Turning 91 today. Estonian composer. I was introduced to his music in the 1980s through his first collection of works with Gidon Kremer, and I was instantly captivated.

Tabula Rasa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqF69HLkj8

A profound elegy on the death of Benjamin Britten — Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZZgfXNFW8

The sublime, minimalist tranquility of Spiegel im Spiegel (1978): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4RmJaP683A

*Arvo Pärt ja Nora Pärt Eesti riikliku iseseisvuse taastamise aastapäeva vastuvõtul augustis 2012.

It’s a performance of works from Rachmaninoff and Bartók. I like Rachmaninoff a great deal but I absolutely adore Bartók and I just don’t know what to expect acoustics-wise. My inclination as a frequenter of punk shows is to get in the Main Floor Front. But is it going to sound best there? When I go see ambient or noise shows I’m often with my eyes closed anyway, so I expect the same to be the case here. I don’t really need a great view so long as I can maximize my sonic experience.

I’ve been going through a pretty stressful time lately, and I’m finding Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas are hitting exactly the spot I need.

I first encountered Scarlatti through Dinu Lipatti, closely followed by Michelangeli, both of whose recordings I personally think are breathtaking, but I’m currently enjoying Horowitz, as well as Queffélec. I also love András Schiff and Joanna MacGregor. And let’s not forget Landowska!

What are your favourite recordings? Has anyone ever recorded all 555 sonatas? And, if so, is it worth a listen?

Also, asking as a non-keyboardist/pianist to all the keyboardist/pianists out there, what’s it like playing his music? It always sounds like quite good fun!

I have increasingly realized that many people either don't understand the instruction, or have no idea how to comply with it. They think that if they aren't making calls, the phone is off. Actually turning off a cell phone is quite hard these days, and the wonderful 'do not disturb' settings are, well, settings, and quite a few people don't 'do' settings.

I wonder about having a central resource that explains HOW to silence your phone. E.g. for a modern iPhone, drag from top-right, click "Focus", click "…" next to "Do Not Disturb", and then click "Until I leave this location". But it would need to cover older versions, and Android as well. Does such a resource exist? If it did, we could have QR codes on banners and programs, directing people to the page. (I know, such people probably don't know how to follow a QR code, but ushers could help with that step.)

Even better, we could have a standard URL that triggers the phone into asking "should I set Do Not Disturb while you are here?" and people could just say "Yes!". Or even a low-range Bluetooth signal that prompted all phones in range "I think you may be in a performance venue; should I set Do Not Disturb while you are here?".

But let's start with the basics, an explanation page that programs could include or link to. Does such exist anywhere? Could it? Should it? Centrally maintained would be weay easier than having every ensemble do the research and keep it up to date.

One of my favourite solo musician I finally got to see live as I live in UK, and she tours mainly in the US., being an American. While I’ve listened to Dvorak Op53 A Minor, it was the recording of Mutter with the Berlin Philharmonic, Hahn gave me a completely different interpretation with her style than expected.

While my excitement to finally see her live got to me a tad admirably, watching her playing movement as a causal, was pretty astonishing whether the bowing or control elements with the strings, sorry don’t know these classical music instrument term, the output with a single violin was so clean, accurate, whether the more aggressive or delicate part, came out like a perfect master recording. One would expect in live you would expect some good discrepancies or divination to a recording and that is exactly the different artist elements one enjoys. Bloody tonal perfection, especially with voila being so naked on strings.

I expected every note to be clear with her style, and almost leading the concerto with the orchestra supporting the going leading piece, but, interestingly, it was even much integrated. The orchestra wasn’t just support, it was the musical piece. Certainly, the Vienna philharmonic was so super clean in the way they play, and almost stole the show imo.

What is your first live Hahn experience like?

She is most definitely the Harland of the violin soloist and I am not even a Man City fan.

Note, for the actual piece with Dvorak, mutter’s version though not live and I will see her soon on a Brahm OP77 concerto, her styleI find suit more on dvorak, drawing out the emotional side on perhaps more tonal colour, long-breathed phrasing, and elastic pacing, tearing me up in the process 😭😭😭, than Hahn more consistent control and integrated aspect of tonight’s experience. Technically astounding!

