Vaughan Williams - Symphony 5 [Gibson-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] 

I can't believe that this is only the second time that this Symphony appears in my Blog, it's my favourite Vaughan Williams Symphony, it's the first one i ever heard [Previn / RCA], and it made a great impression on me, this is a nice 2 disc set, mainly from Paavo Berglund, except this work, it's actually the first time i've played it, i think in my ongoing search for the 'new', i'm neglecting the 'old', some of these old friends really hit you in the heart when you meet them again. 

Alexander Gibson is Scottish, 1926-1995, he recorded this work in 1982, the front booklet cover is very creative, a picture of a wasp's nest [photo by Tom Wenseleers], of course it's referencing 'The Wasps Overture', but it's well composed, very sharp for the subject matter, nice and colourful, the lettering in a square box in the middle, the logo makes a lovely dash of colour.

The third movement is so heavenly, there's a lovely hush at the start, very spiritual, and the cor anglais refrain just adds to the goosebumps mood [0:38-1:03], the slow build up really pays dividends as it naturally blossoms out, there's a wonderful pastoral mood as all the woodwinds have a turn, flute, oboe, and clarinet [2:11-2:35], the oboe and cor anglais duet is well done [4:38+], and then it's rounded out by the flute and clarinet, wow, i just love those shimmering strings [6:47+], that's the best little section i heard today, the central section seems to have music that is a little more sour, but it's nicely offset by the opening returning sweet, right at the end there's a lovely quiet offstage trumpet [11:35-11:56], which brings the movement to a melancholy close, now that's the very best of Vaughan Williams.

Here's Vernon Handley playing the third movement Romanza on YouTube.

Chopin - 21 Nocturnes [Barenboim]

What wonderful creations these are from the master of the piano, only his Etudes trump his Nocturnes, they contain some of my most favourite music of all time, here Barenboim presents these 21 pieces as soft evening lullabies, he's slightly slow, and he's slightly quiet, but this befits the music on offer, i have heard others who strike up a more dramatic interpretation, as if these pieces are the stuff for virtuoso wizards, there's drama aplenty, and my only wish is that Barenboim would in fact extend his extremes a little further, it would add to the sheer black and whiteness of things, rather Barenboim mixes things into shades of grey, this is only a slight quibble, he really is a master of Chopin, i played this set in 2010 [21st May 2010], a different front cover, but still the same music.

Daniel Barenboim is Argentinian, he's now 69 years old, he holds several citizenship's, and i believe he now lives in Germany, he recorded this album in 1981, the front cover is a painting by Otto Modersohn entitled 'Mondnacht Im Tuefelsmoor', literally translated 'MoonNight In Devil's Moor', it's a lovely painting, couched in darkness and mystery, the whole thing goes well with the right half of the booklet in purple, well laid out lettering too, a great visual product.

All of theses Nocturnes were superb, but if i were to pick the very best they would be 3-4, 8, 14 & 17-18, and i re-listening to these six, the gem of the bunch is Nocturne 4 [Op15/1], when i first delved into Chopin's Nocturnes, this quickly became a favourite of mine, but others were to follow, 7, 10 & 11 for instance, before finally settling for Nocturne 8 as my all time favourite, Nocturne 4 is different than the usual, its gentle and bright playing is a breath of fresh air, a lovely easy going tune, the mini trills [0:32-0:34] sound so innocent, as if the piece was made as a lullaby for a child, however like most Nocturnes, they can have a stormy central section [1:28-2;29], and here's where Barenboim lets go, changing from F Major to F Minor, there's anger and extra volume, but it's only a minute and it's blown over, and the opening returns, and those mini trills excite again [3:03-3:05], and the piece ends ever so gently.

Here's Barenboim playing Nocturne 4 [Op15/1] on YouTube.

