Quiz: Mystery scores

[rappy]

True,

you have to enter "0" for composers with no catalog. Unfortunately, Gaston counts Haydn among them.

[dyn]

neat idea! unfortunately lots of the links are dead now :/ but i can identify #46 here as shostakovich's 2nd piano sonata, the first one of these as a rachmaninoff piece for piano 6 hands (no clue on #477). i won't essay a guess as to the composer of #481 but the instrumentation seems to be... clarinet, trumpet, trombone and snare drum?* and the typesetting suggests Universal Edition although that's no guarantee of anything. this is (i think) Elliott Carter's first symphony; this is from Dohnanyi's Variations on a Nursery Tune, and i think this is a Bloch concerto grosso.

most of the people who were involved in this thread seem to now be relatively inactive! still, i can put up some mystery scores if anyone might be interested

* actually a chance encounter revealed it to be from Martinu's Quartet for clarinet, horn, violoncello and snare drum, H. 139, which has to be one of the most obscure pieces i have ever encountered >.>

[EigenUser]

Yes! I really want to play this game! I was so disappointed when, after looking through pages of scores here, the forum topic seems to have died out in 2011 or so. I will say that I was quite intimidated after seeing some forum members breeze through some relatively obscure scores as if they were the Brandenburg Concertos.

If anyone is ever interested in this, I'll go ahead and re-start with this one. The composer might not be so challenging, but it is one of his lesser known pieces (which is a shame, I think).

[amw]

Yes! I really want to play this game! I was so disappointed when, after looking through pages of scores here, the forum topic seems to have died out in 2011 or so. I will say that I was quite intimidated after seeing some forum members breeze through some relatively obscure scores as if they were the Brandenburg Concertos.

If anyone is ever interested in this, I'll go ahead and re-start with this one. The composer might not be so challenging, but it is one of his lesser known pieces (which is a shame, I think).

Might be better off starting a new thread—this one seems derelict. I'll start out with a couple, and see if it sinks or floats.

[amw]

Testing....

#1


#2


#3


I imagine the bottom one will be the easiest.

[EigenUser]

Oh boy, I had a feeling that I was going to dig myself into a hole too deep to get out of. I know none of them off of the top of my head, but I found the first piece with the help of Google (i.e. I cheated). I'm almost positive that the second one is published by Schott, but I don't know the work. The third one seems to have an interesting key signature and it looks like it must be for a stringed instrument.

I'll re-post mine here. The composer should be easy (I think), but this is not one of his well-known works, at least compared to his other stuff. It's a shame, because it beautifully combines two of his compositional philosophies at the time he wrote it.

Hmmm... I'm not getting the option to attach a file as I did before. I'm new here -- does anyone know why this is?

[amw]

I think attachments are only available to subscribers. Best way is probably to upload it to Dropbox, Photobucket or some other free image hosting service, then embed in your post with the [img ] [/ img] tags.

The second piece is fairly well known to contemporary music nuts, especially in the UK, with the excerpt being its most famous (infamous?) bit. The third one... yep, you got both of those right at least

[lescamil]

Number 1 is Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, I think the first movement.

Number 2 is Thomas Adès's Asyla, the third movement.

Can't quite place my finger on the third, even though I know I've seen it.

[EigenUser]

Thanks for the help with the images! Here are some scores.

1. Probably the hardest one.


2. One of my favorite passages from this piece.


3. Should be pretty easy.


4. Very different from the others, for one particular reason. Not necessarily difficult, though.

[amw]

Number 1 is Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, I think the first movement.

Number 2 is Thomas Adès's Asyla, the third movement.

Indeed. #3 remains open for anyone who might recognise it.

No idea whether these will be easier or harder:

#4


#5

Thanks for the help with the images! Here are some scores.

1. Probably the hardest one.


2. One of my favorite passages from this piece.


3. Should be pretty easy.


4. Very different from the others, for one particular reason. Not necessarily difficult, though.

I think #1 is Atmosphères, and #2 is definitely Bartók 1, from the end of the... 1st movement I believe. I'm not very good at this either.

No clue on #3 or 4. 3 looks like an English or early American composer, I'm guessing from 1920-40 ish; something of the style reminds me of Havergal Brian, though I know it's not him because his scores are typeset differently (or published as facsimiles). I don't know his music well at all so I have no idea why he came to mind as a point of comparison. Due to 4's anonymous typesetting in what looks like a really old shitty version of Finale I'm totally stumped on that one. I suspect it's the most recent of your examples though.

[EigenUser]

I thought that amw#5 was the Bartok's early Rhapsody (Op. 1) for Piano and Orchestra, but this doesn't seem to be the case. I'll have to look into this one.

#1: You have the right composer, but not the right piece. If people have trouble with this one I'll post another page. I like how much of Ligeti's micropolyphonic-era music has the distinct diagonal patterns in the scores.

#2: Yes, it is Bartok 1, the end of the first movement -- another severely underrated piece.

#3: Correct -- the composer is American. He was close friends with the composer in my avatar.

