Shostakovich 4: anyone else got a 'problem piece' by a beloved composer?

[BBMmk2]

yes, loads - lyrita & naxos!!! i have seen about 15 so far - i hope you don't expect me to play any of them yet!?

Yes wedo!! :)

[teamsaint]

Yes wedo!! :)

Blimey, 15 "free at the point of use" Alwyn CD's..... lucky you...get listening ! Symphony #3 is great.

(sorry about yesterdays footy, BBM !)

[EdgeleyRob]

Just reverting for a moment, most of the music of Malcolm Arnold sets my teeth on edge,it's so often noisy in an uncomfortable way. with a sort of heavy rhetoric which bores me quickly.

I am afraid I have to agree about Malcolm Arnold - his Symphony No1 puts my teeth on edge .

Come on guys help me out here,Suffolkcoastal,Roehre,Teamsaint where are you,let's be 'avin you.

It's interesting to see as well that most of the fuss about George Lloyd has died down.Still, it's there for those who like it.

I was making the fuss on here most of the time,but you can't flog the ground where the dead horse once lay.
I now have to accept that I am the only person on here (maybe in the whole world) who listens to this wonderful (IMVHO)music.

[teamsaint]

Come on guys help me out here,Suffolkcoastal,Roehre,Teamsaint where are you,let's be 'avin you.



I was making the fuss on here most of the time,but you can't flog the ground where the dead horse once lay.
I now have to accept that I am the only person on here (maybe in the whole world) who listens to this wonderful (IMVHO)music.

Well its all taste, but I think the Arnold symphonies are just fantastic...a man who has something to say, and a way to say it.The Ninth, just one example....well up there with the very best.
As for George LLoyd, he is on my list...I certainly enjoyed my one listen to the (?) fifth symphony.

ER, it's prophets in their own countries. If some of these composers were from other countries, we would be all over them like a rash...... Seriously, just WHAT is the issue with playing, for example, a Rubbra symphony once in a while on a 24 hour a day (British)classical music station?

Oh to have a proper musical education, and the time to do a Masters or something on Arnold's symphonies........till then it's tag along on other people's playlists..in a good way !!

[Richard Tarleton]

Come on guys help me out here,Suffolkcoastal,Roehre,Teamsaint where are you,let's be 'avin you.

I'm none of the above, and don't know much Arnold, but love the guitar concerto. I heard Julian Bream play it in the QEH with the composer conducting (ECO), and have the recording with Bream/CBSO/Rattle - brilliant.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Obviously a man with taste,don't wait too long before giving them a try.

'fess up, Edge: you are roberta's dad!

BTW; roberta - are you a chap called robert a, or a woman called roberta? (Just for future reference! )

[Roehre]

Come on guys help me out here,Suffolkcoastal,Roehre,Teamsaint where are you,let's be 'avin you.

(....)
I now have to accept that I am the only person on here (maybe in the whole world) who listens to this wonderful (IMVHO)music.

Here's the cavalry !!!!!
Arnold's orchestral output is a bit uneven, but that hardly does apply to the symphonies and certainly not to his chamber works. Alwyn's works (orchestral and chamber) are almost constantly of high level, whereas Lloyd's IMO are enjoyable but too often in some way or another repeating himself.

[EdgeleyRob]

'fess up, Edge: you are roberta's dad!

[Barbirollians]

I don't dislike all Arnold . I rather like his guitar concerto too but Symphony 1 as played on the recent BBCMM disc I could not abide .

Alwyn I like a great deal especially the Naxos symphony cycle .

[roberta]

'fess up, Edge: you are roberta's dad!

BTW; roberta - are you a chap called robert a, or a woman called roberta? (Just for future reference! )

i am female. if i was male, my name would be robert or roberto. er is not my dad. i like alwyn and arnold and i have heard little folk music, but the fans of folk are wierdos (sorry ts, not you of course!)

[Boilk]

i am female. if i was male, my name would be robert or roberto. er is not my dad.

I was recently in contact with an Italian pianist called Nicola. Nicola is male, always has been. I've not asked him about his name, but assume he's not the only one.

[teamsaint]

i am female. if i was male, my name would be robert or roberto. er is not my dad. i like alwyn and arnold and i have heard little folk music, but the fans of folk are wierdos (sorry ts, not you of course!)

Hmmmm..it is true that folk audiences CAN be a bit odd.They either sit in deferential , motionless silence with a plastic milk bottle full of undrinkable beer for company, or the talk loudly over the slightly under amplified music. Usually.
However, if you are lucky, at a Bellowhead, Oysterband or Show of Hands gig,for example, you might get a joyfully mixed age audience, who know a good tune and a right on political message when they hear it, and aren't afraid of either .
I'm very much a part time folk fan, but there are loads of talented young musicians doing what they love really well, sometimes trying to do something about the world. Lots of them doing interesting things with old idioms...Eliza Carthy for instance.Plenty of old punks are in the audience mix too, still finding something that reminds them of 35 years ago.
If you don't know Show of Hands, Oysterband, Bellowhead, Eliza, Karine Polwart,or some of the other stars, give them a go. Lots of great Celtic Roots stuff out there too...
(sorry if you know all this already....)! Just got enthusiastic !

[roberta]

Hmmmm..it is true that folk audiences CAN be a bit odd.They either sit in deferential , motionless silence with a plastic milk bottle full of undrinkable beer for company, or the talk loudly over the slightly under amplified music. Usually.
However, if you are lucky, at a Bellowhead, Oysterband or Show of Hands gig,for example, you might get a joyfully mixed age audience, who know a good tune and a right on political message when they hear it, and aren't afraid of either .
I'm very much a part time folk fan, but there are loads of talented young musicians doing what they love really well, sometimes trying to do something about the world. Lots of them doing interesting things with old idioms...Eliza Carthy for instance.Plenty of old punks are in the audience mix too, still finding something that reminds them of 35 years ago.
If you don't know Show of Hands, Oysterband, Bellowhead, Eliza, Karine Polwart,or some of the other stars, give them a go. Lots of great Celtic Roots stuff out there too...
(sorry if you know all this already....)! Just got enthusiastic !

i haven't heard of any of those bands! it all sounds interesting and nothing like the sandals and bad breath that i imagined

edit - i need to explain that last bit. a music teacher at school was a folk fan and wore sandals even in winter. he also had the nicknam of poo-tonsils!!!

[ahinton]

I was recently in contact with an Italian pianist called Nicola. Nicola is male, always has been. I've not asked him about his name, but assume he's not the only one.

Signor Ventrella, by chance?...

[teamsaint]

Roberta...There are some great bands . i am no kind of expert, head over to the "World" sub forum for that, but those I mentioned are ace for starters.
Oysterband....very much folk rock with a message...my faves, really. Great, just GREAT live.

Show of Hands. The Man Utd of Folk. Class, hugely popular, a bit angry, a top band, great on disc , better live.

Bellowhead. Simply the best live show around, on ANY circuit. An 11 piece showband, just go and see them live. Nothing else like it, and believe me, the place will be rocking, by the end, and probably most of the way through. Fantastic records too.

Oh, and if your dad has any albums by The Men They Couldn't Hang, get them out too. Of of Britains most criminally underrated bands.
(Bit OT, but its all music.....and Caliban won't mind...all that much...)