As the series started in the early 17th century with Vivaldi's four seasons the idea came to mind to post the series here, as a follow up of my medievil series. I haven't posted any classical thusfar probably because my collection of classical music is rather small, and i'm certainly not a connaisseur. However the main reason i decided to do it now was simple, i liked what i heared. Obviously the series has a greatest hits element to it, most will recognise this or that..I will recode in the highest quality and as the cds are all close to the 80 min cd limit, downloadsizes will be around 180-200 mb range. I'm not sure what you(visitor) prefer 1 big download or broken in 2 , let me know.... I will include the inside info on what and who is playing where in a 300 dpi-readable format jpeg.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741) was born in Venice (that day an earthquake struck the city !). His father, Giovanni Battista, a barber before becoming a professional violinist, taught him to play violin and then toured Venice playing the violin with his young son. At the age of 15 (1693), he began studying to become a priest, 10 years later he was ordained a priest, and soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", probably because of his red hair. Vivaldi suffered ill health because of asthma. Vivaldi became maestro di violino (master of violin) at an orphanage called the Pio Ospedale della Pietà . It was during these years that Vivaldi wrote much of his music, including many operas and concerti. Has fame grew and by 1725 he was a busy man producing opera's, playing violin for the pope and what have you.
It is also in this period that he wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos depicting natural scenes in music.The inspiration for them was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterised), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties (both from the hunter's and the prey's point of view), frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and burning fires. Each concerto was associated with a sonnet of Vivaldi's hand, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four of a collection of twelve, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, his Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Le Cène in 1725.
Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21, 1685 – July 28, 1750) was born in Eisenach, Germany. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, an organist at St. George's Church, his father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93), was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. His parents died when he was 10 and so he moved in with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), the organist at nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied, studied and performed music, and apparently received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord.
Bach was a prodigous composer and performer, after his death his reputation as a composer declined; Bach's work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging classical style. But then several notable composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Mendelssohn payed hommage to him and began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being introduced to Bach's music. Chopin, before performing a concert, used to lock himself away and play Bach's music and so a hundred years after his death he'd become one of the greats.. His contributions to music, his "musical science", are frequently bracketed with those by William Shakespeare in English literature and Isaac Newton in physics.
George Frideric Handel (Friday 23 February 1685 – Saturday 14 April 1759) was born in Halle Germany. Handel displayed considerable musical talent at an early age; by the age of seven he was a skilful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ, and at nine he began to compose music. However, his father, a distinguished citizen of Halle, was opposed to his son's wish to pursue a musical career, preferring him to study law. In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel began the study of law at the University of Halle, but after his father's death the following year, he abandoned law for music, becoming the organist at the Protestant Cathedral. In 1704, he moved to Hamburg, accepting a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the opera house.
In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to George, Elector of Hanover, the man who in his lifetime amassed/enherited a lot of land and in the end as King George I even Great Britain. His heirs still rule (they renamed themselves Windsor) . Anyway Handel came in the wake of this family that amassed ever more power. He settled in London permanently in 1712, receiving a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne., he spent most of his adult life in England, becoming a subject of the British crown on 22 January 1727. His most famous works are Messiah, an oratorio set to texts from the King James Bible, Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Handel never married, and kept his personal life very private. Unlike many composers, he left a sizable estate at his death, worth £20,000 (an enormous amount for the day), he was buried in Westminster Abbey.
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Millenium Classics - Baroque Treasures ( 99, 79min ^ 187mb)
So here's the first in a series of ten, add some contrast..
01 - A.Vivaldi - The Four Seasons-Concieto No.1 in E major 'Spring', RV 269-I Allegro (3:22)
02 - A.Vivaldi - The Four Seasons-Concieto No.1 in E major 'Spring', RV 269-II Largo (2:24)
03 - A.Vivaldi - The Four Seasons-Concieto No.1 in E major 'Spring', RV 269-III Allegro (4:24)
04 - J.PAchelebl - Canon a 3 on ground in D (4:57)
05 - J.S.Bach - Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major, BWV 1068-II Air (4:22)
06 - T.Albinoni - Adagio (7:45)
07 - G.R.Handel - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Sinfonia)(Solomon) (2:48)
08 - J.S.Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV 1043-II Largo ma non troppo (7:41)
09 - L.Boccerini - String Quintet in E major, Op.13, No.5-Minuet (3:55)
10 - G.F.Handel - Organ Concerto No.13 in F major 'Cuckoo and Nightingale'-I Larghetto (2:12)
11 - G.F.Handel - Organ Concerto No.13 in F major 'Cuckoo and Nightingale'-II Allegro-Kadenz-Tempo (3:46)
12 - G.F.Handel - Organ Concerto No.13 in F major 'Cuckoo and Nightingale'-III Larghetto (2:54)
13 - G.F.Handel - Organ Concerto No.13 in F major 'Cuckoo and Nightingale'-IV Allegro (3:15)
14 - J.S.Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major, BWV 1047-I Allegro (5:27)
15 - J.S.Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major, BWV 1047-II Andante (4:14)
16 - J.S.Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major, BWV 1047-III Allegro assai (3:04)
17 - G.F.Handel - Water Music-I Allegro (2:38)
18 - G.F.Handel - Water Music-II Air (5:18)
19 - G.F.Handel - Water Music-III Bourree (0:46)
20 - G.F.Handel - Water Music-IV Hornpipe (0:51)
21 - J.S.Bach - Suite for Violoncello No.1 in G major, BWV 1007-Sarabande (3:11)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
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