Realizing just how much music I burn through so will probably be more frequent than I anticipated. If you do want to share or have specific music recommended I can find something tag you in here too. It's surprisingly effective to just write down thoughts on a piece after listening to it. Really makes me process it and appreciate it more than I would, particularly given how much new stuff I listen to that I just don't care for. Benjamin Britten's piece 'Hankin Booby' gets a particular shout out for having the funniest name I think I've ever seen on a piece of (formal) classical music.
half·alive - What's Wrong
This is just unfortunately not a style of music I ever really listen to. I'm also terrible at processing lyrics. This one was recommended by @sun-god-cometh. It's generally a nice piece but just don't know enough about the style to give a lot of comments on it unfortunately. There is some nice little slides and vocal infections in the verses where it pushes up to a slightly dissonant note. Although the chorus doesn't seem to do it which makes sense. The ending did catch me of guard which was very cool. Did not expect it to do that.
Abuse ken - Kattarura and Night Light Train
Following be recommended Capital punishment from the same album by Marlo (@/aroace-poly-show) I though I would check out a few other pieces. Kattarua is quite neat and I do like the way the melody is extremely repetitive over the same phrase to the point while the other parts shift around it. Makes the vocals more as an instrument, particularly at that top G where vocals tend to sound somewhat unnaturally high. Night Light market is at the same top end of soprano register and so was the previous piece I rambled about by Abuse Ken. Certainly a cool technique and particularly feasible when you aren't using real vocalist. The voice band gives a very neat timbre at that high register too. I do really like all the sounds in Night Light train. The reversed piano sounds and all the little sound effects are a nice touch and are something I always enjoy in music. I still think Capital Punishment is my favourite of the pieces I've heard and the only one I've added to my playlist. I did briefly listen to the others in the list but no in any depth really.
György Ligeti - Atmosphères
This one is specifically for @beneathsilverstars. This is not a pleasant or easy listening piece. Composed in 1963, this piece I believe was based of a series of sounds produced by a synthesizer. It was arranged for orchestra and I believe the orchestral score is so huge it gets to almost 90 staves per system and is printed in A2 paper. This piece was absolutely revolutionary for completely breaking down tonality when it came out, and being one of the first cases of spectralism. The video itself has a vague copy of the score compacted to basically show which notes are sort of playing at the top, although not the instruments. The big blocks along the top show which frequencies are played at which point in the song. This piece is particularly wild for being an orchestral piece and not produced by a computer at all. You could sit in a concert hall and hear this performed without any digital anything.
Sergei Prokofiev - Le pas d'acier
I haven't listened to this one in a good while but did read the score and listen to a few months back. Pulled this one out for @beneathsilverstars too though. It's a 30ish minute ballet, although unlike Prokofiev's more well known ballet, such as Romeo and Julliet, this one is a fair bit more jarring. I do always like Prokofiev and his control of the orchestra is marvelous as always. There is still a consistent pulse around there for ballet to function as a dance form. There is a story I recall reading along with it but I unfortunately do not recall very much. Sounds a lot more like Stravinsky here than Prokofiev I think and it is fairly old but still quite interesting I think. Just kind of recalled while writing and I though I would add. Don't have a lot to say having not closely listened to in a while
Benjamin Britten - Suite on English Folk Tunes Op.90
Gonna be honest I don't really care too much for Britten's music often and I don't know any folk tunes. Just saw this on a shelf and thought might be an interesting listen. The first piece was 'Cakes and Ale'. I did not know this tune but it was a pleasant little piece. The second was 'The Bitter Withy', which I also didn't know of. I particularly liked the mysterious sound this piece had and the strange harmonic shifts and meter changes were cool. Third piece is called 'Hankin Booby'. Never heard of this folk tune but the name is extremely funny. As the name might suggest, this piece was a lot of fun and the textures and rhythm was pretty good. The fourth piece is call 'Hunt the Squirrel' and amusingly enough the tempo marking is 'Fast and Gay'. I know this is just how people wrote back in the 20th century but every time I see a score with that it's always funny. It's always Britten who does it too. The piece certainly was fast although I'm not sure about gay. A nice little short piece. The final part is called 'Lord Melbourne' and is significantly longer than any of the other piece. This piece was much slower and more serene than the others. Overall probably preferred the second and third the most. I virtue of living on the other side of the world from Britian I didn't know any of these pieces but it was still a good listen.
Lennox Berkley - Satbat Mater
This certainly is an odd piece and it has some religious significance when it was made. I don't know a date even but I expect it was written some time after 1950. Not an good piece to dive into if you don't listen to classical or choral music very often. I wasn't entirely sure what this piece would be like given I've never heard of it or the composer. In fact the last time someone got a copy of this score outs seemed to be 1983. Possible it got taken out of the library one or two times after that since it moved digitally but wouldn't expect much. The first movement didn't grab me initially but turned out quite interesting. The horn and the bass drum parts are particularly nice and it came together quite well. Second movement is kind of whatever. Finding a recording of these was far harder. Movements 3/4 were fine but nothing notable. 5 had quite a nice tenor solo and melody to it. 6/7 and 8/9 are once again all pretty average although the 9th does have some nice tension in it. I was expecting a bit more from the final movement, although it's fine really. Not really the greatest of pieces but not also my style of music. The fact all 10 movements were in different videos kind of sucked and the audio quality was nasty. Not what I was really expecting but an interesting listen.
