Miniatures and the like - Short one-movement pieces that stand on their own

[Heather Harrison]

I was listening to a CD today that included a number of these short pieces, and I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread devoted to them.  With a few exceptions (short piano pieces by composers such as Chopin; lieder by composers such as Schubert and Schumann) short self-contained pieces don't seem to get as much attention as some of the larger-scale works.  Greatness can come in small packages.

I am hoping for a thread with discussion of some of the better short (approx. 10 minutes or less) one-movement pieces, composers who specialize in these pieces, and recommended recordings.  There has already been discussion in various other threads of the better-known lieder and short piano pieces, but there are short pieces for all types of ensembles (chamber music, orchestral pieces, concerto movements, choral pieces, etc.).  I don't remember seeing a thread devoted to this on the old forum, but there may well be one.  It seems like just about everything ended up there at some time.

Here is the CD that reminded me of the charms of this music.



I have had this CD for a long time, and I don't even remember where I got it.  It is a diverse collection of short pieces by Dvorak - including orchestral pieces, chamber music, pieces for solo instrument with orchestra, an opera aria, a choral piece, and two songs.  Two of the pieces are extracts from larger works, but all of the others are short, self-contained pieces.  Performers are Rudolf Firkusny (piano), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano), Prague Philharmonic Chorus, and Boston Symphony/Seiji Ozawa.  Performances are excellent throughout.  Here are some of the highlights.

Dvorak's Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 11 is a gorgeous miniature concerto which works well and seems complete as a single movement.  Klid (Silent Woods) for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68 No. 5 is another beautiful miniature concerto.  And there is a 9-minute choral piece that has all the power and beauty of a larger work, packed in a short timeframe - Psalm 149 for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 79.

This CD is just one example; I have encountered many other excellent miniature pieces, and I will post more to this thread if it gets going.

What has everyone else discovered in this genre?  I would love to find more.

Heather

[DetUudslukkelige]

Edvard Grieg's Landkjenning is one of my favorite short choral pieces. It is stunningly majestic and it has an ending that blows me away every time. It's words are in Norwegian and it's hard to get a good translation, but they are beautiful, as well. Unfortunately, I have only heard of this one recording on a Deutsche Grammophon 6-disc set with Neeme Järvi, which also contains some great short pieces for voice & orchestra:



Also, I'm sure everyone's heard of Beethoven's romances for violin and orchestra, which come as filler on many violin sonata/concerto recordings. Menuhin is great on these.

[Gurn Blanston]

Heather,
You hit on a good composer for miniatures. Dvorak was particularly good at that genre.

His Op 75 (& 75a) are 4 miniatures for Violin & Piano (75a is the same works arranged for 2 Violins & Viola).

Op 47 5 Bagatelles for 2 Violins, Cello & Harmonium

And the 11 songs "Cypresses" which he also arranged for String Quartet.

My favorite recording is this one:



by the Panocha Quartet on Supraphon. Very nice disk!

Also, Gil & Orli Shaham do the Op 75 nicely on this disk:



along with the Violin Sonata & Sonatina, 2 pieces worth hearing too. On DGG.

[Heather Harrison]

Edvard Grieg's Landkjenning is one of my favorite short choral pieces. It is stunningly majestic and it has an ending that blows me away every time. It's words are in Norwegian and it's hard to get a good translation, but they are beautiful, as well. Unfortunately, I have only heard of this one recording on a Deutsche Grammophon 6-disc set with Neeme Järvi, which also contains some great short pieces for voice & orchestra:

Thanks for the recommendation; that 6-CD set looks like it needs to become part of my collection; I have placed it on my wishlist.

Here is another miniature orchestral piece that I quite enjoy.

George Butterworth - The Banks of Green Willow.  This is a gorgeous, serene orchestral miniature in a style that reminds me of Vaughan Williams.  Butterworth was a friend of Vaughan Williams and, sadly, he perished in World War I while still quite young.  He left very few compositions.  It makes me wonder what he might have achieved had he lived longer.  This piece can be found as filler on CDs of English music.  I know I have it on more than one recording, but this is the only one I can think of right now.  This CD also includes the original version of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 2.



