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Am I alone on this? I love classical music, especially big symphonic works, but the violin is particularly grating to my tastes.Like many here I'm sure, I was in band back in high school and love sound of a great wind ensemble. I've just recently started to try and obtain some Wind Ensemble music. I've got a couple of Tokyo Kosei CD's and a few by the Eastman Wind Ensemble. I also bought a chamber music CD by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble that is very nice.
I've recently ordered a few CD's of the North Texas University WE on the Klavier label, but have not yet received them.
Are there any wind ensemble recordings available that folks consider as "must haves" for lovers of wind ensembles? Of course great sonics on the recording is a must. Thankfully from what I've experienced so far, most labels seem to take care to get these recordings right.
Thanks,
Follow Ups:
To me, there is nothing like the sound of a full string section heard live. The best place to hear it is from the trombone section. :)But just as a suggestion, how about listening to a group of period instruments where they are playing with gut instead of metal strings? If you really don't like violin in general that probably won't help, but it would be less grating. If you would be interested in that, others could give you some suggestions. One group I've heard of is Orchestre des Champs-Elysees.
Jeff
I have to wonder whether your speakers do not reproduce massed strings very well, in which case, the solution is to get speakers which do. But, as you say, it may well simply be a matter of taste.Holst, Band Suites 1 & 2; Bach, Fantasia in G Majo (arr. Goldman and Leist); Handel, Music for the Royal Fireworks. Frederick Fennel, Cleveland Symphonic Winds. Telarc CD-80038. This was a very famous recording when it came out in 1978 or so, because so many speakers couldn't handle the big bass drum in the Holst Suite no. 1--but it really is a fine recording.
You might look up Fennel's Mercury recordings with the Eastman Wind Ensemble of works by Sousa and others. The ones I've heard are excellent despite their age.
The World of Sousa Marches, with The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and The Band of the Grenadier Guards. London 443 392-2.
I'm not a big fan of wind ensembles, but I can recommend some recordings.
Mozart, Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds, K. 452; Beethoven, Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16. Andre Previn and Vienna Wind Soloists. Telarc CD-80114.
Mozart, Serenades K. 361 and 375. Jack Brymer, clarinet, and London Wind Soloists. London 425 421-2.
Reicha, Wind Quintets Op. 88, no. 2 and Op. 100, no. 5. Michael Thompson Wind Quintet. Naxos 8.550432.
Berwald, Septet in B-flat Major for Clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, double bass and piano, a work really off the beaten track. OK, it does have a violin and a viola in it, but the sound is so warm and wonderful they will never sound harsh. Naxos 8.553714. Forget the other two works on the CD, but it's a super budget label.
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"Nature loves to hide."
---Heraclitus of Ephesus (trans. Wheelwright)
Check out the recordings on the Rene Gailly label of the Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides under Norbert Nozy. Very interesting repertoire, well played and well recorded.
nt
Oh well, no accounting for tastes.I do like an occassional spin of the Fennel marches--not every day though.
Mark Twain said of Wagner's music, "It's better than it sounds". I haven't been reading this list for long, so I apologize if this it familiar to everyone, but I still smile everytime I think of it. Probably the most succinct criticism ever uttered.
Reference Recordings has a series of wind band recordings with great sound. "Stars and Stripes" on Telarc is another good one.
I don't share your dislike of strings, but I can appreciate some works for winds.The New York Woodwind Quintet has recorded at least three very fine "best of" collections that are well worth tracking down.
The Reykjavik Wind Quintet has recorded some good CDs as well.
And as a one-off, the recording of Mozart's Serenade for 13 Winds "Gran Partita" by Mackerras on Telarc is excellent.
I guess the violin is a scraping of resin bow across a string and this can produce a sound which can be grating on a poor quality instrument. However on a good violin, professionally played, the sound can be sweet.One of my pet hates of digital used to be the appalling sound of violins on CDs. This had me a digital Luddite for 2 decades and I gave up collecting. However I have discovered that, with good gear, that CD sound (including volins) does not have to be harsh, grating etc.
So I wonder if your dislike is due to bad jitter in your playing equipment. Jitter is insideous and can destroy the beauty of the music very effectively. In my experience very few players handle the digital pits well but the cure is quite simple - have your player modified.
But if you dislike the violin intensely then just ignore this post. Pity, because there is just so much beautiful music involving violins around!
John
Interesting times
... it is the natural sound of the violin that I don't particularly care for. I can understand why it is so popular given the range in which it plays. I can appreciate a great violin performance just as much as the next guy, but it's just not my cup of tea.
Massed strings are one of the most-difficult things to reproduce properly on an audio system, and they don't even sound that great in a sound-reinforced hall. But I've never heard massed strings sound bad in an *unamplified* hall. (And I've attended several hundred concerts during my lifetime.) Note that massed strings sounding bad is often due to a bad recording. In fact, it almost never sounds exactly right when digitized, regardless of how good the playback system is otherwise.
I agree totally about the massed strings. My solution is to find a combo of components which can reproduce a musical facsimile. I'm not looking for realism, just what I can enjoy as as a lover of violin music. The violin is the instrument most like the human voice IMO.
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