Your Top 30 Favorite 20th Century Orchestral Works

Started by Mirror Image, April 28, 2015, 08:19:25 PM

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Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Christo on May 09, 2015, 02:59:52 AM
Okay, a list. In chronological order:

1905 Claude Debussy, La Mer
1905 Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 6

1910 Ralph Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
1912 Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé
1913 Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps
1915 Sergei Prokofiev, Scythian Suite
1916 Gustav Holst, The Planets
1919 Manuel de Falla, El Sombrero de Tres Picos
1919 Matthijs Vermeulen, Symphony No. 2 `Prélude à la nouvelle journée'

1922 Carl Nielsen, Symphony No. 5
1926 Leoš Janáček, Sinfonietta
1927 Havergal Brian, Symphony No. 1 'Gothic'

1930 Frank Bridge, Oration - concerto elegiaco
1930 Ottorino Respighi, Metamorphoseon Modi XII
1932 Gabriel Pierné, Divertissement sur un thème pastoral
1936 Nikos Skalkottas, Thirty-six Greek Dances
1936 Béla Bartók, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta

1940 Sergei Rachmaninoff, Symphonic Dances
1940 Zoltán Kodály, Concerto for Orchestra
1942 Samuel Barber, Second Essay for orchestra;
1947 Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphony No. 6
1948 Lennox Berkeley, Concerto for two pianos and orchestra

1951 Joly Braga Santos, Variacoes sobre um tema alentejano
1953 Vagn Holmboe, Symphony No. 8 'Boreale'
1954 Eduard Tubin, Symphony No. 6
1958 Bohuslav Martinů, Podobenství (The Parables)

1971 Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 15
1975 Geirr Tveitt, A Hundred Folk Melodies from Hardanger
1986 Robert Simpson, Symphony No. 9
1997 John Kinsella, Symphony No. 7, for wordless chorus & orchestra

Quite a sensational list, Christo. I could pick most of them as mine.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Symphonic Addict

#61
Excluding symphonies and concertos, one per composer (in no particular order):

Respighi: Vetrate di Chiesa
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky
Langgaard: Music of the Spheres Antikrist
Bridge: Enter Spring
Kabeláč: Mystery of Time

Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Janáček: Sinfonietta
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead

Schmitt: Psaume XLVII
Tubin: Sinfonietta on Estonian motifs
Sibelius: Tapiola
Martinu: Concerto for double string orchestra, piano and timpani
Revueltas: Redes Puccini: Turandot
Bax: Nympholept
Martin: Petite symphonie concertante
Elgar: Falstaff
Debussy: Jeux
Tippett: Fantasia concertante on a theme of Corelli

Hartmann: Symphonische Hymnen
Ligeti: Lontano
Xenakis: Jonchaies
Bartók: Music for strings, percussion and celesta
Lutoslawski: Concerto for orchestra

Arnold: A Grand, Grand Festival Overture
Holst: The Planets
Barber: Second Essay for orchestra
Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas
Eshpai: Songs of the Mountain and Meadow Mari
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Karl Henning

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 30, 2015, 05:13:13 AM
I like the lists . . . my happy challenge will gladly be, to find 30 favorites of mine which do not duplicate what have already been cited:

(Alphabetically by composer)

Bernstein, Symphony № 2, The Age of Anxiety
Bernstein, Serenade After Plato's Symposium
Braga Santos, Encruzilhada
Britten, Sinfonia da requiem
Carter, Double Concerto for Piano, Harpsichord & Two Chamber Orchestras

de Falla, Harpsichord Concerto
Debussy, Images pour orchestre
Debussy, Jeux
Hindemith, Konzertmusik für Klavier, Blechbläser und Harfen, Op.49
Hindemith, Konzertmusik für Streichorchester und Blechbläser, Op.50

Koechlin, Vers la voûte étoilée
Markevich, Cantique d'amour
Markevich, Icare
Martinů, Harpsichord Concerto
Mennin, Symphony № 7, Variations Symphony

Nielsen, Helios Overture
Nielsen, Clarinet Concerto
Prokofiev, L'enfant prodigue
Prokofiev, Symphony № 2
Schnittke, Concerto for Three

Schnittke, Symphony № 1, The Wild Ride
Schoenberg, Pelleas und Melisande
Schuller, Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
Schuman, Symphony № 9, Le fosse Ardeatine
Shostakovich, Symphony № 7, Leningrad

Shostakovich, Symphony № 15
Sibelius, Öinen ratsastus ja auringonnousu
Stravinsky, Le baiser de la fée
Stravinsky, ΑΓΩΝ
Wuorinen, Dante Trilogy

Hard to judge how I might tweak the list, the thread is so old, and I don't have the energy to ferret out duplicates.
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

Brian

Six and a half years later and only 16 of my original 30 carried over to my new list.

I really liked the chronological way that Christo and Rinaldo ordered their lists so I've adapted mine to match.

