Quiz: Mystery scores

Started by Sean, August 27, 2007, 06:49:47 AM

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Guido

#4260
February 22, 2009, 02:51:28 PM
Yes you are right. As I say, it's a weak piece, so there's no harm in not following it up. It was in fact his last work, the central movement of a projected 3 movement oboe concerto which was left incomplete at his death. Barber wrote it whilst suffering from the cancer that eventually killed him which may be one reason why he could not devote much energy to this composition. It sounds incomplete in its orchestration by Charles Turner, and one wonders if Barber might have added more detail if he'd had the time or energy... but the piano score is 'complete', so perhaps it was just failing creativity... this is in the context of 10 years of alcoholism, lonely seclusion and depression. He producing almost nothing during these years, though the other pieces he did produce are mostly very fine, if not at his absolute best. While the generally accepted story has it that his decline was due to the catastrophic failure of his second opera Antony and Cleopatra, in actual fact it was far more to do with his separation from Menotti and the sale of his house of 30 years called Capricorn. In the past this has rarely been discussed because Menotti was still alive, but the clues are all there in the music - see for instance To Be Sung On The Water
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Guido

#4261
February 22, 2009, 02:55:33 PM
53 - its 'by' Wittgenstein, but I was wondering who he thought he was quoting. Possibly no one in which case it is his only composition!

54 - is a little musical joke by Ives entitled 'election memo' which was found amongst his papers when he died.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

sul G

#4262
February 22, 2009, 03:05:17 PM Last Edit: February 24, 2009, 06:36:36 AM by sul G

Joe_Campbell

#4263
February 22, 2009, 04:09:40 PM
I'm pretty sure I get your clue, Sul G. I'm still at a loss, as it's sent me on a wild goose chase! (and that's if I interpreted it correctly, too)

sul G

#4264
February 23, 2009, 03:18:17 AM
Quote from: Joe_Campbell on February 22, 2009, 04:09:40 PM
I'm pretty sure I get your clue, Sul G.

I hope so - it's quite well hidden...

Dax

#4265
February 23, 2009, 03:39:09 AM
93 looks like Simeon ten Holt. Canto ostinato?

Maciek

#4266
February 23, 2009, 04:39:43 AM
Yes, it is, Dave! I found that little snippet on ten Holt's web page.

BTW, I thought you'd show up on this thread sooner or later. It's the place where (almost) all the smart people come. Welcome!

(I hope I don't get banned from the thread for adding that "almost" in brackets. I was just trying to be sensitive, you know. And I do have some new stuff to add here. As soon as I get a break from my philosophy binge, I'll try to upload them.)

Maciek

#4267
February 23, 2009, 04:55:10 AM
I just remembered that the ones I uploaded for the (failed) facebook group are still available:

MM 94 (I hope I'm getting the numbering scheme right)


MM 95

Maciek

#4268
February 23, 2009, 04:56:08 AM
MM 96


MM 97


MM 98


MM 99


99? This seems so wrong, there really should be one more. ;D

sul G

#4269
February 23, 2009, 05:16:52 AM
Indeed - it's lonely up here in treble figures!

I'm sure I've played some of those before, Maciek. I must have a little think...

sul G

#4270
February 23, 2009, 07:24:35 AM
95 is the fugue from Szymanowski's Prelude and Fugue in C# minor. Do you know what gave it away? - the avvivando! - that's such a Szymanowski marking! In fact, I think a certain someone ought to change his name again....

Just tell us now to save hassle - are they all Polish, then?  ;)

Maciek

#4271
February 23, 2009, 11:19:42 AM Last Edit: February 23, 2009, 11:21:21 AM by Maciek
Luke, you're of course correct.

As per your question... drum roll... No! They are not ALL Polish. How many of them AREN'T is another thing. ;D

Oh, and I loved the "treble" pun. Even if it wasn't meant as one. And even if it doesn't make much sense as one. ;D

sul G

#4272
February 23, 2009, 01:27:34 PM
There's possibly some Moszkowski in there too, or something of the sort - no 94, maybe, which looks like a Spanish Dance a la Moszkowski, though not one I can track down as yet....

Maciek

#4273
February 23, 2009, 03:50:50 PM
I'm not sure if this is good enough as a clue but if you think that 94 is by Moszkowski then you're in for one heck of a surprise. Because it most emphatically isn't. While I'm at it I might as well reveal that the composer of no. 94 is not Polish. He has a typically Polish surname, though. And I seem to vaguely recall that he had Polish ancestors, which would explain the surname.

Maciek

#4274
February 23, 2009, 04:28:15 PM
I should also add that while the piece itself (no. 94) is not by a Polish composer, it somehow refers to a Polish composer.

And that the non-Polish composer of the piece is extremely famous. Not in the "mystery scores" sense but in the real-life classical music sense.

sul G

#4275
February 23, 2009, 11:42:07 PM
Ah, it's Tchaikovsky's Un Poco de Chopin op 72/15. I thought I'd seen it before....although actually I'm not sure my copy of that set is complete, so I might not have done.

J.Z. Herrenberg

#4276
February 23, 2009, 11:44:24 PM
No. 94 must be Stravinsky (Polish ancestry, Polish surname).
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Maciek

#4277
February 24, 2009, 12:29:20 AM
No, no. Luke got it right, it's the Tchaikovsky. Darn, I thought it would take him a little more time. ;D Still, one sleepless night is better than nothing, I guess. >:D

J.Z. Herrenberg

#4278
February 24, 2009, 12:37:51 AM
Luke is always right. He's a Jedi Knight.

(Sorry for not having responded to your PM yet, Maciek - I am very busy...)
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

sul G

#4279
February 24, 2009, 03:05:16 AM
Quote from: Maciek on February 24, 2009, 12:29:20 AM
No, no. Luke got it right, it's the Tchaikovsky. Darn, I thought it would take him a little more time. ;D Still, one sleepless night is better than nothing, I guess. >:D

Sorry, I slept like a baby! And once I knew it wasn't Polish - that Moszkowski look was quite convincing, at any rate - it's surprising how quickly the right piece sprang to mind. (I saw your post at 8:40 this morning and had to leave with the kids for school at 8:45, so thank goodness I got it quickly or it would have been bugging me all morning as I did the shopping!)

Strange how unlike Chopin the Tchaikovsky is; similarly, the homage to Schumann earlier in the set is not really much like that composer either. And Grieg has a 'souvenir de Chopin' (something along those lines - I'm too lazy to go and check the title) which also sounds nothing like, feels nothing like, looks nothing like. It makes you wonder (well, it makes me wonder) whether what these composers appreciated in Chopin (and Schumann) was something other than what we appreciate in them. To me, anyway, both Chopin and Schumann are explosively inventive poets, whereas if their imitations are anything to go by, to Tchaikovsky and Grieg their value seems to be something simpler. At any rate, the depth and complexity of Chopin is reimagined as simply some kind of salon charm, each bar neat, tidy and clever, but nothing poetic at all.

As I discovered yesterday, however, Moszkowski's Chopin imitation is rather more accurate - this lift from the A flat Polonaise is the beginning of the Chopin variation from Moszkowski's pretty funny and sarcastic Theme and Variations in the Styles of Different Composers (Czerny, Clementi, Bach, Brahms, Weber, Chopin, Rubinstein, Liszt  ;D ;) :



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