Ernest Bloch is a Swiss born American composer most noted from his use of Jewish traditional and liturgical music in his compositions. His music is derived from Late Romantic and Impressionistic influences yet his liberal use of Jewish themes and motifs makes him stand out in 20th century music.

The Violin Concerto was written for Joseph Szigeti and is performed by Szigeti on this 1939 recording with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire of Paris. The conductor is Charles Munch. The concerto is a serious affair but loaded with beautiful melodies. Szigeti is a violinist of unparalleled brilliance and it shows on this masterly transfer from 78rpm to MP3. If you have not heard this somewhat forgotten composerbefore then this virtuoso performance is a good place to start.

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There are lots of top class musicians showcased on the music page of the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum web site. However their own chamber orchestra shouldn’t be missed either. Three compositions are available at the Free Music Archive under the heading Live at The Gardner Museum’s Tapestry Room. The two Mozart works and a serenade from Anton Dvorak make up the gentle Classical program for a Sunday afternoon of your choosing. It is as relaxing as a outdoor picnic but without the ants and the drunken relatives.

If you enjoy the concert go back to that music page linked above and feast on the loads of classical music so generously uploaded by the splendid people at the museum.

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Benjamin Britten’s two act chamber opera titled Turn of The Screw is based on the novel of the same name by Henry James. This intriguing opera is modern and quite accessible to the casual listener. The plot involves a nanny’s suspicion that her wards, two children, are being possessed by spirits in the house. Certainly, if there ever was an opera meant for Halloween, this is it.

This version is from 1954 and is the first recording of the composition. It is by the English Opera Group Orchestra and is conducted by the composer. It features Jennifer VyVyan, Peter Pears, and Joan Cross. It is still considered the definitive version of this work and merits a listen by everyone. The transfer to 320kbps MP3 from mono recordings is done masterfully by Bob Varney. You can access the download page at The Internet Archive through the link below.

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I’ve always been fascinated by the somber compositions of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. So much so, that the very first composition I wrote was a set of choir pieces in the style of Bartok. This was in my freshman year at college so you can imagine how naive I was. My composition teacher caught the influence yet praised my originality. He also said they were so full of mistakes that the pieces were unplayable as they stood. So much for my career as a composer.

My favorite orchestra work by Bela Bartok is the Music for String Instruments, Percussion, and Celesta. While many see Bartok as dissonant I think he is incredibly melodic with each note making perfect sense. The 2nd movement is a joyous (for Bartok) mixture of phrases playing off each other. There is not a bad choice in this composition. This particular performance is a classic in itself. Recorded in 1949 by the Los Angeles Chamber Symphony conducted by Harold Byrns, this is a moving and dramatic performance. It is also the very first recording of this seminal work. The transfer from 78rpm disc to MP3 file is another F. Reeder miracle. How does he capture this great sound in VBR MP3 at around 96kbps? This is another must download from the 78rpm collection at The Internet Archive.

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Selections from Anton Webern’s Song Cycles Op.3, 4, 12, 23 & 25 are performed by soprano Jody Pou and pianist Emily Manzo on this fourth online album from the exceptional Shsk’h netlabel. Webern was one of Arnold Schoenberg most celebrated and loyal students. He diligently stayed in the twelve tone technique of his teacher and is known as one of the finest practitioner of serialism. His works are intense but brief diamonds of 20th century classical music. These songs are a perfect introduction to the composer and are also excellent showcases for the considerable talents of Pou and Manzo.

The album is available in 256kbps MP3.

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In the early 20th century, composer Igor Stravinsky created a triple crown of sort through three seminal works for the ballet; The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. All three were commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev. the fiery impresario of the ballet company, Ballet Russes. The Firebird was the first composition , written and performed in 1910. Compared to the other two works, it is romantically conservative yet has the mark of a young firebrand of a composer who would soon be turning the musical world on its ears. The mark of the Russian nationalist composers is quite heavy but even this early part of the 20th century, Stravinsky was finding his own influential sound.

This version of The Firebird Suite was recorded on 78rpm discs in 1940 by the All-American Orchestra directed by Leopold Stokowski. It is a marvelous rendition deserving of any classical music collector’s collection. The sound is quite good considering the age and the transfer to MP3 by F. Reeder is, as expected, exceptional.

This work is available from the 78rpm collection of the Internet Archives.

