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The Classical Music Recommendation Thread


Muad'Dib

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3 hours ago, Romão said:

 

Indeed. But I'm growing fonder and fonder of Khovanshchina

 

It really has some beautiful moments. Are you familiar with the incomplete Sorochintsy Fair? It contains an awesome version of Night on Bald Mountain, with choir!

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35 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

It really has some beautiful moments. Are you familiar with the incomplete Sorochintsy Fair? It contains an awesome version of Night on Bald Mountain, with choir!

 

I have the one in this cd

 

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Here's a random question that would require a lot of research potentially: Who was the first composer to take a programmatic work (ballet, opera, incidental music, film score) and specifically publish a suite of music to be separately presented in concert as "pure music" (to use a phrase I despise)?

 

I thought perhaps Mendelssohn with his Midsummer Night's Dream, but apparently presenting the orchestral interludes as a separate suite did not originate with him and he never officially gave it his blessing.  Obviously Tchaikovsky is probably the most famous, and Prokofiev and Copland in the 1920s - 40s are huge touchstones in that genre for me personally.

 

I'm sure opera overtures were being played in concert long before, but that seems more like a "proto" version of what I'm talking about.

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Claude Debussy: Tarantelle Styrienne (arr. Ravel)

To date one of my favourite Debussy works. Originally written for piano (good) and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, the full orchestral sound is perfect for this piece, adding more colour and variety to the original piece.

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8 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Here's a random question that would require a lot of research potentially: Who was the first composer to take a programmatic work (ballet, opera, incidental music, film score) and specifically publish a suite of music to be separately presented in concert?

 

I thought perhaps Mendelssohn with his Midsummer Night's Dream, but apparently presenting the orchestral interludes as a separate suite did not originate with him and he never gave it his blessing.  Obviously Tchaikovsky is probably the most famous, and Prokofiev and Copland in the 1920s - 40s are huge touchstones in that genre for me.

 

The opera overture comes to mind, which we know can lead a life quite separated from the complete opera, and often served as a thematic highlight.

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1 minute ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

The opera overture comes to mind, which we know can lead a life quite separated from the complete opera, and often served as a thematic highlight.

 

Heh, I added a sentence to the end of my post like 60 seconds before you replied.

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25 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Here's a random question that would require a lot of research potentially: Who was the first composer to take a programmatic work (ballet, opera, incidental music, film score) and specifically publish a suite of music to be separately presented in concert?

 

I thought perhaps Mendelssohn with his Midsummer Night's Dream, but apparently presenting the orchestral interludes as a separate suite did not originate with him and he never gave it his blessing.  Obviously Tchaikovsky is probably the most famous, and Prokofiev and Copland in the 1920s - 40s are huge touchstones in that genre for me.

 

If you are using the word "suite" in the literal sense (i.e., a collection of several pieces, more than one), then I don't know for sure, but if you include the case of only one piece being extracted (as some people do here, where they call JW's single concert pieces "suites"), then Mozart planned the ouverture to Don Giovanni to be played also as a stand-alone piece. He even wrote a different ending, specifically intended for concert performance. You can hear the concert version here:

 

 

 

The concert ending (where it starts to differ from the opera score) starts at 5:36. This is the original one as written by Mozart, while also other composers have written other concert endings for that. This is the earliest example that I am aware of.

 

In the 20th century, don't forget several examples by Stravinsky (Firebird, Pulcinella, Histoire du Soldat, pieces from Petrushka etc.).

 

EDIT: I saw your edit just now!

 

Let me add that Wagner also planned some excerpts from the Tetralogy to be played in concert (most famously, the Ride of Walkyries, which greatly impressed Tchaikovsky).

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54 minutes ago, Score said:

 

If you are using the word "suite" in the literal sense (i.e., a collection of several pieces, more than one), then I don't know for sure, but if you include the case of only one piece being extracted (as some people do here, where they call JW's single concert pieces "suites"), then Mozart planned the ouverture to Don Giovanni to be played also as a stand-alone piece. He even wrote a different ending, specifically intended for concert performance. You can hear the concert version here:

 

 

 

The concert ending (where it starts to differ from the opera score) starts at 5:36. This is the original one as written by Mozart, while also other composers have written other concert endings for that. This is the earliest example that I am aware of.

