oscar@utcsrgv.UUCP (Oscar M. Nierstrasz) (01/21/84)
Okay, here we go ... There was mention in this newsgroup a little while ago of the need for "primers" for people who want to "get into" classical music, or jazz or whatever. Such primers exist, and are fairly predictable in the list of recommended. It's less obvious where to start with Twentieth Century music. I'm far from being an expert and I've had precious little musical training, so I can't explain the historical and theoretical significance or contribution of any of this stuff, but "I know what I like", and enjoyment of music is, after all, what it's all about. The point of this exercise is partly to inform, but mainly to provoke interest and discussion. I would *love* to hear some recommendations from other corners. Here then, are a few selected albums giving you a cross section of some of the major composers of the Twentieth Century. I make no apologies for outrageous prejudices or gaping holes. ::: Sergei Prokofiev is one of the better known "serious composers" who has also written film scores. The following disc is especially notable for for its great sound -- great to test equipment with if you're shopping for a new stereo: Alexander Nevsky : [DGG 2531 202] Obraztsova, Abbado, (London Symphony Orchestra) For some strange reason Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony (#1) is his most famous work. This is far more interesting: Symphony #5 : [DGG 139 040] Karajan (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra) The following disc is an exceptional buy, coupling two of the most significant (?) piano concerti of the early part of the century: Prokofiev : Piano Concerto #3 & Ravel : Piano Concerto in G : [DGG 139 349] Argerich, Abbado (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra) Ravel is often thought of (with Debussy) as a producer of sweet, peaceful, melodic music (those French, ya know). This work (among many others) proves what a dynamic composer he is. (I say "is" because there is a tendency to speak of composers as though they were still alive -- kinda nice, I think.) Igor Stravinsky has had a long career stretching from Paris in the early part of this century to about 1970, when he died. His most famous work is the Rites of Spring (due, no doubt, to Disney's Fantasia). There are many competent to excellent recordings of the work. This is a good choice: Rites of Spring (1947) : [DGG 2530 635] Abbado (London Symphony Orchestra) I tend to avoid Stravinsky conducting his own works, partly because I don't find him as good a conductor as a composer, and partly because of the poor quality of Columbia records. Colin Davis has conducted several of Stravinsky's ballets. This is a fine performance: Petrouchka : [Philips 9500 447] Davis, (Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam) To get a different picture of the work, there is a great recording of the piano score: Stravinsky : Three Movements from "Petrouchka" & Prokofiev : Piano Sonata #7, Op 83 : [DGG 2530 225] Pollini An excellent record of chamber pieces features the Boston Symphony Chamber Players: Ragtime for 11 Instruments (1918) Octet for Winds (1923/52) Pastorale for Violin & Wind Quartet (1934) Concertino for 12 Instruments (1952) Septet (1953) : [DGG 2530 551] (Boston Symphony Chamber Players) While we're on the Russians, Shostakovich is one of this century's most exciting composers. He has been quite productive until the end of his life only a few years ago. He has been accused of producing quite a bit of "pap" in addition to his "good" works, due to government influence and his unofficial role as "composer laureate". I haven't heard any of the alleged inferior stuff, however. A good recording of his Cello Concerto features Mstislav Rostropovich: Cello Concerto #2, Op 126 : [DGG 2530 653] Rostropovich, Ozawa (Boston Symphony Orchestra) A fabulous album of chamber music is coupled with the fine Ives Trio: Shostakovich : Trio #2 in e, Op 67 & Ives : Trio for Violin, Cello & Piano [Philips 6500 860] Beaux Arts Trio Shostakovich' best known works are probably his symphonies. The most often recorded is likely his 5th. Those that I know and like are numbers 5, 6, 10, 14 and 15: Symphony #10, Op 93 : [DGG 139 020] Karajan (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra) Bartok is one of my all-time favourites. His music is probably best characterized by his fondness for percussion. There is much that could, however, be described as romantic (small "r"). A good introduction are his piano concerti: Piano Concerti #1, 2 : [DGG 2530 901] Pollini, Abbado (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) The recordings on Philips with Stephen Bishop at the keyboard are also highly recommended. (There are three piano concerti.) His chamber music is equally exciting, and this disc features "similar" music by Stravinsky on the flip side: Bartok : Sonata for 2 Pianos & Percussion & Stravinsky : Concerto for 2 Pianos; Sonata for 2 Pianos [DGG 2530 964] Kontarsky bros. If you find Bartok is to your taste, there is much else worth investigating. I already talked about Mahler at length, so I'll just put in a plug for: Symphony #2 : [DGG 2707 094 (2 LP)] Horne, Abbado (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) Janacek has become increasingly popular of late. There is a great series of operas on London (Decca) conducted by Charles Mackerras. Also