[Giulio Cesare,]

I just had to seek out this non-BB/'60s example from Joshilyn H's "Grass/Power Mower" introductory video. "Quel torrente, che cade dal monte", sung by the hero in Handel's Giulio Cesare, in this version features the French contralto Delphine Galou:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZtBm3ByMS4

JS, I remember your "Two Step, Side Step" single from a few years back. I see now that you announced it here in June 2015. I also noticed your topic asking about Murry's infamy during his lifetime...

Your version of "Happy, Happy Holiday" deserves plenty of plugs this Christmas. Some nice touches there, including the falsetto lines and the Duane Eddy-style solo. I'll link it wherever I can. And the B-side is a gas too.

I think the hate for Murry has lost its edge now and your projected album would go down better than you suspect! I'd say just do it--if nothing else, it would be a celebration of all the hard work you've done.

[A Clockwork Orange]

My introduction to Purcell was through Britten's variations on the theme from Abdelazer (as I'm sure it was for many others.) . I like Purcell, but he has not grasped me in the loving bonds of enrapturement like some of his contemporaries.

That said, I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rWVaFO01No

Thou Tun'st This World, with Susan Hamilton's staggeringly pure vocal.  Frankly, I'd kill a man to have that voice.

That was my entry into his music as well, followed by the Queen Mary funeral music (possibly prompted by A Clockwork Orange) and the sublime "When I Am Laid in Earth".

I see (or rather hear) what you mean about Ms. Hamilton's voice!

[Rodelinda]

Next time you're around, JH, perhaps you could recommend a decent version of Rodelinda out of the CDs listed below. They are all available from my local record-lending library. In each case I've listed the lead soprano (where indicated), ensemble and conductor.

- Simone Kermes/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
- Barbara Schlick/Stagione/Michael Schneider
- Sophie Daneman/Raglan Baroque Players/Nicholas Kraemer
- Joan Sutherland/Philomusica of London/Charles Farncombe
- Joan Sutherland/Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera/Richard Bonynge
- Orchester des Reichssenders Stuttgart/Carl Leinhardt
- Sonia Ganassi/Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia/Diego Fasolis

Oh dear, I could write a doctoral thesis on this.

It is tricky--I have not really...loved any Rodelinda on CD.  I'm not sure why, but the right cast has never come together for me.

That said, if you have to choose one, I'd go with the Kraemer.  It feels a little more...heartfelt.  The tempos are sort of old-fashioned, as it were, at times, but the band is historically informed enough.  This one wins for me because I really like Robin Blaze as Unulfo, who is one of my favourite characters in Handel's operas.  His voice is not for everyone, but I find it touching.

As a contralto myself, I always seek out recordings of Sonia Prina, who sings Eduige on the Curtis recording.  I love her unique, flexible but weighty voice.  I have modeled my technique after her.  Also a really interesting, three dimensional character in the opera.

Thank you for taking the time to explain! So it's the Kraemer then. It's just so that I can get acquainted with the opera in connection with your Rodelinda project. Although there's clearly no rush.

Here's Sonia Prina as Eduige, just to get into the spirit of things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5CZvw_6kGk

[EGDON HEATH]

EGDON HEATH

The CD [that I've used to illustrate each planet--see previous page] concludes with my favourite among Holst's compositions, the orchestral miniature Egdon Heath. Written in 1927, the composer considered it his most perfectly realized work.

The version linked here (recorded in 1961 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult) is the one I've always known and loved. The YouTube blurb is pretty well complete in itself, with the wiki page providing some additional background information:

"A place perfectly accordant with man's nature--neither ghastly, hateful nor ugly; neither commonplace, unmeaning nor tame; but like man, slighted and enduring; and withal singularly colossal and mysterious in its swarthy monotony." This quotation from Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel The Return of the Native appears on the score of Gustav Holst's tone poem Egdon Heath, dedicated to Hardy (who, at age 87, had one more year of life remaining), and long regarded by the composer as his finest work. It was commissioned by the New York Symphony Orchestra, which premiered it under the direction of Walter Damrosch at New York's Mecca Auditorium on 12 February 1928. The next day Holst led the City of Birmingham Symphony in the British premiere at Cheltenham, where the first major festival of Holst's music had taken place the previous year. Those initial performances went well, but another in London a few days later was greeted poorly by a noisy and unreceptive audience. This seems to have made Holst a bit anxious about the work, and may have led to his desire that the above Hardy quotation should always appear in any explanatory programme notes.

