Hear more. Feel more. Be more! Come with me and dive into some great classical music. For over 1000 years great musicians have explored what it means to live, love, die and everything in between: asking all our deep and universal questions. Escape the cacophony - the noise of your brain and daily life; tune into the music, your feelings and emotions ‘good’ and ‘bad’ …and find the space, stillness and love that underpins everything. NB: May include loud noise, surprises, challenges, cacophonous racket. May cause shock, comfort, discomfort, smiles, tears, peace, transcendence. www.cacophonyonline.com classical music Home of the Women’s World Cup of Classical Music
Episodes
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Music that seems to conjure all the tastes, smells and senses of Spain - or my expectations of them (as someone who's hardly been there): Spanish dances for piano by Enrique Granados. Perfect music if you just want to feel warmer, but it's also an opportunity to bask (Basque? [sorry]) in some gloriously wistful melancholy that seems to underpin all six of these pieces. Somehow it's not a melancholy that makes one feel sad - it seems as uplifting and nourishing as the warm sun on a cold winter's day. Listening time 12 mins plus music 25'.
The music is here in full, played by Alicia de Larrocha on Youtube, Spotify, and links to the album on Apple Music and Amazon.
Alicia de Larrocha was one of the great interpreters of Spanish music. These pieces haven't been recorded by many pianists, but de Larrocha did more than once. The recordings linked above are available to buy as high-quality downloads from Presto Music. You can also get her earlier recording (pretty much as good, maybe with slightly less good sound) and it's cheaper if you buy the whole album not individual tracks (a bit of care is required with your basket!).
What do you think? Let me know with a comment at cacophonyonline.com. I'd love to hear from you!
If you’d like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
– send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
– share this episode with someone you know
– share the 100 second trailer
– subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Not the World Cup was a "glorious celebration of classical and world music" that ran alongside a small men's football competition in late 2022.
Each team in each game of the football was represented by a short piece of (largely classical) music - 110 pieces in all from 107 composers (including 41 pieces by women): loads of great music and loads of new discoveries.
I got together with my friend the conductor and writer Lev Parikian to pick some highlights and talk about a few of the things we learnt - about music, about how we listen and how it makes us feel.
Listening time 41 mins.
Here's a Youtube playlist of our favourite things of all from Not the World Cup
and a playlist of everything that was clipped in the episode.
What do you think? Let me know with a comment at cacophonyonline.com. I'd love to hear from you!
You can learn more about Lev Parikian, his books, gigs, writing, nature projects, etc., at: https://levparikian.com and also on Substack & Twitter.
It's a fluid conversation but things break down a bit like this:
01:56 Wistful piano pieces and surprise winners [Music by Dolores Castegnaro, Enrique Granados, Julio Fonseca]
04:30 Giving things a chance/ deciding quickly this isn’t for you/ music that transports you/ powerful openings [Iris Szeghy, Karl Jenkins, John Williams]
08:16 Curation - contrasts and similarities [Hector Villa Lobos, Arthur Honegger, Reena Esmail, Kamancheh music played by Narges Dehghani, Sufi music from the group Hadarrattes Souiriyattes]
11:45 Universal music in a world of nationalism, colonialism, borders and nationality
16:10 Strange new worlds: non-western music to western ears and sensibilities - Korea Republic and Africa [M. Birvaa, Unsuk Chin, Anne-Marie Nzie]
21:27 Moods and complexity: Joy, sadness and sheer energy [John Adams, ND Jobins balafon music]
24:49 Authenticity and craft [Astor Piazzolla, Dana al Fardan]
26:28 Biases, choosing pieces from classical music’s ‘big players’ & pre-conceptions [Orlande de Lassus, Hector Berlioz, Johann Sebastian Bach]
32:55 Music that’s not by white guys and a Mayer detour
34:48 The final matches and final thoughts [Felix Mendelssohn, Eddie Mora, José Pablo Moncayo, Gabriela Ortiz]
The Cacophony episode on Emilie Mayer's 7th symphony, which excited Lev so much, can be found here.
ALL the music from the epic NWC adventure can be found by exploring the Cacophony website.
...and some of the pieces discussed have their own 'normal' Cacophony podcast episodes where they're discussed in a bit more depth:
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No.3, "Scottish" (the 'winner' for Germany)
Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose suite ('should' have been the winner...)
John Adams: Short ride in a fast machine
John Williams: Olympic fanfare and theme
Cacophony podcast episodes are normally released on the 10th, 20th and 30th of each month. It's a podcast bringing you great music that you may or may not know, but I think you'll love, all aimed at helping us Hear more, feel more and 'be' more! All at www.cacophonyonline.com or direct to your podcast player at bit.ly/cacolink
If you’d like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
– send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
– share this episode with someone you know
– share the 100 second trailer
– subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
An extraordinary, ambitious, blend of art and science, Johanes Kepler's Harmony of the World is a 17th century attempt to understand what the then known universe sounded like - on a planetary level! In the 1970s, using the latest technology Professors Willie Ruff and John Rodgers were able to make Kepler's Harmony into music - an extended piece of electronica, hypnotic and thought provoking.
Launched to great acclaim, Harmony of the World was then included on the famous Voyager spacecraft Gold Records, an explainer-for-aliens of earth and its people, currently somewhere in interstellar space!
Prof Ruff tells the story with Dr Simon Clark alongside me to explain the science and what it all means. There's more from the great Willie Ruff on his website
Listening time: 25mins+ (podcast 23', Harmony of the World up to 45')
Harmony of the World is here on Youtube.
