The Copland Corral

Started by karlhenning, April 10, 2007, 05:12:59 AM

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Ken B

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 02, 2014, 05:35:08 PM
I like Harrison's Piano Concerto, but does it really have that much of a connection to Copland's?
Better still of course is Glass's piano concerto.

amw

Quote from: Ken B on October 02, 2014, 09:22:15 PM
Better still of course is Glass's piano concerto.
It's not as good as Stockhausen's.

Mirror Image

Received the Wolff/St. Paul Chamber Orchestra two-disc set on Teldec today. I'm really loving these performances so far. Listening to Appalachian Spring (Original Version) now and loving it. I love the intimacy of the original arrangement, but sometimes I'll get the hankering for that large orchestra sound and I'll opt for that arrangement. Anyway, it's a masterpiece any way you hear it.

Leo K.


Quote from: Mirror Image on October 04, 2014, 08:02:15 PM
Received the Wolff/St. Paul Chamber Orchestra two-disc set on Teldec today. I'm really loving these performances so far. Listening to Appalachian Spring (Original Version) now and loving it. I love the intimacy of the original arrangement, but sometimes I'll get the hankering for that large orchestra sound and I'll opt for that arrangement. Anyway, it's a masterpiece any way you hear it.

I agree, I like both versions but prefer the orch. arrangement :) I once went backstage to get Hugh Wolff's autograph - I'm a big fan of his! He is a nice guy. Aces!


Mirror Image

Quote from: Leo K. on October 05, 2014, 08:46:26 AM
I agree, I like both versions but prefer the orch. arrangement :) I once went backstage to get Hugh Wolff's autograph - I'm a big fan of his! He is a nice guy. Aces!

Cool, Leo. 8) Sure, yeah, the orchestral arrangement packs a much larger wallop. If push comes to shove, I probably prefer it as well. It's a shame Hugh Wolff isn't more well-known than he is because all of the recording I own with his conducting have highly enjoyable.

Ken B

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 05, 2014, 09:19:30 AM
Cool, Leo. 8) Sure, yeah, the orchestral arrangement packs a much larger wallop. If push comes to shove, I probably prefer it as well. It's a shame Hugh Wolff isn't more well-known than he is because all of the recording I own with his conducting have highly enjoyable.
Despite having seen Copland conduct the later arrangement I characteristically prefer the original.

John, do you wish Messiaen had arranged it for 500 with a quartet of Ondes Martinots?  >:D

Mirror Image

Quote from: Ken B on October 05, 2014, 09:28:29 AM
Despite having seen Copland conduct the later arrangement I characteristically prefer the original.

John, do you wish Messiaen had arranged it for 500 with a quartet of Ondes Martinots?  >:D

Well, it's the music itself that's most important. Not the arrangement per se. I think we all can agree that Appalachian Spring is a gem. As for the Messiaen, how shall I put this? Ummm...HELL NO!!! ;D

vandermolen

So, what's the verdict on Copland's Organ Symphony? I have been enjoying this work more and more. It is one of those craggy works, like the Symphonic Ode, which appeals to me as representing a kind of synthesis between the more populist works (like Symphony 3, Billy the Kid, both of which I love) and the more abstract/modernist works ('Connotations' etc):
I have been greatly enjoying the CD below:
[asin]B000003FYL[/asin]
"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).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on December 22, 2014, 02:31:17 AM
So, what's the verdict on Copland's Organ Symphony? I have been enjoying this work more and more. It is one of those craggy works, like the Symphonic Ode, which appeals to me as representing a kind of synthesis between the more populist works (like Symphony 3, Billy the Kid, both of which I love) and the more abstract/modernist works ('Connotations' etc):
I have been greatly enjoying the CD below:
[asin]B000003FYL[/asin]

I love the Organ Symphony. My favorite performance, however, is the E. Power Biggs/Bernstein performance. It's quite thrilling.

Karl Henning

Quote from: vandermolen on December 22, 2014, 02:31:17 AM
So, what's the verdict on Copland's Organ Symphony? I have been enjoying this work more and more. It is one of those craggy works, like the Symphonic Ode, which appeals to me as representing a kind of synthesis between the more populist works (like Symphony 3, Billy the Kid, both of which I love) and the more abstract/modernist works ('Connotations' etc):
I have been greatly enjoying the CD below:
[asin]B000003FYL[/asin]

Your "synthesis" idea is musically sound, though the chronology is somewhat otherwise . . . the Organ Symphony is from early on, before he explored his more "populist vein" — but of course, the "populist move" was not any volte-face, the elements were already there in his work.

I've not answered your question yet!  I do like the Organ Symphony very well  :)
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

Mirror Image

Has anyone heard the MTT/SFSO performance of Organ Symphony? This one certainly shoots straight to the top as well.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 22, 2014, 05:29:37 AM
I love the Organ Symphony. My favorite performance, however, is the E. Power Biggs/Bernstein performance. It's quite thrilling.

