Posting the classical music freebies from different websites is a little like dating. It takes a while to get to know the other person and to be able to anticipate what he or she would do in different situations.
I'm still trying to get to know the personalities of these companies giving away free music on a regular basis. Case in point: YourClassical. I thought that they changed freebies at 2 a.m. or after, but I thought that I would take a look at what they had posted, anyway, before I headed off to bed before the magic hour.
Well, their
freebie for Friday--and the last one until Monday (unless they do something unexpected. Reference my first paragraph. ha)--is already up and it's not 2 a.m. yet as I write these words. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they put up two days' freebies at the same time, the last couple of days, so people had ample time to download them if they wanted them, and would be eager to find out about the next one. Who knows?
It's something a bit out of the ordinary. It's a piece from composer Alexander Borodin, called
In the Steppes of Central Asia. The album includes Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2, and the
freebie,
In the Steppes of Central Asia.
Given, in large part, the title of the
free piece, I was wondering if it and the rest of the music on the album was even really classical. I really have trouble picturing someone on the central steppes of Asia playing classical music. But, listening to the 6 minute, 27 second piece, I can definitely say that it is. It's heavy on the horns, but except for one or two louder bursts, it is
soft horn music. In fact, it's a very nice piece.
The whole album is performed by the Malmo Symphony Orchestra. Jun'ichi Hirokami is the conductor. It comes from the "BIS" label (probably one of Naxos'). You can find out a good amount of other miscellaneous and general information about the album
here. Unfortunately, there appears not to be a dedicated webpage for reviews of the album.
I suppose that there's no much left to say, other than to direct you to
the YourClassical website which has a streaming button/bar and also a link to the MP3. Look for the link saying "Direct MP3 download link" if you wish to download the
free piece. Clicking on that link causes the piece to automatically be downloaded to your default computer drive or smartphone memory.