Welcome to Week 63 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores, opera libretto and synopsis. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 63.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Cosi fan tutte - score - libretto & synopsis
     recommended audio recording: conducted by Solti
     video recommendation: I will be watching one conducted by Harnoncourt.
Piano Concerto No. 22 - score
     recommended recordings: Schiff with Camerata Salzburg; Zacharias with Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony No. 2 “Antar” - score
      recommended recordings: Rotterdam Philharmonic/Zinman; Pittsburgh Symphony/Maazel [neither of these seems to be available on Spotify]

Witold Lutoslawski
String Quartet - program notes
      recommended recording: Arditti Quartet [this does not seem to be available on Spotify]

The Beatles
Selected non-album songs from 1968: Lady Madonna; The Inner Light; Hey Jude; Revolution
The Beatles (aka The White Album, 1968)
Selected songs from the Yellow Submarine album 1969): Only a Northern Song; All Together Now; Hey Bulldog; It's All Too Much

Welcome to Week 62 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores where available. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 62.

William Byrd
Selected Keyboard Works:
     Pavan & Galliard, BK16
     Pavan & Galliard, BK23
     Ground, BK43
     Pavan & Galliard, BK14
     Pavan & Galliards “The Earle of Salisbury”, BK15 - score
     Pavan & Galliard “Sir William Petre”, BK3 - score
     Galliard “Mistress Mary Brownlo”, BK34 (T460) - score
[scores for all of the above can be found in volume one of this edition - BK numbers refer to the order they are presented in this collection]
     recommended recordings: Leonhardt; Moroney

John Taverner
Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas - score
     recommended recording: The Sixteen
Western Wind Mass - score
     recommended recording: Tallis Scholars

Cesar Franck
String Quartet - score

Dmitri Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No. 1
     recommended recording: Rostropovich with Philadelphia Orchestra

Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954 album)
“What a Wonderful World” (1967 single)

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
The Great Summit (originally issued as two albums: Together for the First Time (1961) and The Great Reunion (1963), both from the same recording sessions in 1961)

Welcome to Week 60 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores where available. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 60.

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 11 - score
     recommended recordings: Guarneri Quartet; Quartetto Italiano

Georges Bizet
Symphony in C - score
      recommended recordings: French National Radio Symphony/Beecham; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Maurice Ravel
Gaspard de la nuit - score
Le tombeau de Couperin (piano version) - score
     recommended recordings: Pogorelich; Lortie; Gieseking; Casadesus

The Beatles
Revolver (1966 UK album)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967 UK/US album)
Magical Mystery Tour (1967 US album)
Selected non-album songs from 1966: Paperback Writer; Rain

Welcome to Week 58 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores and other helpful information. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 58.

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 10 “Harp” - score
     recommended recordings: Juilliard Quartet; Guarneri Quartet

Antonin Dvorak
Serenade for Strings Op. 22 - score
     recommended recordings: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields/Marriner; Vienna Philharmonic/Chung

Ralph Shapey
String Quartet No. 6 - score - program notes
      recommended recording: Lexington Quartet, from the Radical Traditionalism compilation

Wolfgang Rihm
String Quartet No. 3, Im Innersten - program notes and score preview

Louis Armstrong
Selected singles from 1930-1956, primarily from the complete RCA Victor

Welcome to Week 48 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores and other helpful information. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 48.

Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (After Bizet)
     recommended audio recording: Russian National Orchestra/Pletnev
     video: this video appears to be the original choreography

Guillaume DuFay
Selected Motets:
  Vasilissa ergo gaude - score
  *O sancte Sebastiane - score
  O gemma, lux et speculum - score
  Apostolo glorioso - score
  Rite majorem Jacobus - score
  *Ecclesie militantis - score
  Balsamus et munda cera - score
  Supremum est mortalibus - score
  *Nuper rosarum flores - score
  *Salve flos Tusce gentis - score
  Magnanime gentes laudes - score
  Fulgens iubar ecclesiae dei - score
  Moribus et generae
     recommended recordings: Huelgas Ensemble (all of the above); Hilliard Ensemble (* selections)

Franz Liszt
Tasso: Lamento e trionfo - score
      recommended recordings: Orchestre de Paris/Solti; Budapest Symphony/Joo
Les preludes - score
     recommended recordings: Philadelphia Orchestra/Muti; Berlin Philharmonic/Karajan

Sergei Prokofiev
String Quartet No. 1 - score

Miles Davis
In a Silent Way
Bitches Brew
A Tribute to Jack Johnson

Welcome to Week 45 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores and texts/translations where available. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 45.

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 9 (Op. 59 No. 3) - score
     recommended recordings: Tokyo Quartet; Guarneri Quartet; The Lindsays

Franz Peter Schubert
Selected Lieder:
     Suleika, D. 720 - score - text and translation
     An die Leier, D. 737 - score - text and translation
     Im Haine, D. 738 - score - text and translation
     Am See, D. 746 - score - text and translation
     Die Liebe hat gelogen, D. 751 - score - text and translation
     Nachtviolen, D. 752 - score - text and translation
     Heliopolis II, D. 754 - score - text and translation
     Der Musensohn, D. 764 - score - text and translation
     Wandrers Nachtlied II, D. 768 - score - text and translation
     Der Zwerg, D. 771 - score - text and translation
     Wehmut, D. 772 - score - text and translation
     Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D. 774 - score - text and translation
     Dass sie hier gewesen, D. 775 - score - text and translation
     Du bist die Ruh, D. 776 - score - text and translation
     Lachen und Weinen, D. 777 - score - text and translation
     Viola, D. 786 - score - text and translation
(various recordings are recommended)

Muzio Clementi
Piano Sonata, Op. 24 No. 2 (sometimes called Op. 41 No. 2 or Op. 47 No. 2) - score
Piano Sonata, Op. 25 No. 5 (sometimes called Op. 26 No. 2) - score
Piano Sonata, Op. 33 No. 3 - score
     recommended recordings: Demidenko; Horowitz

John Cage
Imaginary Landscape No. 4
Williams Mix
Fontana Mix
Rozart Mix

Miles Davis
Selected tracks from The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (starting with the 6 tracks released as Highlights from the Plugged Nickel)

Welcome to Week 44 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores, opera libretto and synopsis, and other helpful information. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 44.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Le Nozze di Figaro - score - libretto and synopsis
     recommended audio recording: conducted by Giulini
     video recommendations: conducted by Haitink; conducted by Gardiner (with authentic instruments)

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 8 (Op. 59 No. 2) - score
     recommended recordings: The Lindsays; Guarneri Quartet

Edouard Lalo
Symphonie espagnole - score
      recommended recordings: Mutter; Heifetz

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 - score
     note: Villa-Lobos' works are not in the public domain in all countries, so please follow your own country's laws when deciding whether to download the scores.

Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Fear of a Black Planet

Welcome to Week 43 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores and other helpful information. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 43.

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 (Op. 59 No. 1) - score
     recommended recordings: Lindsay Quartet; Guarneri Quartet

Hector Berlioz
Requiem (Grande messe des morts) - score
     recommended recordings: conducted by Ozawa; Davis; Shaw; Munch

Erik Satie
Cinema - score
      This piece is the score to a silent film (available here with no score) entitled Entr'Acte because it was to be shown between the acts of Satie's ballet Relache.

Steve Reich
Piano Phase
Pendulum Music - score

Miles Davis
Two live sets recorded in Stockholm on March 22, 1960, later released on several compilations.

Welcome to Week 40 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores, opera libretto and synopsis, and other helpful information. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 40.

