Pieces that have blown you away recently

Started by arpeggio, September 09, 2016, 02:36:58 PM

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relm1

I really REALLY loved this new album of Philip Sawyers' Symphony No. 4.  Very dramatic and finely crafted symphony in the style of Mahler, Shostakovich, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.  I was blown away by this great release.

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: relm1 on June 27, 2020, 06:10:36 AM
I really REALLY loved this new album of Philip Sawyers' Symphony No. 4.  Very dramatic and finely crafted symphony in the style of Mahler, Shostakovich, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.  I was blown away by this great release.


Very interesting. Two years ago someone suggested me his Symphony No. 2 and I too heard some Mahler echoes there. I thought it was great work, so I must hear this symphony as well.
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.

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Mirror Image

I think this pretty much sums it up at the moment...

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 03, 2020, 05:11:39 PM
First-Listen Fridays -

Gayane



WOW!!! WOW!!! I'm just speechless...

;D

71 dB

Haydn's String Quartets Op. 20.

Crazy how long it took me to discover them, but that's how it is. Finding your favorites is slow, because other people can't show you the way 100 % reliably: They don't 100 % share your taste.
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TheGSMoeller

Quote from: 71 dB on July 04, 2020, 07:39:46 AM
Haydn's String Quartets Op. 20.

Crazy how long it took me to discover them, but that's how it is. Finding your favorites is slow, because other people can't show you the way 100 % reliably: They don't 100 % share your taste.

Great discovery! No.5 from the Op.20 is one of my top 3 favorite string quartets from Haydn. If you move on to the next lot of Papa's quartets, Op.33, you'll discover some more great works.

71 dB

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on July 04, 2020, 07:43:19 AM
Great discovery! No.5 from the Op.20 is one of my top 3 favorite string quartets from Haydn. If you move on to the next lot of Papa's quartets, Op.33, you'll discover some more great works.

Damn! I am new to these works, but I think No. 5 is also my favorite of the six, althou the rest aren't much weaker.  :)

I do enjoy Dittersdorf's String Quartets and I read they are said to be the same style as Haydn's Op. 33 so that certainly indicates They are something to explore next. Also, Op. 17 should be close to Op. 20, maybe not as good, but stylistically close. However, I will take it easy and enjoy Op. 20 for now. Then there is Op. 50, which seems to get praise among some people, but they might be too "modern" Haydn to my liking... ...based on how I have semi-struggled with Op. 64 and Op. 76.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

kyjo

Quote from: 71 dB on July 04, 2020, 07:39:46 AM
Haydn's String Quartets Op. 20.

Crazy how long it took me to discover them, but that's how it is. Finding your favorites is slow, because other people can't show you the way 100 % reliably: They don't 100 % share your taste.

No. 2 in C major is surely one of my favorite string quartets of the Classical Era. A magnificent work.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Jo498

#1147
Haydn op.17 (and op.9 they are quite similar) are more dominated by the first violin than most/any of his later quartets. If you like Dittersdorf and if #5 is your favorite of op.20 you are bound to like op.9/17. They are actually very good and not "early", written only a few years before op. 20 (ca. 1769-70). For me, op.20#5 and #1 are closest to the style of op.9+17. The "violin aria" style of the slow movements of #5 and #6 can be found in several of the earlier works and the first movements of the quartets in the minor (op.9#4, 17#4 and 20#5 also resemble each other (but op.20#3 g minor is totally different!)
Their only "faults" if measured against the very best is that violin dominance and a somewhat close adherence to a bunch of formal models that can lead to a bit of stiffness occasionally. Both collections have 4 pieces in the "standard" form with Moderato-Menuetto-slow movement-fast finale and one each with slowish variations as first (and therefore actually 2 slow movements and no real big sonata form movement) and one with a faster first movement that is overall a "lighter" piece (#6 in both cases, I like these actually a lot despite op.9#6 being very short and somewhat slight). At least one of these variation movements sounds a bit like going through the standard procedures and the themes for the variations are not terribly inspired either. But overall, I think they are rather underrated pieces, even if I don't like all 12 of them equally well.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Jo498

