A list...with a twist
What does iTunes Shuffle reveal about your collection?
Martin Cullingford 2:13pm GMT 13th June 2011
We've been having fun at Gramophone compiling Top 10 lists for our new mini-guides feature. But here's a slightly different and completely personal approach, which I hope some of you may choose to join in with. The concept is simple: you just open up iTunes, press shuffle, and see what the first ten recordings to emerge are.
So, here goes. And first out is...
1. Salve Regina – Eia Ergo, Advocata Nostra
Handel Carmelite Vespers
Taverner Consort & Players / Andrew Parrott
(Virgin Classics) Amazon
Andrew Parrott's wonderful performance of liturgical music by the young Handel, written while in Italy in 1707.
2. Nuevas Te Traygo, Carillo (Anon)
Canciones Españolas
Teresa Berganza; Narciso Yepes
(DG) Amazon
From Teresa Berganza's evocative exploration of Spanish song, with characterful accompaniment throughout from guitarist Narciso Yepes.
3. Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen
Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Barbara Bonney; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly
(Decca) Amazon
Riccardo Chailly's – and in this excerpt Barbara Bonney (Matthias Goerne her performing partner) – atmospheric performance of Mahler's Lieder cycle.
4. Komm, Du Süsse Todesstunde
Bach Cantata No 161
Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists / Sir John Eliot Gardiner
SDG Amazon
Graceful playing supports some soulful singing here, from Volume 8 of the most epic of Bach recording projects.
5. A Solfinge Song
Tallis The Complete Works, Vol 9
Chapelle Du Roi
(Signum) Amazon
The concluding disc of Chapelle du Roi's complete Tallis series focused on Instrumental Music and Songs – given the choral offerings in the rest of the series, an intriguing but enjoyable bit of Tallis for iTunes to have randomly chosen!
6. Suite in D minor Op 117 – In the Summer
Sibelius Works for String Orchestra
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra / Juha Kangas
(Apex) Amazon
Sibelius from Nordic specialists the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra – an earlier track on the album, Andante Festivo, is a stirring Sibelius miniature absolutely worth hearing.
7. Hojohe! Hollojo!
Wagner Der fliegende Holländer
BBC Chorus; New Philharmonia Orchestra / Otto Klemperer
(EMI) Amazon
Nothing controversial here: a superb example of casting, characterisation and conducting earned this set a well-deserved 'GROC' status.
8. Whitlock O Give Thanks Unto The Lord, For He Is Gracious
Psalms
Westminster Abbey Choir / Martin Neary
(Virgin Classics) Amazon
Part of a double album aimed at conveying the beauty of the Anglican Psalm tradition – in this case a Percy Whitlock setting. The choir of Westminster Abbey are in fine voice.
9. Beethoven Piano Sonata No 10, Op 14 No 2
Stephen Kovacevich
(EMI) Amazon
An early-ish stop along Stephen Kovacevich's survey of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas.
10. No, così scellerato
Mozart La clemenza di Tito
Philip Langridge; Lucia Popp; Zurich Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Nikolaus Harnoncourt
(Teldec) Amazon
Given how much Mozart there is in my hard-drive I'm rather pleased some turned up, and any Mozart conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt is to be welcomed indeed.
Well, that's my list, a completely random insight into the contents of my collection as stored in my computer. So why not do likewise, and let us know your results in the comment section below? Perhaps you'll listen to something you haven't heard for a while, perhaps you'll just enjoy again some of your favourite recordings. No cheating now.
Comments
I don't know what it means, but here is the list I got!
1. Un Libertino Audace Puccini Manon Lescaut, Act 1; Domingo, Caballe, New Philharmonia Orchestra/Bartoletti (EMI Classics)
2. Beck Symphonia No. 4 in E flat major: II. Andante; New Zealand Chamber Orchestra/Donald Armstrong (Naxos)
3. Ballade: Voyez dans la nuit brune Offenbach Fantasio; von Otter, les Musiciens du Louvre/Minkowski (DG)
4. Nanni Trad. Dawn Upshaw & The Andalucian Dogs (DG)
5. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 III Finale (alla breve); Andsnes, London Symphony Orchestra/Pappano (EMI Classics)
6. A un dottor della mia sorte Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne/Lopez-Cobos (Teldec)
7. Grieg Lyric Pieces Op. 54 IV. Notturno; London Symphony Orchestra (DECCA)
8. Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 in C minor Op. 43 III. Largo - Allegro; CBSO/Rattle EMI Classics
9. And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature Haydn The Creation; Neal Davies, Gabriele Players/Paul McCreesh (DG Archiv)
10. Verdi Aida Act 2 Scene 2 Ballet; Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma/Zubin Mehta (EMI Classics)
I'm not sure it's meant to mean anything, but I imagine it made for an enjoyable and somewhat varied listening session! Thanks for sharing that. Anyone else?
