Nikolay Miaskovsky (1881-1950)

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

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relm1

I really enjoyed this new recording.  Both works are fabulous contemporaries and beautifully performed and recorded.


https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8890898--prokofiev-symphony-no-6-myaskovsky-symphony-no-27

vandermolen

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 02, 2021, 05:29:24 AM
Hehe. My intention, exactly. I am simultaneously poking Shostakovich SQs, which I am finding more challenging. Over the years, I have enjoyed the 'easier' ones like #4 and #8 and found them to be a real joy once I have got beyond a vague grasp of them, but others are just hard work. I doubt that Miaskovsky will be as tough.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I will run at #13 later today. Your status as something of an authority on Miaskovsky, however little you feel that, has been helpful in prodding my wife to listen. 'Did you know, I know the guy who...'

My wife has a favourite Basil Fawlty quotation based on Sybil's categorisation of Brahms' Third Racket which she has appropriated for everything outside of Philip Glass 1 & 4 (due to the Bowie connections), Glazunov 5, Rubbra 3, Pettersson 7 ('play that agonised one'), and Holmboe 6 ('not that again, but at least I am getting used to it now'). She was recently kind enough to buy me some lovely Sony WH-1000X M3 headphones 'to help my enjoyment'. Not so she doesn't have to share my rekindled passion for orchestral music. Honest. Particularly not because I have been listening to 'those appalling Hosokawa flute pieces that sound like the cat has got caught in the dryer, and those tuneless Rautavaara choral catastrophes'. Yeah, right.

Point is, Miaskovsky at bed time to aid sleep and distract from my ridiculous tinnitus, is acceptable. And predictable volume-wise, broadly. He is, at least, soporific.
haha - very nice Danny  :)
Oh, Tinnitus is not so nice. My wife is an audiologist and sign-language interpreter, so I hear a lot about tinnitus. She once arranged an 'emergency hearing test' for me as I 'obviously' had a severe hearing loss as, apparently, I 'never' responded to anything that she said - but, let's not go there.  8)
"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).

aligreto

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 02, 2021, 05:29:24 AM
Hehe. My intention, exactly. I am simultaneously poking Shostakovich SQs, which I am finding more challenging. Over the years, I have enjoyed the 'easier' ones like #4 and #8 and found them to be a real joy once I have got beyond a vague grasp of them, but others are just hard work. I doubt that Miaskovsky will be as tough.


Off topic but my advice is to stick with the Shostakovich SQs; they will eventually deliver huge dividends. I consider the final three or four to be some of the best SQs ever written and equally on a par with those of Beethoven. But, hey, that is just my humble opinion  :)

Brahmsian

Quote from: aligreto on June 02, 2021, 10:24:57 AM
Off topic but my advice is to stick with the Shostakovich SQs; they will eventually deliver huge dividends. I consider the final three or four to be some of the best SQs ever written and equally on a par with those of Beethoven. But, hey, that is just my humble opinion  :)

I agree, with the Shostakovich SQs as a whole.  They are equally of importance and substance to the Beethoven SQs.

Which recordings are you familiar with, Fergus?

I love the Borodin Bovine set as I call it, and also the Fitzwilliams.

aligreto

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 02, 2021, 10:40:47 AM
I agree, with the Shostakovich SQs as a whole.  They are equally of importance and substance to the Beethoven SQs.

Which recordings are you familiar with, Fergus?

I love the Borodin Bovine set as I call it, and also the Fitzwilliams.

The cycles that I own are:

Borodin String Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Pacifica Quartet

Each set has its own values and I really do like them all but, if I had to pick only one I would opt for the Pacifica Quartet cycle. They really attack the music.

Brahmsian

Quote from: aligreto on June 02, 2021, 10:59:26 AM
The cycles that I own are:

Borodin String Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Pacifica Quartet

Each set has its own values and I really do like them all but, if I had to pick only one I would opt for the Pacifica Quartet cycle. They really attack the music.

