Musical tit-bits

[Leinster Lass]

When time and other factors allow, I'm happy to sit down and listen to a Mahler symphony (well, Nos. 1-6), a late Beethoven quartet, or other works of similar length or substance, but quite often I have just 10 or so minutes to spare. These lacunae (oh I say!) in my daily routine are perfect for listening to, for example, many works from the Baroque era, or tone poems from a later era. I'm fortunate in that both BBC Radio 3 and Lyric fm provide appropriate fare at convenient times of the day - and I can always head to my CD collection for a quick Vivaldi concerto!

[Pulcinella]

You've got another 7 Boyce symphonies to go, too!

[Leinster Lass]

You've got another 7 Boyce symphonies to go, too!

6 actually - I listened to/watched The New Dutch Academy's performance of No. 2 on YouTube just before bedtime yesterday. Happily, I rarely get depressed, but if would imagine that, I were feeling really low, these delightful works would help me snap out of it pronto! Helpful comments on another thread will doubtless lead me to the right choice when - as seems increasingly likely - it comes to purchasing these on CD (still my favourite way of listening to music- but then, I'm an old-fashioned girl, I guess).

[oddoneout]

I have a soft spot for the Boyce symphonies as movements from some of them featured in my school orchestra repertoire. Choice was constrained by lack of some instrumentalists so it tended to be the string and oboe ones either as writ for Senior orchestra or, more often, arranged(we had a very talented music master) for the Senior Strings. Even now, well over 50 years later, I can be instantly transported to rehearsals in the large school hall.

[Edgy 2]

When time and other factors allow, I'm happy to sit down and listen to a Mahler symphony (well, Nos. 1-6), a late Beethoven quartet, or other works of similar length or substance, but quite often I have just 10 or so minutes to spare. These lacunae (oh I say!) in my daily routine are perfect for listening to, for example, many works from the Baroque era, or tone poems from a later era. I'm fortunate in that both BBC Radio 3 and Lyric fm provide appropriate fare at convenient times of the day - and I can always head to my CD collection for a quick Vivaldi concerto!

We had this thread many moons ago LL http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...ning-Playlists

Plenty of full works at 10 mins and under in there

[french frank]

I'm happy to sit down and listen to a Mahler symphony (well, Nos. 1-6), a late Beethoven quartet, or other works of similar length or substance, but quite often I have just 10 or so minutes to spare. These lacunae (oh I say!) in my daily routine are perfect for listening to, for example, many works from the Baroque era, or tone poems from a later era.

I've never believed that this actually happened. That in the middle of semi-listening while people were doing other things, a short piece came on and they stopped what they were doing and listened until it finished - and then resumed what they were doing. I don't mean I dont think it ever happens, just that it sounds a most improbable way of listening to the radio profitably. Sounds a bit of a nuisance to have to keep stopping what you're doing to listen to one interesting piece. The rhythm of your life is punctuated by spare 10 minuteses [sic?] which coincide with the duration of a 10-minute piece of music?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I've never believed that this actually happened. That in the middle of semi-listening while people were doing other things, a short piece came on and they stopped what they were doing and listened until it finished - and then resumed what they were doing. I don't mean I dont think it ever happens, just that it sounds a most improbable way of listening to the radio profitably. Sounds a bit of a nuisance to have to keep stopping what you're doing to listen to one interesting piece. The rhythm of your life is punctuated by spare 10 minuteses [sic?] which coincide with the duration of a 10-minute piece of music?

I was once listening to a performance of the Schumann Fantaise by I think Mieczysław Horszowski on Radio Three as we pulled into a beach car park at the height of summer . I’d been half listening and then a minute before it came to the very difficult skips I gave it my full attention. I realised that this was a magnificent performance and stayed in my car seat listening to that overwhelming final movement. It was the best performance I’ve ever heard. The really irritating thing is that like Sullivan’s lost chord I can’t be sure it was Mieczysław Horszowski playing ....

[Richard Barrett]

I've never believed that this actually happened. That in the middle of semi-listening while people were doing other things, a short piece came on and they stopped what they were doing and listened until it finished - and then resumed what they were doing. I don't mean I dont think it ever happens, just that it sounds a most improbable way of listening to the radio profitably

I think it happened to me a few times in the days when I used to listen to the radio.

Tangentially, when I first became a parent, a colleague said to me that the most important thing to bear in mind regarding continuing with one's work was to be able to get something meaningful done in 20 minutes. I think that might have been among the most valuable pieces of advice I've ever received. More recently I've often had similar spans of time available for listening, which has been a bit problematic because I've been quite involved with Bruckner during this period...

[french frank]

I think it happened to me a few times in the days when I used to listen to the radio.

I was once listening to a performance of the Schumann Fantaise

And I remember it happening once - that something caught my attention while I was only half-listening. But as a broadcasting strategy - to assume that an audience habitually listens in that way? That even if you only play 6-minute pieces, listeners will fit their actions so that they are continually 'tuning in' to the start of a complete work and listening to the end then tuning out again? Seems odd to me, but I may be the odd one γνῶθι σεαυτόν !

[Roslynmuse]

I was once listening to a performance of the Schumann Fantaise by I think Mieczysław Horszowski on Radio Three as we pulled into a beach car park at the height of summer . I’d been half listening and then a minute before it came to the very difficult skips I gave it my full attention. I realised that this was a magnificent performance and stayed in my car seat listening to that overwhelming final movement. It was the best performance I’ve ever heard. The really irritating thing is that like Sullivan’s lost chord I can’t be sure it was Mieczysław Horszowski playing ....

When was it? A quick search on Genome brings up this: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0a3c4c4b...c6a4f098992cbc
but the only Schumann works listed elsewhere are Papillons and the Arabesque.

Genome is a wonderful resource (although not infallible - not least because it depends on correct digital rendering of text from the original Radio Times, and on any given day there may be up to twenty small but significant errors. When I have time I offer up edits and corrections, some of which are taken up by the powers-that-be!) but it depends on having at least an approximate date in mind.

[Ein Heldenleben]

When was it? A quick search on Genome brings up this: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0a3c4c4b...c6a4f098992cbc
but the only Schumann works listed elsewhere are Papillons and the Arabesque.

Genome is a wonderful resource (although not infallible - not least because it depends on correct digital rendering of text from the original Radio Times, and on any given day there may be up to twenty small but significant errors. When I have time I offer up edits and corrections, some of which are taken up by the powers-that-be!) but it depends on having at least an approximate date in mind.

Can’t thank you enough . Looking at my diary in fact I was walking on Solsbury Hill (of Peter Gabriel fame ) that day (Sunday - which fits ) so it could well be it? I suspect the recording is in the BBC archive so , unless they choose to repeat it , I may be waiting a long time . You are right Genome is a fantastic resource. Wouldn’t it be great if the entire BBC recorded archive was downloadable ?