# Progress on the NPP



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Last night and this morning I was able to make fairly good progress on the "No Purchasing Project." One example is the arrangement for flute of Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis, featuring Pahud:










I've heard the original version once, by the Nash Ensemble (I'm too lazy to find out more particularly), and I think I liked the flute version better - but I shouldn't say because I haven't heard them enough to know, and that is the virtue of the NPP.










Listened to #14 last night. It's ok. Shostakovich's symphonies don't usually grab me. Not sure why. Other people seem to love them, but so far I think I'm essentially indifferent to all of them. This one, for instance - I liked it, but can't say I loved it or anything. It had its moments.

One thing I know I need to do is try to figure out better how that work holds together. Last night it felt fairly disparate to me.










I listened to about half of this disk last night. I got it primarily for the Ceremony of Carols, which is ok, but I enjoyed the Hymn to St. Cecilia better, and Rejoice in the Lamb most.










That is not what my CD cover looks like - mine has Verdi's Requiem rather than Mozart's mass - but I think it is the same recording by Karajan of Bruckner's Te Deum.

I'm not a big fan of Bruckner, but the Te Deum is probably my favorite work by him. Somehow the endless 4-note motifs don't bother me as much as they do in his symphonies. (I should be fair - only the 8th is really _that_ bad.) I will try to like his symphonies again tihs fall. We'll see how it goes. But I already like the Te Deum, and I enjoyed it last night.










Yesterday afternoon I found myself in a Haydn mood and I enjoyed 3 of his symphonies - #47, 48, and 51. I didn't pay attention, however, so I won't comment. Haydn, I believe, is a thinking person's music. It is not enough to feel it, you have to follow its structure to appreciate it. I didn't do that yesterday.










Listened to Ravel. Love it. Of course it shares a lot of virtues with the ballet I listened to the other day - but that had more humore than this.

One thing I'm coming to appreciate about Ravel is the element of craft. You can hear, it seems to me, that he's really thought about every note, and that nothing is in there just because it seemed like it was supposed to be there, but it's there because he thought about it and really was sure it was supposed to be there. I appreciate that. Not that it seems like he's straining, it seems comfortable, but it seems carefully thought-out.

732 hours to go. (This is more than last time because I've added works to the list.)


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