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Gurn Blanston

@gurnb.bsky.social

730 followers 750 following 990 posts

Classical music lover, writer, braider of leather, old guy sitting on his porch and yelling at the kids to get off my lawn. I resist and always will! Learn about composer Joseph Haydn on my blog at fjhaydn.com. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN CRYPTO. DON'T BOTHER.

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · Dec 28

A safer approach...

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 16h

No, but I have had to get used to their new app which is sort of erratic at times. They don't MAKE you use it, but once you have downloaded a 30 track album one track at a time you make yourself use it. 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 17h

Presto are my exclusive supplier of music for the last 15 years. I don't stream, but I've been buying FLAC downloads from them since I quit CD's, always a fair deal and fixing any issues. I'm not surprised to see them dealing square with rights holders.

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 1d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
I'm a sucker for oboe works, no point denying it. As it turns out, it seems Vivaldi was too! These are excellent realizations of some really nice music!🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 1d

As have I. Coin is especially good in Vivaldi, his later albums in that Op111/Naive series are nice!

One I really like though is this one: Cocset is first rate, IMO.

But back to the one I posted: Hidemi Suzuki is playing continuo on there, a commentary on Bijlsma's stature in the cello world. 🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 1d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
Vivaldi's sonatas for Cello & BC explore a wide range of emotions; it is no stretch at all to transpose the fabulously melodic line into an aria, but with cellists like this playing, why would you? 🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 1d

That's one of my favorites! 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 2d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
These were among my first Vivaldi period instruments recordings, been a long time since I've sat down with them! One thing I had forgotten with time was how damned fine a Recorder player Antonini is! Their original lineup playing here are amazing!🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 2d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
Never saw a Carnivale Grotesque I didn't like! And on that line, I especially enjoy Vivaldi's many 'Double' concertos, of which the many fine recordings made since the millenium must include this one by 2 of my Top 10 fiddlers.

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 4d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
So much music from Saxony has escaped the attention of those of us who have concentrated on the Greater Vienna area for so long. But it was far from a musical rural backwater, some of the finest music of the early 18th came from there. Like this...🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 5d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
What a superb suite of music this is; 6 Trio Sonatas for 2 Oboes & Bassoon. Zelenka was one of the many fine composers whose work is underrepresented; mostly his Sacred music, but a set of these 6 should be in your library for evenings like this.🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 5d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
This is a very attractive compilation combining Haydn & Mozart with some rarely recorded works by some other masters. I really enjoy the work of this group. 🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 7d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
Having a 2nd encounter with this gem; tho it just scratches the surface of the repertoire, this album offers a nice view of the evolution of the trio sonata, the preferred form of the first half of the century, and its links to 'modern' chamber music.🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 8d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
We conclude our tour of Greater Northern Europe for the moment with these less well known (mainly) composers who nonetheless were merely victims of the 'homeboys are never as good as foreigners' syndrome that pervaded England then. Pity. Very nice!🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 9d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
On to France. Leave it to Couperin to have 10 movements in HIS trio! Nice movements though... 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 9d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
Thanks to @lisasass.bsky.social for pointing this series out to me, just finished unpacking and am now psyched for some chamber music from Germany, France, England & Italy. Sweet!🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 10d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
There was very little in the way of instrumental music that Vivaldi didn't try early times, and his Op 2 sonatas for Violin & BC are a great addition to the repertoire. Among the several nice sets I have, this one by Cordaria stands out! 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 11d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
One of the most popular & influential sets of works in the entire 18thC, the Opus 6 concerti grossi were the acme of that form of the concerto, and inspired followers throughout Europe long after most composers were writing solo ripieno concertos.🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 12d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
If one were doing a review of 18th century music, it would be difficult go past the first decade without Corelli (Op 5 & 6) & Albinoni (1707) before moving along. I'm glad I took the time to do this, this CM90 album was definitely worth it! 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 14d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
When I first started looking for any solo keyboard music by Kraus, there was exactly 1 recording, on a modern piano from a score published in the 1920s. 20 years on, there is at least 1 version on a contemporary instrument, and it was worth the wait! 🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 14d

We all like a good murder joke...😁🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 15d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
I've been curious about the lineage of the concerto. It began surprisingly late in the 17th century, but didn't evolve into a solo form until Torelli hit upon it right after the turn of the century, and 4 of the concertos of Op 8 are for solo violin. 🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 16d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
How have I passed the last 30 years of occasionally omnivorous listening, yet never picked up a word on this guy?? Of course, I didn't take chances, it's Concerto Köln. But this music is all you can ask of the 1710s-20s. 🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 16d

Really, no competition. Especially like the variety of instruments used; one doesn't tire of the same old clavichord! 😊🤠

Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 16d

I love how they made Venus prim. Although I actually posted a lovely Haydn album with that painting on the front and they deleted it. The same people who put the fig leaf on David, I reckon. 🫤🙄🤠

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Gurn Blanston @gurnb.bsky.social · 16d

#ClassicalMusic #MyDailyDose #18thCenturyMusic
Another album I've hyped, but only because it is so good! This is all about chamber music for viola, and among other gems here, Janitsch has a Quadro in e minor for 3 Violas and BC that is just a peach! 🤠