{"id":1908,"date":"2010-09-27T10:06:47","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T09:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/?p=1908"},"modified":"2010-09-27T10:06:47","modified_gmt":"2010-09-27T09:06:47","slug":"fifteen-albums-in-fifteen-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/2010\/09\/27\/fifteen-albums-in-fifteen-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen albums in fifteen minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a challenge going round at the moment, inviting you to name your top fifteen albums in no more than fifteen minutes\u2019 worth of contemplation.<\/p>\n

Intrigued, I undertook the test, and present here the result: my only rule was that they had to be\u00a0listed in the order in which they occurred to me, and I had to stop at fifteen. (What the list says about their\u00a0impact or my tastes in music\u00a0is another matter!) They should be albums that have stayed with you, or made the greatest impact.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Kind of Blue<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Miles Davis \"Album<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Bitches Brew<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Miles Davis<\/li>\n
  3. Music for 18 Musicians<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Steve Reich<\/li>\n
  4. Hejira<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Joni Mitchell<\/li>\n
  5. Heavy Weather<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Weather Report<\/li>\n
  6. Pr\u00e9ludes<\/em> \u2013 Debussy \u2013 performed by Dino Ciani<\/li>\n
  7. M\u00e9lodies<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>– Debussy \u2013\u2013 Barbara Hendrix \/ Michel Beroff<\/li>\n
  8. Violin Concerti<\/em> \u2013 Bach \u2013 Anne-Sophie Mutter \/ Salvatore Accardo \/ English Chamber Orchestra<\/li>\n
  9. Passio<\/a>,<\/em> Arvo P\u00e4rt \u2013 Hilliard Ensemble<\/li>\n
  10. The K\u00f6ln Concert<\/em> \u2013 Keith Jarrett<\/li>\n
  11. String Quartets<\/a>, <\/em>Debussy \/ Ravel \u2013 the Kodaly Quartet \"Album<\/li>\n
  12. \u00c9toile Polaire (North Star)<\/a><\/em> \u2013 Philip Glass<\/li>\n
  13. Histoires naturelles, <\/em>Ravel \u2013 Gerard Souzay \/ Dalton Baldwin<\/li>\n
  14. Manhattan<\/em> \u2013 Art Farmer<\/li>\n
  15. Vermont Counterpoint<\/a><\/em>, Steve Reich \u2013 Ransom Wilson (flute)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I have to admit, I was surprised that Music for 18 Musicians<\/em> came third! I can still recall exactly where I was the first time I heard Reich\u2019s Vermont Counterpoint<\/em>, which opened the door in the low wall to Reich and to Minimalism for me. The Bach concerti<\/em> used to be played repeatedly in the car on the school run when I was going to school. The Debussy \/ Ravel quartet disc was the first CD I ever purchased, and was a revelation: the colour, the language, the nuance of French Impressionism.<\/p>\n

    \"Album<\/a>I\u2019ve never heard as charismatic a performance of Ravel\u2019s Histoire naturelles<\/em> as that given by Souzay \/ Baldwin, and although my tastes have changed since, I still have a soft spot for the Barbara Hendrix recording of the Debussy songs.<\/p>\n

    And for solid swing, the flugelhorn of Art Famer on Manhattan<\/em> is unforgettable.<\/p>\n

    Nearly all of these were influential in defining my musical interests which still hold sway, and none of them, interestingly, came from my music studies for GCSE \/ A-level: they were the result of listening outside the curriculum-imposed works from the Classical tradition. Apart from the P\u00e4rt, these had all wormed their ways into my life by the time I left school. There have been fantastic albums since then \u2013 the Tallis Scholars singing Tallis\u2019 Lamentations of Jeremiah<\/em>, Nick Drake\u2019s Five Leaves Left<\/em>, Bartok\u2019s Bluebeard\u2019s Castle\u00b8KidA <\/em>by Radiohead \u2013 but these occurred later, both in life and in the order of recall when writing the list, so they didn\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n

    Your turn….<\/p>\n