1: Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a constructive vote of no confidence / In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opens the second largest theme park, EPCOT Center, to the public for the first time / Sony launches the first consumer compact disc (CD) player (model CDP-101).
4: Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist, dies from a stroke. Later, his recently re-recorded Aria from the Goldberg Variations, by J.S. Bach, is played at the end of his funeral service.
8: Poland bans Solidarity after having suspended it on December 13, 1981 / After six years in opposition, Social Democrat Olof Palme becomes once again Prime Minister of Sweden.
11: The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England that sank in 1545, is raised from the Solent.
13: The Ford Sierra is launched in Europe, replacing the Ford Cortina (which was known as the Ford Taunus on continental Europe).
19: John DeLorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover FBI agents (he is later found not guilty due to entrapment).
20: Luzhniki Disaster - During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death.
27: In Canada, Dominion Day is officially renamed Canada Day / The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 comes into effect, decriminalising homosexuality in Northern Ireland for those aged 18 or older.
28: The Socialist Party wins the election in Spain; Felipe González is elected Prime Minister.
submitted by So I already know he's a great prof, I had him a few semesters ago and all I want to know is what is the song he plays for his alarm to end the class break? It's piano, and he's mentioned it in class but it was too long ago and I don't have his email to ask him!! Not sure if he still uses the same song but he used it all last Winter semester. Any current student of his know what song this is? First few seconds are always stuck in my head
UPDATE: this is the song:
J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 Aria, performer: Glenn Gould (1955 record).
submitted by First, whoever might read this, excuse me for this post if occasionally keeps updating, it's a work in progress.
I like certain music. And I like certain so called 'classical' music. I don't like most of opera music, apart from some overtures and arias that I'll cite, will it be because my way of being is less and less romantic or melodramatic engaged (but I like thrilling or scaring sound), and I have less listening experience in matter of chamber music, also mentioned here for my favorite works. This is a general view of my favorite classical music as much as synthetic I could do it, in a discursive style. That's not an easy job to write such a thing, considering that overall classical music production is huge. Furthermore, the works mentioned could go digress from a neatly confined canonical categorization, especially the most recent ones. It may be said that classical music is cultured music. Well in the sense that is more elaborated than 'average' music sounds true, but also we can say that average music might be more 'repetitive' compared to classical one. As in many aspect of reality, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Anyway, it holds true for me that over time, regarding arts in general, I'm less and less looking for elaboration, but for beauty. And I hope that classical music live performances be more and more accessible to the people for listening to it. In a piece of music, being a matter of sensations, fortunately there is very few rationale to evaluate it, but only from the effects on listening experience, and to me some requirements for quality are that it must be unobtrusive, a not 'heavy' listening experience, should not be boring or worse yet annoying, possibly at no time. In every genre there are examples. And I found a good way to test that: listen some times to a piece without focusing on it, while doing something else, and let feelings flowing. I don't have one absolute masterpiece above all, thus for each genre (be it classical, pop, rap, hi-pop, rock, funky, fusion, disco, ethnic music, blues, tribal sounds and so on on...), I have a 'cloud' of supreme artworks above the others (and I tend to not compare these each other, with minimal exceptions in some sub-categories). To conceptualize this with an analogy or metaphor, this 'cloud' of inspired artworks is like the George Cantor's transfinite numbers. They come after (above) the ordinary number (ordinary music in our case) (although Cantor says that there are at least 7 degrees of infinites), and are non-numerable (no rankings). It also depends on the mood of the moment. I also find myself repeatedly listening to the some few pieces, also because I don't have so much time for youtubing, besides listening to radio classical. Here is just a view of my favorite pieces that are categorized under classical music, surely not complete and in progress. For most of the pieces specifically mentioned, I attended some live performance regarding them, with some omitted for not having caught me particularly or at this moment forgetting them, and almost all those for which I provided a link for playing it are among those I myself 'resonate' particularly with (I suppose this resonance fact is true for each of us aficionados). Lastly, I strongly suggest that listening to any of the pieces with organ or orchestra using earphones, is not worth - you are losing the most part of the range of sound frequencies.
I wanted to start considering the musical pieces that sound 'easy', quite immediate to my listening experience, starting from my childhood on; that therefore I guess they be more potentially open to a broader audience. Somebody on TV, time ago said that a child would straightaway like
Beethoven Symphony n.5 1st movement. For example, I tend to think of similar easiness and fluency for the heartbreaking
Moonlight Sonata and
Für Elise.
