Category Archives: Haydn at 60

Day 110: Of Love Affairs and Gypsies

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HaydnCD110Today’s collection of Haydn Piano Trios is uneven and hard to get into.

But there are delights awaiting those who stick with it.

Haydn Piano Trio in D HOB XV:24 opens with an Allegro Movement I that sounds less like an Allegro than anything I’ve ever heard. It’s lugubrious – until about 3/4 through when Bart van Ooort cuts loose on the piano and the notes start flying. Until that point, I was ready to doze off.

Movement II (“Andante”) is a snooze fest from start to finish, as is Movement III (“Allegro ma dolce”), which contrary to its name, is definitely no sweeter.

Haydn Piano Trio in G HOB XV:25 immediately sounds different from what preceded it. And it ends with a totally kick-ass Movement III that earns this trio its nickname “Gypsy.”

Haydn Piano Trio in F Sharp Minor HOB XV:26 is interesting. But not especially compelling. The instruments blend well together, effortlessly climbing, intertwining, and flowing from start to finish. It’s a brilliant composition. Just not one of my favorites.

Piano Trio in G HOB XV:32 consists of just two movements. Even at that, it seems long. It’s great music. But it’s not grabbing my lapels and shaking me.

As were the previous selections, these compositions (except as noted) are brilliantly performed by the Van Swieten Trio, which – on this CD – consists of:

Bart van Oort fortepiano
Franc Polman violin
Job ter Haar cello

Here’s a list of Haydn’s piano trios. The are referred to by their Hoboken catalog names, and their date of composition is not always certain. So I’ll Continue reading →

Day 37: Send in the Clowns

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HaydnCD37Today’s CD of Haydn compositions is Organ Concertos II.

You know what that means.

More circus music.

And more “mechanical clocks” music.

An example of the latter: track number 10 is 12 minutes of what sounds to my untrained ears like circus Calliope music. I can almost smell the roasting almonds and cotton candy…and the manure from the performing animals.

And, wait. What’s that I hear? Children laughing? Do I see parents strolling with umbrellas and large hats?

ASundayAfternoonIt’s like a George Seurat painting come to life, something like the scene from his pointillist masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

I’m sure Flotenuhr (“mechanical clocks”) music has its place.

It probably excited the hell out of audiences back in the late 1700s.

Today, I think 12 minutes of Flotenuhr music is about 10 minutes too much of it.

But what do I know? I’m not a composer. I’m a listener. In 21st century America, no less. If I had the talent to compose, I surely would. But then I’d have to do something crazy like lop off my ear, or Continue reading →

Day 30: Overheard Conversations

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HaydnCD30This morning at Panera, as I refilled my mug of Light Roast coffee, I overhead a group of old guys chatting in a little nook area near the front of the restaurant. One man, who looked to be in his mid to late 60s, had his laptop open and he was talking to guys who looked to be 10+ years older than that.

“Are you referring to Internet Explorer?” the man with the laptop asked. “Because I have Google Chrome and Firefox, too.”

I glanced over and looked at the gaggle of retirees and thought, “Really? Twenty years ago, guys of this age would be jawing about being retired – not about web browsers.”

Life is funny, innit?

Symphony No. 96 in D , “The Miracle Symphony,” was composed in 1791 and is part of the London Symphonies. It is called “The Miracle Symphony” because, according to its entry on Wikipedia,

It is so called due to the story that, during its premiere, a chandelier fell from the ceiling of the concert hall in which it was performed. The audience managed to dodge the chandelier successfully as they had all crowded to the front for the post-performance applause, and the symphony got its nickname. More careful and recent research suggests that this event did indeed take place but during the premiere of his Symphony No. 102.

Haydn was 59, when this symphony was composed and first performed.

Symphony No. 97 in C was composed and first performed in Continue reading →

Day 28: No Boiled Car Tires

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HaydnCD28What happens when Panera just doesn’t cut it any more, when the thought of another Light Roast coffee or Asiago bagel curls one’s teeth?

D&W to the rescue.

I’m not sure what D&W stands for. I’m sure it’s probably the names of its founders, like Dick and Wally or something. But it’s a grocery story chain in West Michigan that’s been around forever.

This morning, D&W’s bright, airy (and chilly!) cafeteria plays host to a few guys with laptops (including me) who are using it as an office.

DWOctober28I see that a lot these days, people using Wi-Fi hotspots as remote offices. Nothing wrong with that. I do it all the time. It’s just interesting to see people with suits and ties (like the chap sitting directly in front of me in the next booth over) working on spreadsheets in a restaurant.

Ten years ago, a guy like that would have been at home, or at the office, but not in between in the professional equivalent of Purgatory.

In case you can’t see the sign, D&W sells Starbucks coffee, as most places do these days.

I don’t know why. Starbucks tastes like boiled car tires to me.

Granted, I used to like Starbucks. But, lately, that Continue reading →