Grumpy Old Composers

[chocolatetrudi]

The Beethovenfest was interesting last night. I'd heard none of the pieces before. I liked those in the first half, but Paul didn't. The second half was a Mass, and didn't do much for me. Which is a pity, because aside from one short bit at then end of the first half it was the only piece involving the choir. And I like a good choir. And a friend

Comments

[mireille21]

Yeah, I think I liked the Piano Concerto most out of the pieces. Of course it's always hard to compare something that you're listening to with something that you are performing in, because the act of performing brings a whole different level of appreciation to it. That said, I think I enjoyed listening to the Concerto more than singing the Mass anyway. :) The Mass had about half a dozen golden moments, and the rest was a bit play by numbers (or is that sing by numbers.) Beethoven really was at his best when writing for piano or orchestra or both (IMHO), unlike Mozart whose choral and vocal works surpass the majority of his pianistic ones.

[chocolatetrudi]

The Mozart/Beety choral comparison is interesting, because I've always found Mozart's work to be frivolous and fussy, but to be honest I'm thinking of the piano/harpsichord/flute pieces. Maybe I'd like his choral pieces better. Must go dig through all those classical albums I inherited from Paul's parents. I'd like to see if I have the Fantasy piece, too.

[thinarthur]

Sung Masses are good, you should try the Ensemble Gombert that sing at Xavier College, me and the missus have been going for years