The music in our lives

[kristina]

Top Tracks - Joanna Leach - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD622LsHaqwm22iekLjs8GACers7R3POl

Joanna Leach (1937 - 2011) specialized very early to play on Square Pianos which were produced at the time of composers like Muzio Clementi, John Field, Beethoven and Chopin. She played their compositions on pianofortes of that time and had a most fascinating collection of very rare antique pianofortes ... and ... she was also a very inspiring piano teacher.
For many years she battled with cancer and unfortunately in 2011 she lost her battle. She is very much missed by many admirers of her beautiful art and I feel very lucky to have known her ...

Tell me more about how you got to know her!  I really enjoyed this music.  Thanks so much for posting the link!

Top Tracks - Joanna Leach - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD622LsHaqwm22iekLjs8GACers7R3POl

Joanna Leach (1937 - 2011) specialized very early to play on Square Pianos which were produced at the time of composers like Muzio Clementi, John Field, Beethoven and Chopin. She played their compositions on pianofortes of that time and had a most fascinating collection of very rare antique pianofortes ... and ... she was also a very inspiring piano teacher.
For many years she battled with cancer and unfortunately in 2011 she lost her battle. She is very much missed by many admirers of her beautiful art and I feel very lucky to have known her ...

Tell me more about how you got to know her!  I really enjoyed this music.  Thanks so much for posting the link!

Hello MooseMom, I am very glad you enjoy the piano-art of Joanna Leach (1937-2011) and I shall try to do my best to answer your question ...
... Many years ago there came about a revival of "old" keyboard-music and many keyboard-music-pieces were played on historical instruments of their time and one of the most important musicians to instigate this revival was Professor Robert Thurston Dart (1921-1971), who played on historical keyboard instruments, in an effort to give a better understanding of composers and their instruments at the time of composing.
Keyboard music played on historical keyboard-instruments was also brought to the listener's attention by Richard and Katrina Burnett at their Finchcock Music Museum in Goudhurst, Kent, where Richard Burnett demonstrated the wonderful sound of his historical keyboard instrument-collection with historical keyboard-music of the time. For the listener it was always a great experience at Finchcocks to listen to keyboard-pieces, composed on historical keyboard-instruments and Finchcocks was always visited by many music-lovers from all over the country. Music-lovers with historical pianofortes had also the chance to be instructed at special classes and events, how to tune their historical pianofortes themselves at home and how to treat their instruments correctly  ...
... And then there was, of course, Joanna Leach (1937-2011), who also played on her very own historical keyboard-instruments and there were some exhibitions of art and historical pianofortes, where she appeared to play on historical keyboard instruments to demonstrate their wonderful individual tonality and give the listener an idea of the wonderful sound of these historical instruments and one day my husband and I met her at one of these exhibitions and we were very impressed by her wonderful keyboard-playing and she made the listener aware of the individual tonality of these historical keyboard-instruments. She was a true keyboard music-lover and in a way we felt that she was also on a charitable mission to give music-lovers an idea of the wonderful individual tonality of these historical keyboard-instruments which were used by different composers at the time.
Best wishes from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

Thank you very much for the detailed reply, Kristina!  That was very interesting.  I have several recordings of baroque music played on instruments of that time, but I've never had the chance to see any of these performances in person.  I'd love to be able to do that one day!

[kristina]

Hello again MooseMom,

Hatchlands (National Trust) is home to the Cobbe Collection, an interesting group of keyboard instruments at Hatchlands Park, Guildford GU4 7RT and claims to have the largest group of musical instruments owned or played by famous composers to be seen together anywhere and there are often concerts given, even though the tickets can be a bit pricey... and travelling there is not too uncomplicated either...

Home - THE COBBE COLLECTION
www.cobbecollection.co.uk/


Another interesting visit could be the Royal College of Music in London
RCM Museum | Royal College of Music
www.rcm.ac.uk/museum/

and not to forget the Royal Academy of Music in Marylebone Road

Museum & Library - Royal Academy of Music
https://www.ram.ac.uk/museum

Interesting concerts are given there, also sometimes played on historical keyboard instruments.
Best wishes again from Kristina.

[Paul]

Keyboard music played on historical keyboard-instruments was also brought to the listener's attention by Richard and Katrina Burnett at their Finchcock Music Museum in Goudhurst, Kent, where Richard Burnett demonstrated the wonderful sound of his historical keyboard instrument-collection with historical keyboard-music of the time. For the listener it was always a great experience at Finchcocks to listen to keyboard-pieces, composed on historical keyboard-instruments and Finchcocks was always visited by many music-lovers from all over the country.

Many years ago I took guitar lessons at evening classes. The teacher arranged a day trip to Finchcock Music Museum. Morning was spent looking at the collection, in the afternoon we were taken round the collection by Richard Burnett played the instruments and talked about them. Sort of a concert punctuated with short talks. But a concert on the hoof as not all the instruments he played were in the same room. It was one of the best musical events of my life.

