Posts tagged classical music

Georg Friedrich Händel (George Frideric Handel): Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351

performed by the New York Philharmonic
conducted by Pierre Boulez - 1983

Free download from Archive.org →VBR ZIP

Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is probably the most popular choral composition of the 20th century. If you haven’t a copy of it on CD (or on your iPod), here’s a free recording featuring the MIT Concert Choir:

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/MIT_Concert_Choir/Carmina_Burana_Carl_Orff/

Joseph Haydn - The seven last words of Christ

Complete recording of “Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze” or ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’ (Oratorio version, 1796) by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), performed by the Granollers Chamber Orchestra and Choir on April 10th 2011, conducted by Sergio Alapont

This is one of the very few complete recordings of the ‘Seven Words’ on youtube.com that respect the rights of the copyright holder. I’ve simply put together the parts into the right order, so that one can listen to it from the beginning to the (dramatic) end.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion (“Matthäus-Passion”) is without any doubt on of the major choral works of music history. If you’re looking for a free download of this masterpiece you can find several nice historical recordings and some good amateur recordings but until now you had to spend at least some money for a first class recording.

The Dutch Radio 4 station now offers an excellent new recording, featuring some of the finest Dutch singers, the wonderful The Hague based Residentie Orkest and the Netherlands Chamber Choir and the Haags Matrozenkoor, conducted by one of the leading Bach experts, Reinhard Goebel from Cologne, Germany.

This freely available radio production is a high class recording, comparable to the best commercial recordings by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Herreweghe, Riccardo Chailly,  Sigiswald Kuijken, John Eliot Gardiner or Stephen Cleobury.

You don’t have to speak a lot of Dutch to get to the free downloads (three 160 kbps MP3 files, 179 MB). Here is how it works:

Start from → matthaus.radio4.nl and click on the three parts of the download (Deel I, Deel II [a], Deel II [b]). A new page will open, were you can right-click on “Download” and chose »Save under…«. On the same page you can find a PDF-booklet (“CD-Boekje”), back on matthaus.radio4.nl is a download (“Vertaling van de Matthäus Passion“) with the complete lyrics (in German and in Dutch).

(Source: about-music.de)

What about some excellent classical baroque music, performed by an astonishing guitar duo for today’s Easter? Released only a couple of days ago on the Italian netlabel AlchEmistica, the Bach Guitar Duo (Florindo Baldissera and Vittorino Nalato) presents its CC-music-début »Obstinatum - [Chaconnes & Passacalles]« with arrangements of music from some very fine German baroque composers: Friedrich Christian Witt (1660 c.-1716), Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1665-1746), Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706).

Now here it is, one of those still very rare releases of ‘real’ (in terms of traditional) classical music, performed by two masters of the acoustic guitar. If you’re only a little into chamber music and/or acoustic guitar, you should do yourself a favour a grab this releases. Classical music that comes with a CC-license is still quite exotic, yet I am pretty sure, there’s a huge community of fans waiting for such high class stuff.

You can find the free download (224 kbps MP3) → here

and don’t forget to spread the word, if you like, what you here.

(Source: about-music.de)

Today, 93 years ago, on April 21st 1918 Prokofievs prodigious Symphony No. 1, the »Symphonie classique«, a masterpiece full of ambiguos irony and admiration for the great classical music period at the end of the 18th century.

I haven’t found a complete free and legal Symphony No. 1 on archive.org (Oh, I wish,  I could  post the fabulous 1960ies-recording of Gennady Rozhdestvensky), but at least I have found the four movements in four different recordings. So here it is, the foursome Symphony classique. Enjoy the youthful spirit.

I. Allegro

performed by Orchestre National de l’ORTF, Jean Martinon

II. Larghetto

performed by Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy

III. Gavotta: non troppo allegro

performed by London Symphony Orchestra, Valerij Gergiev

IV. Finale: Molto vivace

performed by Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel

He was a drunkard, a nationalist, a visionary, a genius. And he composed the famous Pictures At An Exhibition: Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881).

Here is his most famous cycle in three versions and three excellent historical performances:

1. Original version for piano, performed by William Kapell, recorded live in Melbourne (Australia) Town Hall, July 21, 1953

Part 1

Part 2

2. orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, coducted by George Szell, recorded Oct. 30, 1963

Part 1

Part 2

3. orchestrated and conducted by Leopold Stokowski with the Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded November 27, 1939

Complete

The music of the 20th century starts (probably) here:

New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Igor Stravinsky, conductor

Recorded in 1940 (Columbia Masterworks 78rpm Album MM 417 (XCO 27226 - 27233))
Digital transfer by F. Reeder.

Download it here