a very worthy example of his music. I like the best the opening of its first movement. His style of composition is so unique that his identity springs out of any short segment like a fingerprint, or even better, a unique DNA.  And always at the highest spiritual level.

 

Since early childhood I fell in love with his juvenile masterpiece A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I still cannot listen to it without tears in my eyes.  I wish every child to be carried in the musical waves of its overture: 

 

 

Later as a student of violin I had the pleasure to study his violin concerto, which has this same strong dreamy identity that is so pleasant.  Here is a performance by Sarah Chang that I like much because of the warmth of her playing and her expression,  plus a pitch that is just right. (I can oversee the horrible green dress, hahaha)

 

Edited June 22, 2015 by Steve5380

[Guest wozzit]

I start with the St John Passion, then all the Brandenburg Concertos, several organ events n end with the amazing B minor Mass.

The St. John Passion under Philippe Herreweghe n his forces from Ghent using original instruments was quite magnificent. A 10 minute standing ovation followed. Last nights B minor Mass used modern instruments with bright crisp tempi. But it was hugely moving to hear it in Bachs own church. It was followed by a silence that lasted at least 20 seconds before the thunderous applause started!

[Guest wozzit]

Most people surely like this short Handel orchestral piece "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba" from his oratorio Solomon. Both Beethoven n Mozart regarded Handel as the greatest.composer who had ever lived up to their time.

[Guest bbttaann]

Most people surely like this short Handel orchestral piece "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba" from his oratorio Solomon. Both Beethoven n Mozart regarded Handel as the greatest.composer who had ever lived up to their time.

Not to mention some crowd pleasers like Zadok the Priest too!

[Steve5380]

Frantz Schubert, among the top composers, stands out for the beauty of his melodies and by his harmonic lines with unique modulations. Although many of us prefer instrumental music, there is much to enjoy in the lyrical works of Schubert, his hundreds of Lieder, especially when performed by top singers and accompanists.

 

This is the case in the following recording, that I just found by chance (it always so happens with youtube). This music is emotional just by its musical properties, but if we can follow the text of the lieder, either by understanding German or reading the Spanish subtitles, it becomes even more emotional, and could be even somber.  But this is not necessary. The music speaks by itself. 

 

One of my favorite lieder is the "Der Lindenbaum",  at 12:45 in this video.  One of the best performances!

 

[Steve5380]

Back to instrumental music, now something timeless like compositions by J.S. Bach.  For the first time I listened to the following Partita for 30 minutes, and it was not boring for an instant.  I think much of the credit for this goes to the pianist Perahia, who in my opinion makes the best of Bach on piano.  (I don't think I would put up for so long listening to this music played on the keyboard instruments of the days of Bach...)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELShZDVjoFw

[Guest wozzit]

This is an excellent recording of Bach's Toccata and Fugue. 

Pleasant sound from this organ nearly 300 years old in a German Lutheran church

 

I wonder how many are aware that that eccentric but excellent conductor Leopold Stokowski arranged this Toccata n Fugue for his superb Philadelphia Orchestra. This is a big, bright n brassy arrangement full of lush sounds n dramatic effects - listen to the huge rolling waves of orchestral sound starting at 8'40" through till the end.

 

Stokowski was one of the great showmen of classical music in the last century. Although he adopted a middle-European accent that was entirely foreign to him after he moved to America, he'd been born n raised entirely in London. He started his career as an organist n it was in that capacity he travelled to find work in the USA. It was often thought that the "Philadelphia sound" he developed as Music Director of the orchestra over a quarter of a century owed much to his organ training. A great ladies man he thought nothing of charming the wives of leading Board members to win his first orchestral positions.

 

 

Another composer who happily took Bachs work n adapted it to his own orchestral style was that most English of composers Sir Edward Elgar. His arrangement of the Fantasy and Fugue in C minor is very different from Stokowskis but very typically Elgarian, especially in the Fugue (starting at 6'30"). 

 

 

Others who orchestrated Bachs works included Webern, Schoenberg n Mahler.

