Arachnopnonia: Tchaikovsky “Souvenir de Florence, op. 70”

Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item(s) in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student manager Brianna (class of 2023) and features a score and a recording of Tchaikovksy’s string sextet “Souvenir de Florence”. Thanks, Brianna!

Tchaikovsky – Souvenir de Florence, op. 70
Score
CD

Florence, Italy

Souvenir de Florence is a chamber piece written by the great Romantic Era composer Tchaikovsky. It involves 2 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos all playing their own parts. I find this composition incredibly interesting because of the moments of chaos created by 6 different parts being played at once, but also because of the brilliant moments where Tchaikovsky blends the sounds of the 6 instruments incredibly well. Tchaikovsky dedicated this piece to the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society after becoming an Honorary Member.

Souvenir de Florence score first edition

Title page of the first printed edition of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence score

The principle theme of this piece was written during a visit to Florence, Italy, hence the title which translates to “Memory of Florence”. The first movement, in sonata form, is likely the most memorable of the 4 in the piece as it starts off with a bang and returns to the beginning theme at the end with even more energy. However, my favorite movements are the last two. These movements have distinct Russian folk-like melodies that contrast the music in the first two, and which I think are the most interesting of the 4. As a whole, I think this is my favorite chamber piece I have ever heard. Be sure to pick up the score or find it on a CD at the Music Library!

Parsons Playlists: Chamber of Secrets

Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Esther (class of 2025) and features an assortment of chamber music.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”

One of my favorite aspects of chamber music is exploring the intimacy of its subtle expressions. Here are some of my top chamber music pieces (including some I’ve been gatekeeping).

Chamber Orchestra

Robert Schumann – Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major Op. 44, Mvt. 1

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Trio élégiaque in G Minor No. 1

Johan Halvorsen – Passacaglia for Violin and Viola

Antonín Dvořák – Bagatelles Op. 47, Mvt. 5

Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet in F Minor Op. 18, No. 1, Mvt. 2

Felix Mendelssohn – String Octet in E flat Major Op. 20, Mvt. 3

Dmitri Shostakovich – Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11, Mvt. 2

Franz Doppler – Nocturne, Op. 19

Pablo de Sarasate – Navarra, Op. 33

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57Zew5NyVTiSg-ofiHKC01sZha

New CDs added – COVID closure, Part 1

New CDs for Covid Closure 2020
Part 1

Concertos, Orchestral and Chamber Music

John Luther Adams – Become Desert
J.S. Bach – Bach – The Six Partitas – Angela Hewitt
Rachel Barton Pine – Blues Dialogues

Rachel Barton Pine - Blues Dialogues

Rachel Barton Pine – Violin Concertos * Dvorak/Khachaturian
Silvestre Revueltas – Revueltas – Centennial Anthology 1899-1999, 15 Masterpieces
Various Artists – Project W: Works by Diverse Women Composers

Project W

Organ Music

Bruce Stevens – Rheinberger Organ Sonatas Volume 5

Bruce Stevens - Rheinberger Organ Sonatas V. 5

Jazz

Delfeayo Marsalis & Uptown Jazz Orchestra – Jazz Party
Makaya McCraven – In The Moment
Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings

Delfeayo Marsalis - Jazz Party

Opera, Opera Excerpts and Art Songs

Michael Fabiano – Verdi * Donizetti
Alexander Zemlinsky – A Florentine Tragedy / Six Maeterlinck Songs

Zemlinsky - A Florentine Tragedy Six Maeterlinck Songs

Choral Music

Jan Garbarek & the Hilliard Ensemble – Remember me, my dear
Johannes Ockeghem – Johannes Ockeghem: Complete Songs Volume 1
Jake Runestad – The Hope of Loving: Choral Music of Jake Runestad

Runestad - Hope of Loving

Ambient Music

Kankyo Ongaku – Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music, 1980-1990

Ongaku - Japanese Ambient

Popular Music

Bedouine – Bird Songs of a Killjoy
James Hunter Six – Nick of Time
James Hunter Six – Whatever It Takes
Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady

Bedouine - Bird Songs of a Killjoy

The Primitives – Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992
Lou Reed – The Essential Lou Reed
Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music
Harry Styles – Harry Styles
Various Artists – Strut My Stuff: Obscure Country & Hillbilly Boppers

Strut My Stuff - Obscure Country

World Music

Lambert Company – Attractive Hebrews: The Lambert Yiddish Cylinders, 1901-1905
Nazar – Guerrilla

