Tom Guernsey
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Posts posted by Tom Guernsey
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2 minutes ago, Stu said:
Yes exactly, although he writes far more secular music than Rutter. My personal favorite of his cantatas is Wenceslas which is sort of sacred music but also sort of not.Cool. I shall have to check some of his stuff out! Thanks you.
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On 02/04/2022 at 12:03 PM, Stu said:
I’m guessing you didn’t have in mind contemporary “choral-first” composers, but I’m a great fan of Bob Chilcott, easily my favorite working today.
This album of three of his best cantatas album is a great entry point.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mLVmsJW_tb-Vo7btWPuWty-8RXjs22YQ8&feature=share
I'm sure I've sung some Bob Chilcott in my time. I have a feeling he's a bit like John Rutter in that he writes enjoyable, fairly accessible stuff that's popular with amateur choirs. I might have to check his stuff out though.
Having basically trawled through my iTunes library to come up with my probably too long list, I decided to give a few works a listen to remind myself. So far I have listened to John Foulds' World Requiem which is indeed as fine as I recalled, although perhaps a bit long for someone wanting to dip their toe in classical choral music. I reiterate my recommendation of his orchestral works though, they are really great.
However, I would definitely recommend The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins. As I say, classical purists would look down on it (in the same way they look down on JW and our favourite film composers, so what do they know?!) but it's a distinct step up from his Adiemus stuff (but if you like orchestral world music it's worth a listen), mixing some world music touches such as in the Call to Prayer but plentiful introspective moments as well. However, if you like a choral action cue, Charge! could easily be from an historic epic.
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Any fans of King David? For anyone who hasn’t heard it, it’s kind of a biblical oratorio done in the style of a Broadway show. I guess think Prince of Egypt done by Alan Menken. I’ve always loved it, mixing some beautiful intimate songs (Warm Spring Night, Absolom my Absolom, Sheer Perfection) and extended larger scale numbers (Hunted Partridge on a Hill and The Caravan Moves On) although the catchiest is probably (despite the improbable title) Saul Has Slain His Thousands. It’s a live recording but the performance and sound are pretty decent. Well worth checking out if you’re a fan.
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6 minutes ago, crocodile said:
Rozsa looks tempting.
Karol
Agreed and the original cd release (which had the worst cover art ever) is long out of print although I’m surprised at it being a double disc release.
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13 hours ago, ddddeeee said:
Video recap of last week's concert.
There's footage of all four movements of the concerto.
Tells you so much more than the programme. I may have missed this but I’m surprised that the LPO didn’t send me a link to this as someone who went to the concert! Definitely increases my hope that it gets recorded and was also a good reminder of how great the other two Elfman items sounded. Batman was especially terrific.
While I’ve no doubt Elfman is very proud of Big Mess (not my cup of tea at all), I wish he was posting with as much enthusiasm and frequency about his concert works. I rather think that the majority of his film score fans would get a lot more out them than Big Mess which is really quite different. It’s not even that much like his Oingo Boingo or other solo stuff.
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8 minutes ago, Anthony said:
I hope he does the Royal Albert Hall or Festival Hall one day.
Agreed!
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It randomly occurred to me that the orchestration for Danny Elfman's percussion concerto is based on that for Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, albeit with a much expanded percussion section for the Elfman concerto. One of my favourite works by Bartok and so was a good excuse to give it a listen and still love it. It's striking how much it's more rooted in the strings with the rest more decorative than equal partners as in the Elfman work. I guess when Bartok wrote it, percussion had historically been used much more sparingly whereas now we're used to big percussion sections, especially through film scoring.
I was also inspired to give Michael Torke's Percussion Concerto another listen having (entirely by chance) been in Edinburgh for the premiere performance of that many years ago and which also featured Colin Currie as the soloist. Much though I generally like Torke, this felt rather laboured. There's a lot going on but within each movement, the level of intensity is quite samey throughout so it gets quite tiring. Elfman's has much more ebb and flow to it. It also doesn't help that the percussion part just kinda bounces along over the top. There's little engaging interplay or give and take between soloist and orchestra so it almost feels like it's just dolloped on top. The orchestra (RSNO, who are generally pretty decent, if not quite top flight) feel a bit lethargic, but with a trumpet part in one movement that is lots of repeated notes following the percussion, it's no wonder the playing feels a bit tired in places. Torke's Piano Concerto (Manhattan Bridges) is much better.
