Male 133

The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, Theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well)…

Schubert sits at the piano in a bourgeois salon in Vienna, surrounded by around 30 ladies and gentlemen applauding him. The painting by Julius Schmidt dating from 1897 captures one of those convivial musical gatherings known even during the composer’s lifetime as Schubertiades. The term was probably coined by Schubert’s friend Franz von Schober, and the first of these gatherings took place in January 1821 in Schober’s Vienna apartment. From then on, until the composer’s death in 1828, the Schubertiades were held on a regular basis with different hosts from Schubert’s circle, and always proceeded in a similar manner: Schubert played either piano solos or accompanied a singer, and usually presented new works; the guests read poetry and fiction to each other and exchanged ideas; a snack was then served, and this was frequently followed by an evening of dancing or even joint gymnastic exercises. The ritual also included Schubert going out on the town with his inner circle at the end of the evening.