Leo Tolstoy on music.

From The Kreutzer Sonata, chapter 23:

"Music, they say, acts on one by elevating the soul. That is absurd. It acts upon us, it is true, acts with terrible effect —at least I am speaking for myself— but is far from elevating the soul. It neither elevates nor depresses the soul, but irritates it. Music forces me to forget myself and my true state; it transports me to some other state which is not mine. Under its influence I fancy I experience what I really do not feel, that I understand what I do not comprehend, that I am able to do what is completely beyond my power. Music instantaneously throw me into that state of feeling in which the composer of it found himself when he wrote it. My soul blends with his, and together with him I am transported from one frame of mind to another."

Even though the narrator (Pozdnischeff) is saying that this is a negative effect of listening to music (and, I guess, in some ways, that music is a willful distraction or opiate), it is indeed a very accurate account. And it illustrates perfectly why I want to spend my last dollars on it. I'm a roundabout opium addict, perhaps?

Thanks to Brad Summerhill —one of the best teachers I ever had— for introducing me to this confounding work of Tolstoy's.

John Klemmer and Franz Schubert are my opiate of choice these days.

That's all for now.

~Austin

A plethora of records.

There probably won't be any new posts about my recent purchases for a while because I've been thrift store record shopping and have amassed a ton of stuff, mostly classical. Been wanting to beef up the classical collection anyway, so it's even better that all of these records were acquired for under $10...

(no cover photos either because that would take forever)

Chic — C'est Chic (1978)
Had this album a long time ago, but traded it in in a mass purge that claimed a lot of stuff that I shouldn't have parted with. "I Want Your Love" was always the killer for me.

Hall & Oates — Private Eyes (1981)
Really no excuse for ever giving this one up either because even within the first three tracks, they could've packed it up and called it a day and still had a brilliant record. But then there's side two as well. Really the only Hall and Oates album that's ever done anything for me, but man, what a great album it is.

John Klemmer — Touch (1975) and Barefoot Ballet (1976)
John Klemmer is that weird scenario where someone's middle period is their best. The early years are ok, but spotty while the later years are just downright bad; but man those middle albums are just consistent quality packed affairs (see also: Stevie Wonder). These two are smooth jazz done right, with plenty of stellar rhodes action from Dave Grusin and John messing around with an echoplex. Stoney and light; perfect for Sunday afternoon. Harmless, but still good.

McCoy Tyner — Supertrios (1977)
Two record set, one half featuring McCoy with Tony Williams and Ron Carter, the other with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette. I was rather excited to hear the half with Eddie Gomez because he's one of my favorites that I think is somewhat overlooked. It was definitely a lot more spiritual and subdued than I was expecting, but overall both halves of the album exceeded my expectations pretty easily. Great to hear Tyner's complex originals mixed up with stuff like "Lush Life" and "Moment's Notice."

McCoy Tyner — Enlightenment (1973)
McCoy's quartet of the time at the 73 Montreux jazz fest. Haven't listened to this one yet but I'm excited because Supertrios was so good.

And now, for the classical stuff, most of which I haven't listened to yet... but here's label/conductor/soloist info and brief thoughts on the things I have taken in...

Bartok — Concerto for Orchestra: Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra
RCA Red Seal, 1979

Chopin — Complete Waltzes: Arthur Rubenstein, piano
RCA, 1955

Debussy — La Boite a Joujoux/Printemps: Ernest Ansermet, L'Orchestra de la Suisse Romande
London/ffrr (19??)
Gave this one a quick listen and was into it mostly because it's really pretty, even for Debussy. Did a little research on it and it seems it's sort of written off because it's a later work and is seen as being kind of dumbed down. Whatever. I thought it was good, not great, but far from sucking.

Franck's Psyche (A Symphonic Poem)/Prokofiev's Sinfonietta in A, Op. 48: Jemal Dalgat, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
ABC Westminster Gold, 1974
I normally don't go for these sorts of 'two composers on one album' deals, but I only have one other Cesar Frank record (Leonard bernstein conduting Symphony in D Minor; fantastic) and have had a hard time finding anything else, so I picked this up just to hear more. Haven't listened yet, though.

The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann: Bernard Herrmann, National Philharmonic Orchestra
London/Phase 4 Stereo, 1974
A sweet find that features Bernard's music from Journey to the Center of the Earth, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Day the Earth Stood Still and Fahrenheit 451.

Ives — Symphony No. 4: Leopold Stockowski, American Symphony Orchestra
Columbia Masterworks, 196?

Mahler — Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan": Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
CBS Great Performances, 1981

Rachmaninoff — Piano Concerto No. 2/Rhoapsody on a Theme of Paganini: Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic
CBS Great Performances, 1981

Rachmaninoff — Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor Op. 30: Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra
CBS Masterworks, 1977

Rachmaninoff — Trio No. 2 Op. 9 Trio "Elegia"
ABC/Westminster Gold, 1973

Scriabin — Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 3: Lazar Berman, piano
Columbia Masterworks, 1978

Schubert — Octet for Strings and Winds Op. 166
RCA Red Seal, 1975

Schubert — Impromptus: Maria Joao Pires, piano
Deutsche Grammaphon, 1997
My one CD find. A two disc set, the first CD was just gorgeous. For solo piano, this is very engaging stuff.

Schubert — Symphony No. 2/Symphony No. 6: Marcel Couraud, Bamberg Symphony
Vox, 1957

Schubert — Symphony No. 7: George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
Epic Stereorama, 196?

Schubert — Symphony No. 9: Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
RCA Victor Red Seal, 196?

Schubert — Symphony No. 9: George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
CBS Great Performances, 1981
Accidentally doubled up on this one. Might be interesting to hear two different readings of it though.

Shostakovich — Orchestral Works (including Violin Concerto No. 2, Ballet Suites Nos. 1-3 and Symphony No. 6 in B Minor): Maxim Shostakovich, Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra
Musical Heritage Society, 1981
Listened to the first record and it was way heavier than I expected. These were some of Dmitri's last works, so I guess that's to be expected. Son Maxim conducts. Awesome.

Tchaikovsky —Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B flat minor Op. 23: Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Symphoniker
Deutsche Grammaphon, 1962

So, I have my work cut out for me. But I am so excited to sit down take all this stuff in, I'm frightened at my own nerdiness.

And, again, all that for under $10.

~Austin