#8 Gorecki - Symphony No3

Górecki - Symphony No 3; Olden Style Pieces
Having got the day of to a meditative start with DotD #7 it gets even slower with #8. Any symphony whose 3 movements are:

1. Lento
2. Lento e largo
3. Lento

is never going to thunder at you like Mahler and the sustained, in a way minimalist, quality of the writing definitely gives the whole piece a cinematic feel. Everything unfolds slowly and gently, like a long reflective novel and the addition of a soprano (in this case Zofia Kilanowicz) adds an element of lyrical sadness but, ultimately, the 3rd movement ends on a note of hope.

I'd forgotten I even had this disc until I found it on a shelf at work this morning!

#3 Vasks String Quartets - Miami String Quartet

Peteris Vasks - String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 3
A few years ago I worked for a music publishing company and every now and then there'd be a clearout of cupboards which meant big boxes of CDs we could help ourselves to. Most of the classical and opera was ignored by everyone except lucky old me. This is one of the CDs I picked up back then and I listened to it quite a bit at the time (just as pure speculation, I'd never heard of the composer) but probably haven't done so for at least 5 years.

Listening again I'm reminded of what I really liked about the quartets - especially the 3rd. There's some great use of texture in the writing and an almost filmic quality, especially in the slower movements. Sadly I don't think this disc is available any more.

A welcome rediscovery.

#2 Kaia Urb - Russian Romantic Songs

Russian Romantic Songs

I was given this as a gift a couple of years (or more) ago and thought 'oh, that's nice', whereupon I shoved it on iTunes and my iPod swallowed it forever. Spotted it the other day and put it to one side to listen to.

Other than Tchaikovsky and Glinka I've never heard of most of the composers. There are 19 selections in all, accompanied by Heiki Matlik on guitar (4 of the tracks are solo guitar pieces).

It's a lovely, simple album full of beautiful tunes and it's a real shame I've not listened to it more. This is exactly the point of Disc of the Day though so it's working. There might yet be a 3rd disc today (or I might just listen to this one again!)