What are you listening 2 now?

[André]

Bloch is sometimes trashed for writing music too overtly emotional, too colourful (garish), a fate also assigned to Villa-Lobos. No matter. Let the naysayers sit on ashes and scratch their sores with broken pottery. This is music that speaks to the soul. Wonderful performances from soloist and conductor whose jewish roots connect with those of the composer.

[Traverso]

Delius

Songs of Sunset    Dame Janet Baker &  John Shirley-Quirk   
An Arabesque
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra  & Choir
Sir Charles Groves

A Mass of Life   Heather Harper, Helen Watts, Robert Tear and Benjamin Luxon
The London Philharmonic Choir
Sir Charles Groves

[SonicMan46]

Eberl, Anton (1765-1807) - Orchestral & Chamber Works w/ the performers below - love that Concerto Köln box (Eberl is on just 1 CD of 3 Symphonies) - Dave

   

[Mirror Image]

Boulez
Le Marteau sans maître
Hilary Summers, contralto
Boulez
Ensemble InterContemporain



Hilary Summers




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Le Marteau sans maître is a nine-part cycle, composed for contralto and six instrumentalists. Each of the parts is scored differently; four are for voice and changing instruments, while five are purely instrumental. On the one hand, the five instrumental pieces are organised in a prelude and postlude to the first vocal piece and, on the other, in three commentaries on the third vocal piece.

However, cohesive vocal and instrumental parts do not follow one another directly; they are woven throughout the entire piece like a web. The words of the second poem appear in two musical versions (Nos. V and IX). Comparison of the two versions makes the difference in handling the singing voice very clear: one the one hand, cantabile-melismatic, then syllabic voice leading combined with the melodic instruments alto flute, guitar, viola and, on the other, Sprechgesang with predominantly percussion accompaniment and wordless, quasi instrumental singing.

[From Universal Edition]

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This work has echoes of Debussy's work for reciter and ensemble, Les Chansons de Bilitis. It's as if this work from Boulez was the logical extension of the afore mentioned Debussy work. Quite an intriguing sound-world. The flute work is most obviously Debussyan and what called this composer immediately to mind.

[San Antone]

VASKS, P.: Piano Trio Works - Lonely Angel / Episodi e canto perpetuo / Plainscapes (Trio Palladio)

[vandermolen]

Bloch is sometimes trashed for writing music too overtly emotional, too colourful (garish), a fate also assigned to Villa-Lobos. No matter. Let the naysayers sit on ashes and scratch their sores with broken pottery. This is music that speaks to the soul. Wonderful performances from soloist and conductor whose jewish roots connect with those of the composer.

Such a great disc! One I discovered in my youth from a record library. I love those old Vanguard Abravanel discs and that it one of the best of all. I think that Bloch, like his fellow Swiss compatriot Honegger is underrated as a composer and both his orchestral and chamber works mean a lot to me.

[Ratliff]

".... This thread is probably the most active on the forum and if you blink you can miss several pages (maybe a slight exaggeration but basically true)"
Indeed.

Now:

This is one of my favorite discs of works by Martin. The passacaglia and the Concerto for Clavecin are remarkable. This disc gave me a new appreciation of the possibilities of a harpsichord.

[Ratliff]

I've only just spotted this posting. This thread is probably the most active on the forum and if you blink you can miss several pages (maybe a slight exaggeration but basically true). Anyway, that is a fabulous disc which has given me great pleasure. The PC is one of those works which, through over-familiarity, has lost its magic for me but the Legend is very poetic. Mai-Dun, The Forgotten Rite and These Things Shall Be are works that I still greatly admire - also some of the piano music like 'April'. The CD features my favourite work by Delius as well, in its original version.

The title The Forgotten Rite intrigues me. Is it similar to the Legend, in being an imagining of Neolithic England?

[vandermolen]

Thanks for your comments. I listened to the Piano Concerto and found it not as striking as the Legend. It will take me some more time to really form my opinion of the Piano Concerto, but on first listen the lyrical central movement had the most direct appeal. Amazing to me that audiences could be expected to absorb music of this level of sophistication and subtlety at first encounter, when recordings of new pieces were rarely available and audiences were unlikely to ever hear the piece again.