Mozart Symphony n.40 1st movement (having first listened at the time) and Rondò alla Turca from Piano Sonata n.11 (
here on a really amusing play, it's the 1st part-2nd part is Horowitz's Carmen Fantasie). Tchaicowskij The Nutcracker music for the ballet (so fairytale, having first listened at the time), from which the author selected
The Nutcracker Suite in concert form. Prokofe'v's fairy-tale orchestra of
Peter and the Wolf. Dukas'
The Sorcerer's Apprentice. In the youth age, it may be to feel 'easy'
The Wilhelm Tell finale,
La Gazza Ladra, and
The Barber Of Seville opera Overtures (these are really the ones that, when I was young, despite having been introduced to this musical genre before, sparked the spark of my then latent appreciation of it. The fact that I'm italian like Rossini was, it's only by chance). Bizet for The
Carmen opera overture. Much of the Bach's production, starting with
Grand Toccata and Fugue in D minor (I very like this performance. A youtuber, in a comment, said that recent discoveries suggest that it was not Bach to compose it; as I listen more to it, it seems to me that at the time somebody was making rehearsals to test this new instrument, the organ, and then maybe Bach turned these into what we appreciate, such hypothesis would corroborate this thought). Orff's
Carmina Burana, from which the celebrated 1st and last movement "O Fortuna". Paganini's
Caprice n.24 and
"La Campanella" (on the other hand, Paganini composed and performed already at 8 years or so). Brahms' Hungarian Dances
(the celebrated n.5). Richard Strauss' celebrated
Also sprach Zarathustra incipit from the homonymous symphonic poem, Monti for the popular
Csàrdàs for violin and various instruments and arrangements. And ??). That said, here the list goes on:
there are sort of pieces performed by pianists (who I listened live a bunch of times), that are to me kind of magic, like Valentina Lisitsa, Yuja Wang, Helene Grimaud, Lang Lang, Daniil Trifonov, Nikolai Lugansky, Seong Jin Cho, Evgeny Kissin and Beatrice Rana. And there are also other great pianists like Anastasia Huppmann, Martha Argerich, Mitzuko Uchida, and from the past Sviatoslav Richter and Claudio Arrau, Balakirev (I like his
Islamey composition for piano) and Rubinštejn (also a composer, I should listen Concerto per piano and orchestra n.3-4-5 and Symphony n.2), Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, to name a few. Bach magnificent Grand Toccata and Fugue in D minor (
here another very engaging version), and a beautiful surprise I found out:
an arrangement for harp by Amy Turk), then
Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor BWV 542 as per @Ex-guitarist suggestion,
Toccata et Fuga in D Minor "Dorian"-BWV 538 - are marvelous, and Goldberg Variations and The Well Tempered Clavier for piano, cello works like
Bach Cello Suite No.1 in G (Mischa Maisky interpretation),
Air on a G String, Chaconne from Partita for Violin n.2,
Bach-Brahms:Chaconne in D Minor for the Left Hand. Beethoven
Symphony #5 and #7 (
here the 2nd relaxing movement extended to 60 minutes), the sublime
Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61,
Piano Concerto n.5 "Emperor" (the playing starts with a presentation of 5 minutes) and n.4, the full
Moonlight Sonata as cited before, other Piano works like Für Elise and other sonatas (
here Daniil Trifonov plays Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor,Op 111), Violin Sonatas like the n.9 "Kreutzer", Romance n.2, used in accompanying some advertising spot here (probably no need to comment, pieces so popular). Rachmaninov Piano Concerto n.2 (
Wang's execution) the most popular among the enthusiasts and Piano Concerto n.4 among my favorites ever (n.4, altough I find it a rare example of musical perfection, I guess is less 'easy' to experience for the average, because Rachmaninov moved a little away from his new romance, toward more modern sonorities; for that reason, I cite a stunning 'rehearsal' with
