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31
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Assorted items / General musical discussion / Re: What piece do you consider to be the latest "Masterpiece"?
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on: September 28, 2013, 10:55:44 pm
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I've never understood why the Sibelius VC is so popular. I've never liked this work much at all and if violinists are playing it just so they can have a Scandinavian concerto in their reportoire, they should definitely check out the Nielsen, Atterberg, Larsson or Melartin VCs, all of which I enjoy much more than the Sibelius. And when was the last time I heard a Sibelius tone poem besides Finlandia in concert? Hmmmmm.....let me see here.....
Being very snobbish, I would like to point out that Sibelius was not Scandinavian ;) More to the point, there are easily twenty Scandinavian and Nordic violin concertos I would like to play, however the Sibelius concerto is still on top of my list. Why? Because I can relate to it on all time scales and on the full spectrum between tone shade, feeling and architecture. Maybe it is a violinist's thing. The last four symphonies are probably 'greater' music, but I cannot help feeling that the VC remains one of the three or four most beautiful ever written in this genre. Not something reason can really fight ;D
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32
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Assorted items / General musical discussion / Re: Composers who died too young
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on: September 28, 2013, 10:48:10 pm
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I may have missed Arvid Kleven here.
Here is a fairly depressing list of symphoists who died at 40 or less...
1822 1853 Aerts, Egidius 1806 1826 Arriaga y Balzola, Juan Cristosomo de 1768 1808 Baguer, Carles 1899 1922 Baines, William 1801 1835 Bellini, Vincenzo 1838 1875 Bizet, Georges 1834 1874 Blodek, Vilém 1862 1897 Boëllmann, Léon 1888 1928 Bohnke, Emil 1810 1836 Burgmüller, Norbert 1838 1873 Castillon, Alexis de 1854 1893 Catalani, Alfredo 1937 1971 Chargeishvili, Nektarios 1875 1911 Čiurlionis, Mikolajus K. 1875 1912 Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel 1923 1953 Drejsl, Radim 1779 1813 Eggert, Joachim Nikolas 1926 1958 Falabella, Roberto 1905 1931 Femelidi, Volodymyr 1900 1936 Ferroud, Pierre-Octave 1789 1826 Fesca, Friedrich Ernst 1803 1836 Fröhlich, Friedrich Theodor 1790 1825 Gerson, Georg 1938 1978 Glodeanu, Liviu 1840 1876 Goetz, Hermann 1829 1869 Gottschalk, Louis Moreau 1934 1970 Gržinić, Vjekoslav 1919 1946 Harašta, Milan 1951 1986 Israel, Brian 1902 1936 José, Antonio 1866 1901 Kalinnikov, Vasilij Sergeevič 1915 1940 Kaprálova, Vítězslava 1923 1950 Karapanchevski, Tihomir 1876 1909 Karłowicz, Mieczysław 1909 1937 Kishi, Koichi 1899 1929 Kleven, Arvid 1756 1792 Kraus, Joseph Martin 1951 1990 Krzanowski, Andrzej 1921 1957 Kurka, Robert 1883 1918 Kuula, Toivo 1902 1942 Lie, Harald 1871 1904 Lie, Sigurd 1967 2006 Liede, Roberts 1933 1970 Linde, Bo 1917 1950 Lipatti, Dinu 1929 1968 Mathieu, André 1961 1996 Mattiisen, Alo 1809 1847 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix 1756 1791 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 1810 1849 Nicolai, Otto 1911 1951 Otaka, Hisatada 1912 1948 Pakalnis, Juozas 1889 1924 Paunović, Milenko 1885 1923 Pejačević, Dora 1846 1882 Ponce de León, José Maria 1848 1884 Power, Teobaldo 1902 1941 Prišlin, Ivo 1915 1945 Richter, Nico 1935 1965 Ronnefeld, Peter 1858 1884 Rott, Hans 1725 1762 Sarrier, Antonio 1797 1828 Schubert, Franz 1920 1936 Suolahti, Heikki 1766 1803 Süssmayr, Franz Xaver 1791 1825 Voříšek, Jan Václav Hugo 1918 1939 Vorob'ev, Gennadij Vasil'evič 1910 1942 Vučković, Vojislav 1845 1885 Waelput, Henryk 1786 1826 Weber, Carl Maria von 1773 1812 Wölfl, Joseph 1905 1945 Xian, Xinghai 1914 1943 Yarullin, Färit Zahidulla ulı 1955 1983 Zenkl, Michal
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34
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Assorted items / Commercial recordings (vintage, new and forthcoming) / Re: Panufnik Vol. 6 at CPO
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on: September 28, 2013, 10:34:35 pm
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"The whole is prefaced by a brief but potent introduction for strings, which reappears transformed in the inexorable motion towards the close in what constitutes a powerful if undeniably hieratic apotheosis: hope having been envisaged without thereby being attained." [...] What interests me though in RW's sentence is his use of the word 'hieratic', prefaced by the word "if". "Powerful if undeniably hieratic". The word "if" implies some pejorative or at best conditional connotation, does it not ??? If so....why ???