of interest are: Missa Glagolitica : [DGG 138 954] Lear, Rossel-Majdan, Haefliger, Crass, Kubelik (Bavarian Radio Orchestra) and, possibly his best known work: Sinfonietta : [London CS 6620] Abbado (London Symphony Orchestra) which is coupled here with Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber. Honegger, a Swiss, is not very well known, but a fine composer nonetheless. Much of this is melancholy, brooding music, but far from being flaccid or uninspired. If you can find a copy of this particular record, you should buy it -- it's been deleted and is hard to find (except possibly as a special import): Symphonies #2, 3 : [DGG 2530 068] Karajan (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra) I should point out that although Karajan has churned out a lot of "favourites" over the years, when he puts his mind to recording a work that is obviously not a big-seller, it is probably because it has some special significance for him. These recordings are often exceptional, being dedicated performances by one of the world's finest orchestras, and supported by some of the world's best sound engineers. Sliding over to the French, there's Gabriel Faure, whose most famous works are his Requiem and his Pavane. Not too much else seems to be a best-seller. This is moving music, very melodic without being th eleast bit maudlin. Here they in a beautiful performance: Requiem, Op 48; Pavane, Op 50 [Angel S-37077] Fischer-Dieskau, Armstrong, Barenboim (Orchestre de Paris) Debussy also fits the bill. Much of this could be described as dreamlike (but not sentimental): Debussy : Nocturnes Pavane pour une Infante defunte Ravel : Daphnis et Chloe : [DGG 2530 038] Abbado (Boston Symphony Orchestra) Lesser known are these works by Debussy. Very atmospheric. Le Martyre de Saint Sebastian Printemps : [DGG 2530 879] Barenboim (Orchestre de Paris) Debussy is mostly thought of as an orchestral composer, but he has written much fine piano and chamber music. The string quartets of Debussy and Ravel are certainly two of the "best" pieces of music of the century (I'd say top 10). This is one of my favourite records: Debussy : String Quartet, Op 10 & Ravel : String Quartet : [Philips 835 361] Italian Quartet Highly recommended. There is also a reputedly good recording on DGG with the Melos Quartet. Popping over to Great Britain, we start with Ralph Vaughan Williams. I confess to a very limited exposure to this fella. His symphonies are supposed to be very good, but I don't know them at all well. This, however, is a top-notch record, and includes his most famous work. It also proves that his Fantasia on Greensleeves is far from being his best work: Fantasia on Greensleeves Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis Five Variants on "Dives and Lazarus" The Lark Ascending : [Argo ZRG 696] Brown, Marriner (Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields) Tippett is a remarkable composer and still going strong. This symphony was composed for the Chicago Symphony a couple of years ago: Symphony #4; Suite in D for the birthday of Prince Charles [London LDR 71046] Solti CSO (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) There are lots of other fascinating works by Tippett, including his double concerto and his opera, "King Priam". Britten is possibly best known for his "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". More interesting are: Les Illuminations Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings [London OS 26161] Pears, Tuckwell, Britten (London Symphony Orchestra) War Requiem : [London OSA 1255 (2 LP)] Vishnevskaya, Pears, Fischer-Dieskau, Britten (London Symphony Orchestra) Peter Grimes : [Philips 6769 014 (3 LP)] Vickers, Davis (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) I'm especially fond of the opera, Peter Grimes. There has been some discussion here of Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht", a very pleasant and moody, but otherwise unimportant work. Schoenberg, Berg and Webern pioneered the variously dubbed "atonal", "twelve-tone"/"dodecaphonic" or "serial" music in reaction to the extremes that Wagner had taken chromatic music. What interests us, however, is whether they produced anything worth listening to. The answer is yes. Berg's operas "Lulu" and "Wozzeck" are general accepted as Twentieth Century milestones, and there are classic recordings of both by Boulez and Bohm, respectively. Schoenberg appears to have been the most prolific of the bunch. He seems to be responsible for the "Sprechgesang" or speak-singing that also shows up in Wozzeck. A fascinating and moving opera by Schoenberg is: Moses and Aaron [Col M2 33594 (2 LP)] Reich, Cassilly et al, Boulez BBC based on the biblical story. Moses has the "word" from the Lord to pass on the people, but he is not an orator. Aaron has the gift of touching the people, but needs Moses' guidance. When Moses ascends the mount, Aaron is swayed by and succumbs to the doubters who say that Moses has been destroyed by his wrathful god. Aaron sings and Moses speak/sings his Sprechgesang. The effect is staggering, and the work is full of fascinating philisophical implications ... Well worth investigating, on a single disc is Schoenberg's: Complete Piano Music : [DGG 2530 531] Pollini Berg is the more popular and more accessible of the Big Three. This album of chamber works includes his masterful Piano Sonata: Chamber