The Magic Lantern

Mel Bonis / Piano Quartet No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 69 (1905) - I. Moderato

Mélanie Bonis (1858-1937) is a completely new voice on the scene. She was a French woman composer whose real name was Mélanie Domange née Bonis, but when composing, she used the pseudonym Mel Bonis in an attempt to gain more recognition.

During her lifetime, she received great praise from her renowned male colleagues such as Gounod and Saint-Saëns but long before her death, she was totally forgotten.

Gordan Nikolitch, violin
Jean-Philippe Vasseur, viola
Jean-Marie Trotereau, cello
Laurent Martin, piano

Francis Poulenc / Sonata for Flute & Piano, Op.164 - II.Cantilena: Assez lent

Wolfgang Schulz, flute · James Levine, piano

Franz Schubert / An den Mond (“Was schauest du so hell…?”), song for voice & piano, D. 468
performed by Lucia Popp (soprano) & Graham Johnson (piano)

Ernest Bloch / Suite for viola & piano (1919) - III. Largo

Jascha Nemtsov (Piano) Tabea Zimmermann (Viola)

The third movement was originally called “Nocturne.” It was inspired by the tales of a close friend who had been to Java and told of a night-time journey, passing through villages from which could be heard the distant sound of wooden musical instruments. Bloch tried to recapture the mood evoked by that story. (via)

Bernard Herrmann / Concerto Macabre For Piano & Orchestra (composed for the 1945 film noir Hangover Square, performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with Sara Davis [F/K/A David] Buechner on piano)

“Not long after the film’s release Herrmann received an enthusiastic letter from a New York music student praising the concerto. Herrmann responded with a gracious thank you letter to 15-year-old Stephen Sondheim. Recalled Sondheim in 1986, “I can still play the opening eight bars [of the concerto], since they were glimpsed briefly on (lead actor) Laird Cregar’s piano during the course of the film, and I dutifully memorized them by sitting through the picture twice.” Herrmann’s influence can be heard in Sondheim’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd, an English melodrama rich in brooding thematic material and dark psychology.”

-excerpted from A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann by Steven Smith

 (via oldhollywood)

Olivier Messiaen / Turangalîla-symphonie, for piano, ondes martenot and orchestra, I/29 - VI. Jardin du sommeil d’amour

performed by Polish Radio Orchestra · Thomas Bloch, Ondes Martenot · François Weigel, Piano · Antoni Wit, Conductor

Astor Piazzolla / Le Grand Tango (arranged for violin & piano by Sofia Gubaidulina)

Mikhail Dubov, piano - Jaroslav Krasnikov, violin

Felix Mendelssohn / Piano Trio No.1 in D Minor Op.49 - II. Andante con Moto Tranquillo - Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax / Mendelssohn Piano Trios (2010)

(via yama-bato & xell)

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh / Apsheron Quintet; II. Reverse Time

 Kronos Quartet; Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, piano

Here is the first part of this quintet, Tactile Time.

(via itnumberpi, rendan, & musicophilia)

Sofia Gubaidulina / Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Violoncello (1957) - III. Larghetto sensibile

performed by Rieko Aizawa, piano; Kai Vogler and Mira Wang, violins;
Ulrich Eichenauer, viola; Peter Bruns, cello