The Longest Day...

... I have had in quite a while was yesterday which seemed to just steamroll into today with barely a stop in between.  I did not get my nap in before the training class yesterday and did not get home from that until nearly 3 PM.  The end result was barely 3.5 hours of sleep before I had to get up, fix dinner and get ready to go back to work.  It was of course truck night which is always a fun time anyway.  Even though I am dog tired this morning, I still have some great stuff for you guys today.  We continue our exploration of the music of Joachim Raff beginning with his Piano Quintet.  Very few composers had turned their hand to writing a standard piano quintet (piano, 2 violins, viola and cello) before Joachim Raff (1822-1885) composed his in A Minor, Opus 107 in 1862. Raff wrote, "...the piano quintet is more difficult than a symphony or a string quartet and I understand very well why even Beethoven steered clear of it and why nothing more has been done in this genre since Schumann's single effort." Nonetheless, Raff succeeded in crafting a first class work which the famous pianist and critic Hans von Bülow called the best chamber music work since Beethoven. This performance is by the Ensemble Il Trittico. Also included in this play list are Raff's Piano Quartets in G Major, Opus 202, Number 1 and C Minor, Opus 202, Number 2, both of which are masterpieces in and of themselves.  The Quartets are also performed by Il Trittico with the addition of David Greenlees on Viola.  Then as it is Hump Day, I have quite the collection of hard bodied Lickable Lads that will either get you over the hump and headed for the weekend or inspire you to hump something or someone then head over the hump in a race to the weekend.  Either way, I am sure you will find something to like in the music and the men to make this Hump Day a better day all the way around.  Now I am going to take that overdue nap so that I can enjoy my weekend which has just begun.  Thanks for the visit, see you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!