I have not heard this set, but have seen pretty much nothing but positive reviews.  :)

aligreto

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 02, 2021, 11:02:22 AM
I have not heard this set, but have seen pretty much nothing but positive reviews.  :)

Yes, I bought it after seeing a number of people here recommending it. I was not disappointed.  :)

foxandpeng

Quote from: aligreto on June 02, 2021, 10:24:57 AM
Off topic but my advice is to stick with the Shostakovich SQs; they will eventually deliver huge dividends. I consider the final three or four to be some of the best SQs ever written and equally on a par with those of Beethoven. But, hey, that is just my humble opinion  :)

I'm fully intending to take a hard run at the DSCH SQs, but I don't expect it to be a short journey. I have those plus the Holmboe SQs set up as my more challenging impending forays at the genre.  At the moment, they feel a bit like Mark's couscous in Peep Show... tasteless misery sand that you know is good for you, but never reduces in volume, no matter how much you eat. I anticipate a more immediately rewarding return from the Miaskovsky.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Mirror Image

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 02, 2021, 02:10:00 PM
I'm fully intending to take a hard run at the DSCH SQs, but I don't expect it to be a short journey. I have those plus the Holmboe SQs set up as my more challenging impending forays at the genre.  At the moment, they feel a bit like Mark's couscous in Peep Show... tasteless misery sand that you know is good for you, but never reduces in volume, no matter how much you eat. I anticipate a more immediately rewarding return from the Miaskovsky.

Both Shostakovich's and Holmboe's SQs are worth your time, foxandpeng. I actually need to get back to the Holmboe SQs --- from what I've heard so far, they have proven rather fascinating and, more importantly, enjoyable.

foxandpeng

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 02, 2021, 07:06:58 PM
Both Shostakovich's and Holmboe's SQs are worth your time, foxandpeng. I actually need to get back to the Holmboe SQs --- from what I've heard so far, they have proven rather fascinating and, more importantly, enjoyable.

You're undoubtedly right. The few Shostakovich SQs that I now know well, are proving increasingly worth the investment of time. Holmboe, I really enjoy for his symphonies (particularly #6-8), so although challenging, his SQs will definitely return value. I keep getting derailed into music that is more 'obvious'. Not that I am suggesting that Miaskovsky is obvious, but you know what I mean. I also get far too easily distracted to musical side roads. Relm1's suggestion of the Petrenko Miaskovsky #27 above was great, but I have been listening to Prokofiev all evening and this morning as a result.

Why is there so much music?
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

North Star

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 03, 2021, 01:04:28 AMWhy is there so much music?
Since you asked, 0:) the Weinberg SQ's are also very much worth investigating, he and Shostakovich had a bit of a friendly rivalry with the quartets.

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

foxandpeng

Quote from: vandermolen on June 02, 2021, 06:44:11 AM
haha - very nice Danny  :)
Oh, Tinnitus is not so nice. My wife is an audiologist and sign-language interpreter, so I hear a lot about tinnitus. She once arranged an 'emergency hearing test' for me as I 'obviously' had a severe hearing loss as, apparently, I 'never' responded to anything that she said - but, let's not go there.  8)

That is clearly my problem also! The SQ #13 was great, btw, and even worked at night... until the opening bar of the final movement when my wife leapt about 4 feet as it opened.

Quote from: North Star on June 03, 2021, 06:00:17 AM
Since you asked, 0:) the Weinberg SQ's are also very much worth investigating, he and Shostakovich had a bit of a friendly rivalry with the quartets.



Comparable style to DSCH? Likely to take even more hard work as a new listener? Happy to put them on the list :)
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

North Star

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 03, 2021, 06:09:02 AM
Comparable style to DSCH? Likely to take even more hard work as a new listener? Happy to put them on the list :)

That sounds about right. this abstract of a doctoral thesis on Weinberg's string quartets puts it pretty well, and the thesis itself was also quite helpful in listening to the music.

QuoteWeinberg's quartet cycle occupies an important place in twentieth-century music, with parallels to Shostakovich, Bartók, and other Soviet composers, including Myaskovsky, Shebalin, Levitin, and Boris Chaykovsky[...] The picture that emerges is of Weinberg's individuality and distinctive voice, manifested in a controlled experimentalism and a tendency towards extended lyricism. His affinity with better-known composers may prove an approachable entry-point for wider audiences, but many of the most striking elements in his quartet cycle are of his own invention. His quartets stand as an important contextual dimension for understanding Shostakovich's cycle, and also for appreciating the broader repertoire of Soviet chamber music.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Mirror Image

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 03, 2021, 01:04:28 AM
You're undoubtedly right. The few Shostakovich SQs that I now know well, are proving increasingly worth the investment of time. Holmboe, I really enjoy for his symphonies (particularly #6-8), so although challenging, his SQs will definitely return value. I keep getting derailed into music that is more 'obvious'. Not that I am suggesting that Miaskovsky is obvious, but you know what I mean. I also get far too easily distracted to musical side roads. Relm1's suggestion of the Petrenko Miaskovsky #27 above was great, but I have been listening to Prokofiev all evening and this morning as a result.

