Dead-Composers Society

[AC Benus]

And one of my favorite Michael Haydn compositions... the use of the soli instruments, and the strings in the background is one of the most original ideas even used in sacred music, and the effect is truly spiritual. "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us."

 

 

[Parker Owens]

I have been listening to this. William Billings was one of Colonial America's first and most prolific composers. His plain, open harmonies appeal to me right now. This performance is slower in tempo than many I have heard, but it suits my mood. 

 

 

[Daddydavek]

Brahms: Academic Festival Overture (Solti, CSO)

 

 

[Parker Owens]

@Daddydavek....The Academic Festival Overture is one of my all time favorites.

 

And here is a bonus poem from the world of online banking...

 

My bank

required questions

for access to accounts:

"Who's your favorite composer?"

was posed.

How could

they expect me to answer that?

I could name a dozen

before I took

one breath.

 

[AC Benus]

3 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

@Daddydavek....The Academic Festival Overture is one of my all time favorites.

 

And here is a bonus poem from the world of online banking...

 

My bank

required questions

for access to accounts:

"Who's your favorite composer?"

was posed.

How could

they expect me to answer that?

I could name a dozen

before I took

one breath.

 

I know. The 'favorite' questions always stymie me too. "Favorite movie...?" No such thing; favorite top ten, now we're talking   

[Parker Owens]

@AC Benus...Exactly. I suppose answers like that would tax their databases, but think of the AI gold mine that could be. Musical preferences tell huge amounts about personality....

[Drew Espinosa]

This is impressive!

 

[AC Benus]

2 hours ago, Drew Espinosa said:

This is impressive!

 

Mesmerizing! I love how the little Mozart head keeps coming back to regulate everything. Incredibly cleaver - thanks for sharing. I wish I had this much talent 

[Drew Espinosa]

Winter, From Vivaldi's Four Seasons

 

[Parker Owens]

3 hours ago, Drew Espinosa said:

Winter, From Vivaldi's Four Seasons

 

 

So many excellent offerings from this playlist. I actually use it to teach music history and theory from...

[AC Benus]

Moonrise, from Carl Otto Nicoli's opera, The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTh8sTi9S7g

 

A much superior audio can be heard here, beginning at min. 50:00

 

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

@northie Some Fux for you  Johann Joseph Fux, that is, great court composer in Vienna and associate of Vivaldi. Fux literally wrote the book on counterpoint 

 

 

[AC Benus]

On 7/27/2017 at 5:13 AM, Parker Owens said:

I have been listening to this. William Billings was one of Colonial America's first and most prolific composers. His plain, open harmonies appeal to me right now. This performance is slower in tempo than many I have heard, but it suits my mood. 

 

 

Thank you for introducing this composer to me! I just found this piece, and love the music and performance. It's wonderful and I've never heard it before  

 

 

[Parker Owens]

1 hour ago, AC Benus said:

Thank you for introducing this composer to me! I just found this piece, and love the music and performance. It's wonderful and I've never heard it before  

 

 

 

Largely self-taught, Billings left us a large body of work, and a fascinating musicological look into the mind of Colonial North America. And this piece is awesome - a real tour de force of Billings' approach to choral work. Thank you for sharing this one with us!

[AC Benus]

On 7/26/2017 at 9:04 AM, AC Benus said:

And one of my favorite Michael Haydn compositions... the use of the soli instruments, and the strings in the background is one of the most original ideas ever used in sacred music, and the effect is truly spiritual. "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us."

 

 

...because I can be really dense sometimes...  Here is the Agnus Dei from the mass 

 

 

[AC Benus]

For this Sunday, György Ligeti's 1953 Six Bagatelles for Winds 

 

I. Allegro con spirito
II. Rubato. Lamentoso
III. Allegro grazioso
IV. Presto ruvido
V. Adagio. Maestro -- Belá Bartók in memoriam 
VI. Molto vivace. Capriccioso

 

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by AC Benus

[Drew Espinosa]

Sento in seno, Vivaldi  

 

 

[Parker Owens]

@Drew Espinosa

Gorgeous, Drew!

[Drew Espinosa]

Guiseppe Tartini, Violin Sonata in G Minor

 

 

[AC Benus]

music of feeling betrayed  by the founder of the Vienna School of Music 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

 

Gislebertus, The Weighing of Souls, detail of the Last Judgement. Saint-Lazare, France.

 

@Parker OwensThe salus informorum of the next piece makes me think of sculpture like this.   

 

Edited September 16, 2017 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Mozart's remarkable Litanies are not very well known. This is odd considering how popular his masses are. I blame Alfred Einstein, the great musicologist, who published a dismissive paragraph in his book saying the Litanies were not worth preforming.

 

However, K. 195 is one of the most fascinating and faceted compositions of sacred music that exists. The central movement takes us near the gates of hell and then provides a with a vision of the Virgin Mary.    

 

This recording is new to me, and I find it has many wonderful attributes, especially Barbra Bonney's rendering of the Agnus Dei.

 

 

This recording I have known and treasured for years. The Salus infirmorum (beginning min 14:57) still raises goose bumps, as does the key change into the glorious Queen of Heaven segment.

 

 

[Parker Owens]

@AC Benus These are a marvel and a delight. My goosebumps match yours. Thank you for sharing these!

[AC Benus]

One for you, @northie  

 

 

[northie]

12 hours ago, AC Benus said:

One for you, @northie  

What a curious hybrid of an instrument - spent most of the time watching the player. Particularly when he was doing pizzicati behind the fingerboard - makes me wish I could see what was going on. Thanks, AC.