#4: The typesetting definitely makes this one harder. This was written after #2 and #3, but before #1. You could say that it "premiered" in 1960.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Indeed. #3 remains open for anyone who might recognise it.

No idea whether these will be easier or harder:

#4

As for your number 4, I doubt I'm right about this but the pianistic style looks like Edvard Grieg.

[amw]

I thought that amw#5 was the Bartok's early Rhapsody (Op. 1) for Piano and Orchestra, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Nope. You're not far off, geographically at least, though.

#1: You have the right composer, but not the right piece. If people have trouble with this one I'll post another page. I like how much of Ligeti's micropolyphonic-era music has the distinct diagonal patterns in the scores.

My other guess would have been San Francisco Polyphony—I know it's not Melodien, orchestration is wrong. Ligeti's handwriting is pretty unmistakable.

Still clueless on your 3 and 4, though if I recognised whoever was in your avatar it might be easier. The percussion of 3 is rather telling though... perhaps one of those early jazz-influenced hep cats like John Alden Carpenter? That's not an early G. Schirmer score is it?

As for your number 4, I doubt I'm right about this but the pianistic style looks like Edvard Grieg.

It is indeed Grieg, though from one of his lesser-known works (one of which I'm quite fond).

[(poco) Sforzando]

It is indeed Grieg, though from one of his lesser-known works (one of which I'm quite fond).

I should have had the courage of my convictions. It's op. 72/14, Wedding March of the Goblins, from the Slatter.

[EigenUser]

Nope. You're not far off, geographically at least, though.
My other guess would have been San Francisco Polyphony—I know it's not Melodien, orchestration is wrong. Ligeti's handwriting is pretty unmistakable.

Still clueless on your 3 and 4, though if I recognised whoever was in your avatar it might be easier. The percussion of 3 is rather telling though... perhaps one of those early jazz-influenced hep cats like John Alden Carpenter? That's not an early G. Schirmer score is it?
It is indeed Grieg, though from one of his lesser-known works (one of which I'm quite fond).

#1: Two other great pieces by Ligeti (I love SFP!), but neither is the one in the score given (it was written in the same time period as these, though). Here's a more representative page of the Ligeti. For some reason, it insists on appearing sideways even though the image is right-side up.


#3: The composer in my avatar (as of now, at least) is a young Maurice Ravel. The composer of the score in question is a household name, by all means. Out of his classical works, though, this might be slightly lesser-known simply because it is overshadowed by a few other monumental things he wrote. The score isn't a Schirmer, though.

#4: The composer of this was given a large raise on his commission due to the effect of the music. I guarantee you know it -- it's just a more difficult part of the score to recognize.

By the way, I listened to the Adès "Asyla", and it is awesome! I've heard of the name Adès before, but I never knew any of his works at all. Thanks for introducing me to that piece!

I'll have to look into your #5. It shouldn't be too hard knowing where to look, now.

[(poco) Sforzando]

#1: Two other great pieces by Ligeti (I love SFP!), but neither is the one in the score given (it was written in the same time period as these, though). Here's a more representative page of the Ligeti. For some reason, it insists on appearing sideways even though the image is right-side up.

Clocks and Clouds would be my guess for the one with women's chorus and five flutes.

[EigenUser]

Yes, Clocks and Clouds (for 12-part women's chorus and orchestra) is correct! You know, Schott doesn't even publish a study score for this even though they do for pretty much everything else of Ligeti's. When I inquired, they let me purchase a copy of a conductor's score from a performance set. I have no idea why this is a lesser-known work of his. I like it way more than Atmospheres, more than the Requiem, and even a little more than Lontano (also a great piece, though). It's such an easy piece to get lost in while listening because its so beautiful. Ligeti not only joins his two compositional styles from the time (micropolyphony and meccanico), but has them seamlessly morph from one to the other, then back, etc. I know I'm off-topic here, but this has always bugged me. It was the first piece of his that I heard and I think it represents his 1960s-1970s style wonderfully.

[amw]

So I didn't have easily available internet access for a couple of weeks and then, just as I thought I was going to have time to get to this, my computer decided to die. Sorry about that.

Sforzando was correct on #4. 3 and 5 remain unguessed.

EigenUser, is your #3 An American in Paris by any chance? For some reason your hints have produced that impression in me.

I'll post a #6 sometime

[(poco) Sforzando]

EigenUser, is your #3 An American in Paris by any chance? For some reason your hints have produced that impression in me.

Unfortunately not. I have that score. Unfortunately too we seem to have lost EigenUser.

[EigenUser]

Haha, I figured that people gave up on this thread already. I figured I'd check again today, though, and I was happy to see that this wasn't the case.

As for the "An American in Paris" -- you have the right composer (in response to my previous hint, Gershwin took Ravel to jazz clubs and remained close friends during Ravel's tour of America in the late 1920s). Gershwin wrote An American in Paris as a type of souvenir from his later trip to Paris. The piece I posted is also a souvenir of sorts -- but from someplace warmer.

By the way, one month later -- the Ades Asyla has entered my "favorites" playlist. This has got to be one of the best things I've discovered in the past few months, at least.