Why is there so much music?

There's always something new to discover even in works that we believe to know like the backs of our hands. Why is there so much music? Well, it's like Rachmaninov said, "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." We'll never hear everything we want to hear, so why bother? Just enjoy what you're listening to in the present and don't worry about the future. Prokofiev is certainly a great distraction for sure. ;) I love his music and since you have been talking about SQs, you may want to check out his two SQs. They're fabulous. I wish he wrote more of them.

foxandpeng

Quote from: North Star on June 03, 2021, 06:29:23 AM
That sounds about right. this abstract of a doctoral thesis on Weinberg's string quartets puts it pretty well, and the thesis itself was also quite helpful in listening to the music.

That's incredibly useful, thank you. I've found this site valuable in understanding the Shostakovich...

http://www.quartets.de/compositions/ssq04.html

... so your link really hits the way I think. Greatly appreciated.

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 03, 2021, 06:36:16 AM
There's always something new to discover even in works that we believe to know like the backs of our hands. Why is there so much music? Well, it's like Rachmaninov said, "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." We'll never hear everything we want to hear, so why bother? Just enjoy what you're listening to in the present and don't worry about the future. Prokofiev is certainly a great distraction for sure. ;) I love his music and since you have been talking about SQs, you may want to check out his two SQs. They're fabulous. I wish he wrote more of them.

Again, with you all the way. I do find it frustrating to want to know all about THIS, when all I can manage at a time is 'this', but such is the joy of the journey, I guess. As you suggest, mastery is only ever an illusion anyway, because there is always more even in what we think we know. I've long accepted that I'll never understand music as someone trained in music will, but that's ok. Glad to be an enthusiastic amateur willing to stretch the boundaries and challenge my assumptions. It's just good to hear good music.

Prokofiev SQs on the list!
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Brahmsian

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 03, 2021, 10:35:11 AM

Prokofiev SQs on the list!

FWIW, the Prokofiev F major string quartet (his second) might just be my absolute favourite of his works.

There has been great conversation on here, unfortunately it has come at the expense of Myaskovsky.  :D

foxandpeng

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 03, 2021, 10:51:20 AM
FWIW, the Prokofiev F major string quartet (his second) might just be my absolute favourite of his works.

There has been great conversation on here, unfortunately it has come at the expense of Myaskovsky.  :D

Let me get us back on track  :)

I've just really enjoyed Symphony 10, and thought it was great 👍. I also found this article useful.

Nikolai Myakovsky: Symphony No.10
Context

The aptly named "Father of the Soviet Symphony", Nikolai Myakovsky, composed 27 symphonies in total. The tenth, composed between 1926-27, Myakovsky was inspired by Alexander Pushkin's poem The Bronze Horseman. The story tells of a man whose fiancé is drowned by the 1824 River Neva flood in Saint Petersburg and the reaction of the widow, who then also perishes in the flooding. Myakovsky was also very much inspired by the illustrations of this story by Alexander Benois.

Set into one continuous movement, Symphony No.10 could be described in some ways as a symphonic poem. Pushkin's story is represented through descriptive passages of music by Myakovsky, which takes the listener on a wild ride. Using the form of just one big movement was described as "collapsing the elements of a four-movement symphony into a densely argued single-movement for lasting little more than quarter of an hour."

The Music

Although set into one movement and lasting between 15-20 minutes, Myakovsky calls for huge forces in the orchestra. Especially rich with brass instruments, the large-scale scoring for the Tenth was "filled with the deafening racket of four trumpets, eight horns and so on." The symphony premiered in Moscow in April 1928 by the Orchestra Persimfans, who were actually conductor-less at the time. The complexity of Myakovsky's music was too much for the ensemble, so the piece was left. That was until 1930, when Sergei Prokofiev persuaded Leopold Stokowski to give a US premiere in Philadelphia.

The symphony takes us through the fundamental events in Pushkin's poem. From the opening flood scene to the two deaths and the pursuit of the statue, the music is quick to change in character to move the story along. The rumbling opening takes us into the flood scene. Marked Tumultuoso, the music grows from the bottom upwards as the exploding dissonant strings clash with the bombastic brass section.