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The lute is not exactly the first instrument I think of when someone says “avant-garde” or “contemporary music”. Yet Jozef Van Wissem uses his lute virtuosity to create exactly that. His compositions are clearly minimalist with the use of musical palindromes or mirror structures rather than precise compositional forms. Hearing a Jozef van Wissem compositions is a hypnotic trip down a rabbit hole. I think it is safe to say that most people have never heard the Renaissance minded lute in such a modern yet beautiful way.

A Priori is freely available through Ubuweb and is an excellent introduction to the the composer and lute virtuoso’s odd and quiet world. Very accessible yet very meditative, these tracks lulls you into a calm. Yet this is not casual listening but the kind that pulls you into the structure and gives rewards with every listen. While Van Wissem does work with electronics on some albums this is a pure acoustic effort and, in my opinion, the best way to experience his music.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artist by buying his CDs.

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Is there anyone who doesn’t like Gilbert and Sullivan? Their operettas were the height of entertainment in the 19th century and continues to charm us. I’m not sure if this 1936 recording of The Mikado is the entire work or an abridged rendition but it certainly delivers all the fun. The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company is conducted by Isidore Godfrey. This MP3 album is taken off of an old 78rpm set and is, of course, monaural. However it is fine for its time and is excellently transferred by F. Reeder into 92kbps MP3 format. If you are not familiar with the dynamic composing duo of Gilbert & Sullivan, just download and listen. You will be hooked.

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Baritone Anton Belov and pianist Lydia Brown play two classic works at The Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Robert Schumann’s Dichterleibe is the composer’s best known song cycle and is performed in its entirely. The duo also performs selections from Songs of Travel by British composer Ralph Vaughn Williams.

This live performance is available from WFMU’s Free Music Archive in 128kbps MP3. You can download many other performances by equally talented classical performers from the museum’s web site.

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During the 50s and 60s, Cornelius Cardew was an important English composer who pioneered the use of experimental scores and free improvisations in classical music. Yet he abandoned the avant-garde in the 1970s after a political conversion to Communism. He condemned experimental music as elitist and advocated more tonal “socially redeeming” music. This political and artistic stance continued until his death when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1981.

The entire idea that certain music is subversive and can be judged by your political views alone is simply odious to me. Yet this collection of Carew’s piano music from the 1970s is quite beautiful. It doesn’t say who is the pianist so I assuming it is the composer himself. The influence of English folk melodies and traditional music is self evident. Some tracks like “Croppy Boy” are pastoral and meanders like a rippling stream. Others like the “Thalmann Variations” are full of cascading lines in a hurry to fullfill themselves before the composition ends. Certainly, with titles like “Four Principles, “Revolution” which comes the closest to his earlier dissonance, and “Red Flag Prelude” they are meant as program music to represent various ideology. But regardless, the eleven tracks can be enjoyed as beautiful piano pieces played with feeling and composed by an exceptional artist.

The album is available from the amazing Ubuweb.

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At slightly more than 10 minutes, this recorded performance by soprano Jody Pou is shorter than I usually allow for posting. However, the song cycle Lettres a des amies-enfants is an extraordinary piece of music. The music is composed by Igor Ballereau and is based on letters to young girls by British writer Lewis Carroll who is best known for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The five songs are arranged for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, viola and cello. They are post-modern miniatures that exude a delicate balance between innocence, love and melancholy.

The work is available through the permission of Ballereau and Pou from The Free Music Archive. It is in 256kbps MP3 format.

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Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Aus den Sieben Tagen is a large composition of fifteen pieces. Rarely played, it asks the performers to improvise under rigid written direction from the composer. Supposedly the direction for the last section reads “Play, you do not need me anymore, everything you will do from now on will be right and good.” It is music that Stockhausen described as being from the performer’s intuition rather than his intellect. Certainly, it is an unusual piece even from a seminal 20th century composer who remained ahead of his time.

Le Car de Thon is a large contemporary music ensemble from Switzerland and is exactly the type of artists that would take on a monumental work like this. They have been playing and recording the fifteen pieces for quite a while and collected their four favorite performances, mostly from a concert in 2008, on this free and legal album Nos Meillurs Stockhausen from the Insubordination netlabel. I listened to this album from beginning to end in one sitting and to say it is mind altering is an understatement. It is truly a masterpiece of contemporary music and my only regret is that the do not have the other eleven pieces of music from this work to listen to. This is one of the best online albums of contemporary music on the internet.

The album is available in 320kbps MP3.

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Soprano Jody Pou and lute player Andrea Damiani team up for this recital of Baroque songs recorded live at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy. The Baroque compositions are masterly performed in what must have been a fitting environment. The recording includes songs by Henry Purcell, Girolamo Frescobaldi and others. A highly recommended download for lovers of classical vocal music.

