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What are you currently listening to?

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Author Topic: What are you currently listening to?  (Read 96922 times)
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Vandermolen
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« Reply #360 on: January 04, 2014, 11:27:57 pm »

Listening to Dora Pejacevic's Symphony on CPO and greatly enjoying it. There are some Mahlerian influences but other sections reminded me of Korngold. Sad that she died so young.
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kyjo
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« Reply #361 on: January 04, 2014, 11:30:45 pm »

Great work, Jeffrey. I've sung its praises many times before. It reminds me more of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov than Mahler and Korngold, but we all have different ears, I guess!
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Vandermolen
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« Reply #362 on: January 04, 2014, 11:58:31 pm »

Great work, Jeffrey. I've sung its praises many times before. It reminds me more of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov than Mahler and Korngold, but we all have different ears, I guess!

I knew that you'd approve Kyle  :)

Yes, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov definitely came to mind too. What a fine score.
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kyjo
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« Reply #363 on: January 05, 2014, 12:08:00 am »

Glad you like it, Jeffrey :) Have you listened to her Phantasie Concertante for piano and orchestra yet? It's a brilliant score, accomplishing in a quarter of an hour what most works accomplish in over half an hour! BTW Pejacevic is one of my favorite composers of chamber music. Her Piano Quintet is stunning.

Have you followed any of my recommendations as of late, Jeffrey? ;) Sorry I haven't been around GMG for a while; I've just grown awfully tired of that forum. I much prefer the laid-back atmosphere of the A-MF :)
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kyjo
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« Reply #364 on: January 05, 2014, 05:40:35 am »

I was thoroughly stunned by Yasushi Akutagawa's (1925-89) compact (17 min.) Cello Concerto (1969) on YT! It's quite modern, but not avant-garde. Moments of haunting reminiscence contrast with episodes of manic fury! The prominent use of the harpsichord in the work is quite Schnittkian. It's a must-hear! Just don't turn your volume up too much-those whip cracks are loud ;D
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SerAmantiodiNicolao
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« Reply #365 on: January 05, 2014, 08:26:31 am »

Currently listening to Albany's release titled The New American Romanticism - works by Leroy Southers, Lee McQuillan, Beth Denisch, and Jack Jarrett.  Having heard all save the Jarrett thus far, I find it a bit of a mixed bag; I like the Denisch, find the McQuillan inoffensive but inconsequential, and can't say as I care much for the Southers.
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jimfin
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« Reply #366 on: January 05, 2014, 09:59:55 am »

Kyjo: Akutagawa is wonderful! I had the rare pleasure of hearing his first symphony performed in Tokyo (in the company of A.S.) a year and a bit ago. Yet, he's not well known, even here: most people know his father, the writer Ryunosuke, but not the musical son.
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kyjo
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« Reply #367 on: January 05, 2014, 06:26:59 pm »

Currently listening to Albany's release titled The New American Romanticism - works by Leroy Southers, Lee McQuillan, Beth Denisch, and Jack Jarrett.  Having heard all save the Jarrett thus far, I find it a bit of a mixed bag; I like the Denisch, find the McQuillan inoffensive but inconsequential, and can't say as I care much for the Southers.

The Jack Jarrett symphony is quite beautiful-rather Hansonesque and even showing the influence of the Russian Romantics. Anachronistic, perhaps, but a really satisfying work, especially for those who enjoy music of a neo-romantic bent.
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kyjo
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« Reply #368 on: January 05, 2014, 06:38:00 pm »

Kyjo: Akutagawa is wonderful! I had the rare pleasure of hearing his first symphony performed in Tokyo (in the company of A.S.) a year and a bit ago. Yet, he's not well known, even here: most people know his father, the writer Ryunosuke, but not the musical son.

That's wonderful, Jim! I have the Naxos disc containing Akutagawa's Trinita Sinfonica, Rapsodia, and Ellora Symphony, which is riveting stuff. I see his Symphony no. 1 is on YT; I've been wanting to hear it!
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SerAmantiodiNicolao
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« Reply #369 on: January 06, 2014, 01:19:06 am »

The Jack Jarrett symphony is quite beautiful-rather Hansonesque and even showing the influence of the Russian Romantics. Anachronistic, perhaps, but a really satisfying work, especially for those who enjoy music of a neo-romantic bent.

