Music with Narratives

[Richard Barrett]

Rzewski's Coming Together?

There's a line from the text of that piece I often recall when looking at some corners of this forum...

[verismissimo]

There's a line from the text of that piece I often recall when looking at some corners of this forum...

Do tell...

[Sir Velo]

Do tell...

Something about the ravings of lonely, hysterical men. Charming, eh?

[richardfinegold]

By coincidence I was playing a disc from one of the large Mercury boxes that features Gina Bachauer playing Ravel's Gaspard, with Sir John Gielgud narrating the poems that inspired Ravel before each of the 3 movements. The poems are brief and read without any trace of camp. I was struck by how successful Ravel was in capturing the mood of each poem, and the poems did increase my appreciation of a piece of music that I have listened to for many years.
Having said that, I will now burn the disc to a hard drive and omit the poems, as i would not prefer to listen to them very often, but I'll keep the original disc in case I ever wish to hear them again.

I've listened to the Ravel a few more times and had a change of heart. The Poems enhance the music and I am in awe of how wonderfully Ravel captures the mood of each poem.
Bachuer's Debussy on this disc--Pour le Piano and a Selection of Preludes--is also worth hearing.
I hope this disc is available outside of the big Mercury box for anyone that is interested.

[MrGongGong]

There's a line from the text of that piece I often recall when looking at some corners of this forum...

[Richard Barrett]

Whether I can act with clarity and meaning is another question of course.