Claude Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Ernest Krenek's Symphony Nr 2 , available in Decca's "Entartete Musik" series. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Speaking of Vaughan Williams. Are any of you familiar with his HODIE? We listen to it every Christmas day. I'm also a big fan of those Mercury Living Presence reissues. I've really enjoyed the Howard Hanson pieces. Another favorite is the first CD in the MUSIC FOR QUIET LISTENING series that he conducted. Another composer that fascinates me is Scelsi. I have a couple CDs of his work. The pieces I have were written in the fifties, but they are very out there with his use of drones. Weird stuff! Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Ernest Krenek's Symphony Nr 2 , available in Decca's "Entartete Musik" series. (IMHO) - ALL of Krenek's symphonies are totally bad-ass in my book. Look for the pairing of his symphonies #1 and #5 on CPO. #1 has like 10 "movements" (though not "movements" in the conventional sense). Music from the early 20th Century, at it's finest. (Almost anything my Krenek is well worth seeking out, at least in my book.) Another guy who's similar to him, and just as interesting is Ernst Toch. CPO has recently recorded all of his symphonies, and they always keep me coming back for more. Several interesting concertos, and string quartets by Toch as well. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Another guy who's similar to him, and just as interesting is Ernst Toch. CPO has recently recorded all of his symphonies, and they always keep me coming back for more. Several interesting concertos, and string quartets by Toch as well. Back when I was single (and had money), I used to buy every CPO release I could find. I dug that label. Quote
Clunky Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 On the strength of this thread I picked up Nielsens 4th-6th and Honnegers 1st -5th and i am very impressed. Great recommendations thanks Chuck and Bev. Quote
David Ayers Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Mathis der Maler. Again. Hey why couldn't I 'edit' my post to correct my previous wrong spelling? Quote
mikeweil Posted November 29, 2003 Report Posted November 29, 2003 I found Gade disappointing. Pleasant but... better off listening to the lesser known works of Schumann and Mendelssohn. I was hoping to catch pre-echoes of Nielsen but didn't hear a hell of a lot. Gade's octet, on the other hand, seems a little meatier... The best of Martinu is not in the symphonies... Well, Gade is certainly not as spectacular as Schumann or Mendelssohn, but he has his merits. I'm looking forward to hearing Christopher Hogwood's new recordings with the Danish Symphony Orchestra on Chandos. You're right: Martinu was better when not attempting "classical" forms. Quote
Spontooneous Posted November 29, 2003 Report Posted November 29, 2003 Y'all go easy on my man Bohuslav Martinu. I just love the Sixth Symphony, probably the best of the bunch because it doesn't try very hard to follow "symphonic form." Wouldn't want to live without the Fourth either. Quote
mikeweil Posted November 29, 2003 Report Posted November 29, 2003 Martinu called his works names, but was very loose with these: Toccata, Serenade, Symphony, you name it. Some composers simply avoided conflicts with the implications of form by not using them, like Debussy, and perhaps Martinu would have done better by doing so as well, but who really cares? It's fascinating orchestral music, period! Quote
DTMX Posted December 3, 2003 Report Posted December 3, 2003 The best of Martinu is not in the symphonies... It's in the string quartets. No. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 kick so much ass it's not even funny. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted February 22, 2004 Author Report Posted February 22, 2004 Another one to add. William Alwyn - another of those mid-20th English symphonists who got kicked into the sidelines by serial orthodoxy. I've been giving the Chandos set of his six symphonies a lot of play recently. Beautiful stuff. He wrote a fair bit for film and you can hear that in the symphonies. Think Holst, Mahler, Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Walton. If you're fond of tonal late-Romanticism there's another lovely world here. His 'Lyra Angelica' for harp and string orchestra is magical too. Hearing it on the radio early last year alerted me to him. If you like the Ravel 'Introduction and Allegro'... Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Posted March 6, 2005 This new Naxos release might interest some: Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted March 7, 2005 Report Posted March 7, 2005 Unless I missed it, no mention of Havergal Brian - another really interesting English "nut-case". I currently have 8 of his symphonies - used to have more on vinyl. Quote
Spontooneous Posted March 7, 2005 Report Posted March 7, 2005 Hunt down the CD of Brian's Violin Concerto! It's like Elgar on acid. Quote