The album can be found at the Free Music Archive in 128kbps MP3.

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It’s nice to see You Are Not Stealing Records again. They disappeared for a short while but have resurfaced with old and new online albums. YANST is a long-time stalwart of the net label scene with a eclectic mix of surf rock, blues-rock, and unclassifiable electronic music . The new two volume Music of The Gods by Doctor Phibes & The Ten Plagues of Egypt is a combination of the familiar and the odd. The two volumes offer classical music played on organ (or maybe synthesizers?) with lots of distortion. It reminds me of the type of organ background played in theaters for silent movies but with a top of metal throw in for the hell of it. The first volume start non-classically with Bernard Herrmann’s suite for the film Psycho but then you get some perverse interpretations of music from Saint-Saens, Stravinsky, and Mendelssohn. The second volume gives you treats from J.S. Bach, Vivaldi and Beethoven. It is a bit eerie. I can see these tracks adorning a low budget horror music. Spooky but fun.

The two volumes are available in 256kbps MP3.

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Music of The Gods Vol. 1
Music of The Gods Vol. 2

Alban Berg was an Austrian composer associated with the Second Viennese School that also included composers Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. While fiercely modern, Berg’s music is a mix between 19th century Romanticism and Schoenberg school of twelve-tone composition, making Berg the most accessible of these challenging composers.

While I am a huge fan of his opera Wozzeck, I would admit his marvelous Violin Concerto is the place to start for the novice. It was composed in 1935 and was Berg’s last completed work. While Berg is consider by most to be a atonal composer the concerto, despite its modernity and dissonance, is perceived by my ears as a very tonal piece. His two movement is a feast of melodic but sometimes turbulent interaction between violin and orchestra. This particular performance was the first recording of the concerto. The violinist is Louis Krasner for whom the composition was commissioned. The performance is from December of 1940 and is played by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinski. This is another fine transfer by F. Reeder from the original 78rpm album and is in the public domain. The MP3 bitrate is only 64kbps but it is still excellent sound quality for these old acetate discs.

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Felix Mendelssohn’s suite from Midsummer Night’s Dream was one of the first classical works that I fell in love with. Mendelssohn is one of my favorite classical composers of the 19th century. The work abounds with lively melodies and crisp instrumentation that easily allows the listener to envision the play. One can hear the dancing fairies and a donkey-headed Bottom as the Overture sails by. The last work on this five piece, 27 minute suite is the “Wedding March” which has to be the most played processional in history perhaps even beating out Sir Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance”.

This classic piece of program music is brought to you by The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinski in a 1941 performance off of old 78rpm disks. F. Reeder does a superlative job in transferring these files to MP3 format.

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The Borromeo String Quartet is an excellent classical ensemble and another group that is prominently featured in The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum collection of podcasts. WFMU’s Free Music Archive has the live recording, all four hours of it in online album form. There are seven excellent recordings of string quartets by Brahms, Schubert, and Mozart, a virtual festival of classical chamber music. All the offerings from this museum are worthwhile but if you are partial to the string quartet, this is the one for you.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3. You can also download these works from the museum’s web site. And if you like music, support the artists by buying their CDs.

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the finest composers in a renown group of Russian Nationalists that included Mussorgsky and Borodin. Yet you rarely hear any of his composition in our century. You can find some very old and out-of-print recording for a few of his operas here. However the symphonic poem Scheherazade gets some play by the modern orchestras. It is a beautiful piece of program music that still sees an occasional performance. The work was composed in 1888 and is based on One Thousand and One Nights. It is a superb example of the composer’s singular talent in orchestration, being a virtual feast for the ears in all of its four movements. It is also a good example of Orientalism; the fascination with the Far East that was prevalent in Europe at the time. This classic performance is from 1939 and has Artur Rodzinski conducting The Cleveland Orchestra. The solo violinist is Joseph Fuchs. It is another grand work in the public domain housed in The Internet Archives’ 78rpm collection. The tracks are available in surprisingly clear 64kbps MP3s.

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One of the best places to find classical music is from the web site of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They have several podcasts of their classical music concerts featuring highly respected ensembles and musicians. I have often been tempted to feature a few but since they were not technically in album form I have resisted. Now, WFMU’s Free Music Archive has solved that problem by hosting these excellent live recordings in album form. Right now there are just a couple but hopefully they will add more.

