Thursday, April 09, 2009

Scattered Thoughts

In which any and all potentially topical Judeo-Christian religious holidays are ignored:
Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture (1880) for orchestra
Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor (1914)
Arnold Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1, op. 9 (1906)
John Adams: Chamber Symphony (1992)
Georges Bizet: Symphony in C major (1855)
My friend Dan coincidentally was just writing today how little he likes the Bizet Symphony in C major. For me it's one of those pieces that I always think of fondly because it's got a particularly catchy tune in the last movement. (Refer to the peak-end rule, which applies so much more to classical music than people ever discuss.) But the whole thing is perky and tuneful, and I've always found it pretty thoroughly enjoyable. Bizet wrote it when he was 17, incidentally.

1 Comments:

Blogger Dan B. said...

I do like the symphony's energy, sort of clear and sparkling. And it's not without its moments. It just falls a little short of pieces it vaguely resembles. I had a food analogy, but by the third qualifier I lost interest.

In summary, Bizet's symphony...lunch.

4/16/2009 3:40 PM  

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