# Favorite works/pieces at the moment



## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Suddenly got a big craving for impressionistic music again.

Jeux D'eau
Gaspard De La Nuit
Bergamasque 
Images
Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte
Menuet Antique

These pieces got some incredible debth. I guess I will be listening to Debussy preludes next week..


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I'm very in to Schubert's late sonatas at the moment as well as Hamelin's Alkan recordings.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Right now I'm all about Jacques Ibert's Trois Pieces Breves for Wind Quintet

Also Mozarts Flute Quartet in D and the Clarinet Concerto. Methinks I have a woodwind fetish.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Olias said:


> Right now I'm all about Jacques Ibert's Trois Pieces Breves for Wind Quintet
> 
> Also Mozarts Flute Quartet in D and the Clarinet Concerto. Methinks I have a woodwind fetish.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I like this idea for a thread. 

Lately I've particularly enjoyed 

- Sibelius' Violin Concerto
- Vasks' Balsis, Symphony for Strings
- Martinu's Field Mass
- Debussy's Cello Sonata
- Chopin's piano concertos
- Beethoven's Violin Sonata #5 "Spring"
- the Marriner disk of Vaughan Williams' fantasias, The Lark Ascending, and 5 Variants of Dives & Lazarus


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I've also been listening to a lot of Mozart piano concertos while doing my cardio exercises. I find them very effective as work out music (provided I skip the slower movements.)


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

Gandolfi "Garden of Cosmic Speculation" and Higdon "Bird on a Wire"


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

science said:


> I like this idea for a thread.
> 
> Lately I've particularly enjoyed
> 
> ...


I have just "finished" listening to them. Had a period with PC's only. What is your favorite version?


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Olias said:


> Right now I'm all about Jacques Ibert's Trois Pieces Breves for Wind Quintet
> 
> Also Mozarts Flute Quartet in D and the Clarinet Concerto. Methinks I have a woodwind fetish.


Might be something you ate. 

Beethoven's violin sonatas and Hugo Wolf lieder by Goethe (or should that be the other way around...)


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Monteverdi's Nissi Dominus, performed by the New York Pro Musica. Dissonance resolved, fine solo voices, gradual entrance of the chorus, effective organ continuo... I don't like the term 'art music', but this is a great work of art.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

For my blog I select part of the output of well-known composers to go through them again. That always makes for interesting re-discoveries. My most recent post was about the Prokofiev concertante works, and I like his 3d piano concerto far better now than I remembered.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Impressionistic music is excellent; I should get more of it, because my Ravel/Debussy collection is somewhat small.

But right now I'm getting interested in Dvorak's _American Suite_, Op. 98, both the orchestral and solo piano versions. It's excellent. I've also been listening to Wagner's _Tannhauser_ lately.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

. . . . . . . . I thought I heard
A faint harmony that enchants my sleep.
And close to me radiates an identical murmur
Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice.

Ch. Brugnot – The two Spirits

» Listen! – Listen! – It is I, it is Ondine who brushes drops of water on the resonant panes of your windows lit by the gloomy rays of the moon; and here in gown of watered silk, the mistress of the chateau gazes from her balcony on the beautiful starry night and the beautiful sleeping lake.

» Each wave is a water sprite who swims in the stream, each stream is a footpath that winds towards my palace, and my palace is a fluid structure, at the bottom of the lake, in a triangle of fire, of earth and of air.

» Listen! – Listen! – My father whips the croaking water with a branch of a green alder tree, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers, or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line. »

Her song murmured, she beseeches me to accept her ring on my finger, and be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit with her her palace and be king of the lakes.

And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal, sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter, and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my stained glass windows.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Not just at the moment, but Gaspard De La Nuit is my favorite work. I can't think of anything else so perfect for piano. So poetic, yet so dramatic and fierce! It's like a drug, when you put on your best headphones and lay down with your eyes closed. I lose track of time, because time gets so irrelevant.

And i don't think i will ever listen to anything else than the Sigurd Slåttebrekk version.

A little example to prove my point

Ondine


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Bone said:


> Gandolfi "Garden of Cosmic Speculation" and Higdon "Bird on a Wire"


The Gandolfi is an interesting album. I'd like to go visit that garden.

I guess my favorites today are those that stick in my head I have listened to lately. I've evidently been in a humorous and weird mood.