In her book on her father's music, Holst's daughter Imogen evokes the Hardy quotation in referring to the "mysterious monotony" of the tone poem, which begins with a sombre melody heard first in the double basses, then taken up by the rest of the strings. A nostalgic theme in the brass and woodwinds, and a scurrying theme in the strings and oboe, work their way into the texture as well, leading to moody, twilit music and what has been described as a "strange, ghostly dance". This dark, evocative work finishes the same way it started: quietly, and somewhat mysteriously. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msIL7eavgk4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egdon_Heath

JH, on the subject of Holst, Egdon Heath is my favourite work of his, especially in the version I've linked.

[Sea Symphony.]

Both Holst and Elgar have been growing on me, especially as I get a better sense of their place as English composers, and their importance to that most hallowed of countries.  We had lots of nice Elgar organ music today, but nothing choral (Today)

England has a lot going for it, to be sure, but I wouldn't want to live there again--just a holiday from time to time (my wife's a massive Anglophile). I must admit I'm not familiar with E's works for organ. Thanks for the tip. Maybe next up after my current CD of Dieterich B's harpsichord music.

On the subject of English choral music, perhaps you should check out Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony. This is the magical second movement, "On the Beach at Night, Alone". It always makes me think of Brian and "Till I Die":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5FffH6R54

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sea_Symphony

[Piano Concerto]

A balalaika is one of the very few instruments I've never played! 

Just gotta get composers to write for it.  Hard to get "serious" composers on board with new (ie, invented after 1800) instruments.

If Khachaturian could write a part for a "flexatone" (musical saw) in his Piano Concerto (and he wasn't the first "serious" composer to do so), it may happen yet! Maybe something for you if ever you're bored.  

My favourite post-1800 musical invention that's still seen in concerts is the ondes Martenot, as used by Messiaen in, among other things, his massive Turangalîla-Symphonie. We attended a performance of this mind-numbing work two years ago with Valérie Hartmann Claverie on ondes. We were on one of the balconies (if that's what they're called) and had a great view of the "keyboard park" (insanely virtuosic piano, keyed glockenspiel and ondes). One of my favourite concerts ever. Here's Ms Hartmann Claverie getting the thing set up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6LhwVQnfgA

OK, so let's talk "found percussion" since it's been brought up.

When we talk about orange juice containers on GOK, are we talking about cartons?  Believe it or not, I have researched how orange juice was sold over the decades, and it seems to me that commercially available potables were not sold in plastic containers before the early 70s.  Does this jibe with people's memories?

Along those lines, would the Sparklett's jug for Caroline No have indeed been glass?

Folks, this is what keeps me up nights.  And with your contributions, I might be able to track down some period appropriate orange juice containers, sparkletts jugs, and coke cans to use on an episode!!!

I can think of worse ways of spending the wee wee hours.

Maybe my spies have screwed up this time but it seems the plastic water bottle was patented in 1973:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Wyeth_(inventor)

Assuming Sparkletts bottles also held soda water in the mid '60s, and assuming that jug is synonymous with bottle, I'd say the chances of Hal's jug being made of glass are pretty good.

I have yet to find a water jug (at eBay or whatever) with a date any more specific than "1960s"...

TMS, your crack at it paid off big-time! What an astonishing cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEKueFTXhys&list=PLz-voH7EJ1YNWGoIolZaVBXild4iinKN7&index=24&t=0s


Was curious how these vocal harmonies would translate to guitar. Hope you enjoy!

I'd say they translate very well! Perhaps that's a mark of genius: the ability to write music that transcends its vehicle. Brian's in good company, old JSB being the prime example of that.

All my waffle aside... Another beautiful and spot-on arrangement, Mike.

I've put together a low-production value preview video to get the ball rolling and give people at least something to watch while I organize to do the first episode properly.  I hope you enjoy it.

https://youtu.be/TPJqtfJ-MwU

Took another look this morning. I like your relaxed yet purposeful manner. The informal setting fits it perfectly. Of course you may have other plans for the series proper but this has a great ambience. What a staggering array of instruments you play! 

[The Apostles.]

Elgar had always been there somewhere on my musical horizon but he came a lot closer when we visited his birthplace in Worcestershire some ten years ago (and bought a CD of lighter works and a tea towel). That combined with my recent interest in choral music makes his oratorios a much more interesting proposition these days. This is part two, "By the Wayside", from The Apostles. It was the first piece I heard on UK radio this morning before attending to the boiled eggs. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZXaY5Ngujk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apostles_(Elgar)

This wondrous book seems to have broken my reader's block. Just when you think you've discovered all you're ever going to discover, you get slammed out of the blue by a subject you would have scoffed at a matter of weeks earlier. It's a funny old world.   

Thanks!

