Music to Hear

Moving to Tumblr

Frederick Ding — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:07:18 +0000

To make it easier for me to update this site, Music to Hear will no longer post on this site; instead, I will be posting future updates on the new Music to Hear site on Tumblr.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Frederick Ding — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:59:43 +0000

I’m not personally a fan of old Westerns, but I am very impressed by the music used in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — a movie with Clint Eastwood. The theme, below, is immensely beautiful.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Add, on top of that, The Ecstasy of Gold, a film score piece (below) that has also been covered by Metallica (see last vid).

Click here to view the embedded video.

I prefer the film score version. But that’s just me. Consider the Metallica cover:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Mission

Frederick Ding — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:53:49 +0000

An absolutely astounding piece here, created for the 1986 film, The Mission by Ennio Morricone. The oboe piece, a memorable tune, was used in the film when the Jesuit missionary performed the beautiful melody on his oboe and subsequently gained the trust of the natives. The flute piece that follows is also nothing short of beautiful.

In this video, Ennio Morricone conducted a number of pieces from The Mission at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto

Frederick Ding — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:55:10 +0000

The story of The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Zhu) is a Chinese legend about two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, that is often equated to a Chinese Romeo and Juliet. The name comes from the tale, in which a pair of butterflies are seen flying out of the tomb of the two lovers.

This tale inspired The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto, one of the most well-known Chinese classical pieces, composed in 1959 by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao. It captures the elements of the legend, beautifully expresses the emotions of joy, love and grief, and is a piece to which you must listen.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks, once again, to Grooveshark, which made the sharing of this song possible.

First Contact

Frederick Ding — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:04:28 +0000

I’ve been a fan of film music ever since … probably since I watched Star Trek. The 8th Star Trek film, First Contact, contained some of the most moving orchestral movie music I have ever heard. (On that note, the 11th Star Trek film will be out sometime this year.)

Take a listen to the opening theme and to the Commercial release of the First Contact track. The opening theme is from the original soundtrack.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I would have streamed this from imeem, but the content is not licensed for public streaming there. Instead, thank the people at Grooveshark who made this sharing possible.

Gee

Frederick Ding — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:31:50 +0000

This is probably one of the most addicting songs you’ll ever hear… so much so that you may even listen to it or watch it multiple times.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’ve watched the video above, I’ve just done the equivalent of rick-rolling you. Happy April Fools.

Humoresque

Frederick Ding — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:30:53 +0000

This piece should sound familiar to most people who have listened to a Classical radio station (like Classical 96.3 FM in Toronto), and it’s one of the best loved pieces by Dvorak.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Short, delightful, and uplifting!

Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Frederick Ding — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:11:30 +0000

Antonín Dvořák, a Czech composer, wrote this excellent symphony during his visit to the United States in the 1890s. It is probably his most famous symphony, and reasonably so!

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you don’t actually want to listen to the whole 40 minutes of this symphony, I highly recommend the first two movements.

Vltava (The Moldau)

Frederick Ding — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:27:28 +0000

This symphonic poem is one of my favourite orchestral works of all time. With its lyrical theme and amazing instrumentation, The Moldau by Bedřich Smetana is an amazing piece that is made even more beautiful in this wonderful interpretation by Herbert von Karajan (one of the best conductors of all time!).

This song is powered by Grooveshark, a free and legal service for music sharing and listening.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazon.com and Amazon.ca have this Karajan-conducted piece on CD.

Clair de lune

Frederick Ding — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:21:59 +0000

Indeed, this is an all-time favourite in the Classical realm.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sadly, Amazon.com’s MP3 downloads at $0.99 apiece, like for this song, are only available in the U.S.