Just Some Listening

I have yet to discuss the ending of Sibelius' last symphony and I probably won't get to it today. We are having a little music salon tonight and I am going to play a Scarlatti sonata that I haven't quite learned yet! Also my violinist and I are going to play some pieces, but as we just did a concert last week, that shouldn't be a problem. It is mostly for other musicians, mostly guitarists, to get a chance to play.

Here is the Scarlatti sonata I am playing tonight, K. 544. I transcribed it for guitar years and years ago, but never got around to learning it. Here is Leo Brouwer's version:

And here it is on harpsichord:

Very unusual piece. My version lies between these two. The tempo indication is "Cantabile". It is simply amazing how Scarlatti re-invents the form with virtually every one of his five hundred and fifty-five sonatas!

Now, to whet your appetite for the Symphony No. 7 of Sibelius, when I finally get back to it, here is a performance conducted by Mark Elder:

Oh, another reason I am not doing a big blog post today is that I just started writing a symphony yesterday and when inspiration strikes, you have to go with it... I'm almost scared to listen to Sibelius for a few days until my ideas have gelled.