The Copland Corral

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

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Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on August 05, 2016, 03:02:11 PM
Yes, I can see that John! I like your Copland quote too.
:)

Thanks, Jeffrey. 8)

Rons_talking

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 02, 2016, 11:14:17 AM
I've got to say that hearing Copland conduct his own music on all of these classic Columbia recordings has been just outstanding. I'll also say he was quite a good conductor in his own right.

I agree. I grew up listening to Copland Conducts Copland on Columbia with the  London Symphony performing Ap Spring (I'm not even going to try to spell it), the Lincoln Portrait (w/Henry Fonda) and the Fanfare. I may be biased but Copland's recordings really bring out the warmth and soul of the music. I don't know whether or not he conducted other composer's music but I seem to recall his working with Carlos Chavez; they were good friends. Two late works I really like are Dance Panels and the Nonet for Strings.

Mirror Image

Quote from: Rons_talking on August 06, 2016, 05:39:31 AM
I agree. I grew up listening to Copland Conducts Copland on Columbia with the  London Symphony performing Ap Spring (I'm not even going to try to spell it), the Lincoln Portrait (w/Henry Fonda) and the Fanfare. I may be biased but Copland's recordings really bring out the warmth and soul of the music. I don't know whether or not he conducted other composer's music but I seem to recall his working with Carlos Chavez; they were good friends. Two late works I really like are Dance Panels and the Nonet for Strings.

Copland is of course the way to go when hearing his own music, but, thankfully, his own performances aren't the final word on the subject. There are many fine Copland conductors: Bernstein, Tilson Thomas, Dennis Russell Davies, Slatkin, Gould (!!!), and the Naxos series of Copland had some good conductors that were showcased that seem to understand his musical vernacular (Alsop, Falletta, Judd, etc.).

I LOVE Dance Panels, too. What an underrated work. Speaking of late Copland, I also love Music for a Great City. I'm less crazy about works like Connotations and Inscape, but will freely admit that they have an unrelenting power to them that I find quite impressive.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 06, 2016, 05:47:44 AM
Copland is of course the way to go when hearing his own music, but, thankfully, his own performances aren't the final word on the subject. There are many fine Copland conductors: Bernstein, Tilson Thomas, Dennis Russell Davies, Slatkin, Gould (!!!), and the Naxos series of Copland had some good conductors that were showcased that seem to understand his musical vernacular (Alsop, Falletta, Judd, etc.).

I LOVE Dance Panels, too. What an underrated work. Speaking of late Copland, I also love Music for a Great City. I'm less crazy about works like Connotations and Inscape, but will freely admit that they have an unrelenting power to them that I find quite impressive.
I agree about Copland conducts Copland. I really liked his movingly restrained second recording of his Third Symphony.
"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 August 06, 2016, 06:57:30 AM
I agree about Copland conducts Copland. I really liked his movingly restrained second recording of his Third Symphony.

I'll have to revisit that one tonight. Thanks for the reminder, Jeffrey. 8)

PerfectWagnerite

I have been listening to Ormandy's full orchestral version of Appalachian Spring here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHWcHEMy-Q

What stunning virtuosity by the Fabulous Philadelphians

Does anyone know whether there is a CD incarnation of this?

Mirror Image

#306
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on August 08, 2016, 12:08:22 PM
I have been listening to Ormandy's full orchestral version of Appalachian Spring here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHWcHEMy-Q

What stunning virtuosity by the Fabulous Philadelphians

Does anyone know whether there is a CD incarnation of this?

Maybe this recording?

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Edit: Sorry, I see the YT video you posted was Ormandy from 1955 whereas the recording I linked above is from 1969.

PerfectWagnerite

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 02:17:50 PM
Maybe this recording?

[asin]B00001R3MR[/asin]

Edit: Sorry, I see the YT video you posted was Ormandy from 1955 whereas the recording I linked above is from 1969.
The timings do not match either...The Youtube is the full version over 30 minutes while the CD at 25 or so is just the suite. The Youtube version is conducted incredibly fast as most full ballet versions last 34-35minutes. I would think the dancers would have a hard time if that is actually the tempo.

Mirror Image

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on August 08, 2016, 02:56:20 PM
The timings do not match either...The Youtube is the full version over 30 minutes while the CD at 25 or so is just the suite. The Youtube version is conducted incredibly fast as most full ballet versions last 34-35minutes. I would think the dancers would have a hard time if that is actually the tempo.

Imagine trying to dance to Bernstein's NY Phil. performance of Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps. Choreographer to ballet dancers "Okay...that's one....two...three...one...two....three....ah that's it! Go home everyone! This is pointless!" ;D

vandermolen

This is a completely sensational disc! It contains nearly all my favourite lesser-known Copland orchestral scores in incredibly vivid recordings and in great performances by John Wilson. I played the CD right through and then had to repeat the experience. I already loved the craggy Symphonic Ode and Organ Symphony and I have never heard a better performance of the former, much as I have a soft spot for the old Bernstein/E.Power Biggs Sony recording. The revelation to me is the Orchestral Variations and Second ('Short') Symphony. These works suddenly came alive for me. Altogether a wonderful CD which no Copland admirer should be without:
[asin]B01HSFG6DO[/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).

