What are your favorite Sinfoniettas?

Started by Symphonic Addict, November 30, 2019, 04:29:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Print
Go Down Pages1 2 3
User actions

Symphonic Addict

November 30, 2019, 04:29:51 PM Last Edit: May 10, 2022, 09:24:21 PM by Symphonic Addict
Is there no any thread for this yet? seems like symphonies have been the most prominent focus of attention and interests of nearly everybody. But what about Sinfoniettas? His light sisters!  8)

There is no limit to list your favorites, let's say, the 10 you like the most.

Janacek - Military Sinfonietta, VI/18
Tubin - Sinfonietta on Estonian motifs
Halffter, E. - Sinfonietta in D major
Korngold - Sinfonietta in B major
Arnold - Sinfonietta No. 2, Op. 65
Villa-Lobos - Sinfonietta No. 1
Braga Santos - Sinfonietta for strings
Zemlinsky - Sinfonietta, Op. 23
Wagenaar - Sinfonietta, Op. 32
Poulenc - Sinfonietta, FP 141

No matter if you want list 10 or less. Be free to express yourself!!

Runner ups: Moeran, Reger (despite being so serious!)  :D and Hindemith Sinfonietta in E major.
The current annihilation of a people on this planet (you know which one it is) is the most documented and at the same time the most preposterously denied. The terror IS REAL!

Gurn Blanston

#1
November 30, 2019, 04:41:36 PM
According to my log, the OP locked this thread himself, apparently by accident. Better now. In any case, carry on. A wonderful genre. :)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Brian

#2
November 30, 2019, 04:48:32 PM Last Edit: November 30, 2019, 04:50:24 PM by Brian
10. Bax
9. Poulenc
8. Janacek
7. Janacek
6. Janacek
5. Janacek
4. Janacek
3. Poulenc
2. Janacek
1. Janacek

I joke somewhat, but the Janacek Sinfonietta is one of my probably top 25 favorite pieces of music ever, and in the category of favorite works to see performed live, it's definitely in the top 3. Seeing a live performance is an unforgettable event, and I'd travel several hundred miles for it.

Todd

#3
November 30, 2019, 05:04:50 PM
Wait, you mean someone other than Janacek wrote one? 

I'm not sure how many sinfoniettas I have in my collection, but I can say that the only other one that jumps to mind is Zemlinksy.  Seeing that Korngold wrote one makes me think I should first see if I have one in my collection, and if not, obtain a recording with some haste.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

mc ukrneal

#4
November 30, 2019, 05:52:15 PM
I think the Rimsky-Korsakov is quite enjoyable.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

André

#6
November 30, 2019, 06:32:30 PM
Myaskovsky wrote at least 2 - I have those, but maybe he wrote more. Nice stuff, not as serious as his symphonies.

Shebalin wrote a jolly good one, on russian themes.

Janacek rules the roost. I heard it in concert 2 weeks ago. Simply stupendous !

vandermolen

#7
November 30, 2019, 11:37:43 PM Last Edit: November 30, 2019, 11:39:35 PM by vandermolen
Two of my favourites. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Moeran's 'Sinfonietta' which is a terrific work:

Correction - Cesar mentioned it in the opening post   ::)
"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).

Christo

#8
November 30, 2019, 11:58:20 PM
Ten sinfoniettas:

Leoš Eugen Janáček (hope you mean the same composer with one 'Janacek' ;-), Sokol Festival
Lennox Berkeley, Sinfonietta
Eduard Tubin, Sinfonietta on Estonian motifs
Bohuslav Martinů, Sinfonietta La Jolla
Ernesto Halffter, Sinfonietta
Joly Braga Santos, Sinfonietta for strings
Ernest John Moeran, Sinfonietta
Malcolm Arnold, Sinfonietta No. 2
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sinfonietta No. 2
Erik Lotichius, Sinfonietta for strings
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#9
December 01, 2019, 12:21:54 AM
I should have included this one:
"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).

Christo

#10
December 01, 2019, 01:05:02 AM
Quote from: vandermolen on December 01, 2019, 12:21:54 AM
I should have included this one:

+1 (how could I forget?  ???)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Wanderer

#11
December 01, 2019, 03:30:44 AM
Among all the works already mentioned, many of them quite agreeable, I can only count two Sinfoniettas as real favourites: Janáček's and Korngold's. The Korngold Sinfonietta feels like cheating, because, the diminutive name notwithstanding, it's a proper symphony, not to mention a quite brilliant one. I consider its finale in particular to be one of the best things Korngold ever wrote and it sums up the work's themes in a spectacular manner. Janáček's Sinfonietta is also a perennial favourite and along with Taras Bulba and the 1.X.1905 Sonata sits on top of my favourite non-operatic Janáček list.

Maestro267

#12
December 01, 2019, 04:04:14 AM
I have to go for Korngold and Janacek. Others I have but I'm not overly familiar with include Alwyn, Moeran, Zemlinsky and Reger.

The Korngold and the Reger are pretty much full-sized symphonies in all but name.

Brian

#13
December 01, 2019, 06:23:02 AM
Quote from: Christo on November 30, 2019, 11:58:20 PM
Bohuslav Martinů, Sinfonietta La Jolla

Aw man, knew I forgot one. This should be on my list too.

This thread could provide an interesting day or two of listening next week!

DaveF

#14
December 01, 2019, 01:37:50 PM
Hindemith's two are both splendid pieces - the Lustige Sinfonietta - very early, very weird, and the Sinfonietta in E - quite late, and tending towards that devil-may-care cussedness that characterises his last years.  And I'm surprised to be the first to mention Britten's Op.1.
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

springrite

#15
December 01, 2019, 05:16:27 PM
My top five:

Janacek, Bax, Korngold, Moeran, Martinu
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Ken B

#16
December 01, 2019, 05:47:00 PM
Quote from: André on November 30, 2019, 06:32:30 PM
Myaskovsky wrote at least 2 - I have those, but maybe he wrote more. ...
Janacek rules the roost.

Yeah. I have run across pieces called sinfonietta, but the only ones that stand out in my memory under that name are Myaskovsky, Martinu, and Janacek. So those are mine, in reverse order.

What actually counts? We count some things as symphonies not so named ... I am trying to justify the Hindemith Concert Music op 50 here ....

some guy

#17
December 02, 2019, 02:03:22 AM
I have enjoyed discovering Humphrey Searle's sinfonietta as a result of this thread.

Symphonic Addict

#18
December 02, 2019, 02:50:11 PM
Great to see so much love for the Janacek. It seems like the best Sinfonietta ever, and well deserved.

Many of your examples prompt me to discover them or revisit them (Bax, Penderecki, Miaskovsky, Hindemith, Lotichius, Roussel, etc.).
The current annihilation of a people on this planet (you know which one it is) is the most documented and at the same time the most preposterously denied. The terror IS REAL!

Mirror Image

#19
December 02, 2019, 03:24:21 PM
A few of my favorites:

Janáček: Sinfonietta
Martinů: Sinfonietta La Jolla, H 328
Britten: Sinfonietta, Op. 1
Tubin: Sinfonietta on Estonian Motifs
Hindemith: Lustige Sinfonietta, Op. 4
Print
Go Up Pages1 2 3
User actions