[Steve5380]

Stokowski was one of the great showmen of classical music in the last century. 

 

 

Leopold Stokowski...  hahaha....  he reminds me of Liberace.  Gaudy, flamboyant, full of kitsch, but positive in many ways.

 

By the way,  it's amazing the versatility of Bach's music. No matter the arrangements, slow or fast, it stands out for what it is.

It is such a gift to like it and understand it!

 

Here is a video by Liberace,  What a character!  I can see all the serious composers whose music he "arranged" happily entertained, laughing at the liberties he takes with their work...

 

[derryfawne]

[Guest wozzit]

Liberace,  What a character!  I can see all the serious composers whose music he "arranged" happily entertained, laughing at the liberties he takes with their work...

 

Its always been fashionable to trash Liberaces prowess on the piano. Yet behind the glitz, rhinestones, feathers, glamour n candelabra was a musician who had been classically trained. Clearly he found the world of entertainment more fulfilling. Certainly his bank account contained more than US$100 million on his death.

 

I visited the Liberace Museum the year before it finally closed. It was a rather sad, tacky display, badly presented n badly lit. 

 

 

But I bought a souvenir - a pair of Liberace branded sneakers. The photo does not show up the glitter well, but u can see the candelabra built in to the laces!!  

 

[Steve5380]

 

Its always been fashionable to trash Liberaces prowess on the piano. Yet behind the glitz, rhinestones, feathers, glamour n candelabra was a musician who had been classically trained. 

 

 

Trashing his prowess on the piano ???   They have no idea of what piano playing is.  His playing is excellent and he shows the skills of a concert pianist.

 

In the video I posted he plays for one and a half hours from memory and in synchrony with the orchestra.  This is comparable to performing a Prokofiev piano concerto!

 

I hear him play Chopin, pieces I know every note about, and I don't mind how he improvises and distorts them completely in a hilarious butchery that keeps me laughing.   I also like to hear him speaking in his nice mood.  

 

Too bad he didn't make it in time to survive with the modern HIV medications!

Edited July 13, 2015 by Steve5380

[Tihocan]

Give me Celtic music, anytime.

David Thule - My Rathfarnham Darlin's

[Guest wozzit]

Lets lighten the tone a bit. Heres the waltz king Johann Strauss' popular overture to his operetta Die Fledermaus (or at least most of it) performed superbly on screen by Tom & Jerry. If you look at the characters they really r in tune with the music! And the background orchestra is vey idiomatic with a slight pause before the 3rd beat of the bar in the waltz sections.

 

[Steve5380]

Lets lighten the tone a bit. Heres the waltz king Johann Strauss' popular overture to his operetta Die Fledermaus (or at least most of it) performed superbly on screen by Tom & Jerry. If you look at the characters they really r in tune with the music! And the background orchestra is vey idiomatic with a slight pause before the 3rd beat of the bar in the waltz sections.

 

Very cute video. 

What I liked the most was the first 40 second introduction.... brought me longings for the music of Richard Wagner.

 

Wagner... what a genius!  A music of dreams, that opened the door for so much evolution in orchestral music like the one at the beginning of your video.

Here is a potpourri that includes his famous overtures: 

 

 

Sorry if this music is too 'serious'...

 

His overture to Die Meistersinger is one of my favorite music of Wagner.  Hearing it makes me feel pompous and proud of my German heritage.

No... I'm not sure.  Maybe I prefer the overture to Tannheuser,  that fills me with longings for the good old times in centuries gone, hahaha...

 

Edited July 15, 2015 by Steve5380

[Tihocan]

This well-known piece probably has been posted before.

Oh well... I like it!

宗次郎 - 故乡の原风景

[Steve5380]

This well-known piece probably has been posted before.

Oh well... I like it!

 

Nice.  I have never heard this piece before.

How about a very similar piece from a place across the globe: South American folk music "El Condor Pasa" (the condor flies by):

 

[Tihocan]

Nice. I have never heard this piece before.

