I shamelessly admit

To loving Oasis. 

There, it's out in the open. 

Brilliantly stereotypical mancunians, nay they FOUNDED the mancunian stereotype. 

This is half an I love oasis, half an I bum manchester post. 

Sunday Morning Call

without a shadow of a doubt the best thing they ever did. 

and look IT'S NOT A BLOG ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC. 

also, I love that skyline picture. Manchester, yeah it's got a horrifically bad uneven disrtibution of wealth, is tired and a little run down, but being able to call it "home" is something that will forever make me very very proud. 

8 Beginnings

I’m not going to pretend I know anything about classical music, unlike OH, but of the little I’ve seen performed I found this absolutely thrilling; here is part of Strauss’s Metamorphosis. It’s not complete, so look up the rest on youtube, but I like the video for this one;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPejei9nKnM

And here is another fragment of a song with a beautiful video and beautiful lyrics, my brightest’s diamonds voice is the most haunting sounds and this for me is the saddest remembrance of childhood or lost love;

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

The picture above is by probably my favourite contemporary artist, namely Kara Walker. This is a still from ‘8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, A Moving Picture by Kara E. Walker’ (2005). It’s very irrelevant to the two musical links, so please don’t associate them, I’ve just put them together as general things that were churning around in my head. Kara Walker manages to create these beautiful silhouettes that at first glance are as pleasing to the eye as shadow puppets, I think it reminds everyone of making animals with their hands against the wall, articulating shapes with the movement of fingers. Yet when looked at more closely, the form is proven to be deceptive, these images are deeply disturbing. The image I chose (above) is more obviously so, but some it takes a little more looking to realise that what you are looking at is something very explicit and very disturbing, either racially or sexually (or both).

Cheers

In the wilderness build me a nest

Right, this year is the 250th anniversary of Mendelssohn's death, yes? 

ooooh, you know where this is going!!! 

Right, some (slightly generic) favourites.

Verleih uns Frieden 

actual wows. This is lovely. Shubert apparently wrote to Mendelssohn declaring it the most beautiful piece of choral music ever written. How true this is is disputable, but if true, you'll understand why when you listen to it. 

Hear my Prayer/O for the wings of a dove 

I like this recording a lot less than i like the piece. But you get the gist. STUNNING. I love the O for the wings part, it's stunning, just, stunning. One of those things you could listen to forever. 

For the love of OH

For my OH, Henri Cartier Bresson's 'Rue Mouffetard' 1954, hope this cheers

A song for

when you really needed or wanted something to go right, and it goes hideously wrong. 

clickyclick

oh and THIS 

I had psyched up today to be a bit of a make or break. It was a fairly big break, if not total shatter. 

Bit lost now. 

Art that would make Handel cry

Anselm Kiefer, what an artist. Responsible for the most incredibley weighty and gut-wrenching atmospheric pieces such as this truly phenomenol 'Lot's Wife'(1989). The paint looks like it's been scraped on with a spade, it manages to be a work of the most extraordinary natural beauty, like its carved out for rock and has been around for centuries, even the train tracks, the ultimate symobl of modernisation and man's impact on the landcape becomes part of the rock. But the point is, god this is moody, and i bloody love it.

The first fruits of them that sleep.

Well, as you may have guessed from my Blog before last, I am a great fan of Handel, especially Messiah (NOT "the" messiah, philistines). 

I guess I can't quite put my finger on quite why. Maybe because it encompasses all the styles Handel used in composing, is shockingly beautiful, is one of those things that, no matter how badly it goes, no one seems to notice anyway (it also makes me laugh in the All we like sheep chorus, but never mind that). I'm the worlds biggest atheist however, so it isn't the religious side.

I could go on about how much I adore it, but have some personal highlights. 

ok Part one (which is the birth of christ 

Comfort ye & evry valley. 

Basically the tenor solo the choral aspect of it. Comfort ye is BEAUTIFUL and ev'ry valley is a stupendously uplifting piece of work. The tenor here is Christopher Hogwood, his sing of Comfort ye is the best I have ever heard (and I have heard SEVERAL different people attempt it!)

But Who May Abide The Day Of His Coming 

one of the many brilliant Sop/alto solos. Here done by Emma Kirkby, stunning voice, I'll let that do the talking. 

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion 

I love this! This recording starts with the rect. and here instead of a sop/alto you have a very good counter tenor.