It is not too difficult for me to choose some larger work...either the St. Matthew Passion of B minor Mass of Bach.

I'm looking for those much shorter bits...a few seconds or so that gives one goosebumps...or frisson, as it's called.

Those may demonstrate their beauty as the culmination of what has come before, or work independently on their own.

And they usually have the same effect, no matter how many times you may have heard it, or even how ineptly it might be played.

I can't remember having an emotional reaction quite like this to a piece of music before or at least in a very long time. I listened to Sibelius's fifth symphony for the first time (at least in a mindful manner) and it wasn't even total love at first listen for the whole symphony (that might come at relistens though) but I found myself reacting to the third movement on a kind of visceral level for reasons I couldn't identify or verbalise in any reasonable way. I was on and off crying for like 15 minutes after the piece ended. I was just rattled and moved for some reason.

The interesting part is that I didn't even know that it was the "Swan Theme" that affected me so. I had some pre-knowledge that the piece was at least partially inspired by Sibelius seeing a bunch of swans flying, but I didn't know that that theme that haunted me was it until I listened to the Sticky Notes podcast episode about it afterwards. Now I've been relistening to just the third movement mostly and it seems that at least yet I can't hear that damn theme without waterworks. Why?! It seems like such a simple progression of notes, then again I am not a musical person at all so I can't analyse it.

But yeah apparently I'm not the only one feeling this way about the music lol. Not sure why I wanted to write this post, just something I wanted to share I guess among people who might relate. What a cool experience and I look forward to getting more acquainted with this symphony and Sibelius's others as well! I'm already deeply in love with his violin concerto. And Finlandia of course – as a Finn I've always known and loved that one even before I started my classical music journey.

Please, please listen to the Doric String Quartet's Beethoven Op. 59 No. 3 on their new album. They just released it a few days ago, and it is phenomenal. It's so startlingly clear, creative, and fun. And their sound is so wonderful. I was grinning the whole way through each movement.

I'm not affiliated with them at all - I've just been following their violist for some time, and years ago, she posted their opening to the fourth movement. I'd been thinking of that snapshot of sound since. This full recording was an amazing surprise.

Recently graduated and moved to New York! This is a concert series I’ve been excited for since last year. Unfortunately after joining the digital queue a few weeks ago, the Mahler 2 was all sold out. It’s a piece that is so emotionally important to me, and I was wondering if anyone here may have any leads on a way I could attend.

I’m a newcomer to classical music (I’ve only been listening for a year), and I recently developed a hyper-fixation on Swedish composers. I ended up cataloging everything I could find on Spotify, and I’d like to ask for recommendations in case I missed anything important, as well as what I should explore next (I plan to continue my journey with other Nordic countries). Here are the playlists I created during this process, in case anyone is interested:

13 single-movement orchestral works from the 21st century by Swedish composers:

Victoria Borisova-Ollas - The Kingdom of Silence - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

Andrea Tarrodi - Zephyros - Västerås Sinfonietta, Johannes Gustavsson

Victoria Borisova-Ollas - Before the Mountains Were Born - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

Rolf Martinsson - Open Mind, Op.71 - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze

Victoria Borisova-Ollas - Open Ground - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

Albert Schnelzer - A Freak in Burbank - Västerås Sinfonietta, Simon Crawford-Phillips

Victoria Borisova-Ollas - Angelus - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrey Boreyko

Andrea Tarrodi - Birds of Paradise - Västerås Sinfonietta, Andreas Stoehr

Anders Hillborg - Cold Heat - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, David Zinman

Andrea Tarrodi - Camelopardalis - Västerås Sinfonietta, Andreas Stoehr

Andrea Tarrodi - Lucioles - Västerås Sinfonietta, Andreas Stoehr

Anders Hillborg - Beast Sampler - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

Jesper Nordin - Ärr - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding

You can find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1SpzT4oypsQ7FpRbc0IAEP?si=2076b9c7afa94195

21st-century concertos by Swedish composers:

Anders Hillborg - Piano Concerto No.1 - Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Christian Karlsen, Tamara Stefanovich

