If you're on classical-Music.com's newsletter mailing list (subscribing is free), you can download Benjamin Appl performs Brahms's Lieder und Gesänge
free.
It's classical-music.com's regular, every Tuesday
free download. FYI--classical-Music.com is "the official website of
BBC Music Magazine," Thank you, classical-music.com and
BBC Music Magazine!
Some additional information about this download of the week:
This week, listeners have the chance to hear Brahms's Lieder und Gesänge, Op 58 - 8: Serenade, as performed by baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist Graham Johnson. The piece scored highly in the last issue of BBC Music Magazine
, with a four-star rating for performance and recording.
Brahms was passionate about creating vocal compositions, which is clear in his Lieder und Gesänge, which tell a succession of stories through poetic vocals and piano. Serenade, the final piece, follows a fleeting midnight liason between two lovers. The first stanza reads: 'Gently, so as not to wake you, Rustles the night wind, dear woman, Quietly into the marble basin, The fountain pours its dew.'
'This thoughtful approach reveals an astonishing stylistic range', writes Natasha Loges. 'It takes in Brahms's youthful folk-inspired settings, before time-travelling into a stark medieval past, then back into a contemporary sentiment-nationl idiom, before closing with a generous selection of folksong arrangements.'
The procedure for subscribers to get the
freebie is the same as always: 1) log in, 2) navigate to
this webpage, 3) click on the bright red "Download Now" button superimposed over the thumbnail of the album from which the piece comes, 4) the piece should download automatically to your device.
As the description indicates, there is vocal music in this song. I still downloaded it, for myself, because, thankfully, it is not operatic! I hate opera!