Giovanni Batista Pergolesi
Stabat Mater - score
     recommended recording: Academy of Ancient Music

Vincenzo Bellini
I Puritani - score - libretto and synopsis

Gabriel Faure
String Quartet - score
      recommended recording: Ad Libitum Quartet

William Duckworth
The Time Curve Preludes

Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
Planet Rock: The Album

Boogie Down Productions
By All Means Necessary

Welcome to Week 35 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 35.

Domenico Scarlatti
Keyboard Sonatas: K. 82, 266, 284, 507, 214, 404, 124, 536, 494, 113, 26, 548, 37 - scores
     recommended recordings: Benjamin Frith (piano); Scott Ross (harpsichord)

Claude Debussy
String Quartet - score
     recommended recordings: Cleveland Quartet; Emerson Quartet

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 - score
      recommended recording: cellos of the Nashville Symphony
Guitar Concerto - score
     recommended recording: Julian Bream/London Symphony
     note: Villa-Lobos' works are not in the public domain in all countries, so please follow your own country's laws when deciding whether to download the scores.

Pierre Schaeffer
Etude aux chemins de fer
Symphonie pour un homme seule (with Pierre Henry)

Otto Luening
Fantasy in Space
Low Speed

Vladimir Ussachevsky
Sonic Contours
Reverberation (with Luening)
Transposition (with Luening)

Miles Davis
6 tracks recorded March 6, 1954
originally released as 10” LP, Miles Davis Volume 3; later included in the Miles Davis Volumes 1 & 2 compilations (1956 on 12” LPs)

Bags' Groove – 12” LP released in 1957 from recording sessions on June 29 and December 24, 1954

4 tracks recorded July 9, 1955
originally released as 12” LP Blue Moods; later included on double-LP Collectors' Items (1973)

'Round About Midnight – 12” LP released in 1957 from recording sessions on October 26, 1955, June 5 and September 10, 1956

Welcome to Week 31 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode.

The pieces for this week are listed below, along with links to scores and texts. Here is the Spotify playlist for Week 31.

Franz Peter Schubert
String Quartet No. 14, “Death and the Maiden” - score

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Rondo in C minor, H 283 (Wq 59:4) - score
Sonata in F major (Prussian Sonata No. 1), H 24 (Wq 48:1) - score
Sonata in B-flat major (Prussian Sonata No. 2), H 25 (Wq 48:2) - score
Rondo in A major, H 276 (Wq 58:1) - score
Sonata in F minor, H 75 (Wq 63:6) - score
Sonata in A minor (Wurttemberg Sonata No. 1), H 30 (Wq 49:1) - score
*The Hogwood recording of H 75 is on a clavichord - see this video about how this instrument works; it's discussed in podcast episode 32.

John Dowland
First Booke of Songes or Ayres - scores - texts

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2 - score
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 - score
     note: Villa-Lobos' works are not in the public domain in all countries, so please follow your own country's laws when deciding whether to download the scores.

Thelonious Monk
Monk Alone: The Complete Columbia Recordings (selections)
Selections from other performers' recordings of some of Monk's compositions

It's Week 20 of The Works! Start with this week's podcast episode in which we briefly review last week's works and look ahead to this week's playlist.

Here is the Spotify playlist for week 20.

Here are this week's pieces, along with links to the scores where available and texts with translations:

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 5 - score
String Quartet No. 6 - score

Franz Peter Schubert
Schwanengesang - score - text

Arnold Schoenberg
Erwartung - score - synopsis
A Survivor from Warsaw - text - score (not public domain in US)

Erik Satie
Parade - score - information

Tim Buckley
Goodbye and Hello
Happy Sad
     bonus: Dream Letter (Live in London 1968)
 

Welcome to Week 10 of The Works: we've made it to double digits! Start with this week's episode of the Listening to the Works podcast, then find the pieces for this week on the Spotify playlist.

Here are the pieces for this week, including links to the scores and texts where available.