One of my favorite is the four hour recording by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. This ensemble, or more accurately ensembles, has been together with various directors since 1969. The nine works on this album ranges from the romantic era to (barely) early 20th century. There are some essential compositions here including Dvorak’s piano Quintet in A Major, Brahms’ Quintet in B Minor for clarinet and Strings, Schubert’s Quintet in A Major also known as the “Trout” quintet and Schoenberg’s early (1899) one movement string sextet titled “Verklate Nacht” (Transfigured Night). All of these are played in the crisp professional style expected from this world famous collection of musicians.

The album is available from The Free Music archive in 128kbps MP3. You can also get these works from the museum’s music page. The Chamber Muisc Society of Lincoln Center has lots of CDs available so, if you like the music support the artists.

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One of the finest symphonic works of the Romantic Era is the Symphonie Fantastique by French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a stunning work of program music originally titled An Episode in the Life of the Artist. It depicts an artist’s romantic obsession with a woman which ends in a narcotic induced nightmare. It is said to have been inspired by a real life obsession of Berlioz’s. The work is the apex of Romantic Era composing and a marvel of instrumentation. The performance is another masterpiece by The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinski that can be found in The Internet Archive’s 78RPM collection and is again nicely transferred to to 64kbps and VBR MP3 format by F. Reeder. You can also download files in Ogg Vorbis fomat.

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Two seminal orchestral works by Claude Debussy has recently surfaced on the internet archives’ 78rpm collection. The Pelleas and Melisande suite and La Mer are beautiful examples of impressionist music. Debussy’s orchestral works are exquisite tone poems creating a mood rather than a clear symphonic story and these two compositions are prime examples. Both works are recorded by the Cleveland Orchestra. La Mer was recorded in 1941 with the conductor being Artur Rodzinski. Pelleas and Melisande is conducted by Erich Leinsdorf in 1946. These are superlative performances barely hampered by the older sound quality of the 40s. The two essential recordings are highly recommended.

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La Mer
Pelleas and Melisande

Leo Ornstein may not be a known name to you. He wasn’t to me either. But in the early 20th century, he was a well-known pianist and composer known for his championing of modern music as well as being a world class pianist. He was one of the first composers to extensively use tone clusters. His fondness for dissonant and atonal music made him a pioneer and a “Cause Celebre” on both sides of the Atlantic. Then in the early 1920’s he turned his back on his fame and went into seclusion. His last performance was in the 30s but he continued to compose. Although there was a small revival of his music in the 70s, he remains pretty much obscure. He wrote his last work, Piano Sonata no. 8, in 1990 at the age of 97 and died in 2002 at the age of 108 giving him the record as the longest lived American composer.

The Leo Ornstein web site is a family affair designed as a tribute to this important but largely forgotten artist. You will find a biography, a discography, and musical scores but also audio samples, actually full recordings, of many of his compositions. Unfortunately only two are actually played by Ornstein, two composing sessions showing the artist at work. It is a fascinating and historical archive but I am more interesting in hearing his actual works and there are many here by a number of performers. I have focused on some of the more extended works, eight to be exact….

Gnome Suite and Four Impromptus are two interesting works for solo piano and shows off the composer’s singular tendency to move from pleasingly tonal to jarringly dissonant in moments. The pieces are always moving and busy even in quieter moments. These must be quite difficult works for a pianist to master. Gnome Suite is played by Dwight Peltzer, while Christopher Oldfather competently attacks the Four Impromptus.

The two piano sonatas make an interesting comparison. The Fourth Piano Sonata was composed in 1919, shortly before he retired while the Seventh Piano Sonata was written in 1988. Piano Sonata no. 4 starts with a exquisite first movement and is beautifully played by Marthanne Verbit. Yet even here it takes an almost schizophrenic break into the atonal just before it is effortless pulled back into reality. The entire sonata is a masterpiece deserving of a larger listening audience. Sonata no. 7 is a much busier composition, rarely slowing down and full of those pesky tone clusters. Janice Weber recorded this fairly amazing work.

String Quartet no 2 is played by the Lydian Quartet while String Quartet no. 3 is presented by the New Boston Quartet. Frankly I prefer his piano works but these two quartets are mature and beautiful compositions.

Another nice chamber work is his Piano Quintet. There is some outstanding interaction between the string quartet and pianist throughout this three movement composition. It is actually a rather romantic sounding work, a bit like the music you would hear from the Russian nationalist composers of the time. Finally the Piano Concerto gives an example of a large ensemble work. Alan Feinberg is the featured pianist. Both of these pieces sounds more conservative to my ears but I am sure the contrast between the melody and the turbulence was quite unsettling in its day.

There are many other recorded work on the site’s audio page. It would take a while to fully savor all of them. I urge you to start with the works I featured and then, if you enjoy the music, continue to explore this important artist of the 20th century. All the files are in 160kbps MP3.