Speaking of which...I'm now listening to the Naxos release of symphonies by James Cohn.  I quite like it so far.  Just now I listened to another Naxos release, that of the two piano concertos by Fernando Lopes-Graça.  A little thorny, but not unduly so...quite inoffensive, though I found it a bit monochrome after a while.
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guest377
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« Reply #370 on: January 06, 2014, 05:22:23 am »

I have enjoyed the Naxos series of American composers !!    a nice treat to hear.
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guest377
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« Reply #371 on: January 06, 2014, 05:47:02 am »

check out the short little piece by Zaritsky.. under Belorussian downloads.... its Concerto for Oboe and Orch.... interesting.
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #372 on: January 07, 2014, 02:11:01 am »

I found the 6th mostly long and dreary, though there was a striking passage for high trumpets near the end of the first movement. Haven't heard 1 through 5 though, so no basis for comparison. I do find it somewhat astonishing that someone can be a professional and highly regarded composer for decades without ever developing a good sense of rhythm.

Thanks for your reply. "Long and dreary" would also characterize the First Symphony, for the most part. I'm certainly no expert on PMD's music, but I'm beginning to think symphonic writing was not his strong suit. To me, symphonies just don't "work" if there aren't any clear-cut themes or development. I have yet to hear any of his Strathclyde Concertos, which I'm hoping to acquire sometime down the road. I really enjoyed Mavis in Las Vegas, and will keep an eye out for more of his "lighter" works. I have the CD of the first and second "Naxos Quartets" but recall them being pretty tough going.
The Strathclyde Concertos I've heard are pretty much the same—formless, undistinctive, grey, and never getting off the ground rhythmically. I gave up after 1, 2, 7 and 8. Imagine a combination of the harmonies of Shchedrin, the tunefulness of Schoenberg, the large-scale architecture of Delius and the joie de vivre of Pettersson, all interpreted from the podium by an old man with Parkinson's disease. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but I really can't hear any appeal.

The lighter works are a mystery to me so far. Along with Mavis the other "hit" is Orkney Wedding with Sunrise but I haven't heard either. If Mavis is indeed completely dissimilar to the Symphony No. 1 I suppose that's a good sign though.

That really is one of the most uncharitable and downright nasty posts I have ever had the misfortune to read on here >:(

It is perfectly legitimate to criticise or to dislike Maxwell Davies's music- I find several of the symphonies and the Strathclyde Concertos pretty hard-going at times. I have however already on this forum commended the wonderfully beautiful, lyrical "A Spell for Green Corn: The MacDonald Dances" for violin and orchestra(coupled on the recent Naxos disc with the Strathclyde Concertos Nos. 7 and 8).

What I take exception to however is to make such abusive remarks about a composer who is struggling desperately with lymphatic cancer, who has already undergone major surgery (which may or may not have succeeded), who has returned to his home in Orkney but has had to beg Her Majesty the Queen to allow him to delay a composition due in his capacity as Master of the Queen's Music because he is too weak to finish the work on time.

In these circumstances I find your reference to "an old man with Parkinson's disease" in thoroughly bad taste. I shall be charitable and conclude that you may not have known about Maxwell Davies's state of decidedly ill-health but I beg you please to reconsider your remarks.
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Gauk
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« Reply #373 on: January 07, 2014, 09:26:50 am »

... a composer who is struggling desperately with lymphatic cancer, who has already undergone major surgery (which may or may not have succeeded), who has returned to his home in Orkney but has had to beg Her Majesty the Queen to allow him to delay a composition due in his capacity as Master of the Queen's Music because he is too weak to finish the work on time.

That is news to me of a most unwelcome kind. I've met Max a couple of times and he is a close friend of several friends of mine, so while my links to him are extremely tenuous, he is a distant acquaintance to me rather than a name one reads about.
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« Reply #374 on: January 10, 2014, 03:34:47 am »

To be properly accurate-though very sadly-Maxwell Davies is suffering from an aggressive form of leukaemia. He worked on his forthcoming Symphony No.10 whilst in hospital receiving treatment.
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