How about a very similar piece from a place across the globe: South American folk music "El Condor Pasa" (the condor flies by):

The singing set it apart from what I usually stumbled upon.

The fact is the vocal recording of that duo kept popping up whenever I came across the instrumental version even though this is the antetype.

Ya, I know.

Anonying, right?

Jokes aside.

There are numerous interpretation of the following folk tune but the mood and the presentation is closer to the one I am familiar with.

Gracias.

Purimuy

[Tihocan]

I like how his fingers gliding among and teasing the 6 strand of chromium resonators.

So satisfying.

John H Clarke - The Most Evolved

[Steve5380]

I like how his fingers gliding among and teasing the 6 strand of chromium resonators.

So satisfying.

John H Clarke - The Most Evolved

 

Nice music, nicely played.  I would have left at least a $10 bill on that bench in San Francisco.

[daydreamingfish]

 

"Fantasia" 《狂想曲》, Pu Wen-lin,  朴文琳 on yangqin and accompanied by Little Giant Chinese Orchestra

Composed by Wang Dan-hong, 王丹红

Edited July 17, 2015 by daydreamingfish

[Tihocan]

Nice music, nicely played. I would have left at least a $10 bill on that bench in San Francisco.

Lucky chap. I would have do the same.

It is not about the particular title but the distinctive arrangement and style.

Little did I know that the seductive, sort of, man grunts was a unique trademark, not a widely adopted practice (or is it?), resulting in bumpy rides of countless blind search.

I find it very suitable for late night listening as it exhibits a weighty mesmerizing and nostalgic impact on me way into the swirl of the captivatingly charming 60s...

Am I getting old?

Oh god...

Perez Prado - Cerezo Rosa

[Tihocan]

Guess I had turned this to Old and Forgotten Instrumental Music.

Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther

[Steve5380]

Guess I had turned this to Old and Forgotten Instrumental Music.

Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther

 

 

I also like to whistle this tune.  

You know... life is short, and there is so much music!

The best value for the bang is definitely... CLASSICAL music.  Worth the time. Good for the spirit, and enjoyable.  And the variety is nearly limitless.

 

Schumann, one of the 'romantic' composers, wrote this piece 'Widmung',  and Liszt, the piano wiz, made it into a show piece. 

 

The following video is not only a visual show (I like the looks and playing of Ji-Yong) but more importantly a musical treat:

 

 

 

 And here is the same piece played on an instrument that does not sound like a toy piano, in one of the best interpretations:

(best heard with eyes closed...)

 

[Guest wozzit]

Lets keep to romantic music – although this was written at the very start of the 20^th century. Rachmaninovs 2nd concerto is one of the most popular of all concertos. Here the first movement is performed by one of the greatest pianists of the century, Earl Wild.

 

Wild was not so well known outside his native America although he did make several visits to Asia. He was one of the few truly stunning virtuoso pianists. As a teenager he was engaged by the Pittsburgh Symphony as its resident pianist. There he heard many of the finest pianists of the day, including Rachmaninov playing this concerto. Wild’s recordings of the four Rachmaninov concertos were made in London in the mid-1960s and have since been hailed as classics.

 

A big bear of a man with a shock of thick white hair, Wild died in 2010 at the age of 95. He was one of the few openly gay pianists of his time. His autobiography "A Walk on the Wild Side" is utterly fascinating n a must read for those interested in the great classical musicians of the 20th century. Wilds writing is witty n often outrageously funny as well as cutting when he wants to be. Alfred Brendel is one pianist whose style he totally disliked. "Bren-dul" he calls him!

 

Edited July 20, 2015 by wozzit

[Guest wozzit]

I like the looks and playing of Ji-Yong

 

I heard Ji Yong in an excellent recital a couple of years ago. He's not just a very fine player, he looks great!! When he was just 11, he performed a Mozart concerto with the New York Philharmonic n Kurt Masur!

 

Incidentally did u know that like Yundi Li he has also shortened his name? He is now just called Ji! That must be shortest name of any classical artist!

