Musical Discoveries

[Pulcinella]

For the purposes of this thread, may I suggest that a 'discovery' could be, for example, a piece new to me that is:

- broadcast between the end of the 1930 concert and the start of the next scheduled programme at 2000;
- an encore;
- included in a playlist programme for which I don't know or haven't checked the schedule (if indeed the latter is available in advance);
- a piece mentioned and/or recommended by another Forumista;
- broadcast in 'Through The Night', which I listen to on a random basis (in which case I'm unlikely to post details while listening );
- or, as has been mentioned, lurking on the shelves of a charity shop and almost certainly worth the modest price.
The Lunchtime Concert slot has recently introduced me to a number of enjoyable 'discoveries', most recently a piano sonata by Vorisek and a string quartet by Schulhoff.

In this way I have 'discovered' works such as:
- Somervell's Violin Concerto and Clarinet Quintet;
- Alun Hoddinott's 'Mistral' concerto and haunting 'Lanterne des Morts' (which latter incidentally led to a walking holiday based in Sarlat);
- Peter Sculthorpe's equally haunting 'Port Essington' (which led, inter alia, to Nigel Westlake's 'Antarctica' guitar concerto).
- String Quartets by Hummel

I know that there has been some discussion about the length of concerts these days, but I didn't realise that they'd become that short!

[oddoneout]

I've spent a LOT of time listening to the highways and byways of English music due to my great love of Elgar's music and there's a lot of interesting music to be heard but very little of it, imho, reaches the masterwork category.

Whether it's a 'masterwork' or not(somewhat subjective in any case) surely doesn't matter for the purposes of the thread? It's things members have heard which they found interesting and wish to share - rather in the same vein as the birds, books, TV, weather?

[ahinton]

But I like the serendipity-doo-dah suggested in the OP - works that you've encountered "by chance". Most of my new Musical encounters have been things I've planned in advance to hear. Just hearing a piece by chance on the radio, and being hooked - that's one of the things that used to happen regularly on Radio 3; hasn't happened in years. The nearest thing these days is buying a CD on speck in a Charity shop by a composer whose name I either hadn't heard of before, or only knew of vaguely.

Indeed; it's actually what got me started, having been raised in a music-free zone and with no knowledge, experience or expectation of what music can do and then by chance listened to a radio broadcast of Chopin's Fourth Ballade played by John Ogdon which proved to be a life-changing experience...

[Pulcinella]

Whether it's a 'masterwork' or not(somewhat subjective in any case) surely doesn't matter for the purposes of the thread? It's things members have heard which they found interesting and wish to share - rather in the same vein as the birds, books, TV, weather?

Agreed!
I've discovered a lot from seeing what jlw, teamsaint, and JosephK (to name just a few) have posted on the What are you listening to... thread, less so serendipitously after evening concerts, or as encores, but would happily drop in here from time to time to see what has appealed to others and add my own contributions.

[gurnemanz]

I chanced upon a Naxos disc of songs by Peter Cornelius reduced to 2.99 Euro at jpc with a five star customer review. I checked Gramophone where Edward Greenfield commented: "This is an enchanting disc ... Altogether a delightful revelation." I noted that jpc were selling all four in the series at the same low price and dived in. No regrets. Niche listening for Lieder nuts (e.g. me) maybe but a real journey of discovery and happy to go along with Greenfield's assessment. Appealing and unpretentious with vivid word-painting of mostly - unusually - his own texts.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Just over a year ago I benefited from a friend's disposing of his CD collection (everything digitised) and acquired a disc that I'd probably have overlooked even in a charity shop. It was the ASV recording of Joseph Marx's Nature Trilogy. Lovely, lovely Music - if (and this is a big ask) you can imagine Delius having had a thorough German Musical training, you get some idea of the Music. I've played the disc many times since, and I can imagine this Music is going to be a real "pal" in the (many, I hope) years to come.

The whole album is here - and I recommend listening to the first piece (all 26 minutes of it) first: if this is the sort of thing you find ravishing, prepare to be ravished!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6laWpzvku4

[LMcD]

I know that there has been some discussion about the length of concerts these days, but I didn't realise that they'd become that short!