Stefan Wood Posted March 7, 2005 Report Posted March 7, 2005 CPO just reissued their cycle of Attenberg symphonies (1 through 9) at a greatly reduced price. Cduniverse sells it for around $35. Highly recommended! Very vivacious and unique music, which deserves to be better known. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted March 7, 2005 Report Posted March 7, 2005 CPO just reissued their cycle of Attenberg symphonies (1 through 9) at a greatly reduced price. Cduniverse sells it for around $35. Highly recommended! Very vivacious and unique music, which deserves to be better known. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted March 8, 2005 Report Posted March 8, 2005 Just released, and I can't wait to hear them. Maybe (probably?) the first time either one has been on CD. RATHAUS: Symphonies 2 & 3 Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt • Israel Yinon Karol Rathaus (1895–1954): Symphony No 2 op. 7 • Symphony No 3 op. 50 Karol Rathaus, a student of Franz Schreker, struggled to find his voice through Nazi oppression and general musical conservancy. Even his sweeping neo-romantic symphonies were considered too modern by some, and though he was a pioneer in German film scoring he struggled to be accepted in Hollywood. It is fortunate that his genius is appreciated today. His earlier Symphony #1 (op. 5), is an absolute winner in my book... Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted March 8, 2005 Report Posted March 8, 2005 Just released, and I can't wait to hear them. Maybe (probably?) the first time either one has been on CD. RATHAUS: Symphonies 2 & 3 Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt • Israel Yinon Karol Rathaus (1895–1954): Symphony No 2 op. 7 • Symphony No 3 op. 50 Karol Rathaus, a student of Franz Schreker, struggled to find his voice through Nazi oppression and general musical conservancy. Even his sweeping neo-romantic symphonies were considered too modern by some, and though he was a pioneer in German film scoring he struggled to be accepted in Hollywood. It is fortunate that his genius is appreciated today. His earlier Symphony #1 (op. 5), is an absolute winner in my book... Rathaus is a really interesting composer. I just wish someone else was conducting on these recordings. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted March 8, 2005 Report Posted March 8, 2005 Rathaus is a really interesting composer. I just wish someone else was conducting on these recordings. Perhaps (and in your case, Chuck, more likely "probably"), but at least the recordings are available at all. (The glass is half full vs. half empty.) I've always thought of Rathaus as being a bit like Mahler on steroids (or at least Rathaus' first symphony, anyway). Or if someone has a better analogy, I'm all ears. Quote
David Ayers Posted March 8, 2005 Report Posted March 8, 2005 I've always thought of Rathaus as being a bit like Mahler on steroids I've always thought of Mahler as being on steroids. I must be getting old... Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 8, 2005 Author Report Posted March 8, 2005 I've always thought of Rathaus as being a bit like Mahler on steroids I've always thought of Mahler as being on steroids. I must be getting old... Mahler was definately on acid! Quote
mikeweil Posted March 8, 2005 Report Posted March 8, 2005 For those interested in lesser known conteproraries of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the German period instruments orchestra Concert Köln has devoted many CDs to these: Kraus, a Swedish composer, is perhaps the biggest surprise. The series was heralded by the press, I have most of them, and all are worth a listen. Their discography is in German, but you will find out which works are on which label. Quote
rostasi Posted March 9, 2005 Report Posted March 9, 2005 (edited) I think you should search out Brahms’ Third Racket... Edited March 9, 2005 by rostasi Quote
MomsMobley Posted August 14, 2013 Report Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Martinu called his works names, but was very loose with these: Toccata, Serenade, Symphony, you name it. Some composers simply avoided conflicts with the implications of form by not using them, like Debussy, and perhaps Martinu would have done better by doing so as well, but who really cares? It's fascinating orchestral music, period! And not just orchestral: Martini is one of the absolutely top flight 20th c. composers, vastly underrated-- perhaps because those names peg him as neo-classial Stravinsky's kissin' cousin-- and though someone claimed otherwise, Martinu's six symphonies rank among the 20th century's very best cycles (which I count as four or more), which are... Nielsen... Sibelius... and maybe Martinu right there? then Roussel... with Bax, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, Wm Schuman, Pendercki, Lutoslawski, Petterson, Rautaavara, Piston, Roy Harris, Franz Schmidt, Havergal Brian, Sessions, etc following... though I'd rank none of them above Martinu... and NO I'm not forgetting Shostakovich, let's stop pretending there are more than two handfuls of great movements in the fifteen, thanks. (Phillip Glass symphonies are horrible, even the Allen Ginsberg one, nobody should pretend otherwise). I'll confess to not having lotsa of the later Henry Cowell symphonie and I'm through thinking about Milhaud and Schnittke both. Malcolm Arnold too? Except when I re-watch "Hobson's Choice" or "Bridge on the River Kwai," I'm afraid so, lad, I'm afraid so. A great great realm for further exploration btw are Martinu's stage works, both ballet and opera, wherein for quality/weirdness he ranks with Prokofiev and peak Hindemith while being generally more fun and colorful than both. The string 4-tets are very good but except for the 5th, they are more signposts of his career than major statements. more to follow Edited August 14, 2013 by MomsMobley Quote
sgcim Posted August 14, 2013 Report Posted August 14, 2013 My fave symphony is Bernard Herrmann's "Symphony", conducted by the composer himself on Unicorn Records. It's so under-performed that it wasn't even heard during the composer's centennial recently. Abravnel and the Utah Symphony Orch. recorded it a few years back, but they only played one or two movements from it. My own symphony is perhaps the least known symphony in the history of mankind. I myself forgot that i wrote it until halfway into this post! Quote
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