I like to write about classical music and the composers who’ve written pieces that have really moved me in some way. My interest in this unbleievably broad genre grew from a few different seeds.
Seeds and Sprouts
First and foremost, an inspirational music teacher and choir master (Ian Cox) at high school. He pushed the school choir to perform some incredible works; Faure’s great Requiem Mass stands out as a highlight. Second, a small but high quality collection of old vinyl recordings that my parents owned. From that, I discovered Beethoven’s one and only violin concerto performed by Yehudi Menuhin in the early 1960s; a wonderful recording that I still own and have listened to regularly for over 40 years. The rest was pure discovery after the seeds had sprouted. (My newest pleasure is the canon of deceptively simple votive music written by the still-living Arvo Pärt).
If you’re a regular urbancrows reader (God forbid, why would you do that to yourself?) you’ve likely spotted that my taste ranges from early Gregorian chant, through Bach all the way to 20th Century composers like Vaughan Williams and Pärt. If any of it has.. er.. struck a chord with you (ahem) you can probably find it linked below as a youtube video. There are also a few pieces that I haven’t written about yet posted for your enjoyment. I’ll try to update the page as I write about new stuff.
Enough about me. Here are the links.
Cielo Abierto by Quique Sinesi
Played by the wonderful Stephanie Jones, an Australian classical guitarist. A dazzling piece, drenched in Latin influence, which crops up on youtube as a video titled “Latin Fingerstyle on A Classical Guitar”. Another treat for the ears is Otoño Porteño by the composer Astor Piazzolla.
Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 11
Chopin’s romantic masterpiece featuring the incredibly romantic Larghetto -or slow movement- which finally gets a chance to come up for air after the really long opening
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, The Emperor
The delicious Adagio kicks in after 23 minutes of keyboard pyrotechnics by the genius Daniel Barenboim. Isn’t it wonderful? Make sure to stick around for the explosive 3rd movement.
Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus
This gorgeous vocal piece was only ever performed in the Sistine chapel in Rome. That is, until the 14 year old wunderkindt, Mozart, heard it and memorised it after one performance, and then went home and wrote it down. Some background.
Vaughan Williams and Thomas Tallis
Separated by hundreds of years, they both made huge contributions to the canon of distinctively English music. Here’s Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis.
Avro Pärt
First up. Arvo Pärt’s minimalist piano and violin work, Spiegel im Spiegel (mirrors in mirrors), and his astonishing Magnificat. My blog post about the Magnificat is here.
Fernando Sor
The brilliant guitarist Fernando Sor, a Spanish composer and string-plucker who was born in Barcelona on Valentines Day, 1778. He lived to the not-really-so-ripe age of 61. My blog post is here.
A Bit of Bach
The astonishing Chaconne. Nothing else comes close to this fiddle masterwork. I wrote some drivel about it here.
Gabriel Fauré. Requiem Mass.
I studied the score of this wonderful work for my O-level in music, back when I was a sweetly innocent 16 year old. The Libera Me still captivates me every time I hear it. The background story.
Handel. My heart is Inditing, from the Coronation Anthems.
Stirring baroque. The opening piece, Zadok the Priest is still sung at British coronations. Post here.
Domeniconi’s Turkish gem, Koyunbaba
Q. What happens when an Italian composer moves to Istanbul? A. This.
Gregorian Chant
One of the pieces I’ve sung in my Gregorian Chant group. We meet every second week to butcher lovely music for an hour.
Don’t Forget
The reason I spend so much time listening to music and writing about it is that I have no friends. Sure, my mum pays a couple of people to be nice to me, but that’s it. I’m a billy-no-mates. So cheer me up. Be my friend. Subscribe. Pop your email address into the music-loving subscription box that’s placed conventionally near the top of the page. I’ll email you more music-related twaddle whenever I post it. Hopefully, one day you’ll email me and tell me you love my music choices, and I’ve been a huge influence on your musical development. Or, you could send me money.