The Classical Music Recommendation Thread

[publicist 4,643]

 

Dutch-born composer Bernard van Dieren's enigmatic "Chinese Symphony" (Symphony No.1) for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

[Loert 2,510]

 

Some absolutely stunning piano playing in this album!

[KK 3,307]

One of the greatest pieces of music ever written? I think so.

 

[Loert 2,510]

25 minutes ago, KK said:

One of the greatest pieces of music ever written? I think so.

 

It's quite wonderful, isn't it? 

 

My favourite variation on the theme is the prelude to Act 3 of Siegfried:

 

 

He mixes in the 'Spear motif' (among others), and bases the accompaniment on the Ride of the Valkyries rhythm, to boot. Wagner wrote it after a 12-year break from the Ring to write Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger, and it almost sounds like Wagner is thinking "I'm back!".

[karelm 2,903]

1 hour ago, KK said:

One of the greatest pieces of music ever written? I think so.

 

Damn you Zimmer with your perpetual drones and arpeggios!  Oh wait...yes, a magnificent, ethereal opening.  It so perfectly sets up a "once upon a time" feel that "you are about to hear an epic story of significance".  The entire tetralogy is superb drama and music.  It's a marathon but very effective to hear the work in its entirety in a live performance.  I heard it with the SF opera and recall in the final climactic passages of the destruction and apotheosis that I was weeping at the spectacle while everyone else around me had dozed off due to the excessive duration.  hahaha

15 hours ago, publicist said:

 

Dutch-born composer Bernard van Dieren's enigmatic "Chinese Symphony" (Symphony No.1) for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

 

Failed to maintain my attention through its duration.  Lacks cohesion and inventiveness.  Do you like it?  Have you heard K. Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3?  A much better version of this sort of thing:

 

[publicist 4,643]

7 hours ago, karelm said:

Failed to maintain my attention through its duration.  Lacks cohesion and inventiveness.  Do you like it?  Have you heard K. Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3?  A much better version of this sort of thing:

 

 

I was interested in the merging of euro/asian idioms though it didn't really happen (the stark mood i still appreciated). The Szymanowski is probably an unfair comparison, since Van Dieren is basically an unknown while Szymanowski's piece is rightly registered as one of the best works of the first half of the century.

[karelm 2,903]

6 hours ago, publicist said:

 

I was interested in the merging of euro/asian idioms though it didn't really happen (the stark mood i still appreciated). The Szymanowski is probably an unfair comparison, since Van Dieren is basically an unknown while Szymanowski's piece is rightly registered as one of the best works of the first half of the century.

 

Yeah, perhaps I was too harsh.  I'll give it another listen later.  Have you heard John Foulds' Mantra No. 2?

 

I love the Three Mantas so much because of how unique and individual they are plus the amazing variety in this short suite.  That slow mystical nocturnal middle movement works better to me than Van Dieren because of how much it contrasts with the next movement which I've posted here before but it's so much fun, I'll post it here again for context:

Throughout the entire third mantra, only these seven notes are used C, Dflat, E, F#, G, A flat, B double flat (A natural) and they're heard all at once in the opening cluster.  Each of the notes corresponds to spiritual dimensions he learned of while in India.

 

There seems to have been something in the water making the brits so interested in Eastern mysticism during this time.

[Marian Schedenig 8,174]

15 hours ago, LampPost said:

My favourite variation on the theme is the prelude to Act 3 of Siegfried:

 

 

He mixes in the 'Spear motif' (among others), and bases the accompaniment on the Ride of the Valkyries rhythm, to boot. Wagner wrote it after a 12-year break from the Ring to write Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger, and it almost sounds like Wagner is thinking "I'm back!".

 

One of my favourite bits from the cycle. I wish there were a concert version of it - I often put it on without bothering with the other 15 hours, but since it leads straight into Wotan's "Wache, Wala!", it lacks an ending and the track just stops abruptly. (The same also goes for the rousing interlude from the final act of Lohengrin.)

