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I was sure there were one or two threads on in this forum on “what music are you listening to now?“ or favourite tunes or similar title title that was quite active, sure because I intended to post there when I got round to it. But I can’t find it now. But never mind for :
This is the time for Christmas music. Everyone to their tastes but I am going to pass over sugary or commercial stuff and even the very valid Christmas carols by choirs perhaps very famous and at high-level, or or perhaps the school choir that had worked hard and that included your son or daughter or someone else’s and that brought tears to your eyes.
The classical composers have served us well. You can surely mostly think of at least one in the theme – who rill to and love Handel’s “Messiah”? But there are others too.
For Christmas (ideally for tonight, but it is a busy time for many so whenever you can) I would like to propose to those of you who don’t know it (quite a lot to do but quite a lot don’t) to hear Arcangelo Corelli’s Christmas concerto aka “Musica fattta per la Notte di Natale” (Music for Christmas Night). By Christmas Night I think he meant tonight. On the web and YouTube (search can be helped by its official title which was is Concerto Grosso Op 6 no. 8) you can find many interpretations of it. I say interpretations because being Baroque there is a lot of room for choice of how to play it, the instruments used etc.,so different interpretations can sound considerably different. I find it so deep that I feel it has never been played perfectly. Baroque music is often thought of as formal, perhaps courtly, and rather buttoned-up compared to later ‘Romantic’ styles. But in my opinion Corelli here and in other works while quite in a Baroque style is able to burst emotional limitations of the style. I find a few comments on other recordings by people who had been overwhelmed.The third movement was mentioned, but for me it is the last movement, a “Pastorale”. I have never actually read any learned commentaries, but if you listen I’m sure you will hear the suggestion of bagpipes. In fact I think it is meant to recall a traditional Christmas Carol that you can or could hear played by rough-looking shepherds who descended into the cities to the cities to play on street corners at Christmas time. To me it evokes an image of a group of mountain villagers trudging their way their way in snow to a shrine where they will hold a vigil for the midnight moment.
Here are some YouTube etc. links but you can easily find others.
(Basilica di S. Maria della Passione di Milano l'Accademia Bizantina diretta dal Maestro Ottavio Dantone)12 Concerti Grossi
There is one conducted by Karajan for example. A lot of choice. And of choice according to whether you want to watch as well as listen. So far as watching is concerned my choice was not so easy to find. This was the concert by an orchestra called the “Accademia Bizantina” (Byzantine Academy) played in the beautiful setting of the Basilica di S. Maria della Passione, Milan. They recorded there the whole series of Concerti Grossi by Corelli. All of them deserve listening to. And watching. Musicians always become beautiful when they make music. Some of them could deserve that description in any case. I may not know much about music but I know what I like. The concerts were recorded by the State broadcasting channel RAI 5, and were for a time easily found on the web, but when I went to fetch them now they have been archived apparently and I finally found them on web.archive.org, a Wikipedia-like service deserving of donations in support.
In whatever way they like to celebrate it I wish all PF members happy Christmas.
http://www.raiplay.it/video/2017/02/CONCERTI-GROSSI-DI-ARCANGELO-CORELLI-4e32e94a-be31-4542-8aa0-8f4eeeaa20a1.html
This is the time for Christmas music. Everyone to their tastes but I am going to pass over sugary or commercial stuff and even the very valid Christmas carols by choirs perhaps very famous and at high-level, or or perhaps the school choir that had worked hard and that included your son or daughter or someone else’s and that brought tears to your eyes.
The classical composers have served us well. You can surely mostly think of at least one in the theme – who rill to and love Handel’s “Messiah”? But there are others too.
For Christmas (ideally for tonight, but it is a busy time for many so whenever you can) I would like to propose to those of you who don’t know it (quite a lot to do but quite a lot don’t) to hear Arcangelo Corelli’s Christmas concerto aka “Musica fattta per la Notte di Natale” (Music for Christmas Night). By Christmas Night I think he meant tonight. On the web and YouTube (search can be helped by its official title which was is Concerto Grosso Op 6 no. 8) you can find many interpretations of it. I say interpretations because being Baroque there is a lot of room for choice of how to play it, the instruments used etc.,so different interpretations can sound considerably different. I find it so deep that I feel it has never been played perfectly. Baroque music is often thought of as formal, perhaps courtly, and rather buttoned-up compared to later ‘Romantic’ styles. But in my opinion Corelli here and in other works while quite in a Baroque style is able to burst emotional limitations of the style. I find a few comments on other recordings by people who had been overwhelmed.The third movement was mentioned, but for me it is the last movement, a “Pastorale”. I have never actually read any learned commentaries, but if you listen I’m sure you will hear the suggestion of bagpipes. In fact I think it is meant to recall a traditional Christmas Carol that you can or could hear played by rough-looking shepherds who descended into the cities to the cities to play on street corners at Christmas time. To me it evokes an image of a group of mountain villagers trudging their way their way in snow to a shrine where they will hold a vigil for the midnight moment.
Here are some YouTube etc. links but you can easily find others.
(Basilica di S. Maria della Passione di Milano l'Accademia Bizantina diretta dal Maestro Ottavio Dantone)12 Concerti Grossi
There is one conducted by Karajan for example. A lot of choice. And of choice according to whether you want to watch as well as listen. So far as watching is concerned my choice was not so easy to find. This was the concert by an orchestra called the “Accademia Bizantina” (Byzantine Academy) played in the beautiful setting of the Basilica di S. Maria della Passione, Milan. They recorded there the whole series of Concerti Grossi by Corelli. All of them deserve listening to. And watching. Musicians always become beautiful when they make music. Some of them could deserve that description in any case. I may not know much about music but I know what I like. The concerts were recorded by the State broadcasting channel RAI 5, and were for a time easily found on the web, but when I went to fetch them now they have been archived apparently and I finally found them on web.archive.org, a Wikipedia-like service deserving of donations in support.
In whatever way they like to celebrate it I wish all PF members happy Christmas.
http://www.raiplay.it/video/2017/02/CONCERTI-GROSSI-DI-ARCANGELO-CORELLI-4e32e94a-be31-4542-8aa0-8f4eeeaa20a1.html