My Favourite Piece of Music

[Lizard]

My current favourite piece of music is Samual Barber,s Adagio for strings, it is amazing, if I could compose like that, I wouldn,t be sitting here in my villa in Sorrento tinkling me ivory,s, I dont usually get involved in music threads, but I have to agree with some other forumites, Michael Bolton was/is shite
Uncle Ben! Journey were a pale imitation of Foreigner, granted they had some good tracks, and Mr Perry,s voice was quite different at the time, but Lou Gramm, and Mick Jones, Ian McDonald...etc, still rock, especially MICK JONES, he is the real talent...


Anyone for tea?

[Ben Dover]

I agree, close call, Foreigner were brilliant too. To be honest I couldn't choose, but Journey just do it for me over Mick and the boys - but only just. Interesting having said what you've said, that you don't rate Sir Michael of Bolton, when his album 'The Hunger' was basically a Journey album without Steve Perry.

[Lizard]

Like most americans Ben, he overplays his hand! too many notes too little time, too much tonsil tennis methinks, also relying on the best session musicians money can buy, never helped his cause imho. remember Richard Marx?, a more subtle songwriter I thought, but still used some heavywieght session men to create a sharper sound, I have some good memories of Journey, but not 'open arms' I,m afraid, I liked the edgier stuff.....but still you will go a long way to find a harder working singer than Lou, and Mick is multi talented and a brit to boot!
Check out 'Big Dog' and 'hole in my sole' from the Mr Moonlight album, I was only playing that in the car, the other day........

[The Last Word]

A big fave on the classical stations, though slightly overcooked at times (Platoon soundtrack, perhaps.) The terse, sparser version from Kronos Quartet is well worth hearing.

[jj]

I prefer the Kronos version too.
But overplaying the 'catchy' bits lessens its impact (how many CFM listeners have actually heard 'Also Sprach..... ' in its entirety?): after the 90s and call-centres I still can't hear the Four Seasons without an involuntary clench of the teeth.

I'd have thought 'Tea for Two' would have been more Liz's style, though....

[Pervert]

Or Bach's Teacata.

In spite of the fact that it's been hijacked by numerous films and advertising campaigns, Barber's Adagio retains its power.

I still than that mockney git Kennedy did more damage to The Four Seasons than any amount of call centres could ever do.

[Lizard]

Thanks for your input Mr C and Mr JJ, whats a 'call centre' and what did it ever compose?

[Pervert]

It inspired an operetta called Patience.

[Ben Dover]

How weird I was playing Mr Moonlight the other day. Little White Lies or lines, can't remember, is my fave from that album.

[WillieBo]

'The terse, sparser version from Kronos Quartet is well worth hearing.'

LW : the 'Adagio for Strings' was originally written as the slow movement of Barber's String Quartet op. 11 from 1936. He orchestrated the piece for the Salzburg Festival in 1937 but had to wait another year before Toscanini premiered the work. It was instantly successful and has always been popular, long before Classic FM and 'Platoon'. Famously, it was the music played on the radio in both New York and London at the death of Roosevelt in 1945.

The great recording by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1957 reaffirmed its popularity among classical record collectors.

For mine I like both orchestral and quartet versions. If you are interested in listening to the whole chamber work, I can recommend the Tokyo Quartet on RCA. I think the Kronos version typically has just the slow movement.

Samuel Barber remains an extremely fine and still underrated composer. But that's another story.