[Loert 2,510]

 

I link the second movement only, but the rest of the symphony is great too (though I find Casella to be a bit "uneven" sometimes). This movement has a cinematic feel to it.  

[karelm 2,903]

10 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

One of my favourite bits from the cycle. I wish there were a concert version of it - I often put it on without bothering with the other 15 hours, but since it leads straight into Wotan's "Wache, Wala!", it lacks an ending and the track just stops abruptly. (The same also goes for the rousing interlude from the final act of Lohengrin.)

 

One cannot diminish the influential impact of Wagner on his successors.  A freer application of dissonances, a reduced reliance on the anchor of key as a structuring element, and the use of motifs as unities in themselves which can operate independently of the accompanying harmony and even contradict its implications.  His orchestra was also larger and frequently employed unusual timbres and combinations thereof.  In the realm of opera more specifically, Wagner continued the trend away from number opera with its distinction between recitative and aria.  The accompanying music was pushed further towards a reflection of the dramatic expression. 

[KK 3,307]

On 3/24/2017 at 7:51 PM, karelm said:

Damn you Zimmer with your perpetual drones and arpeggios!  Oh wait...yes, a magnificent, ethereal opening.  It so perfectly sets up a "once upon a time" feel that "you are about to hear an epic story of significance".  The entire tetralogy is superb drama and music.  It's a marathon but very effective to hear the work in its entirety in a live performance.  I heard it with the SF opera and recall in the final climactic passages of the destruction and apotheosis that I was weeping at the spectacle while everyone else around me had dozed off due to the excessive duration.  hahah

 

The prelude actually strikes me as very Tolkien-esque really. Definitely brings shades of the Ainulindalë to mind.

 

When it comes to spectacle, there are few that can rival Wagner!

[Loert 2,510]

 

Having listened to this, I see now why the RAPM took issue with The Nose...  (that's a joke)

 

The Part 1 Intermezzo is interesting too - consisting of nothing but an ensemble of percussionists gradually building towards a big, "all-out" climax. 

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Craving some Bach angst and drama.

 

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

 

[nightscape94 965]

Martinu - Memorial to Lidice

 

 

[Jilal 569]

 

Almost sounds like a Rosenman score - repeated non-dodecaphonic tone rows, very similar tone sets to the ones Rosenman commonly uses (lots of +4/P5 clashes), similar instrumentation ...

[Loert 2,510]

 

The middle movement is my favourite; I particularly love the themes from 25:17 and 26:27.

[KK 3,307]

Just stumbled on this beautiful picturesque piece:

 

[Loert 2,510]

Here's another, more upbeat tone poem of his that I really like, "Baba Yaga":

 

 

[karelm 2,903]

Here's a downbeat one with some interesting instrumentation:

 

[nightscape94 965]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 10:12 PM, KK said:

Just stumbled on this beautiful picturesque piece:

 

 

Definitely.  Posted that here a few years ago.  Great piece, I keep meaning to explore more of his work.

 

[publicist 4,643]

 

[Loert 2,510]

 

[Loert 2,510]

 

[nightscape94 965]

Not usually a fan of Adams, but I enjoyed this.

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Adams I'm enjoying tonight:

 

 

[KK 3,307]

Bach was one cool dude.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2S8z2EGcBXGP3vbkSu7vmG

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,502]

You know, it's great what one can wake up to, especially on BBC Radio 3.

Last Saturday, I heard something called Daphne and Chloe, by Ravel, followed by a piece of music by Michael Tippett.

This morning, it's a pizzicato section from a symphony (4?), by someone called Tchaikovsky.

Lovely. Shame he ripped-off NOCTURNAL ACTIVITIES...

[Jilal 569]

2 hours ago, Richard said:

You know, it's great what one can wake up to, especially on BBC Radio 3.

Last Saturday, I heard something called Daphne and Chloe, by Ravel, followed by a piece of music by Michael Tippett.

This morning, it's a pizzicato section from a symphony (4?), by someone called Tchaikovsky.

Lovely. Shame he ripped-off NOCTURNAL ACTIVITIES...