Since it is ludicrous to listen to classical music via shuffle, I have all my classical music set to skip when shuffling. So the only thing that comes up for me when I choose Shuffle Songs is Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, The Durutti Column, Bill Evans, Joy Division, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia, Brad Mehldau, etc.
Oh, and by the way, you cannot "open up iTunes, press shuffle." I think you're thinking of the iPod, where you press Shuffle Songs. In iTunes, it's a bit different. Just saying...
Oh, and by the way, you cannot "open up iTunes, press shuffle." I think you're thinking of the iPod, where you press Shuffle Songs. In iTunes, it's a bit different. Just saying...
Really? That's what I've just done...you have to press play of course afterwards.
Oh, do you mean open the iTunes app on your iPhone? Not the same as opening iTunes (the computer application).
Oh, do you mean open the iTunes app on your iPhone? Not the same as opening iTunes (the computer application).
No, on my Macbook. The Shuffle button is the second one in the bottom left hand corner. Once you've turned it on, pressing play 'shuffles', as opposed to playing in order. Remember to turn it off afterwards however, else you'll get an unexpected surprise later on!
OK. That's a very non-standard way to play music, to be honest. That assumes that you have selected your entire music library (the bit marked Music in the left-hand column), rather than a playlist; if a playlist is selected, then it will only shuffle that playlist.
(Sorry to be pedantic, but I've written a book on iTunes: Take Control of iTunes 10: The FAQ.)
Well, it works exactly the same way if you click a playlist (which is actually what I did, as I thought indie-rock etc excerpts might not be quite what Gramophone's readers are after). As for being non-standard, this is how I (and many others I know) listen to music - I stream it through an AirPort Express into my Hi-fi, and it sounds very good too. I don't usually press shuffle though. While I'm very happy to have this discussion, why not also offer up your own shuffled top 10 and give us an insight into your collection?
First, I'm in touch with lots of iTunes users, and I've never heard of anyone playing shuffle that way. Interesting to know, though.
Second, as I said above, I don't shuffle my classical music - I select all the tracks and set the Skip when Shuffling tag. So while I could certainly provide a list, I don't think it would be what readers of Gramophone are interested in. (About half my library is classical.)
No problem. And I've never used shuffle on classical music before either (which is why I thought it was a fun idea to see what it produced). Though like you, I really can't imagine I will again. And there's nothing wrong at all with a library that ranges widely across genres.
To be fair, there are lots of variations on the shuffle play options on iPods, iTunes etc. (shuffle songs/shuffle albums/Genius/Genius mixes/iTunes DJ). Some of these are actually very good ways to listen to classical music IMAO. All are available so I assume that there are people out there somewhere who use them, at least occasionally. And (even as a confirmed MacHead) there are lots of other digital music players out there.
However I would much prefer to read about people's Top 10 random tracks from their digital libraries. [I chose to keep it strictly classical too, although I have many tracks that would probably make some people tut indignantly at my baser tastes in music :-) Even as is, the list turned out to be very varied].
We've been having fun at Gramophone compiling Top 10 lists..
Yes we've noticed!
One of the reasons I stopped subscribing to 'Gramophone' after not missing an issue for about 38 years was the new obsession with pointless lists; top ten this, 20 best that, 10 worst other etc etc. We do NOT all love lists; they are a substitute for having anything interesting or useful to say.
Shuffle can be a really revealing way to listen to classical music. Not only do you get insights into uses of keys etc, but you can also discern rare compositional trends and influences.
I remember Shuffle once bringing up the 3rd movt of Elgar 2 - I listened to it quite happily assuming it was Glazunov for what seemed like minutes. Suddenly Elgar isn't so island-bound and English sounding...
This came to me via another blog (www.somewhereboy.wordpress.com). My own list is at my blog http://crosseyedpianist.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/a-list-with-a-twist/
An amusing exercise, though I agree with some of the other comments, that it's annoying to have multi-movement works interrupted by other pieces. But I might just use the Shuffle function more often as it may throw up some useful insights into some of the music I listen to regularly (see Andrew Mellor's comment above).
FRAN