Music To Get To Know Better

Here's a running list, with comments.

April 2013: In recent weeks, I've been hearing a lot of warhorses: Beethoven's 'Eroica,' Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition' (in the rarely played Stokowski orchestration), the Berlioz 'Symphonie Fantastique' as performed by a local orchestra. In the past few years, I've spent so much time making my own music (finall!y) that I haven't had a lot of time for the concert hall staples. Another reason is that we really don't have a good in-home sound system. This inadvertent inattention has had the effect of clearing my head, and now I think I'm ready to hear it all again, only with new ears. How amazing is that?

• Missed a rare performance of Charles Ives Symphony No. 4 by the New York Philharmonic done April 17-20. Rats! Conductor Alan Gilbert in the New York Times: “It’s unlike any music I know. It still sounds novel and out there today. I’m not sure what the message is, but it feels cosmic and true, and people seem to be moved by it. It’s a piece that has to be experienced live.” Maybe next time!

• 'La Mer' by Claude Debussey, in live performance. Supposed to be the masterpiece of Impressionism in full orchestra.

• 'Concord Sonata' by Charles Ives. Would love to hear it live, or, failing that, the recording by pianist Marc-André Hamelin.

• I'm going to have to explore more Darius Milhaud. For some reason, his "Bull on the Roof" music has been playing often on classical music radio, and I find it a real treat to listen to. Love the in-your-face polytonality. Though Milhaud said he intended it to be "cheerful" music rather than funny, I find it hilarious. I'll have to check out "The Creation of the World" and other works I've known about but never got a chance to hear.