A collaboration of: “The Classic Music Mafia”
Anthony Aaron, and Steve C.
Just a note to tell everybody that my 23 year-old Dell Dimension E520 finally crapped out on me on Wednesday evening. I’m now using a refurbished Dell Optiplex 7010.
Although my hard drive was sparred, all and I mean ALL of my Internet connections are now lost. That means all of my Sunday Morning Classics are gone as are all of my saved copies of everything that’s been posted on Sunday Morning Classics for these past four and a half years.
Sooooooo, that means that we will likely be having some duplicates in the future. It just can’t be helped.
Steve C / Classic Music Mafia: Here is the image depicting “The Classic Music Gangsters,” a whimsical and imaginative group of classical musicians with a playful gangster twist. The scene is set in an old-world music hall with rich, vintage decor, where the musicians are performing in stylish 1920s-era gangster attire. The atmosphere is mysterious yet sophisticated, capturing the unique blend of classical music and a lighthearted gangster theme. – aka.attrition
Every Sunday morning we present selections for our TBP family to enjoy.
We present symphonies, ensembles, quartets, octets, etc.
Not all of our music is strictly ‘classical’. We may stray a little, but we strive to make all of our selections ‘classy’.
We offer tips on proper ‘symphony etiquette’ and even some selections that are a bit light-hearted and fun aimed at a younger audience. Those pieces will be so designated, and might be a good way to introduce kids to a world of music that they might not have been exposed to or think of as old and ‘stuffy’.
A full symphony will run as long as it will. We don’t want to cut a symphony short. However, we also include some shorter pieces that we try to keep under fifteen minutes in length. You can sample each and hopefully find one or more that pleases you.
We hope that you enjoy our Sunday selections.
Steve C.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sinfonie Nr. 1 (A Sea Symphony) | SWR Symphonieorchester
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sinfonie Nr. 1 für Sopran, Bariton, Chor und Orchester (A Sea Symphony) | Liederhalle Stuttgart, März 2018
00:00:00 – A Song for All Seas, All Ships
00:20:31 – On the Beach at Night, Alone
00:32:10 – Scherzo: The Waves
00:40:55 – The Explorers
01:11:33 – Applaus
Laura Aikin, Sopran
Michael Nagy, Bariton
Gaechinger Cantorey
SWR Symphonieorchester
Dirigent: Dennis Russell Davies
The Next Four Come To Us Thanks To Anonymous.
D. Scarlatti: Sonata in B Minor, L. 449: Sonata in B Minor, L. 449 (Transcr. Y. Kondonassis)
David Grisman – Dawg’s Bull
Moscow Nights
Music and Healing: Takashi Yoshimatsu’s And Birds Are Still… Op. 72
These Two Come To Us Thanks To Ursel Doran.
Yuja Wang – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
Repeating that a Sunday without some Yuja is like a day without sunshine and this performance is a keeper.
Appears that the air conditioning was not working, as Yuja was really working hard and perspiring a lot with her hard work.
Concerto for 2 Pianos – W.A. Mozart – With Yuja Wang and Lahav Shani – Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
An especially well done Mozart piece worth sharing.
The Next Two Come To Us Thanks To “off that beaten track”. What would Spock say?
Wintergatan – Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)
Road less travelled, or ‘Fascinating’ ?
Playing 50000 Marbles – Marble Machine X
VERY cool.
” Instruments The band uses a variety of unconventional instruments including the Modulin, a ribbon controlled synthesizer built from Doepfer eurorack modules in the likeness of a violin, the Moog Theremini digital theremin, an electric autoharp, a hammered dulcimer, a self-built punch-card music box, a slide projector, a musical saw, and a typewriter for use as percussion.”
Anthony Aaron
Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner’s compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies.
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 1 in C minor, WAB 101
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, WAB 101 (1866-77)
I. Allegro (C minor) (0:00)
II. Adagio (A-flat major) (12:12)
III. Scherzo: Lebhaft (G minor) – Trio: Langsam (G major) (25:21)
IV. Finale: Bewegt und feurig (C minor) (34:12)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink
Movements I/III 1st version “Linz” (1866)
Movement IV: Revised “Linz” version (1877)
Ottorino Respighi is one of my favorite composers … and this is one of my favorites of his compositions.