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I must be honest and say that I do not care for Gustav Mahler. Though admittedly a brillant composer, he just comes off too serious and pretentious for my taste. All Strum and Drang makes this listener a dull boy.

On the other hand there is Das Lied Von Der Erde (The Song of The Earth), the only Mahler work I can listen to over and over with awe. This composition is written for a large orchestra, tenor and contralto and is based on Chinese poems. There are six movements, each being an independent composition in its own right. This is one of Mahler’s most emotionally varied compositions. While the first movement, “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” has all the turbulence you would expect from the composer, the second movement is gorgeously subtle often sounding like a chamber work rather than a full orchestra. Each movement has its own surprises.

This particular performance is a masterpiece. It was recorded in Vienna on May 24, 1936 by The Vienna Philharmonic. The conductor is Bruno Walter. I’ve always had a fondness for this conductor as the first classical box set of 33rpm records I ever owned was his performance of the four Brahms symphonies and it still remains one of my favorite recordings. Getting back to Mahler, the soloists on Da Lied Von Der Erde are contralto Kerstin Thorborg and tenor Charles Kullman making this a star studded performance that doesn’t disappoint. The recording is another gem from The Internet Archives’ 78rpm collection. It is superbly remastered by F. Reeder with a sound that brilliantly surpasses its bitrate of 64kbps and VBR MP3 (also hovering around 64kbps). This is a essential download for any music collection.

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John McCormack was a celebrated operatic tenor at the beginning of the 20th century. While Caruso continues to be the ultimate name in classical voice of this period, McCormack certainly had his admirers. While trained in the Italian school of opera, he was the epitome of the Irish tenor, proficient in classical music but also excelling in popular music and Irish traditional. Like Caruso, McCormack was one of the earliest endorsers of recorded music, putting his voice on cylinders in 1904. He continued to record and perform until his retirement in 1938 and died of Emphysema in 1945.

The Internet archive’s 78rpm collection has collected 55 of his recordings under The Collected Works of John McCormack. There is a few arias here, but most of the tracks are popular songs of the era and traditional Irish melodies. Of interest is “It’s a Long Ways To Tipperary”, noticeable because it was the first recording of this World War I anthem. There are a few untitled songs. Most of them appear to be opera arias. Of course, the Irish songs stand out and these old songs might be a nice addition to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The album is available from The Internet Archive and the tracks are in MP3 format in varying bitrates.

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When we think of classical symphonies our minds usually turn to Beethoven, Mozart, or Haydn. However Dmitri Shostakovitch pretty much dominated the symphonic form in the 20th century. His symphonies are huge monoliths of music and emotions, modern yet immensely listenable to even the classical music novice.There is no better place to start for the person who want to immerse themselves in 20th century classical music.

That specific starting point should be the Fifth Symphony in D Minor. It was first performed in Leningrad, 1937, achieved huge critical and popular acclaim, and remains one of the composer’s most popular compositions. The music is instantly identified by its emotional and humanist qualities, not a small feat considering the pressure the Soviet government placed on him to create “socially acceptable” music. This is music that speak to the heart not to the political censors. This particular performance is from Feb. 22, 1942 and is by The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinski. The digital transfer by F. Reeder manages to get great sound for these old 78rpm vinyls.

Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony no. 6 in B minor is almost the equal to the Fifth. This performance is from 1939 and is played by The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by the great Leopold Stokowski. The three movements are Largo, Allegro, and Presto. In fact, this was the first recorded performance of this major work that only slightly falls into the Fifth’s shadows. The audio files were taken from the original Victor set of 78s and is lovingly restored by Bob Varney. This work is another excellent restoration of a major classical work in the public domain, one of many now stored at the Internet Archive.

Symphony no. 1 pales when compared to Symphonies no. 5 & 6 but it is still a beautiful composition. Shostakovich wrote it as while he was still at the Leningrad Conservatory and it does sound like a student, although admittedly a brilliant student, trying to show all he knows, . It is conservative but modern, overwrought but appealing . Not my favorite of Shostakovich’s compositions but definitely a work worth listening to. Again we have the Cleveland Orchestra with Artur Rodzinksi conducting and a excellent transfer from 78s to MP3 by F. Reeder.

Symphonies no. 1 & 5 are available in very good 64kbps MP3 while Symphony no. 6 gives you the choice of high quality VBR MP3, 64kbps MP3, or Ogg Vorbis.

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Symphony no. 1
Symphony no. 5
Symphony no. 6