Jules Combarieu
My Twenty Favorite Pieces of Music
Glenn Gould plays his famous recordings
of "The Goldberg Variations" by J.S.
Bach
Aria: Goldberg Variations (1981 Digital Version)
30 Second
Sample, goldberg.wav, 668K
Gould's Comments on the Work
"Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable."
Samuel Johnson
-
Concerto for 2
pianos in E Flat, KV 365 by W.A. Mozart. This charming and
sophisticated piece serves to remind us that despite everything
there still exists beauty and intelligence in the world. Check
out Mitsuko Uchida and her ebullient interpretation with Alfred
Brendel and The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on the Philips
Label.
-
-
-
Brandenburg
Concertos No. 2 and
3 in G Major, BMV 1047-1048, by J.S. Bach. Selected
to be broadcast into space on the Voyager spacecraft traveling
through the galaxy, this seems to me a perfect example of
the genius of the human spirit to be presented to other worlds.
The concerto no. 3 has been a favorite of mine since early
childhood, and I like the Raymond Leppard's version with
its distinct thoroughly developed middle movement. -
-
Piano
Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, KV 466, by W.A.
Mozart. A dark and swirling roller coaster ride that
seems no less fresh after repeated listenings. I
like Alfred Brendel's cadenza in the middle of the
first movement on his recording with The St. Martin-in-the-Fields
recording in the "Play by Play" version
produced by PolyGram Records. Unlike many of my friends,
I am ignorant (self-taught) in music, but I would
try to express in my writing (if possible!) what
my soul feels when listening to Mozart. -
-
Well-Tempered
Clavier, Books I and
II by J.S. Bach - When talking
about classical music, it all really
begins with the work of Johann Sebastian
Bach. In my opinion, these series
of preludes and fugues in each of
the major and minor chords are as
close to perfection as you will find
in music. I enjoy the strict literal
playing of Keith Jarrett or Rosalyn
Tureck as well as the intellectual
meanderings of Edward Aldwell. However,
one does not truly appreciate Bach
on the keyboard unless one hears
it done by the master Glenn Gould. -
-
Requiem,
KV
626, by
W.A.
Mozart.
In
listening
to
this
funeral
music
one
feels
as
if
they
too
were
facing
the
hooded
specter
of
death
in
the
final
moments
of
life.
Towering
and
majestic,
the
intensity
and
profundity
of
Mozart's "Requiem" is
perhaps
matched
only
by
the
darker
moments
of Bach's "Mass
in
B
Minor" in
the
classical
repertoire.
As
much
now
as
during
the
first
exposure,
in
listening
to
the "Requiem" I
feel
as
if
I
were
looking
my
own
mortality
in
the
face.
How
can
the
same
man
who
wrote Eine
Kleine
Nachtmusik have
written
this
lamentation? -
-
Concerto
for
Piano
and
Orchestra
in
A
Minor,
Op.
54, by
Robert
Schumann.
This
concerto
has
always
reminded
me
of
the
musical
optimism
and
prolific
creativity
which
was
Vienna
in
the
middle
of
the
Romantic
nineteenth
century.
Written
just
before
his
final
mental
breakdown,
I
have
always
marveled
at
the
irony
of
this
carefree
and
happy
instance
of
music. -
-
Piano
Concerto
No.
3
C
Minor,
Op.
37 by
Ludwig
van
Beethoven.
The
music
storms
and
thunders
for
over
two
minutes
before
the
piano
even
sounds,
and
then
the
tempo
only
increases
--
the
restless,
aggressive
spirit
of
Beethoven
flashing
across
the
score
as
piano
and
orchestra
argue
back
and
forth
vigorously.
The
music
attacks
and
then
retreats,
a
darkly
anxious
dialogue
between
two
voices
alternately
probing
and
relenting.
Beethoven's
brooding
spiritual
distress
and
considerable
concentration
of
emotion
are
well
on
display
here,
the
Classical
forms
giving
way
to
Romantic
will.
Check
out
John
Eliot
Gardiner
and
his
Orchestre
Révolutionnaire
et
Romantique's
edgy
interpretation
with
pianist
Robert
Levin
playing
Beethoven
as
it
should
be
done:
like
an "angry
dog
with
a
bone." -
-
Variations
Serieuses,
Op.
54, by
Felix
Mendelssohn.
I
heard
this
one
morning
on
a
classical
radio
station
and
bought
the
CD
later
that
afternoon.
It
is,
in
my
opinion,
as
fully
developed
and
brilliant
as
any
of
the
Beethoven
piano
sonatas.
Check
out
the
dazzle
of
Murray
Perahia
in
his
version
recorded
for
the
CBS
Records
Masterworks
Series. -
-
Piano
Concerto
No.
2
in
C
Minor,
Op.
18, by
Sergei
Rachmaninoff.
