What is currently your favorite piece of music?

Terry Riley- In C

Ravel- The Mother Goose Suite

No brass.. its an interesting one.

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I am currently listening to various ravel/strav/britten on "spotify"

This piece

- BWV 684 - one of the chorale preludes from Bachs Little Organ Mass. Tons of symbolism. The performer does not take the repeat but if you do you have 81 measures of music. 81= 3 squared + 3 squared. The key is in C minor with two flats its relative major E flat which has 3 flats. The symbolism being Jesus Christ's baptism - Jesus being the second part of the Trinity - represented in the key and number of measures. Also another level of symbolism - the running sixteenths pulse is the quarter, the leap ing figures pulse is half note and the chorale tune in the pedal pulse is whole note. Three different pulses and each pulse a multiple of 2 (2 to the 0= 1, 2 to the 1 = 2, 2 squared = 4). Then there is the pictoral description of the running water in the running 16ths and the down and up movements when Christians make the cross in the leaping figure heard above the running sixteenths at the start.

The challenge of playing this is the figuration is not very finger friendly -a baroque fingering with minimal finger crossing helps. Need to maintain two different touches between the chorale line in the feet (which is a baroque legato), the running sixteenths (a leggierro) and the leaping figure (less leggierro more sustained - you give the notes their full value but avoid a legato) and do this all at a brisk tempo.

Another lovely touch is how the harmony at first returns to the tonic but about the last third there is a harmonic turn to F minor to end the piece on the dominant. As it is part of a large work and intended for a long Mass it is nothing revolutionary - the next chorale prelude is in dorian (on D) whose cadence on the dominant leads to 686 . Only in 686 do we get a "fuller" resolution with a Picardy third. Here are 685 and 686.

(685 is itself a bit of a finger buster- you must spend time figuring the distribution of the hands among the parts)Also 685 is a fugue now on the came chorale tune as 684 transposed.

Here is 686 (with score - yes a fugue with the feet playing two independent lines though the top line in the pedal works more as a cantus firmus in the tenor while you a 5 voice fugue going on around it)

This particular work's cantus firmus was used in Mendelssohn's 3rd organ Sonata.

I must add this piece too -

And you get to see the fancy foot and hand work required. Beautiful piece I must say!

Rodrigo Flute Concerto

(It's hard is an understatement..)

Boggles the mind...! :)

See now, Bach understood the idea of fettering himself by form, style, convention, and even symbolism to inspire creativity. I still maintain that unbridled freedom in art is worse than no freedom at all.

Right now, because I'm getting ready to perform it, is the Missa Euge Bone by Christopher Tye (1500?-1573). Some pretty tight counterpoint in there.

A vid of the Sanctus, sung by Winchester Cathedral Choir...a little too much vibrato in the men, but otherwise pretty good:

Missa Euge Bone - Sanctus

I thought you had given up on professional singing, Lee. Glad to see you doing some stuff. :)

Graham - Glad you enjoyed my brief summary of BWV 684. I recommend highly getting a recording of the whole Organ Mass of Bach. A good recording was made on Hanssler label. Yet, I disagree a little that Bach worked close to the conventions (or maybe I misunderstand your comments). For example, the running sixteenth figure arises from an old improvisation technique where you decorate a cantus firmus with stepwise motion. And much of the details come from improvising on figured bass and hymn tunes. But I'll grant you - a ton of learnedness in this piece and probably one of the most "tuneful" works of Bach.

The Tye is beautiful. Just bought The Sixteen singing the Eton Choir Book Vol1 - been meaning to get this recording for ages and finally snatched one today. They sing one of my favorite periods of English choral music - 15th century early 16th century choral music.

One work composer i love from this era - Thomas Ashewell's Masses:

Must say Ashewell gives some keen competition to Lassus and others of the generation that come after him. You can find a find recording of it by Paul van Nevel's group.

What I love about Ashewell are the florid lines and counterpoint give it a Romantic sensuousness ... Have you ever performed his stuff?

Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes by Sergei Lyapunov is by far one of the most musical and emotional pieces I've ever heard in my life. It's like riding on an emotional roller coaster. Shame there is no one who has uploaded it on youtube yet, and is unknown to the majority of the world. I bought a recording off of iTunes by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. If you like romantic era music, I highly recommend you buy it.

Vivaldi's Flute Concerto in D, Op.10, RV.428 "Il Gardellino" :D

I thought you had given up on professional singing, Lee. Glad to see you doing some stuff.

I just couldn't give up singing with the Los Angeles Chamber Singers and Cappella after all. It's bad enough that Cappella won a GRAMMY award for a recording of music by early Mexican composer Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (1590?-1664) while I wasn't singing with them a couple of years ago. That broke my heart. My voice really is a little past its prime, but I'm not going to throw in the towel completely just yet.

One work composer i love from this era - Thomas Ashewell's Masses

WOW! Now THIS is something to pass on to our director! Thank you for sharing this with me...I'd never heard of Ashewell before. Some really wonderful writing in there...and you gotta love English music, with all those WILD cross-relations!

Just bought The Sixteen singing the Eton Choir Book Vol1 - been meaning to get this recording for ages and finally snatched one today.

On this concert we're preparing, we're doing a Magnificat by Hugh Kellyk, another composer of the same period who is only known for a couple of pieces that ended up in the Eton Choirbook - so maybe you know the piece if you have this recording. It's a great piece, but I think the Ashewell might be better. Thanks again!

Jean Rivier's Grave et Presto saxophone quartet. It's beautiful.

This week for me is the Double Violin Concerto in D minor by Bach.

from a mountain in the middle of the cabins by Panic at the Disco!

Fav composer? Bernard Herrmann. Genius!

Fav piece? Born on the Forth of July. It's melody is stunning!

The first movement from Shostakovich's 2nd piano trio. It's gooood :)

Score for gladiator by hans zimmer :)

I am OBSESSED currently with yo-yo ma's rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto.

Check it out:

God. It's such a turn on to listen to him hahahahaha.

My current favourite would have to be the piano version of "Tatakau Monotachi" aka "Fighting" from Final Fantasy: Advent Children, By Nobuo Uematsu.

Rite of Spring

Listening to it for the 3rd time in 4 days! :P

Body and Soul

Joe Lovano and Michel Petrucciani from 'From the Soul' - 1994 I think

Lou Harrison- Suite for Symphonic Strings

Right now, it's pretty much anything by the Big 5, and for me that's Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff. XD

Music for 18 Musicians, Steve Reich.

By A LONG SHOT. Section IIIA:

CHANGED MY LIFE. I thought it was the most amazing and beautiful pieces of music I had ever heard.

Really. Now I compose just like Reich. Sure its a bit out there, but I do.