*Bernd Zimmermann - Musique Pour les Soupers du Ubu Roi.* This rapidly changing tour de force contains almost every classical theme you've ever heard, much like Peter Schickele's "Unbegun Symphony."





*W. A. Mozart - A Musical Joke* The joke may be on Mozart. To me this is the most amazing piece he wrote, almost contemporary sounding at times with startling "wrong" modulations to quicken the pulse. On the other hand maybe that's part of the joke and it's still on us.





*Wojciech Kilar - Exodus* Like a Miklós Rózsa sword and sandal soundtrack on steroids, yet somehow dark too. Or kind of a late 20th century Bolero.





*Stravinsky - Concerto for chamber orchestra in E flat major "Dumbarton Oaks"* Chock full of wry impish goodness.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Some of what I've really been enjoying of late:

Ravel - Sheherazade, Ma Mere L'oye

Schubert - String Quartet No. 15

Brahms - Late Piano Pieces

Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Ravndal said:


> I have just "finished" listening to them. Had a period with PC's only. What is your favorite version?


I can't say I have a favorite recording. I've been listening to Gina Bachauer and Antal Dorati.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Weston said:


> *Wojciech Kilar - Exodus* Like a Miklós Rózsa sword and sandal soundtrack on steroids, yet somehow dark too. Or kind of a late 20th century Bolero.


Love the Kilar. Hope he's going to get a bit more famous.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Martinu's Cello Concerto no. 1(the first mvt. especially), Brahms String Sextet no. 1(whole thing, but especially the 2nd mvt.), Mozart symphony 28(particularly the second mvt.), and much of Debussy and Ravel(impressionism must be in the air?).


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

This is kind of like a filtered version of the Currently Listening thread so as to only talk about the best of the best.

I can never really pick a "favorite" piece, so the "at the moment" part really helps me decide.

Lately I have been listening a lot to Taneyev's string quartets. I know Clavichorder has done some advocating of these pieces before and now I'd like to do the same. After listening to all of them several times I'm fairly convinced that they are some of the best string quartets the Romantic Era has to offer. There are 9 of them. However, the numbering order is wrong. The last 3 (7, 8 and 9) are actually the first three to be written. They are really nice, but I think string quartet #1 is when he really reaches maturity in the writing. 1-6 are just brilliant. Great writing for strings and a lot of equality amongst the instruments, they are very Haydn-esque in that aspect.

Here's the first movement of #1, which is the most "Russian sounding" of the quartets imo.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Instead of listing the same list of Beethovens works that i always list to threads like these ( It always changes a little but few of the pieces just seem to have found their permanent place on the best of list).
I am gonna list my favorite non-Beethoven works.

Jean Sibelius Violin concerto in d minor
Jean Sibelius Tapiola
Jean Sibelius Tuonelan joutsen
Jean Sibelius Leminkäinen suite
Lots of his solo piano pieces like the spruce and Jean Sibelius - Impromptu in B minor 
I can remember all of them

Tchaicovsky's violin concerto
Mozart's 20th piano concerto
Bach double violin concerto in D minor

I am not gonna list all of my favorite works, the list would be too long.


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

I tend to listen to a lot of the composer who's piece I'm playing at the moment. Except for when I was obsessed about Schubert a couple of weeks ago... Anyway, that's another story. 

The two things I've been listening to the most: 
Mendelssohn's violin concerto 
Vivaldi's violin concerto in A major "Echo"


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

All for Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky lately. Really been into S-S's Cello Concerto No. 1, Africa fantasy, general woodwind sonatas, and Organ Symphony. Also Tchaik's Romeo and Juliet Overture and symphonies.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Very recently my favorites have been Boccherini's op. 54 string trios and Haydn's later piano trios. I guess I'm on a bit of a Classical Period trio kick.


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## daveh (Feb 4, 2013)

All about symphonies for me in my initial forays into classical. Favorites the last few days are "old warhorses" I assume for most, but those that I have been loving are:

No. 29
No. 39
No. 40

Particularly 29. That first movement seems to be embedded in my head lately! 40 still probably remains my favorite, the other two are close.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Admittedly, all my advocating of Taneyev quartets was based on 2 and 5. Listening to 1 right now and I can definitely hear the russian, very nice sounding. But they are those kinds of works that repay repeated listens, I think. I'm not sure about 1, but I know that 2 was written after a lot of the higher numbers. I'd need to read up to figure out why that is(unless someone would kindly tell me here, lol).