Oh yes, that is a great CD, with the Third Symphony too, although Bernstein's is not my favourite version of it. I prefer the later DGG release and, best of all in my view, Copland's LSO Everest version, despite its age.
"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).

vandermolen

Quote from: karlhenning on December 22, 2014, 06:50:04 AM
Your "synthesis" idea is musically sound, though the chronology is somewhat otherwise . . . the Organ Symphony is from early on, before he explored his more "populist vein" — but of course, the "populist move" was not any volte-face, the elements were already there in his work.

I've not answered your question yet!  I do like the Organ Symphony very well  :)

Thanks Karl.
"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).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on December 22, 2014, 10:58:53 AM
Oh yes, that is a great CD, with the Third Symphony too, although Bernstein's is not my favourite version of it. I prefer the later DGG release and, best of all in my view, Copland's LSO Everest version, despite its age.

I like both of Bernstein's performances of Copland's 3rd, but I'm quite partial to his first one. I also like Copland's later performance with the LSO on Columbia. What do you think about Dance Panels, Jeffrey? Are you familiar with this work? It doesn't get discussed much, but I think it's another feather in Copland's hat. He certainly excelled in ballet music.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 22, 2014, 11:03:55 AM
I like both of Bernstein's performances of Copland's 3rd, but I'm quite partial to his first one. I also like Copland's later performance with the LSO on Columbia. What do you think about Dance Panels, Jeffrey? Are you familiar with this work? It doesn't get discussed much, but I think it's another feather in Copland's hat. He certainly excelled in ballet music.

Don't know it John but think its on a recent Naxos CD I purchased, so will get back to you on this.
"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).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on December 22, 2014, 11:31:07 AM
Don't know it John but think its on a recent Naxos CD I purchased, so will get back to you on this.

Cool, Jeffrey. It's certainly an enjoyable work.

pjme

#256
My colleagues at work could not believe that the Organ symphony was written by a 23-year old composer. And the last movement (which builds up tension relentlesly) left them...speachless.  It is a great work that I'd love to hear in a concert hall.

I have both the classic Bernstein/Power Biggs and the MTT/San Francisco recordings + a BBC magazine recording (Wayne Marshall / BBC SO / Slatkin).

In France



Jean Claude Casadesus also has performed the symphony with his Lille Orchestra . Copland conducted the symphony ( version without organ) with the French Nat. O.

I love the combination organ - orchestra. Frank Martin's Erasmi monumentum and Wallingford Riegger's Fantasy and Fugue are other favorites.



Another work that I enjoyed discovering many years ago:




vandermolen

Quote from: pjme on December 25, 2014, 05:14:11 AM
My colleagues at work could not believe that the Organ symphony was written by a 23-year old composer. And the last movement (which builds up tension relentlesly) left them...speachless.  It is a great work that I'd love to hear in a concert hall.

I have both the classic Bernstein/Power Biggs and the MTT/San Francisco recordings + a BBC magazine recording (Wayne Marshall / BBC SO / Slatkin).

In France



Jean Claude Casadesus also has performed the symphony with his Lille Orchestra . Copland conducted the symphony ( version without organ) with the French Nat. O.

I love the combination organ - orchestra. Frank Martin's Erasmi monumentum and Wallingford Riegger's Fantasy and Fugue are other favorites.



Another work that I enjoyed discovering many years ago:




Thanks very much for this. I only know the Power-Biggs/Bernstein and RCA Slatkin version. Those other works by Frank Martin etc sound well worth exploring. Malcolm Williamson's Organ Concerto which I gave actually seen live, conducted by its dedicatee, Adrian Boult is also worth hearing; a powerful and cogent work.
"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).

pjme

#258
Thanks Vandermolen for the reaction.

Just a little warning: Wallingford Riegger can be called a "Schoenbergian" and Charles Chaynes ( albeit not a Messiaen , nor a Boulez) writes mostly atonal music ( think of his colleagues André Jolivet, Jacques Castérède or Jacques Charpentier).

And (my mistake) it is Simon Preston who is at the organ in that 1996 performance ( Proms/Royal Albert Hall), not Wayne Marshall.

Peter


vandermolen

Quote from: pjme on December 25, 2014, 11:53:04 PM
Thanks Vandermolen for the reaction.

Just a little warning: Wallingford Riegger can be called a "Schoenbergian" and Charles Chaynes ( albeit not a Messiaen , nor a Boulez) writes mostly atonal music ( think of his colleagues André Jolivet, Jacques Castérède or Jacques Charpentier).

And (my mistake) it is Simon Preston who is at the organ in that 1996 performance ( Proms/Royal Albert Hall), not Wayne Marshall.

Peter


Many thanks Peter. I think that I have some Riegger in my collection. I do like some more 'challenging' music like the symphonies of Blomdahl, although they are more approachable than some! Jeffrey
"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).