Pieces that have blown you away recently

[Mirror Image]

We welcome all to the World of the great Karl Amadeus Hartmann!       If you do not know all the symphonies yet, get ready to have your soul battered and fried!   0:)

I know, and love, all of the numbered symphonies, Cato! Also, Sinfonia Tragica, Symphonische Hymnen, Concerto funebre, Kammerkonzert, and Gesangsszene are favorites as well. Hartmann has been a favorite of mine for several years now.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

No, but it always blows me away. That epilogue is just glorious marshalling of a huge orchestral juggernaut! Brilliantly bombastic and over-the-top!

Oddly, Symphonia domestica is my least favorite Strauss tone poem. Pretty much the only one which hasn't blown me away, apart from a couple of measures here and there.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Hmm I thought I had heard everything by Steen-Andersen that is available on YouTube but I came across this wonderful little piece yesterday. Mesmerising indeed!

https://www.youtube.com/v/qQ7e4-4Tidc

[vandermolen]

I have been very impressed by Selim Palmgren's Piano Concerto No.2 'The River', which I have posted about separately.

[Ken B]

Marcel Tyberg, Symphony 3

[Florestan]

John Ireland, various solo piano and chamber music works.

[North Star]

John Ireland, various solo piano and chamber music works.

Have you heard the Piano Concerto, Andrei?

[Florestan]

Have you heard the Piano Concerto, Andrei?

I'll be listening to it and the Legend in about 10 minutes time. 

[Parsifal]

John Ireland, various solo piano and chamber music works.

Yes, utterly beautiful stuff. I was directed to it years ago by our now mostly absent member Luke.

[Mirror Image]

The more I hear William Schuman's Violin Concerto, the more I start feeling like it really is a masterpiece.

[kyjo]

Malcolm Arnold's Symphony no. 9, in particular its unbearably poignant closing Lento, which is a clear homage to the finale of Mahler's 9th in its valedictory mood. After over 20 minutes of bleakness the movement finally comes to rest on a simple D major chord - very moving. Notice my avatar change

[Mirror Image]

Malcolm Arnold's Symphony no. 9, in particular its unbearably poignant closing Lento, which is a clear homage to the finale of Mahler's 9th in its valedictory mood. After over 20 minutes of bleakness the movement finally comes to rest on a simple D major chord - very moving. Notice my avatar change

Looks like you liked Arnold's 9th, Kyle. I think that Lento movement could be considered an homage to Mahler's 9th, but I also feel that the composer expressed something that went deeper beyond it being a mere homage. This movement has a lifetime of pain and suffering inside of it and as I mentioned before it was as Arnold was throwing in the towel and bidding farewell to the world as he once knew it. In a sense, I'm reminded of Schnittke's Symphony No. 8 as well given that the centerpiece of this symphony was also a Lento that drips with eeriness, has an emotional calm about it, and, like the Arnold's 9th, is the longest movement of the symphony.

[kyjo]

Looks like you liked Arnold's 9th, Kyle. I think that Lento movement could be considered an homage to Mahler's 9th, but I also feel that the composer expressed something that went deeper beyond it being a mere homage. This movement has a lifetime of pain and suffering inside of it and as I mentioned before it was as Arnold was throwing in the towel and bidding farewell to the world as he once knew it. In a sense, I'm reminded of Schnittke's Symphony No. 8 as well given that the centerpiece of this symphony was also a Lento that drips with eeriness, has an emotional calm about it, and, like the Arnold's 9th, is the longest movement of the symphony.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that the finale of Arnold's 9th is nothing more than a mere homage to Mahler's 9th. It's incredibly deep and personal music.

[Monsieur Croche]

The more I hear William Schuman's Violin Concerto, the more I start feeling like it really is a masterpiece.

That may well be, but I reserve His Masterpiece, i.e. singular from his entire oeuvre, for this concertante work:
Song of Orpheus. (fantasy for 'Cello and orchestra)
https://www.youtube.com/v/E3FdppWLMJQ


Best regards.

[Mirror Image]

That may well be, but I reserve His Masterpiece, i.e. singular from his entire oeuvre, for this concertante work:
Song of Orpheus. (fantasy for 'Cello and orchestra)
https://www.youtube.com/v/E3FdppWLMJQ


Best regards.

I really should revisit that Schuman work. It's been ages since I've heard it.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Zemlinsky's "Die Seejungfrau".

[Maestro267]

Arnold 9 does take a bit of getting used to, with its sparsity and all. It's a truly remarkable statement from a man who was at the end of his life, despite living for another 20 years after its composition.

[kyjo]

Zemlinsky's "Die Seejungfrau".

A wonderful piece to be sure. It should be played as often as Strauss' tone poems IMO, as it contains some of the most gorgeous orchestration I've ever heard.

[Mirror Image]

Arnold 9 does take a bit of getting used to, with its sparsity and all. It's a truly remarkable statement from a man who was at the end of his life, despite living for another 20 years after its composition.

Yes, but those last 20 years were plagued by failing mental health, so he really wasn't 'present' in his later years.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

A wonderful piece to be sure. It should be played as often as Strauss' tone poems IMO, as it contains some of the most gorgeous orchestration I've ever heard.

Agreed. The orchestration was amazing.