Re daveh:

I'm assuming those are Mozart symphonies? Great stuff.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> Admittedly, all my advocating of Taneyev quartets was based on 2 and 5. Listening to 1 right now and I can definitely hear the russian. I'm not sure about 1, but I know that 2 was written after a lot of the higher numbers. I'd need to read up to figure out why that is(unless someone would kindly tell me here, lol).


Ya, the chronological order of the quartets is 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

That Taneyev quartet cycle sounds awesome when I spot stream it. That's totally unexplored territory for me. Looks like they've done a Myaskovsky cycle too and the album packages are very attractive. But they appear to be imports with no complete mp3 versions. That could get a little expensive. Guess I'll settle for streaming for the time being, not my favorite way to listen.  It can bog down my graphics software when I'm working.

Listen to me. Almost every piece of music ever written is available at my fingertips and I'm still not happy.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Weston said:


> That Taneyev quartet cycle sounds awesome when I spot stream it. That's totally unexplored territory for me. Looks like they've done a Myaskovsky cycle too and the album packages are very attractive. But they appear to be imports with no complete mp3 versions. That could get a little expensive. Guess I'll settle for streaming for the time being, not my favorite way to listen.  It can bog down my graphics software when I'm working.
> 
> Listen to me. Almost every piece of music ever written is available at my fingertips and I'm still not happy.


They have all of them avaliable as mp3 downloads.
http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1360433...ring quartet,p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Weston said:


> *W. A. Mozart - A Musical Joke* The joke may be on Mozart. To me this is the most amazing piece he wrote, almost contemporary sounding at times with startling "wrong" modulations to quicken the pulse. On the other hand maybe that's part of the joke and it's still on us.


Erm..I think the joke is on anyone who can listen to that whole piece and not hear what makes it bad. To me, it's really obvious. It's like trying to explain to someone why Glitter is a bad film. One hardly knows where to start.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Why didn't we have a thread like this before? This is so obvious, yet a great idea.

Lately I've been obsessing over / listening to (the same thing for me, usually):

BACH: Mass in B minor (Klemperer)
BACH: St. Matthew Passion (Klemperer)
VICTORIA: Requiem
BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fantastique
BERLIOZ: Grande Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale
SCHUBERT: Die Schöne Müllerin


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I'm pretty obsessed right now with two concerti by Ligeti (piano and violin). I'm interested in using some of his abstract ideas in some of my pieces, particularly the way he uses polymetric counterpoint and his conception of form (lines which start to evolve and are woven with each other).


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

trazom said:


> Erm..I think the joke is on anyone who can listen to that whole piece and not hear what makes it bad. To me, it's really obvious. It's like trying to explain to someone why Glitter is a bad film. One hardly knows where to start.


I really disagree with this. I listened to this piece as a kid and I found it very fun, very enjoyable, before I was wrapped up in some of the bad pretensions of classical listening.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

clavichorder said:


> I really disagree with this. I listened to this piece as a kid and I found it very fun, very enjoyable, before I was wrapped up in some of the bad pretensions of classical listening.


Pretensions are pretentious, and everybody knows that it is seriously uncool to be pretentious. Not nearly as many bodies know what pretentious means - even after looking it up.

[I'm going to look it up, soon as I post this.]

[found it. Pretentious = aureate. So now I know.]


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

violadude said:


> They have all of them avaliable as mp3 downloads.
> http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1360433...ring quartet,p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011


I must have been in an import section. Didn't see them. I have them bookmarked. Thanks.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Pretensions are pretentious, and everybody knows that it is seriously uncool to be pretentious. Not nearly as many bodies know what pretentious means - even after looking it up.
> 
> [I'm going to look it up, soon as I post this.]
> 
> [found it. Pretentious = aureate. So now I know.]


Yeah, but what about "A Musical Joke?" I really liked that piece as a kid, and I am confounded, even hurt that others don't think its anything more than Mozart writing bad music on purpose(they concede at most that it was done with a brilliant precision).

I suppose I should just care less what others think. Its a general trend, but in a heat of opinionated caring, I posted already. If pretentious is an unnecessarily inflammatory or inaccurate word for this situation, then it was not the best decision on my part to use it there.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> I really disagree with this. I listened to this piece as a kid and I found it very fun, very enjoyable, before I was wrapped up in some of the bad pretensions of classical listening.


