Nikolay Miaskovsky (1881-1950)

Started by vandermolen, June 12, 2007, 01:21:32 PM

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Maestro267

What are y'all's favourites among his symphonies?

Irons

#541
Quote from: Maestro267 on April 27, 2020, 08:53:35 AM
What are y'all's favourites among his symphonies?

So far ( listening to 24 for first time this evening) 8, 11 and 17 left the strongest impression. I also liked 3 very much, especially the finale. *Another, and I need to check back which, a symphony with two ordinary movements and a slow movement containing some Miaskovsky's greatest music. None are less then excellent and crucially for so many symphonies Miaskovsky never repeats himself which is some achievement.

Edit : * 12th.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 27, 2020, 08:53:35 AM
What are y'all's favourites among his symphonies?

The ones I remember the most are: 5, 8, 15, 16, 17 (wonderful slow movement), 19, 22, 24, 25 (that main theme of the 1st movement is just beautiful) and 27. I find the 6th with several longueurs, albeit I do recognize its merits. I should listen to the right performance in order to make a better opinion of it.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 27, 2020, 08:53:35 AM
What are y'all's favourites among his symphonies?
Ok here goes:
3,6,11,15,17,21,24,25,27.

Top five would be: 3,6,17, 21,27
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

amw

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 25, 2020, 11:43:03 PM
Listening to Symphony No. 20 in E major, and it's another instance where I feel like the composer credited the symphony with the wrong key. No. 7 "in B minor" to me has hardly any B minor in it at all, and it certainly never establishes that key as home. And in No. 20, I'm hearing E minor a lot more than the E major it's listed as being in.

To be clear, I still really enjoyed both works.
I like No. 20 a lot as well. Richard Taruskin called the slow movement Myaskovsky's "Land of Hope and Glory" but I don't see the resemblance personally; still a quite good slow movement though.

vandermolen

Quote from: amw on April 27, 2020, 11:28:35 PM
I like No. 20 a lot as well. Richard Taruskin called the slow movement Myaskovsky's "Land of Hope and Glory" but I don't see the resemblance personally; still a quite good slow movement though.
Right - must give this one another listen to.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Maestro267

#546
For a cycle with so many entries, all of them have piqued my interest in one form or another. That is incredibly impressive. It's obviously too early for me to pick out any real favourites. And it might take some months for me to truly digest all of them, as I enter them into my regular listening rota alongside other composers. At the moment I'm still in the process of giving them a first listen. After No. 4 (I'm at the finale as I write this), I have remaining 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 15, 24 and 26.

Irons

I am surprised that 23 does not figure more prominently in lists, in fact not at all I think. I do like the most Miaskovsky's nostalgic and melancholy side, so this symphony is right up my street. Special mention to the author of the notes (not a million miles from this thread ;)) who's erudite commentary and background of the folk inspired 23rd immeasurably contributed to my understanding and enjoyment of the work. I will add 23 to my list.

I am not sure I completely go along with the premise that 22 is not a war symphony. Not though, I agree, the actual act of war itself. The opening movement seems to depict the gathering threat of war and the ending of normal life. The great slow movement, the anguish and devastation left by war. Followed by an exuberant finale celebrating a great victory - the Soviet authorities would not have it end any other way!
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

vandermolen

Quote from: Irons on April 28, 2020, 12:26:00 AM
I am surprised that 23 does not figure more prominently in lists, in fact not at all I think. I do like the most Miaskovsky's nostalgic and melancholy side, so this symphony is right up my street. Special mention to the author of the notes (not a million miles from this thread ;)) who's erudite commentary and background of the folk inspired 23rd immeasurably contributed to my understanding and enjoyment of the work. I will add 23 to my list.

I am not sure I completely go along with the premise that 22 is not a war symphony. Not though, I agree, the actual act of war itself. The opening movement seems to depict the gathering threat of war and the ending of normal life. The great slow movement, the anguish and devastation left by war. Followed by an exuberant finale celebrating a great victory - the Soviet authorities would not have it end any other way!
:)
Actually I do like 23 a lot, especially the soulful opening movement and it's possibly the most approachable of them all. I remember that I was constantly playing that fine old EMI/Melodiya LP featuring it, coupled with Shchedrin's equally fine First Symphony, when I discovered it in the High Street Kensington Music Library in my youth. As for Symphony No.22 my attitude to it has been rather transformed by listening, yesterday, to Alexander Titov's recording on the Northern Flowers label as recommended by Greg ('J'). Good as the Svetlanov recording is (one of the earliest NYM LPs in my collection), the Titov IMO presents it as a much greater work, relating it more closely to its wartime origins.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Maestro267

I see there are three more volumes of orchestral works not included in the Complete Symphonies set, which I shall have to acquire individually. The Op. 32 works for small orchestra I already have thanks to a random charity shop purchase back when charity shops were a thing that existed. I'm also looking at picking up at some point the Naxos issue that collects together the Violin Concertos by Myaskovsky and Weinberg. Then that should pretty much be me done as far as orchestral Myaskovsky goes.