Nazar - Guerrilla

New CDs added – January 2020

New CDs for January 2020

Concertos, Orchestral, and Chamber Music

Lucas Debargue- Scarlatti: 52 Sonatas
Philip Glass – Annunciation
Amanda Maier – Amanda Maier Meets Johannes Brahms

Maier Meets Brahms

Amanda Maier – Amanda Maier: Volume 1
Amanda Maier – Amanda Maier: Volume 2

Philip Glass - Annunciation

Electronic Music

Matthew Burtner – Glacier Music
Matthew Burtner – Metasaxophone Colossus
Matthew Burtner – Portals of Distortion

Matthew Burtner - Glacier Music

Opera, Opera Excerpts and Art Songs

Philip Glass – The Fall of the House of Usher

Glass - The Fall of the House of Usher

Choral Music

Margaret Bonds – The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs

Margaret Bonds - Ballad of the Brown King

Percussion

Steve Reich – Drumming

Kuniko-Reich - Drumming

Jazz

Champian Fulton & Cory Weeds – Dream A Little …
Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – Ow! Live at the Penthouse

Griffin and Davis - Ow! Live at the Penthouse

New CDs added – September 2018

New CDs for September 2018

Concertos and Chamber Music

Jane Antonia Cornish – Constellations
Jane Antonia Cornish – Continuum

Jane Antonia Cornish - Continuum

Jazz

John Coltrane – Both Directions At Once : The Lost Album
Mary Halvorson – The Maid with the Flaxen Hair
Takaaki – New Kid In Town

John Coltrane - Both Directions At Once

Musicals

David Hein – Come From Away
Jeanine Tesori – Caroline, Or Change

Caroline or Change

Various Artists – Spongebob Squarepants, The New Musical
David Yazbeck – The Band’s Visit: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Spongebob Broadway

New CDs added in March!

New CDs for March 2018

Concertos, Chamber and Orchestral Music

Francois Devienne – Flute Concertos Nos. 9-12
Jennifer Higdon – All Things Majestic / Viola Concerto / Oboe Concerto
Jennifer Higdon – Piano Trio / Voices / Impressions

Higdon - All Things Majestic

Sheku Kanneh-Mason – Inspiration

Sheku Kanneh-Mason - Inspiration

Jeffrey LaDeur – Debussy & Rameau: The Unbroken Line
Alon Sariel – Telemandolin

Alon Sariel - Telemandolin

Arnold Schoenberg – String Quartets 2 & 4 / Gringolts Quartet
Kai Schumacher – Beauty in Simplicity

Kai Schumacher - Beauty in Simplicity

Jazz

Behn Gillece – Walk of Fire
Aaron Goldberg – The Now

Justin Kauflin – Dedication
Jimmy McGriff – The Best of the Sue Years, 1962-1965

Jimmy McGriff

Thelonious Monk – Solo Monk
Mostly Other People Do The Killing – Red Hot
Oneness of Juju – Space Jungle Luv

Oneness of JuJu - Space Jungle Luv

Gregory Porter – Nat “King” Cole & Me
Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet – Intents and Purposes

Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet

Opera, Opera Excerpts and Art Songs

Daron Hagen – After Words : 21st-Century Song Cycles

Daron Hagen 21st Century Song Cycles

Choral Music

Benjamin Britten – A Ceremony of Carols / Friday Afternoons / Three Two-Part Songs
Luminos – In Lucem
John Turner – Christmas Card Carols

Luminos - In Lucem

Folk and World Music

The James Connolly Songs of Freedom Band – Songs of Freedom
Various Artists – Andina, the Sound of the Peruvian Andes : Huyano, Carnaval & Cumbia, 1968 to 1978

Andina

Popular Music

Various Artists – Caribbean in America, 1915-1962
Steven Wright-Mark – My Plastic World …

Caribbean in America

Arachnophonia : “The Goat Rodeo Sessions”

Editor’s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about items in the Parsons Music Library‘s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by Music Library student worker, Duncan (class of 2018) and features a 2011 bluegrass/chamber music release by cellist Yo Yo Ma, bassist Edgar Meyer, mandolin player Chris Thile, and fiddler Stuart Duncan called The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Thanks, Duncan!

