Spam Roundup, December 2018

Even with spam filters, some comments manage to make it through. Some of it's so oddly written, that it's oddly amusing. Here's a roundup of some of the "best" comments I received this month from spambots around the world.

Rave-ish reviews

- I'm not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blog's really nice keep it up! [High praise from an indifferent reader.]

- Dear, are you actually visiting this website daily, if so then you will absolutely obtain pleasant know-how. [It's easy, darling, if you have the know how.]

 - It's going to be finish of mine day, except before finish I am reading this wonderful piece of writing to improve my experience. [Take your time. We'll still be here when you finish your cereal.]

- Excellent goods from you, man. I've take into account your stuff prior to and you are just too excellent. [From "excellent" to "too excellent" all in one comment. Sometimes I just don't know my own strength!]

"Lumbering along" remains an internet fav

Would you pay money to read more about this toy?

A favorite target for spam comment is The Straco Express Layout, Part 23 - Lumbering Along. It's just a 300-word description of a vintage Japanese friction vehicle from the late 1950s. But somehow this little lithographed tin truck resonated with the spammers.

 - For the latest news you have to pay a visit web and on the web I found this website as the best web site for the most recent updates. [So you're saying this should be a pay site? Really?]

 -  Fabulous, what a weblog it is! This blog provides useful data to us, keep it up. [Useful in what way?]

  - Attractive section of content. [Yes, it is a cute little toy, isn't it?]

   - I am not positive where you are getting your info, however good topic.[Oh, I make everything up.]

Fastidious Families

And finally, there was this:

 - I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble.

The blog post that plumed the depths of his soul? Fastidious Spam. 

Next month: a new year, and (hopefully) some new spam!

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalChristmas Weeks 4 and 5

This is the second year the #ClassicsaDay team went with a Classical Christmas theme. And that's fine. If you think about it, composers have been writing works for the season as long as there's been notation to preserve them.

For my contributions, I tried to avoid the obvious choices. In the process, I discovered some wonderful works that I'll be returning to again and again.

Here are my posts for the last full week of #ClassicalChristmas, plus the last day of December.

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749) Christmas Oratorio: Ach, dass die Hülfe aus Zion über Israel käme.

Like Bach, Stölzel wrote an oratorio that was a set of six cantatas. Each cantata corresponded to one of the feast days of Christmas. "Ach, dass die Hülfe" is for the first day of Christmas, 1720.

Kevin Oldham - Silent Night

A beautiful reimagining of this familiar carol.

Louis-Claude Daquin: Noel X

Daquin was a virtuoso organ and harpsichord player. In 1757 he published Nouveau livre de noëls, a collection of 12 traditional French carols with new settings.

Max Reger - Weihnachten, Op. 145 No. 3

"Weihnachten" was originally part of a set of seven organ pieces in 1915. In its orchestrated form, the work has become a mainstay for holiday orchestra concerts.

Joan Szymko - The Peace of Wild Things

I first heard this work on the album Raunächte - The Twelve Nights after Christmas. I love it.

PDQ Bach - Good King Kong Looked Out

"Good King Kong" was part of PDQ's "Consort of Choral Christmas Carols." Why end the year with a PDQ Bach selection? Because he never fails to disappoint.

A seasonal treat from Kujken and La Petite Bande

This release presents Christmas cantatas from three German Baroque masters: Dieterich Buxtehude, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Johann Sebastian Bach. All three wrote cantatas for each Sunday of the Liturgical calendar.

Buxtehude was of the generation before Telemann and Bach and was a model to the younger composers. His cantata Das neugeborne Kindelein opens the program. It's a short, joyous work that's actually a choral cantata. All four voices sing continually throughout.

His setting of In dulci Jubilo closes the album. While the overall shape of the melody is familiar, it's rhythms are somewhat different than the modern version.

Telemann's 1720 Missa sopra “Ein Kindelein so löbelich” uses the tune as a cantus firmus. Over this foundation, Telemann weaves four-part counterpoint that pays homage to Palestrina and other late-Renaissance masters.

His other cantata, O Jesu Christ, Dein Kripplein ist mein Paradie was written 18 years later. Here the form follows the then-standard alternation between solo aria and chorale.

That's also true of Bach's Ich freue mich in dir, which is at the center of the program. The difference is style. Telemann's late cantata is written in more of an Italian style, and has a lightness to it.

Bach's cantata, though only using four singers, seems weightier. The harmonies sound thicker, and of course, the counterpoint more complex.

La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken are past masters of this repertoire. They adjust their performances to match the composers' style, further highlighting the differences between the three.

If you're looking for a great example of German Baroque Christmas music, I strongly recommend "Das neugeborne Kindelein."

Das neugeborne Kindelein
Christmas Cantatas
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kujken, director
Accent ACC 24348

Exceptional performances of Graupner cantatas

This release features three cantatas and two overtures by Christoph Graupner. Graupner was a contemporary of Bach, Handel, and Telemann, and their near-equal in talent. He spent most of his career at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt, composing over 1,400 works.

The three cantatas on this release are early works, written between 1714 and 1725. Graupner masterfully sets the text for maximum effect. "Reiner Geist, lass doch mein Herz" (Pure spirit, let my heart become the temple of your dwelling.) has melodies that are as pure and simple as the text suggests.

"Verleih, dass ich aus Herzensgrund" (Provide that I, for reasons of the heart may be able to forgive my enemies.), has a somewhat darker theme, and the music reflects the cloudiness of the narrator's feelings.

"Ach, Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" (Ah! God, how many a heartache I encounter at this time) suggest faith can help one rise above troubles. The voice seems to float serenely over the ensemble, with a closing aria that ends triumphantly.

Dorothee Mields sings with a warm, pure tone. Even at its most emotive, her voice is never out of control. Every note seems perfectly formed, and beautifully supported. I think these performances are exceptional and go a long way to towards bringing Graupner back from obscurity.

Christoph Graupner: Lass mein Herz
Cantatas and Overtures
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Harmonie Universelle; Florian Deuter and Mónica Waisman, directors
Accent

Merry Christmas!

Taking the day off to spend with friends and family. Happy holidays, everyone.