In "one of the mightiest shouts of human aspiration ever made in music," is this the most beautiful music ever? Or this? Or this?

Or, "FOUND" FREE MUSIC (SAMPLES), Part 2

In Part 1, we enjoyed Seattle Chamber Music Society's gift of the 1st movement of Schubert's String Quintet (plus bonus music). The unconscionably delayed Part 2 is inspired by a free video preview offered by the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall of the orchestra's January 2026 performances, under Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko, of a work described by Deryck Cooke as "one of the mightiest shouts of human aspiration ever made in music," which the Philharmoniker hadn't played since opening night of the 2011-12 season, Sept. 18, 2011. -- Ed.

UPDATE: A new block of performances added from a special source
2nd UPDATE (Monday): Coming up next (at the end)
3rd UPDATE (later Monday): Semyon Bychkov on Mahler 8

There's a snatch on YouTube from that 2011 Berlin Phil performance under then-Chief Conductor Simon Rattle

[2:34] "Accende lumen sensibus" ("Kindle our senses with light")
[Eventually we're going to hear a little more of this performance.]

IN ALL LIKELIHOOD YOU ALREADY RECOGNIZE THE PIECE.
(IF NOT, WILL THIS LONGER EXCERPT GIVE IT AWAY?)

I've chosen an unusual start point. It just happens that this strategic moment is one of the most beautiful musical moments I know. Yes, yes, I say that, or words to that effect, a lot here. Why, it came up in Part 1 of this post, in the cases of both the first and the second movements of the Schubert C major String Quintet. In my defense, I would point out that since I'm in charge of the Sunday Classics program, and I get to choose all the music, an awful lot of it is music that's especially close to my heart.

Let's start by just listening through this little chunk I've carved out. -- Ed.

"Imple superna gratia, gratia, quae tu creasti pectora"
("Fill with heavenly grace, grace, the breasts that thou created")

[4:10] Joyce Barker & Agnes Giebel (s), Kerstin Meyer (ms), Helen Watts (c), Kenneth Neate (t), Alfred Orda (b), Arnold van Mill (bs); Charles Spinks, organ; BBC Chorus, BBC Choral Society, Goldsmith's Choral Union, Hamp­stead Choral Society, Emanuel School Boys' Choir, Orpington Junior Sing­ers, "much-augmented" London Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Hor­en­stein, cond. Live performance from the Royal Albert Hall, Mar. 20, 1959

by Ken

In this case, the sheer beauty of the musical moment seems to me to have a crucial structural purpose, which is why I've made this seriously varied assortment of performance clips. And they really are very different -- in pacing, obviously (I've arranged them in "length" order, but performances that are closest in length may be the most different in everything else -- flow, tone(s), color(s), emphasis. Some of them may be barely recognizable as the same music. In each case, though, I encourage you to take note of how your experience is affected by the first voice we hear -- and to a lesser extent the second, and then the third, fourth, and fifth, who enter together. But especially the first, who not only introduces this melody but throughout the movement we're sampling will be sailing and soaring over the musical staff and over the ensemble.

If there's one thing our composer knew, it was voices. He spent the major part of his career in the pit of opera houses. But that didn't incline him to make life easy for singers when he wrote for them. It's more that he had ideas about how he could stretch those voices. In this case, for his top voice, the first soprano, he understood that coming in un-warmed-up she couldn't be asked to leap straight to high B-flats and Cs, and at first asked her only to show great fluidity and tonal sheen and be able to sustain crucial high A-flats. But gradually he worked in the B-flats and, yes, a couple of sustained high Cs.

When a treasured piece of music simply falls into our laps, the least we can is to take proper note of it

Or: "Found" free music! (Or at least free music samples. Not to worry, though -- we can fill them out!), Part 1

A Seattle Chamber Music Society team of Artistic Director James Ehnes and Tessa Lark, violins; Joan DerHovsepian, viola; and Mark Kosower and Julie Albers, cellos (apologies to Tessa, hidden by the camera angle!) launches the ethereal 2nd theme -- initially stated so mesmerizingly by the two cellos -- of the 1st movement of Schubert's String Quintet in C, D. 956. [From the SCMS -- watch the whole movement on YouTube.]

I had intended to drop the complete movement into the post a ways down, but we should be hearing it right now, right? -- Ed.

SCHUBERT: String Quintet in C, D. 956:

[19:13; our "2nd theme" clip starts c1:41] Seattle Chamber Music Society: James Ehnes and Tessa Lark, violins; Joan DerHovsepian, viola; Mark Kosower and Julie Albers, cellos. Live performance from the final event of SCMS Summer Festival 2025, in Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Aug. 1, 2025 [Thanks for tracking down the performance date, Gemini!]

by Ken

Yes, yes, we have all kinds of projects in the works. Don't I know it! But while I try to work out the next step (of which there are about a half-dozen versionettes duking it out on my HD), I thought I would share some tantalizing free music found recently amid the avalanche in my e-mailbox: Schubert from Seattle (via the U.K.) and Mahler from Berlin.

