Works similar in style to "Le Sacre du printemps" and the "Scythian Suite"?

[Winky Willy]

I would be most gratified if anyone would take the time to recommend some music similar in style (barbarism galore!) to "The Rite of Spring" and Prokofiev's "Scythian Suite"!

[Brian]

Two that come straight to mind - "Sensemaya" by Silvestre Revueltas and a great big Australian Aborigine ballet by John Antill called "Corroboree." But super-primitivist stuff isn't my thing, so I'll let the experts weigh in.

[asin]B0018PJEJO[/asin]

[some guy]

...super-primitivist stuff isn't my thing, so I'll let the experts weigh in.

An interesting way to describe two extraordinarily sophisticated pieces of music. Or perhaps four. (I haven't spent much time listening to either Revueltas or Antill, so I hesitate to try to characterize either. Antheil, however, yeah. Ballet mechanique. Be sure to get ahold of the original version. The revision gutted the poor piece.)

Anyway, Willy might find Varese's Ameriques an interesting take on some of the qualities of Le Sacre. And if you go to the less well known symphonies thread, you'll find a piece that's been called the Dutch Le Sacre. Honegger's Pacific 231 has some of the qualities, as well. As do dozens of post Le Sacre pieces. It's almost more difficult to find pre-WW II music that doesn't inhabit that sound world.

Anyway, there's also Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin and Prokofiev's Chout and Pas d'Acier and Stravinsky's own Les Noces.

[Mirror Image]

As Some Guy pointed out, there are many works written in this kind of primitive, mechanical style, but there's a lot of different approaches that should be considered. There are works that also weave these types of ideas in and out of the composition. In addition to the ones Brian and Some Guy mentioned:

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 2
Sculthorpe: Earth Cry
Koechlin: La course de printemps
Dutilleux: Metaboles
Ginastera: Estancia, Panambi
Villa-Lobos: Genesis, the Choros series, Uirapuru
Chavez: Sinfonia India, Horse Power Suite
Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Dance Suite (explore Bartok's music in general as a lot of it contains strong rhythms)

[Brian]

An interesting way to describe two extraordinarily sophisticated pieces of music.

I agree, of course. I certainly don't think they're primitive! 'Primitivist' was used in a music theory class I took to describe the consciously wild/exotically prehistoric style, or maybe the composers deliberately shaking the metaphorical powdered wigs off their listeners.

[some guy]

...or maybe the composers deliberately shaking the metaphorical powdered wigs off their listeners.

I love when that happens!

[snyprrr]

I know I had a Thread like this when I rediscovered le Sacre last year. Villa-Lobos gets my vote,... the Marco Polo discs, Erosion... Choros 8-9...

Frankly, Muti's Le Sacre should qualify in its own category! If you want blood, that's the one! Brutal

Nessiaen?

[springrite]

The Miraculous Mandarin by Bartok!!!

[Karl Henning]

The Miraculous Mandarin by Bartok!!!

+ 1

[springrite]

+ 1

I know you'd like it!

If I were to reccomend a second work, It'd probably be Andriessen's De Staat. I know, rather different only because it's what, 70 or 80 years later? But similar in spirit.

[Luke]

A somewhat more modern twist -

Birtwistle: Earth Dances
Finnissy: Red Earth

Anything with the word earth in the title, clearly...

[Leon]

Christopher Rouse's Gorgon, may be too "primitive" and making Le Sacre sound somewhat "neo-classical" in comparison - but Rouse may be worth checking out.

[asin]B000003G0Q[/asin]

His other works, Trombone Concerto, Symphony No. 2 and Transfiguration might also be logical next steps from Le Sacre.

[Luke]

....even though they don't contain the word earth in the title, things like Scelsi's Uaxuctum* fit the bill too. Varese himself has already been pointed out, but yes, to reinforce that one, he is the most obvious choice of all. In fact there are passages in Ameriques and on a smaller scale in Octandre which either couldn't exist without the precedent of Le Sacre, or which are practically quoting it. Which isn't to say that the Varese aren't wholly originally works, and wonderful ones too. I am waffling now, though. Trying to avoid work...

*Record producers alert - Uaxuctum, a portrait of an ancient and alien South American civilisation replete with ondes martenots and sistrums and other odd paraphenalia, is the perfect coupling for Varese's Ecuatorial, which is ditto though without the sistrums (sistra??) That's a CD which would get the coffers overflowing...  ) I'd buy it anyway...

[Karl Henning]

The Le sacre – Amériques connection is even clearer in the 8-hands version of the latter.

[Cato]

I would be most gratified if anyone would take the time to recommend some music similar in style (barbarism galore!) to "The Rite of Spring" and Prokofiev's "Scythian Suite"!

Prokofiev's incredible 7-minute cantata Seven, They Are Seven about a Chaldean exorcism fits the bill.

For non-orchestral works: Leo Ornstein's piano works Wild Men's Dance and Suicide in an Airplane.  And Bartok's Allegro Barbaro.

For a wild ride in general: The Robert Browning Overture by Charles Ives.

[Mirror Image]

Prokofiev's incredible 7-minute cantata Seven, They Are Seven about a Chaldean exorcism fits the bill.

For non-orchestral works: Leo Ornstein's piano works Wild Men's Dance and Suicide in an Airplane.  And Bartok's Allegro Barbaro.

For a wild ride in general: The Robert Browning Overture by Charles Ives.

Great choices, Cato. I haven't heard Prokofiev's Seven, They Are Seven yet. I tried to find a performance of it on Amazon and the recording that came was Ashkenazy's with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

[Cato]

Great choices, Cato. I haven't heard Prokofiev's Seven, They Are Seven yet. I tried to find a performance of it on Amazon and the recording that came was Ashkenazy's with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

There was a 1970's recording on Melodiya that was a real barn-burner: Rozhdestvensky and Yuri Yelnikov!

If you can find it somewhere, that is the one to have!  The Ashkenazy is good, but he does not have Yelnikov!

[Mirror Image]

There was a 1970's recording on Melodiya that was a real barn-burner: Rozhdestvensky and Yuri Yelnikov!

If you can find it somewhere, that is the one to have!  The Ashkenazy is good, but he does not have Yelnikov!

Thanks, Cato. Off I go to find the Rozhdestvensky.

Edit: I didn't find it. Oh well.

[Brian]

Christopher Rouse's Gorgon, may be too "primitive" and making Le Sacre sound somewhat "neo-classical" in comparison - but Rouse may be worth checking out.

His other works, Trombone Concerto, Symphony No. 2 and Transfiguration might also be logical next steps from Le Sacre.

This reminds me, Andre Jolivet's Trumpet Concerto probably qualifies. Really wild piece!

[North Star]

Thanks, Cato. Off I go to find the Rozhdestvensky.

Edit: I didn't find it. Oh well.

It's uploaded to Youtube: (and there's a mediafire link in the description)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3imEtW-4v80