Respighi – ‘Pini di Roma’ (‘Pines of Rome’), P.141
Pines of Rome, tone poem for orchestra in four movements by Ottorino Respighi, premiered in 1924 in Rome. It is the Italian composer’s tribute to scenes around his country’s capital, some contemporary and some recalling the glory of the Roman Empire. It is Respighi’s most frequently performed work.
Ottorino Respighi, 1935.
Pines of Rome is the second in a series of three tone poems by Respighi known as the Roman trilogy. It was preceded by Fountains of Rome (1914–16) and followed by Roman Festivals (1929). In his own notes for Pines of Rome, Respighi wrote:
While in Fountains of Rome the composer sought to reproduce by means of tones an impression of nature, in Pines of Rome he uses nature as a point of departure, to recall memories and visions. The century-old trees which dominate so characteristically the Roman landscape become testimony for the principal events in Roman life.
Pines of Rome is structured in four movements played without pause so that the music flows uninterrupted from beginning to end. The first movement, “The Pines of Villa Borghese,” features rambunctious tunes that depict children at play in the pine groves. For contrast, the second movement “Pines near a Catacomb,” sets hymnlike phrases against a dark tapestry of mostly string tones. A lighter mood returns for the third movement, “The Pines of the Janiculum,” in which Respighi imagines a moonlit scene with nightingales singing. Respighi asked that a specific recording of a nightingale be played at the end of the movement. The final movement, “The Pines of the Appian Way,”closes the piece with a depiction of the Roman army marching into the city accompanied by trumpet fanfares and a pounding timpani beat.
1. I pini di Villa Borghese (The Pines of the Villa Borghese) 0:26
2. Pini presso una catacomba (Pines Near a Catacomb) 3:19
3. I pini del Gianicolo (The Pines of the Janiculum) 10:16
4. I pini della Via Appia (The Pines of the Appian Way) 17:16
Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel) – ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ [snippets]
Another performance by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra … this time four movements of Mussorgsky’s great symphonic work.
Promenade: 0:23
Gnomus: 1:50
Bydlo: 4:35
The Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells: 7:05
A final performance by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra …
Edward Elgar – Enigma Variations, Op.36: IX. (Nimrod)
In 1899, English composer Edward Elgar created his Enigma Variations; a set of variations on the one melody, with each one representing a different friend of his. From his wife to his music publisher, each friend was immortalised in music as their different personalities shone through. This piece has never lost popularity, especially with the moving and powerful ‘Nimrod’ variation.
Jan Garbarek – Vandrere
From Garbarek’s 1977 album on ECM, ‘Dis’ …
Jan Garbarek Group – Brother Wind March
Sax : Jan Garbarek
Drums: Manu Katche
Bass : Eberhard Weber
Keys : Rainer Brüninghaus
Steve C.
Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis – Tabita Berglund
Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Conductor: Tabita Berglund
Concertmaster: Adam Grüchot
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music | Andrew Manze | NDR Radiophilharmonie
Hannover Proms 2022:
The NDR Radiophilharmonie performs Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music” under the baton of Chief Conductor Andrew Manze.
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Serenade to Music
Andrew Manze, conductor
NDR Radiophilharmonie
BBC Proms 2013: Watch Vaughan Williams’s Toward the Unknown Region
BBC Proms 2013:
Watch Vaughan Williams’s Toward the Unknown Region.
Vasily Petrenko conducts the National Youth Orchestra and Choir of Great Britain, Codetta and the Irish Youth Chamber Choir.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: “The Lark Ascending” with Arabella Steinbacher | NDR Radiophilharmonie
Arabella Steinbacher and the NDR Radiophilharmonie perform Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” under the baton of Chief Conductor Andrew Manze.
Concert recording from September, 13th, 2014 at the Kuppelsaal Congress Centre Hanover
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Lark Ascending
for Violin and Orchestra
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Andrew Manze, conductor
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Romance
The Romance (Andantino – Appassionato) from Vaughan Williams’ Serenade in A minor.
Written in 1898, the Serenade was VW’s first orchestral work, composed shortly after he left the Royal College of Music and while he was also working for his doctorate of music.
This Romance – the fourth of five short movements – is particularly successful.
The Classic Music Mafia – Adding some class to this joint one Sunday at a time.
Heaven help us…