 

He is a member of an ensemble of Korean musicians who have almost pop star status in Korea - Ensemble Ditto. Here is an early vdo made 6 years which ends with the finale of Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals.

 

 

On a more serious note, here is a more recent excellent if very personal account of Bach's 1st Partita. His tempi r on the fast side especially in the final Gigue which is supposed to be a jig like dance - not a sprint! But this young man is going to become a major name in international music making.

 

[Tihocan]

You know... life is short, and there is so much music!

Exactly.

And we are contented... with what we craved within the note... or whatever lah.

The best value for the bang is definitely... CLASSICAL music.

:twisted:    No way.

Yanni - One Man's Dream

[Tihocan]

Loreena Mckennitt - The Emigration Tunes

Loreena McKennitt - Tango to Evora

OK, I'm done.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Tihocan

[Steve5380]

I heard Ji Yong in an excellent recital a couple of years ago. He's not just a very fine player, he looks great!! When he was just 11, he performed a Mozart concerto with the New York Philharmonic n Kurt Masur!

 

Incidentally did u know that like Yundi Li he has also shortened his name? He is now just called Ji! That must be shortest name of any classical artist!

 

He is a member of an ensemble of Korean musicians who have almost pop star status in Korea - Ensemble Ditto. Here is an early vdo made 6 years which ends with the finale of Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals.

 

 

On a more serious note, here is a more recent excellent if very personal account of Bach's 1st Partita. His tempi r on the fast side especially in the final Gigue which is supposed to be a jig like dance - not a sprint! But this young man is going to become a major name in international music making.

 

 

I had watched before this video with Ji-Yong playing Bach's Partita No 1 and I also found it a little fast.  But what it made me think is of Glenn Gould.

 

I hope Ji will mature more graciously than Gould.  But I already see the same bend-over posture that hurts to see and the cutting of faces. But at least we don't hear Ji sing along...

 

Concert pianists should take example of the posture of Arthur Rubinstein.  I never played a piano concert in front of a public, so I cannot judge, but I wonder if it would take much effort and discipline to conquer the posture and make it impeccable, and to keep the face relaxed.

 

Ji -Yong is not a teenager anymore but he has a good career going on. Time will tell how successful he can become.

[Steve5380]

:twisted:    No way.

Yanni - One Man's Dream

 

One man's dream. Very possible 

This man's dream can be to other persons a nice music to hear in the background while watching a documentary, some interesting story about travel, etc.

Meat and potatoes are very enjoyable and satisfying.  If circumstances make one eat mostly in the finest restaurants, there is a change in taste that is hard to reverse.

The same happens with classical music:  A lot of music is nice, but once your ear and spirit is spoiled with the Classical, it is hard to have strong preference for other music.

 

Here is a "This Man's Dream" music that came in through my ears and it stays inside.  I would not know how to get rid of it.  This piece was the first I heard played by Yundi Li, and since then I became one of his fans: 

 

[Steve5380]

Lets keep to romantic music – although this was written at the very start of the 20^th century. Rachmaninovs 2nd concerto is one of the most popular of all concertos. Here the first movement is performed by one of the greatest pianists of the century, Earl Wild.

 

Wild was not so well known outside his native America although he did make several visits to Asia. He was one of the few truly stunning virtuoso pianists. As a teenager he was engaged by the Pittsburgh Symphony as its resident pianist. There he heard many of the finest pianists of the day, including Rachmaninov playing this concerto. Wild’s recordings of the four Rachmaninov concertos were made in London in the mid-1960s and have since been hailed as classics.

 

A big bear of a man with a shock of thick white hair, Wild died in 2010 at the age of 95. He was one of the few openly gay pianists of his time. His autobiography "A Walk on the Wild Side" is utterly fascinating n a must read for those interested in the great classical musicians of the 20th century. Wilds writing is witty n often outrageously funny as well as cutting when he wants to be. Alfred Brendel is one pianist whose style he totally disliked. "Bren-dul" he calls him!

 

I don't remember ever being aware of the existence of pianist Earl Wild, but now listening to him I appreciate his art. 