Tennis [Laundromat] 

Here's something different, a disc i bought on Ebay a while back, it looked really good, though the Band name is a bit naff, but this is how i delve into a lot of new music, if it looks really good, then i'll buy it and give it a spin, it's hard to pinpoint their genre, but i would say a sort of Punk Rock, maybe an EMO Band, it's short on quantity, nearly 34 minutes, but it's made up for in quality, a good dose of something different today. 

Tennis are a sort of an Indie Band, with some Punk leanings, maybe we can call them IndiePunk, they brought this album out in 2003, i'm sure they're American, there is another American band called Tennis as well, but don't get them mixed up, they seem more popular, this is a 3 piece Band [Greg Tuohey = Vocals & Guitar, Kris Bauman = Bass, and Jochen Ruekert = Drums], their surnames sound Dutch, like i said, i bought the disc because of the front cover, it's an excellent concept [photography by Joet T], pictures throughout are of a Laundromat, including close-up pictures, all couched in a fluorescent green lighting, the Band logo is excellent also, a great visual product.

The two tracks i enjoyed the most were 5 & 6, here's a synopsis of each,
5 Friend With Benefits - Nice Drum & Bass vibe at the beginning, the drums are nicely complex, and well recorded [0:00-0:22], but it's only further into the track that the lead guitar comes in [1:12+], which helps to open out the track nicely, with only a trio Band you're always going to have a limitation of instrumentation, but it works well for Tennis, i like the way that the opening returns towards the end [2:04+], best lyrics - 'I just fell like a bitter man into the slippery arms of a lie', some inventive guitar work, and the track develops quite an intensity towards the end.
6 Pure Evil - A more poppy track, fairly heavy guitars, the lead Vocalist isn't a perfect singer by far, there's a slight tendency to sing out of tune, i only notice the excellence of the opening when it returns for the second verse [1:26-1:39], a nice infectious bass vibe [1:53+], and the intro comes back at the very end as the outro [2:48-3:15], yes i admit that it's not a great album [at least not on this first listen], but i excited me enough to enjoy and Blog it today.

You can hear the first 30 seconds of each track on the AllMusic website.

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons [Mutter/ Karajan-Wiener Philharmonker] 

Here's another Four Seasons by Vivaldi, one of the most popular works in classical music, some people hate it because of an over-exposure to the music, but i actually love this work, i have several versions, most with Internationally known Violinists, and i never seem to get bored with this work, it's good to hear Mutter's interpretation of it today. 

Anne-Sophie Mutter is German, she's now 49, she recorded this work here with Karajan in 1984, however she re-recorded the work with a smaller group [the Trondheim Soloists] in 1999, this is the bigger 'symphonic' interpretation, maybe more regal and majestic, whereas the 'chamber' interpretation is more individual and zesty, both work, and it's good to have both extremes, the front and back inlay are excellent [photos by Snowdon, i take it that's Lord Snowdon = Anthony Armstrong-Jones], the picture in a wood, sunlight dappling through the trees, Mutter with her violin, it's a great pic, upper three fifths tree trunks, lower two fifths the woodland floor, Mutter brings a wonderful dash of colour and human-ness to the picture, the small white lettering above is excellently laid out too, and Karajan on the back, a much darker shot, but he's well lit.

It was Winter that i found exhilarating, especially the opening movement, . 

Here's on Anne-Sophie Mutter playing the first movement of Winter on YouTube, Herbert Von Karajan conducting.

Beethoven - Piano Concerto 5 'Emperor' [Uchida/Sanderling-Symphonie Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks] 

Ah, Beethoven's Emperor again, this is a great set of his Piano Concertos, i actually have 10 sets of these Concertos, each housed in these 1 inch 'fatbox' cases, and this is one of my favourite, it may seem to some that ten sets is just multiplying stuff i've already got, but each set is subtly different, a different insight and interpretation, if you really love the music, you will want to hear what others have to say as well, i wrote about this very performance in the first year of my Blog [4th August 2010], and this work now appears 13 times in my Blog, and almost without exception, when i listen to all the works in these box sets, it's almost always the Fifth that i come away having the best experience with, it's a wonderful creation that remains my most cherished Piano Concerto. 

