Joly Braga Santos

[71 dB]

So, Joly Braga Santos is good? Well, in that case he is one of those zillion praised composers I will never know...

[Harry]

So, Joly Braga Santos is good? Well, in that case he is one of those zillion praised composers I will never know...

O, yes you will, when they are re-released by Naxos...!

[71 dB]

O, yes you will, when they are re-released by Naxos...!

I buy only about 10 % of Naxos discs, if even that... 

It a time issue. If I use my time to Santos it's away from another composer. I have heard only one symphony by RVW! That alone means lots of exploring. This year I won't listen to much classical music anyway...

[Dundonnell]

Very interesting discussion going on here. This kind of think is why I joined this group and, as Colin said, no need for flame-retardant vests (well, not yet anyway  )

What I find enjoyable may well not be "great" and I may not enjoy music that clearly is considered great (ie most of Mozart... that flame retardant vest might be needed after all!)
Braga Santos/Tubin/Moeran/Brian/Langgaard are all composers whose music means a lot to me, probably because the music moves me emotionally. I don't know whether it is "great" as this is partly a subjective assessment. The CD guides often criticised compositions which depend on "atmosphere" rather than "argument" but I often prefer music which focuses on atmosphere. Of the composers discussed so far, I think that Sibelius was truly a great composer in all respects.  Vaughan Williams, maybe, to a lesser extent but symphonies 4-6 and 9 are, for me, great works. I suppose that it depends on what you mean by great.  Maybe it is work which is convincingly structured but also deeply moving (Bruckner's 8th/9th symphonies?)

Bloch is, I believe, a great composer (string quartets, schelomo, Sacred Service, Piano Quintet No 1) but many reviews claim that it sounds like the scores (or some of the orchestral ones at least) for a Hollywood soundtrack for a Biblical Epic...but this has never been a problem for me and does not, in my view, undermine Bloch's "greatness" whatever that is.

Just a few rambling thoughts...

Absolutely! Completely agree!

Anyway, nothing wrong with some of those soundtracks for the old Hollywood Biblical epics! I remember as a boy being stirred by Dmitri Tiomkin's music for "The Fall of the Roman Empire"(not 'Biblical' but you know what I mean!).

That is one of the beauties of music - it is a personal experience, and what is good for you probably won't be good for the next person, and never let them tell you otherwise.

Too many people want to impose their personal experience on others and it just doesn't work! Everyone has to find their own way and it is that journey that enriches us all.

Now I have tried to be so profound ('when everything I am, is lying on the ground' - Peter Gabriel), I'm off to listen to something or other that I have stumbled over on my journey ...

Well said, sir!!

I am hugely encouraged and highly delighted that so many have indicated an interest in this thread and in Braga Santos. As vandermolen said, this is what makes being a member of this forum so worthwhile and so gratifying!!

[DavidRoss]

Very interesting discussion going on here. This kind of think is why I joined this group and, as Colin said, no need for flame-retardant vests (well, not yet anyway  )

Why I joined, too--and it's encouraging that we went two full pages before a crank tried to derail the thread. 

I still have hopes of getting turned on to a less-well known composer whose music really floats my particular little boat.  I'm not sure that's quite happened yet, but our well-meaning friends here have significantly broadened the repertoire I listen to, especially in the direction of 20th Century Brits and some Continentals (Bax, Alwyn, Janáček, Korngold, & Dutilleux come readily to mind).  Encouragement here has also broadened my appreciation of some genres, such as art-song, choral music, and opera, as well as such previously familiar but under-appreciated composers as Berlioz, Dvořák, and RVW.

Having been through this sort of thing before, hoping but not expecting the little known favorites of like minded enthusiasts to resonate as harmoniously with me as as with thee, I suppose Joly Braga Santos will prove well worth a wee bit of time to explore.   I've ordered the 4th Symphony disc and will report back when I've given it a fair hearing.

[Dundonnell]

Why I joined, too--and it's encouraging that we went two full pages before a crank tried to derail the thread. 

I still have hopes of getting turned on to a less-well known composer whose music really floats my particular little boat.  I'm not sure that's quite happened yet, but our well-meaning friends here have significantly broadened the repertoire I listen to, especially in the direction of 20th Century Brits and some Continentals (Bax, Alwyn, Janáček, Korngold, & Dutilleux come readily to mind).  Encouragement here has also broadened my appreciation of some genres, such as art-song, choral music, and opera, as well as such previously familiar but under-appreciated composers as Berlioz, Dvořák, and RVW.

Having been through this sort of thing before, hoping but not expecting the little known favorites of like minded enthusiasts to resonate as harmoniously with me as as with thee, I suppose Joly Braga Santos will prove well worth a wee bit of time to explore.   I've ordered the 4th Symphony disc and will report back when I've given it a fair hearing.

