Antonin Dvorak - Serenade for strings
Mov. 4 - Larghetto
Chamber Orchestra of Belgium - conducted by Benjamin Haemhouts
Live recording @ Concertgebouw Amsterdam
20-03-'13

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov. 4

Antonin Dvorak - Serenade for strings
Mov. 5 - Finale: allegro vivace
Chamber Orchestra of Belgium - conducted by Benjamin Haemhouts
Live recording @ Concertgebouw Amsterdam
20-03-'13

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov. 5

Antonin Dvorak - Serenade for strings
Mov. 3 - Scherzo: vivace
Chamber Orchestra of Belgium - conducted by Benjamin Haemhouts
Live recording @ Concertgebouw Amsterdam
20-03-'13

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov. 3

Solfeggietto in C minor (H 220, Wq. 117: 2) (yeah they used to name music like we name software) composed in 1770 by C.P.E. Bach, son of J.S.

Live video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ8fyDSYaOI

Skinny Pete plays it in the music store scene in Breaking Bad season 5 episode 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQlAmtWHPII) and he makes more mistakes than me.

The instrument is Clavia Nord Stage 2 using a sampled Yamaha C7 grand piano and a few touches of synth.

Updated with a better take with less reverb on Feb 23, 2014.

Video

C.P.E. Bach - Solfeggietto [piano + synth]

Lara Dodds-Eden, piano
Zach Miley, recording

Francis Poulenc Flute Sonata II (Cantilena)

recorded live @ Eglise des Dominicains Brussels, 6 june 2014

The New Baroque Times ensemble

G. F. Haendel. Sonata op2 n.5 (allegro)

This piece originates from Robert Schumann's 'Album für die Jugend' - a collection of 43 short works that were composed for his three daughters. The opus 68 'Album für die Jugend' is, unlike 'Kinderszenen', meant to be played by children, although the collection is divided in two parts - and the second is marked 'Für Erwachsenere', from no. 19, 'Kleine Romanze', onwards. 

'Wilder Reiter', or - as it is more commonly referred to, 'The Wild Horseman', is the eight piece of the collection. It is a short and easy, albeit wonderful piece due to its evocative, enthralling composition. It is essentially a lesson in staccato phrasing (one can really imagine the horseman trotting about), and teaches the pianist how to lead the cantabile with both hands, while accompanying with the other. The first section, where the melody is led by the right hand, is repeated. What follows is an intermezzo, if you will, where the left hand leads the melody - an inverse variation on the first section. The piece concludes with a third repetition of the first section. 

I am fascinated by the images that the piece conjures. Is the horseman clad in medieval armour, riding past you in a jousting roundabout? In measures 5 through 8 I deliberately retained some intensity in favour of conveying how the horseman has galloped past the listener (who is of course, stationary), and is making another pass. The second section, measures 9 through 16, seem to indicate the 'wild' in the horseman. Is he perhaps struggling to contain the horse, who has run amok? But then the first section is repeated, and the controlled, frivolous atmosphere reassures and consoles the listener. 

illustration: Géricault - 'Head of White Horse', ca. 1810, Musée du Louvre, Paris

R. Schumann - Wilder Reiter (The Wild Horseman) op. 68 no. 8 in A minor

Pieces from the NoFi live performance in Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) 30/11/2015

C.Saint - Saens - Danse Macabre

Guest conductor David Lockington leads the NEC Philharmonia and student soloist Huijuan Pan in Franz LIszt's Concerto for PIano No. 1 in E Flat Major. The performance was recorded live on April 12, 2011 at NEC's Jordan Hall.
For more information about New England Conservatory: http://necmusic.edu

Dvorak - Serenade for strings - Mov. 5

Casco Phil