Can anybody offer any elucidation ???
A tentative one: 'hieratic' does indeed convey a sense of grandeur in modern use, but initially refers more to priesthood. What RW probably means is that despite its austere, perhaps forbidding severity, the apotheosis in this piece is (emotionally?) powerful.
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39
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Downloads by surname / Downloads: discussion without links / Re: Croatian Music
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on: September 15, 2013, 02:07:54 pm
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As we all know here, Stjepan Šulek is the only Croatian composer by whom, every season, at least one symphony is performed in concert in Zagreb. 2013-2014 shall be no exception, with the Croatian Radio & Television Symphony Orchestra offering an all-Šulek programme on Thursday, April 27, 2014 at 7.30pm (CET), in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.
The conductor shall be Pavle Dešpalj, once Šulek's student, a worthy composer himself and probably the foremost performer of Šulek's orchestral music since Milan Horvat's retirement. Arguably the Seventh is not the best among the eight symphonies, but it is still well worth hearing. The soloist shall be veteran pianist and pedagogue Vladimir Krpan.
Programme: Epitaph for a forgotten illusion Piano concerto No. 3 Symphony No. 7
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40
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Downloads by surname / Downloads: discussion without links / Re: Estonian Music
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on: September 05, 2013, 08:33:47 pm
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Mikhel Lyudig (Michael Ludig) (1880-1958) Overture: Fantasia No 1 and No 2 Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra Neeme Jarvi, conducting
Melodiya LP
Do you know if this is one, two or three pieces? I love it anyway - many thanks for the upload!
According to the generally very reliable emic.ee website, there are two pieces by Lüdig bearing the title "Overture-Fantasia", both in B minor: "Avamäng-fantaasia nr. 1 h-moll" (1906) and "Avamäng-fantaasia nr. 2 h-moll" (1945).
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41
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Downloads by surname / Downloads: discussion without links / Re: Croatian Music
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on: September 01, 2013, 10:59:03 pm
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Yes indeed ;D It is a pleasure. Maybe an Art-Music forum lobby can convince Mr. Heymann that Sulek is not such an 'obscure' composer! 8) After all, more or less once a year, one or another of his symphonies is performed in concert by one of the main two Zagreb orchestras, some of his instrumental concertos every once in a while, and then there are the classical concertos, the sonatas, the quartets...
If you wonder why Sulek is neglected, look thru the thread of "Dream Concerts"..One would think Croatia is not even a country.. Well, not all countries are mentioned by all contributors, but Croatia appears not once, but twice in my suggestions... ???
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42
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Assorted items / General musical discussion / Re: Your Dream Concerts
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on: August 31, 2013, 04:13:13 pm
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How did you know that I did this programming exercise regularly on my way to work? ;D (Not to mention plans for future CDs and videos!)
Lithuania/Latvia-1 A. Kenins: Sinfonia Ad Fugam (Symphony No. 6) Kenins: Concerto for 14 instruments B. Jērums: Eseja (Essay) Juzeliūnas: Žmogaus lyra (Symphony No. 3: the Lyre of Man)
Lithuania/Latvia-2 A. R. Šerkšnytė: Žara (Glow) Grīnblats: Symphony No. 5 B. Balakauskas: Concerto for oboe, harpsichord and strings Balakauskas: Ostrobotnijos simfonija (Symphony No. 3: Ostrobothnian Symphony)
Estonia A. A. Kapp: Symphony No. 1 B. Eller: Videvik (Twilight) Tubin: Symphony No. 8
Finland A. Madetoja: Syksy (Autumn) A. Merikanto: Fantasia orkesterille (Fantasy for orchestra) B. Raitio: Joutsenet (Swans) Englund: Mustarastassinfonia (Symphony No. 2: Blackbird)
Sweden A. Atterberg: Adagio amoroso Kallstenius: Symphony no. 2 B. Stenhammar: Serenade
Norway A. Kleven: Skogens Søvn (The Forest Asleep) Valen: Violin Concerto Irgens-Jensen: Passacaglia B. Egge: Dolce quasi passacaglia (Symphony No. 5) Sæverud: Salme (Symphony No. 7: Psalm)
Denmark-1 A. Nørgård: Twilight Langgaard: Det Himmelrivende (Symphony No. 6: the Heaven-Storming) B. Nørholm: Isola Bella (Symphony No. 2)
Denmark-2 A. Holmboe: Symphony No. 11 H.D. Koppel: Tre Davidssalmer (Three Psalms of David, op. 48) B. Nørgård: Symphony No. 3
Croatia-1 A. Šulek: Klasični koncert br. 2 (Classical Concerto No. 2) Šulek: Violin Concerto B. Šulek: Symphony No. 6
Croatia-2 A. Bersa: Sablasti (Apparitions) I. Brkanović: Symphony No. 2 B. Slavenski: Simfonija Orijenta (Symphony of the Orient)
Slovenia, Hungary A. Veress: Sinfonia Minneapolitana (Symphony No. 2) Lajtha: Symphony No. 9 B. Ramovš: Sinfonia Pietà Škerjanc: Symphony No. 4, for strings
Serbia A. Hristić: Ohridska Legenda (the Legend of Ohrid), Suite No. 1 Ristić: Symphony No. 8 B. V. Mokranjac: Lirska Poema (Lyrical Poem) Brucci: Symphony No. 3
Bulgaria A. P. Vladigerov: Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra, "Majska" (of May) B. L. Nikolov: Symphony for 13 string instruments Iliev: Symphony No. 6