Rons_talking

A bump for his 116th Birthday. On PBS, I saw his 80th B-day concert. He narrated the "Lincoln Portrait"...it was awesome!

Karl Henning

Quote from: Rons_talking on November 15, 2016, 04:30:07 AM
A bump for his 116th Birthday. On PBS, I saw his 80th B-day concert. He narrated the "Lincoln Portrait"...it was awesome!

Excellent!
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

"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: Rons_talking on November 15, 2016, 04:30:07 AM
A bump for his 116th Birthday. On PBS, I saw his 80th B-day concert. He narrated the "Lincoln Portrait"...it was awesome!

Ok, so who is the best narrator of Lincoln Portrait?

One of the few questions I was able to get right on 'Brain of Britain' on the radio the other day was to identify the narrator of 'Lincoln Portrait' (Gregory Peck). The contestant mistakenly identified the voice as that of Charlton Heston (who also narrated Lincoln Portrait). My favourite is the Adlai Stevenson narration with Eugene Ormandy conducting. I may be influenced as it was my first discovery of the piece on LP. It was a great old CBS LP as 'Three Places in New England' by Charles Ives was on the other side of the LP and a fine photo of the Lincoln Memorial was on the front of the LP. I have no desire to hear the version narrated by Margaret Thatcher which might put me off the work for ever. I like the Koussevitsky version narrated by Melvyn Douglas. Any favourites?
"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).

snyprrr

Music for A Great City

This is quite nicely sandwiched between 'Connotations' and 'Inscape' as the "3rd" work of High Modernism by Copland. Of course, it's "Abstraction" is wholly beholden to a programme, but, I believe we hear here what happens when the subjective becomes objective- postWWII, modern, skyscapers, jets, computers, space- the music for 'Great City' is so... so... "modern" that it is Modernity itself that is being written about, perhaps not necessarily NYC, though, of course, it is.

For some reason, the music sounds like a sequel to Shostakovich's 1st Symphony? Black, stark... 60s vs 20s... mmm...

Mirror Image

Quote from: snyprrr on February 04, 2017, 04:06:23 PM
Music for A Great City

This is quite nicely sandwiched between 'Connotations' and 'Inscape' as the "3rd" work of High Modernism by Copland. Of course, it's "Abstraction" is wholly beholden to a programme, but, I believe we hear here what happens when the subjective becomes objective- postWWII, modern, skyscapers, jets, computers, space- the music for 'Great City' is so... so... "modern" that it is Modernity itself that is being written about, perhaps not necessarily NYC, though, of course, it is.

For some reason, the music sounds like a sequel to Shostakovich's 1st Symphony? Black, stark... 60s vs 20s... mmm...

The movement Night Thoughts from this work is absolutely sublime.

Rons_talking

Quote from: snyprrr on February 04, 2017, 04:06:23 PM
Music for A Great City

This is quite nicely sandwiched between 'Connotations' and 'Inscape' as the "3rd" work of High Modernism by Copland. Of course, it's "Abstraction" is wholly beholden to a programme, but, I believe we hear here what happens when the subjective becomes objective- postWWII, modern, skyscapers, jets, computers, space- the music for 'Great City' is so... so... "modern" that it is Modernity itself that is being written about, perhaps not necessarily NYC, though, of course, it is.

For some reason, the music sounds like a sequel to Shostakovich's 1st Symphony? Black, stark... 60s vs 20s... mmm...

That's a nice description of the work. I've only heard these movements a few times. A bit rugged at times, but there is still the lyricism, rhythm and colour of AC not far from the surface. I now can truly enjoy Copland's "modern" works of the 50s-60s. Music for a Great City seems to have the urgency of the modern era yet is true to the composer. From time to time Copland uses jazzy scoring that renders a 1920s vibe. Those were his formative years but the music sounds little like his 1920s efforts. I'm going to have to revisit his other late works. I used to think Connotations and Inscape were so wild but now I hear the master's voice through the modernism.

snyprrr

Quote from: Rons_talking on February 09, 2017, 11:49:27 AM
That's a nice description of the work. I've only heard these movements a few times. A bit rugged at times, but there is still the lyricism, rhythm and colour of AC not far from the surface. I now can truly enjoy Copland's "modern" works of the 50s-60s. Music for a Great City seems to have the urgency of the modern era yet is true to the composer. From time to time Copland uses jazzy scoring that renders a 1920s vibe. Those were his formative years but the music sounds little like his 1920s efforts. I'm going to have to revisit his other late works. I used to think Connotations and Inscape were so wild but now I hear the master's voice through the modernism.

And they all only sound right on SONY performances.

Don't dare listen to the other recordings of 'Inscape'!

Karl Henning

Quote from: snyprrr on February 09, 2017, 03:21:51 PM
And they all only sound right on SONY performances.

Don't dare listen to the other recordings of 'Inscape'!

You are a reliable hoot!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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

Heads-up, Coplandites!

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 12, 2017, 07:32:19 PM
Just bought:



Hopefully, this will be my last purchase for quite some time as The Tender Land is an opera I've had my eyes on for years and felt it to be a hole in my Copland collection since I'm really admirer of the orchestral suite from it.

Anyone here a fan of Copland's The Tender Land? I remember hearing bits and pieces from it via YT years ago and being thoroughly enchanted by it. Some gorgeous music herein if his orchestral suite is any indication.