the 50 best known violin concertos from 20th century

violinconcerto · December 18, 2009, 05:11:30 AM

Quote from: jlaurson on December 18, 2009, 03:59:05 AM
Here a couple I didn't see above that I find no less obscure than the least known in your list... or even considerably more prominent... esp. Bacewicz.

Malipiero, Schoeck, Goldschmidt, Alwyn, Pfitzner, Weinberg, Petterson, Holmboe, (believe it or not: John Williams, Maw, Ginastera, Bartok 1, Rautavaara, Jolivet, Blacher, Carter, Antheil, Bacewicz 1, 3, 7, Hubay 3, Myaskowsky, (I hate it, but:) O'Connor, Rochberg, haven't heard it but people on GMG liked it: Roslavets, Stanford 2, BAZi

You are right, maybe at half of the list the works are not really a must, depends on the country you live in (I asked the same question in a German forum and get much more German works, on the other hand no one there mentioned Piston or Schuman for example) and some other aspects.
Thanks also for your additional list and I thought about some of the works there (Pettersson 2, Alwyn, O'Connor, Williams), but my opinion was that they are maybe as popular as the others and just chose the other ones. Miaskovsky is a good hint, a name that I just missed! I will change the Arutiunian into the Miaskovsky!
But the other names are that popular I think. Who knows the Jolivet violin concerto? Maybe a few here in the forum, but not that much. Especially for the reason that a commercial recording of it exists just for a year or so. I also think that the works by Ginastera, Antheil, Pfitzner, Blacher and Bacewicz aren't very popular. But maybe I am wrong of course, but that are my experiences with this topic and these works.

Best,
Tobias

jlaurson · December 18, 2009, 05:18:30 AM

Quote from: violinconcerto on December 18, 2009, 05:11:30 AM

You are right, maybe at half of the list the works are not really a must, depends on the country you live in (I asked the same question in a German forum and get much more German works, on the other hand no one there mentioned Piston or Schuman for example) and some other aspects.

I'd be surprised if you even get Britten in a German forum.

But you need to know whether you want to make an international list or a Germanophile/Continental one.

Jolivet is a composer you often meet at competitions because he wrote beautiful modern concertos for less popular solo instruments... (apart from the VC, that is.) If the existence of a commercial recording is anything to go by (and I think that's probably one of the most realistic measures) you could just make this list and add the numbers of different available recordings and some of the top performers. That should give you something concrete even for a ranking. And easier than getting a list of performances over the last 80 years... though with some dedication and contacts at the publishers, you could probably get there, too. But then you're not writing your Habilitation on the topic, do you?

I think you much underestimate Bacewicz... possibly Pfitzner. (What, for a good German and all not to embrace his music? What would C.Thielemann think?)

Cheers,

jfl

jlaurson · December 18, 2009, 05:19:01 AM

Quote from: Velimir on December 18, 2009, 04:48:10 AM
Can someone clarify what the title "Butterfly Lovers Concerto" means?

Does it refer to:

1. People who love butterflies, or

2. Butterflies who love each other?

Worse!

violinconcerto · July 18, 2011, 10:18:05 AM