Super Shuffle

Yesterday’s listening:

1. Henning: Fair Warning (1st movement of Sonata for Viola & Piano, Op.102). Dana Huyge & Carolyn Ray
2. Beethoven: String Quartet № 3 in D, Op.18 № 3 – i. Allegro (Vermeer Quartet)
3. Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine – IV. Psalm 112, Laudate pueri (Boston Baroque, Martin Pearlman)
4. Beethoven: Piano Sonata № 18 in Eb, Op.31 № 3 – i. Allegro (Wilhelm Kempff)
5. Capt Beefheart: “Sweet Sweet Blues” from Trout Mask Replica
6. Prokofiev: L’orateur from Le pas d’acier, Op.41 (Jurowski, Cologne Radio Symphony)
7. Vivaldi: Concerto for two violins in G, RV516 – ii. Andante (molto). Monica Huggett & Raglan Baroque
8. Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony – ii. On the beach at night, alone (Haitink, London Phil)
9. Jethro Tull: “Round” (mono mix) from This Was Jethro Tull
10. The Bobs: “Pounded on a Rock” from Songs for Tomorrow Morning
11. The Talking Heads: “Lifetime Piling Up” from Once in a Lifetime
12. Frescobaldi: Messa della Madonna, Kyrie from Fiori musicali (Roberto Loreggian)
13. Zappa & The Mothers: “Dickie’s Such an Asshole” from You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, vol. 3
14. Styx: “Renegade” from Pieces of Eight
15. Ravel: Alborada del gracioso (Abbey Simon)
16. Zappa & The Mothers: “Magic Fingers” (single edit) from the reissue of 200 Motels
17. Berg: “Hier ist Friede,” Op.4 № 5 (Anne Sophie van Otter, Wiener Philharmoniker, Abbado)
18. Scarlatti: Sonata in b minor, K377 – Allegrissimo (Pieter-Jan Belder, hpschd)
19. Vivaldi: Concerto per violino, 2 oboi, fagotto, 2 corni ed archi RV 569 – i. Adagio – Allegro (Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante)
20. Scarlatti: Sonata in C, K357 – Allegro (Pieter-Jan Belder, hpschd)
21. Genesis: “Me and Virgil” from 1976-1982 Bonus Disc
22. F. Couperin: Deuxième Livre, 10-ème Ordre – ii. La Mézangère (Baumont, hpschd)
23. Haydn: Piano Trio in f# minor, Hob.XV:26 – iii. Tempo di Minuet (Van Swieten Trio)
24. Vivaldi: Concerto for violin in d minor (La Cetra, Op.9 № 8), RV238 – ii. Largo (Monica Huggett & Raglan Baroque)
25. Holmboe: String Quartet № 20, Op.160 « Notturno » – ii. Con flessibilità (Kontra Quartet)
26. Stravinsky: “Royal March” from L’histoire du soldat (Boulez, members of The Cleveland Orchestra)
27. JS Bach: Prelude & Fugue in E from WTC vol. II, BWV878 (Christiane Jaccottet, hpcshd)
28. Bruckner: Symphony № 9 in d minor – iii. Adagio. Langsam, feierlich (Wand, Cologne Radio Symphony)
29. Toch: Symphony № 1, Op.72 – iii. Langsam Zart (Alun Francis, Berlin Radio Symphony)
30. Bob Dylan: “When I Paint My Masterpiece” from Greatest Hits

Notes on the shuffle:

• I’ve loaded ever so much onto the player since playing a shuffle, a lot of “débuts.”


• Firstly, though — I was digging the aural revisitation to the Viola Sonata so well, that before I addressed myself to figuring out that the next piece was Beethoven, I was taken with joy in the segue.


• It remains signally appropriate that the first rock appearance is from Trout Mask Replica.


• The transition from a section of the Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony to the Jethro Tull “Round” was sweet.


• Good to see so much of the Baroque joy emerge on this shuffle.


• Slightly surprised (though of course, entirely possible statistically) that no jazz emerged this round. Though “Dickie’s Such an Asshole” is essentially a blues, so maybe it will represent here.


• Nice to see the début of Holmboe . . . and I was going to stop at 25, but I didn't stop the player, and when I heard the strains of the March from L’histoire, I was not going to stop just yet.


• And so, we also welcome Bruckner to The Shuffle Game!


• Toch is not absolutely new to this, but the transition from the Bruckner to the Toch was most apt, partly on its own musical merits, partly because both composers are on my radar largely thanks to my dear friend Cato.