Monday, March 13, 2006
Gorging on classical music
10 classical CD's arrived in the mail today, so pacing myself. Initial observations:
- Debussy's orchestral music is superior to his piano solo works.
- The Art of the Fugue is more engaging than The Musical Offering.
- Wonderful reading De Tweeling while Bach's melodies interleave in the background.
Perhaps it's unfair to state that times have changed since we no longer have Frederick the Greats offering themes to Bachs for musical compositions - closest artist politician this era would be Havel, and even he just held the quasi-ceremonial post of president - given that thinking back on history, I can recall many ruler-patrons of the art, but can't recall any other examples of leaders giving the kernel of an idea to a great artist.
