Brahms: (4) Symphonies

MAHLER CREATED THIS ON HOLIDAY - SYMPHONY NO.4

Advantages: Varied movements, esp. 1st and 4th. One of Mahler's most popular works.
Disadvantages: 2nd movement a little weak.

to complete it. --- MUSIC --- Mahler himself thought of this work as transparent, relatively brief, and non-aggressive. Comprising of 4 movements, it is fairly short compared to his other symphony's and certainly more upbeat, using only a small section of the orchestra compared to his other works. The first movement would almost look like a pyramid if drawn. The start and end are very gradually built up/down (the same melody used at the start and finish) with the climax of the piece about 10mins in with bells and horns making an appearance. The second movement relies far too much on strings for my liking and lacks the distinctiveness of the 1st movement. The 3rd draws a more subtle manner which makes you believe it is the same as the 2nd at first, but then provides differences to illustrate its superiority; it also leads ...

Puma1000 24.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Mahler: Symphony No 4

Karajan's more beautiful than bold

Advantages: Subtle, Expressive, Beautiful Performances
Disadvantages: Pricey but worth the cost

Every classical music fan will probably have a collection of Brahm's four symphonies around somewhere, but for tonal clarity, poetic beauty and the milking of every orchestral and melodic subtlety I have heard no better than Karajan's rendition with the BPO. The first is clear and bright, with a truly haunting adagio and nice pace to the finale. There are other performances of the 2nd that I prefer, but this gave me new insights into the form, Karajan paying particular attention to crisply defined structure rather than over-Romanticising Brahms' score. The highlight, however, has to be the tumultuously powerful 4th symphony, in which both form and drama fuse marvellously, especially at the culminating final moments of the first and fourth movements. Forget the lower rate orchestral versions around the web, this is worth every ...

cynicalconsumer 14.04.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Brahms: Complete Symphonies

Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti

Advantages: Two outstanding peices of chamber music for an unusual combination of instruments
Disadvantages: On the surface quite contrasting works, listener must be openminded

procedures, deriving new and original ideas influenced by the chamber music of old masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. Ligeti was influenced by the music of fellow Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, who once stated that "Every art has the right to strike its roots in the art of a previous age; it not only has the right to but it must stem from it". This makes the pairing of one of Ligeti's finest works with the Brahms Op.40 Trio a very appropriate one. Both outstanding chamber works in their own rights and certainly the two best pieces composed for this unusual combination invented by Brahms, a good recording is essential, but hard to find. There are not that many recordings in existence of these works due to the technical complexity for performers and even acclaimed recordings such as the CD by Perlman, Ashkenazy ...

sandersabigail 29.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Brahms; Ligeti: Horn Trios