It
may
be
a
little
sugary
sweet,
but
the
romantic
in
me
has
always
had
a
sweet
spot
for
this
emotionally
drenched
piece
of
Slavic
lyricism.
Only
the
most
cynical
or
cold-hearted
will
refuse
to
be
moved
by
the
middle
movement
lamenting, "If
you
do
not
come
back
to
me...." -
-
The
Messiah, by
G.F.
Handel.
A
monster
of
a
thing,
Handel's
masterpiece
never
fails
to
surprise.
I
enjoy
it
for
the
brilliance
not
so
much
of
its
often
played "Hallelujah" chorus
but
for
the
more
compact
gems
like
the
opening Synfonia, And
He
Shall
Purify, His
Yoke
is
Easy, "Thou
Are
Gone
Up
on
High," or "Thou
Shalt
Break
Them." -
-
Concerto
for
Piano
and
Orchestra
in
A
Minor,
Op.
16 by
Edvard
Grieg.
A
piano
lover's
piano
concerto,
this
piece
by
the "Chopin
of
the
North" is
both
glib
and
sublime,
optimistic
and
grandiose
in
the
beginning
and
end,
wistfully
sad
in
the
middle.
It
is
not
for
nothing
that
they
always
play
it
on
the
radio.
-
-
Slavonic
Dances,
Op.
72 by
Antonín
Dvorák.
The
breathtakingly
beautiful
folk
melodies
of
Central
Europe
come
to
life
in
these
pastoral
sketches,
so
artfully
and
lavishly
painted
by
Dvorák.
I
dare
you
to
listen
to
dances
No.
10
and
No.
16
in
E
Minor
and
A
Flat
Major
and
not
feel
imbued
with
the
heaviness
and
raw
splendor
of
this
world.
This
is
music
for
those
who
dwell
close
to
the
pulsing,
blood-red
heart
of
life
lived
passionately.
-
-
"Prelude
and
Liebestod" from Tristan
and
Isolde by
Richard
Wagner.
Mark
Twain
famously
claimed
that
Wagner's
music
is "really
not
as
bad
as
it
sounds." This
is
disingenuous
but
insightful
advice,
as
Wagner's
music
is
--
in
all
its
verbosity
and
lugubriousness
--
an
acquired
taste
requiring
patience
and
perseverance.
But
it
is
very
much
worth
the
effort,
as
perhaps
no
other
composer
has
created
music
as
finely
wrought
in
emotional
intensity,
in
my
humble
opinion.
Wagner
reaches
for
the
stars
in
his
unmitigated
artistic
ambition
to
make
music
poetically
sublime;
and
often
enough
he
comes
very
close
(in
moments
of
the
Overture
to Tannhäuser,
for
example).
For
me,
to
sit
quietly
and
to
listen
intensely
to
Wagner's
best
music
for
more
than
twenty
minutes
uninterrupted
is
to
be
brought
nearly
to
tears!
Let
the
magic
of
the "Siegfried-Idyll" sneak
up
and
transfix
you,
Eros
and
Thanatos
grappling
mightily
in
the
ether
--
and
inside
of
your
breast
vicariously
as
well,
hope
and
despair
and
the
remembrance
of
things
past
struggling
for
dominion
over
your
soul.
-
-
The
Four
Seasons,
Op.
8 by
Antonio
Vivaldi.
The
feisty
Italian
spirit
shines
forth
in
these
variegated
concertos
authored
by
the "Red
Priest." Elucidating
the
gamut
of
human
emotions
metaphorically
from
the
exuberance
of
spring
to
the
mania
of
summer
and
decay
and
death
of
pendulous
winter,
the
razzle
and
dazzle
of
Vivaldi
enchants
and
transfixes
from
beginning
to
end.
-
-
Music
for
the
Death
of
Queen
Mary,
Z.
860A by
Henry
Purcell.
Bracingly
sober
passages
from
an
age
when
music
was
the
Word
made
manifest
through
sound,
Purcell
reminds
us
piously
that "in
the
midst
of
life
we
are
in
death." Heartfelt,
haunting
harmonies
from
which
to
think
deep
thoughts
about
mortality
and
meaning.
I
enjoy
the
recording
made
by
Philippe
Herreweghe
and
the
Collegium
Vocale
under
the
Harmonia
Mundi
label.
-
-
Concertos
for
Clarinet
in
A,
KV
622
and
581 by
W.A.
Mozart.
Written
for
his
good
friend
the
clarinetist
Anton
Stadler,
Mozart
here
gives
free
reign
to
his
joy
in
creation
and
freedom
in
conception.
When
I
feel
disappointed,
disjointed,
and
spiritually
bruised
in
general,
this
is
the
music
to
which
I
turn.
The
soothing
tones
of
the
clarinet
wash
over
me,
and
I
come
away
feeling
better
about
myself,
the
world,
and
my
place
therein.
