Not good pieces by good composers

[Chris Newman]

After treading on so many sensitive toes by expressing my dislike of the Reformation Symphony and Elijah I have to say that there is much of Mendelssohn's output that I adore: the Italian, Scottish and those relatively recently rediscovered youthful string symphonies, the quartets, Violin Concerto, A Midsummer Night's Dream (preferably with a good bit of the play included), most of the overtures. Much of his music has an airiness and strength that is wonderfully bracing. There are a few works however when too much teutonic dumpling seems to prevent them floating for me.

Jayne and others, I have tried endlessly with the Reformation Symphony. Four live performances and two recordings behind me and I still cannot get to love it. That is probably why I erroneously spotted a thematic connection with Schubert 9 (especially as I knew Felix M premiered the Great C Major: belatedly, but that was not his fault, of course. Thank you, Felix, for doing so.) and I had not absorbed the gist of copious programme notes I have read on the Reformation Symphony. I have sung in Elijah and have the famous Frubeck de Burgos recording but still do not succeed with it. I am sure these works are my loss.

[Osborn]

Beethoven's drinking songs, political songs & Song of the Flea, all with audience chorus, are um...

[Op. XXXIX]

Gerontius is a work of great beauty and genius. As with much religious music at its best, whilst it is playing, it makes me wish I was too.

Exactly! (Best thing I've read in this thread.)

Not unexpected disagreements (4th movement of Beethoven's 9th? Seriously?), but I'd happily second the Tchaikovsky Fantasy Op 56. Now there's a piece of claptrap.

[Roehre]

Not unexpected disagreements (4th movement of Beethoven's 9th? Seriously?), but I'd happily second the Tchaikovsky Fantasy Op 56. Now there's a piece of claptrap.

Beethoven's Ninth finale is a difficult one.
In itself it certainly is not a bad mvt. But as finale following the preceding 3 brilliant movements is another story.
Even Beethoven himself was full of doubts of this solution ending the Ninth, so who are we to accept this mvt fully then?
I for one don't think the finale is the crowning mvt of the Ninth, for technical reasons (2 variation sets following each other), as well as a certain lack of "grandeur": the connection which caused the composer so much trouble, and which is fundamentally childish.
But: is it in itself bad music? No, I don't think so.

[Nick Armstrong]

Tchaikovsky Fantasy Op 56. Now there's a piece of claptrap.

[Parry1912]

Is it just me or is there something a little creepy in someone knowing that ????

In my defence I did have to Google it!

[antongould]

Bruckner Symphony 0

And am I allowed to say

Paul Simon 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover?

[Roehre]

Bruckner Symphony 0

In itself not bad music, but of course the composer "annulled" it himself and didn't want it to be published.
But I do think there were a couple of lesser composers who would be delighted to have composed this work

[cloughie]

Mention of Clara Butt reminds me of another statuesque contralto, Gladys Ripley, who seems forgotten today. She seemed to me to be in every choral work I ever heard back in the late 40s and early 50s, and I'm pretty sure she recorded Sea Pictures.

With George Weldon if I remember correctly.

[Pabmusic]

With George Weldon if I remember correctly.

It seems to be available as an mp3 download from a Somm disc: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...7362743&sr=8-1

[Suffolkcoastal]

Bruckner's '0' is actually not bad at all, I find it a much more staisfactory work than his 1st Symphony and I also prefer it to his 3rd.

[MrGongGong]

Paul Simon 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover?

YES you are

[MrGongGong]

Paul Simon 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover?

YES you are



(but only ONCE .............not sure how that happened ? )

[Roehre]

Bruckner's '0' is actually not bad at all, I find it a much more staisfactory work than his 1st Symphony and I also prefer it to his 3rd.

Immediately agreed. IIRC the first (the Linz version that is) was at least partly composed before or during the Nullte - in any case the composition of these pieces is intertwined somehow.

[antongould]

Bruckner's '0' is actually not bad at all, I find it a much more staisfactory work than his 1st Symphony and I also prefer it to his 3rd.

Well I have tried to get into it but obviously failed miserably to me Bruckner, unlike myself, got very, very much better with age and I realise 0 is not the first......