Music with emphasis on color and the sensuous

[schweitzeralan]

I've been listening for years and have literally appreciated the vast and penetrating aesthetics of works from the Baroque Period to around the late 20Th century.  Over the years my interests have consolidated to the effect that I've been limiting my repertoire considerably.  One of the qualities, and this is only one among the many vast delights music provide, is that of the sensuous.  NOT the erotic to be sure, but the purely aesthetic immersion in a work that seems to invade the spatial, memorial facets of the brain.  A vast subject.  I simply wanted to post some of the composers whose works evince certain sensuous qualities.  When I Googled the search I was surprised if not appalled to see that writers have included composers such as Mozart, Handel, Haydn, plus other early and late 19Th century composers.  Great as they were, they did not seem to evince that characteristic aesthetic I'm discussing here.
       Who are some of these composers I'm referring to? Here is a partial list:
Debussy, Ravel, Ibert, Schmitt, Bax, Ireland, Sibelius, Madetoja, Scriabin, Gliere ("Ilya," or "Sirens), some of VW's symphonies, Frank Bridge (The Sea), Novak, Suk, Rachmaninoff, Vaino Raitio, Alexander Krein, Respighi (sp/), Barber, Boulanger, Easdale, Arthur Butterworth, Jehan Alain, plus others. Anyone out there interested in this one aspect of musical aesthetics?  Again, it's just one characteristic but one I've come to appreciate over the years.

[Bulldog]

Add Zemlinsky to the list.

[Octo_Russ]

Certainly when you think of the word colour, you think of Composers that created a picturesque landscape to paint on, at the moment i'm listening to Debussy / Arrau, and i find his piano works full of evocative colour, and the middle section of Iberia, Perfumes of the Night!, full of colour and sensuousness, similarly with Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

One other Composer you haven't mentioned is Szymanowski, i've been listening to his String Quartets recently, they are certainly full of colour, and there's an exotic mysticism about them, yes even a sensuousness that's also found in his other works, The Fountain of Arethusa from Mythes, and Notturno from his Notturno e Tarantella, what a strange soundworld he creates.

[schweitzeralan]

Certainly when you think of the word colour, you think of Composers that created a picturesque landscape to paint on, at the moment i'm listening to Debussy / Arrau, and i find his piano works full of evocative colour, and the middle section of Iberia, Perfumes of the Night!, full of colour and sensuousness, similarly with Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

One other Composer you haven't mentioned is Szymanowski, i've been listening to his String Quartets recently, they are certainly full of colour, and there's an exotic mysticism about them, yes even a sensuousness that's also found in his other works, The Fountain of Arethusa from Mythes, and Notturno from his Notturno e Tarantella, what a strange soundworld he creates.

I quite agree.  I've done several posts as have others, on Szymanowski.  His works have have gone through several varying "periods."  The sensuous/impressionistic style is most obvious in his "Myths." There are other works.  De Falla is another important 20Th century Spanish composer. I also didn't mention Rodrigo.

[Wanderer]

Add Schreker and Korngold to the list.

[Satzaroo]

Medtner

[Martin Lind]

Try Messiaen, especially his Turangila symphony. Messiaen is of course pretty modern but still a very colourfull and sensuous master. I have bought the Emibox. That's pretty cheap and the composer himself plays the organ music. But for me this music is pretty new, but the Turangila symphony is "overwhelming" especially in case that you like the Ondes Martenon which plays an important role in this symphony. So you should first try this music at youtube or elsewhere before you buy it.

It is funny though that my own development of taste points in another direction. But human beings are differant. I have heard so much "colourfull" music that I am sometimes tired of it and simply enjoy a piano sonata from Joseph Haydn.  But that's my taste.

Other names: Schoenbergs Gurrelieder and many tone poems from Richard Strauss for example his Alpensinfonie, very colourfull.

[Mirror Image]

I've been listening for years and have literally appreciated the vast and penetrating aesthetics of works from the Baroque Period to around the late 20Th century.  Over the years my interests have consolidated to the effect that I've been limiting my repertoire considerably.  One of the qualities, and this is only one among the many vast delights music provide, is that of the sensuous.  NOT the erotic to be sure, but the purely aesthetic immersion in a work that seems to invade the spatial, memorial facets of the brain.  A vast subject.  I simply wanted to post some of the composers whose works evince certain sensuous qualities.  When I Googled the search I was surprised if not appalled to see that writers have included composers such as Mozart, Handel, Haydn, plus other early and late 19Th century composers.  Great as they were, they did not seem to evince that characteristic aesthetic I'm discussing here.
       Who are some of these composers I'm referring to? Here is a partial list:
Debussy, Ravel, Ibert, Schmitt, Bax, Ireland, Sibelius, Madetoja, Scriabin, Gliere ("Ilya," or "Sirens), some of VW's symphonies, Frank Bridge (The Sea), Novak, Suk, Rachmaninoff, Vaino Raitio, Alexander Krein, Respighi (sp/), Barber, Boulanger, Easdale, Arthur Butterworth, Jehan Alain, plus others. Anyone out there interested in this one aspect of musical aesthetics?  Again, it's just one characteristic but one I've come to appreciate over the years.

Try Szymanowski, Dutilleux, Rautavaara, Part, Delius, Messiaen, Griffes, Takemitsu, de Falla, Villa-Lobos, some of Ginastera's works (especially Pampeana No. 3), Estevez, many of Berg's works have a very sensuous quality like Lulu Suite for example or the Violin Concerto, many of Alwyn's works (try Lyra Angelica for harp and orchestra or Pastoral Fantasia for viola and orchestra), Bloch, Martinu (particularly his last symphonies, which have many lush moments, his orchestral song cycles like Magic Nights and Nipponari).

