[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

Title:	Welcome to the CD Notes Conference
Notice:	Welcome to COOKIE
Moderator:	COOKIE::ROLLOW

Created:	Mon Feb 17 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Mar 03 1989
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1517
Total number of notes:	13349

1175.0. "Wassermusik/Feuerwerkmusik" by HPSCAD::WALL (I see the middle kingdom...) Fri Apr 29 1988 09:22

    George Frideric Handel
    Water Music
    Music for the Royal Fireworks
    Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, conductor
    Deutsche Grammphon 419 861-2
    ADD
    
    Tracking (for you purists)
    
    Water Music
    1. Overture				4:59
    2. Adagia e staccato        	1:59
    3. Allegro - Andante - Allegro	7:32
    4. Allegro				2:58
    5. Air				4:51
    6. Menuet				2:45
    7. Bourr�e				1:26
    8. Hornpipe				1:28
    9. Allegretto			3:42
    10. Allegro				2:03
    11. Alla Hornpipe			4:24
    12. Menuet				5:19
    13. Rigaudon			2:31
    14. Lentement			1:47
    15. Bourr�e				0:55
    16. Menuet				2:26
    17. Allegro				1:45
    18. Coro: Menuet			1:48
    
    Music For the Royal Fireworks
    19. Overture			7:50
    20. Bourr�				1:17
    21. La Paix, Largo alla Siciliana	3:58
    22. La R�jouissance, Allegro	1:57
    23. Menuet I			0:55
    24. Menuet II			1:15
                                            
    Track 11 is the one most people have heard.  It's used in television
    a lot.
    
    I held off buying the Water Music or the Music for the Royal Fireworks
    for a long time, becuase I always thought it'd be nice to have them
    on one disc.  Well, I came across this one for ten bucks and couldn't
    pass it up.  Ten bucks for a nearly full CD -- 72 minutes 4 seconds.
    It's part of D-G's "Galleria" line of CDs.
    
    The recording date nearly stopped me -- 1963.  However, the recording
    sounds pretty good to me -- I'm not sure if this is the result of
    the digital remastering or not, but it's nice and clean.
    
    The liner notes describe the history of the pieces very nicely,
    which helps the listener a little.  You can imagine yourself floating
    down the Thames or waiting for one of those colossal Baroque fireworks
    displays.  They note that an account of the first performance of
    the Water Music says it took over an hour.  I don't quite know what's
    missing here in comparison with other arrangements.
    
    In any event, a purchase I'm well pleased with.  If you're looking
    for Handel's open air pieces, you might want to check this out.
    
    DFW

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1175.1	Howzabout the original version...?	SMURF::BINDER	Popular culture is an oxymoron.	`Tue May 03 1988 13:10`	23
	> George Frideric Handel > Water Music > Music for the Royal Fireworks > Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, conductor > Deutsche Grammphon 419 861-2 Probably not at all a bad recording - Kubelik is known to be good with Handel. But if you want to hear what Handel probably wanted the Royal Fireworks Music to sound like, try this one, which I consider to be one of the stellar attractions in all of recorded Handel: George Frideric Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks (original wind scoring, no strings) Gustav Holst Military Band Suites Cleveland Symphonic Winds Frederick Fennell, conductor Telarc CD 80038 Just thought I'd put a bug in someone's ear. Oh, yeah, the Holst ain't bad, either. - Dick
1175.2	The Golden Rule	KACIE::DEUFEL	Daniel Allen Deufel	`Tue May 03 1988 13:48`	26
	> Handel. But if you want to hear what Handel probably wanted the Royal > Fireworks Music to sound like, try this one, which I consider to be one > of the stellar attractions in all of recorded Handel: > > George Frideric Handel > Music for the Royal Fireworks (original wind scoring, no strings) > Gustav Holst > Military Band Suites > Cleveland Symphonic Winds > Frederick Fennell, conductor > Telarc CD 80038 This is not necessarily what Handel "WANTED" the "Music for the Royal Fireworks" to sound like. The first public presentations (public rehersal and the actual performance at the fireworks display) did not include strings because the King (who commissioned the work) specifically did not want strings. Handel had tried to convince the King to allow him to include a string section but lost. Golden Rule #1: He who has the gold makes the rules. For later performances at places such as Covent Garden, Handel rewrote and "improved" the work (as he did with many of his compositions) to include the strings.
1175.3	Not my taste	SYNTGM::HUDSON	William Hudson, REO2-G/M2 DTN 830-3101	`Thu May 05 1988 03:54`	8
	RE: .1 The Telarc disk is good if you like big, brassy sounds. It is very highly rated by the Penguin Guide in the UK, but I like my Handel to sound less like Sousa (original or not)! I did have it but gave it to my dad who loves military bands!
1175.4	My $0.02	TELCOM::ROSENBERG	Dick Rosenberg VRO5-2/C7	`Thu May 05 1988 08:09`	8
	I have the version by the Jean Francois Paillard Orchestra on RCA Erato Bonsai (mid-priced). It sounds like it has the same good qualities as the version in the base note (I don't know if it has natural horns or not, but it has a nice gutsy sound on the movements that demand blary French Horn playing), is nicely priced, and I feel is a good version of a great Baroque warhorse played by a good modern orchestra (it is AAD but I can't see where this affects the music negatively in any way).