The idea for this two-week Exploration came from a listener who suggested we explore music of “great calm”, music which seems to gently pick us up and float us away from this earth. Bill liked the idea very much and immediately started sketching a week of the Romantics, from Berlioz to Mahler. But as he went along, he started to feel a tug in the opposite direction — what about music that picks up and drives us like a mad coachmen, hurtling us toward conclusion or chaos, music of sound and fury and joy and lots of noise? And so, here we are: The Play of Opposites. Think of Frost’s Fire or Ice, or Eliot’s Bang or Whimper. Opposites, it seems, may contain the whole.
Yin and Yang: The Play of Opposites, Part 1
Playlist
Episode 1
Grieg, Edvard: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 “Morning Mood”
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Karajan
Edvard Grieg Jean Sibelius Berliner Peer Gynt 1 & 2 Pelléas
DG 410026
4:04
Prokofiev, Sergei: Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78
“The Battle On The Ice”
London Symphony Orchestra/Abbado
Alexander Nevsky – Lieutenant Kijé – Scythian Suite
DG 447419
12:04
Stravinsky, Igor: The Firebird Suite
“The Firebird and her Dance”
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue
Stravinsky – The Firebird Suite – The Song Of The Nightingale
Reference Recordings 70
1:39
Stravinsky, Igor: The Firebird Suite
“Round Dance of the Princesses,” Infernal Dance of King Kaschei,” “Berceuse; Finale”
Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue
Stravinsky – The Firebird Suite – The Song Of The Nightingale
Reference Recordings 70
16:18
Beethoven, Ludwig von: Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68, “Pastoral”
2. Andante Molto Mosso
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert Von
Beethoven – The Complete Edition – Volume 19
DG 314932
10:22
McClintock, Harry: “Big Rock Candy Mountain”
Burl Ives, voice and guitar
Itunes
2:38
Episode 2
Beethoven, Ludwig von: Egmont, Op. 84
Overture (excerpt)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Solti
The Nine Symphonies
Decca 421673
00:15
Honegger, Arthur: Pastorale D’été
Orchestra/Honegger
Pastorale D’été · Cello Concerto – Aubade · Trio · Mouvements Perpétuels · Nocturnes · Novelettes · Improvisations
EMI Classics 17575
7:52
Beethoven, Ludwig von: Egmont, Op. 84 Overture
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Georg Solti
The Nine Symphonies
Decca 421673
8:50
Strauss, Richard: Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux
Music & Arts Program of America 1182
23:17
Mahler, Gustav: Symphony No. 4
IV. Sehr behaglich
Berlin Philharmonic- Haitink Sylvia McNair, soprano
Symphony No. 4
Philips 434123
9:30
Episode 3
Berlioz, Hector: Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14
III. Scene aux champs
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Abbado
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
DG 410895
00:20
Berlioz, Hector: Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14
III. Scene aux champ
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Abbado
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
DG 410895
16:37
Berlioz, Hector: Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14
IV. Marche au supplice
V. “Songe D’Une Nuit Du Sabbat:” Larghetto, Allegro
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Abbado
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
DG 410895
15:52
Berlioz, Hector: La Damnation de Faust
“The Ride to the Abyss, Pandemonium, and Epilogue on Earth”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Solti
Kenneth Riegel, Jose van Dam, Frederica von Stade
La Damnation de Faust – Fausts Verdammnis
Decca 410181
9:11
Morrison, Jim: “The End”
The Doors
SomeWax Recordings – SW0090-2
00:30
Part, Arvo: “Spiegel im Spiegel”
Daniel Hope, violin; Simon Mulligan, piano
Shostakovich: Violin Sonata
Nimbus 5631
5:32
Episode 4
Wagner, Richard: Tristan & Isolde
“Love Music”
Philadelphia Orchestra/Leopold Stokowski
Tristan Und Isolde, Love Music From Acts II And III (Stokowski Transcription) / El Amor Brujo
Odyssey 32368
26:01
Wagner, Richard: Tristan & Isolde
Act 1: Prelude
Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Philharmonia Orchestra/Furtwangler
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, ‘Pathétique’
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude – Liebestod
Naxos 8.110865
11:01
Wagner, Richard: Tristan & Isolde
Act 3: “Kurwenal! Hor! Ein Zweits Schiff”
Act 3: “Mild Und Leise Wie Er Lachelt” (Isoldes Liebestod.)
Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Philharmonia Orchestra/Furtwangler
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, ‘Pathétique’
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude – Liebestod
Naxos 8.110865
9:40
Episode 5
Biber, Von: Battalia For Violin, Strings and Basso Continuo in D Major
II. “The Profligate Society of Common Humor” (excerpt)
Baroque Band
Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra
Cedille 166
:23
Biber, Von: Battalia For Violin, Strings and Basso Continuo in D Major
I. Battalia
II. The Profligate Society of Common Humor
III. Allegro
IV. The March
V. Presto
VI. Aria Biber
VII. The Battle
VIII. The Lament of the Wounded
Baroque Band
Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra
Cedille 166
8:47
Schwantner, Joseph: Percussion Concerto
I. Con forza
Nashville Symphony/Giancarlo Guerrero
Christopher Lamb, percussion
Percussion Concerto – Morning’s Embrace – Chasing Light
Naxos 8.559678
5:37
Schwantner, Joseph: Percussion Concerto
III. Ritmico con brio
Nashville Symphony/Giancarlo Guerrero
Christopher Lamb, percussion
Percussion Concerto – Morning’s Embrace – Chasing Light
Naxos 8.559678
10:54
Holst, Gustav: A Somerset Rhapsody
Bournemouth Sinfonietta/Norman Del Mar, conductor
The Collector’s Edition
Warner Classics 40471
9:36
Vaughan Williams, Ralph: The Lark Ascending
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/Kreizberg
Julia Fischer, violin
Poème
London 001553502
14:27
Schwantner, Joseph: Percussion Concerto
III. Ritmico con brio (excerpt)
Nashville Symphony/Giancarlo Guerrero
Christopher Lamb, percussion
Percussion Concerto – Morning’s Embrace – Chasing Light
Naxos 8.559678
1:05