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for the VINYL section of this blog, the concept is a simple one: i take a different classical composition for a weeklong spin on the turntable, along the way i might come across a couple interesting facts about the composer, excerpts from relevant letters, someone else’s profound insights about the spirit of the composition etc---throwing in my own quips for good measure. it is as well a learning process, a makeshift masterclass on the history of western music and an ongoing investigation of the magnificent contours that define the musical experience. gearing up for another 52 weeks of some of the best music i can find on vinyl, i’ve put together a roster of compositions that will proceed in tandem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s 2019/2020 season and features: seventeen symphonies, ten piano concertos, eight violin concertos and one opera across thirty-one composers. the full schedule is listed below; and as with everything i do on this blog, i’m always in search of collaborators and contributors! so if you’d like to chime in with some relevant thoughts on any particular composition/week i’d be more than happy to host you :) (email at blueribandweekly@gmail.ccom)
AUGUST 2019
W1) Frederic Chopin - Waltzes No.1-18
W2) Frederic Chopin - Piano Concerto No.2
W3) Frederic Chopin - Nocturnes
W4) Frederic Chopin - Piano Concerto No.1
SEPTEMBER 2019
W5) J.S. Bach - Brandenberg Concertos No. 2,3 and 5
W6) Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
W7) Clara Schumann - Piano Concerto in A Minor
W8) Aram Khachaturian - Violin Concerto in D Minor
W9) Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 3
OCTOBER 2019
W10) Jean Sibelius - Symphony No.3
W11) Jean Sibelius - Violin Concerto in D Minor
W12) Jean Sibelius - Nightride/Tone Poems
W13) Jean Sibelius - Symphony No.1
NOVEMBER 2019
W14) Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony No.3
W15) Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No.10
W16) Sergei Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No.2
W17) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6
DECEMBER 2019
W18) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
W19) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1
W20) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake
W21) George Gershwin - An American In Paris
W22) George Frideric Handel - Watermusic/Music for the Royal Fireworks
JANUARY 2020
W23) Richard Strauss - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
W24) William Grant Still - Afro-American Symphony
W25) Joseph Haydn - Quartets No.4-6
W26) Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No.3
FEBRUARY 2020
W27) Felix Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto in E Minor
W28) Anton Bruckner - Symphony No.7
W29) Florence Beatrice Price - TBD
W30) Max Bruch - Violin Concerto No.1
MARCH 2020
W31) Ludwig van Beethoven - Violin Concerto
W32) Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No.7
W33) Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.4
W34) Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5
W35) Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No.6
APRIL 2020
W36) Antonín Dvorak - Symphony No.9
W37) Antonín Dvorak - Violin Concerto
W38) Franz Schubert - Impromptus 1-4, D.899, OP.90
W39) Gustav Mahler - Symphony No.5
MAY 2020
W40) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No.39
W41) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No.40
W42) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No.11
W43) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No.27
W44) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Violin Concerto No.1
JUNE 2020
W45) Leonard Bernstein - Symphony No.3
W46) Franz Liszt - Part 2 of Etudes
W47) Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No.2
W48) Erik Satie - Gnossiennes
JULY 2020
W49) Camille Saint-Saens - Symphony No.3
W50) Camille Saint-Saens - Carnival of Animals
W51) Cecile Chaminade - TBD
W52) Benjamin Britten - Turn of the Screw