The man has gone – the music lives on

My knowledge of classical music is not very comprehensive – just pieces here and pieces there that I know and love. I know I’ve barely scratched the surface but I do know this artist, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and when news came at the weekend of his death, I listened to some of his music again.

He is most famous for his singing of Schubert lieder and thanks to the magic of libraries and the internet you can hear and see him performing still. Christchurch Libraries has a great collection of his work.

There have been many obituaries which detail his life – like  this from the Telegraph. Perhaps the best obituary is to listen to him perform the beautiful song An die musik

To music

Oh lovely Art, in how many grey hours,
When life’s fierce orbit ensnared me,
Have you kindled my heart to warm love,
Carried me away into a better world!

How often has a sigh escaping from your harp,
A sweet, sacred chord of yours
Opened up for me the heaven of better times,
Oh lovely Art, for that I thank you!

Christchurch music videos: Stand up – Scribe

‘Stand Up’, Christchurch rapper Scribe’s first single, comes bookended with excerpts from his soon-to-be signature tune — ‘Not Many’.

Read our profile of Scribe.

Find out more about  NZ Music Month at Christchurch City Libraries.

• Explore our music pages.
• Browse our profiles of Kiwi musicians.
• Search our catalogue for New Zealand music on CD and resources about New Zealand music.
• Discover Christchurch music on CD in our collection.

Finnish flair and the fabulous NZSO

The latest person to conduct the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen. Inkinen has moulded the orchestra into world class performers. He has also introduced Finnish repertoire such as Rautavaara, and last year the orchestra recorded a critically acclaimed set of all of the Sibelius Symphonies for Naxos.

The Guardian has praised Pietari Inkinen as ‘a conductor of bold, sure-footed intelligence’ and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as ‘a fine, responsive unit’.

This third volume in Naxos’s series presents the dramatic and highly popular Symphony No. 2, which emerges from the northern mists, cultivating a pastoral atmosphere along the way, to reach a grandiose, heroic finale. One of Sibelius’s best loved compositions, the Karelia Suite presents a series of musical tableaux based on stirring episodes from Finnish history.

• This album (and over 69,000 more) is available online for free from anywhere with your library card number and PIN.
• Listen to free online music from Naxos Music Library and the Source.