The Garden of Adonis, Suite for Flute and Harp - Hovhaness

A couple years ago, I wrote a post about Diabelli's Serenata Concertante op. 105, because I often play it right at the start of Spring. After the harsh winter we suffered this past year, I'm more than eager to welcome Spring with open arms and listened to Diabelli this afternoon on the way home from work.

Another composition that evokes the return of Spring for me is The Garden of Adonis, Suite for Flute and Harp by Alan Hovhaness (1911 - 2000). Like the piece by Diabelli, this one is made up of multiple movements. There are seven movements, in fact, but each is quite short and the entire piece is only 16 minutes long.

Hovhaness was an American composer, and the only music I have of his is the pictured album featuring Yolanda Kondonassis on harp. The album contains several pieces, which are all wonderful. However, The Garden of Adonis is especially ear-catching with its mystical melodies and muted beauty.

Serenata Concertante op. 105

The Serenata Concertante is absolutely one of my favorite pieces of music...in any genre. The 22-minute composition in six movements was written by Anton Diabelli (1781 - 1858) and makes use of flute, guitar, and viola. I've found that in classical music I gravitate towards material performed by small ensembles featuring interesting combinations of instruments, so it's no surprise I responded to this work.

Diabelli was an Austrian music publisher and teacher (both guitar and piano), who achieved a great deal of success (he discovered Schubert). Diabelli was also a composer. I first heard of him when I began learning to play one of his sonatinas on the piano. It's one of my favorite pieces to play and, because it's a longer piece, I got a wonderful sense of accomplishment after taking the time to learn it. However, from what I gather, classical music aficionados regard Diabelli as a minor composer.

Be that as may, I fell in love with the Serenata Concertante and several other pieces he wrote when I purchased the pictured Finnish CD recorded in 1997. The music on this CD has the further attraction of being played on period instruments: a copy of a flute from around 1800, an 1838 guitar, and a viola form 1817.

I usually play the Serenata Concertante just as Spring starts.  For me, the opening flute lines in the first movement suggest leaves just opening or flowers poking up out of the soil. There is a light feel to the composition overall that suggests the gentleness and warmth of a Spring breeze, and the piece often becomes joyously carefree. Just the way I feel after we emerge from five or six months of winter and snow!

QuintEssential Sackbut and Cornett Ensemble

The QuintEssential Sackbut and Cornett Ensemble is one of my favorite groups. They put out some really great classical music, and I am a total groupie. If they had T-shirts, I'd buy one. As it is, I have all their CDs - or at least the ones I'm aware of. 

The first one I purchased was Elisa is the Fayrest Quene, a recording of Elizabethan music written back in the day by various composers. This is a tremendous CD to have if you have any interest in Tudor England or Renaissance music. It is lovingly performed and recorded and, as close as these untrained ears can tell, sounds very authentic. The CD is also beautifully packaged.  I purchased this as a gift for a Tudorphile I know along with Alison Weir's biography on Elizabeth. It made a great one-two punch.

I find myself listening to this CD quite a bit, especially at work. It's wonderful to put on the headphones and shut out the world. Several of the tracks are in my Top 25 played list on my iPod.

Since discovering the QuintEssential Sackbut and Cornett Ensemble, I've picked up their other two CDs: In Venetia and Moon, Sun, & All Things. These are just as interesting as Elisa is the Fayrest Quene. In Venetia, and the name suggests, is a collection of old Venetian music. Moon, Sun, & All Things is even more non-standard, being Baroque music from Latin America written as long ago as the 1500s but not more recent than the 1700s. Very different than anything else in my collection (although it's questionable if this is truly a CD by the Ensemble since they do not appear on every track).

All of the music by the Ensemble truly evokes the world in comes from, and it's all beautiful recorded. The other thing I like is that each CD is a very different kind of music; it makes each CD of their a whole new sonic adventure. Great stuff!

Jakob Lindberg - Weiss Lute Music

I like all kinds of music. Everything from rap to classical, bluegrass to IDM, lounge to black metal. However, when I play piano, I only choose classical music. This preference led me to slowly explore classical music. While I could definitely use a music appreciation course to better understand periods and composers, I find myself drawn to music with interesting instrumentation as opposed to standard major composers. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the classical music I've been listening to.

Jakob Lindberg is a lutenist and, on this recording, he performs lute sonatas written by Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750). I became interested in the sound of lute music after hearing one played several years ago. The difference between the sound of a lute and of a guitar (for me) is akin to the difference between a harpsichord and piano. There's a mellower sound that evokes in my mind images of the Renaissance, knights on horseback, and courtly life. I also like the sense of solo musicianship the lute conjures up. It's akin to how I feel when I play piano; it's something that's all mine and I can play and express the music as I wish. There is pleasure in playing and listening at the same time.

What's interesting about this recording is that Lindberg plays these early 18th Century sonatas on a lute that was likely made no later than 1560! This fascinated me. Music hundreds of years old being played by a master on an antique lute! Who doesn't want to own that? This CD is beautiful to listen to, either just lying back and letting it wash over me or during a warm evening with the windows open, a light breeze coming in, a glass of wine, kitty in my lap, and a good hardcover book.