great 20th century ballet music

[Tapkaara]

Wow, now that sounds interesting (speaking as a lover of the other Salome).

--Bruce

A recording of it is available on HMV Japan. There have olnly been three recordings of the orchestral score to date, and the one in question is from 1995, I believe.

[SimonNZ]

*bump*

I've been thinking recently that the ballet music of the past century is, beyond the obvious handful, a gap in my listening.

I'll be following up on the recommendations above, but if (since the last post was in 2009) there are more recommendations I'd very much like to hear of them.

In my own listening I was, a few months back, stunned by finally hearing the full score of Martinu's Špalíček, which I'd previously known only via the fine but far less exciting suite. A revelation of a neglected masterpiece, and now for me a desert island disc.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL0k1vpuIck

[Karl Henning]

*bump*

I've been thinking recently that the ballet music of the past century is, beyond the obvious handful, a gap in my listening.

I'll be following up on the recommendations above, but if (since the last post was in 2009) there are more recommendations I'd very much like to hear of them.

In my own listening I was, a few months back, stunned by finally hearing the full score of Martinu's Špalíček, which I'd previously known only via the fine but far less exciting suite. A revelation of a neglected masterpiece, and now for me a desert island disc.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL0k1vpuIck

Well, this remains a dangerous place for me . . . .

[North Star]

*bump*

I've been thinking recently that the ballet music of the past century is, beyond the obvious handful, a gap in my listening.

I'll be following up on the recommendations above, but if (since the last post was in 2009) there are more recommendations I'd very much like to hear of them.

In my own listening I was, a few months back, stunned by finally hearing the full score of Martinu's Špalíček, which I'd previously known only via the fine but far less exciting suite. A revelation of a neglected masterpiece, and now for me a desert island disc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL0k1vpuIck

A hearty agreement.

That Belohlavek set is wonderful, Karl. 

[some guy]

Another agreement, also hearty.

Also, I'd like to put in another word for the Piston, for the complete ballet, that is, for which there is still--incredible!--only one recording. Fortunately, it's a fine recording.

And don't forget what I said about Copland, either: Grohg and Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Also only available in one recording each, though conveniently the same disc.

Still, though. Twentieth century? That means Merce Cunningham. And he had several people writing for him, not just Cage.

You know that box set in memoriam? It is a sweet, sweet set.

http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=86954

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Am I the first person to mention Kraanerg? That's a piece that really got me into Xenakis a few years ago!

[listener]

a few more, *some I've actually seen live:
ANTHEIL: Capital of the World,  ARNELL: Punch and the Child,  CHIHARA (after Purcell): The Tempest*,
DEBUSSY: Jeux (fantastic plot), ROUSSEL: The Spider's Feast, HOLST: The Perfect Fool (in an opera),
LHOTKA: Davo o selu* (The Devil in a village, not David and Saul), WILLIAMSON: The Display*
and a couple of Canadians FLEMING: Shadow on the Prairie    CONWAY BAKER: Washington Square
all have listenable scores.

[relm1]

Is Britten's Prince of the Pagados any good?  I don't hear any mention of it ever but he was so good in the opera stage, so does that over shadow prince or did the muse leave him?

[North Star]

Is Britten's Prince of the Pagados any good?

Most certainly.
https://www.youtube.com/v/_3sF_2CM_vk

[Mirror Image]

Is Britten's Prince of the Pagados any good?  I don't hear any mention of it ever but he was so good in the opera stage, so does that over shadow prince or did the muse leave him?

Personally, I'm not too fond of it. It's a bit overlong and there isn't that many memorable ideas, but there are some remarkable sections throughout the ballet. Give it a listen and tell us what you think.

[vandermolen]

A very enjoyable recent discovery:
[asin]B00SSLUVP2[/asin]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzih21VYHIs

[Mirror Image]

A very enjoyable recent discovery:
[asin]B00SSLUVP2[/asin]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzih21VYHIs

What is this ballet like, Jeffrey? Any composer comparisons you can draw from the music?

[vandermolen]

What is this ballet like, Jeffrey? Any composer comparisons you can draw from the music?

John, rather like Amirov or Khachaturian. I included a link to a performance on You Tube.

[Daverz]

Nicotine and gasoline, what more do you need in a ballet.

Novak: Nikotina

[asin]B000003519[/asin]

Knudåge Riisager: Benzin

[asin]B0016IV1W6[/asin]

[relm1]

Personally, I'm not too fond of it. It's a bit overlong and there isn't that many memorable ideas, but there are some remarkable sections throughout the ballet. Give it a listen and tell us what you think.

I am listening to it now on Spotify.  I really like the javanese elements like act 2, scene 2.  Very exotic and interesting.  Overall, note done yet but find it mostly engaging but I can see why you might find it overlong.  I still have the entirety of act 3 to listen to so will report back.  There are touches of Britten's great operas (Peter Grimes) and some really fantastic movements.  I really like Act II.

[Mirror Image]

John, rather like Amirov or Khachaturian. I included a link to a performance on You Tube.

Cool, thanks, Jeffrey.

[Mirror Image]

I am listening to it now on Spotify.  I really like the javanese elements like act 2, scene 2.  Very exotic and interesting.  Overall, note done yet but find it mostly engaging but I can see why you might find it overlong.  I still have the entirety of act 3 to listen to so will report back.  There are touches of Britten's great operas (Peter Grimes) and some really fantastic movements.  I really like Act II.

