1950 to 2000

[EigenUser]

Any thoughts on Mackey? Has anyone heard of him or the quartet I mentioned? Just curious.

[petrarch]

Any thoughts on Mackey? Has anyone heard of him or the quartet I mentioned? Just curious.

It sounded interesting from what could be gleaned from the excerpts... I am curious to explore further.

Now, I am enjoying Walter Zimmermann immensely, of whom a few works were posted earlier. CDs ordered.

[petrarch]

Further on Mackey's Ars Moriendi: The best parts reminded me of Nono's Fragmente-Stille, which I find much more delightfully austere and consistent. I found it curious to hear modal harmony in some of the movements, suggesting medieval or renaissance allusions. I don't know enough of the work to confirm whether that is on purpose or if I am just imagining things.

[petrarch]

Gérard Zinsstag ~ Innanzi (1978) for double-bass and orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/v/RQHgR8fbvm0

I had to order this one too (I must be on a binge!). It's Cerha with a sprinkle of Xenakis, a pinch of Lachenmann, a smear of Sciarrino, and a whole host of others. Very engaging.

EDIT: I now see he studied with Lachenmann, Ligeti and was very good friends with Grisey. That explains it!

[torut]

Ordered the last copy from the marketplace. But I see another one has popped up at a higher price from a different seller (sorry, that one is the LP). It is also available at a seller at amazon.de, but that one doesn't ship to the US (I tried) .

Thank you. It seems very difficult to obtain it. When I was searching for it at Amazon, I saw Brilliant Classics' Heinz Holliger Edition 10-CD set and was surprised, but it is not a collection of his works.  (It is a set of works by Albinoni, Vivaldi, Telemann, etc. played by Holliger.)

[petrarch]

He might be more famous as an oboist than as a contemporary composer.

Indeed he is.

[torut]

I'll admit that I had trouble with that one, but I'm glad that I heard it nevertheless.

There is this one quartet by Princeton-based composer Steven Mackey (haven't seen anything on him here yet) called "Ars Moriendi: Nine Tableaux on the Art of Dying Well" that really moved me, emotionally-speaking. I first heard it live at a local concert given by the Borromeo String Quartet in 2007. It was such a sad piece of music and a lot of people really didn't like it at all. They played it just before intermission and I remember just feeling -- pale inside -- after hearing it, during intermission. After the last note faded away, I looked at my parents. They looked confused -- my mom had this blank look on her face (she hated it!). When music has the power to do this, it is incredible.

It's basically a personal diary of the composer's father's death. It is based off of "Danny Boy" (his father's favorite tune) and contains the sounds of labored breathing, a heartbeat, fibrillation, and childhood memories. I haven't heard it in a long partly because it is so emotionally draining for me. Even thinking about it right now makes me uneasy.

The composer's fairly detailed description is here: http://share.boomdesigngroup.com/stevenMackey/ProgramNotes/ArsMoriendi.doc

Audio samples at Amazon are interesting, but too short. Is there longer sample of this work? (I couldn't find it at youtube, and instead heard another work played by him (electric guitar) and Kronos quartet. It was enjoyable, but very different from this CD's samples or what you described.) I may have heard his work played by San Francisco Symphony and MTT around 2002 (completely forgot the details  ). An album containing electric guitar concerto was released around that time, also played by MTT. That sounds similar to the one Kronos played.

Unfortunately, I've never heard anything else by Mackey that I've liked at all. However, that piece is very special to me.

Did you hear his recent works, composed around the same time as Ars Moriendi? Are they very different?

[EigenUser]

Further on Mackey's Ars Moriendi: The best parts reminded me of Nono's Fragmente-Stille, which I find much more delightfully austere and consistent. I found it curious to hear modal harmony in some of the movements, suggesting medieval or renaissance allusions. I don't know enough of the work to confirm whether that is on purpose or if I am just imagining things.

Yes, several renaissance allusions. From investigating this piece way back when, I learned that "Ars Moriendi" was a common type of painting from the renaissance era depicting death. Or something like that.

Audio samples at Amazon are interesting, but too short. Is there longer sample of this work? (I couldn't find it at youtube, and instead heard another work played by him (electric guitar) and Kronos quartet. It was enjoyable, but very different from this CD's samples or what you described.) I may have heard his work played by San Francisco Symphony and MTT around 2002 (completely forgot the details  ). An album containing electric guitar concerto was released around that time, also played by MTT. That sounds similar to the one Kronos played.

Here is a longer one, but it ends literally just before the best (or, I should say, most powerful) part in the whole quartet. There's a renaissance melody towards the end of the clip (accompanied by the "labored breathing" motif) that builds up into the eighth section "Fibrillation" (the buildup just follows the last part of the clip).
https://www.boosey.com/cr/sample_detail/Ars-Moriendi-2000/12557

I might write about this piece in my "notes" thread. I don't have the CD, but I think I'll get it soon. I haven't heard the piece in years (!) and I used to listen to the whole thing on Mackey's website before the album was published (I'm sure it was taken down right around this time). I wanted to hear it sometime last year and found out that it was on CD, but I never got around to buying it. I do have the score and set of parts, though.

