George Palmer
George is a final-year historian at Hertford. He is the outgoing president of Hertford College Music Society and the librarian for the College Choir. In 2020 he managed the Oxford University Philharmonia and next year hopes to pursue further study in History.
Click the titles below to read George’s comments. Listen to his tracks in the YouTube playlist – to select a different song click the three horizontal lines in the top right of the video.
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Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major
If I were to take just one piece to a desert island, or for that matter anywhere, it would be this. The Brandenburgs are simply unsurpassable in pomp, poise, and panache.
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Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem
Though George Bernard Shaw somewhat tongue-in-cheek likened the work to that of an undertaker, Brahms’ Requiem seeks to give voice to the soul of the German nation and succeeds.
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Korngold – Violin Concerto in D Major
Hollywood brilliance meets insane virtuosity; this work is the recycling of a film score that is put to much better use as a concerto than in the original. No one could not enjoy listening to this piece.
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Bruckner – Symphony No. 7 in E Major
A late-nineteenth century Romantic masterpiece full of luscious and evocative moments. Its epithet, the ‘lyric’ is well-deserved.
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Ravel – Piano Concerto in G Major
The most ridiculous yet intricately crafted piece that always conjures up images of pixies and fairies in my mind. The ending of the first movement is simply genius.
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Richard Strauss – Eine Alpensinfonie
The full effect of the soaring sound-world of this epic can only really be captured in the hills in which it was conceived. Nevertheless, a reminder of them would suffice on a desert island!
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Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor
This tragic work is simply breath-taking. Written in 1960 and dedicated to ‘the victims of fascism and the war’, though likely intended for a broader scope of victims, the work gives a glimpse into the inner turmoil of a Shostakovich’s soul.
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Don McLean – American Pie
An antidote is required! As you can tell by now, I live in another century and so here is the token piece of non-classical music. This is a great song and quite frankly I’d need something a little lighter if stranded…
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Book
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. There simply is nothing finer than this satirical masterpiece. Its scathing yet humorous critique of everything it surveys makes it a joy to read, even if in doing so, it casts aspersions about college life at Hertford…
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Luxury item
My favourite armchair – I’m not a great one for sand or sea so I’d need somewhere to sit. I’d find a palm tree, plonk myself down underneath it, and read Decline and Fall!