He Shall Feed His Flock 

Again, this recording starts with a rect. He shall feed is flock is one of the lesser know solos (if that's possible when talking about messiah). 

PART 2 (death of christ)

He was Despised 

marvelously overblown on the visuals there. Love this though.

All we like sheep have gone astray 

WE LIKE SHEEP HA. Ok, when I am mature enough to get past that, this is a great aria, lots of semi quaver runs to keep people on their toes! 

Lift up your heads, o ye gates 

It's light and quite bouncy. Me like

How Beautiful Are the Feet

This basically (with the exception of the Hallelujah chorus, which everyone knows and I don't like) introduced me to Messiah. I was later advised to give some other sop arias from it a nose, and I never looked back. This is really short, really beautiful, and in a fairly comfortable range really. 

PART 3 (resurrection) 

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

Like I was ever going to leave this out? Without a shadow of a doubt, my FAVOURITE part of the whole thing, generic perhaps, but who cares? There is the beginning bit that I think most people know shockingly well, and then towards the end, from the "and though worms destroy this body" part is where it just get more beautiful, I think at the very end, "the first fruits of them that sleep" part is just possibly one of the most stunning few lines of choral music ever written. Completely lacks the huge amount of semiquaver runs heavily used by Handel. 

The Trumpet shall sound

This also includes the rect. before it. This is a bass solo, which I think is a little bit wonderful. Very very very long, I don't envy the person sining it, but wonderful. Got those semiquaver runs, and some of the passages HAVE to involve some kind of super human lung capacity. 

If God Be For Us

Yes another sop solo, and yes, kirkby again, I told myself I was going to use a different recording each time, but I loved this one. I love this, just because...

Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain 

This includes those final gloria/Amens. So much fun to listen to, and probably a bit of "oh thank God, we have nearly finished" style adrenaline rush.

Thank you very much for reading 

Handcuffed

On the subjest of Leonard Freed I couldn't resist giving you another one because its just too good, this is 'Handcuffed' 1978, New York. I'll post some of his other works at later dates, they're all incredible.

Harlem Street Party

Best photo of New York in my opinion(as I said I'd post), but there are millions of good ones. This is Leonard Freed 'Harlem Street Party' 1963. By the way now would be a good time to mention that me and OH's posts with links and pictures and such, well we don't claim the rights or copyright to anything we post.

cheers

Driving down the interstate five in a 2 door merc.

Well, for once I won't make a blog about choral music, I doubt it will be as interesting as OHs on the big apple, but allow me to document my travels, to San Diego, through music. 

I spent 17 fantastic August days in the laid-back, country mile behind the rest of the world, part of the world, that is the West Coast.

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHvDTUSd1Ws

Don McLean's American Pie. Reminds me of long drives up to Rancho Santa Fay, in a fancy lexus, being told all about america, from Red Necks to proper New Yorkers, of concrete roads, and the interstate 5, and endless miles of pacific ocean out in front of you. 

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z4zFI-eQdo

Long evenings spent in open plan living rooms and smart drawing rooms with leather sofas, books and a grand piano and on balconies, looking out on the bay, or in front gardens under a 8ft hedge on a really uncomfortable bench, talking until 3am about everything from sex to architecture and everything in between. 

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkjtctcuQ9Q

My little god bro's favourite song. I don't care that I don't actually like it, I hear it, and I'm back in San Diego, pissing around on a beach again. 

4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLXN1gyOZ8&feature=related

Many people complain that this song is overplayed, but listen to it walking around San Diego in 28 degrees, with a few people who are really very very special to you, having had too much sugar and too much sleep. This song was, nay, is MY San Diego song. Whenever I hear it I can smell the house, remember how the bed sheets felt, hear it all the children playing on the streets, remember the beeches, a shocking attempt at sailing, fish and gazelles the size of small dogs and reptiles. Old town San Diego, with that "rustic charm" and long walks and a mormon church and the tackyness of it all. Balboa park and the cactusses and "the globe" and all the food. Just listening to this song, for what is actually the first time since I went to San Diego zoo brings back an AWFUL lot of memories, stuff I had forgotten. It all comes back listening to this song. 

thank you and goodnight. 

The Most Magnificent Apple

So yeah, I'm not even going to pretend i understand all that choral nonsense bellow...it's not nonsense, I know that much.