I liked it when I was younger, too, but mainly because I was unfamiliar with Mozart's personal use of the Classical style, and I listened to music as pure 'sound' rather than paying attention to what the music was actually doing...if that makes sense.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

trazom said:


> . . . music as pure 'sound' . . .


Like I said. Contemporary sounding. 

Oh, I have to admit, the opening movement is pretty bad. But by the 2nd movement we get all those strange horn harmonies. For me it's the crazy unsubtle modulations of the 4th movement I get the most kick out of. There's something moving about them, even as the tyro composer seems to get lost in them. I also enjoy it collapsing into chaos at the end (as I recall.) Still funny 225 years after it was written. We do get the jokes -- a good portion of them anyway.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

trazom said:


> I liked it when I was younger, too, but mainly because I was unfamiliar with Mozart's personal use of the Classical style, and I listened to music as pure 'sound' rather than paying attention to what the music was actually doing...if that makes sense.


It totally does. I just can't reject the "pure sound approach" myself. Its good to understand both ways I guess(I hope to apply this myself).


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

At the moment, the great azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyev and his operetta Arshin Mal Alan!


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

I am SO engrossed in _Le tombeau de Couperin_ right now I don't have time to be engrossed in anything else ♥♥♥♥♥


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I am SO engrossed in _Le tombeau de Couperin_ right now I don't have time to be engrossed in anything else ♥♥♥♥♥


Can you play it?. I tried the Prelude and damn it was hard!. But I'm not a professional...


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...strumental_de_ville_davray_jean_louis_petit_/

"Trois _Moments_ Musicaux d'Apres Corot", a chamber work by Jacques Castérède, resonates with me and has been an undeclared favorite of mine - until now.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

clavichorder said:


> Yeah, but what about "A Musical Joke?" I really liked that piece as a kid, and I am confounded, even hurt that others don't think its anything more than Mozart writing bad music on purpose(they concede at most that it was done with a brilliant precision).
> 
> I suppose I should just care less what others think. Its a general trend, but in a heat of opinionated caring, I posted already. If pretentious is an unnecessarily inflammatory or inaccurate word for this situation, then it was not the best decision on my part to use it there.


There are at least two ways to 'take' the Musical Joke. Most kids, and at least some whippersnappers, take the 'incompetence is funny' route. Mozart was a kid himself at the time, so that's probably what he intended.

You are no doubt familiar with the term 'pratfall'; it's funny, eh? But you see, superannuated geezers don't find falling down to be funny. I know, the connection is tenuous; I tend to see metaphors that ain't really there.

Mea culpa.


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

aleazk said:


> Can you play it?. I tried the Prelude and damn it was hard!. But I'm not a professional...


I can...but the Toccata is still quite hard for me. I played the Fugue last night for, like, an hour and a half.  (That one's harder than it looks). If you find the Prelude hard, you should still be able to tackle the Menuet (or perhaps even the Forlane...it depends on your playing skill).


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I am SO engrossed in _Le tombeau de Couperin_ right now I don't have time to be engrossed in anything else ♥♥♥♥♥


Orchestral or piano?

(Both are excellent of course)


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## daveh (Feb 4, 2013)

clavichorder said:


> Re daveh:
> 
> I'm assuming those are Mozart symphonies? Great stuff.


Yes they are...and agreed, they are great stuff!


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

Tristan said:


> Orchestral or piano?
> 
> (Both are excellent of course)


Check my username


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## tankership (Aug 30, 2012)

Il_Penseroso,



Il_Penseroso said:


> At the moment, the great azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyev and his operetta Arshin Mal Alan!


I came across the full Operetta on you tube:






And his overture to Koroglu conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich here:


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I can...but the Toccata is still quite hard for me. I played the Fugue last night for, like, an hour and a half.  (That one's harder than it looks). If you find the Prelude hard, you should still be able to tackle the Menuet (or perhaps even the Forlane...it depends on your playing skill).


Yes, I played the Forlane, I found it more easy to play. I can actually play the Prelude, it's just that I found it much more hard than it looked. You need a very, very good technique in order to achieve the extremely subtle and smooth sound that the movement requires, I think it should flow like a breeze, without weight.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I am SO engrossed in _Le tombeau de Couperin_ right now I don't have time to be engrossed in anything else ♥♥♥♥♥


Careful there. Once you get into Tombeau you may never come out...


