Ah, yes, the old warhorse, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik! I've heard it in recordings, in the concert hall, and individual movements, themes, and snippets as soundtrack for everything from movies to cartoons, to TV commercials to elevators and "please remain on hold until our next associate is available to assist...."
Like Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Pachelbel's Canon, I should be suffering the classical equivalent of Hotel California or Layla-level burnout with this one. Every time I start to hear it, my first thought is "Oh, good grief, not again!" But then in spite of myself, I end up thoroughly enjoying it... yet again. Such is the genius of Mozart.
Freebird!!!
hehe - yeah Pachelbel's Canon I totally can agree with... like the 8bit midi version of it basically is just as good as the full orchestration (ok that's harsh, maybe not that bad)... but yeah, totally can get on that bandwagon.
But yeah, as much as I hear what your saying Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Le quattro stagioni are amazing works we often overlook due to their familiarity.
And yes that is the genius of Mozart I'm finding, he masterfully mixes the simple with the complex and possibly layers better than ANY other composer... he has this simple melody mixed in with really complex music ideas, it's like he writes to both the simpleton and genius at the same time. And more importantly, both "stories" cut at the same time without mixing it up or getting confusing or messy... simultaneously simple and complex. Genius.
Oh also a small bitte (uh... favor?)... my posts are annoyingly long to quote... do you mind editing it out to be only part of it... like the youtube URL or the album cover only or only my words or the quote you like from another review? Unless of course you are referencing the whole thing, then of course quote the whole thing. It's a 1% thing... no big deal if you don't. I appreciate the feedback!
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Era: Classical
Year: 1773 (Exsultate, jubilate); 1783 (Great Mass in C minor)
Form: Missa solemnis/Motet
Score: 89
Wow! Here's a masterful example of Mozart's ability to layer with the classical style. Nearly as masterful with polyphony as Bach, but instead of the pure Baroque style, dude comes in with these powerful string melody lines that cut through the polyphony while simultaneously being in it... freaking genius.
The 25th symphony displays some flair to them that are precursors to some of his better symphonies, including what wraps this up with his 35th. I wasn't taken by his 28th and 29th otherwise I think I would rate this higher.
Era: Classical
Year: 1773
Form: Concertos & Sinfonia Concertante (a mix between symphony and concerto)
Score: 85.5
This was a pleasant, yet lively, violin performance. While very enjoyable to listen to, I didn't have any standout experiences with it. I also really liked the horns here somehow. It all seems majestic and even if at times lively, it felt quite relaxing. Probably best piece here was the Sinfonia Concertante.
I think I listened to too much Mozart in the past 48 hours... I'll probably need to revisit some of this. I'm also finding the classical period very difficult to rate because it's rare when it's got things going against it.
Era: Classical
Year: 1773
Form: Concertos & Sinfonia Concertante (a mix between symphony and concerto)
Score: 84
I may have to come back to this one, but I do remember being the least impressed of all of the works I've listened to of Mozart's in the past 48 hours. It was pleasant and even powerful at times, but lacked in the substance of other works imo. Less well executed dynamic/layering, etc, yet a good listen.
Era: Classical
Year: 1775 (for one of them)
Form: Well the album really says it all
Score: 84
I was in some ways glad to be rid of the harpsichord, but of course J.S. Bach's son brings it... bach... (ok bad pun). Also Bach means stream in German for those who like language. Anyway I much liked the Cello stuff with things more, not only cause I think I'm out done with harpsichord music for a bit, but furthermore, I like Cello concertos/stuff/things more than probably any other solo instrument... it's range is more interesting to me. I've heard it's the closest instrument to the human voice, so idk... maybe that's it. Still overall solid and even the harpsichord stuff with things was more than just ok, even if at the time of listening to it, I was like, eh, ok.