Alas, my customary habit of shilly-shallying combined with stretchifying (the operative philosophy, as near as I can reckon it, seems to be something like: "Why keep on trying to do today what you just might be able to do tomorrow?") has caused what was meant to be a simple post not only to overflow its bounds but to run up against a hard deadline. In consequence, all we're going to attempt in this newly consecrated "Part 1" is the first half of the mandate.

As compensation of sorts, at the end of Part 1 there will be a Schubert bonus. So let's proceed with what we've already started --

(1) SCHUBERT FROM THE SEATTLE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY

Speaking of "one-two punches" (well, we will be in a moment), what do you think -- is Schubert D. 956 lurking in the background?

WELCOME, VISITORS FROM "'Found' free music! (Or at least free music samples. Not to worry, though -- we can fill them out!)," Jan. 23, 2026 [Of course, welcome too to visitors who traveled any other path]

This is a pickup from the post of May 19, 1924: "The question we're exploring: What good is a "symphonic adagio" anyways? Like, what can one of 'em do for us? -- Part 1"

[NOTE: I don't think there ever was a "Part 2" except in my head. There is an unpublished listing on the blog dashboard with the "The question we're exploring" title. That may have been the contemplated-but-missing Part 2. I haven't yet found the heart to open it and see what if anything is there. -- Ed.]

UPDATED later Friday -- with quick notes on the performances.

A composer known for rafter-shaking orchestral climaxes sure can scale it down: Over pp violin tremolos, a theme is sounded mf by solo horn with cellos rising two octaves to that high B (directed to use long bow strokes, as if the players wouldn't figure that out!) -- until the violas displace the horn.

And then: A solo tenor tuba, backed by a choir of a second tenor tuba, two bass tubas, and a contrabass tuba, sings with the violas, supported by cellos and basses, setting us up for the tinglingly vibrant string chorale.


FYI: The 5/19/2024 post had three sections before the byline!

[1] WE KNOW THE ARCHETYPAL SYMPHONIC ADAGIO,
BUT HERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS OF HEARING IT

[2] IN FACT, THERE HAVE BEEN SYMPHONIC ADAGIOS
ALMOST AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN SYMPHONIES

And then --

[3] SO WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A SYMPHONIC ADAGIO?
Hmm, is there anything else in music like this one-two punch?

[For as long as I've been listening to this symphony, these two movements, outwardly so different, have seemed to be telling essentially the same story, if from very different viewing points. I think of them as fraternal twins. -- Ed.]

Then came the score-page reproductions and captions as above

AND THEN CAME THESE PERFORMANCES:

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7 in E:
i. Allegro moderato
ii. Adagio


[ii. at 20:51] Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, cond. Columbia-CBS-Sony, recorded in the American Legion Hall, Hollywood, March 1961

[ii. at 21:21] BBC Symphony Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. BBC Legends, recorded live in the Royal Festival Hall, Nov. 3, 1971 (released 2004)

[ii. at 21:01] Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, cond. Decca, recorded in Severance Hall, August 1990

[ii. at 21:10] Staatskapelle Dresden, Herbert Blomstedt, cond. Denon-Deutsche Schallplatten, recorded in Studio Lukaskirche, June 30-July 3, 1980

UPDATE: Some new (Jan. 2026) notes on the performances

The Walter must have been my first Bruckner 7, and though Bruno W.'s Columbia Symphony Bruckner recordings (of Nos. 4, 7, and 9) don't hold much sway with the Bruckner Faithful, I still love them. The L.A. pickup orchestra was on the mingy side for Beethoven and Brahms, and certainly isn't the dream orchestra we want to hear in Bruckner, but how honestly and feelingly they play, and how honestly and feelingly Bruno W. communicates the music.

If you want "deeper," try Goodall -- as with his Wagner, this performance digs deep. I quite love it too. And the Dohnányi as well, but then, I have vivid memories of hearing Dohnányi do Bruckner 7 with the Cleveland Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and thinking it was the loudest orchestral sound I'd ever heard -- and not just loud but beautiful. We may not think of this as that kind of orchestra, but under Dohnányi it could be. Not surprisingly, it's a more objective-style performance, but certainly not unfeeling.

Then there's Blomstedt, getting the Dresden Staatskapelle, in the Bruckner 4 and 7 he recorded for the Denon-Deutsche Schallplatten combine, to sound like the rich and glowing instrument it could be. He was 53 at the time, and in his full maturity, and the performance comes off sounding it. Forgive me for pointing ou that he's still conducting 25 years later, when he can, and still making beautiful music.

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