What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[Joseph K]

Schoenberg - Piano Concerto - The Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez & Mitsuko Uchida

Only just now in fact getting round to listening to this.

[RichardB]

Ferneyhough - Renvoi/Shards (2008) (with score) - YouTube

Rather nice, don't you think? Interesting to see the score, which I hadn't looked at before - some of its rhythms are much more "straightforward" than is usual in his music for solo instruments! Anyway I think it's shameful how Brian's 80th birthday this year has gone virtually unmarked by so many musical institutions dedicated to contemporary music, and not just (as you mentioned before) the Proms. It's almost as if they believe less in quality and depth, and more in promoting whoever the current compositeurs du jour might be.

[Joseph K]

Rather nice, don't you think? Interesting to see the score, which I hadn't looked at before - some of its rhythms are much more "straightforward" than is usual in his music for solo instruments! Anyway I think it's shameful how Brian's 80th birthday this year has gone virtually unmarked by so many musical institutions dedicated to contemporary music, and not just (as you mentioned before) the Proms. It's almost as if they believe less in quality and depth, and more in promoting whoever the current compositeurs du jour might be.

Yes, very nice, sparkling and colourful, amongst other things. And I agree (of course) with everything you say.

I am listening to Schoenberg's piano concerto again, having got to the end of it I found myself expecting or wanting some kind of cadence and decided that I simply wasn't tuning into the piece properly. So I'm listening to it again paying closer attention this time (though I paused it to write this! )

edit: ... the ending still feels abrupt to me! Oh well...

[Joseph K]

Now: Ferneyhough - Lemma-Icon-Epigram - Ian Pace, piano

This is a great piece. The rhythms, shapes of lines and textures conjure vivid three-dimensional shapes for me. And the 'processual' form I sense...

[Bryn]

Now: Ferneyhough - Lemma-Icon-Epigram - Ian Pace, piano

This is a great piece. The rhythms, shapes of lines and textures conjure vivid three-dimensional shapes for me. And the 'processual' form I sense...

Were you listening to the CD or the YouTube upload? The former, I hope.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, very nice, sparkling and colourful, amongst other things. And I agree (of course) with everything you say.

I am listening to Schoenberg's piano concerto again, having got to the end of it I found myself expecting or wanting some kind of cadence and decided that I simply wasn't tuning into the piece properly. So I'm listening to it again paying closer attention this time (though I paused it to write this! )

edit: ... the ending still feels abrupt to me! Oh well...

What interests me about the final movements of the Piano Concerto are the brass fanfares' remarkable similarity to those cropping up in the Bartok Third PC, which was composed some 11 years before Schoenberg's.

[Joseph K]

Were you listening to the CD or the YouTube upload? The former, I hope.

Yes Bryn, the former.

[Bryn]

What interests me about the final movements of the Piano Concerto are the brass fanfares' remarkable similarity to those cropping up in the Bartok Third PC, which was composed some 11 years before Schoenberg's.

Eh? The Schoenberg dates from 1942, three years before the Bartok.

[Stanfordian]

That looks an interesting collection, though Presto's listing is a little odd: the Philharmonia Orchestra and Manoug Parikian in Barber's Summer Music?

Barber: Summer Music, Op. 31

• Les Vents Français (wind ensemble), Manoug Parikian (violin)
• Philharmonia Orchestra

https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...-wind-quintets

Hello Pulcinella,

Yes, I have both CDs in this set. The second CD is '20th Century Wind Quintets' also played by Les Vents Français. Any reference to Manoug Parikian (violin), Philharmonia Orchestra is incorrect.

[Stanfordian]

Debussy
6 Épigraphes antiques (orchestrated Ernest Ansermet), CD 139, L. 131
Sarabande (orchestrated Ravel) No. 2 from Pour le piano, CD 95, L. 95
6 La boîte à joujoux, (orchestrated Andre Caplet) CD 136, L. 128
Basler Sinfonie Orchester / Armin Jordan
Recorded 1981 Martinskirche, Basel, Switzerland
Erato, CD

A recent discovery for me. There is much beautiful music here in these rarely heard orchestrations.

[Bryn]

Debussy
6 Épigraphes antiques (orchestrated Ernest Ansermet), CD 139, L. 131
Sarabande (orchestrated Ravel) No. 2 from Pour le piano, CD 95, L. 95
6 La boîte à joujoux, (orchestrated Andre Caplet) CD 136, L. 128
Basler Sinfonie Orchester / Armin Jordan
Recorded 1981 Martinskirche, Basel, Switzerland
Erato, CD

A recent discovery for me. There is much beautiful music here in these rarely heard orchestrations.

Re the Épigraphes antiques, may I recommend the restrored original, Chansons de Bilitis (the Musique de scène, not the the Trois Chansons).

https://musescore.com/derek_john_benton/debussy-chansons-de-bilitis-l-96

There are several recordings on CD or as downloads, etc. The first recording, with the celesta part reconstructed by Boulez, was recently made available again, (Vera Zorina/Robert Craft), though listings for it tend to erroneously label it as the Trois Chansons.

[Pulcinella]

Debussy
6 Épigraphes antiques (orchestrated Ernest Ansermet), CD 139, L. 131
Sarabande (orchestrated Ravel) No. 2 from Pour le piano, CD 95, L. 95
6 La boîte à joujoux, (orchestrated Andre Caplet) CD 136, L. 128
Basler Sinfonie Orchester / Armin Jordan
Recorded 1981 Martinskirche, Basel, Switzerland
Erato, CD

A recent discovery for me. There is much beautiful music here in these rarely heard orchestrations.

I found this program (sic) note interesting:

https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/D/Debussy-(orch-by-Ravel)-Sarabande-and-Danse

The Epigraphes and La boîte feature in Decca's Ansermet French Music box set, which I have, together with Danse but not Sarabande.

[Mandryka]

The great Pavlos Antoniadis plays the great Ustvolskaya 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGo9pR2nZBM&ab_channel=PavlosAntoniadis

[Joseph K]

Now: Ferneyhough - Lemma-Icon-Epigram - Ian Pace, piano

This is a great piece. The rhythms, shapes of lines and textures conjure vivid three-dimensional shapes for me. And the 'processual' form I sense...

Now spinning the Three Pieces, which I'm enjoying.

[Stanfordian]

Wagner, Berg & Mahler – Orchestral Songs – Anja Harteros
Wagner
Wesendonck Lieder
Berg
Sieben frühe Lieder
Mahler
Rückert-Lieder
Anja Harteros (soprano)
Münchner Philharmoniker / Valery Gergiev
Recorded 2018 (Wagner); 2020 (Berg); 2019 (Mahler), Philharmonie, Munich
Münchner Philharmoniker MPHIL, CD

I'm an admirer of Anja Harteros and the Münchner Philharmoniker.