Yeah, as I mentioned, there are many great moments in the ballet, but it didn't hold my interest throughout its duration like many other Britten works have done. Perhaps it would better to listen to this work in segments and take breaks? I still believe I would come away with the same impressions, but I'll need to plan a revisit soon.

[relm1]

Yeah, as I mentioned, there are many great moments in the ballet, but it didn't hold my interest throughout its duration like many other Britten works have done. Perhaps it would better to listen to this work in segments and take breaks? I still believe I would come away with the same impressions, but I'll need to plan a revisit soon.

Overall, I enjoyed the work but it is too long.  That might be fine in a concert setting where the visuals are part of the story telling but relying on audio alone there were some moments (probably totaling 15 minutes) where I wanted to fast forward.  I really enjoyed the gamelan elements and of course the stuff that sounded like vintage dramatic Britten. 

Has anyone here heard John McCabes two King Arthur ballets?  I am quite curious about those but that is some serious hours (4 hour total) and don't seem available anywhere.

[Monsieur Croche]

"bypass the suite for the complete."

Poulenc was mentioned: his wonderful Aubade, for piano and sixteen instruments was omitted. It is a fantastic score: I recommend this recording:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=57992

I would admonish anyone who has not heard Copland's Appalachian Spring in its full length original chamber version for thirteen instruments to scramble to hear it -- in his American Vernacular style, I think the full-length piece in its original orchestration is his finest and a true masterpiece. The orchestral suite, well, just extremely overblown and the music really does not support his scoring in that one.

There are so many suites from ballets made for concert performance to gain more exposure and revenue that some are unaware that:
Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de feu, Petrushka, Pulcinella [not yet mentioned], are all full-length ballets, none of them with 'mere filler,' and Pulcinella is interspersed with songs sung by three singers -- all worthy of anyone's time.

Ditto Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, the full length original uses a full chorus as another section of the already huge orchestra it is scored for; The suites are masterfully re-arranged, but lack that essential chorus. "Accept no substitutes."
Two fine recordings: Charles Munch, Boston Symphony, very fine, beautifully pliant and nuanced, and a budget re-release as well. The sound is fine. Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic... less attractive to me, but in the Boulezian manner, you hear absolutely every part, like an x-ray of the score.

...more not yet mentioned Stravinsky:
Le baiser de la fée Do yourself a favor and bypass the suite for the complete. This one had I.S. using actual bits of Tchaikovsky -- but only from his piano music -- and working those along with other materials very much original from Stravinsky while very like to Tchaikovsky. It is a delightful score, and "my favorite Tchaikovsky."

Orpheus, heart-wrenching, with phenomenal harp writing.

Apollo, for string orchestra. Possibly the most serenely beautiful score out there [that is entirely subjective of course.]

With Stravinsky, if he revised the work, that is truly always the bettered version, the one to seek out.
Other than some of his later serial works, the batch of recordings w the composer conducting on Columbia from the late sixties or thereabouts are really fine, and more 'the way he really wanted it' than any other later recordings I've come across. The works listed here he did a near perfect job on in that Columbia series. Good alternative Stravinsky recordings from around the same time: are Karel Ancerl, Czech Philharmonic, on the Supraphon label.

Debussy:
Jeux Imo a masterpiece.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune O.K., it premiered in 1894, but after a decade or more of deliberation by the editors of Groves, this is the milestone of modernity which had them shift the date of the beginning of the Modern era from 1900 to 1890... whomever is running this dog and pony show thread can be the one to accept or reject it 

Hindemith ~ Das Triadusche Ballett. The score is pleasant enough fun, not a masterpiece by any means: it is that generic music-by-the yard Hindemith churned out so much of.
Choreographed by Oskar Schlemmer, I include it because, hey, it's a Bauhaus Ballet -- so knowing of it and watching it is a bit of a lark mind-boggle. You know, you can haul it out to impress and weird out your friends as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87jErmplUpA

... others worth watching:
Petrushka has been done in a replication of the original production by the Joffrey company. It is beyond splendid. The whole work is still thought to be the most perfect synergy-marriage of choreography and music yet done. There may be a filmed version on DVD. That is a hopeful guess. If a decent original recreation production is happening near you, worth it.

Le sacre du printemps Highly mannered and dated, of course, nonetheless, it is tremendous and takes not very long at all to be completely sucked in...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BryIQ9QpXwI

Satie's Parade qualifies in this category, I think. Again, if there is a filmed version of the original production, with sets and costumes by Picasso and choreography by Leonide Massine -- go for it.

[Madiel]

I have mixed feelings so far about listening to ballet music.

I still don't quite know to what extent that is to do with the recordings I happen to have (e.g. my Stravinsky recordings by Inbal seem to be frequently described as underpowered), but even with ones I have that are widely recommended, such as Dutoit's Daphnis and Chloe and Previn's Romeo and Juliet, it can be a struggle to hold my attention.

I keep feeling that the music ought to be seen as much as heard. The best live ballet I've ever seen was in fact a production of Romeo and Juliet (i.e. Prokofiev), and it was the way that the movement was married to the music that made it so special. The story telling was so vivid.

Even DVDs seem a poor substitute for a live performance, and truth be told I don't often want to sit and watch ballet on a TV screen for that long.

And all this despite being fully on board with the notion that the 20th century saw a fantastic explosion of quality ballet music. I'm just not sure much of it translates well for home consumption. Maybe I do actually need to spend some time with suites rather than full ballets.

PS My father had an LP of the suites from Spartacus and Gayane that I loved. Really must find a CD copy...