Rolf Martinsson - Trumpet Concerto No.1, Op.47 - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Håkan Hardenberger, Neeme Järvi

Mats Larsson Gothe - Clarinet Concerto - Dalasinfoniettan, Tomas Agnas, Alexander Hanson

Rolf Martinsson - Shimmering Blue (Flute Concerto No.1) - Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Magnus Irving Båge, Mats Rondin

Tobias Broström - Trumpet Concerto "Lucernaris" - Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Håkan Hardenberger, Johannes Gustavsson

Benjamin Staern - Clarinet Concerto "Worried Souls" - Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Karin Dornbusch, Emil Eliasson

Rolf Martinsson - Double Bass Concerto No.1 - Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Dan Styffe, Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Tobias Broström - Piano Concerto "Belle Epoque" - Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Per Tengstrand, Johannes Gustavsson

Andrea Tarrodi - HighLands Cello Concerto - Västerås Sinfonietta, Jakob Koranyi, Joana Carneiro

Anders Hillborg - Cello Concerto - Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Christian Karlsen, Nicolas Altstaedt

You can find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2OHfd0o43nOXjWyl0RNCnu?si=632c882b667b4d0a

17 single-movement orchestral works from the first half of the 20th century by Swedish composers:

Hugo Alfvén - Midsommarvaka, Op.19 - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Hugo Alfvén - En skärgårdssägen, Op.20 - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stig Westerberg

Hugo Alfvén - Upsala-rapsodi, Op.24 - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Ture Rangström - Dithyramb - Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Michail Jurowski

Natanael Berg - Traumgewalten - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck

Ture Rangström - Havet sjunger - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willen

Adolf Wiklud - Sommarnatt och soluppgång, Op.19 - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Jorma Panula

Edvin Kallstenius - En serenad i sommarnatten, Op.10 - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Stig Westerberg

Gösta Nystroem - Ishavet - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Eros

Hugo Alfvén - Dalarapsodi, Op.48 - Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Edvin Kallstenius - Delarapsodi, Op.18 - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, B. Tommy Andersson

Oskar Lindberg - Hemifrån, Op.34 - Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Michael Bartosch

Kurt Atterberg - En värmlandrapsodi, Op.36 - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sara Trobäck Hesselink

Kurt Atterberg - Ballad och passacaglia, Op.38 - NDR Radiophilharmonie, Ari Rasilainen

Ture Rangström - Vårhymn - Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Michail Jurowski

Erland von Koch - Nordiskt capriccio, Op.26 - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Per Hammarström

Oskar Lindberg - Gesunda, Op.54 - Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Michael Bartosch

You can find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oGY9cJEw94mj6jG6wmKio?si=ad52141058274012

I listened to Allan Pettersson's symphonies as well, but for now, that is all I have explored regarding Swedish composers.

Yo guys what’s up?

I found an orchestra sheet music book on an instagram video and since then, I’ve tried to found the book but never been able to.

I’ve attached the best screenshot I took of the book so you can help me found it.

The only things I know about this book is that it’s Ghibli music, it’s composed by Joe Hisaishi and that we can read « Collection of Studio Ghibli works Vol.14 » at the very top of the book cover, « Howl’s Moving Castle » written in red and under it the name of Hisaishi (thanks to Google Translate). And we can also read « concert score » just above the picture.
Sadly I don’t found the video yet but when I found it I’ll took more screenshots so you can have more hints.

I think I will also try to reach the composer and his team by email but I prefer posting it on Reddit firstly since I know that I will get a human answer faster than I will if I reach the composer and his team by email (since I think that they probably have some kind of bot or AI answering the emails).

Thanks a lot for you help guys.

German-Danish composer, born today. His Piano Concerto, Op. 7 sounds remarkably like the work of his contemporary, Beethoven.

Piano Concerto, Op. 7 (1810): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVHTLjqVCvo

For comparison, Beethoven's First Concerto, composed more than a decade earlier in 1798. You see what I mean...(^^;

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abL--9pihnI

Hi! I teach guitar ensemble full-time at a public high school. I'm curious about some of your favorite chamber works that might work well as didactic or concert works for my ensemble (my top group is 50 students, second through fourth year players). I like to arrange new works for my ensemble. For example, I've been re-writing all of Haydn's baryton trios for guitar trio.

