(western) classical music discussion

[bennyboy]

A baby who lived and died before either parent had a career to speak of.... unless you’re thinking Johann and not Richard. Honestly, a better example of a second parent might be Brahms. I can at least remember some keyboard works by Brahms.

Yeah, I'm not thinking chronologically.  In fact, I'd take out Tchaikovsky and put in Rachmaninoff; some of the piano parts in that video really do sound almost note-for-note like Rach runs.  And yes, for sure I'm talking about Johann-- the lightness of the waltzes is something that really comes out in the Gottschalk for me.

But I've been listening to more Gottschalk, and I have to say. . . seems like a mix of Brahms and Chopin. It's funny-- give me any of his songs, and I could say who I think it sounds like-- and it would never be "Gottschalk." Maybe that's why he's not more famous?

[Rev. Rye]

That’s clearly the reason. He’s still too obscure to get the attention he deserves. I have to admit, I’m more a Richard Strauß person than a Johann Strauß person, which is why I brought that point up. Then again, Liszt might be the obvious progenitor; I reckon Gottschalk gets less lasting fame because A) he was an American (New Orleans-born, to be precise) half-Jewish (period-accurate terminology ahead) quadroon and B) we didn’t get a bunch of cartoons of Bugs Bunny et al. Creating animated magic with the Grand Tarantella in the 1930s and 1940s.

[bennyboy]

Sure. Johann Strauss is pretty fluffy stuff for the most part, and Richard Strauss is one of the greatest musical minds of all time. I wouldn't put them in the same league tbh. But I wouldn't say Gottschalk sounds like Richard Strauss.

[Edwardo Piet]

Another one of my favorites:





If I had to pick my favorite piece of classical music ever Music for 18 Musicians and Solo Piano would be tied in first place (I don't like anything besides the atypical).

Enjoy.

[Rev. Rye]

My faves for Philip Glass are Koyaanisqatsi with Einstein on the Beach second (I'm not a big fan of the dance or trial sequences).

Seriously, the guy's awesome enough that he even made sure that Fant4stic gained something of a redeeming quality with his score.






Seriously, I give that film 1.5 stars out of 10, and one of those stars is for the Philip Glass score. (The other half-star for the occasional glimpses of a potentially decent film scattered throughout the trainwreck.)

[Minimalist]

29 photos of the Vienna State Opera House.

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/behold-the...era-house/

Those people knew how to build!

[Minimalist]

I don't know where the hell Alex went.... so here's Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 2d mvmt on a period fortepiano.  This is what Beethoven would have heard if he wasn't deaf as a post.

[Bucky Ball]

Late in the evening of May 1, 1786 Western music hit its absolute peak when the premiere of Mozart's Il Nozze di Figaro concluded.  It declined, slowly at first, from that apex until the 20th century when it fell into steep decline.

There is a good deal of truth there. 
I like the entire thing, as far as music goes, for Western Art, for a work written to be performed in front of the aristocracy which is constantly made fun of and ridiculed in it, it is amazing in the last act, when the Count asks his wife for forgiveness. It's full of compassion (and a turning point in Western thought) with ideas from the Enlightenment, (and no religion). 

When the main character in Don Giovanni falls into hell in that work, it's the first time in the Christian era that a main character goes to hell, and remains without "salvation", and un-forgiven. 

Besides the 9th symphony of Beethoven, the quartets from Fidelio, (very similar to the 9th, musically), stand as monumental accomplishments, as well as a couple sections from The Missa Solemnis ... the Benedictus is amazing.

[Rev. Rye]

Something just went into my head: I remembered the headache it was for Richard Wagner to create a proper bell sound for Parsifal, partly because A) they were really loud, and B) the bells required would have to be of obscenely huge size. So, eventually, he chose to use a combination of four gongs tuned to the pitch in question, tuba, and this:




Also, I should mention that two of my Dad and my favourite summer hangouts are the Botanic Gardens and the Ravinia festival, which are right down the road from one another (quite a ways, but still down the road). Ravinia is, of course, a classic/popular music festival, but the Botanic Gardens also has this:





It's a four-octave carillon. So, I'm thinking that maybe the two venues could cooperate, and have the bells from the carillon simulcast with the opera, playing that C-G-A-E chime whenever the opera needs it, and simulcast those bells to the venue for peak authenticity. Then I looked at the little sign visible around 0:21 in the video. According to the sign, the bells weigh between 24 lbs and 2.5 tons. I ended up cross-referencing it with this website. Alas, it seems that the highest pitch required for the bells is one octave lower than the lowest in the carillon. Well, that idea's proving unfeasible, even disregarding that I have zero pull with either the CBG or Ravinia to request anything like this.

[Dr H]

When I was in music grad school I used to think some of the profs and other students were a little pretentious at times.

But seeing as this thread was apparently started by Jesus Christ... well hell, all those other boobs were just pikers.