However, I don't agree with his dislike of Alfred Brendel, his idea that he is dull, which I have heard in others too.

The music I hear Brendel play is not boring at all, and he is a master at it.  Some years before he retired I heard him play Schubert in concert and it was a unique experience.

 

But... everyone with his likeness.  I found a video of Earn Wild playing at 78 years of age... amazing:

 

[Guest wozzit]

I found a video of Earn Wild playing at 78 years of age... amazing:

 

Wild gave an annual recital in Carnegie Hall up to n including his 90th birthday. His fans always gobbled up the tickets within hours. A large man (although he was by no means fat), like Rubinstein his body n face hardly moved. I attended the most extraordinary Chopin/Liszt recital he gave in Hong Kong I will ever have the privilege to hear.

 

I also had the pleasure of meeting Earl Wild more than once. He was the funniest artist I have ever encountered, full of fascinating stories, more than a few of them about gay musicians who had not come out of the closet. His humour was evident in some of his compositions. The final movement of his Piano Sonata premiered in the year 2000 is a Toccata marked "a la Ricky Martin!"

 

Like the great virtuosos of the 19th century, he made many transcriptions, often of fiendishly difficult works. Yet his technique n unbelievable lightness of touch were extraordinary. In one album of piano transcriptions, included amongst variations on originals by Mozart, Faure, Chopin, Tchaikovsky n Rachmaninov, is "Reminiscences of Snow White" based on music from the Disney movie!

 

His opinions on other pianists were honed over many decades but especially after after hearing many of the true greats of the piano in his youth. These included Rachmaninov, Josef Hofmann. Josef Lhevinne, Gieseking, Cortot, Schnabel, Iturbi, Moiseiwitsch, Moritz Rosenthal, Landowska, Horowitz, Rubinstein, Paderewski n Gershwin. Since I mentioned his comment on Brendel (one shared by quite a few others), let me quote from Wild's own words in his autobiography,

Most pianists I have known think of themselves as musicians, and the printed score not as an "objet d'art" but rather a set of directions to follow. You can serve the music without being subservient! ... I cannot fathom musicians such as Brendel who talk about the old composers as if he had lunch with them yesterday! He writes as though he was on intimate terms with composers such as Beethoven Schubert, and others. He portrays himself as though he knows exactly what their intentions were when writing a piece of music. Individuals like this are no better than cheap evangelists! 

 

In listening to many of Brendel's Beethoven recordings, I notice instances where he rolls chords and "breaks" his hands, none of which is written in Beethoven's score, So do we believe what Brendel says about the music, or how he plays? Don't do as I do, do as I say - right, Al? ...

 

You can never stop learning. If you do, you're finished - you become an expert like Brendel! That's the curse! His Beethoven sonatas are colorless but that's what many people listen to. He bangs the fortes and then plays the pianos too quietly - it's a disgrace. That he is put out as an example of great Beethoven playing is shocking - his playing would never have been passable when I was younger, He would have been booed off the stage ...

 

If there really is such a thing as an intellectual pianist, then he is too intellectual (he is too clinical - much like dissecting a frog). Music does not "come alive" when he performs. He doesn't seem to feel the music in a deep way ... Rather, Brendel executes music like any other task he might perform and as a result something is drastically missing. I don't hear any imagination, drama or initiative in his performances. I find this type of approach to music undesirable because I believe that imagination, drama, and elegance are what music is all about ... I feel imagination is the key to individuality and beauty of tone. Without it, what is the use of performing music!

 

There is so much more that is utterly fascinating in his 800 page book. 

 

I think this version of the Kreisler-Rachmaninov Liebeslied from a Carnegie Hall recital in 1981 shows off the elegance, brilliance n simplicity of Wild's virtuosic style.

