Day 23

I actually listened to this piece yesterday and ended up not being able to break away from something to write about it. In the end I guess I lucked out since I didn't listen to anything classical today. I did, however, listen to two great Cat Stevens LPs; amazing stuff, really if everyone detained by Homeland Security is this talented we need to start sending in three new CIA inquisitors, Martin, Eno and Peel.

Side One

Piece: Quartet No 3 in D Major, Op. 18

1. Allegro

2. Andante con moto

3. Allegro

4. Presto

Composer: Beethoven

Performers: The Budapest Quartet: Roisman & A Schneider, Violins; Ipolyi, Viola; M. Schneider, Cello

Record Date: 04/30/1935

Side Two

Piece: Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 "Harp"

1. Poco adagio: Allegro

2. Adagio ma non troppo

3. Presto

4. Allegretto con variazioni

Composer: Beethoven

Performers: The Budapest Quartet: Roisman & A Schneider, Violins; Ipolyi, Viola; M. Schneider, Cello.

Record Date: 04/27/1936

Well that's all for now; tomorrow will be my final post until Monday due to being out of records. Any guesses on what I'll be listening to? I'll give you a hint, I've mentioned having the piece before, but have yet to listen to it.

Day 22

Some very pretty pieces today, and once again the composer is Beethoven. Why you ask: is it could because I really really like his work; or perhaps because his works are recorded most often; or it could just be because it's all I have left until I get the mother load of records on Friday. Right now I plan on receiving 13 boxes of records, which conservative count would be around 750 records. Then I get the fun of opening all of them; that's right, it's going to be Christmas in September.

Anyway on to today's listening.

Side One
Piece: Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No 5
1. Allegro
2. Menuetto
3. Andante cantabile
4. Allegro
Composer: Beethoven
Performers: The Budapest Quartet: Roisman and Gorodetzky on Violins; Kroyt on Viola; M. Schneider on Cello.
Record Date: 1951

Side Two
Piece: Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No.6
1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio, ma non troppo
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. La Malinconia: Adagio; Allegretto quasi allegro
Performers: The Budapest Quartet: Roisman and Gorodetzky on Violins; Kroyt on Viola; M. Schneider on Cello.
Record Date: 1951

Day 21

Quick one today as I'm spending all day tomorrow doing stuff for my upcoming wedding (in May 2010) and have three internship interviews and a big grad school homework thingy to do by Tuesday.

Side One:
Piece: Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K 590
1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante; Allegretto
3. Menuetto: Allegretto; Trio
4. Allegro
Composer: Mozart
Performers: The Budepest Quartet: Roisman & A. Schneider, Violins; Ipolyi, Viola; M. Schneider, Cello.
Record Date: 04/29/1935

Side Two:
Piece: Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18
1. Allegro
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Allegro molto, quasi presto
Composer: Beethoven
Performers: The Budepest Quartet: Roisman & A Schneider, Violins; Kroyt Viola; M Schneider, Cello.
Record Date: 06/01/1938

The one thing I will point out about these recordings is the recording date. When I thought about it, I began to raise questions about the recording of a temporal art, like music, and how this captures the the intentions of the composer as interpreted by the musician. When these guys recorded the pieces, they did it through one mic, that fed to a piece of equipment, that literally cut the record right then and there. It was one take, no multi-track, no EQ, no compression, no nothing. The reason that I bring this up is because I've been reading a lot of audiophile websites lately, which often state that the goal of a stereo is to replicate the music exactly as it was played. If that is true, and since Mozart was born and died long before recording music was even an idea, couldn't we say that these, what we would call Lo-Fi recordings, are more true to the piece that Mozart put to paper than any recording that is done today using multi-track, post-editing, compression filled, mixed-down tech masturbation? I honestly don't know, but I would say it's a good question to ask as everyone raves about the joys of the new Beatles mixes.

Day 19

Today I'm continuing with Beethoven's String Quartets. I have a lot to say about them, but must write a cover letter for an internship applications. I hate cover letters, but I like internships with money and tuition vouchers...Dilemmas.

Side One
Piece: Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No 3
1. Allegro
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro
4. Presto
Composer: Beethoven
Performers: The Budapest Quartet: Roisman and Gorodetsky on Violins; Kroyt on Viola and Schneider on Cello.
Record Date: 1951

Side Two
Piece: Quartet in C Minor, Op 18, No 4
1. Allegro ma non tanto
2. Scherzo: Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
3. Menuetto: Allegretto
4. Allegro

And that's all folks

Day 18

Spent most of the day rearranging the apartment, or reading about how alcohol intake can be a risk factor for heart attacks (and yes, I was drinking a beer while reading, so what).

Today was the first and second of Beethoven's Op. 18, The Six Quartets
Side One
Piece: Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato
3. Scherzo: Allegro molto
4. Allegro
Composer: Beethoven
Performers: The Budapest String Quartet: Roisman and Gorodetzky, Violins; Kroyt, Viola; Schneider, Cello
Record Date: 1951

Side Two
Piece: Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2
1.Allegro
2. Adagio cantabile; Allegro
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Allegro molto quasi presto

Supposedly this is one of those great recordings that happens once in a lifetime. The best musicians, playing the best instruments, preforming a great piece. I just wish life would have slowed down enough for me to really sit and enjoy.

Day 15

Today we move to chamber music, mainly because I listened to these two string quartet pieces while reading an article on the philosophy of how we teach epidemiologists to conduct data analysis. If I had been listening to something heavy, I would have wanted to kill myself for fear of misclassification.

Side One
Piece: Quartet No 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt": First Movement, Allegro vivace assai; Second Movement, Menuetto, Moderato, Trio; Third Movement, Adagio; Fourth Movement, Allegro assai.
Composer: Mozart
Musicians: The Budapest Quartet: First Violin, Joseph Roisman; Second Violin, Alexander Schneider; Viola, Boris Kroyt; Cello, Mischa Schneider.
Record Date: 02/02/1940

Side Two
Piece: Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 "Dissonant": First Movement, Adagio, Allegro; Second Movement, Andante cantabile; Third Movement, Menuetto, Allegro; Trio; Fourth Movement, Allegro molto.
Composer: Mozart
Musicians: The Budapest Quartet: First Violin, Joseph Roisman; Second Violin, Alexander Schneider; Viola, Istvan Ipolyi; Cello, Mischa Schneider.
Record Date: 11/14/1932

Anyone who has spoken to me about classical music knows that I am no big fan of Mozart. It's that I don't find his work beautiful, or technically amazing, I just have little to no emotional response to 90% of what I hear. I once heard this thought best stated by a TA I had for one of my Music course (I did minor is Musicology), "Mozart wrote pretty pieces for rich people."

I think I'll leave it at that; though I do plan on listening to plenty of Mozart throughout these 10,000 days. Sometimes you just need something pretty.