Brahms: Complete Choral Works

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

The work of Ligeti has been at the forefront of Western avant-garde since his escape from the oppressive communist regime of Hungary in 1956, and he is widely appreciated as one of the most outstanding contemporary composers. The Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano because it was born out of a three-year period of illness and writer's block after the completion of Le Grand Macabre in which time he laboured over a piano concerto but completed only two short harpsichord pieces (Continuum and Hungarian Rock), yet the result in 1982 was the Trio, one of the finest and most complex pieces written so far. His career up to this point had included such sucesses as his Requiem, Atmosphères and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001. Tiring of his own cluster-textural techniques and the avant-garde, Ligeti refreshed his compositional ...

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

Mutter?s Magnificent Brahms Violin Concerto

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

performances. I?ve always found a rare, affecting quality in Mutter's distinctive sound. A pure, silvery tone unlike any other flows effortlessly from her Strad, yet she avoids descending to soporific and maudlin lows. Her more expansive reading, the greater elasticity than is usual of her sustained notes, allows one to absorb, ponder and appreciate the sheer exquisiteness of the music more fully. Read on to see why this disc will rank among my DIDs (desert island discs) for all time. ~~~~~~~~~~ As befits its Teutonic origins, the Brahms violin concerto is a weighty one, in contrast to, say, the Mendelssohn. In this seminal work, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) displays some of the most emotive and lyrical musical themes in the classical repertoire. Brahms wrote it for his good friend, Joseph Joaquim (1831-1907), asking the great Austro ...

zerbine28 27.08.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Brahms: Violin Concerto; Schumann: Fantasie,Op 131

It Works for me....sometimes....!

Advantages: Cheap. Good for buying presents.
Disadvantages: Sell a lot of titles you've never heard of....

The Works is a discount bookstore which can be found on many high streets. I have browsed around a fair few discount bookstores, but have always found this store to be the best in it?s class. Overall, I tend to find that a lot of discount bookstores sell a lot of uninteresting titles, & books you?ve never heard of. The Works does also fall into this category, but seems to also sell more bestsellers than other stores (often current ones at that), covering a wide range of authors. Books are laid out according to genre & are for the most part stacked on shelves with the cover facing forwards, so that you can see at a glance what titles are in stock. The more popular fiction & bestsellers are laid out on tables at the front of the store, with reference books & childrens books being on shelves running down the sides & back of the store ...

sambam000 13.07.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Works