[Paul]

If anyone is interested in Finchcocks: http://www.finchcocks.co.uk/

[kristina]

Keyboard music played on historical keyboard-instruments was also brought to the listener's attention by Richard and Katrina Burnett at their Finchcock Music Museum in Goudhurst, Kent, where Richard Burnett demonstrated the wonderful sound of his historical keyboard instrument-collection with historical keyboard-music of the time. For the listener it was always a great experience at Finchcocks to listen to keyboard-pieces, composed on historical keyboard-instruments and Finchcocks was always visited by many music-lovers from all over the country.

Many years ago I took guitar lessons at evening classes. The teacher arranged a day trip to Finchcock Music Museum. Morning was spent looking at the collection, in the afternoon we were taken round the collection by Richard Burnett played the instruments and talked about them. Sort of a concert punctuated with short talks. But a concert on the hoof as not all the instruments he played were in the same room. It was one of the best musical events of my life.

Hello Paul, I am so glad for you to have had this magical experience at Finchcocks Musical Museum as well, when Richard Burnett played his instruments and explained the history and little stories attached to them ! I remember particularly one very special Austrian keyboard instrument from around Mozart's times and it was so small that Richard Burnett, after playing a wonderful piece of keyboard-music on it, he took this fragile little instrument in his hands and walked around with it a little and it was just amazing and certainly a magical moment...
Great to know that you were there as well and such wonderful musical experiences can certainly open our eyes and ears and can last a life-time ....
Thanks for sharing and best wishes from Kristina.

[kristina]

Keyboard music played on historical keyboard-instruments was also brought to the listener's attention by Richard and Katrina Burnett at their Finchcock Music Museum in Goudhurst, Kent, where Richard Burnett demonstrated the wonderful sound of his historical keyboard instrument-collection with historical keyboard-music of the time. For the listener it was always a great experience at Finchcocks to listen to keyboard-pieces, composed on historical keyboard-instruments and Finchcocks was always visited by many music-lovers from all over the country.

Many years ago I took guitar lessons at evening classes. The teacher arranged a day trip to Finchcock Music Museum. Morning was spent looking at the collection, in the afternoon we were taken round the collection by Richard Burnett played the instruments and talked about them. Sort of a concert punctuated with short talks. But a concert on the hoof as not all the instruments he played were in the same room. It was one of the best musical events of my life.

... there is a Guitar Masterclass with Sergio and Odair Assad taking place on Wednesday 26th September 2018 starting at 10 am at the Royal Academy of Music and an interview with the Assad-brothers takes place later at 3 pm. If you are interested, please check-up on it, as sometimes there may be some changes ... I have found in the past that coming along as a visitor and listening to a Masterclass is a most interesting opportunity to learn more about music and instruments. Mind you, I am not sure whether they ask now for a monetary contribution if you come along as a visitor, but hopefully it won't be much and hopefully you won't have treatments on a Wednesday either.
Best wishes and good luck from Kristina.

[Paul]

Speaking of guitar music, another thing the guitar teacher took us to was a concert by Segovia, that was another unmissable event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrés_Segovia

[kristina]

Hello Paul, you lucky one! Unfortunately we could not attend any of his concerts, but we have collected - over the years - a few of his LP's and he is still the best!
Best wishes from Kristina.

Asturias - Andrés Segovia - YouTube
Video for Andre Segovia Asturias▶ 6:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-2ZalhVKiM

[MooseMom]

Hello Paul, you lucky one! Unfortunately we could not attend any of his concerts, but we have collected - over the years - a few of his LP's and he is still the best!
Best wishes from Kristina.

Asturias - Andrés Segovia - YouTube
Video for Andre Segovia Asturias▶ 6:54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-2ZalhVKiM

Who doesn't love this piece of music?!!!  And Asturias happens to be a beautiful part of the world and is also the cradle of La Reconquista.  Thanks for posting this!


We saw Paco de Lucia about a decade ago, and it was magical.  Here is a link to another piece of music that just sings "Spain"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9RS4biqyAc

[kristina]

Many thanks MooseMom for sharing this beautiful sensitive Adagio played by Paco de Lucía. It certainly could not be played any better or any more sensitive and many thanks again for sharing it with us ... where did you listen to him playing ?
Many thanks again from Kristina.

[Paul]

A mile and a half away from the great classical music we have been discussing recently, I was put in mind of one of my favourite sixties singers today and looked up his old stuff on YouTube. I knew he started a come back a few years ago, and by accident I found footage of a recent concert of his. He is in his seventies now, and we are in the twenty first century, but he does not seem to realise the 1960s are over.

This track is over recorded, which would have ruined any other recording on this page. But it is perfect for this track (may have been deliberate) and the sound puts you in mind of those smokey, smelly, basement coffee shops of the 1960s, that I was too young to be allowed to go to while it was still the 1960s.