Solo Piano Part Mov.1 Lisitsa, where she renders easy for anyone concentrate to the trascendental piano sound of this movement, then you can listen to a
full concert execution with Trifonov), n.3 also most popular, and n.1 (you can also find the solo piano versions for these by Lisitsa), Symphonic Dances, The Isle of The Death, The Bells, Symphony n.3 and n.4, and I like a
transcription of the 2nd Symphony for piano and missing orchestra, coral songs and
vocalise,
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - Lisitsa here, and also, for the piano, Preludes (famous
Op.23 n.5 in G minor and
Op.23 n.2), Etudes Tableaux (like
Op.39 No.6) and Sonatas. Mahler Symphony #1 (see
Mahler - Symphony n°1 - Columbia Orchestra / Walter, but also at the
version with Leonard Bernstein), Symphony #5 Adagio (see
Mahler Symphony No. 5-Adagietto - Myung-Whun Chung,
Gustav Mahler-Adagietto - Leonard Bernstein and
Mahler: Adagietto Symphony 5 - Karajan, and at
Mahler : Adagietto Symphony 5 : Arranged for Choir - Equilbey / Accentus, (Every time I listen to this "Adagietto", is a moment of pure ecstasy :)) ), ending of #2 and #8 are outstanding solo voice/coral pieces, as are the same author's Lieders
here one Das Lied von der Erde-with Bernstein. Debussy with a rarefied, subtle and delicate
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Jeux, La Mer, arabesques, violin sonatas, the renowned
Clair de Lune piano sonata. Ravel Pavane pour une enfant defunte,
Pavane for a Dead Princess, Daphnis et Chloe as mentioned by other users, La Valse (the author also trascribed a
version for piano solo),
Piano Concerto In G and
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (here Wang's performances), that are also among my favorites ever, Rapsodie Espagnole and Bolero, Tzigane for violin and piano, and one of the most demoniac piano sonatas
Gaspard de la nuit.Scarbo. The fabulous Grieg
Piano Concerto and
Peer Gynt Suites n.1 renowned 1st movement and n.2. Gershwin the renowned
Blue Rhapsody (with Yuja Wang), Piano concerto in F major, that I find a rare example of musical perfection, (See
here for Wuja Wang's performance, also
here for an amazing performance),
An American in Paris, Cuban Overture and Porgy and Bess opera, from which the famous song
Summertime, also
rearranged all over the world, are all marvelous (It was the fate that Gershwin lived so little time). Samuel Barber (see
Barber "Adagio for Strings" from Detroit Symphony Orchestra and
here for the original version), a sublime piece, again listening to it I go in a sort of Stendhal Syndrome). Prokof'ev Piano Concertos and Piano sonatas (see
here for an amazing performance of No 7 in B flat major-III Movement by Yuja Wang),
Toccata Prokofieff, Romeo and Juliet music for the ballet (listen to
Dance of the Knights), and Peter and the Wolf, music for a fairy tale. Some Sostakovich Symphonies and Piano concertos (I have to listen to music he composed for the opera The Nose). Brahms Piano Sonata #2 and #1, Violin Sonatas, Intermezzi,
Hungarian Dances n.5, Piano Concertos n.1 and n.2 (see
here for an outstanding interpretation of n.1 by Helene Grimaud), Violin Concerto, Symphony #4 and #3, and grand Ein Deutsches Requiem are marvelous. Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies (
here Hungarian Rhapsody n.2 with Lisitsa and
here Hungarian Rhapsody No.2- Orchestra version), Rapsodia Spaniola, Sonatas, Etudes (
here Liszt's Transcendental Études with Trifonov), Totentanz,
Mephisto Waltz, famous romantic
Liebestraum-Love Dream and Piano Concerto n.1 (the Liszt production is huge). Chopin has set some piano works of him to be very popular:you may know
Fantaisie Impromptu in C sharp minor Op 66, Revolutionary Etude, Marche Funebre and