Myakovsky heightens the tension and quickly lets it go making you feel like you're actually present at the scene. He writes various themes using different soloists in the orchestra to represent different characters of the story. For instance, the drowned fiancé is represented by a solo violin and a soli woodwind section. Myakovsky's use of dissonance is prevalent throughout the symphony, with his chromatic harmony constantly shifting between the different sections in the orchestra.

After the huge climax near the end of the piece, the texture begins to thin as the music begins to calm down somewhat. The last minute of the symphony is then revived by swirling winds and brass who go head to head one last time. The huge orchestral texture creates a big sound that is led by the brass and percussion. The symphony ends with a final foreboding note led by the lower brass.

Final Thoughts

Nikolai Myakovsky's Symphony No.10 is one of his more well-known works today. Telling the tumultuous tale of two lovers, the music is dark, intense and showcases Myakovsky's incredible orchestration skills.

https://classicalexburns.com/2020/07/07/nikolai-myakovsky-symphony-no-10-the-flood/
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Karl Henning

Quote from: North Star on June 03, 2021, 06:00:17 AM
Since you asked, 0:) the Weinberg SQ's are also very much worth investigating, he and Shostakovich had a bit of a friendly rivalry with the quartets.



+1
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vandermolen

#738
Quote from: relm1 on June 02, 2021, 05:51:24 AM
I really enjoyed this new recording.  Both works are fabulous contemporaries and beautifully performed and recorded.


https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8890898--prokofiev-symphony-no-6-myaskovsky-symphony-no-27
I have to say that I was as disappointed with Petrenko's performance of Prokofiev's 6th Symphony as I was with the 5th Symphony on the earlier release. This is one of the great tragic symphonies of the 20th Century and yet Petrenko, IMO, just makes it sound rather wistful. The close-up recording doesn't help either. The important percussion passage in the second movement (one of my favourite Prokofiev moments) barely registers here and those final crashing bars also lack impact. IMO this performance can not hold a candle to earlier ones by Martinon, Mravinsky Jarvi and Litton which fully convey the tragedy of this work. I must listen to it again however. Back on topic, I thought that the performance of Miaskovsky's 27th Symphony was excellent - the best performance by far over the two discs. The opening movement is taken quite slowly in places and this conveys an extra poignancy. The recording is also excellent here - best I have heard for any recording of this symphony. Svetlanov's performance is a very fine one although, most moving of all is Alexander Gauk (never released on CD). Definitely worth acquiring for the NYM symphony and others might enjoy the Prokofiev performance more than I have.
"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).

foxandpeng

Quote from: vandermolen on June 04, 2021, 04:13:05 AM
I have to say that I was as disappointed with Petrenko's performance of Prokofiev's 6th Symphony as I was with the 5th Symphony on the earlier release. This is one of the great tragic symphonies of the 20th Century and yet Petrenko, IMO, just makes it sound rather wistful. The close-up recording doesn't help either. The important percussion passage in the second movement (one of my favourite Prokofiev moments) barely registers here and those final crashing bars also lack impact. IMO this performance can not hold a candle to earlier ones by Martinon, Mravinsky Jarvi and Litton which fully convey the tragedy of this work. I must listen to it again however. Back on topic, I thought that the performance of Miaskovsky's 27th Symphony was excellent - the best performance by far over the two discs. The opening movement is taken quite slowly in places and this conveys an extra poignancy. The recording is also excellent here - best I have heard for any recording of this symphony. Svetlanov's performance is a very fine one although, most moving of all is Alexander Gauk (never released on CD). Definitely worth acquiring for the NYM symphony and others might enjoy the Prokofiev performance more than I have.

I find the appreciation of different perspectives, fascinating. I'm no sort of expert on any area of orchestral music, and doubt I ever will be, so quite enjoyed this Prokofiev 6. I did read Lebrecht's review, who spoke of it as 'a game changer', but I need to hear a couple of comparators to gain a better grasp in light of your wisdom.

What I did find particularly lacking in his brief review, was his take on the Miaskovsky #27 as a piece influenced by political weariness rather than its place as a valedictory in the face of terminal illness. The fact that he places it close to peak RVW was also interesting. 

https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2021/05/14/lebrecht-listens-a-five-star-argument-for-prokofiev-over-stravinsky/
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy