Sunday, October 3, 2010

Contrast: Majesty vs. Subtlety

Music can give me goosebumps in at least two instances: 1) when a soaring melody builds and resolves in a powerful final chord and 2) the opposite: when a soft, sacred melody is laid to rest, or let float up.

Piece #1: Toccata from Widor's Symphony No. 5 for Organ
; possibly the most famous organ work...ever. You should be familiar with it.

Piece #2: "Rejoice, O Virgin" (From Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil); I will be posting more from All Night Vigil, on account of it being one of my favorite works of all times.

Music comes in a diversity of flavors. I hope we can appreciate both the overwhelming power and the subtle beauty of it.

11 comments:

  1. Can't wait to check these out after work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can anyone else open these mp3 files?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll try Internet Explorer later...Firefox wasn't doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nope, IE didn't work either :( POOP

    ReplyDelete
  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsyR40G2BeU

    link for Toccata (is it a good enough rendition Nate?)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAVGgqr3p58

    link for Rejoice, O Virgin (good, Nate?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Toccata is fine, but don't listen to the Rachmaninoff on youtube.... I'll try to get the link working...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah the Rachmaninoff was pretty low quality.

    On the other hand, the Toccata is awesome (didn't we listen to that on my Grandpa's boat?), and I think I love the organ.

    ReplyDelete
  8. More majestic organ music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZReOJh_8Q

    If a woman playing the organ makes you feel sinful, just grin and bear it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is some fantastic organ work.

    ReplyDelete