Through the Night

[Bryn]

Ay thengyu, kernel. It is conceivable that you're right. In which case



Horlicks with a tot of malt whisky used to be my nightcap. Now more likely to be a mug of herb tea.

But AD, getting back on topic, you're the TTN Mastermind: I have a feeling there used to be longer pieces on TTN too - even an occasional entire opera. Not a complaint about the current TTN, just a vague feeling.

It's not that many years since we had the live broadcast of Feldman's 2nd String Quartet occupying most of TtN. Then there was the TtN broadcast of a commercial recording of LaMonte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano filling most of another. Specials, to be sure, but still TtN.

[oddoneout]

Ay thengyu, kernel. It is conceivable that you're right. In which case



Horlicks with a tot of malt whisky used to be my nightcap. Now more likely to be a mug of herb tea.

But AD, getting back on topic, you're the TTN Mastermind: I have a feeling there used to be longer pieces on TTN too - even an occasional entire opera. Not a complaint about the current TTN, just a vague feeling.

I too was getting a similar vague impression of more, shorter works, which was meaning that it wasn't doing such a good job of allowing my sleepless brain to unwind. The interjection of a voice, however pleasant, startles, partly because it comes out at a greater volume than the music and also because it acts like a "wake-up" poke - words need attention(even if only fleeting) is inbuilt as a reflex. Looking at the music lists, including for a recent long night/short sleep one where I had intended to have TTN on, they do seem to have a lot of entries. I too remember opera or similar as among the works played.

[Serial_Apologist]

I too was getting a similar vague impression of more, shorter works, which was meaning that it wasn't doing such a good job of allowing my sleepless brain to unwind. The interjection of a voice, however pleasant, startles, partly because it comes out at a greater volume than the music and also because it acts like a "wake-up" poke - words need attention(even if only fleeting) is inbuilt as a reflex. Looking at the music lists, including for a recent long night/short sleep one where I had intended to have TTN on, they do seem to have a lot of entries. I too remember opera or similar as among the works played.

In the end it all comes down to proximity. Have the radio on at low volume, placed at ear-level within inches on bedside table, intimately emitting the purringly soothing nothings of Through the Night, just the way a loved one would.

[mopsus]

One sometimes gets longer works on at the start of the programme, and particularly on Saturday and Sundays. I still think some items are repeated too often: I'm sure even Angela Hewitt would be embarassed to see how often her Bach F minor concerto is trotted out around 0430. It reminds me of the days on 'Morning on 3' when we had to have 'Zadok the Priest' and Liszt's 'Rigoletto' paraphrase about once a week.

I hardly listen to TTN now, but I recall the most frequently broadcast piece being the overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, whose principal themes are now etched in my memory. Is it still a feature? Along with some obscure composers such as Hellendaal and Clérambault whom you practically never encountered elsewhere, Strauss' first horn concerto and a lot of Canadian ensembles. (We imagined one called the Saskatchewan Strings who we felt would be the quintessential TTN performers.) As for opera, I recall years ago a particularly fine complete performance of Verdi's Otello.

[smittims]

Well, there are the '13 strings of Ottawa', and the Calgary Philharmonic appear occasionally, plus our old friend Mario Bernardi in Vancouver.

I've lost count of the number of composers I've discovered on TTN. Alexander Moyzes remains a favourite. I went on to collect all twelve of his symphonies on Naxos CDs.

Yes , Russlan still rides frequently. It's one of number of pieces which , owing to their length and character, will always be usd to fill a few minutes.

[mopsus]

Yes , Russlan still rides frequently. It's one of number of pieces which , owing to their length and character, will always be usd to fill a few minutes.

I suppose so, although there are many other overtures. And why the obsession with Strauss' first horn concerto (which is the less well known one?)
It reminds me of the standard fillers you used to get on LPs, such as Schubert's Quartettsatz on discs of chamber music.

[smittims]

They used to play Strauss' early wind serenade (the one-movement one) too often. I begged them to play the Suite in B flat instead, occasionally, as it was hardly ever broadcast. And I got so fed up with 'Night on Bare Mountain' that I avoided it for years. I've recently started listening to it again and find it's quite a nice piece after all! (especially the last three minutes or so)

[Serial_Apologist]

They used to play Strauss' early wind serenade (the one-movement one) too often. I begged them to play the Suite in B flat instead, occasionally, as it was hardly ever broadcast. And I got so fed up with 'Night on Bare Mountain' that I avoided it for years. I've recently started listening to it again and find it's quite a nice piece after all! (especially the last three minutes or so)

And quite a lot different from Mussorgsky's original, which in some ways R-K was wrong about, assuming his criticisms were to be read as implicit in his re-shape of what was in fact a remarkable work ahead of its time, in many ways.

[kernelbogey]

It's not that many years since we had the live broadcast of Feldman's 2nd String Quartet occupying most of TtN. Then there was the TtN broadcast of a commercial recording of LaMonte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano filling most of another. Specials, to be sure, but still TtN.

Also that piece by Satie which has to be repeated 400 times; so that took all night, wth a relay of pianists. They don't play it often enough, IMVHO.

[Serial_Apologist]

Also that piece by Satie which has to be repeated 400 times; so that took all night, wth a relay of pianists. They don't play it often enough, IMVHO.

Vexations.

[kernelbogey]

Vexations.

Did you listen to that? I had it on all night, drifting in and out of sleep. I remember the birdsong as the dawn came up - that bit of the performance(s) from a chapel in Gloucestershire, in unreliable memory!

[Bryn]

Vexations.

I missed that broadcast altogether but have attended a few performances over the decades, and have several recordings, including the Jeroen Van Veen of all 840 iterations.



Back in the early 1980s, I recorded the complete relay performance during an Almeida Festival. I then edited out each iteration and superimposed them to produce a simultaneous recording of all 840. The tape hiss built up considerably but the overall effect was surprisingly effective. The approach to the piece varied considerably between the pianist involved, John Tilbury eschewing the pedal and relying entirely on finger legato playing while Michael Nyman tried to play each of his iterations differently. Susan Bradshaw insisted that she hated the piece but participated since it was a fundraising event. I've been tempted to try a redux, using digital recordings by 840 different pianists but have not (yet?) got a round tuit.

[kernelbogey]

I missed that broadcast altogether but have attended a few performances over the decades, and have several recordings, including the Jeroen Van Veen of all 840 iterations.

Oops...I was 440 out...

I quite like it.

[kernelbogey]

Terrific Verdi Requiem from the first night of the 1922 Proms (15.7.22):
13.6.23 12:31 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Messa da Requiem
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano), David Junghoon Kim (tenor), Kihwan Sim (bass baritone), Crouch End Festival Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)

It reminded me at moments how Verdi stretches his soloists; also what a wonderfully operatic requiem this is.

Forumistas appreciated it at the time. (It's worth repeating that the tenor David Junghoon Kim was a substitute.)

[Pulcinella]

Terrific Verdi Requiem from the first night of the 1922 Proms (15.7.22):
13.6.23 12:31 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Messa da Requiem
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano), David Junghoon Kim (tenor), Kihwan Sim (bass baritone), Crouch End Festival Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)

It reminded me at moments how Verdi stretches his soloists; also what a wonderfully operatic requiem this is.

Forumistas appreciated it at the time. (It's worth repeating that the tenor David Junghoon Kim was a substitute.)

Oops! 2022, surely!