Heather

[hornteacher]

I think someone dubbed these minatures "Classical Snacks", which is a good term.  Here is a great CD of all of Beethoven's Overtures, the majority of which are performed as stand alone works today.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=99756&album_group=5

[hornteacher]

Oh yes, forgot about Aaron Copland.  He was great for shorter minatures.  My favorites are "Down A Country Lane", "A Letter from Home", and "Old American Songs - Set 1"

[m_gigena]

My most miniature fav?

Alkan's Toccatina. An excessive cascade of notes played softly in just one minute.

[Heather Harrison]

I just remembered another interesting source of miniatures.  In the early days of recording technology, light classical music was very popular, and given the limited length of cylinders and 78RPM records, pieces of two to four minutes in length got recorded frequently.  Very early recordings usually featured wind bands since they recorded well through the recording horn, but there were also orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo instrumentalists.  They often performed music in the genre known as "salon music", a light classical style that was very popular at the time.  I have many 78s of this type of music.  Of course, the acoustic recording technique was dreadful, but it is still interesting to hear these forgotten miniatures from a long time ago.

One popular composer of miniatures was Albert Ketelbey (1875-1959).  His piece In a Monastery Garden must have been quite popular in the days before jazz; there exist multiple 78RPM records of it.  I have only one - Columbia No. A5952 (c. 1917), performed by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra - but I know of a few more.

I have seen that Naxos has a series devoted to salon music; perhaps I should check it out.

Heather

[Bogey]

Just at 11:00 minutes, Copland's Our Town and at appx. 10:30 his Quiet City.....two of my all-time favorite pieces.

[Bogey]

Also, many of the Johann Strauss Polkas and Waltzes...

[Montpellier]

With a definite symbolist nature, I'd put forth much of the music of Debussy (who doesn't even have a thread on the composers' forum!) and the other symbolists.   I have always loved the smaller pieces of Honneger (Pastorale d'Eté, Pacific 231) and some of Milhaud, Villa-Lobos, Ravel and Deluis.   

So, in particular I put forward L'Apres midi d'un Faun, Pastorale d'Eté, First Cuckoo and Summer Night on the River (Delius), Paris (Delius) though it's a bit longer, Uirapurr and Choros 6 by Villa-Lobos.

[Grazioso]

Sibelius' Tulen Synty ("The Origin of Fire"), an orchestral song. One of his most powerful, majestic works, yet seemingly little known.

Lili Boulanger's Psaume 24, a powerful Stravinskian choral work that packs a whallop into three minutes.

Elgar's tiny orchestral works Salut d'amour, Sospiri, and Elegy.

Bruckners motets, some of his most beautiful choral music, usually around 3-5 minutes each.

[71 dB]

Elgar's tiny orchestral works Salut d'amour, Sospiri, and Elegy.

Yes, Elgar has tons of good orchestral miniatures. I'd recommend them to those who find Elgar's larger works "overblown".

[m_gigena]

They often performed music in the genre known as "salon music", a light classical style that was very popular at the time.

Like this Star and Stripes played on by the Imperial Marimba Band. 

[Bogey]

Bruckners motets, some of his most beautiful choral music, usually around 3-5 minutes each.

Nice call!

[hornteacher]

Just at 11:00 minutes, Copland's Our Town and at appx. 10:30 his Quiet City.....two of my all-time favorite pieces.

Was going to mention those but they fell over the time limit.  Maybe we can play them fast.

[Bogey]

Was going to mention those but they fell over the time limit.  Maybe we can play them fast.

[techniquest]

Concerto for Orchestra No.1 "Merrie Ditties" by Shchedrin is a hoot at just under 10 minutes. I'd also put in Tchaikovsky's 'March Slav'.

[aquablob]

How about the Scarlatti sonatas? Or the Joplin rags?

[m_gigena]

Rimsky Korsakov Trombone concerto and Gliere's concerto for coloratura soprano.