There's a comprehensive website on the Voyager missions which includes loads of interesting information on the Gold Record: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
Simon Clark's podcast The Wikicast is available on all major podcast hosts and his science videos are on his Youtube channel
What do you think? Let me know with a comment at cacophonyonline.com. I 'd love to hear from you!
If you’d like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
– send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
– share this episode with someone you know
– share the 100 second trailer
– subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Photo credit: NASA/ JPL
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
This is a brief announcement to tell you about Not the World Cup of (largely) classical music, which is running during the football world cup as a complement or alternative. It's lots of fun and you can find it on the Cacophony Youtube or at cacophonyonline.com
https://www.youtube.com/@cacophonypodcast
Please listen, please vote, please share!
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Urbane sophistication mixes with poetry and drama in Clara Schumann's Piano Trio, her biggest piece from a small catalogue of great music. Better known in recent times as the wife of Robert Schumann, it was Clara who was an international star as the leading pianist of their day. It was composing, though, that brought her the greatest joy and her music is full of deep inspiration and honesty.
Listening time 38 mins (podcast 13', music 25')
Music here on Youtube, Spotify and (links to track 1 only:) Apple Music & Amazon Music played by the Beaux Arts Trio. You can buy this classic recording as a download here.
There are plenty of other recordings but notably in the last few weeks one from tip-top violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and friends. If you like the piece, check it out too. She emphasises the drama over the classy ease and sophistication.
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter, if it still exists!
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Brand new old music in this episode: a great forgotten symphony by a composer forgotten for around 150 years, Emilie Mayer. It's memorable, tuneful and inventive - a real discovery!
Listening time 48' total (podcast 13', Music 35')
Music here on Youtube, Spotify and Amazon Music played on a brand new recording by the NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchestra conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend. You can buy this brand new recording as a download here.
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter.
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Sunday Oct 30, 2022
Sunday Oct 30, 2022
Terror, excitement and delight - all there in handfuls as Carl Maria von Weber takes us into the depths of the forest for a folk tale of magic, sorcery, love, good and evil. One of my long time favourites and a brave new world for German opera in Der Fresichütz ("The Free-shooter"). Are you brave enough to go down to the woods today?
Listening time, c20mins (podcast 9', music 10')
Performances here on Youtube, Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music with the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Carlos Kleiber. If you like it, you can buy it as a high quality download here.
I don't generally like hacking big chunks from an opera, but the Wolf's Glen scene is quite something and worth a listen on its own. It's 15 or so minutes: Caspar goes down to the glen, summons Samiel (some sort of satanic spirit) and makes the deal for the bullets. Max comes to join him - he's fearful and plagued by a vision of Agathe, Caspar somehow convinces him to stay and the seven bullets are forged in the magic fire amid increasing terror and desperation. It's all in German, but the only words you need to know are the numbers 1-7 (eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben) and help - hilf! Spotify or Youtube links here.
There's a hyper-real movie version which is quite gruesome and almost manages to do Weber's requested special effects justice.
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter.
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Friday Oct 21, 2022
At a time when everything seemed on the brink and the old ways no longer looked fit for purpose, Anton Webern was part of a musical revolution - giving us new ways of hearing music and seeing the world. His six pieces for large orchestra are whole worlds compressed into a few minutes of bleak beauty, terrifying dissonance and even more disturbing silence. It's compelling.
Listening time 22 mins (podcast 9', music 13')
Performances here on Youtube, Spotify, (and links to track 1 of 6 on) Amazon and Apple Music with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Pierre Boulez. If you like it, you can buy it as a high quality download here. It's the Six Pieces for orchestra, op.6
If you like to see your performers then the Berlin Phil played this at the BBC Proms in London a few years back conducted by Simon Rattle and you can watch it here on Youtube. (It's 1:32:00 to 1:44:40) (The whole concert is excellent and takes us on a Wagner-Strauss-Schoenberg-Webern-Berg Journey)
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter.
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something or make a regular payment at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Mozart's music is brilliant, right? Even people who claim to know nothing about music say that. Well, it's true! In this Divertimento the 16 year-old Mozart really hits the spot with a piece of perfection, delight and joie de vivre. It's one of the pieces where Mozart moves from young prodigy to straight out master.
Listening time: 20 mins (podcast 5', music 14')
Performances here on Youtube, Spotify, (and links to track 1 of 3 on) Amazon and Apple Music with Manchester Camerata conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy. If you like it, you can buy it as a high quality download here for about £3.
If you like to see your performers having a great time, at the same time as playing with total commitment and verve, check out the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra with Pekka Kuusisto on YouTube video.
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter.
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Perhaps the shortest music that will ever feature on Cacophony, Eternal source of light divine is three beautiful and brilliant minutes of Handel, setting us up for the day as effectively as any yoga routine (though you can do that too of course)! It's a quietly awe-filled salute to the sun.
Listening time: 10 mins (podcast 6', music 4')
Performances here on Youtube, Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music sung by Iestyn Davies, with Crispian Steele-Perkins on trumpet and The King's Consort conducted by Robert King. If you like it, you can buy a recording as a high quality download here. The whole album is terrific.
What do you think? Let me know with an easy voicemail or comment at Cacophonyonline.com, Facebook or Twitter.
If you'd like to support Cacophony there are easy, great, ways:
- share this episode with someone you know
- share the 100 second trailer
- send us a little something at ko-fi.com
- subscribe/ review and keep listening!
Thanks for listening!