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The City Lights Orchestra are doing a JP Concert next year: https://www.citylightconcerts.ch/event/spotlight-on-john-powell-kklluzern/ Hoping it might elicit an album...
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7 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:
I love classy titles and artwork like that. Even if it is a good recording it does kinda look quite naff! I actually haven’t listened to those two Silva albums in a while (not sure I actually have the first one any more) but I recall they were in that period when the City of Prague Philharmonic started getting much better and the Crouch End Festival Chorus were already a fine choir. In particular, I liked their rip-roaring version of Zadok the Priest, one of my favourite short choral works.
Well I’m blown away.
I gave the Silva second album a listen today (albeit more of a sampling than the entire thing) and the biggest downside is actually the rather harsh recording. It all seems kinda shrill so it's quite hard work even through my Sony headphones which can most things sound decent! A shame as the performances are pretty good, even the City of Prague turn in some perfectly fine performances and the Crouch End Festival Chorus are indeed splendid.
As for other suggestions for the original poster:
- Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev) - OK so it's technically a film score, but the cantata is perfectly formed tone poem and features choral writing that is alternately thrilling and haunting. If you like James Horner(!) you'll get a kick out of the Battle on Ice which almost invented the epic action cue (even if the jaunty bit in the middle is weirdly out of place).
- Polovtsian Dances (Borodin) - From his opera Prince Igor, they are often performed as a standalone concert work and are proper old school Russian classical music. The choir isn't the main feature but the whole set are worth a listen. I don't know exactly which dance it is (it's listed as a single track in my library) but there's one which is very famous, not a million miles away from the Verdi Dies Irae.
- Symphony of Psalms (Stravinsky) - One of my favourite Stravinsky works which is brief but haunting. He wrote a number of other choral works which I'm less familiar with but the Symphony of Psalms really stands out.
- A Prussian Requiem (John Powell) - I was lucky enough to be at the premiere performance and it really is a superb work. Don't expect it to sound like How to Train Your Dragon or anything, but it's more of a symphonic poem than the more traditional requiems. The album (Hubris) also features The Prize is Still Mine which is a single movement symphonic gospel work which sounds weird on paper but is absolutely amazing - indeed I've listened to it more than the requiem!
- Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio and Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (Goldenthal) - Basically, if you like Goldenthal, you'll probably like these! The Oratorio appears to be available in lossless but I think the Carnival Mass may be harder to find.
- Requiem (Faure) - Much smaller in scale and less dramatic than others, but filled with terrific melodies and utterly entrancing.
- A Symphonic Mass (George Lloyd) - A fairly obscure 20th century British composer whose symphonies totally ignored serialism and are lush and endlessly enjoyable. Similarly, his Symphonic Mass does exactly what it says on the tin, thrilling stuff. His smaller scale Requiem is worth checking out too.
- Requiem (Berlioz) - Ridiculously over the top (and lengthy) requiem that uses a large orchestra and chorus plus offstage trumpets and so on.
- Klinghoffer Choruses (John Adams) - Taken from his opera The Death of Klinghoffer they work very well as a standalone choral work. Very much "if you like John Adams, you'll like these".
- A World Requiem (John Foulds) - Another obscure composer whose work I really like, especially Three Mantras and Dynamic Triptych but his epic World Requiem is superb.
- Karl Jenkins - someone else mentioned him. Don't tell your classical friends and it's not exactly difficult listening, but his three Adiemus albums are kinda easy listening world choral music (but better written than that might imply) although his Armed Man: Mass for Peace is a finer work of greater depth. I have an album of various concertos by him (call Quirk) which is well worth checking out too.
- Berliner Requiem (Kurt Weil) - Better known as a song writer and theatre composer, Weil's symphonic music is well worth checking out, the requiem in particular.