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

tankership said:


> Il_Penseroso,
> 
> I came across the full Operetta on you tube:
> 
> ...


This is a 1965 film adaptation, but the full operetta is also arranged and orchestrated by Niyazi (conductor and Hajibeyev's nephew) in a more classical format and is available on CD. I've found it a masterpiece!

And Koroghlu, yes, it's a great opera, full of emotion, you can listen to the second soprano aria (*****'s second aria) in a concert, a tribute to Hajibeyev and his 100th birthday:






The full opera is recorded or staged for a couple of times. My favorite rendition is that conducted by Niyazi in 1959 with Firangiz Ahmadova as ***** and Lutfiyar Imanov as Rovshan (Koroghlu). This was released on Melodiya soviet vinyl records, but I don't know it's ever reissued on CD or not yet.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> There are at least two ways to 'take' the Musical Joke. Most kids, and at least some whippersnappers, take the 'incompetence is funny' route. Mozart was a kid himself at the time, so that's probably what he intended.
> 
> You are no doubt familiar with the term 'pratfall'; it's funny, eh? But you see, superannuated geezers don't find falling down to be funny. I know, the connection is tenuous; I tend to see metaphors that ain't really there.
> 
> Mea culpa.


I don't just find it funny, I find it clever, witty. He's pulling some odd tricks that only Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach dared at the time, and CPE didn't pass them off as jokes(in that they were out of his stylistic norm). As a CPE Bach lover, I take this joke-like music very wholesomely, and see it as an example of Mozart's imaginative genius that looks forward to much later music, similar in that regard to "Dissonance" SQ opening, even though that strange music can more acceptably be taken entirely seriously.


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

In addition to what I've already mentioned, these past couple of weeks have seen a significant uptick in my Baroque listening.


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## Chrythes (Oct 13, 2011)

Lately I've been wanting to explore Bach, as I have never really listened with much attention to anything by him apart from his Brandenburg Concertos, so I chose the WTC by Richter (I've listened to it a couple of times before, but not mindfully). Though at times might sound familiar, All those little pieces are very enjoyable and are of their own character. The playing is excellent and the random bird chipping is an interesting plus.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

All this talk of Le Tombeau De Couperin made me start listening to it again. Now i can't stop.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

After a few years' abstinence, I renewed my love for Dvorak's four late tone poems. My favourites are "The Noonday Witch and "The Water Goblin". If you haven't heard them, imagine what Dvorak would sound like if he started to pick up orchestration and compositional techniques from Richard Strauss. 

I have an old Supraphon recording with Vaclav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic for the tone poems.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

The noon witch is amazing. And the story fits so perfectly to the music. You can find it on wikipedia if you haven't read it. Same with water goblin.

My favorite version of noon witch is by Leon Botstein.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

I'm fighting the snow and the cold with some Grieg. His lyrical pieces always makes me think of the summer.


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

Gerard Grisey's Vortex Temporum !

It is such a great piece ! I feel like it's less an intellectual exercice than the groundbreaking spectral works of the 70's (I love them too of course). To me it sounds more poetic, more refined.


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

Schubert 
String quartet in G major No. 15 :}


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Ravndal said:


> I'm fighting the snow and the cold with some Grieg. His lyrical pieces always makes me think of the summer.


Amazing! Perhaps with his Sommeraften from Op.71?


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

That one as well, but his Valse Impromptu from op.47 is amazing


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I have had some orchestral music of *Hugo Alfvén* for some time, but never paid it any attention, somehow lumping it in together in my mind with Raff, Alwyn, Rubbra and a few others I was only hazily aware of and had written off as late romantic background music.

But today Alfvén's *Symphony No. 4 "Fran Havsbandet"* came up at work on my random play. Miraculously I was not interrupted and got to focus on it a little. To my absolute amazement a wordless tenor came in (at least part of it sounded wordless) much like the wordless soprano of Vaughan-Williams Sinfonia Antartica. A bit later a wordless soprano comes in too. Then both together. This was a huge surprise for one not expecting it. (Sorry if I just spoiled it for anyone, but most would know about it before listening anyway.)