Concerto for Piano & Violin & 13 Winds Piano Sonata, Op 1 Pieces for Clarinet & Piano, Op 5 : [DGG 2531 007] Barenboim, Zukerman, Pay, Boulez (Ensemble Intercontemporain) There are also two fabulous boxed sets of music of the Second Viennese School (as the Big Three are known): [DGG 2711 014 (4 LP)] Karajan (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra): Schoenberg : Pelleas und Melisande, Op 5 Variations for Orchestra, Op 31 Verklaerte Nacht, Op 4 Berg : Three Orchestral Pieces, Op 6 Three Pieces from the "Lyric Suite" Webern : Five Movements, Op 5 Passacaglia for Orch, Op 1 Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op 6 Symphony, Op 21 and The complete string quartets of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern : [DGG 2720 029 (5 LP)] La Salle Quartet While we're on a roll, let's throw in Scriabin. This insane Russian who died of a lip tumor, wrote some very bizarre and erotic piano music. The reason we know it's erotic is that nearly every record of his music features a (disguised) naked woman on the album jacket. I owned the following for a year or two before I noticed the nude femme: Piano Sonatas #3, 4, 7, 9 : [Angel SR-40191] Zhukov Carl Orff appears to be a one-shot wonder. His Carmina Burana is a very famous and thrilling work based on a series of sacriligious songs written by monks in the Middle Ages. His Catulli Carmina and other works, though interesting, are not at all in the same vein. Carmina Burana [DGG 139 362] Janowitz, Stolze, Fischer-Dieskau, Jochum (Deutschen Oper Berlin) I mentioned Ives earlier. A beautifully recorded album of Twentieth Century American music exists on Argo (performed by Brits): Barber : Adagio for Strings Copland : Quiet City Cowell : Hymn and Fuguing Tune #10 Creston : A Rumor Ives : Symphony #3 : [Argo ZRG 845] Marriner (Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields) Also worth investigating are Leonard Bernstein's symphonies on DGG. A good German is Hans Werner Henze. In the late sixties and the early seventies DGG (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft) decided that it might be a good idea to introduce the record-buying public to some contemporary composers. There is a good pile of music still available from this period, but it exists mostly in delete bins (if you're lucky) or in used record stores. The copies in the used record stores are invariably in flawless condition -- their hapless purchasers would play 38 seconds of the disc and immediately take it off their turntable, never to have its grooves worn again. Fortunately I like this stuff. Henze is likely one of the better composers to have had the good fortune to be recorded by DGG in those days -- they still record his works once in a while. It's harsh stuff, not likely to be too pleasing to unaccustomed ears. Once you get used to Bartok and that crowd, and you're looking for new thrills, Henze should be on your list. These are probably all deleted: The Raft of the Frigate "Medusa" [DGG 139 428/29 (2 LP)] Moser, Fischer-Dieskau, Henze (North German Radio Orchestra) Symphonies #1-5 : [DGG 2707 029 (2 LP)] Henze (Berlin Philharminic Orchestra) Symphony #6 for two chamber orchestras [DGG 2530 261] Henze (London Symphony Orchestra) ::: I have mostly stuck to fairly well-known names and fairly reliable works and recordings. There is a lot of other stuff that I have left unmentioned (of course), and even more that I haven't heard or am even aware of. I hope this inspires some to try something new, and I especially hope that some will post other articles to fill in the yawning gaps. "You can't own too many records." Oscar Nierstrasz
tss@astrovax.UUCP (02/07/84)
Congratulations to Oscar on his excellent article. I have a few additions and comments... Stravinsky: is best known for the three great ballets, "The Rite of Spring", "Petrushka", and "Firebird", but these represent only 5 years very early in his career. The amazing thing about Stravinsky is not that he was so influential with these works, but that he managed to remain influential for another 50 years. During this time, he tried his hand at virtually every new technique to emerge, and in fact became one of the leaders of the neoclassical movement of the '30s. So after you've grown accustomed to "Rite of Spring", try the Symphony in C and "Apollon Musagette". Can you convince yourself that they were all written by the same person? And if you're feeling adventurous, have a listen to the "Ebony Concerto"; it's what happened when Stravinsky tried to write jazz. Bartok: The 'much else worth investigating' that Oscar mentioned includes six String Quartets (of which the 5th is my favorite), the "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta", and probably his best work, the Concerto for Orchestra. On my list the latter ranks as one of the top three works of the 20th c. Hindemith: got only a passing mention in Oscar's article. I've never heard a piece by Hindemith that I didn't like, so it's tough to pick the best of the lot, but the first one I fell in love with was the Symphony "Mathis de Maler", extracted from the opera of the same name. If you want to hear some truly amazing counterpoint, try the Symphony in Bb for Concert Band. (This is one of the most difficult, complex, and exciting pieces in the band literature, and proves that you don't need strings to make good music.) More to come....