 

I actually think Nocturnal Activities (the pizzicato part, at least) is really inspired by the light orchestral fare of composers such as Leroy Anderson and David Rose.

 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,502]

Fantastic, dude, thanks for posting those!

 

"New, improved Joker products!" 

 

 

In case you didn't get it, I was joking about Tchaikovsky. 

[Bespin 8,480]

In the last two weeks, I restarted to listen to classical music. It seems I don't listen classical music in winter....

 

Bach - Orchestral Suites (Egarr)

Bach - Cantatas BWV 140 & 147 (Gardiner)

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos (Il Giardino Armonico)

Beethoven - Symphonies 1-2-3-4 (Vänskä)

Beethoven - Symphony 5 & 7 (Dudamel)

[Loert 2,510]

Here's an uninteresting theory about Nocturnal Activities:

 

First of all, Prokofiev's "Fight Scene" from Romeo and Juliet sounds similar to The Mine Car Chase:

 

(the real fun begins at 12:39!)

 

I say this not just because of the fast strings and the "oom-pah" accompaniment, but because if you listen closely, the fourth bar has three sharp accents one after the other, characterised by descending string runs. 

 

Now, something similar happens in Mine Car Chase, in that the fourth bar is heavily accented by descending string runs very similar to that of Romeo and Juliet, but the strings go on to play even higher for the fifth bar.

 

BUT Nocturnal Activities has the exact same pattern as Romeo and Juliet - three accents on the fourth bar (made more obvious by the triangle). 

 

So actually, Nocturnal Activities and The Mine Car Chase are somewhat related to each other as they both could've been unconsciously inspired by Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, but in different ways. (Though in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Spielberg used the Fight Scene as a temp track for the mine car sequence).

 

And that's not including Slalom on Mt Humol, which in turn can be said to be related to Mine Car Chase because of the fast string runs.

 

But I agree with Bartokus about the texture of Nocturnal Activities being principally inspired by light music (another good one is the B section from Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter").

[Jilal 569]

11 hours ago, Richard said:

Fantastic, dude, thanks for posting those!

 

"New, improved Joker products!" 

 

 

In case you didn't get it, I was joking about Tchaikovsky. 

 

Hence "inspired".  

 

I actually didn't know the Rose piece until I heard it in a YouTube video earlier this week (I did seem to recognize it somehow - déjà entendu perhaps), without any reference to the name of the piece or its composer. The place where I started looking for it was in fact Elfman's Batman score.

 

Great reference @LampPost. Love those runs - they might seem intimidating to analyse but it's really just scalar and chordal sets with unexpected leading tones pivoting the music into distant keys - first D major giving it a Lydian feel, then A major, etc. The texture reminds me of the runs and whirls in Bernstein's Overture to Candide.

 

 

The way Bernstein notates the simple oom-pah-pah-pah rhythm is crazy - the pah-pah-pah part begins each measure, resulting in dazzling syncopation. Are we on the downbeat, or on the upbeat? Nobody knows.  Bernstein sure does love musical ambiguity!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,502]

 What about all that STEALING THE ENTERPRISE stuff at about 10:29??!!

Now Prokofiev's ripping-off Horner!

[Jilal 569]

3 hours ago, Richard said:

 What about all that STEALING THE ENTERPRISE stuff at about 10:29??!!

Now Prokofiev's ripping-off Horner!

 

Kind of Willow-ish too, no?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,502]

Exactly! 

As Boney M once said: "oh, those Russians".

[Jilal 569]

Reposting the Orchestervorspiel to Act III of Wagner's Siegfried, as it's downright bloody awesome.

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

I've been on a rare Wagner kick - which for me means repeatedly listening to the preludes from Parsifal, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin.

[Loert 2,510]

 

A classic performance of one of the greatest piano concerti of the 20th century!