Instead i present ruminations on the big apple and some awesome songs to go with them with signifciance to my ears, above is 'The Glow Of The City' by Martin Lewis, who taught Hopper to etch and is the most brillaint illustrator of New York in my opinion, best short story for me would be 'Raise hight the roofbeam, carpenters' by J.D.Salinger and here are some songs;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDJShMk-r88

perhaps not their most New Yorky song as it rather relies on wide open roads, but damn it's too cool, and has that New York swagger and arrogance i think, hes young and sexy and no one fucks with him

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

more incredibley attractive new yorkers(noticing an interesting correlation) with what's not their best, but ceratinly pretty typical and very relevant and very good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKjj4hk0pV4

a much less casual spin on New York, this is pretty raw and hurt and damned good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOmZimH00oo

keeping on the subject of drugs i guess, here's drugs mixed with the kind of swagger the Strokes aspire to and do pretty well at admittedly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QftcJtvLr8g

'I'm a brooklyn boy, I may take some getting used to', awesome song, 'B-R-O-O-K-L-Y-N come again', 'cross the bridge face the consequence',brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-fvl414mU

this is pretty fun and pretty cool with some fantastic Karen O touchs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUB1xSAAADk

yeah ok, I just wanted to include this, but it's pretty New Yorky, I think that's where they're based

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STKkWj2WpWM

ok, yeah not to do with New York, again, but brilliant American Motown which must be pretty popular in New York, so yeah LISTEN TO IT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H32i9Lb_2r0&feature=related

a song and in particular the band that plays it with special memories for both me and my co-worker, just a great song basically

Enjoy that all, i shall post my favorite photo of New York next time as I can't remember it's name right now,

cheers

The first of many...

classical music related rants. 

Allegri did the miserere [ http://www.youtube.com/watchv=x71jgMx0Mxc 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgZ0K8vCdbo&feature=related (part 2) ] which I think remains one of the most beautiful choral works ever written, I know he isn't responsible for the top C, and is creditable to some testicular-ly challenged boy many hundreds of years ago, but WOW.

Handel did Messiah, I won't post the whole thing, just a few favourite bits

But who may abide, as sung by Emma Kirkby

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

Comfort ye my people &evry valley as sung by Christopher Hogward 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhy2SRHqpuQ&feature=related

and the obligatory, I know that my redeemer liveth, which any half decent sop knows better than the back of their hand, here done by Lynne Dawson (who I don't like quite as much as Kirkby, but a great voice all the same) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtU1c5JZf0k&feature=related

Anyway, when choral music of that calibre exists, WHY is there a place for Goodall and Rutter in English cathedral tradition? WHY do we need look at the world ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3uoYunNDC4 ) and the godforsaken Vicar of Dibley theme tune, with that, quite frankly vomit worthy final sop solo "forever" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OliMkE1rib8 ) especially when Brother James Air exists, which is so infinately superior. 

As much as I love Monteverdi, Handel and Allegri, I'm not a ancient music snob! C. Wesley wrote some amazing choral music, take Blessed be the God and Father for example, with that amazing harmony between the soloist and the rest of the trebles, and dare I say it; Lead me Lord which i think a friend of mine hit the nail on the head by describing it as "simple, but effective." There are many modern composers who are "rateable" take Grayson Ives, Listen Sweet Dove, which was written for whitsun is beautiful, and totally lacks the unnecessary cheesyness of Rutter and Goodall. 

When a wealth of brilliant choral works are afforded to us, from Mendelssohn's stunning Hear my Prayer/Oh for the wings to Monteverdi's Beatus Vir and Rhienburger's Abendleid and even Bach doing "cheese" well with Jesu, Joy of man's desiring (with THAT organ/piano part that will never ever get out of your head...), why is Rutter given so much praise, it's shocking, and frankly hideous. 

I was once told (having just slagged off Rutter) that anyone who doesn't like Rutter was "musically, culturally and intellectually insecure" I beg to argue the complete opposite.

thank you very much. 

YO

Sadly, I also have very little to say. 

I don't have much on my mind outside Aintree and Plato, and the shockingly bad composing of Mr John Rutter. 

I should explain, I am a complete sucker for old candid photos, hence the photo above. 

Apologies from this end for the minor pointlessness of this.

First Post

I am stumped as to what to write. This is reasonable as it's my first post, so for now here's a picture of tree/house/treehouse by Robert Park harrison.enjoy.