Quiz: Mystery scores

[lukeottevanger]

As a Messiaen fan, you ought to get no 221, which, as has already been established, is by him. Add to the fact the clue I've already given - that I mentioned this piece on another thread recently - and I can't imagine why it hasn't gone yet!

But really, I think the following are relatively simple, when taken with my clues:
215
221
228
238
242
244
245 (think laterally with the clue on this one)
247
248

Yes, seriously, I think these ones are really quite straightforward!

[Sean]

Goodness me. I didn't expect a Messiaen score to look like that; the descriptions like 'suspended in endless time' are his of course, but maybe this is a late work I don't know about, I mean, he's not into this notation. It looks vaguely like the old Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Piece pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas

[Guido]

Goodness me. I didn't expect a Messiaen score to look like that; the descriptions like 'suspended in endless time' are his of course, but maybe this is a late work I don't know about, I mean, he's not into this notation. It looks vaguely like the old Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo...

The one that Luke is actually referring to is no.220, but the link in his long list says 221, so there might be some sort of error there. 221 is by Crumb by the looks of things, but 220 is definitely by Messiaen.

[Sean]

#245- I don't know! Those grace notes and phrasing across the staves are Messiaenish but the markings in German so maybe something by Stockhausen. You got me.

[lukeottevanger]

Sorry, Sean - yes, the numberings got a bit mixed up. In my folder here, nos 220 and 221 are both Messiaen, no 222 is the Crumb one (Agnus Dei from the second book of Makrokosmos) which, as you say, doesn't look anything like Messiaen.

And yes, Johan, 221 is the Tombeau for Dukas

[Sean]

Okay. I can't read scores much anyway.

What really surprises me is how singers can sight read- how the heck do you judge a fith from a sixth at a glance? I was briefly in a choir a few years back singing Poulenc's superb Gloria (or the other accompanied one he wrote, whichever) and was about the only person there who was thoroughly familiar with a recording- but there was no way I could sing the tenor part...

[(poco) Sforzando]

247 - the typeface here looks just like that most of this composer's scores appear in, but some of the substance of the music doesn't look likely for this composer. To expand, one doesn't really expect to see too many glissandi in the music of a composer who became, probably, the leading serialist - this is quite an early work, however, and as such is now easy identify.


Babbitt?

[lukeottevanger]

No. Maybe you shouldn't use my 'leading serialist' bit - after all, that's only a matter of opinion. But he's every bit as famous as Babbitt; much more so, in fact.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Update on mine:

sfz14 If anyone should know this, it would be Maciek.
- No progress yet.

sfz15 A well-known and oft-reviled composer, much more famous for musical depictions related to his native country than this South American one
- Luke: Respighi, Brazilian Impressions

sfz16 It's a symphony whose nickname is not related to the nationality of its (American) composer, and the composer is best known for a name assumed later in life than the birth name.
- I can think of a very powerful figure in American politics who would be shocked.

sfz17 Also known as a college professor of composition, he had an association with a very great composer late in this composer's life, but it wasn't nearly as notorious as a similar relationship a non-composer had with another very great composer who lived not far from the first one.
- Richard Hoffmann, Schoenberg's secretary in the later years and a professor at Oberlin: Orchestra Piece

sfz18 Jezetha might know this, though the composer is at least as well known as a scholar of Mozart and Beethoven.
- Luke thought he knew the composer, but hasn't said.

sfz19 Another symphony whose (American) title has no relation to the composer's nationality.
- This composer is better known for his operas. but in truth is not thought of as a major figure.

sfz20 Take a vowel away from the name of one well-known composer, and you've got this composer's name.
- Martinu --> Martin, the concerto for seven winds

sfz22 A well-known name here, but not as a composer. This work was written early in his life.
- Too obvious, I suppose.

sfz24 For the piano to be sure, but not really piano music.
- I deliberately left off any of the measures preceding, which would show this is not a piano solo. A very famous composer.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

No. Maybe you shouldn't use my 'leading serialist' bit - after all, that's only a matter of opinion. But he's every bit as famous as Babbitt; much more so, in fact.

Boulez

[(poco) Sforzando]

Boulez

I just thought Boulez, and I'm wondering if it's from the Douze Notations. But the typeface does not appear "typical" to my eyes.

It is - positive ID. I just checked my copy.

[lukeottevanger]

I just thought Boulez, and I'm wondering if it's from the Douze Notations. But the typeface does not appear "typical" to my eyes, nor would I call him a "leading serialist."

It is - positive ID. I just checked my copy.

Well, sorry if my clue misled. The typeface is the same as in other Boulez UE scores (e.g. Pli Selon Pli); and, well, I think of him as a leading serialist if only because, quite early on, he took the technique to its extreme (Structures I, Polyphonie X) and explored around these margins very fruitfully (Le Marteau, Structures II etc.).

[lukeottevanger]

sfz24 For the piano to be sure, but not really piano music.
- I deliberately left off any of the measures preceding, which would show this is not a piano solo. A very famous composer.

That much was evident from the off - this is a clear case of transcription, surely, full of typical tricks of the transcriber's trade (I'll be wrong, now, I'm sure!)

[(poco) Sforzando]

That much was evident from the off - this is a clear case of transcription, surely, full of typical tricks of the transcriber's trade (I'll be wrong, now, I'm sure!)

Yes and no. It is an original piano part, but the piece exists also in a transcription for orchestra by the composer, and indeed he was not the only composer who transcribed some of his works. This composer worked in several genres, yet he is overwhelmingly best-known for his output in a single genre.

[lukeottevanger]

Sfz 16 - Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (aka Mrs. H.H.A. Beach) - Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, Gaelic

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Sfz 16 - Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (aka Mrs. H.H.A. Beach) - Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, Gaelic

That must be right. Very good! (Are you going to do something about your sig... ?)

[lukeottevanger]

I can't, not in all honesty! Though it's a nice thought...

[lukeottevanger]

That must be right. Very good!

It has a 6/8 movement marked Allegro con fuoco too, so I'm fairly sure!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I can't, not in all honesty! Though it's a nice thought...

Yes, it was fun to exaggerate, though it isn't all untrue, of course.

Amy Beach is indeed right - I checked Amazon. That Allegro con fuoco was there, with the shivering strings and the fanfare-like main theme.