An interesting point. Don't get me wrong - I think that the PC is a great work it is just that I'm over-familiar with it. Irons said much the same about Prokofiev's 5th Symphony. The Legend is very magical I think. Also, I live in Sussex where Ireland lived (in a windmill) and when I walk on the South Downs, as I often do, in the scenery which inspired John Ireland I often have his music running through my head. Bax spent his last years locally (unsurprisingly perhaps living in a pub) and both composers mean a lot to me. What do you think of Delius's PC? It's my favourite of his works. That Hyperion CD is excellent in all respects.

[vandermolen]

The title The Forgotten Rite intrigues me. Is it similar to the Legend, in being an imagining of Neolithic England?

Very much so as far as I recall. Ireland, in later years, complaining about the neglect of his music said it should be renamed 'The Forgotten Quite' and his tone poem 'Mai Dun' (which I like very much) should be renamed 'May Not Be Done'!

[vandermolen]

Count me as another enthusiastic listener of this epic work.

Good to know Cesar!
Any favourite recording?

[vandermolen]

Vasks : Piano Quartet  - Ippolitov-Ivanov Piano Quartet

Looks very tempting! What do you think of this CD?

PS apologies for all the posts from me. I must learn to answer different people in one post. It now looks like I've created an exclusive clique excluding everyone other than myself! 

[Mirror Image]

Szymanowski
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 37
Carmina Quartet

[vandermolen]

The title The Forgotten Rite intrigues me. Is it similar to the Legend, in being an imagining of Neolithic England?

Ratliff
I've just looked it up 'The Forgotten Rite'. Ireland really liked the Channel Islands and it may be that the tone poem relates to some ancient ceremony. 'It evokes romantic memories of some Channel Island ceremony' (Michael Kennedy)

[San Antone]

Looks very tempting! What do you think of this CD?

PS apologies for all the posts from me. I must learn to answer different people in one post. It now looks like I've created an exclusive clique excluding everyone other than myself! 

I only listened to the Vasks work (he is a composer I am just getting to know), and thought it was interesting, although not completely absorbing according to my taste.  But I've heard other works by him, choral, that I liked quite a bit.  I may get around to listening to the other work.

TD

Lieberson : Rilke Songs

[Mirror Image]

I only listened to the Vasks work (he is a composer I am just getting to know), and thought it was interesting, although not completely absorbing according to my taste.  But I've heard other works by him, choral, that I liked quite a bit.  I may get around to listening to the other work.

Of all the Vasks I've heard, his SQs speak to me the most. A lot of his other music just wasn't memorable or simply was uninteresting to me.

[Ratliff]

Ratliff
I've just looked it up 'The Forgotten Rite'. Ireland really liked the Channel Islands and it may be that the tone poem relates to some ancient ceremony. 'It evokes romantic memories of some Channel Island ceremony' (Michael Kennedy)

Thanks for the comments. I see there is an old barbirolli recording which is hard to find. Usually I go for Barbirolli if I have a choice.

[San Antone]

Of all the Vasks I've heard, his SQs speak to me the most. A lot of his other music just wasn't memorable or simply was uninteresting to me.

I will check them out; I love string quartets, in general, and it is often true that they will be the entry point into a composer's music for me. 

[Mirror Image]

I will check them out; I love string quartets, in general, and it is often true that they will be the entry point into a composer's music for me. 

I love SQs as well and I would agree that they're a fantastic entry point for anyone interested in a composer's music.

TD:

Webern
Five Sacred Songs, Op. 15
Christiane Oelze (soprano)
Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pierre Boulez

[vandermolen]

Thanks for the comments. I see there is an old barbirolli recording which is hard to find. Usually I go for Barbirolli if I have a choice.

That's one of the recordings that I have. It also features Bax's Third Symphony in a marvellous first recording. It's not that expensive on the U.S. Amazon site ($7.44)

Here's a link to it:

https://www.amazon.com/Bax-Symphony-Ireland-Things-Barbirolli/dp/B00008ETZE/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Barbirolli+Bax+Ireland&qid=1580941285&s=music&sr=1-2