science

Going back a few days, I want to share my big recent discovery: Liszt's Hungarian Dances.



Lovely, fun stuff - great rhythms, sweet harmonies. I wish I'd heard them years ago. You might want to shop around for better recordings, as this one appears to be a bit controversial, but anyway it really made me happy and I'm going to listen to it many more times.

Perhaps only because of the title, they remind me of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances.

or

I guess the former album there is contained in the latter, but I don't have the latter.

Anyway, these are some enjoyable and arguably neglected works as well. Once you've heard the symphonies #7, #8, #9, the cello concerto, the "American" quartet, perhaps the piano quintet, these are fine "lighter" fare on the Dvorak menu.

While we're here, we wouldn't want to overlook the great Brahms.



Much moodier than Liszt, but not as jazzy, these sound to me more like Dvorak than Brahms. I'm not sure his heart was in this music - I think this might be the playful side of Brahms - but regardless, it is undeniably lovely.