Now you have me wanting to listen to these composers! Thanks alot (in sarcastic voice)!

[schweitzeralan]

Try Szymanowski, Dutilleux, Rautavaara, Part, Delius, Messiaen, Griffes, Takemitsu, de Falla, Villa-Lobos, some of Ginastera's works (especially Pampeana No. 3), Estevez, many of Berg's works have a very sensuous quality like Lulu Suite for example or the Violin Concerto, many of Alwyn's works (try Lyra Angelica for harp and orchestra or Pastoral Fantasia for viola and orchestra), Bloch, Martinu (particularly his last symphonies, which have many lush moments, his orchestral song cycles like Magic Nights and Nipponari).

Now you have me wanting to listen to these composers! Thanks alot (in sarcastic voice)!

Yes, I could easily have included many you have mentioned. I did forget Griffes, a veritable soul mate, but I didn't prepare an inclusive list.  The Ginestera Pampeana, commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra, is another favorite. Also Bloch, Martinu, yes, and William Alwyn.  Takemitsu is very intersting with the blending of Western and Eastern harmonic in his works.  You definitely have the idea. Thanks for the posting.

[Scarpia]

I didn't prepare an inclusive list.

An "inclusive" list would include half of the composers who have ever written music, I would think.

[Satzaroo]

An "inclusive" list would include half of the composers who have ever written music, I would think.

Or at least all Russian composers.

[schweitzeralan]

An "inclusive" list would include half of the composers who have ever written music, I would think.

I simply listed a very partial ensemble of composers whose works were favorites of mine.  I didn't include other composers whose orchestral or instrumental titles were also highly significant for me personally. " Inclusive" would have admitted Satie, Roslavetz, Feinberg, Hanson, Egge (2nd Symphony), Martin, Creston, Howells, Bowen, etc.  Another superb list, unless already threaded, would involve certain composers whose works suggest extreme pessimism, an example of which is "Threnody For Cello and Orchestra," by Herbert Howells.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks for the posting.

My pleasure. Thanks for the thread, which is of interest to me since I'm very much into composers who use color to help express their feelings and thoughts. I think it adds a whole other dimension to their sound.

[jowcol]

I like a lot of the choices mentioned.  Bax really stands out for me (and Scriabin), because if you aren't listening for color, you will get an messy blob that won't make much sense. 

Scriabin, Messiaen and Rimsky Korsakov where all believes in a mapping between colors and keys, although I don't think they agreed, and Rimsky could not "see" a color for A Flat Major, if memory serves. 

[snyprrr]

I see this trend peaking 1900?- 1919, the Ultra Late Romantic Period, where everything was thick as molasses (Reger!). This is totally contrasted with the '20s.

What are some of these chords they're using?

If you were to slowly rock between A and D Major chords,... what then is this sensuousness? Is it when we start adding the 6ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and on? Do we add complimentary bi-tonality? Is it all just about thickening up the sound the way a gospel/jazz keyboardist does?

It sounds to me that Takemitsu is the Last Word here. And Feldman.

[escher]

Sorabij is the first name that came to mind, it's incredible no one mention him!
Try with  Gulistan, le jardin parfumee and djami.

The of course, Scriabin, Szymanowski, Debussy, Griffes (for griffes, the "vale of dreams" is an incredible piece), Takemitsu, Delius.
Manuel De Falla too, for example his Danza del fuego.

[schweitzeralan]

Sorabij is the first name that came to mind, it's incredible no one mention him!
Try with  Gulistan, le jardin parfumee and djami.

The of course, Scriabin, Szymanowski, Debussy, Griffes (for griffes, the "vale of dreams" is an incredible piece), Takemitsu, Delius.
Manuel De Falla too, for example his Danza del fuego.

I'm glad you mentioned "The Vale of Dreams." This is indeed, a magnificent piano work.  I manage to dabble with it, but don't play it professionally. Delius is quite well known for many of his orchestral pieces, but I like many of his piano works.  One good example is his "Waltz."

[schweitzeralan]

My pleasure. Thanks for the thread, which is of interest to me since I'm very much into composers who use color to help express their feelings and thoughts. I think it adds a whole other dimension to their sound.

I was pleased with the responses to the ideas and opinions shared by posters in this thread, which by now is exhausted.  Many if not most of the acknowledged or mentioned composers and their works have been appreciated personally by me for years. Just wanted to add one composer whose name I meant to mention.  I'm referring to the French composer Phillipe Gaubert.  Again,,a musician respected and well known during his lifetime but few works recorded.  Two years ago ago I acquired a CD listing a symphony and a couple of tone poems. The works reveal for the most part a rich harmonic, coloristic impressionistic romantic style. Quite Debussyian for those who love the nuances, the "advanced" tonality characteristic of the age, like parallel chords, melodic minor contexts, modulations, whole tone passages, etc. The Symphony is marvelous.  With the exception of performers and those affiliated with French musical conservatories, very few probably  ever  heard of Gaubert.  For me he was a rare find. Also very romantic.

[jochanaan]

Perhaps we're limiting the concept of "sensuous" too much.  To me, the music of composers like Bach, Haydn, Bruckner, Bartok and even Varese is also sensuous.  In fact, I would say that music is a sensuous art; without the appeal to the senses, we might as well be reading a committee report.  Of course, the greatest music also has other qualities, many of which cannot be expressed in words; but the sensuous element is an important one in all music.

And many performers understand, accept and revel in this element.  Leonard Bernstein said bluntly that great music gave him an orgasm. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but performing music is indeed a sensuous experience.