![]() ![]() Another all time classic is George Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra. I’ve long been in love with Fritz Reiner’s beautiful reading with the Royal Philharmonic. Many critics will give you Carlos Kleiber’s legendary recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, and they have a point. I put the “current” in the title, as I always keep discovering and looking, and my taste clearly changes and evolves over time.īefore I get into Chailly’s excellent recording, a quick note on some other versions you should check out. So, now to my current favorite version of the 4th. Brahms: The Symphonies – Riccardo Chailly – Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (Decca 2013) In comparison, Brahms’ 1st has a fantastic first and last movement, but the two in between feel more like an interlude. In this symphony there’s more than enough to discover in each of the movements. Nothing ends well here.ĭon’t get me wrong, it is not only the last movement that is fantastic. Compare this to Brahms own first symphony where you start with the nearly menacing timpani but you end in a chorale that tells you that all will end well. It starts in the e-minor key, and ends in e-minor. And unlike most other symphonies, this symphony doesn’t end in happiness. I’ve written before how much I really appreciate variations these days, they are a true art form (even though it is something that one appreciates only after some learning), be it the Goldberg variations, the Diabelli Variations, or Brahms several other variations, like the Haydn or Händel variations.Įach one of these little variations in the 4th movement is such a gem, with an emotional depth (some say down to very deep despair) in a bit more than 9 minutes. Why? Well, I’m just totally in awe of the fourth movement, which is basically just a set of variations on a very simple motif, a Passacaglia. And then there’s the 4th symphony.Īfter all, this could actually be the greatest masterpiece of all of them. The first will always come, well, first, the 2nd is still nice but I listen to it much more occasionally, the 3rd is beautiful, but has the super famous 3rd movement that has been a bit overused in popular culture. To me, there’s a clear (personal) hierarchy among the Brahms symphonies. I’ve also found a favorite version of Brahms 2nd symphonyīut I’ve never written explicitly about Brahms 4th symphony. I’ve also reviewed Andris Nelsons’ excellent Brahms cycle with the Boston Symphony some time ago (5 stars). Thank you for the opportunity to work with you.I started this blog writing extensively about Brahms’ 1st symphony, and why it means so much to me, and why to this day I’m still looking for my “perfect” version. My continuous study and transcription experience is your guarantee of satisfaction. This study has been a thorough method of understanding these masters, and essential to acquiring the language of jazz piano. My work includes improvised solo piano, intros, outros and lead sheets with chord symbols, pop songs and other genres of such giants of jazz Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, to name a few. Over time I have accumulated a small library of transcriptions. Each transcription has been thoroughly scrutinized for clarity and accuracy to better analyze the influential tastes, styles and techniques of jazz standards and original compositions by artists of our jazz piano musical heritage. This method of transcribing, studying and playing various sources has been the basic foundation for understanding melodic development, chord progression changes, key modulations and signature harmonics in detail. This process has been invaluable to my personal study and accumulated benefit. ![]() ![]() I hope to create a central network of original jazz piano compositions to encourage the growth and development of this art form.įor many years, transcribing has been a part of my specific training to better understand each musical moment over time and how it relates to the whole of a completed work. ![]() Included on this website, you will find some of my original compositions. I have extensive training and experience in teaching piano, transcribing and composing jazz piano music. My name is Morten Ravn Hansen, a graduate from the Carl Nielsen Academy in Odense, Denmark. ![]()
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