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I was a teenager; classical music has been my favorite. I remember anxiously waiting for Friday nights: "KFAC," as it was known back then; would broadcast a "Boston Pops" concert at 10:00PM (re-broadcast anyway). I use to look forward to Friday nights all week long. Not only for the weekend, but for the "Boston Pops" concert as well.

Not to paraphrase Dickens but: "best of times, worse of times." This famous quote from "A tale of two cities," best describes the Internet. If you're a teenager with only "sex on your brain," the Internet is "worse of times"; not only for the child, but for the parents as well. But if you love music, then it's absolutely the very best of times. "You-Tube," "Mashable," etc. These are just two sites where you can compare different recordings, interpretations, etcof the same piece of music. Since I don't care for Pachelbel, or much for the Baroque, no worries about me comparing the Zillion different recordings of the famous "Canon."

I've never cared much for chamber music. In fact: it's my least favorite of all. My love has always been for either Piano, or Orchestral music. I did however, like many others: took music appreciation in High-School. The chamber piece on the text-book (for lack of a better word), was Franck's Sonata in A for violin. This is my absolute favorite' chamber piece of all times!

There are three recordings to see at You-Tube: Ferras/Barbizet, Oistrakh/Richter, and last but not least: Menuhin/Hephzibah (you know someone was born a long time ago when they were named "Hephzibah.").

Each of these performers bring something different to the plate. There seems to be a lot said about the 3rd movement of the work. Franck (ever since Liszt invented the cyclical system, every composer has used it), like most nineteen century composers; was heavily influenced by Liszt. Like all cyclical writing, the work is unified: themes are carried over from one movement into another. Oftentimes you hear the same melodies (as is the case of the 3rd and 4th movement) repeated at different speeds: sometimes faster, other times slower, etc. Commentaries abound about these two movements: "too fast, or too slow," etc. So it seems: the Internet is very useful after all! I think the Internet has revolutionized the music industry like no one else has before/since. For once young people can compare not only different recordings, but also see performers play them live, hence observing mannerisms, etc. Although again as I stated earlier, the Internet has a negative side: the pros outweigh the cons....

Learn more about this author, John Sarkis.
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