A
faithful
cordial
for
winter
nights
when
the
wind
is
sharp
and
the
world
hard
and
threatening,
the
intimacy
of
Mozart's
voice
brings
me
to
a
place
where
all
is
peace
and
calm.
-
-
Manfred
Overture,
Op.
115 by
Robert
Schumann.
The
son
of
a
bookseller
and
a
savvy
reader
himself,
Schumann's
music
transports
the
listener
high
into
the
mountain
peaks
of
the
Swiss
Alps
to
Manfred's
castle
where
the
prototypical
Byronic
hero
proudly
dares
the
powers
of
the
world
to
defy
him.
There
amidst
the
swirling
mists
and
avenging
ghosts,
Schumann
lets
us
watch
Lord
Byron's
romantic
rebel
assume
the
burden
of
his
own
doom.
Suffering
from
insomnia
and
intense
anxiety
at
the
time
of
its
writing,
I
wonder
how
much
of
Schumann
himself
is
projected
into
this
eerily
mysterious
instance
of
violent,
tortured
mood
swings.
This
overture
is
yet
another
reminder
that
all
art
aspires
towards
the
condition
of
music.
-
-
6
Concerti
Grossi,
Op.
3 by
G.F.
Handel.
The
transplanted
German--cum-Londoner
Handel's
more
mature
orchestral
works
symbolize
for
me
all
that
was
cosmopolitan
and
urbane
about
18th
century
England:
James
Boswell,
Edmund
Burke,
Sir
Joshua
Reynolds,
Samuel
Johnson,
David
Garrick,
Edward
Gibbon.
In
the
bluster
and
fury
of
our
scientific
and
technological
era,
have
we
killed
forever
such
subtlety
and
intelligence?
I
particularly
appreciate
the
directing
of
Christopher
Hogwood
and
the
Academy
of
Ancient
Music
under
the
L'Oiseau
Lyre
label.
-
-
Concerto
for
Piano
No.
5
in
E
Minor,
Op.
16 by
Ludwig
van
Beethoven.
Not
a
man
to
think
small,
Beethoven
in
the "Emperor
Concerto" presages
his
9th
Symphony
in
this
grandiose,
sweeping
monument
to
piano
music.
Harmony,
suspense,
driving
power,
thematic
unity
--
they
all
sweep
you
up
in
this
fantasy-ridden
drama
with
the
famously
triumphant
concluding
passages
which
for
me
symbolizes
the
nobility
of
character
and
heroic
strength
of
will
required
to
prevail
in
Napoleonic
Europe.
In
his
unprecedented,
completely
original
music,
Beethoven
signals
there
is
no
going
back
to
the
limited,
controlled
classical
forms
of
the
18th
century
handed
down
by
Mozart
and
Haydn,
as
the
Western
mind
bubbles
forth
aggressively
and
graspingly
with
consequences
both
good
and
ill.
Check
out
the
grandeur
of
Daniel
Barenboim
in
the
Deutsche
Grammophon
recording.
-
-
Piano
Concerto
No.
15
in
B
Flat,
KV
450 by
W.A.
Mozart.
A
fine
instance
of
the
charm
and
sophistication
that
makes
Mozart
so
justifiably
famous,
this
music
offers
us
a
glimpse
beyond
the
drab
work-a-day
world
into
a
parallel
universe
where
beauty
is
truth,
and
truth
beauty
--
intimations
of
immortality
made
accessible
through
art.
Without
such
achievements
by
our
species,
the
world
for
me
would
be
infinitely
more
dreary
and
depressing
--
a
place
in
which
I
would
not
wish
to
live! In the Bible the afflicted Job laments thusly: "Man, born of woman, is shortlived and full of trouble. Like a flower that springs up and fades, swift as a shadow that does not abide, even so he wastes away like a rotten thing; like a garment that the moth has consumed." This is untrue - or, at least, it is not always true! Take, for example, Mozart's piano concertos and Shakespeare's love sonnets as evidence to the contrary... these sparkling crown jewels of human artistry: they are indispensable to my metaphysic -- personal reminders that all is not lost, that we human beings do offer moments of sparkling brilliance and god-like perfection. They disprove the idea that we Homo sapiens are merely beasts capable of stunning cruelty, or frail creatures fated to live our brief moment under the sun and then die, leaving no trace after us. "Men are not animals erect," claimed Francis Bacon, "but gods immortal." Men have died, and then worms have eaten their bodies; but the best sounds and the best ideas of all of us live on forever.
I enjoy very much the pianist Andras Schiff, an artist who can play Mozart's music unadorned by superfluous commentary -- letting it shine in all its original, unadulterated luster, so that I may more closely approach the genius which strengthens in me the conviction that life is good and worth living -- music for the ages.
by Elizabeth Bishop
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
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