101 Classical Music CDs

I am composing like a god, as if it simply had to be done as it has been done. --Franz Schubert Today we will cover the last of my Schubert CDs, his Ninth Symphony in C major. ********************** Leonard Bernstein and the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Schubert: Symphony No. 9 "The Great" in C Major Deutsche Grammophon, 1989 ********************** As we mentioned before, Schubert contracted syphilis at age 26, and five years later his life was cut short at age 31. His early death was a horrible loss for classical music. But something amazing happened to Schubert in his last years: in 1827, Beethoven, nearing his own death, had read some sixty of Schubert's songs. Impressed, he asked to see many of Schubert's other compositions. And, in the words of music historian David Dubal: One week before Beethoven's death, Schubert was brought to his bedside. For a brief moment, two of the greatest musical geniuses met. At Beethoven's funeral ...

After listening to this symphony, it's hard not to recognize the great leap in style Schubert makes from his very Classical-sounding Third in just seven years. He was barely 18 when he wrote his Third Symphony. By the time he had turned 25, he had composed (okay, partly composed) one of the quintessential Romantic-era symphonies. ********************** Carlos Kleiber and the Wiener Philharmoniker Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Schubert: Symphony #3, Symphony #8 Deutsche Grammophon, 1979 ********************** If Schubert's Third sounds like Haydn, then his Eighth sounds like Brahms. Only Brahms wrote his symphonies some 30 to 50 years later . It took Schubert seven years to go from writing a derivative and backward looking symphony to writing a work that was 50 years ahead of its time. Imagine what he could have done had he lived as long as Beethoven. It makes me think that the greatest tragedy in the history of 19th century classical music was the early and untimely death of Fra...

I have a confession to make. Today's CD is not only further proof of my need to start this blog, but it is perhaps the most embarrassing example of how mindless and uncontemplative my life had become over the past several years. This CD sat on my shelf with more than a hundred other CDs for years, unlistened to, unnoticed, and collecting dust. It was just like all the rest of my CDs, except, uh, in one key respect: It was still in its cellophane wrapper. I had been so out of touch with myself that I bought CDs that I forgot I bought. I must have wanted to listen to this CD at some point, but apparently in the time between buying the CD and putting it on the shelf, I got distracted. For ten years. That is a prime, and admittedly foolish-sounding, example of why I'm taking a break from my career, and why I started this blog. I guess I didn't want to wake up in another ten years and hear myself making excuses for myself like "I work too hard and make too much money to ...

Today we'll pick up where we left off with Schumann's piano works, and we'll tackle disc 3 of my four-CD collection of this brilliant composer's piano works, which contains his Fantasie in C major (opus 17), Arabeske (opus 18) and Humoreske (opus 20). ********************** Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Performed by Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) Schumann: Piano Works Deutsche Grammophone, 1975 ********************** It's interesting to read that Robert Schumann and his wife Clara, despite the fact that they lived in the 1800s, experienced one particular problem that any modern two-career couple might find familiar: In 1844, Clara persuaded her husband to accompany her on a lucrative four-month Russian tour. At a reception, he was asked if he too was a musician. A part of him resented her career and her fame. -- from David Dubal's The Essential Canon of Classical Music Instead of feeling blessed (uh, and enriched?) by his wife's professional success, Schumann fe...

Classical music isn't meant to be listened to once and then forgotten. It is complex and many-layered music that is meant to be learned. But what does it even mean to "learn" a work of classical music? If you were in a music appreciation class, you might be subjected to a "needle drop" test, where the teacher plays a brief section of a symphony for the class. If you can name the symphony and the composer (and likely some other trivia like the year it was written or the year the composer was born or died), congratulations! You've "learned" that piece. A professional musician would say he "learned" a classical music work once he can play--and play well, hopefully--all of the relevant parts in that symphony assigned to his instrument. But for those of us who are not in class or working as pro musicians, those of us with busy lives and a limited amount of time to dedicate to classical music, I'll submit a more entry-level definition of w...

Mendelssohn began the initial sketches of his Fourth Symphony after a visit to Italy. His visit there was part of a tour he took across Europe in his early twenties, something any newly-minted college kid might appreciate. Of course Mendelssohn didn't exactly stay at youth hostels. Having been born into an extremely wealthy family, and already famous for his musical skills, he spent his tour dazzling the highest echelons of European society. ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** Unfortunately, this symphony never really satisfied Mendelssohn. He made repeated and wholesale revisions to the work, and it was never published during his lifetime. And yet this work was loved when it first premiered, and it remains one of Mendelssohn's most popular works to this day. Once again, a brilliant composer judges his own music far too harshly. A quick musical ...