 

In the 20th century, don't forget several examples by Stravinsky (Firebird, Pulcinella, Histoire du Soldat, pieces from Petrushka etc.).

 

 

Yeah I'm thinking of the tradition that (as I understand it currently at least, looking to be proven wrong) starts with Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, etc. of suites of smaller pieces that reflect a larger work.  Again, I think of 18th century opera overtures as being the proto version of it but separate somehow.  I think of the concert arrangements that Williams publishes for his film scores as consciously existing in this tradition.

 

Incidental music for the stage definitely existed before the 19th century (I think of people like Purcell), but were the composers actively working to have that music presented separate from the original work like Tchaikovsky and contemporaries did?

 

 

EDIT: My mind is being blown as I discover that the orchestral suites for Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty probably weren't selected/published by Tchaikovsky himself!  Nutcracker was though.  This is changing my perception.

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2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Yeah I'm thinking of the tradition that (as I understand it currently at least, looking to be proven wrong) starts with Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, etc. of suites of smaller pieces that reflect a larger work.  Again, I think of 18th century opera overtures as being the proto version of it but separate somehow.  I think of the concert arrangements that Williams publishes for his film scores as consciously existing in this tradition.

 

Grieg did it too (assuming the Peer Gynt suites were arranged by him?). And Sibelius was all over repurposing tons of his own incidental music as concert pieces and suites.

 

Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, as far as I recall, was a concert overture first. The incidental music came later. So even if Mendelssohn himself didn't arrange that into a suite, he first repurposed one of his concert pieces as the overture for the play.

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Edvard Grieg: March of the Dwarfs (Lyric Piece)

Edvard Grieg is not the most common name in classical music, but his music in undeniable. Most notably excerpts from his Peer Gynt Suites (In the Hall of the Mountain King, Morning) are among his work. This piece, one of 66 'lyric pieces' he wrote for piano was one of few he orchestrated. It's an 'allegro con fuoco' almost, a very lively and firy piece and a good one at that.

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I've mentioned this composer several times in this thread but not this work.  Wow, it is so intense at the end.  This is also a good use of electric guitar and drum kit in a symphony but unfortunately, only this movement is on youtube.  They aren't used in pop music fashion but as symphonicly.  He sadly died way too young at the age of 50 from a heart attack.  I find his music intense, mesmerizing, distinctive, and taut. 

 

 

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15 hours ago, karelm said:

I've mentioned this composer several times in this thread but not this work.  Wow, it is so intense at the end.  This is also a good use of electric guitar and drum kit in a symphony but unfortunately, only this movement is on youtube.  They aren't used in pop music fashion but as symphonicly.  He sadly died way too young at the age of 50 from a heart attack.  I find his music intense, mesmerizing, distinctive, and taut. 

 

 

Interesting.  The electric guitar as symphonic texture bit is intriguing me.  Does he use it to play melody or add color to the orchestration?

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Carl Orff: Carmina Burana: Veris leta facies (The Merry Face of Spring)

Carmina Burana, the magnum opus of German composer Carl Orff, is most known for its stunning O Fortuna chorus. However, this the 3rd excerpt from this choral spectacular (of which I got to see performed by the Canadian National Academy Orchestra three years ago :D) is such an interesting piece. The quirky riffs at the beginning are so unique and oddly engaging and a  simple two note bridge carries the morose choir through a series of lines. Truly spectacular!

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9 hours ago, Steve McQueen said:

Interesting.  The electric guitar as symphonic texture bit is intriguing me.  Does he use it to play melody or add color to the orchestration?

Think of it sort of like Marius Constant's use of electric guitar in the Twilight Zone theme.  It is treated as a symphonic instrument so don't expect 1980's rockabilly stuff.  It blends orchestrally.  Sort of how Ravel, Prokofiev, or Vaughan Williams used the saxophone.  It is used very selectively and clearly noticed but still blends. 