So here is, from some point in this century (although you would never have believed it if I had not told you that) the legend that is "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" (band's name, lead singer is Arthur Brown) with Kites
https://youtu.be/GMSqx9kDQ84

[kristina]

Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) born in Venice, was a Baroque composer.
Concerto for Oboe D-minor Op.9 
Oboe played by Pijus Paškevičius (10 yrs old) 
Video for Tomaso Albinoni Concerto for Oboe D-minor Op.9 No.linas eriksonas▶ 13:23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJBUai5kvkU

[kristina]

Jacques Duphly (also Dufly, Du Phly; January 12, 1715 – July 15, 1789)[1] was a French harpsichordist and composer.

La De Drummond - Jacques Duphly - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWr7QgcacH4

[PrimeTimer]

I envy anyone who gets to see these guys in concert. Jeff Lynne is a genius, the group is so very talented. Wow, wow, wow!! Love them more now than I did as a kid. Funny how we take some of the most important pleasures (music) in life for granted. This is definitely fun feel good music that should be enjoyed and enjoyed often.

ELO "Twilight"

https://youtu.be/XGWR0U-Q73E

[kristina]

J S Bach arr. F Busoni Chaconne in D minor (James Rhodes, piano)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ82pECqiUg

... One of the most difficult and most challenging pieces to play on the piano and James Rhodes certainly gave it his all, musically and artistically ...

[Hirano]

I consider SnoreRX to be the best and envy anyone who gets to see these guys in concert. Jeff Lynne is a genius, the group is so very talented. Wow, wow, wow!! Love them more now than I did as a kid. Funny how we take some of the most important pleasures (music) in life for granted. This is definitely fun feel good music that should be enjoyed and enjoyed often.

ELO "Twilight"

https://youtu.be/XGWR0U-Q73E

You guys should really check out Mariusz Goli. He's a street guitarist from Poland. There are a ton of youtube videos of him and he's even released an album. I've been listening to his stuff for days now. Love it.

[PrimeTimer]

You guys should really check out Mariusz Goli. He's a street guitarist from Poland. There are a ton of youtube videos of him and he's even released an album. I've been listening to his stuff for days now. Love it.

Beautiful guitar music. Could either relax or dance to it. Very crisp and clean sound. I'll have to check more of him out. Thanks for sharing.

[MooseMom]

My father suffered from severe asthma when he was young.  The only treatment back then was adrenaline.  As he grew older, he took it upon himself to combat it by becoming a trumpeter.  He became so good that he made a living out of it when he became a jazz trumpeter with traveling ensembles.

He knew how difficult it was to learn to play an instrument, that it took dedication and hours of practice.  When I was young, my two best friends both took the obligatory piano lessons.  I begged my dad for lessons, too, but he thought it was just a fad of mine that I would grow out of.

When I went to university, I took music theory and gradually learned to sight read well enough that, by the time I was a senior, I had been invited to sing in the elite choir on campus and was the only non-music major to do so.  By the time the spring semester rolled around, my only scheduled classes were in foreign language and in rehearsals in three different choirs. Those were the days!

After I graduated, I did sing in one choir for a short time, but after that, I never did sing again.

Despite that, I still really enjoy good vocal ensembles.  About 10 years ago, a group called KITKA performed locally.  This is a group of women from the CA Bay Area who love performing traditional Eastern European vocal folk music.  The only reason they performed here in Chicagoland was because one of there members is originally from here and wanted to perform for her family and friends.

They have just come out with a new CD, as they informed me by email.  I had not thought of them in so long!  So here is a link to one of my favorite selections on one of their earlier CD's, a piece they performed when they were here all of those years ago.

If you are not a big fan of Eastern European folk songs (and why would you not be?   ), I think you could still appreciate the vocal beauty of these harmonies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuJjOw15zU

[UkrainianTracksuit]

Kitka is really different from my usual daily playlist but I second this suggestion. There's something about them that I love. It's pretty wonderful that their songs cover so much of the Eastern European world, from like Macedonia, to small Russian regions, to Georgia. Listening to them kind of makes me sad because I'd love to go back to those times of singing, music and folklore... even though I wouldn't have lasted long!  Still, if I listen to them, I always end up in the kitchen baking bread! The artwork for their album Wintersongs is one of my absolute favorites... but they are all so beautiful!

[kristina]

Edith Piaf  Édith Piaf, born Édith Giovanna Gassion, 19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963) was a French vocalist, songwriter, cabaret performer and film actress noted as France's national chanteuse and one of the country's most widely known international stars.
Non Je ne regrette rien with subtitled English Translation - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5dLU8UOrPI

[kristina]

Edith Piaf (the little sparrow) "Milord"  with English subtitles - video dailymotion

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1inir

[MooseMom]

Edith Piaf (the little sparrow) "Milord"  with English subtitles - video dailymotion

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1inir

She sings with such intimacy, like all she is doing is telling you a story.

[kristina]

Thank you MooseMom,
The voice of Edith Piaf is just simply the best and listening to her, you can also feel that she has lived through it all ...
Her story sounds a bit like a terribly sad story, but nevertheless, it never beat her ...

[kristina]

#aznavour"bohemian life" - "la boheme" with english translation | Art x ...
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/85779567872629208/