I see the whale, and the waves keep coming. DAMN THIS PEG-LEG!

Friday, December 02, 2005

a victim of my own designs

i posed the question to herr vogler,

"if you could only have three major works by anyone...what would they be. i know this is hard, so you can take your top ten."

so in all fairness i suppose i should list my top picks for works by any composer. most, if not all of these pieces have a very personal aesthetic quality. also, most of these would probably be good listens for anyone without the level of appreciation with which my little blog clique (Herr Vogler, Mikey, Michael, Timmay) has.
so in no particular order:


1. Verdi's Requiem. i heard this piece performed by the FMSO (...they are no Oregon Symphony Orchestra) almost at the same time in my life that i would abandon music. plus you can't beat the Tuba Mirum, or the Dies Irae.

2. Verdi's Nabucco Overture.

3. Chopin's Prelude No. 15 in D flat Major "Raindrops."

4. John Williams' Star Wars (i would consider Episodes I-VI one complete work.)

5. Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings this could ultimately be credited as the work that made me regret leaving music enough to in fact return to music.

6. Lizst's La Campanella

7. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

8. Beethoven's Piano Sonata #14 in c sharp minor "Moonlight" the third movement is quite amazing.

9. Rene Clausen's arrangement of the 1999 Concordia Christmas concert. this my not be among great works by any means, but it was personally moving and quite satisfying to be involved with!

10. Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirate's of Penzance. you didn't see that one coming did you.


i am sure in the coming years this list will fluctuate and change as i am exposed and grow fond of more and different literature!

and as i am sure all of my blog friends will attest. ten is far too few to list the vast amounts of music that we will personally love. i know that there was no room to list any of the pieces for choir that are so dear to me.

8 comments:

Herr Vogler said...

Somehow I think that all of us would have at least two matches.

Gee, I wonder what they'll be.

Posted my list today, too.

Herr Vogler said...

Yep, I did that wrong. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!".

Herr Vogler said...

Interestingly enough I actually know very little of what's on your top-10. Star Wars and LOTR(duh) and the Beethoven. Oh well I guess I know the Chopin, too (one of the few). I don't know the specific work by Rene Claussen but I have sung some of his works and I think many of them are quite good. I performed in 2 G&S operettas in college. Being a trumpet player in a G&S pit orchestra is just about the most mind-numbing experience one can have. About the only way to get through it is to show up with a small amount of your favorite, uh, beverage.

Herr Vogler said...

I never had a conducting final in anything. I feel shortchanged. But I did get to conduct. A lot. Choirs, bands, orchestras, whatever I could get my ego, I mean myself, in front of.

Reed said...

mind numbingly good...or bad?

Reed said...

hey reed, when do we get to see the 1 in 9 teaser?

Reed said...

i don't know. i am sure Michael is very busy, i am sure the next time he blogs...he will fill us all in.

Herr Vogler said...

Mind-numbingly bad. But that's only because I'm a trumpet player and you only get to play basically V-I on everything.

I think that's part of the reason I just can't seem to gravitate to 'old' classical music. My background as a trumpet player always left/leaves me wanting more from 'old' classical music.