Nocturne N. 2 op.9; apart from these, I suggest
24 Preludes, Etudes (e.g.
12 Etudes,op.25 or
10 etudes op.10), Sonatas, Scherzi, Marcias, Waltzes (here
Grande Valse Brillante Op.18 with Lisitsa,
Valse Op 64. No 2 in c sharp minor #7 with Lisitsa) , Polonaises (here
Polonaise Op.26 #1 in c sharp minor with Lisitsa,
Polonaise,op.26 no.2 in E flat Minor with Kissin,
"Heroic" Polonaise op 53 A flat major with Lisitsa,
Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante Op.22 with Kissin), and Piano Concerto n.1. Schubert for piano sonatas, a romantic
Standchen (Serenade) and (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arqouwfIKzU), and symphonies, apart for the renowned
Ave Maria (here
a transcription by Liszt with Lisitsa) . Schumann for piano sonatas and Piano Concerto. Tchaikorskij Symphony n.4, The Nutcracker Suite, The Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty music for the ballets,
Piano Concerto n.1, ultra-romantic Violin Concerto, and others. Bruch for Violin Concerto. Dvorak's and Elgar's Concertos for Cello and Orchestra. Rossini for the overtures of the opera Wilhelm Tell, La Gazza Ladra, La Scala di Seta, Il signor Bruschino, L'Italiana in Algeri, and the marvelous Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solenelle. Mascagni's marvelous
Intermezzo from the opera La Cavalleria Rusticana. Bellini
Casta Diva aria from the opera Norma. Bizet for the above cited
Carmen opera overture and Habanera (here by Callas),
L'Arlesienne music for the ballet. Verdi for his grand
Requiem. Wagner for a late work from him, Siegfried-Idyll WWV 103. Saint-Sæns for organ works, Samson et Dalila opera,
Macabre Dance and The Animal's Carnival, Piano Concertos (
n.2 here), Violin Concertos,
Cello concerto n.1 in A mol, Symphony n.3 "avec orgue", a beautiful
Introduction & Rondò Capriccioso for violin and a chamber orchestra. Mendelsson for Organ works, Piano Concertos and Violin Concerto in E (dedicated to the famous violinist Fritz Kreisler). Poulenc for organ works, Concerto for two Pianos in D minor, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor and other. Franck for organ works, Piano Concerto and Violin Sonata in A. Bruckner for symphony n.9. Rimsky-Korsakov for the famous The Flight of the Bumblebee (by the way, I want to cite a spectacular arrangment on organ pedals by Dr.Carol Williams
here) and the dreamlike arabian nights'
Shéhérazade symphonic poem. Albinoni
Adagio in G minor. Ysaÿe violino sonatas are marvelous, Wieniawski Violin concerto n.1 and violin sonatas are also noteworthy, Paganini Caprices for violin and Violin concertos (famous is last tempo of
Concerto n.2 "La Campanella", also rearranged by Liszt
for the piano) are also beautiful, and Tartini
Violin Sonata in G minor "Il trillo del diavolo" as well. Stravinskij I find him another musical genius: I love l'Oiseaux de feu, Petruska, Symphony of Psalms, Pulcinella,
Ragtime, l'Histoire du Soldat,
Octet for Wind Instruments, also like Le Sagre du Printemps. Noteworthy are also authors like Janáček with his beautiful
Sinfonietta and for many other works included organ works, coral works and chamber music works. Szymanowski for his King Ruggero opera. Orff for his cited
Carmina Burana. Mussorgsky for his music for opera The Khovantchina and Pictures At an Exhibition. Widor for his organ works (a beautiful Widor's 5th Symphony in F-Movement V-Toccata
here). Fauré
Requiem Op.48, a work for soprano and baritone soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ; well, I said I would not make comparisons but here I make an exception to the rule: this is the requiem I like the most among all mentioned, sublime; also many other works of this author, among which I cite Pavane, Piano sonatas and other chamber music. Sarasate for Zigeunerweisen for violin and orchestra, Massenet
Meditation from Thaìs. Messiaen for his at times trascendental, Turangalila Synphonie. The marvelous Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra (
here played by Pepe Romero, the 2nd movement is truly utterly catching) and the Concerto Andaluz for four guitars by Joaquín Rodrigo. Then Albeniz, Granados, Mañuel de Falla The Three Cornered Hat, Danse Espagnole and others, Paù Casals (also a great cellist), Sibelius, Berlioz, Arnold Schönberg (for his introduction of 'serial' or 'dodecafonic' style compositions), Bernstein itself compositions, Astor Piazzolla Concierto para bandoneón, orquesta, cuerdas y percusión, Doble-concierto para bandoneón y guitarra, Maria de Buenos Aires opera, and the 'borderline' classical songs Ave Maria, Oblivion, Milonga del'Angel,
Richard Galliano playing Libertango. Going on, Purcell, Borodin, Gounod, Glazunov, Glinka, Respighi for his Pini di Roma and Fontane di Roma, Scriabin, Erik Satie (for an example
here), Busoni (It's beautiful a transcription for piano on Bach's Chaconne in D minor BWV 1004-
Helene Grimaud at piano here), Boëllmann for his beautiful
Suite Gothique - Toccata organ piece. I report also