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 (1908)

Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia (1910)
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (1916)
Respighi: La boutique fantasque (after Rossini) (1918)
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 (1919)

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 (1924)
Janacek: Sinfonietta (1926)
Janacek: Glagolitic Mass (1927)
Respighi: Trittico botticelliano (1927)

Ravel: Piano concerto for the left hand (1930)
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane (1931)
Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos (1932)
Szymanowski: Symphony No. 4 "Concertante" (1932)
Mignone: Maracatu de Chico Rei (1933)
Hindemith: Symphony "Mathis der Maler" (1934)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (1934)
Walton: Symphony No. 1 (1935)

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 (1943)
Martinu: Symphony No. 2 (1943)
Martinu: Symphony No. 4 (1945)
Guarnieri: Piano Concerto No. 2 (1946)
Lloyd: Symphony No. 5 (1947)
Strauss: Four Last Songs (1948)
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948)
Barber: Violin Concerto (1949)

Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra (1954)
Castellanos: Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (1954)
Kabelac: Mystery of Time (1957)

Kernis: Musica celestis (1991)
Rouse: Flute Concerto (1993)

Things that I couldn't use because they came after 2000: Fazil Say's violin concerto, Rouse's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, Penderecki's French Horn Concerto, Aho's Flute Concerto
Things that I couldn't use because they came out in like 1895-1900: Debussy's Nocturnes, Mahler's Symphony No. 4

-

UPDATE
After exhaustively writing the above list, I did a GMG search and discovered there is another poll here asking for your top 20 instead of top 30. Luckily my February 2021 list is an almost perfect match for this one. I switched Nielsen 3/4 and on this list left off Petrushka and the Weinberg Cello Concerto, but those were the only changes. Need to revisit Rautavaara.

Karl Henning

Quote from: Brian on December 07, 2021, 08:59:33 AM
Six and a half years later and only 16 of my original 30 carried over to my new list.

I really liked the chronological way that Christo and Rinaldo ordered their lists so I've adapted mine to match.

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 (1908)

Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia (1910)
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (1916)
Respighi: La boutique fantasque (after Rossini) (1918)
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 (1919)

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 (1924)
Janacek: Sinfonietta (1926)
Janacek: Glagolitic Mass (1927)
Respighi: Trittico botticelliano (1927)

Ravel: Piano concerto for the left hand (1930)
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane (1931)
Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos (1932)
Szymanowski: Symphony No. 4 "Concertante" (1932)
Mignone: Maracatu de Chico Rei (1933)
Hindemith: Symphony "Mathis der Maler" (1934)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (1934)
Walton: Symphony No. 1 (1935)

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 (1943)
Martinu: Symphony No. 2 (1943)
Martinu: Symphony No. 4 (1945)
Guarnieri: Piano Concerto No. 2 (1946)
Lloyd: Symphony No. 5 (1947)
Strauss: Four Last Songs (1948)
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948)
Barber: Violin Concerto (1949)

Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra (1954)
Castellanos: Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (1954)
Kabelac: Mystery of Time (1957)

Kernis: Musica celestis (1991)
Rouse: Flute Concerto (1993)

Things that I couldn't use because they came after 2000: Fazil Say's violin concerto, Rouse's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, Penderecki's French Horn Concerto, Aho's Flute Concerto
Things that I couldn't use because they came out in like 1895-1900: Debussy's Nocturnes, Mahler's Symphony No. 4

-

UPDATE
After exhaustively writing the above list, I did a GMG search and discovered there is another poll here asking for your top 20 instead of top 30. Luckily my February 2021 list is an almost perfect match for this one. I switched Nielsen 3/4 and on this list left off Petrushka and the Weinberg Cello Concerto, but those were the only changes. Need to revisit Rautavaara.

Fun!
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

Symphonic Addict

Uhhh, I forgot mentioning this: Symphonic Studies by our raw-and-thorny friend (and ever witty) Alan Rawsthorne. It's a sensatonal work!
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 07, 2021, 04:50:35 PM
Uhhh, I forgot mentioning this: Symphonic Studies by our raw-and-thorny friend (and ever witty) Alan Rawsthorne. It's a sensatonal work!
+1
Was playing it yesterday (John Pritchard recording).
"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).

kyjo

I feel no need to update my list because other members have already provided such fantastic lists which I wholeheartedly agree with. 8)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Lisztianwagner

#68
Mahler: Symphonies No.6, 9
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie, Ein Heldenleben
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the left hand, Daphnis et Chloé
Debussy: La Mer
Holst: The Planets
Shostakovich: Symphony No.5
Sibelius: Symphony No.5
Nielsen: Symphony No.4
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau
Schönberg: Pelleas und Melisande
Berg: Violin Concerto
Bantock: Celtic Symphony
Elgar: Falstaff
Schnittke: Concerto for piano and strings
Bartók: Music for strings, percussion and celesta
Respighi: Pines of Rome
Honegger: Symphony No.3
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Britten: Simple Symphony
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica
Janáček: Sinfonietta
Bax: Tintagel
de Falla: El Amor brujo
Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A minor
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler