Topic: Rodion Shchedrin (b. 1932)

[Maciek]

I have to admit that so far my experiences with Shchedrin have been of the hit and miss kind. Earlier today I listened to a performance of his opera Enchanted Wanderer (Очарованный странник) which I enjoyed quite a bit (despite the fact that some of it sounded hopelessly old fashioned - but quite nice nonetheless). I thought I'd check out his GMG thread, but it turned out he didn't have one yet. So now he has.

Until Jan 20th the opera can be listened to here, BTW. (Click headphones icon to the right.)

[Brewski]

Thanks for starting this thread, Maciek, and for the link to the opera.  My experience with his work is limited, but one piece has really grabbed me, his Second Piano Concerto (1966), which is "filler" on the disc below.  I bought the CD mainly for the two Shostakovich concertos, but this was an unexpected treat: very much influenced by jazz, especially in the last movement.

--Bruce

[PaulSC]

To continue the theme, my experience with Schedrin has been limited and mixed. Recently his cycle of piano Preludes and Fugues was pointed out to me in another thread, and I've enjoyed what I've heard online. There's also a second similar collection entitled Polyphonic Notebook.

[jurajjak]

My favorite Shchedrin work (so far) is his ballet The Seagull--very atmospheric, intense stuff, never avant-garde but thoroughly modern. It is available on a Melodiya CD.

His concertos for orchestra are also good (especially the 3rd one).

andrew

[Sylph]

A bit surprised he isn't listed here. I've mentioned him in the Schnittke thread because of Stihira, Hymn for the Millennium of the Christianization of Russia, in which male cellists hum the liturgical theme whose variation the work is based upon. A very nice composition, in a way a bellwether of change.

Anyone else who likes Ščedrin's music?

[vandermolen]

A bit surprised he isn't listed here. I've mentioned him in the Schnittke thread because of Stihira, Hymn for the Millennium of the Christianization of Russia, in which male cellist hum the liturgical theme whose variation the work is based upon. A very nice composition, in a way a bellwether of change.

Anyone else who likes Ščedrin's music?

I especially like his Symphony No 1 (Melodiya) - a great discovery for me in the days of LP when it appeared on an EMI/Melodiya LP coupled with Miaskovsky's 23rd Symphony. I used to often take this record out of the record library in London and enjoyed both works enormously.

[karlhenning]

A bit surprised he isn't listed here. I've mentioned him in the Schnittke thread because of Stihira, Hymn for the Millennium of the Christianization of Russia, in which male cellist hum the liturgical theme whose variation the work is based upon. A very nice composition, in a way a bellwether of change.

Anyone else who likes Ščedrin's music?

But . . . why Czechify his name? : )

[Brewski]

Sylph, just merged this thread with the previous Shchedrin one. Carry on!

--Bruce

[Sylph]

But . . . why Czechify his name? : )

I actually thought you might appreciate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_transliteration

Anglicizing or scientificizing – well, the latter must be more correct, no?

[Sylph]

Sylph, just merged this thread with the previous Shchedrin one. Carry on!

--Bruce

Oops! I did a search, but nothing popped up. And yes, as Shchedrin.

[karlhenning]

Oops! I did a search, but nothing popped up. And yes, as Shchedrin.

Sometimes the search functionality is a bit dodgy here : )

[Brewski]

The search function observes diacritical markings scrupulously--for better or worse. Just did a search for "Bartók" and came up with 7 pages of posts, but for "Bartok" (without the accent), it shows 21.

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Yet, it still returns no matches at all for Berlioz . . . .

[Brewski]

Now that's quite odd...   

I'll drop a note to Rob about that, thanks.

--Bruce

[Sylph]

I haven't checked, but perhaps to me nothing appeared as a result because I wasn't on the main page when I did the search. Maybe the engine thought I was just looking through a particular thread or a subforum.

[Sylph]

I especially like his Symphony No 1 (Melodiya) - a great discovery for me in the days of LP when it appeared on an EMI/Melodiya LP coupled with Miaskovsky's 23rd Symphony. I used to often take this record out of the record library in London and enjoyed both works enormously.

I love that disc too!

[vandermolen]

Here (if it appears) is the CD I especially like. Apart from the Symphony 'The Chimes' (Second Concerto for Orchestra) is very good and I like his music for 'The Humpbacked Horse'. I did not enjoy Symphony No 2 (Chandos) nearly as much as Symphony No 1. The exciting Toccata second movement has a beautiful Miaskovsky-like flute passage in its central section and at the end of Symphony No 1 it seems like the music is leading up to a grand climax - but instead of that it disintegrates - a very powerful moment in a fine lyrical score which should appeal to admirers of Prokofiev, Shebalin, Miaskovsky, Weinberg or Shostakovich - although the style is different. The First Symphony has a darkly searching quality which I find very appealing.

[Lethevich]

Now that's quite odd...   

I'll drop a note to Rob about that, thanks.

If it involves too much work, it may just be worth replacing the software search with a Google one - it's very effective.

[Brewski]

Yes, that might be a good idea--thanks, I'll mention it to him.

Just did the Berlioz search myself, and sure enough--nothing. Very weird...

--Bruce

[Sandra]

I'm glad to see Shchedrin getting wider recognition. It's impossible to place him up there with Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Prokofiev.. but his voice definitely adds to the "soviet experience"... He ranks more closely with composers like Kabalevsky and Popov.

His piano concerto no 3 is pretty original - http://youtu.be/q2Xf6TVtjJw  Really liked it!