I'm a real sucker for this sort of thing to begin with, but the melodies are as haunting as a siren song. This truly transported me to another plane of awareness - a dreamy spring fever state that had me not caring about the stupid unimportant stresses of the day to day mundane grind. And as icing on the cake, it was written some 30 years or so before Sinfonia Antartica.

This will be in my play list for quite some time to come. I am ecstatic!


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Really digging Virginal musick again by the likes of William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, John Bull, Peter Philips, others, and anonymous. To me, it is extremely satisfying music.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

MaestroViolinist said:


> Mendelssohn's violin concerto


This.  

filler


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> This.
> 
> filler


*Mendelssohn* is awesome.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Bruckner and Mahler symphonies this week. I was quite moved by Chailly's Mahler 5 - it was literally hair-raising. Giulini's Bruckner 8 was similarly impressive. Made me go back to my collection and listen to some more.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Weston said:


> I have had some orchestral music of *Hugo Alfvén* for some time, but never paid it any attention, somehow lumping it in together in my mind with Raff, Alwyn, Rubbra and a few others I was only hazily aware of and had written off as late romantic background music.
> 
> But today Alfvén's *Symphony No. 4 "Fran Havsbandet"* came up at work on my random play. Miraculously I was not interrupted and got to focus on it a little. To my absolute amazement a wordless tenor came in (at least part of it sounded wordless) much like the wordless soprano of Vaughan-Williams Sinfonia Antartica. A bit later a wordless soprano comes in too. Then both together. This was a huge surprise for one not expecting it. (Sorry if I just spoiled it for anyone, but most would know about it before listening anyway.)
> 
> ...


Very nice indeed!


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## leipzig (Dec 27, 2012)

Brahms' clarinet quintet. But Alfvén's 4th symphony was my favourite a couple of months ago.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

Recently listened to Parry's Symphony No. 2 in F Major, "Cambridge." Fine work, If I didn't know who composed it I would of guessed it was English. 
Something about it's sound world, a touch of Elgar now and again.


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## vertigo (Jan 9, 2013)

I'm loving Dvorak's 8th symphony at the moment.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

I'm at the moment swooning over the 15 1/2 minute orchestral piece "When Adam Fell" on this recently released disc of works by Alexander Goehr:









Goehr has always been a composer I've highly esteemed but this particular piece is just flat out gorgeous. An example of how beautiful and light and fun an atonal composition can be.

The other pieces on the disc, BTW, are extremely good too.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

^That's a 2013 release and already it is available for streaming on Rhapsody. That's a bit surprising. 

Yes it is very nice. I'm not quite hearing flat out gorgeous yet but it does seem to remind me of Debussy at times. Something about the gestures and the sonorities.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

I have fallen in love with Dvorak op. 101 - "humoresque". Beautiful piano miniatyres.


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## userfume (Nov 21, 2012)

presto said:


> Recently listened to Parry's Symphony No. 2 in F Major, "Cambridge." Fine work, If I didn't know who composed it I would of guessed it was English.
> Something about it's sound world, a touch of Elgar now and again.


also the fact that it's called Cambridge


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

Obsessed with Mendelssohn concerti, especially 3, 4, and 5. Also Dvorak 9


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## TudorMihai (Feb 20, 2013)

My favorite piece of music is Debussy's Reverie. I just can't get enough of it. That's for piano solo. As for orchestra, Venus from The Planets.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Lately on a Boccherini chamber music kick--Trios, Quartets, Quintets.


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## daveh (Feb 4, 2013)

As I've mentioned in other threads - it has now moved to Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23. I mention it again, because I STILL have not heard all of his late piano concertos (No. 20 is the only other one I am familiar with), so it makes really look forward to the rest of them.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

daveh said:


> As I've mentioned in other threads - it has now moved to Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23. I mention it again, because I STILL have not heard all of his late piano concertos (No. 20 is the only other one I am familiar with), so it makes really look forward to the rest of them.


Ah! You have nothing but joy and brilliance to look forward to. Try imagine hours of inspired music and this is what you'll get. Also, I hope you haven't heard #9 or #10 (for two pianos) yet, I really do. I'll be sick if you have! Because if you haven't, you have all this ahead of you. I'd love to be only discovering #21, or 24, or any of these, for the first time. I've never grown tired of any of these piano concertos and I've been listening to most of them for a couple of decades, at least....


