# the No Purchasing Project is underway



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

My last post indulged in some self-flagellation over my irresponsible (improvident etc.) habit of buying disks and then not paying adequate attention to them. Then I created a thread about it, but it seems like this self-indulgent topic is better suited to a semi-private blog than an essentially public thread.

So here on my blog for the next 6 or so months I hope to record my progress on this project.

I estimate at this time that I have about 570 hours of listening to do before I can allow myself to purchase more music.

Among them are the following disks:








(I should hear it 3 more times)








(I should hear it 3 more times)








(I should hear it 3 more times)








(I should hear Firebird 2 more times; I should hear Prometheus 3 more times)








(I should hear it 2 more times - I listened to the Mussorgsky last night for the first time since I bought it; I think I've listened to the rest of the disk 1 time)








(I should hear it 2 more times - I am listening to the quintet right now, and I like it very much)

Of the disks I listed in my previous blog or its comments, I listened to Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto from the Argerich box, and I liked it better this time than I had previously. I believe it was my 3rd time to listen to it.


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2011)

A recent psychological study showed that self-restraint is a limited commodity in the brain. If you use up all yours constraining your listening habits, you might do something really stupid in some other area of your life. I'm just sayin'!
Somewhat related, I'm proud of myself for "only" buying seven albums in July. I've told myself I have to preview on Spotify before buying, then only buying what I really like most.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

It's a good idea to just absorb what recordings you have before buying more stuff. I exercise "self-restraint" often when buying, though a month or two back i did go on a "binge" of secondhand things. Still am nowhere near to getting through them, but these were things I wanted to get anyway later, so it was sheer luck to get them cheap as chips. So they are "on the back-log" so to speak. In any case, I see no point in buying a new CD if I don't want to hear it straight away. If I don't have a big "gut" curiosity to get right into it, I most likely won't buy it in the first place.

Speaking to those works (not the recordings, I have different ones) -

*rachmaninov: *piano trios - the 2nd is a great favourite, two brooding & melancholy movts., encasing one of the most imaginative "takes" on the theme & variations movt. this is amazing, even for rachmaninov. worlds within worlds in each variation.
*
villa-lobos*: another favourite, so exotic orchestral colours. lush is the word. he originally composed it without the cadenza, but segovia wanted one to play. this villa-lobos did & funnily enough that is the favourite part of the work for me.

*vaughan williams:* sym #2 "london" - this is perhaps greater than the sum of it's parts. that big surging idea in the first movt. kind of reminds me of a dominant theme/idea in lloyd-webber's phantom of the opera. A friend of mine agrees strongly with this. the inclusion of cockney tunes and the tinkling of trams in the lively ravellian scherzo is such fun, the slow movt. indeed reminds me of winter in the northern hemisphere. the march theme in the last movt. sounds much like brahms, & almost equals the intensity of his finales. then to cap it all off, the chimes of "big ben" floating over the thames river. monet's paintings of exactly that comes strongly to mind for me here. i have boult's classic mono recording, but i don't doubt maestro previn will equal that in terms of interpretation & most likely his modern recording will have better sound. i don't find many of this composer's symphonies thematically or stylistically coherent, to use "big words," but this one, despite it's eclecticism "works" for me in some ways. more than a simple postcard for sure. if you like this, you may wish to check out elgar's "cockaigne overture - in london town."

as for the mussorgsky, stravinsky & shostakovich (i am familiar with his 2 piano concertos), they don't grab me as much as those 3 above (although i strongly agree with what you said elsewhere, i much prefer the original piano version of pictures at an exhibition to ravel's orchestration - as good as it is, it has ravel's unique stamp on it too much & besides, the original stretched the piano to it's greatest limits since beethoven & liszt, imo)...

Happy listening!!!...


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

BPS - that is interesting to know. I wonder what aspect of my life is going to fall apart. I will look out for it and keep you posted. I'd been having a pretty successful diet earlier in the summer, but that appears to be over.... Maybe it had to go to make room for this! (So I will tell my wife.)

Sid James - interesting comments on all points. I have never thought of the Mussorgsky as "stretching" the piano. For me, Mussorgsky is always about - well, it's hard to explain, but I'll say "interesting combinations of notes." That's too vague. I essentially mean "harmonies," but it's also the construction of his melodies, which (to my ears) don't entirely follow expected lines. Kind of between Liszt and Debussy in that way. 

On Rach's trio #2, I think some people make not like it bc the piano has by far the best part, even when the violin or cello have the melody. But I love Rachmaninov's piano. You seem to know it better than I do, so I look forward to getting to know it better.


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