Excellent! And please do report back

[vandermolen]

Excellent! And please do report back

Yes, David, do let us know what you think of BS No 4.  I think that Lilburn is another composer of this sort (if you know what I mean?). First two symphonies show influence of Vaughan Williams (his teacher) and Sibelius but they are great works in their own right. Then he went all (sort of) atonal/electronic but, as with Braga Santos Symphony 5 and 6, I am beginning to appreciate Lilburn's Third Symphony. Klaus Egge is another one, but my favourite work of his is definitely the strictly tonal First Symphony (there is a lovely string quartet on Naxos). Even my wife said "what's this nice music?" when I played Egge's String Quartet on the CD player and, oddly enough, she does not usually share my taste for works like Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony (played at top volume)

Despite the negativity which sometimes crops up on this forum, it is still worthwhile and I have discovered many fine works and interesting composers through it (often due to Lilas Pastia), including Schulhoff's 5th Symphony (deeply moving in the circumstances of its composition...he died in a concentration camp), Ross Edwards' Symphony "In Pacem Domine" etc etc.

Just some more rambling thoughts and yes Colin, I love those epic soundtracks too...Ben Hur etc.

[Harry]

Pavel Haas, and Eduard Erdmann, and Emil Bohnke, which I listen to these last few days might also be considered in this thread.
Santos I have ordered yesterday. Weingartner and Wellesz too.
And the list is long!

[Harry]

including Schulhoff's 5th Symphony (deeply moving in the circumstances of its composition...he died in a concentration camp), Ross Edwards' Symphony "In Pacem Domine" etc etc.

Schulhoff's Symphony is indeed a treasure to be had!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

oddly enough, she does not usually share my taste for works like Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony (played at top volume)

And these creatures demand equality?!

My wife likes Brian, though... (And don't say I force her!)

yes Colin, I love those epic soundtracks too...Ben Hur etc.

And so do I. I was obsessed with Elmer Bernstein's music for The Ten Commandments when I was 11. It led quite naturally to Wagner et al.

[vandermolen]

And these creatures demand equality?!

My wife likes Brian, though... (And don't say I force her!)

And so do I. I was obsessed with Elmer Bernstein's music for The Ten Commandments when I was 11. It led quite naturally to Wagner et al.

The problem with me is that I never graduated from Elmer Bernstein's "Ten Commandments" to Wagner (apart from that bit they play at the end of the movie Excalibur  )

[vandermolen]

Pavel Haas, and Eduard Erdmann, and Emil Bohnke, which I listen to these last few days might also be considered in this thread.
Santos I have ordered yesterday. Weingartner and Wellesz too.
And the list is long!

I just discovered Bohnke; really wortwhile. Wellesz Symphony No 2 "The English" is a great score (although it doesn't sound very "English"!)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Wellesz Symphony No 2 "The English" is a great score (although it doesn't sound very "English"!)

Perhaps it's a critique (instead of a description)!

The problem with me is that I never graduated from Elmer Bernstein's "Ten Commandments" to Wagner (apart from that bit they play at the end of the movie Excalibur  )

Wagner forgives you (he is very forgiving in death).  0:)

[vandermolen]

Perhaps it's a critique (instead of a description)!

Wagner forgives you (he is very forgiving in death).  0:)

Thank you, and his spirit will be pleased to hear that I bought a complete ring cycle recently (for £15 ). On balance, though, I prefer Braga Santos.

[DavidRoss]

Yes, David, do let us know what you think of BS No 4.  I think that Lilburn is another composer of this sort (if you know what I mean?).

The other Sibelius nut around here (or who used to be around here), Benji (aka Mog), urged me to try Lilburn.  I bought the symphonies with Judd and several other orchestral works with Southgate.  Every so often mention of him stirs me to take them out and listen again.  Though the music is pleasant and seems crafted well enough, it's never caught fire with me, such that I come home from work one evening and say to myself, "I'm really in the mood for some Lilburn tonight!" 

Your mention of him, however, compels me to spin one of those discs after work today!

[vandermolen]

The other Sibelius nut around here (or who used to be around here), Benji (aka Mog), urged me to try Lilburn.  I bought the symphonies with Judd and several other orchestral works with Southgate.  Every so often mention of him stirs me to take them out and listen again.  Though the music is pleasant and seems crafted well enough, it's never caught fire with me, such that I come home from work one evening and say to myself, "I'm really in the mood for some Lilburn tonight!" 

Your mention of him, however, compels me to spin one of those discs after work today!

His Symphony No 1 is now my favourite.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

His Symphony No 1 is now my favourite.

I started listening to the Second yesterday, but was interrupted. Perhaps I'll begin again where Lilburn began...

[vandermolen]

I started listening to the Second yesterday, but was interrupted. Perhaps I'll begin again where Lilburn began...

No 2 is more highly regarded but the first movement of Symphony 1 and the conclusion are, I think, Lilburn's finest achievement.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

No 2 is more highly regarded but the first movement of Symphony 1 and the conclusion are, I think, Lilburn's finest achievement.

I'll put that to the test first thing tomorrow (today)! 

[vandermolen]

I'll put that to the test first thing tomorrow (today)! 

Let us know what you think Johan