Mitsuko Uchida was born in Japan, though now she's British, she's now 63, she recorded this work in 1998, the photos for the set are excellent [by Maarten Corbijn], on the front cover it's a monotone shot [brown & cream], a duo pic of Uchida & Sanderling, nicely caught, the lettering [also in brown, with cream background], are nicely done, i like the visuals for this set, it really adds a touch of professionalism to the whole thing.

Of all the movements, it was the slow middle movement that moved me the most,. 

Here's on Uchida playing an excerpt of the slow movement on YouTube, this time with Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.

Brahms - 7 Fantasien Op116 [Vladar] 

Another disc of Brahms's Op116-119, these lovely 4 books of 20 pieces are full of the most tremendous invention, i'm sure that Brahms was 'intimidated' by Beethoven, his very earliest works were 3 Piano Sonatas, but they weren't a great success, and he wrote no more, in many ways he concentrated on the Variation form for his solo piano pieces, but toward the end of his life he created these books of piano pieces, maybe he composed them and didn't know how else to issue them, so they became books of clumps of pieces, certainly Piano Sonatas can have a sense of wonderful architecture, but when a piece is freed from such constraints, then each piece can stand on its own, it's not necessarily dependant on those pieces beside it, it takes on a life of its own, this is the first time i've listened to this disc, in fact it's the first time i've listened to Stefan Vladar also, and i like this disc greatly, i listened to it during my walk to / from Church. 

Stefan Vladar was born in Austria, he is now 47, he made this recording in 2003, the booklet photo is by Alvaro Yanez, a side profile of Vladar, nicely lit from the front, nice use of the interlocked hands, great stuff, i like the contours.

These 7 pieces were a revelation, in fact the Op116 pieces are the Brahms set i know the least, so surprisingly it felt at times that they were completely new to me, as if i was hearing some Brahms for the very first time, the piece that really stuck out was the Op116/2, called an Intermezzo by Brahms, it's truly fabulous, it starts off very ordinary in a way, but it's so deceptive, it's in the key of A Minor, after the opening, and a more complex variation of the opening, the real magic begins, as Brahms throws the piece into a cascade of tolling bells [1:05-1:45], it's so sadly beautiful, and the perfect antidote to the opening, then Brahms seemingly spoils the spell, as he introduces new music which seems so ordinary by comparison [1:45+], but again Brahms surprises us by subtly changing the music to sound more interesting and affecting [2:00+], the opening returns, but in such a subtle way as it's blended in without a seam [2:34+], however the tolling bells don't come back, and this is a little message to me to savour them all the more when i hear them for the first and only time, the piece ends on on a quiet but deep bass notes [3:39-3:53], i'm a better person for listening to this today. 

Here's Tanja Morozova playing Brahms's Intermezzo Op116/2 on YouTube.

Bruce Cockburn [Dart To The Heart] 

Another lovely atmospheric disc, Bruce Cockburn [pronounced Co-Burn] certainly isn't consistent, he goes all over the place in quality, some of his albums are very 'environmental', others are anti-war, he's political like Jackson Browne at times, but when you get away from all of that, and get into an album which has just great songs, then you can see his brilliance, this is the very best album i've heard from him, it's quite a gem in my library, i played this at the end of 2010 [15th December 2010]. 

Bruce Cockburn is Canadian, he's now 67 years old, he has 24 studio albums, and live / compilation albums make up another dozen, so a very well recorded Artist, though i've always wanted to get deeper into his catalogue, i've been 'scared off' by trying a couple of other albums that haven't worked out, is he another one of my 'one album Artists'?, he recorded this disc in 1994, i like the photography throughout [by Dana Tynan], on the front showing a yellowed out picture of an Archer [Cockburn i take it], just the two hands really, showing the bow / arrow, and the hands gripping, a nice concept.

