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What are you listening to? Part III
- Thread starter S.B.G
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On imitation: some critics have carped that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto grosso 500 times...
Yet I have found his music at least useful in that I can listen to it and work at the same time, unlike with some other works where I pay too much attention to the music and lose the thread of what I was set to do.
Sticking with carefree summer sound for the day's listen: Paul Desmond's 1965 riposte to bossa nova, Bossa Antigua which he apparently titled thus because he was five years late to the plate with his take on a genre that was very popular in the early 60s. Worth waiting for, I decided. It appears to have held up pretty well.
Concerto in D Major, RV90 “Il Gardelino” (“The Goldfinch”)
London Harpsichord Ensemble & Sarah Francis (flute)
Heritage Records (a 2013 release)
That is the recording that I have.
The performance below is of Vivaldi's closely related work of the same name and key, RV428 Op 10 No.3. The man really didn't write the same concerto gross 500 times but he did recycle a lot of his ideas, leading to all manner of confusion sometimes even amongst performers. Here it is scored for flute, strings and basso continuo
At any rate it's said that Vivaldi wrote this wonderful work from inspiration by the spirited song of the European goldfinch. Alas, I am playing it tonight to recover from having to lay to rest a sweet little American goldfinch found dead at roadside, wonderful black and white wings still outspread from that impossibly sunny yellow body, weighing less than an ounce and sitting easily in palm of the hand. I suppose that he collided with a passing car or bike, was unmarked but his neck was broken.
Mid-July is just into the American goldfinch mating season here, it runs late so they can take advantage of thistle-blooms providing seed for later, when the male like this little guy feeds the first round of babies while the female builds yet another nest for a second clutch. Anyway it was difficult to stop holding that little featherweight in hand, so tiny and perfect and beautiful. I’ve buried birds before but that one was really hard to let go of. All I can do now is celebrate what was doubtless the same irrepressible spirit that captured Vivaldi’s admiration for the object of his musical tribute.
Here are images of the American and European goldfinches.
London Harpsichord Ensemble & Sarah Francis (flute)
Heritage Records (a 2013 release)
That is the recording that I have.
The performance below is of Vivaldi's closely related work of the same name and key, RV428 Op 10 No.3. The man really didn't write the same concerto gross 500 times
but he did recycle a lot of his ideas, leading to all manner of confusion sometimes even amongst performers. Here it is scored for flute, strings and basso continuoAt any rate it's said that Vivaldi wrote this wonderful work from inspiration by the spirited song of the European goldfinch. Alas, I am playing it tonight to recover from having to lay to rest a sweet little American goldfinch found dead at roadside, wonderful black and white wings still outspread from that impossibly sunny yellow body, weighing less than an ounce and sitting easily in palm of the hand. I suppose that he collided with a passing car or bike, was unmarked but his neck was broken.
Mid-July is just into the American goldfinch mating season here, it runs late so they can take advantage of thistle-blooms providing seed for later, when the male like this little guy feeds the first round of babies while the female builds yet another nest for a second clutch. Anyway it was difficult to stop holding that little featherweight in hand, so tiny and perfect and beautiful. I’ve buried birds before but that one was really hard to let go of. All I can do now is celebrate what was doubtless the same irrepressible spirit that captured Vivaldi’s admiration for the object of his musical tribute.
Here are images of the American and European goldfinches.
Driving home, I remembered a conversation I had with @Scepticalscribe about a composer, Theodorakis, to be specific, and his accomplishments sometime last year. It was then I realized he's managed to outlive every older singer he's worked with except the younger ones, of course. Though if memory serves me correct, as I don't have a record of the conversation anymore, Sceptical prefers the more classical Hadjidakis over Theodrakis. In either case, I'm on the hunt for the former's CDs I have (or latter depending on how you interpret this post's name order).
Gioconda's Smile is a brilliant work of Hadjidakis (some versions spell it - or have it transliterated as Xajidakis, or variants on that theme); may parents came back from a holiday on - Crete, I think - in the early 80s with some tapes they liked, and one they loved, which was Gioconda's Smile.
It took me years to learn the name of the album and composer, and I managed to buy the CD in Thessaloniki years (decades) later. This was because their tape was destroyed. They played the tape so much, and so often, that they actually wore it out.
On their holiday, they had asked locals - such as restaurant owners whom they liked - for recommendations of "good" Greek music, authentic Greek modern music, not "tourist stuff"; astonished, surprised, and delighted, some Greeks whom they had met actually recognised that this is what they really wanted and had recommended the music of Hadjidakis.
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Believe that's because his music is more folksy. I once asked, too, because you do get a smattering here and there stateside, but I was told rebetiko and something else that was banned for a decade or two were popular with older crowds. Basically styles that were popular from the 1910s to 1960s before the ban and jailing of singers and songwriters. Might have my dates mixed up though. Though I can't imagine going wrong with Cretan music.
iPod Nano today:
Again, it is on the "album shuffle" mode.
Again, it is on the "album shuffle" mode.
Some tracks from Alice Cooper's album School's Out.
Heh. Gutter Cat v the Jets next track up. After dinner chat time in Europe this evening...
Heh. Gutter Cat v the Jets next track up. After dinner chat time in Europe this evening...
Listening to Giorgio Moroder with my new Schiit Modi Multibit DAC, Schiit Mangi 3 amplifier and Sennheiser 650 headphones. Music is in master quality HI-FI on Tidal. Sounds absolutely amazing!
Me three me three me three...
I'm getting intrigued by your mentions of Tidal...
With this new HI-Fi audio equipment I have and the lossless tracks, it's like hearing it for the first time all over again - only better.Me three me three me three...
I should try Tidal and just run it into the amp on my old Technics rack setup and some speakers a bro gave me that shake the house turned up some, see what that does for a few picks.
Tonight listening to Jeffrey Foucault, this one's Horse Latitudes. At this hour it's piped into an Anker BT.
Drifting into horse latitudes
The language of thirst, a false communion
The iron taste of blood
In your mouth, the wild blue
Dying into God's empty hands
Silver the silhouette of ashes on the land
The bleach white skulls of buffalo face the sun
The burning sand
Where the halogen halos
Shine on the refugees
Banded birds flying
Up above an endless sea
God is the mouth
Of a river going dry
God is a mouthful of rain
A tear in your eye
Singing into the belly of a whale
Leviathan's ribs, a drowning jail
The desert at the bottom of the sea
The devil with his finger on the scale
The language of thirst, a false communion
The iron taste of blood
In your mouth, the wild blue
Dying into God's empty hands
Silver the silhouette of ashes on the land
The bleach white skulls of buffalo face the sun
The burning sand
Where the halogen halos
Shine on the refugees
Banded birds flying
Up above an endless sea
God is the mouth
Of a river going dry
God is a mouthful of rain
A tear in your eye
Singing into the belly of a whale
Leviathan's ribs, a drowning jail
The desert at the bottom of the sea
The devil with his finger on the scale
Vampire Diaries - Holding on and Letting Go:-
Simply Red - Holding Back the Years:-
Simply Red - Holding Back the Years:-
Once in awhile, I enjoy some Lyle Lovett. Particularly his lyrics.
[doublepost=1531398551][/doublepost]Plus, The Eagles
