Six favourite works written during World War Two

Started by vandermolen, April 05, 2015, 01:14:25 AM

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vandermolen

April 05, 2015, 01:14:25 AM Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 01:16:26 AM by vandermolen
Vaughan Williams: Symphony 5
Miaskovsky: Symphony 21
Copland: Symphony 3 (first performed 1946 I know)
Arnell: Symphony 3
Bate: Symphony 3
Khachaturian: Symphony 2 'The Bell'.
"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).

EigenUser

#1
April 05, 2015, 02:30:40 AM
Quote from: vandermolen on April 05, 2015, 01:14:25 AM
Vaughan Williams: Symphony 5
Miaskovsky: Symphony 21
Copland: Symphony 3 (first performed 1946 I know)
Arnell: Symphony 3
Bate: Symphony 3
Khachaturian: Symphony 2 'The Bell'.
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra
Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3
Messiaen Trois Petites Liturgies
...?

I must know more, but I can't think in such a narrow time frame off of the top of my head.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

North Star

#2
April 05, 2015, 05:02:36 AM
Prokofiev War Sonatas, S5, VS1
Messiaen Qplfdt
DSCH PQnt, S8
Britten Ceremony of Carols, Sinfonia da Requiem, Serenade for tenor, horn and strings
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Christo

#3
April 05, 2015, 05:21:18 AM
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5
Tubin: Symphony No. 4 'Lirica'
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Bate: Symphony No. 3
Orthel: Symphonies 2 ('Piccola') and 3
Vagn Holmboe: Symphony No. 5
Herman Koppel: Symphony No. 3
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Sergeant Rock

#4
April 05, 2015, 05:37:29 AM Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 05:53:53 AM by Sergeant Rock
Shostakovich Symphony No.9
Strauss Capriccio
Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Martinů Symphony No.1
Schuman Symphony No.3
Bernard Herrmann Symphony No.1
Atterberg Symphony No.8

Schuman may not count. He revised it in 1939 but it may have been before the war started.

Edit: Wiki says, "American composer William Schuman's Symphony No. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941."

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Mirror Image

#5
April 05, 2015, 07:50:14 AM Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 07:53:37 AM by Mirror Image
My list of six during the war (in no particular order):

RVW: Symphony No. 5
Schuman: Symphony No. 3
Barber: Violin Concerto
Copland: Appalachian Spring
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements

Drasko

#6
April 05, 2015, 08:08:08 AM
Martinu - Symphony No.3
Poulenc - Figure humaine
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances
Piston - Symphony No.2
Shostakovich - Piano Trio No.2
Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings

Prokofiev was was incredibly prolific during those years: Piano Sonatas Nos. 6-8, Symphony No.5, Cinderella, Betrothal in a Monastery, War and Peace, Flute/Violin Sonata ... Didn't know what to choose in the end.

The new erato

#7
April 05, 2015, 08:22:44 AM Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 08:27:28 AM by The new erato
Honegger - Symphony no 3
Frank Martin - Petite Symphonie Concertante, Jedermann, Der Cornet.

Todd

#8
April 05, 2015, 08:43:42 AM
Martinu - Memorial to Lidice
Messiaen - Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus
Stravinsky - Symphony in Three Movements
Britten - Peter Grimes
Shostakovich - Piano Trio
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra (or maybe the Sixth Quartet)
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Christo

#9
April 05, 2015, 09:00:59 AM
I took 'during' WW2 to mean 'related to' the war or in some way reflecting those years.  ::)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#10
April 05, 2015, 01:11:11 PM
Quote from: Christo on April 05, 2015, 09:00:59 AM
I took 'during' WW2 to mean 'related to' the war or in some way reflecting those years.  ::)

Yes, I also did but did not specify that in my opening message and I thought that anyone who responded could interpret it as they liked.

Lots of interesting suggestions here. I could also have added Rubbra's 4th 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).

vandermolen

#11
April 05, 2015, 01:13:20 PM
Quote from: The new erato on April 05, 2015, 08:22:44 AM
Honegger - Symphony no 3
Frank Martin - Petite Symphonie Concertante, Jedermann, Der Cornet.

