Mozart Journey

I am making my way through Mozart’s symphonies, as conducted by Christopher Hogwood. These are period instrument recordings and I like that a lot. This is not because I am some kind of snob when it comes to authenticity or purity. I just love the sound of the 18th Century orchestra. It is so crisp and lean compared to a lot of more modern orchestras. It really captures the spirit of the music, I think. Symphony No. 25 in G Minor from the set is wonderful. This is quite a great symphony. Both G minor symphonies are my favourite Mozart symphonies. No. 25 was used in the film Amadeus. I recognized it from that on hearing it again. The 30 something symphonies tend to be the most played (apart from 40 and 41) and I enjoy the brisk and clear sound here in these performances. Mozart composed a lot of music! Just listening to them I can’t help but get a tad bored with some of his slow movements simply because I prefer a faster rate of harmonic change – like Baroque music and also I prefer more chromaticism. Anyway as I have been listening I have discovered quite a few unknown minuets that are beautiful and some powerfully lively finales. Mozart is famed as a great melodist and that is evident here, even if the melodies can often be predictable cause of the restricted harmonic and rhythmic style they operate in, I do enjoy this music. It brightens the day. It is also good to rest to. Mozart will be perfectly balanced even if the world outside is chaos.

alban berg

listening there to Alban Berg – that disciple, pupil of Arnold Schoenberg, the guy who stepped over the precipice in music about a hundred years ago… taking increasing chromaticism into dissolution of diatonic tonality… as you do. Logical step really. Berg’s music is generally emotive and at times sounds tonal. Berg played with this in his serialism. You can after all, make serialism, where all 12 notes are equal, such that some notes are more equal than others. You can make serialism sound as tonal as you like. The Lyric Suite, originally for string quartet is a mature work by the composer and to the best of my knowledge reflects a dilemma in the composer’s personal life – the dilemma, as ever, unfulfilled love and desire for a lady. The music is full of passion, despair and mystery.

If you are nervous about spending money on this kind of intense chromatic music then Naxos’ budget release of the New Zealand Quartet playing the Lyric Suite and his String Quartet, may be just the ticket. They do a beautiful job with the Lyric Suite, the String Quartet perhaps too, but I haven’t warmed to that work… at least not yet. It sounds somewhat academic to me.

First impression when listening to this might be “ah! dissonance!” but listen close and give it time and treasures lay within.

Alban Berg : Lyric Suite (3/3)

Missing in Action

Lost internet there for a while that’s why so quiet. Will be posting again now that it is fixed, I am pleased to say.

Let’s chill now to the sound of the sixties:

Crosby Stills Nash A Long Time Gone Woodstock 1969

new material

i am in the process of writing and recording a new song. i am very happy with the backing track. i just need to come up with some decent lyrics. i never worry too much about the vocal melody. that just comes to me when i am recording. soon i am moving locale so it will be possible to convert my living space into a mini-studio to record with no interruptions.
there is a plan for an album but for now i need to get more tracks down. i have a page on myspace which features a bunch of ambient experiments and 2 songs with vocals. these have helped me learn what i want to do, what works and what doesn’t.
if you want to hear my nu music try-outs, check out this link: http://www.myspace.com/jaimebyrne

thanks

hiromi

the more I listen to hiromi uehara’s sonicbloom, the more I like it. the fusion of styles and her virtuosic flair are hard to beat. I am familiarizing myself with the tracks on the album, Time Control. those tricky rhythms she plays with are fab.

here is a sample of her again:

Hiromi Uehara – Softly, as in a morning sunrise Best solo version

Incognito

I am listening to Incognito – these guys are a little like Jamiroquai. Would class them as Acid Jazz, I guess. Check out this mellowness. It is awesome.

tehilim

This is Steve Reich at his best. I love what Reich does with voices and I also love the harmonies he uses. The stacked thirds I think. I think this is very beautiful music.

Mahler 7

Nice performance in HD of the conclusion of Mahler’s enigmatic Seventh Symphony, the song of the night.

gustav mahler

oh how I get so annoyed when people just call Mahler’s music ‘heavy’. so idiotic. Mahler contains the world. If you want art to reflect all the trials of life, from agony to ecstasy, from the mundane to the mysterious, then Mahler is your man. It takes effort of course. all music, even Britney Spears goes on this simple premise – the closer you listen the fuller the experience. whether you hate it or not after wards is another story but at least you made an effort!

Have you been there?

Being a music lover without listening to late Beethoven or Mahler is like being a mountaineer and staying only amoung the hills.

I can’t imagine life without knowing late Beethoven or Mahler or many others. We are not all deep thinkers but at some point we face mortality, right? We question our purpose? We reach new levels of understanding regarding love and so forth. All of this is explored in Mahler and in Beethoven. In fact, it is taken to the highest degrees of soul searching, the lowest depths of despair and the most moving moments of transfiguration. It is music too. Music is such a powerful and loved art form in the world. I wish more people took this journey, the one I have taken. It adds so much to a life, I feel. Things to do before you die. Forget running all over the world trying to see tourist attractions, take the journey from your armchair.