tss@astrovax.UUCP (Thomas S. Statler) (02/08/84)
More comments on Oscar Nierstrasz's article... Vaughan Williams (look under 'V'): I, too, can vouch vigorously and vociferously for the symphonies, although my collection is sadly incomplete. The trouble is that they are only available on the Angel and RCA labels, neither of which can do them justice. The RCA recordings are probably a bit better, but they seem to be hard to find for some reason. At any rate, the 3rd Symphony is absolutely gorgeous, and deserves to be played on a warm spring afternoon. The seventh, by contrast, is the Sinfonia Antartica (yes, the spelling is correct), which draws much of its thematic material from the music Vaughan Williams wrote for the film "Scott of the Antarctic". The ninth, I think, should not be heard before at least two of the others, since it was his last. Gustav Holst: Alas, the only one of his works widely recorded is "The Planets". If you don't already know this piece, you're really missing something. Americans got the short end of the stick in Oscar's review, I thought. I'll only discuss Ives and Copland here, to keep the tirade short, but others of note include Virgil Thomson, Walter Piston, William Schuman, Morton Gould, and of course Leonard Bernstein. Copland: Well, of course, there are the ballets, "Billy the Kid", "Rodeo", and "Appalachian Spring". The "Fanfare for the Common Man" currently suffers from overuse, appearing frequently as title music on TV specials, or on football games with (groan!) a disco beat, but is certainly worth hearing. AFTER becoming acquainted with this short piece, listen to the Third Symphony. (The older recording on Columbia with Bernstein is, I think, generally considered better than the newer one with Copland conducting.) The first theme of the finale is that of the Fanfare. For those of you with good ears (but without a score!) try to identify the percussion instruments used in the maestoso section of the coda. You'll know the spot I mean when you hear it. Ives: Most of his music has to be heard to be believed. And maybe not even then. For a major work that's not quite as melancholy as the Third Symphony, try the Second. Watch out for that last chord. There is also a collection of several of his short works recorded on Columbia. I think the title on the album is "Old Songs Deranged". This recording includes the "Country Band March" and the "March: 1776" that later were merged into the second movement of "Three Places in New England". Well, I think that will do for now. Anybody else whose favorites were left out?
gayde@iwu1b.UUCP (Peter Gayde) (02/09/84)
I just recently purchased the complete Vaughan Williams symphonies
by the ONLY conductor to do him justice, Sir Adrian Boult. The
set I bought is on HMV, directly imported from Europe by IBR, the
International Book and Record Distributors of Long Island City, New
York. IBR and Andre Perreault (of Virginia Beach, VA) are FANTASTIC
sources for imported records at very good prices.
IBR offers almost every label imaginable and will give substantial
discounts for large purchases. I got the V. W. symphonies for about
$47 including postage (that's just over half of what you would have to
pay to get them on crummy Angel pressings).
Andre Perreault is a virtual candy store for those interested in
VERY cheap recordings. In a recent issue of their newsletter they
offered many HMV recordings for the incredible price of $5.99 per disc.
This included many very recently issued recordings such as Tennstedt's
Mahler, Boult's Vaughan Williams, Goodall's Ring Cycle, Martinon's
Debussy and others. Needless to say, I sent in a large order. The
one problem with this company is that they do not have a warehouse and
they do not back-order any items. They have deadlines on which they
send HUGE orders overseas and, if there isn't enough of a particular
title to go around, you have to wait until they offer it again or try
another company (such as I had to do with IBR and the V. W. set).
Now, back to the original subject of this article. Boult has
an obvious affinity for V. W.'s music, he knew the composer very
well and premiered many of his works (as he did for Holst's "The
Planets"). The composer attended many of the sessions for Boult's
earlier recordings of his music (in the 40's and 50's). This cycle
was recorded between 1968 and 1972. All of the symphonies are
beautifully performed by people who have the music in their blood
(New Philharmonia and London Phil. Orchestras). The sound is very good
and the pressings are silent. Especially nice are symphonies #3, 4 and
7. I highly recommend this recording.
--
Peter Gayde ihnp4!{iwu1b,ihuxp}!gayde
AT&T Technologies
Naperville, IL
(312) 979-7186