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 3
String Quartet No. 4
Recommended recordings: Takacs Quartet; Quartetto Italiano; Guarneri Quartet

Franz Peter Schubert
Winterreise (text and translation here)
Recommended recordings: Peter Schreier/Andras Schiff; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Gerald Moore (Fischer-Dieskau recorded this song cycle several times with different accompanists; all are recommended)

Pierre Boulez
Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna
Notations I-IV for orchestra (originally for piano from 12 Notations)
Recommended recordings: Orchestre de Paris/Barenboim for both pieces; BBC Symphony/Boulez for Rituel

Freddie Keppard
Complete recordings

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
Complete 1923 recordings

It's Week 9 of The Works! Start with this week's episode of the Listening to the Works podcast, then find the pieces for this week on the Spotify playlist.

Here are the pieces for this week, including links to the scores, texts, and other information.

Georg Frideric Handel
Dixit Dominus (recording: Westminster Abbey/Preston; alternate: Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner)
 - text and translation

Hugo Wolf
String Quartet in D minor (I didn't find any recommendations for recordings of this piece. The Spotify playlist has recordings by Quartetto Prometeo and the Fine Arts Quartet)

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphony No. 1 (recording: St. Petersburg Philharmonic/Janssons; alternate: Russian National Orchestra/Pletnev)

Gaetano Donizetti
Lucia di Lammermoor (recording: Callas/Karajan; video: Sutherland/Bonynge)
 - Libretto
 - Synopsis

Bill Haley and His Comets
Selections

Buddy Holly (and the Crickets)
Selections, including the entire album The “Chirping” Crickets

Week 2 of The Works begins with the new podcast episode, in which I review last week's pieces, discuss Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and preview the works coming up this week.

Here is the Spotify playlist containing the recordings for Week 2.

Here are pieces on this week's list, including some links to the scores where available:

György Ligeti
Cello Concerto

Franz Schubert
Die Schöne Müllerin (find the song texts and translations here)

Agustín Barrios
Guitar Works (see Spotify playlist for specific pieces)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 9

Big Joe Turner
This link shows the compilation album Big, Bad, and Blue as a 3-CD set with 61 tracks, but on Spotify it only has 28 tracks, so I have included all of those plus 6 more of his most important singles.

Eubie Blake
This link shows an LP of piano rolls made from Blake's playing between 1917-1921, recorded in 1973 under Blake's supervision. My Spotify list includes all of these songs, but I can't be sure they're the same recordings. A few other Blake pieces, played by himself, are also on the list. Most of his scores are not yet public domain, but this one is (in the US only).

Other Ragtime Composers
James Scott: Grace and Beauty and Ragtime Oriole
Tom Turpin: Saint Louis Rag
Joseph Lamb: American Beauty and Nightingale Rag

I have embarked upon a new 10-year project: to listen to all the Great Music of the Western World (aka The Works)! Listen to my first podcast episode here to get some background on the project.

Here is the Spotify playlist containing most of the recordings for Week 1.

Here are links to the scores (and sometimes recordings) for this week's pieces:

Scott Joplin
Rags (list below)
Piano roll recordings

Erik Satie
3 Gymnopédies
3 Gnossiennes (just nos. 1-3)
Arrangements by John Hackett and Steve Hackett:

• Gymnopédie No. 1
• Gymnopédie No. 2
• Gymnopédie No. 3
• Gnossienne No. 1
• Gnossienne No. 2
• Gnossienne No. 3

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 1
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 2

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1

*Joplin rags: Maple Leaf Rag; Original Rags; The Favorite; The Easy Winners; The Entertainer; Elite Syncopations; A Breeze from Alabama; Palm Leaf Rag; Weeping Willow; The Cascades; The Chrysanthemum; The Ragtime Dance (2nd version); Reflection Rag; Gladiolus Rag; Searchlight Rag; Pine Apple Rag; Fig Leaf Rag; Paragon Rag; Wall Street Rag; Euphonic Sounds; Solace; Pleasant Moments; Scott Joplin's New Rag; Magnetic Rag