[karelm 2,903]

A nice epic version of an epic moment from an epic work, the finale of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (LSO/MTT)

 

After a ferocious storm, at the height of which the Prince appears, his desperate regret expressed on unison strings, he begs his cursed true love's pardon and the "swan" theme from Act 1 gradually builds from solo oboe to full orchestra (1:10) as Odette falls into his arms.   In truncated form, the theme is blazed out in fortissimo now heard in major for the first time in the three hours of this ballet...part of why the transformation of this magical opera is so magnificent (along with the gorgeous melodies) and timeless fairy tale story.   There is a Wagnerian style redemption in eternity as they vanish beneath the waves as the spell is broken.  Tchaikovsky was an incredible dramatist and if you've had the pleasure of experiencing this or his other ballets live, the finale is based on a tremendous and well paced climax full of emotional anticipation. He is somewhat of an 19th century film composer not unlike JW.  This work was early/midway through his career.  Somewhat like E.T. for JW.

 

Some great orchestration call outs:

1. At 0:18, great example of how four unison horns with two unison bassoons sounds more like 6 horns.  In loud passages, the bassoons aren't heard but make the horns sound bigger.

2. At 2:19, great example of climactic build up that resolves with the all player in unison section at 2:49.

3. At 3:00, when you have violin 1 and 2 in octaves doubled with two unison trumpets and all are playing tripple forte, notice how the trumpets obliterate the violins.  Still, this sounds like more than two trumpets so the violins aren't missing.  In this performance there were 30 violins playing with two trumpets on that theme all on the same dynamics of fff all high winds were in unison same dynamics. 

4. What four octaves of strings sounds like at 3:31.  Also, when dealing with fortissimo passages like this, winds will blend unless they are moving as they are here.  The horns are repeating their notes but the winds are all in arpeggio.

5. At 4:33, you hear 4 unison triple forte trumpets.  They are the only ones who have the theme.  Everyone else is rhythm, counter melody, or harmony. 

 

(On a side note, there is a fantastic BBC documentary about the difficulties of mounting this massive ballet and the struggles of the dancers/ballet company to mount it.  If anyone is interested, say so and I'll try to locate it on youtube.  This is arguably the Mt. Everest of ballets.) 

[Bespin 8,480]

This morning it was BWV 244... sunday morning it will be BWV 4.

 

Monday it will be BWV 6 & 66.

 

 

Gardiner... of course.

[Loert 2,510]

 

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

 

[Loert 2,510]

 

[Bespin 8,480]

I'm currently listening to the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I.

 

Strangely, I don't know Ashkenazy very well... for Bach played on the piano, I usually go with András Schiff and Murray Perahia... but for those works... wow, Ashkenazy is brilliant. 

 

This is my all-time favorite set.

 

 

 

 

 

[nightscape94 965]

Been listening to smaller works recently.  Revisiting Dvorak's chamber music, and was struck by the awesomeness of this movement from his second Piano Quartet.

 

 

[Bespin 8,480]

A Bach cantata for Easter's tuesday (tomorrow).

 

BWV 158.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Any idea on what composer/piece is Carl Stalling quoting at the start of this video?

 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Here's a tip, Muad-Dib: when trying to identify a pre-existing piece of music in a particular show (or movie), try to find the the title of the episode if you don't know it, then go on the IMDB page of said episode, and then look for the "Soundtraks" section. Here are listed the pre-existing pieces of music used in it (also check the Wikipedia page of the episode just in case).

 

That's what I did here: just did a simple Google research "Wile Coyote Batman", found the title of the episode that way ("Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z"), and then went to the "Soundtracks" section of the IMDB page of that episode.

 

The thing is, after listening to all 3 pieces listed here, none seem to correspond to the bit in your video, so I'm thinking it might not be a pre-existing piece of music, but maybe original music by the composer of the episode (who isn't Carl Stalling here but actually Milt Franklyn, according to the Wikipedia page. Though the IMDB page lists Carl Stalling (maybe by default)...). Or there's always the possibility that this is in fact a pre-existing piece of music, but which hasn't been identified by the person who listed the others... Let's see if other members maybe can identify it!

 

Just admit that you don't have a clue!