The Goat Rodeo Sessions

The Goat Rodeo Sessions

When one listens to any firmly cemented genre for any recognizable period of time, one starts to notice how entrenched many genre conventions are. Perhaps the most accessible (if not clichéd) example is modern Top 40, where conventions such as the infamous “millennial whoop” are near inescapable. While it can be frustrating when artists (of any genre) trudge down well-worn paths, it allows us to, by comparison, truly appreciate the artists who embrace traditions and conventions across boundaries of genre.

Goat Rodeo live

If one musical project can serve as an example of such artistic ambition, it is The Goat Rodeo Sessions by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. Hopefully anyone reading this post recognizes at least one of these names, but for those who don’t, these four musicians are among the most acclaimed in their genres. Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the world’s most famous cellist, having recorded more than 90 albums and having been awarded 18 Grammy Awards. Stuart Duncan is a world class bluegrass musician (he plays fiddle on this particular project) who has won 4 Grammy Awards and has been named the Academy of Country Music’s Fiddle Player of the Year 4 times. Edgar Meyer is a bassist and composer of multiple styles who was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002. Rounding out the group is mandolinist, Chris Thile, an unrivaled genre-hopper who has been awarded 5 Grammy Awards and a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship.

Goat Rodeo performers

The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a breathtaking crossover effort between two genres which, at first glance, are incongruous: classical and bluegrass. As a product of “bluegrass country” who has since pursued a study of classical music, I view this album as a unique opportunity to both indulge in nostalgia and embrace a marvel of musical progressivism. By drawing from two genres which are firmly rooted in tradition, these musicians push forward by pulling from the past and seemingly have a blast doing so. I wish I could put into words just how impressive this project is, both technically and intellectually, but I am not confident in my ability to adequately do so. For that reason, all I can do is vehemently recommend this incomparable piece of art. Enjoy.

New CDs added in September!

New CDs for September 2017

Orchestral Music

George Crumb – George Crumb
William Schuman – Symphonies and Selected Orchestral Works
Roger Sessions – Symphonies 6, 7 & 9
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Complete Symphonies
Isang Yun – Complete Symphonies; My Land, My People; Exemplum

Isang Yun - Complete Symphonies

Concertos and Chamber Music

Alberto Ginastera – The Three Piano Concertos (Nissman Plays Ginastera)
Bohuslav Martinu – Chamber Music with Flute
Jean-Pierre Rampal – Les triomphes de Jean-Pierre Rampal
Ransom Wilson – Flute Music By French Composers

Les Triomphes de Jean-Pierre Rampal

Jazz

Tri-Ocity – The Art of the Jazz Organ Trio

Tri-Ocity - Art of Jazz Organ Trio

Film Music

Dimitri Shostakovich – Hamlet: Music for the Film, op. 116/116a

Shostakovich - Hamlet

New CDs added in August!

New CDs for August 2017

Chamber Music, Concertos and Orchestral Music

Frederic Chopin – Paul Badura-Skoda plays the Chopin Piano Concertos
Aaron Copland and Benjamin Britten – Piano Concertos
Howard Hanson – Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 and Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth

Jascha Heifetz – Beethoven & Brahms Concertos
Sergiu Luca & Malcom Bilson – Mozart Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin: Late Viennese Sonatas

Gwendolyn Mok – The Composer’s Piano: Brhams Late Piano Works Op. 116-119
Jean-Philippe Rameau – Piece de Clavecin en Concert
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Concerto in C for Two Pianos; Job: A Masque For Dancing
Manuela Wiesler & Julian Jacobson – Schubert*Reinecke*Boehm

Band Music

Frederick Fennell – Screamers (Circus Marches)
Johan Willem Friso Military Band – Alliance of the Free
Jack Stamp – Cloudsplitter
U.S. Marine Band – Picture Studies

Popular Music

Betty – Carnival
Betty – Limboland
Betty – Snowbiz
The Human League – Dare!

Humor/Parody

The Capitol Steps – Obama Mia!
The Capitol Steps – Take The Money and Run for President

Musicals & Film Soundtracks

Irving Berlin – Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun: The New Broadway Cast Recording
Laurence O’Keefe – Bat Boy : The Musical
Jule Styne – Bells Are Ringing
Betty – Betty Rules
Galt MacDermot & Bill Dumaresq – The Human Comedy: A Modern Opera

Frank Wildhorn – Jekyll & Hyde : The Musical
Various Artists – Repo Man: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Marvin Hamlisch – Sweet Smell of Success
Boy George – Taboo: Original London Cast
Boy George – Taboo: Original Broadway Cast
Jeanine Tesori – Thoroughly Modern Millie
Michael John LaChiusa – The Wild Party

Folk / World Music

Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy – One

New CDs added in July!