Well the tracks that i found the best were 4, 6 & 8-9, with track 8 'Someone I Used To Love' the cream of the crop, the title suggests it's about a past love, but actually he's singing about a present love that he doesn't want be someone he used to love, it's a gentle acoustic guitar song, the lovely guitar picking intro sets the tone [0:00-0:11], the start of the first verse is just Cockburn's voice and his guitar [0:11-0:57], with a slight smattering of gentle organ played by T Bone Burnett, the second verse opens up to the band, but it's still very acoustic, i especially like the mandolin [Colin Linden] and the accordion [Richard Bell], a wonderful use of instruments, between the second and third verses there's an extended instrumental interlude, Cockburn first, then Bell second [1:45-2:30], i like the lyrics in the last verse 'You draw me in towards you, like the moon pulls at the tide' [2:42-2:53], the whole song sounds like a perspective from old age looking back [think Fernando by ABBA here], there's a certain sense of deep nostalgia, even maybe regret, it's a very touching song. 

Here's a cover version of 'Someone I Used To Love' being sung on YouTube, Jimmy Buffett also did a cover version of it as a duet with Nancy Griffith, also on YouTube, i'll have to check out his album.

Mark Whitfield [7th Ave Stroll] 

This is the third time that this disc has appeared in my Blog [9th November 2011 & 7th January 2010], so basically a good once a year thing, Guitar Jazz is usually not my thing, it seems that a plethora of Jazz Guitarists skirt on the very edge of Jazz [George Benson, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Ronny Jordan etc], either veering into Rock, World Music, or Fusion, it's hard to find a player that keeps to the pure Jazz tradition, so it's good to hear Whitfield on this recording, working two distinctive Quartets, i bought this disc upstairs in a bargain attic in Notting Hill Gate in London for £2, a bargain then, but more reasonable on Ebay today, it was so good to get out of the 'norm' of musical circles, and delve into some Jazz today. 

Mark Whitfield is American, he is now 45, he made this record in 1995, the photography throughout is excellent [by Kwaku Alston], the front cover is a black & white picture at night in New York i take it, using a long shutter speed, but also using flash too, therefore you can see movement in the background, the vehicle passing, and the ghosting legs of those behind him, the red of the name lettering adds a burst of colour, in a way similar to yesterdays black & white image with red writing, i like the finished product, it's great visually, as well as musically.

There's so much good music on this disc, tracks 2, 7 & 9 were the very best, with track 9 'Sunset At Waterside' the real gem of the whole pack, Whitfield isn't a Hard Bopper, this is quite a gentle track, he works with two different Piano Trios on this disc, a younger Trio, and an older Trio, here on this track he's working with the men of mature experience, Tommy Flanagan = piano, Dave Holland = bass, and Al Foster = drums, the tune is a Whitfield original, the three oldies are quite happy to stay in the shadows [at least initially], the tune is brilliant, so memorable, Whitfield plays it with such an upbeat funky straightness [0:00-0:55], the 'verse' is played twice, before the 'chorus' comes in [0:56-1:08], and this is where subtly the thing begins to take off, the drummer Foster gets a bit more complicated, you can hear him thinking, he tightens the screws very nicely, and the thing is rounded out with a third verse [1:09-1:34], then comes the more BeBop 'variations' [1:34+], i just love the way Whitfield takes it to the next swinging level [2:01+], you can hear i believe Foster in the background really letting go with his vocalise, superb drumming too, and then the time is turned over to Flanagan [3:08-3:57], the start is so excellent, a slight shock to this system as he's been so reticent up until now, there's a wonderful moment where he hesitates and bassist Holland seems to be starting a tag with him, that would of been absolutely great, and after the hesitation he just rolls straight in again [3:13], it's a superb moment, but i think a 'mistake', the bassist does get a solo later, it's wonderful to hear the opening tune come back in its full glory with Whitfield [4:34+], the chorus again is so excellent [5:25+], tremendously and endlessly inventive Jazz. 

Here's Mark Whitfield playing 'Sunset On Waterside' on his MySpace page.