Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Podcast #26 posted

Early this morning I uploaded the DCD Classical 'Cast #026. The title of the episode is "Some American Classics," but its something of a cheat. Two of the three works are by Americans -- the other is a composition by a relatively unknown composer of the classical era, Christian Gottlieb Neefe.

I usually come up with the title for the episode after I've programmed all the works. I'll take a step back and see what patterns emerge. In this case, there wasn't one unifying theme -- just a two-thirds majority of American composers.

I hope you enjoy the program.

- Ralph

Monday, June 11, 2007

Welcome Consort Press!

I'm pleased to announce that Consort Press recordings are now carried by DCD Records. Consort Press is the publishing house and record label for American composer and conductor John Biggs. The two releases we'll be carrying are collections of his choral and vocal music.

In addition to his compositional efforts, Biggs also founded and conducts the John Biggs Consort, and regularly performs music ranging from the Middle Ages throught present. It's no accident that his music for the human voice works is so effective in expression and beauty of line.

I'll be featuring music from these recordings in our next few podcasts. The first step, though is to get these titles online!

- Ralph

Saturday, June 9, 2007

When is Beethoven not Beethoven?

It's a question that continually plagues classical music lovers. How much (or how little) of an incompleted work be finished by someone else and still be considered a valid composition by the primary composer?

As I've been pulling together pieces for our next podcast, its something I've thought about. Probably the most famous example is Derryk Cook's completion of Mahler's 10th Symphony, which some consider an acceptable addition to Mahler's catalog and others do not.

For our next program of the DCD Classical 'Cast, we'll be playing an excerpt from a Sonata quasi una fantasia by Beethoven. The work was sketched out around 1792, but left incomplete at the time of his death.

The melody was completely written out, and a good deal of the left hand filled in as well. Beethoven left notes that the final movement, the least complete of the three, recapped large sections of the opening movement. Noted Beethoven scholar and composer A. Willem Holsbergen completed the work, using his knowledge of Beethoven's style to basically "connect the dots."

While we can debate whether the finished work is as Beethoven would have done it, I think it's well worth hearing. I'm certainly no Beethoven expert, but I didn't hear anything that sounded out of place. And more importantly, I didn't hear anything that sounded like dry academic writing -- anyone should be able to enjoy this sonata on its own merits even without knowing the backstory.

I'll be recording the vocal track for the podcast within the next day or so, so you'll soon be able to judge for yourself.

- Ralph

Sunday, June 3, 2007

We Love Belgium!

There's been a noticable upswing in visits to the DCD Records site from Belgium -- as well as a substantial amount of downloads of our podcast from that country as well.

I have no idea why, but I'm excited about it. I think DCD Records offers a unique offering of classical titles, and I'm happy that we're apparently appealing to folks outside the continental United States.

Our next podcast will feature something by a Belgian composer -- we just happen to have an excellent recording by DTR of the Joseph Jongen Symphonie Concertante for Organ and Orchestra. Listen for it!

- Ralph