My inadvertent announcement of the arrival of the 30-minute concert is something I'm happy to laugh about; however, in 2016 Stephen Hough suggested that that people, especially young ones, who lead busy lives and possibly have shorter attention spans or just don't have enough time to attend a standard-length concert might be more likely to attend if they were offered just one major work and possibly an overture or other tit-bit.
The Radio 3 Evening Concert is quite often over by about 2115, leaving time for at least one substantial 'filler'.

[vinteuil]

The Radio 3 Evening Concert is quite often over by about 2115, leaving time for at least one substantial 'filler'.

... yes indeed. It is a regular source of irritation here that one has no clue (from the Radio Times or from the Radio 3 website) as to what will be played from c. 9:15 to 10:00. I have by fluke caught some good things; equally I must have missed lots.

They must know in advance what they're going to play - pretty please : could they let us know too??

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[LMcD]

... yes indeed. It is a regular source of irritation here that one has no clue (from the Radio Times or from the Radio 3 website) as to what will be played from c. 9:15 to 10:00. I have by fluke caught some good things; equally I must have missed lots.

They must know in advance what they're going to play - pretty please : could they let us know too??

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I share your frustration in this respect, but presumably they don't know what a time a live broadcast will end?

[vinteuil]

I share your frustration in this respect, but presumably they don't know what a time a live broadcast will end?

... surely they will know with a margin of five/ten minutes? But there's usually a thirty/forty-five minute 'chunk' that they fill...



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[LMcD]

... surely they will know with a margin of five/ten minutes? But there's usually a thirty/forty-five minute 'chunk' that they fill...



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I agree - they must have SOME idea ….
One can of course find out afterwards via the BBC Radio 3 schedule. In the last week, featured post-concert works have included Richard Strauss's Piano Quartet, a selection from Carl Nielsen's suite Op. 45 (a useful supplement to CoTW) and Respighi's 'The Pines of Rome'

[jayne lee wilson]

Addendum to #14, this has some familiar music on it (played so beautifully you won't mind...) but there are 4 infrequently recorded, exquisite concertante works that I'd not encountered before...
Gorgeous album. Like the D'Indy, another for the Francophile connoisseur....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/the-secret-faure-2-sinfonieorchester-basel/afxayarpqrhca

I guess...if your musical appetite feels jaded, you need at least some means of finding out about New Releases and the unknown.... magazine reviews, a dedicated page on your streaming service, or....
FoR3.org....
I don't know how I'd live without hearing things I hadn't before...and you tend to find that, when you return to your beloved Brahms and Mozart etc., they sound refreshed & renewed...

(With familiar rep of course, the classic revitalisation is seeking out unlikely, off-the-beaten recordings of it...another story..)

[LMcD]

A piece of music new to me that featured in a pretty depressing film called 'Monsieur Hire' (1989) turned out to be the slow section of the last movement of Brahms's Opus 25 Piano Quartet. This led me to take a greater interest in Brahms's early- and middle-period chamber works - something for which I shall always be grateful.
I am continually making parallel enjoyable discoveries when it comes to books and authors, having become a great admirer in recent years of, among others, (Sir) Antony Beevor, Ben Macintyre, William Boyd, Thomas Kenneally and Kate Atkinson. I've also become quite interested in 20th century military history following a 'Battlefields Tour' - a field into which I had scarcely ventured previously.

[jayne lee wilson]

Just returning to the Antonini La Morte della Ragione for a second - the CD is an astounding, gorgeous hardback book production, with numerous renaissance paintings (Arcimbolo, Bosch etc beautifully reproduced) essays and quotes all relevant to the amazing music.

A real celebration of this wonderful group - and it would make a lovely gift for any perennially curious musiclover... (or to yourself, of course...)
(If you don't know Arcimbolo's extraordinary work hit Google Images now!)

[vinteuil]

A piece of music new to me that featured in a pretty depressing film called 'Monsieur Hire' (1989) turned out to be the slow section of the last movement of Brahms's Opus 25 Piano Quartet. This led me to take a greater interest in Brahms's early- and middle-period chamber works - something for which I shall always be grateful.
.

... a great film, taken from a particularly bleak Simenon story. I loved it. The Brahms is I think in an arrangement by Michael Nyman, with Alexander Balanescu, Kate Musker, and Tony Hinnigan.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/Monsieur-Hire

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