Tag Archives: Saturday Symphony

The American composers of the Romantic era are an interesting bunch, because they exist in a kind of musical purgatory. Their music is not heard much, mainly because it’s all pretty firmly ensconced in the European symphonic tradition, and thus … Continue reading →

Still not ready to discuss Mahler’s Second yet, so meantime, we’ll go back 120 years or so to Mozart. Here is his Symphony no. 29 in A major. This performance is on period instruments, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. This … Continue reading →

I’m not ready to write about Mahler’s Second yet, so in the meantime, here is a repost of an AMAZING performance of Beethoven’s Ninth. I’m just letting Beethoven speak for himself here.

OK, after much hemming and hawing, it’s time. The symphonies of Gustav Mahler represent perhaps the apex of the symphony itself as a musical form. These are enormous works that make enormous demands on the listener. They are dense in … Continue reading →

I keep promising Gustav Mahler, and I keep postponing Gustav Mahler. Alas! And no, no Mahler this week, either–but in a way, this week’s symphony does help pave the way a but. Instead we’ll revisit Hector Berlioz, because you can … Continue reading →

No Mahler yet–I want to do him justice!–but I’ll stick with ‘M’ composers. Here is Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, the “Scottish”.

I’m still trying to get ahead on writing my Mahler posts — there’s a lot of work involved in listening to Mahler — so meantime, here’s Maestro Mozart and his Symphony no. 41 in C, the “Jupiter”.

I don’t have a new work to post here (listening time was hard to come by this week), so I’ll revisit something old. Here’s one of the very greatest symphonies of all time, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major. … Continue reading →