#113 The Smell of England

Rejoice, O English hearts, rejoice! What's more English than Britten's Spring Symphony? Both layered and simple, gentle and noble.

When Robbin joins Ainsley at 1'11'', the words are like the olympic flame. And then the growing and the explosion at 1'35''... for this grass should be ever green. And so, my friends, I cease.

Composer: Benjamin Britten
Work: Spring Symphony, Part IV Finale: "London, to thee I do present"
Recording: Alison Hagley, Catherine Robbin, John Mark Ainsley, The Boy and Girl Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral, The Monteverdi Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner

#112 The Smell of Stasis

Take in your breath (as in the recording) and hold it. There are only four instruments in this movement. First and second violins are responsible for the indifferent wheel of noise. Principal violin plays protracted sad and craving tune that's muted by viola, hung in the space, not going anywhere, just repeating its two knocks in every bar.  These two notes are not evil, just completely detached and timeless.

Beyer and Gli Incogniti go crude here. There are really only four instruments, no real orchestra. In many other recordings, viola part is buried under the mass of violins, resulting in nice and boring music. However, Vivaldi wanted viola to be played very strong and ripped (molto forte e strappato), like a crying dog. Paralyzing.

Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
Work: Violin Concerto No 1, II. Largo
Recording: Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti

#111 The Smell of Romantic Love

The two voices, piano and violin, are so bedazzled here, so in love. They are walking together, holding hands, complementing sentences. Opiate infatuation of the first weeks.

The sound is soft and rounded. No thorns, even the rise at 5'14'' is so amorous. At the end, the music tells us: go, leave the lovers alone.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Work: Violin Sonata No 5, II. Adagio molto espressivo
Recording: Oleg Kagaan, Sviatoslav Richter

#110 The Smell of Cutting

I smell meat and a sharp knife. With every note, there comes a cut: a short one, a robust one, a shallow one,  a bold one. In higher tones, it's more piercing. The whole cycle is only seven minutes long.

I smell Vermont-like melancholy. Is the end of winter really spring? Or is there something in-between, something like void and knife? Frazin's music does not give answers (actually there is an inkling of peace at 0'34''). All attempts (like the one at 1'08'') end in hollowness again and again.

Composer: Howard Frazin
Work: Music For The End Of Winter, 5. Music For The End Of Winter
Recording: Kate Boyd

#109 The Smell of Evil

There's no intention to be nice: it's supposed to be pagan, brusque. But this recording goes further. It's not devastating in the sound volume but it's so cold, mean, and bitchy.

Philharmonia Orchestra is bloodthirsty but the veins are empty. Pure rage is yet controlled by Markevich. Spring? Chilliness peeps through.

Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Work: The Rite of Spring, I. Adoration of the Earth
Recording: Philharmonia Orchestra, Igor Markevich (1959)

#108 The Smell of Pouring

It's easy to talk about folksy settings and square dances. What else do you want to smell here? I smell reunion in progress–small streams in a forrest, coming together, forming something bigger, of a higher call. They unite and continue in their way down, gurgling: smiling, sunny, festive.

You need to say Bernstein when you say Copland. A wonderful account, hearty and hilarious. Spring's in the air.

Composer: Aaron Copland
Work: Appalachian Spring Suite, 4. Fast
Recording: New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein

#107 The Smell of Oppression

There's a great strength pushing from the very first moment. These confirmatory chords at 0'11'', the prance at 0'20'', the shift at 0'26'', the punches starting from 0'34''. The hidden stress afterwards, leading to Allegro molto vivace at 2'10''. Here's dreadful oppression, tension of forces. Listen how it comes back at 7'25''.

Gardiner is an apostle of such strains. His reading of the symphony allows it to grow within you, for you to reach, to understand your limits. Spring walk with me.

Composer: Robert Schumann
Work: Symphony No 1, I. Andante un poco maestoso
Recording: Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner