Explorations in classical music
One of the joys of having access to services such as YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, etc… is that you can listen to and compare multiple recordings of the same classical pieces in an inexpensive way. I spent some time doing this during the Christmas holidays and have carried on since: some Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Mahler Symphonies, a particular organ piece by Bach - the Adagio from the Toccata, Adagio + Fugue K.564, and plenty of Vaughan-Williams - Tallis Fantasia, Symphony No. 3, etc… It’s all been great fun, and there’s so much more out there to listen to and compare! When visiting one of our communities in Finistère, Brittany (as I try to do at least a couple of times a year) I always spend a few hours listening to and discussing classical music with a Brother now in his 80s who has been a mentor of mine for many years and who used to be one of our head Brothers in Rome. He’s not one for social media or the internet, so he loves it when I come along and suggest that we listen to...