Did you hear his recent works, composed around the same time as Ars Moriendi? Are they very different?

This was a while ago (2007), so I don't remember what I heard -- other than not really liking it. I mean, it was perfectly good music, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

[torut]

I had to order this one too (I must be on a binge!). It's Cerha with a sprinkle of Xenakis, a pinch of Lachenmann, a smear of Sciarrino, and a whole host of others. Very engaging.

EDIT: I now see he studied with Lachenmann, Ligeti and was very good friends with Grisey. That explains it!

Did you order the last copy of this CD, too? It is also unavailable! 

[torut]

Here is a longer one, but it ends literally just before the best (or, I should say, most powerful) part in the whole quartet. There's a renaissance melody towards the end of the clip (accompanied by the "labored breathing" motif) that builds up into the eighth section "Fibrillation" (the buildup just follows the last part of the clip).
https://www.boosey.com/cr/sample_detail/Ars-Moriendi-2000/12557

I might write about this piece in my "notes" thread. I don't have the CD, but I think I'll get it soon. I haven't heard the piece in years (!) and I used to listen to the whole thing on Mackey's website before the album was published (I'm sure it was taken down right around this time). I wanted to hear it sometime last year and found out that it was on CD, but I never got around to buying it. I do have the score and set of parts, though.
This was a while ago (2007), so I don't remember what I heard -- other than not really liking it. I mean, it was perfectly good music, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Thank you, it is nice. Probably I am going to buy it. I was not so interested in his guitar works, but this is beautiful.

[EigenUser]

Thank you, it is nice. Probably I am going to buy it. I was not so interested in his guitar works, but this is beautiful.

Glad you like it! A very personal work for me, as my father had a heart attack when I was eight years old (thank god, he survived and is well 15 years later). I just found it and I'm listening to it on Spotify right now, actually.

[torut]

Glad you like it! A very personal work for me, as my father had a heart attack when I was eight years old (thank god, he survived and is well 15 years later). I just found it and I'm listening to it on Spotify right now, actually.

By the way, the beginning of the clip (and some other Amazon samples) reminds me of John Cage's string quartet. There is similar atmosphere.
Also, this work (2007) doesn't belong to here. 

[EigenUser]

By the way, the beginning of the clip (and some other Amazon samples) reminds me of John Cage's string quartet. There is similar atmosphere.
Also, this work (2007) doesn't belong to here. 

2007? I heard it in February 2007, live! It was premiered 11/9/2000 according to Boosey and Hawkes, the publisher of the sheet music. So, it barely makes it! That is, of course, assuming that the range 1950-2000 is inclusive. If not, then I guess it doesn't make it.

NO!  There's an LAS VEGAS AD right now, between the sixth and seventh movements! I knew Spotify was too good be true...

[torut]

2007? I heard it in February 2007, live! It was premiered 11/9/2000 according to Boosey and Hawkes, the publisher of the sheet music. So, it barely makes it! That is, of course, assuming that the range 1950-2000 is inclusive. If not, then I guess it doesn't make it.

NO!  There's an LAS VEGAS AD right now, between the sixth and seventh movements! I knew Spotify was too good be true...

Thank you for correction. I was looking at the discography (actually it was 2008).  So, this work was composed around the same time as the electric guitar concerto. (1999)

[EigenUser]

I was just listening to samples of Mackey's octet "Gaggle and Flock" from the same CD and I really liked it. I remember not liking it when I heard it in 2007 (after hearing "Ars Moriendi" and wanting to explore more of Mackey's work). I'm not really sure why I didn't like it back then, because now it sounds a lot like "Ars Moriendi" and uses a lot of the similar technique (it isn't at all an emotional work, though). Goes to show you -- people change!

I'm starting a Mackey thread in the composer section.

[petrarch]

Did you order the last copy of this CD, too? It is also unavailable! 

Looks like I did, yes...

[petrarch]

By the way, the beginning of the clip (and some other Amazon samples) reminds me of John Cage's string quartet.

Yes!

[petrarch]

This is the kind of thing that utterly bowled me over when I first heard it. Still amazing.

Friedrich Cerha, Spiegel I-VII for large orchestra and tape (1960/61)

https://www.youtube.com/v/4eg5dvsXVak

[torut]

Looks like I did, yes...

Oh ...    I should have acted quickly. Many of interesting works found here or 21st c. thread are either OOP or not recorded yet. But we are in a good era when music which would have never been available can be listened to at youtube, soundcloud, composers' web sites, etc.

[Artem]

This is the kind of thing that utterly bowled me over when I first heard it. Still amazing.

Friedrich Cerha, Spiegel I-VII for large orchestra and tape (1960/61)

https://www.youtube.com/v/4eg5dvsXVak

I like Cerha a lot. His tape piece Und du... is one of my favourites. However, i find myself struggling with some of his chamber works.