Monday, September 2, 2013

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

22 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"They're not Mr. and Mrs., they're Romeo and Juliet conspiring to violate the Mann Act."

I've been reading Wolcott Gibbs.

The Dude said...

Great tune, beautiful good sounding instruments, but the tempo - meh.

However, that song is over-played. Its beauty is on the verge of becoming trite, which is a shame, as it is a good tune.

I guess that is the fate of good tunes - it has happened to Mendelssohn, Bach, Ludwig Van, Vivaldi, and poor Tchaikovsky - don't even get me started!

If you can Handel it. Nice bright recording, and the dancing appears to be twerk-free.

deborah said...

Since Pachelbel's Canon has been over-played, to this point, the quick tempo is somewhat redemptive. I'm going to give it a chance. I kinda like it.

Thanks for the lovely Handel.

Sydney said...

Deborah, That was beautiful. Thanks for posting that. I agree- the different tempo made it more enjoyable for me. I thought they also emphasized different aspects of the tune that most so the melody almost seemed a little different than usual.

Sydney said...

Sixty Grit,
I can never watch those 18th century formal dances without thinking of American Square Dancing. Hah! All that elegance transported to a fiddle and a barn and hopped up with beer or hard cider.

The Dude said...

You are welcome - I have a nice version played on period instruments but can't find anything close to it on YouTube. There is much more to Handel than just the Messiah.

Speaking of which, when I was in the library of the National Museum in London there was a copy of the Messiah score, apparently written by Handel, open to this page.

That has been one of my favorites since I was a child and my father conducted The Messiah at our little church out in the country. Things like that will leave a mark. What a treat it was to see the original in the composer's hand.

The Dude said...

Not a great recording but we bassoonists are hams, always up for a bit of stage business.

Compare and contrast - how, in 250 years did that morph into this?

That is the late, truly great John Duffey on mandolin - he works the hell out of that thing - all the way up the neck, wrings everything he can out of that V 7th chord. Oh yeah.

Mumpsimus said...

@Sixty Grit:

For Unto Us A Child Is Born is an absolutely brilliant piece of choral music -- and a test of courage, and breath control, for an amateur choir.

The Dude said...

I can only imagine - I get a bit light headed just singing along with the video. Those are some long phrases in there - hoowee!

deborah said...

A couple years ago I finally got to a college that does a sing-a-long Messiah...loved it!

Phil 314 said...

Canon Rock

Phil 314 said...

And a nice companion to Canon Rock

Phil 314 said...

I'm now lamenting the loss of the rock instrumental.

Phil 314 said...

And just now a great short documentary discovery

(And do I feel old.)

Phil 314 said...

And the alluded to Nike ad

(I'll stop now.)

The Dude said...

Mamady Keita and Famoudou Konate - I have taken classes with both of them.

They have a great sense of humor and it shows in their call and response.

Here is an uptempo piece - Mamady is cookin'.

deborah said...

For Phil:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrVAubDH4Es

deborah said...

A bassoonist? That explains a hell of a lot :)

Love bluegrass. I do believe it arrived by taking a left turn at the British Isles.

Cool beans on the drumming. Our Sixty is quite surprising.

Have you seen this mandolin player:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDZ9PN5K06Q

Phil 314 said...

Thanks Deborah. I'm generally not a big fan of the "classification" of Rock songs. (But it sure helps raise cash for hurting orchestras)

TTBurnett said...

Why do you bother with scurvy old crap when you could be listening to Miley Cyrus? You realize she could buy the entire early music world—all the instruments, performers, concert dates, recorded music and copyrights—three times over?

Here she is buying gas.
You can look through the rest of the album and see what a REAL artist is like.

deborah said...

My god!!! Will people please quit saying Miley Cyrus??>?>?

Tim, did you find that music for me...it seemed very early Church with female voices, plus one or two others.

TTBurnett said...

Hey, there are over 10,000 photos of her in that album alone. I can guarantee you there are not that many in total of Monica Huggett.

As far as any medieval music I may have linked, I really can't recall. It may have been something from the boys at the choir school where I teach. Probably them chanting an Introit.

I'll see if I can find something interesting and Medieval enough, though.