Divine Moments in Music

“Music (…) gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Plato
 
As a music enthusiast I’m on a permanent quest for really great music, for those rare moments in (recorded human history where musicians are able to connect themselves and the audience with “the universe and everything”. This is about music that is capturing all attention. When you open up to it, then there will be no space left for anything else while you listen. In a certain sense the musicians (and in the best case also the audience) become godlike, above and beyond space and time…. those are the real magical moments of mankind.
 
It is about creations of everlasting value, independent from fashion and matters of personal taste... so, as difficult as it is, let’s try to keep personal musical preferences away from here and remind ourselves that “beauty always lies in the ears of the beholder”.
 
All genres are welcome. Just audio or with video doesn’t matter, neither does the sound quality. Music itself is in the center of interest.
 
Please do not share pieces that you just know since recently and you like to share based on a temporary enthusiasm. Only show “the real stuff” here, performances you are convinced that they deserve to be part of the musical Pantheon.
 
If there are different opinions concerning the value of a particular piece of music, then feel free to discuss it here. Finally that’s what threads are good for, right? Exchanging opinions and being inspired.
 
The first piece I would like to share is Philip Glass, Akhnaten - Funeral of Amenhotep III. I chose this one as a starter, since it fits the title of this thread so well. Amenhotep death is giving way for another human becoming a god… Echnaton. Pay attention to the archpriest from 3:15 onwards…
 
In the comments section of YouTube below the sound-only first act “Philip Glass Akhnaten (Complete) Act I” one comment goes:
 
“Es un orgasmo cosmico escuchar esta musica... !”
 
… yes, that’s exactly what this thread is supposed to be about… so here we go…
 

 
 
Something totally different: Annie Lennox and David Bowie. Surely, Annie is not Freddie but… I couldn’t imagine anybody else filling the gap and then even going much further than that…
 

 
 
Rabih Abou-Khalil, simply fabulous… but see yourself…
 

 
 
Jascha Heifetz - Max Bruch - Violinconcerto No. 1.
Somehow I wish there was a video, somehow I am glad that there isn’t…
 

 
...hope you like it...


PS & by the way: I am listening mainly via LCD-X, AH-D7100, HE-400 and AKG K-1000. Amp-wise via modified transformer-coupled tubes and a HDVD-800.

 

... "a day in the life" is surely not the only Beatles title that deserves to be here... most likely more to follow...
 

 

Thanks for starting this.
The other stuff isn't bad but not to my particular liking. I have to admit I have never explored Heifetz . Something I am looking forward to ! So far my favorite was Szeryng. His Brahms 1st. with Dorati and the London S.O. [Mercury, Living Presence, rec. 1962] certainly belongs in the "Divine Moments of Music" category. I don't think that there is a (sound)video.

 

For me the rendition of My Favorite Things on the John Coltrane album of the same name is one of the quintessential moments in the history of recorded music. Whenever I listen to it, it feels like it has to be one of the most magical moments ever captured on tape. It is nothing short of perfection. Well, just enough to not make it boring, for to me perfection is the very definition of boredom, you see.
 

 

... here is Szeryng with Brahms Violin Concerto 1st Mov. One comment in YouTube suggests it is the London Symphony Orchestra 1959 under Pierre Monteux...
 
 
 
So even if you referred to Brahm's 1.st Symphony, I hope you agree that the Viloin Concerto still deserves it's place here... since early childhood years one of my favourites.

 

Given the context of Heifetz violin performance, I was indeed referring to Brahm's violin concerto no. 1. I do have a couple of recordings by the current "top players" but this particular one I mentioned is just stellar. I have a later performance of Szeryng of the same concerto but that one is "just OK". There is nothing wrong with it but the magic is missing.
I'll check out the video later. Thanks for the link !

 

 
...so I wasn't too wrong with the video. Looking forward to your opinion about the 1959 session....

 

There are quite a number of tracks by Han Bennink that qualify, I chose this one...
 

 

 
Which concert CDs are this?
 
Rabih Abou-Khalil
http://www.jpc.de/s/rabih+abou-khalil
 
Jascha Heifetz - Max Bruch - Violinconcerto No. 1  - are this from:

1. Max Bruch (1838-1920)  - Violinkonzerte Nr.1 & 2
2. Jascha Heifetz, William Steinberg, London Symphony Orchestra, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent, Izler Solomon

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Max-Bruch-1838-1920-Violinkonzerte-Nr-1-2/hnum/9736549
http://www.jpc.de/image/w220/front/0/0747313337125.jpg

 

 
I am not 100% sure if the JPC recording is the same. Yes, it is also under Sir Malcolm Sargent, but I have reason to believe that the JPC is some years earlier than the one on YouTube (which I have on vinyl only, but not on CD).
 