Oh things people care about more are probably the samples to see if they want to dive in head first or run away:
1. I'm not a big mass guy. They're all so.... serious and heavy. Mozart however manages to capture all that weight and grandeur, but without squeezing all the charm out of it. There is joy in this mass and I find it personally more listenable than most.
2. My recollection is that Mozart's 25th is the first of his symphonies where I get the real glimpses of the mature Mozart to come. So not only is it a pleasant listen, it's also meaningful in a historical/development sort of way. Your post helped remind me of that.
3. It's a shame you didn't have a massively amazing experience with the violin concertos; Mozart's are indeed wonderful. The fifth in particular is one of those superlative works that sits in the upper echelon of all great music, even impressive by Mozart's lofty standards. Hopefully it's just a fault of that particular performance/recording.
4. I loved the C.P.E. Bach music. I have a recording of his flute concertos that I turn to often. Since I share your affinity for cello, it only makes sense that I would take to your selection here. There's some wonderful variety and expressiveness here that belies the overall conservative nature of the work. It looks like one I may have to add to my collection.
Thanks for all the great links and your comments. Super fun thread, especially since I've been focusing so heavily on jazz lately. Good to get back into classical! I'll be bookmarking this thread and referring back to it for sure.
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Thanks Fischman!
1. For sure, I was quite taken back by this recording. It's the first time I've listened to it and even compared to Bach's Massterful Masterpiece I was quite wowed, mostly about that factor I already spoke to.
2. Yeah, that's my recollection too, but I'm pretty new to looking at his works... exposure isn't experience kind of thing. I haven't studied Mozart really enough to know much more, but the recordings at least show it as such.
3. I think you are right, it likely is great. I think my palate needs some cleaning or something cuz I've listened to so much Mozart the last few days it's starting to get difficult to decipher. Having said that, I'm currently not rating things movement by movement, etc. it's more like a gut rating and if I'm a few points off I'm not too concerned. I'm mostly doing it on a scale against other great works if that makes sense. And to be honest/frank I'm not sure which methodology is better for rating/ranking classical... I buy/play it usually in an album format, so I'm often looking for the album that's best. At any rate, I just found the violin Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat (K.364) to be slightly more intriguing, while Violin Concerto No. 5 In A (k.219) was less amazing, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good or even great. Long story short, I'm pretty novice at a lot of this and this is A LOT of Mozart to take on all at once.
4. Oooh... Maybe PM me your Jazz recs? Do you have a listening list? I'm really wanting to not just get the top 10 or whatever, but if you have it, I'd love a listening list through time similar to this... early jazz until now. I mean not every work ever, but the "historically significant" ones similar to this classical project... RE: CPE Bach, yeah, it's a shame he and his brother J.C. Bach are actually very good and possibly don't get the clout they deserve.
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Speaking of which - I did listen to this as well and found the performances better, but the overall music deserves a revisit. She's definitely one of the better soloists and perhaps the focus was more on her... idk, what's your favorite recording of his violin concertos?
Speaking of which - I did listen to this as well and found the performances better, but the overall music deserves a revisit. She's definitely one of the better soloists and perhaps the focus was more on her... idk, what's your favorite recording of his violin concertos?
I'm afraid I don't have a lot of multi-recording knowledge. The world of Classical music is so broad and deep that were I to delve greatly into multiple recordings of works, I'd have scarce little time left over to explore jazz, blues, rock, etc., let alone all the other non-musical elements of my life. Priorities have me chasing more breadth than depth.
As such, I'm not familiar with a lot of recordings of the Mozart violin concertos including my favorite, the 5th. The only one I'm deeply familiar with is the one I own, a Sony Classics disc containing the 4th and 5th along with a couple very nice single movement pieces, the Adagio for Violin & Orchestra in E Major, K. 261 and the Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in C Major, K.373 with Pinchas Zukerman doing double duty both as soloist and conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
I really have no idea whether it is the best or even one of the better recordings of those concertos, but it was good enough for me to take a real liking to the 5th.
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