- Chichester Pslams and Mass (Leonard Bernstein) - The Chichester Pslams are perhaps more astringent than some of his more popular works but with all the off kilter jazzy rhythms and good tunes you associate with Bernstein. My school choir attempted to sing this but our choir master concluded that the school orchestra would likely struggle with their part! Harsh but fair (our school had a pretty good choir when I was there despite me being in it). His Mass is somewhat divisive as it mixes more traditional orchestra and chorus with more popular elements, but some fans consider it his finest work.
- Glagolitic Mass (Janáček) - Another somewhat modernist but very listenable work. I think there's a few bits that James Horner liked the sound of (Sneakers, if I remember rightly).
- Daphnis et Chloe (Ravel) - The choir is used more as an extra instrument than this being an actual choral work, but absolutely one of my favourite works ever. If you like Jerry in Legend or Secret of NIMH mode, you'll love this. I just wish Ravel had written a load more like this!
- Belshazzar's Feast (William Walton) - Exciting, dramatic work. A lot of JW's style comes from Walton and not just the ceremonial stuff so his music is well worth a listen in general, especially the first symphony and this.
- A Book of Proverbs & Four Proverbs (Torke) - Quasi minimalist American composer, he wrote Javelin on the Summon the Heroes album and that's a pretty good indicator of the character of his music. Both works a lively and easy to listen to although the movement I enjoy the most is the non-choral Opening to A Book of Proverbs which is an effortlessly life affirming 4 and a half minutes of orchestral joy.
- Liverpool Oratorio (Paul McCartney) and Titanic Requiem (one of the Bee Gees) - Fall somewhat into the realms of relatively easy listening but both are worth a listen.
A few others that are perhaps not as immediately accessible but worth checking out
- War Requiem (Britten) - Long but powerful requiem that mixes the more traditional latin words with poetry set to music.
- Masses (Bruckner) - I admit that I've not listened to these in ages (and now will!) but they are enjoyable, big boned symphonic masses. There are three of them but all worth a listen.
- There are a number of other composers whose choral works I have enjoyed but have got lost in my amongst my rather too large iTunes library! However, those worth checking out include music by Poulenc, Delius (particularly A Mass of Life), Frank Martin (In Terra Pax and Mass for a cappella Double Choir), Holst (First Choral Symphony and others, although they aren't as much like the Planets as you might hope!), James MacMillan (quite modernistic if you like that kind of thing), Jerry Goldsmith's Christus Apollo is quite hard work but worth a listen, but there's a reason I've listened to Fireworks on that album 45 times and Christus Apollo once... John Rutter (basically Britain's amateur choir composer in residence, tuneful and not super complex, but usually worth a listen), Jón Leifs (he wrote these massive symphonic tone poems that include choir although I've never quite found one I loved as much as the description!), Cherubini (one of those baroque era composers who wrote an awful lot and if you like one of his works, you'll like the rest), Duruflé (his Requiem is lovely), Michael Tippet (A Child of Our Time is long but well worth checking out)
I've probably now suggested far too much but, conversely, missed out lots, especially from the "English choral tradition" such as Elgar, Parry etc., but I have to admit that that stuff doesn't do as much for me personally. Happy to expand further if you want to know more!
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24 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:
Yes, it's one of my 5 favorite Williams concertos. It's wonderful.
Wonder why he's never felt the urge to record it... or that Leonard Slatkin didn't record it either. Same for the clarinet concerto. Maybe one day!
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1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:
I have the video of the trumpet concerto that wasn't released on album and they made the right call, Hunter Eberly (the principal trumpet for the DSO) is a great player but he didn't have a handle on that concerto. At least we got the superb Hooten recording not too long after.
But yeah it would've been great if they had recorded the Viola Concerto, which has to see an official release at some point surely?
Interesting, the Hooten recording is certainly very good indeed and I like, the other recording paired with works by Kevin Kaska. Definitely a shame he didn't get to this mysterious Viola Concerto! Has anyone ever heard it?!
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53 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:
But which version was recorded by Slatkin? May be blasphemy but I might prefer that recording to the original Ma one...
I agree. In fact on balance I prefer most of the Slatkin recordings of JW’s concertos to the originals. A shame he didn’t quite get to all of them in the series.
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1 hour ago, Jay said:
Isn't "Bedtime Stories" just an album track that combined what is now "Amerika" and "Great Ride" together into one track?
Aha. Thank you. That explains it.
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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:
Better get an album with proper recordings.
I love classy titles and artwork like that. Even if it is a good recording it does kinda look quite naff! I actually haven’t listened to those two Silva albums in a while (not sure I actually have the first one any more) but I recall they were in that period when the City of Prague Philharmonic started getting much better and the Crouch End Festival Chorus were already a fine choir. In particular, I liked their rip-roaring version of Zadok the Priest, one of my favourite short choral works.
57 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:I guess Arvo Pärt is not classical enough?
or
Well I’m blown away.
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18 minutes ago, rough cut said:
I know this isn’t strictly classical, it’s a compilation of score/classical pieces (the major of which are score), but it’s an amazing album if you’re just getting in to choral music.
Seconded although there is a second volume which I enjoy even more.
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Absolutely loving The Iron Giant, nice to be reminded about a score I'd not listened to in a while, plus being able to enjoy the unreleased music which more rounds things out a little than being revelatory.
However I'm mystified about why the track Bedtime Stories appears after the end credits rather than in the body of the main programme. I can't figure out why this would be the case and the liner notes don't say (as far as I can see). Like all the tracks identical to their OST counterparts it's marked as "original soundtrack version", which is a bit weird in itself given that there aren't film versions of these cues (including Bedtime Stories) presented instead. I will probably move it to the main programme (in a similar location to where it appears on the original album I guess) as it's a lovely cue but I'd really like to know why it's programmed at the end! Any ideas?!
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2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:
Agreed. Harris left, just when Dumbledore was getting interesting.
Worth noting that Richard Harris died after the second film and I assume had every intention of carrying on in the role.
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16 hours ago, Omen II said:
I went to this concert yesterday and it was really nice! Film composer Carl Davis was the conductor and is clearly a keen John Williams fan like we are. Before the concert there was a free discussion between him and Philharmonia horn player Kira Doherty, which was good fun. I wanted to ask him during the pre-concert talk whether he had ever listened to Thomas and the King and considered trying to programme any of it in such an appropriate venue, but unfortunately the talk overran so they could only take a couple of audience questions. For anyone who does not know much about British history, the musical is about the relationship between the mediaeval Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket and King Henry II. Becket was murdered by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 after falling out with the monarch and was later canonised. As I had the day off work, I made the most of it by visiting the wonderful cathedral which has some magnificent stained glass windows amongst many other treasures (it is a world heritage site).
While there was nothing in the programme I had not heard live before, there were a couple of pieces heard less often these days which I enjoyed the most, namely Born on the Fourth of July and the Love Theme from Superman. Carl Davis mentioned that these were among his favourites too. He had a couple of senior moments, for example reminiscing that he met John Williams when he was working on The Cardinal - I assume he meant Monsignor - but otherwise he was on very good form for an 85 year old. He has the amusing habit of sometimes counting in the orchestra as if he were conducting a jazz band ("A 1, 2, 3, 4...!"), which is just about more endearing than it is disconcerting. He also took the Olympic Fanfare and Theme so frighteningly fast that I thought the horn section was going to start crying!
This was my first visit inside the Marlowe Theatre. It is a comfortable, modern all-purpose venue but presumably not built specifically for orchestral music, so the acoustics were ok but not great. It was difficult to hear the horn section in particular, as they were effectively projecting their sound into a black curtain at the back of the stage.
The excellent Philharmonia Orchestra has a lot of brilliant young musicians, many of whom were on the last train back to London after the concert. It was fun to hear a couple of them singing the Superman theme out loud and proclaiming it to be "so good" as they walked along the platform at St. Pancras station before descending into the Underground, as football supporters do when returning from having seen their team win away from home.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one. A friend of mine was there but didn't get a programme and, aside from really enjoying it, didn't remember much about it. I certainly didn't realise it was such a fine orchestra or well known conductor! Gotta love Carl Davis.