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## daveh (Feb 4, 2013)

Kieran said:


> Ah! You have nothing but joy and brilliance to look forward to. Try imagine hours of inspired music and this is what you'll get. Also, I hope you haven't heard #9 or #10 (for two pianos) yet, I really do. I'll be sick if you have! Because if you haven't, you have all this ahead of you. I'd love to be only discovering #21, or 24, or any of these, for the first time. I've never grown tired of any of these piano concertos and I've been listening to most of them for a couple of decades, at least....


I figured that I had much great music ahead of me in the near future, but this has me looking forward to it even more...great post!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Obsessed with *Mendelssohn's* chamber music, especially his second string quartet!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Obsessed with *Mendelssohn's* chamber music, especially his second string quartet!


As a listening experience, what's the difference between Mendelssohn and Ligeti? Just out of curiosity, you know? Because I can listen to Mozart at so many levels, but when I listen to more modern music, it has less effect for far more effort...


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Kieran said:


> As a listening experience, what's the difference between Mendelssohn and Ligeti? Just out of curiosity, you know? Because I can listen to Mozart at so many levels, but when I listen to more modern music, it has less effect for far more effort...


I find that I have to use my ears more and have more brainpower to detect things like harmony, counterpoint, form etc. and complex intertwining melodic lines in *Mendelssohn* is rather more challenging for me than the wash of colour and rhythmic drive you get with Ligeti. More effort with *Mendelssohn* but I'm finding him more enjoyable at the moment.

Ligeti for me was easy and fun to listen to, but *Mendelssohn* is more challenging and more suited to analytical listening which is more rewarding in a way.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, I am stunned! ^

But yes, that makes sense. Ligeti would tend to be more visceral. What I would like to know is, out of all the modern composers, why did Ligeti grab me first. But that is perhaps for another thread.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Weston said:


> Well, I am stunned! ^
> 
> But yes, that makes sense. Ligeti would tend to be more visceral. What I would like to know is, out of all the modern composers, why did Ligeti grab me first. But that is perhaps for another thread.


Ligeti's dissonance is a quick grab. Also he seems like a cool guy. Not sure those were the reasons but that is my guess.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> Also he seems like a cool guy.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Weston said:


> Well, I am stunned! ^
> 
> But yes, that makes sense. Ligeti would tend to be more visceral. What I would like to know is, out of all the modern composers, why did Ligeti grab me first. But that is perhaps for another thread.


Easy, good quality music has that effect.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Debussy - Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre


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## Carpenoctem (May 15, 2012)

Faure - Piano Quartet No.2

I've mostly listened to Debussy and Faure last couple of days, I love their chamber music.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Recently... I'd have to say J.S Bach's organ works have become current favorites due to the box set by Marie-Claire Alain:










Late last year I discovered and "re-discovered" (in the case of Mozart) Engelbert Humperdinck's _Hänsel und Gretel_ and Mozart's _Die Zauberflöte_. I had owned the Karajan _Hänsel und Gretel_ for somewhere around 7 years... but simply never got around to playing it... something I greatly regret. From the very first listen, I was absolutely enthralled. I rushed out to pick up another 3 versions of the opera... something I only do with my absolute favorite works. At the same time... I picked up another 3 or 4 recordings of _Die Zauberflöte_. While this opera is an old favorite... my favorite Mozart opera... and perhaps my favorite opera by anyone... after Wagner's _Tristan und Isolde_, I found myself falling in love with the work again while listening to the "new" recordings I had picked up.

I might also note that as a result of all the Ernest Ansermet releases that I picked up on the Eloquence label, late last year was a time of rediscovering my love of French music... especially Ravel and Debussy.


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## daveh (Feb 4, 2013)

Since my answer to this seems to change daily, I will go ahead and update with this: 

- Wagner: Lohengrin - Prelude, Act I

Both the Karajan and Klemperer versions sound fantastic to me, but I've been listening to the Klemperer version all day.


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## etkearne (Sep 28, 2012)

These have been my go-to pieces for the past month or so:

1. Berg - Piano Sonata
2. Bartok - Piano Sonata
3. Poulenc - Harpsichord Concerto (esp. Movement Three - Finale)
4. J.S. Bach - Passacaglia in C Minor (not so much the Fugue however)
5. Ravel - La Valse


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Just saw that Håvard Gimse has recorded plenty of piano music by Sibelius. Going to listen to them all 






@ 4.43


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## CyrilWashbrook (Feb 6, 2013)

I've been looking into the music of some lesser-known Romantic composers; I'm really enjoying Hans Rott's symphony and some of the works of Joachim Raff.


