wherein Liz attends a concert
Dec. 2nd, 2017 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingI went to a NYS Baroque concert at my church tonight: a bunch of solo pieces played by David Breitman on a genuine 19th century fortepiano.
The program was as follows: six Beethoven bagatelles (op. 126), two Schubert impromptus (op. 90 nos. 1 & 3), intermission, a Beethoven sonata in E major (op. 109), and the other two Schubert impromptus (op. 90 nos. 2 & 4).
I liked both Beethoven pieces very much. His music always strikes me as extremely, hmm, sculptural, perhaps? I had fairly vivid mental images during the bagatelles: rain and forest streams, butterflies in a sunlit meadow, hounds chasing a fox, songbirds hatching their eggs, fish swimming in a lake, etc. The sonata I wanted to sculpt in clay, maybe on a wheel if I knew the first thing about sculpting clay on a wheel. But I really wanted to be building something with my hands to go along with the shape of the music, especially the third movement.
Schubert, on the other hand, is shapeless. I have always thought his music is pretty, but it has no thereness to it. The closest I could come to shapes was birds flying over clouds, or maybe clouds drifting past the face of the moon, but even those kept breaking down; the music wouldn't support the image. I guess you could get northern lights, maybe, if you have music = color type synesthesia? But it was hard for me to maintain focus because the music didn't give me anything to grasp beyond generic prettiness.
Obviously YMMV with regard to either of these composers!
Anyway, I am glad I went. That was money well spent at my church's service auction last month. :)
The program was as follows: six Beethoven bagatelles (op. 126), two Schubert impromptus (op. 90 nos. 1 & 3), intermission, a Beethoven sonata in E major (op. 109), and the other two Schubert impromptus (op. 90 nos. 2 & 4).
I liked both Beethoven pieces very much. His music always strikes me as extremely, hmm, sculptural, perhaps? I had fairly vivid mental images during the bagatelles: rain and forest streams, butterflies in a sunlit meadow, hounds chasing a fox, songbirds hatching their eggs, fish swimming in a lake, etc. The sonata I wanted to sculpt in clay, maybe on a wheel if I knew the first thing about sculpting clay on a wheel. But I really wanted to be building something with my hands to go along with the shape of the music, especially the third movement.
Schubert, on the other hand, is shapeless. I have always thought his music is pretty, but it has no thereness to it. The closest I could come to shapes was birds flying over clouds, or maybe clouds drifting past the face of the moon, but even those kept breaking down; the music wouldn't support the image. I guess you could get northern lights, maybe, if you have music = color type synesthesia? But it was hard for me to maintain focus because the music didn't give me anything to grasp beyond generic prettiness.
Obviously YMMV with regard to either of these composers!
Anyway, I am glad I went. That was money well spent at my church's service auction last month. :)