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2 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:
Tickets arrived today. Looking forward to the concert next Monday.
Somehow I’ve not booked to see Neil. I really should get on with it… enjoy!
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11 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:
When I was looking up this whole time idea regarding when Luke and Leia were born compared to Obi-Wan being 50 and looking 80, I think before the Disney canon change Qui-Gon was in something like his mid-80s in TPM, Dooku was like 120 or something, Mace Windu was in his 70s or something. Meaning all the humans looked a certain age to us but they were actually much older, probably the sci-fi explanation for medical technology advancing so people live longer.
Look up some of these characters on Wookiepedia and compared their birth years in legends to in canon, it's interesting.
I kept meaning to post something to this effect. It’s a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. They only look human. There’s no reason they need to have lifespans that are anything like ours.
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On 28/3/2022 at 1:01 PM, Jay said:
Of course
Here's the FYC track you can listen to as a reference for how to edit using the Deluxe
I knew there was a reason to keep the FYC in my library! Aside from anything, it’s a good excuse to be able to use more of the gorgeous custom artwork out there.
Is there anything else from all the various “custom” editions out there that are worth keeping? Unlike the first score, I kept the original album and FYC in my iTunes library but I slightly regret taking deleting the first film OST. It had some of the highest individual track plays of any soundtrack I own! See you tomorrow and test drive would be totally worn through if it were vinyl… think I’ll re-add it. If nothing else, it’s my one signed JP score when I met him a few years ago so has significant sentimental value even if on iTunes it’s just files.
Interesting that the one key alternate on both of the first two scores is the opening. I wonder if Powell composed two versions to let the director pick? I think I’d rather have had the full version of both alternates on both scores and Powell just chose the one he liked/felt fitted best in the main program with the other as an bonus track. Conversely to some, I find it less distracting on the first score than the sequel.
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1 hour ago, SyncMan said:
USA premiere of his Cello Concerto:
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Gautier Capuçon, celloNovember 11, 12, 13, 2022
https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/Capucon-Plays-Danny-Elfman
Wow. MTT is a proper top rank conductor and the SFS is a great orchestra. That’s an impressive premiere.
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2 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:
Duel of the Fates playing over the Oscars telecast when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.
A really odd choice on their part
Benny Hill theme? Yakety sax!
The Death of Stalin
What Is The Last Score You Listened To From 2022?
in General Discussion
Posted
At the risk of sounding old (I'm 44 since you asked...) I remember when every CGI movie was an event and, by and large, really good. With that, every CGI movie had score worth waiting for and an exciting mix of composers trying their hand at something new (Newmans R and T, for example) or a composer suddenly thrust into the big time and making a splash (a certain Michael Giacchino). Then I think they made (I dunno) Shark Tale or something and we realised they could be as crap as every other mediocre movie for kids. Which brings me to...
Extinct (M Giacchino Jnr) - some fun ideas, but with so many changes in gear and tone, it's never really as engaging as it could be. Curiously doesn't really sound anything at all like M Giacchino Snr, but seems like he has potential as it's certainly fun and technically competent. If Michael is Alfred, will he be Lionel, Thomas, David, Randy, Emil or... Joey?!
The Bad Guys (Daniel Pemberton) - basically every track sounds like the "heist" cue from numerous other scores which is fun for a while, but when there's well over 70 minutes of it (plus a couple of songs), it gets pretty repetitive by the end. A few changes of pace, perhaps most effectively in the more haunting Bedtime Story, help, but that is way too much music for what it is.
Turning Red (Ludwig Goransson) - I believe Goransson is the composer to already have an Oscar before writing his first Pixar score; indeed those who subsequently won did so for Pixar scores/songs. However, it doesn't really count for much as this kinda just passed me by and is making me reconsider rushing out to by every score for a Pixar movie. At one time that would have seemed unfathomable when you had the composers mentioned above writing some of their finest efforts but now the music just seems as meh as for other studios. Unless it's John Powell, obviously...