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This album was released earlier this year.  Very happy to have the rarely recorded orchestra-only arrangement of the Organ Symphony, which Copland officially designated his "Symphony No. 1".  I honestly adore both versions.  This and the Piano Concerto are my favorites of the music he composed in his 20s, particularly the first and second movements which are essentially perfect IMO. 

 

I hope that Chandos continues this series!

 

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This weekend I also sought out George Antheil's 3rd Symphony and was NOT disappointed.  I've listened to it twice already and plan on returning to it often.

 

What is it with early-middle-20th-century American composers and absolutely brilliant 3rd symphonies?  Copland, Schuman, Harris, and now Antheil.  That mid-30s to mid-40s period was wonderful for American music.

 

As far as I'm aware, this is the only recording of it!

 

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Have you checked out John Wilson's concert performance of Korngold's suite from Robin Hood? A very fine performance!

 

I have!  A favorite Youtube video.

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55 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'm still waiting for him to release a Korngold album, and I wouldn't mind if they included this live recording.

 

Agreed 100%.  I reckon John Wilson to be the best interpreter of Korngold's film music there is.

 

I have been lucky enough to see him conduct several of Korngold's film scores in concert over the years and every time he has surpassed even Charles Gerhardt's reference recordings in my opinion.  The first time I saw him conduct live was in a concert of golden age film music given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, where he programmed The Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Robin Hood and gave the UK concert premieres of Escape Me Never and Tomorrow from The Constant Nymph.  I have also seen him conduct Kings Row with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

 

Incidentally, the John Wilson Orchestra in this concert included several members of the London Symphony Orchestra who will no doubt be making an appearance next month at the same venue under the baton of John Williams!

 

 

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14 minutes ago, Omen II said:

The first time I saw him conduct live was in a concert of golden age film music given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, where he programmed The Sea Hawk

 

Is there a recording of this?

 

It would be great if Wilson did a complete recording of Captain Blood! I can't believe no-one's done that already, and I don't think the incorporation of Liszt's music diminishes the score.

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2 minutes ago, Omen II said:

 

Not that I am aware of, I’m afraid.  The concert was at the Royal Festival Hall in November 2007.

 

It would be cool if BBC Music Magazine could release Wilson's live Robin Hood. It wouldn't be the first time they released a proms performance!

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A very interesting and dynamic composer is the Portuguese composer Joly Braga Santos (1924-1988).  Like Penderecki, Scriabin, or Schoenberg, his music falls into completely opposing phases.  Symphonies No. 1 through 4 which followed each other quickly are lush, romantic, and dramatic epics similar in style to Respighi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Maurice Ravel, etc.  Some of it could be in a 1950's biblical epic.  The early music is gorgeous with long dramatic lines and ecstatic climaxes but full of drama, modality, and folk influences.  Most consider his Symphony No. 4 (1950) to be the masterpiece of the early phase but interestingly he abandoned tonality and traditional forms. To this late period belong the works Three Symphonic Sketches, Sinfonietta, the Requiem, his 5th and 6th Symphonies, and Divertimento no. 2. 

 

I seem to have an affinity to composers who die too young like Lepo Sumera, Braga Santos, Mahler, Herrmann, etc.  Imagine if Braga Santos was still alive, he might be up to Symphony No. 12 and have evolved past atonality to a third major phase.

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A contemplative Monday morning.  On my third listen of just the adagio from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G.

 

Music does not get more expressive than this.  The flute line that breaks the spell of the solo piano is just indescribable.

 

 

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I love how it's so close to this boring, cliched, beautiful waltz, but Ravel just knows how to make it rhythmically interesting ("off") enough to stay on the right side of cloying.  Then of course in the second half he sprinkles in touches of dissonance, a touch of spice makes everything nice ;) 

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Robert Schumann: Fantasiestucke- III. Warum

Gustav Holst: Fugal Concerto for Flute, Oboe, and Strings No. 2- I. Moderato

Georges Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1- Carillon

It's a good day with Schumann, Holst and Bizet!

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