It's strange how, given how vast his orchestral repertoire is, he did not leave us with a Piano Concerto.

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 28, 2020, 10:58:44 AM
I see there are three more volumes of orchestral works not included in the Complete Symphonies set, which I shall have to acquire individually. The Op. 32 works for small orchestra I already have thanks to a random charity shop purchase back when charity shops were a thing that existed. I'm also looking at picking up at some point the Naxos issue that collects together the Violin Concertos by Myaskovsky and Weinberg. Then that should pretty much be me done as far as orchestral Myaskovsky goes.

It's strange how, given how vast his orchestral repertoire is, he did not leave us with a Piano Concerto.

No opera either. The big recording gap in the catalogue is the choral work 'The Kremlin at Night', which is very good (it's on You Tube) and 'Kirov is amongst us'.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Maestro267

After six days, I'm reaching the end of this first playthrough of the complete symphonies. I'm ending (for no particular reason) with No. 24.

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 30, 2020, 08:44:33 AM
After six days, I'm reaching the end of this first playthrough of the complete symphonies. I'm ending (for no particular reason) with No. 24.
Which is one of the strongest and most deeply felt I think.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Irons

Quote from: vandermolen on April 30, 2020, 09:03:56 AM
Which is one of the strongest and most deeply felt I think.

It certainly is, and dramatic too, but I tend to recoil against over-emotional (for me) music. I listen at a rough guess only once to a Mahler symphony a year, too much angst. I need to return to 24 and also 15.

On the other hand 25 I loved and, emotion is a funny thing, I felt most moved and sad at the close. I think it was the feeling of resignation. The opening movement is one of the best things Miaskovsky has written - trembling strings with a slow bass tread. Elgar often uses a similar bass line which is one of the finest things in his music. Come to think of it the excellent and lighter second movement is a bit Elgar-ish too. The powerful finale sweeps along to the coda which has a journey's end feel about it, and I am not referring to the symphony.


You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Maestro267

I don't know how much of it is Wagner's fault, but I found the ending of No. 25 somewhat transcendent in the way that the end of Götterdämmerung is. Both end in the same-sounding key (D flat major) and both final chords reach an intensely fortissississ...imo before dying down to a contended final resting-place.

Irons

A review of the Kondrashin 6th from Gregor Tassie that is well worth reading by anyone with an interest in Miaskovsky or this symphony.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/May/Myaskovsky_sy6_ALC1421.htm
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Roasted Swan

For those yet to dip their toes (or ears!) into the world of Miaskovsky - here's a tempting thing..... the COMPLETE Svetlanov cycle downloadable for £6.00... (yes six) from ClassicSelectWorld.  Not the highest bit-rates but genuine and legit.  Elsewhere on this site you can find a lot of amazing download bargains - the old Bach Guild "big boxes" (often Vanguard/Vox sourced plus some Alto re-releases etc) for just £1.00.  At that price what's not worth the risk!

https://classicselectworlddigital.com/collections/musical-concepts-mc-library/products/myaskovsky-the-complete-symphonies-russian-federation-symphony-orchestra-evgeny-svetlanov

Mirror Image

I need to dip back into Myaskovsky's symphonies. I had recently bought (before the pandemic) the complete symphony sets on Olympia and the SQs on Northern Flowers, but haven't cracked either open yet. I own the initial set of symphonies on the Warner label, but it had several defective discs and it seems that it wasn't just one time problem, I had bought another one and the same errors occurred, so I decided to keep it on the condition the seller reimburse me for the shipping, which they thankfully did. Anyway, I'll be posting my thoughts here in the next week or so. I recall being hugely impressed with the later symphonies, but this has been quite some time ago since I've heard any of them. The main caveat of the newer Olympia set is it doesn't have a lot of the bonus works that came with the Warner set. I'll have to see if there's a separate issue on Olympia containing these works or perhaps someone here knows off-hand if such a recording exists?

Maestro267

The three volumes of other orchestral works are available as individual discs.

Mirror Image

Quote from: Maestro267 on May 10, 2020, 09:33:03 AM
The three volumes of other orchestral works are available as individual discs.

Kudos, Maestro. 8) I'll check those out.