 

Edited July 21, 2015 by wozzit

[Steve5380]

His opinions on other pianists were honed over many decades but especially after after hearing many of the true greats of the piano in his youth. These included Rachmaninov, Josef Hofmann. Josef Lhevinne, Gieseking, Cortot, Schnabel, Iturbi, Moiseiwitsch, Moritz Rosenthal, Landowska, Horowitz, Rubinstein, Paderewski n Gershwin. Since I mentioned his comment on Brendel (one shared by quite a few others), let me quote from Wild's own words in his autobiography,

 

Hahaha...  Earl Wild definitely did not seem to like Brendel.

 

"In listening to many of Brendel's Beethoven recordings, I notice instances where he rolls chords and "breaks" his hands, none of which is written in Beethoven's score, So do we believe what Brendel says about the music, or how he plays? Don't do as I do, do as I say - right, Al? ...

You can never stop learning. If you do, you're finished - you become an expert like Brendel! That's the curse! His Beethoven sonatas are colorless but that's what many people listen to. He bangs thefortes and then plays the pianos too quietly - it's a disgrace. That he is put out as an example of great Beethoven playing is shocking - his playing would never have been passable when I was younger, He would have been booed off the stage ..."

 

Here is a recording of "Pathetique", a sonata so famous that one knows every note. The very first tone, a straight chord, is indeed rolled by Brendel!  He plays the first part unusually slow. But "Lack of imagination, drama, perspective"?? hahaha... 

 

The second video is by Yundi Li playing the 2nd movement of same sonata.  One hears comments of his playing being too cold, mechanical, perfect to the point of lacking emotion, blah, blah, blah. I used to think such comments reflected pure envy. But...  maybe some people need sentimental emotion coming from the performer. 

 

I think that as more familiar we are with some music the emotional experience comes... from our spirit!  We play it INSIDE. The performer merely gives the template of the music on which our memory creates and recreates the emotions.  If we feel this way, it does not matter if music is played with little emotion, we can even enjoy it on a synthesizer. And conversely, we HATE playing that is overly expressive because it interferes with our own concept it.

 

So in the "Pathetique" by Brendel or Li, I don't miss anything.  The Chinese looks much more licked and attractive of course, but the music itself is equally fine.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2015 by Steve5380

[Guest wozzit]

we can even enjoy it on a synthesizer

 

This was first issued on LP probably about 40 years ago! Fun for a first or second hearing, a bit slow by modern performance standards - but I much prefer the original!!

 

Edited July 22, 2015 by wozzit

[Steve5380]

This was first issued on LP probably about 40 years ago! Fun for a first or second hearing, a bit slow by modern performance standards - but I much prefer the original!!

 

 

The history of this music starts with the release of "Switched On Bach" by Walter Carlos in 1968.  Forty seven years ago!

 

I was a child when this CD came out, and after it, synthesized music became unstoppable!

I bought this CD (I will look if I still have it) and I remember listening it with my family. 

The first impression was HORROR!  My musical family rolled on the floor in laughter.

A couple of listenings later, and we started to like it.

Maybe this is why I have sympathy for the music of Bach on synthesizer.

 

BTW,  the video you posted is not the original "Switched On Bach".  There, this Brandenburg Allegro is played at the correct tempo, even fast.

I have not seen on youtube the music from the original CD.  

All I could find is a webpage  https://archive.org/details/SwitchedOnBach1  with the audio recording at the top.

 

https://archive.org/details/SwitchedOnBach2 , the second part, is even more fun to listen to.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Steve5380

[Guest wozzit]

Since earlier posters like romantic music, heres one of the most popular - the 18th variation from Rachmaninovs Paganini Variations with Pletnev, Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

Note no rolling of head, grimacing or exaggerated gestures! Incidentally Ive always thought Claudio Abbado had the most perfect baton technique of any conductor. Hes sadly missed!

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by wozzit

[Steve5380]

Since earlier posters like romantic music, heres one of the most popular - the 18th variation from Rachmaninovs Paganini Variations with Pletnev, Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

 

Paganini inspired multiple composers to do variations of his showpieces.  Franz Liszt contributed a lot by adding glitz and fireworks to other people's compositions.

I like the piano, and the following videos shows very nice interpretations of Liszt's variations on Paganini's "Campanella":