1886 in Music

Music reviews I’ve written for music published in 1886.

1. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov after Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (9/10)

See my comments about Night on Bald Mountain below. I understand this is not the composer’s intended work. But this is the music that got me into “classical” more than anything else. I listened to it as a teenager and I can never go back. I also have yet to get around to seriously listening to the original piano version or the 20th century restorations.

2. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov after Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (9/10)

No doubt there are russophiles and “classical” music snobs who think that this piece of music is a giant sacrilege. (It is an adaptation of one of the parts of a larger piece Mussorgsky wrote.)  But for once I am on the side of the populists: this is a fantastically moody piece of music tailor-made for Halloween and spooky cartoons. Along with that other bastardized Mussorgsky piece, Pictures at an Exhibition, it’s what got me into “classical” music.”

You can also thank the audiobook version of Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang for my love of this music, as I heard that even earlier, so I knew this piece before I knew any other classical music outside of Peter and the Wolf.

3. Cesar Franck: Sonata in A major for violin and piano (9/10)

I have heard the Franck sonata before but perhaps didn’t appreciate it enough as it was set next to his String Quartet, which I really like. It really appeals to me because it has a continuity (for lack of a better word) that you don’t necessarily hear in most violin sonatas. I feel like it’s one of those you really, really have to listen to a lot to fully grasp how wonderful it truly is.

4. Gabriel Faure: Barcarole No. 4 in A-flat major, Op. 44 (7/10)

This one is quite pretty, which makes sense why it is more famous than the others. It does feel a little less substantial but it’s so catchy that I think I can overlook that. It’s pretty High Romantic to my ears.

5. Edward Elgar: “Enina Valse” (7/10)

I heard the piece totally out of context, paired with Elgar’s string quartet and piano quintet. And I think the main thing I didn’t like about it was that it was so oddly included in a collect which didn’t warrant it.

Erik Satie: Ogives (???/10)

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