Quote from: kyjo on July 04, 2020, 11:54:24 AM
No. 2 in C major is surely one of my favorite string quartets of the Classical Era. A magnificent work.
You are a cellist, aren't you? ;)
I remember when I first heard that piece in a semi-professional concert where a friend of mine played violin in an amateur quartet, I almost fell from my chair when I heard that great beginning. And then again when that recitative-like second movement in c minor started. I had heard some Haydn quartets back then, the usual suspects with names like the Lark, Rider, Emperor but I had stupidly thought op.20 were "early", less significant pieces. The evening had started with a somewhat tenuously played version of an early Mozart (K 130ish) divertimento they probably had not rehearsed much (and it is not a very exciting or interesting piece), so I was extremely pleasantly surprised by the op.20#2 (The third piece was the c minor quintet by Mozart which was good (I do prefer the woodwind version), but the pearl was really the Haydn.)
But I could not decide between op.20#2 and #4. The latter has not such a great first movement but the finale with cymbalon-gypsy fiddling effects and the great variation movement are as stunning as #2.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

arpeggio

Haydn string quartets were a late discovery for me as well.

71 dB

Quote from: Jo498 on July 04, 2020, 11:54:45 AM
Haydn op.17 (and op.9 they are quite similar) are more dominated by the first violin than most/any of his later quartets. If you like Dittersdorf and if #5 is your favorite of op.20 you are bound to like op.9/17. They are actually very good and not "early", written only a few years before op. 20 (ca. 1769-70). For me, op.20#5 and #1 are closest to the style of op.9+17. The "violin aria" style of the slow movements of #5 and #6 can be found in several of the earlier works and the first movements of the quartets in the minor (op.9#4, 17#4 and 20#5 also resemble each other (but op.20#3 g minor is totally different!)
Their only "faults" if measured against the very best is that violin dominance and a somewhat close adherence to a bunch of formal models that can lead to a bit of stiffness occasionally. Both collections have 4 pieces in the "standard" form with Moderato-Menuetto-slow movement-fast finale and one each with slowish variations as first (and therefore actually 2 slow movements and no real big sonata form movement) and one with a faster first movement that is overall a "lighter" piece (#6 in both cases, I like these actually a lot despite op.9#6 being very short and somewhat slight). At least one of these variation movements sounds a bit like going through the standard procedures and the themes for the variations are not terribly inspired either. But overall, I think they are rather underrated pieces, even if I don't like all 12 of them equally well.

Interesting information. Looks like Op. 9 to Op. 33 are on my alley.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

arpeggio

A few months ago I was blown away by the symphonies of Joly Braga Santos.

I am now discovering his chamber music:


kyjo

Quote from: Jo498 on July 04, 2020, 12:04:18 PM
You are a cellist, aren't you? ;)

How did you know? ;) Yeah, I've always had a soft spot for op. 20/2 partly because of its great cello part (especially that glorious opening), something that Classical era quartets don't always have!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

kyjo

Quote from: arpeggio on July 04, 2020, 05:34:51 PM
A few months ago I was blown away by the symphonies of Joly Braga Santos.

I am now discovering his chamber music:



Woah, that album is on Spotify already! I'll have to go give it a spin. 8)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

arpeggio

Quote from: kyjo on July 04, 2020, 07:59:20 PM
Woah, that album is on Spotify already! I'll have to go give it a spin. 8)

I heard it on the Naxos Music Site.

arpeggio

The new work for me was the Stevens Symphony

[asin] B013H112Z0[/asin]



Mirror Image

Korngold's Symphony in F sharp blew me away last night in the Previn recording. Wow...what a work!


Mirror Image

#1158
Two works that have blown me away today are both from Holst: Lyric Movement and The Mystic Trumpeter. Both works weave their magic spell in different ways and are both incredibly gorgeous.

arpeggio

#1159
Alan Hovhanness











Over the past few month I have acquired the above CD's on the band music of Hovhaness.  Prior to acquiring these recordings I had no idea that he had made such contributions to the band literature.  I recall when I was in graduate school taking a course in wind band literature in 1972.  I went and found my old textbooks and there was no mention of these works.  I do not recall discussing these works in the class.  What an omission.

Better late than never.