Albania, Greece A. Zadeja: Symphony Ibrahimi: Sinfoni tragjike (Tragic Symphony) B. Skalkot(t)as: I epistrofi tou Odyssea (The Return of Ulysses)
Slovakia, Czech Republic A. A. Albrecht: Túžby a spomienky (Desires and Memories) Suchoň: Metamorfózy (Metamorphoses) B. Kabeláč: Symphony No. 7, for narrator and orchestra Feld: Symphony No. 1
Poland, Romania, Ukraine A. Niculescu: Cantos (Symphony No. 3) Palester: Violin Concerto B. Lyatoshynsky: Symphony No. 3
Caucasus A. Kancheli: Symphony No. 4, edzghvneba mik’elanjelos khs. (in memoriam Michelangelo) Q. Qarayev: Violin Concerto B. Terterian: Symphony No. 6
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44
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Assorted items / General musical discussion / Re: Five Most Underrated Symphonists
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on: August 25, 2013, 08:50:12 am
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Another point I have to make. You will notice that the composers I listed in my top five (six, really ;D) have all had excellent recordings of their symphonies (all have had complete cycles except Diamond): Hughes in Holmboe, Svetlanov in Miaskovsky (though his recordings are somewhat marred by the audio quality and I would certainly welcome a modern cycle), Schwarz in Diamond, Hickox in Rubbra, Kubelik in Hartmann and Rasilainen (and now Jarvi) in Atterberg. Because of the excellent advocacy these composers have received, I am more convinced of the music's high quality. The problem is that there are so many potentially equally gifted symphonists out there who have not received the great advocacy of the composers I chose, therefore I am not completely sure of the music's quality and can't justifiably designate it as "underrated". Hope this makes sense! :)
Yes, it makes a lot of sense, it is actually a critical factor. Being (or having been? ::) ) a performer, I can to an extent make up for bland performances, or even poor sound quality if it does not erase all interesting details altogether. But, quite often, actually playing the music in question (if it is for violin) and not just listen to it can still be revelatory, you can literally feel the potentialities under your fingers. It is well-known that composers such as Delius, Fauré, Reger can easily be betrayed by flamboyant but inadequate performances. And there are a number of symphonies of which I feel the potential, but know that the performances at hand could hardly convert an absent-minded producer. This is especially true when the music is complex and needs much work and accuracy to become intelligible or coherent. Bjelinski can survive a routine performance (even though it may suppress some of its subtler layers and only retain the energetic, cheerful side), Ivan Brkanović or Šulek cannot, and they are no lesser composers for this, quite the contrary probably. Even a rather transparent score like Atterberg's Sixth only reaches its full dimension, in my view, with both the commitment and virtuosity of Neeme Järvi's recent reading. In general, people tend to say that it is easier to perform lesser-known music because audiences do not have the works in mind and cannot compare. This very widespread view, especially within the musical world, is not without some foundation but is quite misleading. First, it is absolutely possible to identify an outstanding performance or, conversely, a routine or approximate one in a piece you hear for the first time, even if the first impression can be refined with repeated hearings. Second, the less the piece is familiar, the strongest advocacy it demands, precisely because the "average" listener does not have this whole collection of references, echoes, reminiscences, personal experience with that piece, which tend to enrich and amplify the impact classics have on us (unless we are fed up with them, of course, which can also close our ears and sensibility). Incidentally, I find it very satisfactory when a piece I have discovered a few months or years ago starts to resonate unconsciously in my mind, which is a different process from knowing it by heart. It means that it has become a personal "classic", as it were.
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Assorted items / General musical discussion / Re: Five Most Underrated Symphonists
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on: August 24, 2013, 06:42:06 pm
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Of course, others will doubtlessly have different definitions of the word "underrated", but, keep in mind that I didn't start this thread to start a debate on this subject! ;D
This might be why you got exactly that! ;D Daniel Jones falls in a fourth category: major symphonists whom I have not investigated nearly enough myself, for no good reason at all :-[ And yet this forum made sure that it could be fixed. Indeed the vast majority of professional musicians have a very narrow knowledge of the repertoire. I noticed that quite brutally when I was a full-time musician. Definitely the capacity to go deep into, say, Bach's, Beethoven's or Mahler's music is not enhanced by the choice of ignoring lesser-known figures, or lack of curiosity altogether. The really difficult part - and I am struggling with it even more now, obviously - is to secure enough time to actually work on all the pieces we would like to play, famous or neglected, and do it not in a superficial way, but with the depth and quest for perfection which suits a masterpiece. Not every conductor is a fast learner like Neeme Järvi. But every conductor can, and should, at least know all major symphonists by much more than their names.
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