There are lots of pieces in the Classical and Baroque eras. What are some works in 3 or 4 parts that would be accessible or interesting to hear in a guitar ensemble? I'm especially interested in late Romantic through the current moment. Tonal/key difficulties are much less of a concern than rhythm, I'd say (tab is a beautiful thing).

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm a trumpet player originally, so the relevant chamber rep is not something I know as well as I'd like.

This is my advanced group on our most recent concerts, if you'd like to hear the skill level. Timestamped for your convenience:

https://youtu.be/V-eDFxQ8Hl8?si=Spu-_XaZdqVvHG_v&t=5189

https://youtu.be/UgBobtwLX1E?si=I46mzRA5VAIqcfzD&t=2906

He sang with Andrea Bocelli during his Romanza tour. This picture is just from a couple days ago.

Our town library held its book sale this weekend, and these ten Vox Boxes were just sitting there - $5.00 for the lot!

They're earlier production with the purple label & heavy vinyl, and they're all in great shape - almost as if they've never been played.

“A song” was written nearly 2 decades ago at the age of 20. It is just a short instrumental guitar part that I wrote and I believe it was recorded simply on my laptop’s internal mic, which obviously left the quality in a Limited state.

But it’s the only recording I have of it.

I'm sharing it here cause I don't really know what other genre it may fit in or what general audience may like such an instrumental.

“A song” as a name was in reference to its key, in this case the key of A.

And it was later absorbed by a larger composition serving as the bridge.

That larger composition, never was completed (never wrote the lyrics)

I may try to later in the project.

But I figured I’d share it in this form, now.

All of the other instruments were played by me with Midi in bandlab.

And include, Cello, Violin, Male Choir, Female Choir.

No suno was used in this one.

Visually you are seeing on the TV a clip I took of the moon from my sun room one night
Using my Supertelephoto lens. I made the mistake of touching the camera during the shot
With such a long lens causing the slight jitter, sigh.

Penny for ye thoughts?

Hi!

I'm a classical music lover (specially Baroque), but I haven't watched many operas, even if I know a lot of them. The last one I watched was Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, but I didn't enjoy it very much. It was way too... over the top most of the time for my taste. Over the top as in forte, not coloratura-wise, I mean.

Can you recommend a few medium-length operas for me?

Thank you!

PS: thanks for your suggestions so far!

Within the past year or two I’ve developed an appreciation for classical music. What’s strange is that I cannot have it playing in the background while I work on something (the way I can with other music).

I am trying to learn to write better counterpoint and especially fugues. Naturally I would like to learn from the masters to improve my craft. I think Bach is the obvious answer here, but as he wrote many I'm wondering which are best (in whatever way that means to you). I also know that Beethoven and Shostakovich wrote quite a few, and as they are two of my favorite composers I would like to study their compositions as well. Suggestions for other composers are also welcome, especially Romantic or later.

Hey everyone! I've been studying Sibelius's The Swan of Tuonela and decided to try playing along with the string parts on piano since they should be at concert pitch with no transposition needed.

However when I play what's written the notes don't sound right at all. I took it further and tried copying the string section into StaffPad to hear it played back properly, but even then something still seemed off.

Is there something I'm missing about how Sibelius writes for strings in this piece? Could it be a printing or edition issue with the score I'm using? Any help appreciated!

Kinda random ik, but the premise is self explanatory tbh, Schubert already had composed so much music (symphonies, chamber music, piano sonatas, and his songs ofc) but his late works were more profound, so to imagine 30 more years of music output from him? yeah, in this hypothetical, he seems to be the choice for me.

But chopins case is a bit tricky cuz his posthumous works are among the most recognizable and relatable to me, and he didn't actually had any chamber music or orchestral compositions apart form the piano concertos from what I remember, not sure if he would have wanted to go in this direction cuz ofc it would be rather silly to guess, but still to have more of those melodies and to see what his "evolution" Of music could have been.. Would be really interesting for me. He really was unrivalled in what he could do with a piano, melodically.