Yes, the Honegger is a magnificent work. I think that it has similarities with Vaughan Williams's contemporaneous 6th 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).

vandermolen

#12
April 05, 2015, 01:15:07 PM Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 01:16:55 PM by vandermolen
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on April 05, 2015, 05:37:29 AM
Shostakovich Symphony No.9
Strauss Capriccio
Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Martinů Symphony No.1
Schuman Symphony No.3
Bernard Herrmann Symphony No.1
Atterberg Symphony No.8

Schuman may not count. He revised it in 1939 but it may have been before the war started.

Edit: Wiki says, "American composer William Schuman's Symphony No. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941."

Sarge

Great list. I like the Herrmann, Scuman and Aterrberg works. Atterberg's music was more likely to be played in Nazi Germany I suspect, although premiered in Helsinki (Sibelius sent a congratulatory message).
"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).

NJ Joe

#13
April 05, 2015, 01:50:31 PM
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Bartok - Piano Concerto No. 3
Stravinsky - Symphony in Three Movements
Schuman - Symphony No. 3
Piston - Symphony No. 2
Copland - Appalachian Spring

* Please note, other than Concerto for Orchestra, I have no idea when any of these compositions were written. I'm basing my selections on what everyone else has already posted and just taking your word for it.  :)
"Music can inspire love, religious ecstasy, cathartic release, social bonding, and a glimpse of another dimension. A sense that there is another time, another space and another, better universe."
-David Byrne

ritter

#14
April 05, 2015, 02:18:28 PM
My contribution to the list:

1) Manuel de Falla: Atlántida (started before the war, and completed--by Ernesto Hallfter--many years after the war had ended).
2) Ernst Krenek: Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae
3) Béla Bartók: Concerto for orchestra
4) Elliott Carter: Piano sonata (well, this was started in 1945, but I don't know whether before or after V-J day ::) )
5) Alfredo Casella: Sinfonia (i.e. Third symphony)
6) Luigi Dallapiccola: Canti de prigionia

I am a fervent Stravinskian, but I find his output during the years of WW2 (and those immediately following it) the least attractive. The major compostion of the period no doubt is--as pointed out by several posters--the Symphony in three movements, but I for one have never really learnt to apopreciate this work. If anything, I'd go for that little jewel called Scherzo à la russe.. ;)


EigenUser

#15
April 05, 2015, 02:56:30 PM
Quote from: ritter on April 05, 2015, 02:18:28 PM
My contribution to the list:

1) Manuel de Falla: Atlántida (started before the war, and completed--by Ernesto Hallfter--many years after the war had ended).
2) Ernst Krenek: Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae
3) Béla Bartók: Concerto for orchestra
4) Elliott Carter: Piano sonata (well, this was started in 1945, but I don't know whether before or after V-J day ::) )
5) Alfredo Casella: Sinfonia (i.e. Third symphony)
6) Luigi Dallapiccola: Canti de prigionia

I am a fervent Stravinskian, but I find his output during the years of WW2 (and those immediately following it) the least attractive. The major compostion of the period no doubt is--as pointed out by several posters--the Symphony in three movements, but I for one have never really learnt to apopreciate this work. If anything, I'd go for that little jewel called Scherzo à la russe.. ;)
Yes! No one ever seems to care about poor little Scherzo a la Russe! I love that piece. Added to my list.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

Ken B

#16
April 05, 2015, 03:11:59 PM
Quote from: EigenUser on April 05, 2015, 02:56:30 PM
Yes! No one ever seems to care about poor little Scherzo a la Russe! I love that piece. Added to my list.

They have all gone mad Nate. The Symphony in C was finished in 1940.

vandermolen

#17
April 05, 2015, 03:13:02 PM
Very interesting to see just what was produced during those turbulent years.
"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).

Jo498

#18
April 05, 2015, 11:43:34 PM
Bartok: 3rd piano concerto, Concerto for orchestra
Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 movements
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (my favorite piece of this composer)
Hartmann: Concerto funebre (revised later but composed during and related to the war)
Britten: Serenade (also one of my favorite pieces of a composer I am overall not always too fond of)

(Emphatically not nominated: "Leningrad Symphony", a most boring piece that would have been mercifully forgotten if it were not connected to terrible events.)
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

springrite

#19
April 06, 2015, 12:14:35 AM

Bartok:  Concerto for orchestra

Britten:  Peter Grimes

Martinu:  Symphony No.3

Rubbra:  Symphony #3

Strauss:  Capriccio

Prokofiev:  War sonatas



Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.
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