New CDs for July 2017

Orchestral Music

Ernest Bloch – America (An Epic Rhapsody)
Margaret Brouwer – Orchestral and Percussion Music

Bloch - America

Diana Cotoman – Symphonie No. 1
Diana Cotoman – Symphonie No. 2
Diana Cotoman – Tableaux & Poemes
Frederick Delius – Appalachia / The Song of the High Hills
Henri Dutilleux – Metaboles / The Shadows of Time
Henri Dutilleux – Symphony No. 2

Delius - Appalachia

G.F. Handel – Water Music / Music for the Royal Fireworks
Hans Werner Henze – Drei sinfonische eduden / Quattro poemi / Nachstucke und arien / La selva incantata
Hans Wener Henze – Ode to the West Wind / Five Neapolitan Songs / Three Dithyrambs
Vincent D’Indy – Jour d’ete a la montagne, Op. 61 & Symphonie sur un chant montagnard “Chevenole”, Op. 25
King’s Consort – The Coronation of King George II
Olivier Messiaen – Turangali^la symphony
Christopher Rouse – Odna Zhizn / Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 / Prospero’s Rooms
Bright Sheng – The Phoenix

Bright Sheng - The Phoenix

Chamber Music and Concertos

Martha Argerich – Debut Recital: Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Ravel, Prokofiev
Ludwig van Beethoven – Bearbeitungen Fur Blaser
Ludwig van Beethoven – Legacy: The Spirit of Beethoven – Gwendolyn Mok
Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Ebb & Flow Arts – Explorations

Martha Argerich

Soovin Kim; Jeremy Denk; Jupiter String Quartet – Concert in D Major; Chausson / Sonata No. 1 in A Major; Faure
Steven Mackey – Banana Dump Truck: Music of Steven Mackey
Sphinx Virtuosi – Live in Concert
Richard Strauss – Violin Concerto / Sonata in Eb
Charles Wuorinen – Ashberyana / Fenton Songs
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich – Violin Concerto / Rituals

Banana Dump Truck

Popular Music

The Chainsmokers – Bouquet
Kaia Kater – Nine Pin
Josh Ritter – Sermon on the Rocks

Chainsmokers - Bouquet

Duncan Sheik – Legerdemain
Various artists – Tamla Motwon : Connoisseurs
Suzanne Vega – Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles

Tamla Motown

Band Music

Thomas Coates – Thomas Coates : The Father of Band Music in America

Thomas Coates

Cantatas, Choruses, Operas and Oratorios

J.S. Bach – St. Mark Passion
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Psalmen un Moetetten / Oratorium Christus Op. 97
Ludwig van Beethoven – Fidelio
Ludwig van Beethoven – Missa Solemnis
George Frideric Handel – Amor e gelosia : Operatic Arias
George Frideric Handel – Delirio : Italian Cantatas
George Frideric Handel – Rinaldo

Handel - Rinaldo

Witold Lutoslawski – Twenty Polish Christmas Carols
Musica Ficta – Danske julesalmer og sange
Ariel Ramirez – Missa Criolla / Navidad Nuestra
Paul Schoenfield – Concerto for Violin & Orchestra / Four Motets / The Merchant and the Pauper (excerpts)
John Tavener – Lament for Jerusalem
Kurt Weill – The Seven Deadly Sins

Musica Ficta

Jazz

Seamus Blake & Chris Cheek with Reeds Ramble – Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off
Jane Ira Bloom – Early Americans
Avishai Cohen – Into The Silence
The Cookers – The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart

Cookers - Call of the Wild

Fred Hersch Trio – Alive at the Vanguard
Harold Lopez-Nussa – El Viaje
Joe Mulholland Trio – Runaway Train

Harold Lopez-Nussa El Viaje-1

Musicals & Film Music

City of Prague Philharmonic – Psycho : The Essential Alfred Hitchcock
Osvaldo Golijov – Youth Without Youth : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Maury Yeston – Titanic : A New Musical

Psycho: The Essential Alfred Hitchcock

World / Folk Music

Sheila Chandra – Monsoon
Maarja Nuut – Une meeles = In the hold of a dream
Various Artists – Why The Mountains Are Black : Primeval Greek Village Music : 1907-1960
Various Artists – Women of Africa

Women of Africa