# 2021 Listening Project - Jan 2



## daco (Jan 5, 2021)

Handel
Harpsichord Suites (all 4)
Glenn Gould, harpsichord

I've owned this recording for a while. This is my only recording of harpsichord music, and I'm not sure how I feel about the sound of the harpsichord on this recording. It almost sounds electric at times to me. Nevertheless, I really like this music.

A strange thought that occurred to me on this listen. The Allegro of Suite 2 reminds me of a guitar solo in some bombastic heavy metal stadium show. It starts with a particular fast section, then repeats it a bit more intensely, then repeats again even more intensely ... I have this image of a long-haired guitarist rocking out on a solo, then repeating the solo with a bit more bombast, then joined by a bandmate for the third run-through. Some sections of the Gigue in Suite 1 also make me think of a guitar solo.

I'd like to listen to these pieces played on a piano, and also on a harpsichord by someone other than Gould.

Beethoven
Overture from Fidelio [Op. 72b]
Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell, conductor

It's fine. Maybe a little repetitive. I guess I'm curious about the opera itself, but I'm not really an opera fan (no problems with opera, just not really into it), so that's fairly low on my list of priorities.

J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto #2
The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock, conductor
1979.

I've always loved the Brandenburg Concertos. Not sure what else to say. This is a nice one, not really my favorite, but still great music.

Elgar
Enigma Variations
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Adrian Boult, conductor

This was the first time I ever listened to this, and I liked it. I skimmed the wikipedia page before listening, so know that each variation is "a musical sketch of one of his circle of close acquaintances". My immediate thought on hearing the Nimrod variation was "what would it be like for someone to write a piece of music *like this* that refers to *you*? How could you possibly ever live up to the emotion expressed here?"

But reading the wikipedia page more closely now, it seems that this variation referred more to an event in Elgar's life, where a close friend, Augustus Jaeger encouraged him to continue composing during a time when he was very discouraged. So maybe it's more like a "Thank You" note, in which case I can't imagine how gratified Jaeger must have been to hear it for the first time, and realized how helpful he had been to his friend.


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