About Rabih Abou-Khalil: I saw him life in the early 1990s and I have several life recordings. All of them deserve a place in the Olymp of music. Whether the one I showed s available as a life recording on CD I do not know, but the title "Ma Muse M'amuse" is available as a studio version, its the first title on "Morton"s Foot", by the way one of the best sounding recordings in my collection.

 

"Satellite, oh, satellite
Who sits upon our skies
How deep do you see when you spy into our lives?
 
I know that God lives in everybody's souls
and the only devil in your world
Lives in the human heart
 
So now ask yourself
What is human? And what is truth?
Ask yourself
Whose voice is it? That whispers unto you?
 
From the cellars of your homes
From the tops of your city roofs
Ask yourself
Whose voice is it? That whispers unto you?
 
Who is it?
That turns your blood into spirit and your spirit into blood
Who is it?
That can reach down from above and set yours souls ablaze with love
Or fill you with the insanity of violence and it's brother: lust
Who is it?
Whose words have been twisted beyond recognition
In order to build your planet Earth's religions
Who is it?
Who could make your little armies of the left
and your little armies of the right
Light up your skies tonight
 
Now some of you may live and some of you may die
But remember
That nothing in the world can kill you inside
For he is thinking of you
In your great cities of great solitude
 
Oh children you've still got a lot to ******* learn
The only path to heaven is via hell
Good morning beautiful, good morning beautiful
Good morning beautiful, good bye world"
 
...lyrics and music are woven together in such an ultra high density...
 
The The in 1989. Actually the whole first part of Mind Bomb (first side of the vinyl version) deserves to be here:
 
-"Good Morning, Beautiful"
-"Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)"
-"The Violence of Truth"
 
I wouldn't call it a concept album, but still, somehow those 3 songs all are part of one and the same message-in-music...
 
...turn off the light, put on your headphones and off we go...
 
 

 

In 2007 Jeff Beck performed for a week at the renowned Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, a small, intimate venue that can hold maybe two hundred people. On stage he was joined by the young, incredibly talented bass player Tal Wilkenfeld and one of the most solid of drummers, Vinnie Colauita. Tickets to these nights were undoubtedly the must-have of the year. The Blu-ray from one of the nights includes guest performances by Imogen Heap, Joss Stone and Eric Clapton. I highly recommend this release, for it is without question one of the most impressive live performances I've seen thus far in my life. The music is very well recorded as well.

 

I doubt there is much debate over the fact that Jeff Beck is one of the most skilled guitarists alive today. Still his music does not rely solely on virtuosity, but manages to touch one with its honesty and beauty. My favorite cut from this evening is perhaps "Angel (Footsteps)", embedded below, although practically every other song from the evening is almost equally spectacular. I find the music incredibly moving; it manages to touch me. There certainly was magic in the air during this particular night.
 

 

...wow, thanks for this one... I am still floating!

 

So I finally watched the video, although not full length. I don't want to get these pictures covering my own imagination when I listen to the Mercury recording ...
The sound is not great but you get a pretty good sense of Szeryng's style. The '62 recording is even more fiery. I imagine the colophonium of his bow spreading into the air. The piece is ultra difficult and he is so fearless in his attack that it's just a flow of sound and not a staccato of notes. He has a certain brashness of his work with the bow, sometimes kind of rough. I totally like that it's the opposite from let's say e.g. Anne Sophie Mutter. Her style is so smooth, almost parfumistic, just not my preference - very similar to Karajan for that matter, who made her into a star.
I get the goosebumps every time I listen to the Szeryng recoding.

 

Arvo Pärt is commonly referred to as a so-called minimalist composer. For me, however, there is nothing "minimal" about his work as far as musical substance and wealth of things to give to the listener go. I would go as far as to say Pärt is one of my favorite composers, living or dead. Some people find minimal music hollow and empty, but I often think the music is as rich as one's soul, you just need to open yourself up and let the music pull out things from within you you didn't even know existed.

 

It is hard for me to think of a piece that manages to touch my very core more thoroughly than "Spiegel im Spiegel" ("Mirror in the Mirror"). In front of this magnificent piece I am naked, emotionally, and I feel it helps me transcend to a higher plane. Many recordings exist of this piece. Below is the first of three performances that appear on the "Alina" album released by ECM as part of their New Series. The work was originally written to be performer as a duet between violin and piano, but the violin is often replaced by either a cello or a viola. Here we hear Vladimir Spivakov on violin and Sergej Bezrodny on piano. The version featuring cello from the same album is also recommended listening. Pärt's choral works are also divine – highly recommended. Of those, "Kanon pokajanen" might be my favorite.