Thalberg Grand Fantasy Op.63 for piano solo. And there are some modern composers (dead or alive) like Nino Rota for his compositions for movies and instrumental, Benjamin Britten for his War Requiem and other works, John Cage, Copland for the Fanfare for the Common Man, Horowitz (who was a renowned pianist of '900) Carmen Fantasie, the above cited Samuel Barber also for his Agnus Dei, Petrassi, Berg, Luciano Berio, McGillan, Panfili, Einaudi, Alexandre Guilmant Sonate Nr.1 (Final part
here) for organ, Louis Vierne
Carillon de Westminster, and I find really noteworthy L.Bacalov for his Misa Tango (
here a version with Myung Whun Chung conducting and Placido Domingo & Ana Maria Martinez soloists), Duruflé (a Fauré's friend) for his
Requiem Op.9 for Orchestra and Organ, Philip Glass, Peter Eøtvos and Sciarrino, very interesting. Also I find interesting some classical borderline, like
Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark and classical/other genres fusion stories like
2Cellos. Summarizing, just for the sake of simplicity, I select a 'representative' theme among all from the above list:
Mahler : Adagietto Symphony 5 : Arranged for Choir - Equilbey / Accentus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA1c9jZmdag
Then, an idea came in my mind: an attempt to make a classification/ranking in order of "ease/immediacy" listening experience of renowned musical works, submitted to a variegated audience (mostly non-educated to classical and of various ages), since in this case may make sense a ranking and also a classification by age. I think will be a difficult job, because I myself am not enough, we should make experiments.
Comments are much welcome :)
I'm trying with myself (but it's so complicated!) to
Make it simple, but not simpler (Albert Einstein)
Well, Glenn Gould’s performance of the Goldberg Variations is an important part of my own circular journey. My musical education began with the classical greats, and, at the age of 25, I seem to have come full circle, experiencing catharsis in a way that hasn’t happened in a long time. While Glenn Gould's 1955 debut recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations has attained legendary status, there are many devoted fans who rank the 1981 recording just as highly, even though it offers a dramatically different interpretation. This album was made shortly before the pianist's premature death at age 50, so it is significant for being his last recording; indeed, the opening measures of ... Glenn Gould (Toronto, Canada 1932-1982) was a Canadian pianist most known for his interpretations of baroque keyboard music, particularly the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.Gould's first performance to receive widespread attention was his 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.His speed, dexterity and tone revolutionized the understanding of this piece and it became inextricably linked ... The Goldberg Variations, a classical music Album by Glenn Gould. Released 2 September 1982 on CBS Masterworks (catalog no. IM 37779; Vinyl LP). Genres: Baroque Music. Rated #6 in the best albums of 1982, and #519 of all-time album.. Featured peformers: Glenn Gould (piano, producer), Samuel H. Carter (producer), John Johnson (engineer), Martin Greenblatt (engineer), Stan Tonkel (engineer), Ray ... Goldberg Variations, BVW 988: Aria with 30 Variations: Variatio 1 a 1 Clav. is a popular song by Glenn Gould Create your own TikTok videos with the Goldberg Variations, BVW 988: Aria with 30 Variations: Variatio 1 a 1 Clav. song and explore 1 videos made by new and popular creators. The last recording to appear in Gould’s lifetime, completing the discographical circle that had begun so spectacularly with the same work in 1955. “I would like to think that there is a kind of autumnal repose in what I’m doing, so that much of the music becomes a tranquilizing experience. It would be nice if what we do in the recorded state could involve the possibility of some degree ... Vom Album „A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Recorded 1955 & 1981)“ von Glenn Gould auf Napster Höre kostenlos Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Aria von Glenn Goulds Glenn Gould, Bach: The Goldberg Variations und sieh dir Coverbilder, Songtexte und ähnliche Künstler an. About 'Aria from Goldberg Variations' Artist: Bach, Johann Sebastian (sheet music) Born: 21 March 1685 , Eisenach Died: 28 July 1750 , Leipzig The Artist: One of the greatest composers of all time. Bach wrote hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, as well as many other instruments. He spent most of his life as a church organist and a choir ... Die CD Glenn Gould: Complete Goldberg Variations: jetzt probehören und portofrei für 22,99 Euro kaufen. Mehr von Glenn Gould gibt es im Shop.
The Aria from Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations", as performed by Glenn Gould. Cold War (Zimna wojna). A Film by Pawel Pawlikowski. "Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria" Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. I own nothing. Glenn Gould1981 The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741 as the fourth in ... Goldberg Variations - Aria - Bach by Glenn Gould BWV 988
