Sunday Morning Music

On Sunday mornings growing up, my parents would commandeer the radio and play classical music. The rest of the week, the music selection was largely up to me and my siblings, but on Sunday mornings, Bach replaced the Beatles, Strauss the Stones. While I no doubt grumbled a bit at the time, it’s a tradition I return to every so often. Indeed, it’s truly a pleasant way to start off a Sunday, that gloriously slow day which caps off the weekend and allows ample time to recharge for the week ahead.

My weekday music is often dominated by upbeat songs that keep me driving through days and nights of work and social activity. Leaving one morning a week for some slow, beautiful music creates a wonderful change of pace. This week, I share with you some of the classical selections that have been on the figurative turntable of late.

First, a recording of the slow movement of a Schubert Piano Sonata (no. 19 in C minor), played by Mitsuko Uchida. Uchida brings a lovely light touch and measured pacing to this sublime piece. While the music is primarily subdued, she certainly brings the intensity when it is called for in the movement’s more strident, minor-key sections.

Franz Schubert – Adagio from Piano Sonata No. 19 (YSI) (filesavr)

And second, a recording of Biebl’s Ave Maria performed by Chanticleer. This piece was relatively little known until Chanticleer made it its calling card, and it has since become a staple of all-male choral groups. It is hard to imagine it sounding better than it does here, with the benefit of Chanticleer’s impeccable tuning and dynamic capabilities. It’s a long and repetitive piece, but it’s certainly worth listening through the whole seven and a half minutes—you get lulled by the repetition, and then all of a sudden the piece comes to its last, powerful verse, jolting you from your meditative state.

Chanticleer – Ave Maria (Biebl) (YSI) (filesavr)

Hope you give these pieces a chance. They might not grab your attention at first, but give them some time--it's worth it.