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major
Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor

I've never particularly enjoyed violin....guess that changed suddenly lol


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Favourite piece at the moment: *Sibelius's* 2nd symphony.



CyrilWashbrook said:


> I've been looking into the music of some lesser-known Romantic composers; I'm really enjoying Hans Rott's symphony and some of the works of Joachim Raff.


Check out Farrenc.


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## worov (Oct 12, 2012)

Bach Partita no 2 in C minor (BWV 826) :


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Ravel - Jeux D'eau


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Schumann piano concerto


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Ravndal said:


> Not just at the moment, but Gaspard De La Nuit is my favorite work. I can't think of anything else so perfect for piano. So poetic, yet so dramatic and fierce! It's like a drug, when you put on your best headphones and lay down with your eyes closed. I lose track of time, because time gets so irrelevant.
> 
> And i don't think i will ever listen to anything else than the Sigurd Slåttebrekk version.
> 
> ...


Monique Haas




Alicia De Larrocha




Vlado Perlemuter




Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Of your selection, i enjoyed Monique Haas's performance the most. I'm also into the version by Pogorelich at the moment.

the Michelangeli version was extremely powerful.

Thanks


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

lately holding my attention (and charming me) are these three neoclassical concertante works:

Alfredo Casella ~ Partita per pianoforte e piccola orchestra





Darius Milhaud ~ Cinq études pour piano et orchestre





Joseph Fennimore ~ Concerto Piccolo, for Piano and Chamber Orchestra


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Ravndal said:


> Debussy - Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre


Fun, 'frothy' early Debussy.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Very fun indeed!

Im into the Chopin Ballades atm. Rubinstein/Horowitz


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Zimerman is also great for the ballades.

But... check out the changing stool


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Nice interpretation. Thank you


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Medtner - Sonata triade

Beautiful theme


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)

Schubert's 9th symphony. A work I've struggled with for a while now, but I'm happy to say that the first three movements are starting to grow on me in a big way .


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

StevenOBrien said:


> Schubert's 9th symphony. A work I've struggled with for a while now, but I'm happy to say that the first three movements are starting to grow on me in a big way .


For me, Schubert's 9th just sounds so different to any other 9th's that were going on at the time. More intuitive and less stretching for the grandiose and innovative. I much prefer Schubert's 9th to Beethoven's. It's like the difference between organic and genetically modified...


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Prokofiev:

Waltz from Cinderella Op. 102 (For piano)
Toccata Op. 11
Piano Concerto 3, Op. 26


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

David Matthews' String Quartet No. 12 from this disc:









This is a big (43 min.) piece that's tremendously rich and varied. It's basically tonal but is constantly stretching and pulling it's tonal roots throughout. A thoroughly absorbing and rewarding chamber work that gets an outstanding performance by the Kreutzers and is very vividly recorded by the Toccata sound engineers*.

* 
The recorded sound does not work well with headphones due to very wide channel separation.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

StevenOBrien said:


> Schubert's 9th symphony. A work I've struggled with for a while now, but I'm happy to say that the first three movements are starting to grow on me in a big way .


I'm still struggling with the piece and waiting for it to grow on me. Maybe I'm just listening to it wrong, since I keep hearing people say wonderful things about it . :/ So I'm curious, what made it begin to grow on you?


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

A few that have a firm grip on my ears as of late:

Schnittke: _Peer Gynt_
Szymanowski: _Symphony No. 3 'Song of the Night'_
Panufnik: _Autumn Music_
Koechlin: _Le buisson ardent Parts I & II_
Elgar: _Symphony No. 2_
Delius: _Songs of Sunset_
Schreker: _Prelude to a Drama_
Hartmann: _Symphonische Hymnen_
Britten: _Violin Concerto_


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## chrisco97 (May 22, 2013)

I have been listening to Beethoven's late string quartets a lot recently. I also bought a lot of Dvorak yesterday and have been listening to what I got today. What is funny is how much I love Dvorak and I had hardly any of his work in my collection. xD


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Schumann - Everything


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