Today is June 8th, 2011. It is the 201st birthday of the great Bobby Schumann: author, pianist, publisher, public intellectual, beer drinker, and one of the greatest composers who ever lived.
Discovering and exploring the music of Robert Schumann has been one of the great joys of my musical life. His music never ceases to amaze me, with its energy, its vulnerability, its vast emotional range, its humanity, humor and poetic elusiveness. I can scarcely think of another composer whose music can in some ways seem so personal and private, full of secret codes, confessions and messages to his friends, followers and lovers, and yet can also turn on a dime to be unambiguously outgoing, shamelessly public and totally life-affirming.
It seems like a birthday celebration ought to focus on that life-affirming side of his character.
So, by special arrangement with Avie Records and Orchestra of the Swan, we’ve decided to offer a free download for one week only of the 2nd mvt of Bobby’s Third Symphony from our new disc, which is being released on June 20. I’m just thrilled with the way my colleagues in Orchestra of the Swan play this music- I hope you enjoy it, too.
Of course, we all hope that if you like it, you’ll be inspired to order a copy- we need to sell a respectable quantity of discs in order to allow the whole Bobby and Hans project to reach completion. You can pre-order from Amazon here. Better yet, order direct from Avie here and get free shipping anywhere in the world, or get in early through the new Vftp Shop, where copies are now available. Simply email downbeatstore@kennethwoods.net to place your order. Ordering direct from Avie or Vftp means more of your money goes to fund the next disc.
Meanwhile, click here to listen. Right-click and select “save target as” to save to your hard drive.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this movement has never sounded this good. Happy Birthday, Herr Schumann.
Edited:
Readers may be interested to know the context in which Erik has spoken about this recording before. This is a fascinating post on his top 10 3rd symphonies of all time, complete with suggested library recordings for each work. You guessed it- OOTS got the nod for Schumann 3.
http://klacknermusic.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/10-best-symphonies-no-3/
Epic response. The blog comment equivalent of pointing to the scoreboard. What. ;-)
Sorry! I just thought readers would want to know where you had said what you were saying again. Cracking up laughing at idea of pointing to the scoreboard….
I actually got what you were going for, but I’m picturing you pointing like Michael Strahan and gesturing with your other hand, shaking your head as you talk real intense-like.
I know that as a conductor your job is to be in service of the composer, but there has to be some times when you think “I conducted the shit out of that.” It would be awesome if you spiked your baton and just walked off stage with one of those Kobe death stares into the crowd. They’d never know what hit them.
@Erik
I was backstage at Music Hall in Cincinnati some years ago when a very recent music director (then to be) came off after a first rate Beethoven 5. As soon as he reached the wings, he pumped is fist and exclaimed “That f*cking kicked f*cking ass!” Wouldn’t it have been great if he’d shared that sentiment with the audience. I think we could use more endzone-type celebrations from orchestral soloists. Imagine a horn player doing Brahms 1and getting up and doing a little dance after the solo……