And I also think that tuned percussion (and exotic percussion in general) is a great idea for a show.  No lack of interesting uses of Marimba, Vibes, Xylophone, Glock, etc. 

Not to mention temple blocks...which may not technically fall in the category of tuned percussion, however I think the argument can be made that in Brian's case, they do - along with the plastic orange juice cups - 'cause of they way he uses them (two tones, or more, in the case of "GOK").

It was the temple blocks in "IJWMFTT" that gave me the idea! I still swear the second note in that sequence is two played simultaneously...

I've put together a low-production value preview video to get the ball rolling and give people at least something to watch while I organize to do the first episode properly.  I hope you enjoy it.

https://youtu.be/TPJqtfJ-MwU

Cool video--and a great promise of things to come! I'll post it at my "hobby" board and at Hoffman.

This is the topic that requires your attention right now. I hope more folks dive in there with ideas and opinions to help get this labour of love off the ground!

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26761.0.html

[PS]

Hello aeijtzsche.

First: the description on the Patreon page looks great to me. Maybe the last sentence should be a little more hard-hitting, perhaps something like this:

Access to these instruments costs money, but if supporting me enables you to learn in detail about their place in your favorite productions, it will be money well spent!   

Just a thought...

Second: wow, that's some title! It's certainly eye-catching (and very clickable in a signature). So yes--go for it!

Third: sounds very cool!

Fourth: I still think tuned percussion in BW '60s productions (or just PS) would be fascinating. But c-man's choice suits me fine. 

Slightly off topic again, I'm afraid. I ordered this hardback edition from the local library (too expensive for me to buy) and it arrived today. And it's super! At first browse it looks incredibly broad in its scope. And... in this revised edition there is a CD. The house has been filled with the sound of Buxtehude this evening. With grateful thanks to aeijtzsche for recommending it! 



https://books.google.nl/books/about/Dieterich_Buxtehude.html?id=qSXGOoambNcC&redir_esc=y

[Rodelinda]

In addition to the overtures I'm doing, I'm also recording the entirety of Handel's Rodelinda, and hoping to sing a lot of it, or get helpers for the lower and higher voices, to sing it in a less classical and more pop way--not to dilute, but to present in a different way, so that I might proselytize on behalf of the music that I love the most--and ultimately the music itself is more important that how it's done (as long as it's done well.)

Next time you're around, JH, perhaps you could recommend a decent version of Rodelinda out of the CDs listed below. They are all available from my local record-lending library. In each case I've listed the lead soprano (where indicated), ensemble and conductor.

- Simone Kermes/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
- Barbara Schlick/Stagione/Michael Schneider
- Sophie Daneman/Raglan Baroque Players/Nicholas Kraemer
- Joan Sutherland/Philomusica of London/Charles Farncombe
- Joan Sutherland/Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera/Richard Bonynge
- Orchester des Reichssenders Stuttgart/Carl Leinhardt
- Sonia Ganassi/Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia/Diego Fasolis

[The Hymn of Jesus.]

I've always loved Holst's big choral work The Hymn of Jesus. (For some reason it reminds me of illustrations by William Blake.) It's one of many reasons why Gustav H was much more than The Planets. Sorry about the four-page description!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIiU2OxfWsQ

http://www.gustavholst.info/journal/article-001.php?chapter=1

[Wacht! Euch zum Streit gefasset macht (Das Jüngsten Gericht).]

These days my early morning/late night listen is Buxtehude's oratorio Wacht! Euch zum Streit gefasset macht (Das Jüngsten Gericht).

And it still is. Each brief section, while part of the whole, has its own distinctive "flavour". In #31, for instance, Herr B tosses in some "blue notes", as the conductor of my ex-choir would call them. And a wonderful effect it is too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O9YMpAYQeQ

I was reminded of this Trade Winds song yesterday. I really hope it's not true!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEHmM7IjSjE

I keep forgetting about Purcell. We have this great LP of his music (see image below), including the sublime "Rejoice in the Lord Alway". This is the version from that LP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42m_S29uLLU

Back to topic...

I heard this cool a cappella version of "I Get Around" by Kings College Choir (aka The King's Men) on Dutch classical radio just now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ZckoJiCYE

Mods, is it possible to move this thread to "General On Topic Discussions"? It deserves better!

[La Scala di Seta]

It's hard for me to concentrate to post much right now. My youngest sister took ill a couple of days ago and will have major surgery tomorrow. Shocked all of us. After things settle down a bit I will try to post more.

So sorry to hear that, E. You and yours are in my thoughts right now.

ForHerCryingSoul once mentioned La Scala di Seta in this topic (and then disappeared). Maybe an aria from that opera will help keep your spirits up at this difficult time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMEYRbXHkUo