Quiz: Mystery scores

[lukeottevanger]

Surprised that you all know such extremely obscure scoresand composers, but not this one.

Must be the quality of the clues.... 

[Guido]

It sort of defeats the point if people only guess it from the clues, and not from the score. I think my number four is characteristic enough of the composer's work in look as well as sound that it is quite easy. You already know that it is from a very famous composer/performer who was not a cellist (loads of these, but I don't think it will be too much of a stretch to think of which instrument at least)

Number three - this concerto is one of the few 20th century pieces that Rostropovich played and recorded that he didn't comission and premiere. And no it's not the Miaskovsky. That is a massive clue as this leaves about four composers! There may be a good reason why he didn't comission it either!

[lukeottevanger]

It sort of defeats the point if people only guess it from the clues, and not from the score.

Of course, but sometimes it needs quite a hefty does of clues nevertheless! The remaining scores don't have too many obvious stylistic clues - they do to you, of course, because you know what they are! - so more information is helpful to narrow things down. My own technique for identifying scores I don't know immediately starts with picking up on the standout features of the piece to allow me to narrow down my search a little - but a movement for cello and orchestra in C major, Andante, still leaves a very big field!

Sometimes, of course, e.g in the case of Sforzando's Hoffmann and Flothuis pieces, the clues were the only way to discover the composer; the score itself only useful to find the specific piece.

I think my number four is characteristic enough of the composer's work in look as well as sound that it is quite easy. You already know that it is from a very famous composer/performer who was not a cellist (loads of these, but I don't think it will be too much of a stretch to think of which instrument at least)

It looks quite a lot like some of the Ysaye violin sonatas in some ways - is it his (solo) cello sonata op 28? Not a piece I know...

oh - just listened on Youtube...I think it is this one after all.

Hey, you were right - I did that one without extra clues! To tell the truth, the first time I saw it I thought 'wow that looks like the Ysaye violin sonatas', but I didn't know he'd written a cello sonata and was too lazy to search. I checked through his violin sonatas to see if this could be a transcription, but it wasn't, so I left it. Can't believe I didn't check sooner about Ysaye cello pieces! 

Number three - this concerto is one of the few 20th century pieces that Rostropovich played and recorded that he didn't comission and premiere. And no it's not the Miaskovsky. That is a massive clue as this leaves about four composers! There may be a good reason why he didn't comission it either!

Need to think about that one when I have more time...

[Guido]

Yeah correct. Going with intuition on these things is very often a good idea! As you probably heard, the Ysaye piece is ot a patch on the incredible violin sonatas, and to an extent he tries to write the same sort of stuff for the cello, but it never comes off as well for a multitude of reasons. Even so it's a nice addition to the cello repertoire, especially as us cellists don't much impressionist type stuff to play (Debussy and Caplet's pieces being supreme examples, but there is little else)

You might almost be there with the last one, but I'll post two more pages on here just for fun. The first immediately follows the one you have already seen and displays that jazzy style that I talked about. The second is again from the same movement and is a particularly favourite part of mine - if the first page wasn't gorgeous enough for you, this contains more of the composer's trademark gorgeous harmony, interspersed with little restless figures which slowly take over. It sounds like you guys don't know this piece - when it's revealed you certainly should have a listen! I guess I should have posted the proper full score, but I don't have it. Maybe I'll go into the UL after exams and take a few pictures in there!

[Guido]

How embarrassing, I misspelled ancillary twice!

Without even looking back at the score, I'm going to say it's Martinu.

As I said before, it's not Martinu, but it does have much of the same luminous quality as those three concertos.

[lukeottevanger]

Honegger Cello Concerto

[Guido]

Yes! Have you heard it? There may or may not be certain ways of you acquiring it if not. 

[lukeottevanger]

I've just heard some of it, yes!  Very nice too...

[lukeottevanger]

No one knows my 258, huh? 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

No one knows my 258, huh? 

Any clues?

[lukeottevanger]

Not yet, no. It's for piano, though, and by a composer some of you might have heard of.

[lukeottevanger]

...you know the drill...

Old list:
part one
and
part two

current list

Set by Luke
165 - Schubert - Symphony no 4 - (Sforzando)
166 - Brahms - Serenade no 1 - (Sforzando)
167 - Bartok - Miraculous Mandarin (complete ballet) - (Sforzando)
168 - Janacek - Otce Nas - (revealed by Luke)
169 - Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante (wind solos) - (Sforzando)
170 - Brahms - Neue Liebeslieder waltzes - (Sforzando)
171 - Liszt - Totentanz - (Johan)
172 - Schumann - Mein Wagen rollet langsam- (Sforzando)
173 - Wagner - Rheingold - (Mark)
174 - Stravinsky - Mass - (Mark)
175 - Sibelius - Tapiola - (Mark)
176 - Debussy- Danse sacre et danse profane - (Sforzando)
177 - Berlioz - Roman Carnival - (Johan)
178 - Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande - (Sforzando)
179 - Rossini - La Cenerentola overture - (Sforzando)
180 - Scriabin - Prometheus - (Mark)
181 - Franck - Symphonic Variations - (Sforzando)
182 - Gershwin - Piano Concerto - (Mark)
183 - Busoni - Piano Concerto - (Robert)
184 - Honegger - Pacific 231 - (Greg)
185 - Ligeti - String Quartet no 1 - (revealed by Luke)
186 - Ligeti - String Quartet no 2 - (matticus)
187 - Holst - The Perfect Fool - (Johan)
188 - Tippett - Fantasia Concertante/Corelli - (Johan)
189 - Elgar - Cockaigne - (Johan)
190 - Tippett - Triple Concerto - (Mark)
191 - Ireland - Piano concerto - (Guido)
192 - Tippett - Symphony no 1 - (Mark)
193 - Vaughan Williams - The Lake in the Mountains - (revealed by Luke)
194 - Tippett - A Child of Our Time - (Robert)
195 - Rubbra - Prelude/Fugue theme of Cyril Scott - (Maciek)
196 - Berners - Le poisson d'or - (Guido)
197 - Tippett - The Midsummer Marriage - (Mark)
198 - Howells - Hymnus Paradisi - (Guido)
199 - Lutoslawski - Two Etudes - (Maciek)
200 - Bloch - Schelomo - (Guido)
201 - Thelonius Monk improvisation - (revealed by Luke)
202 - Humperdinck - Hansel und Gretel - (Sforzando)
203 - Hoddinott - The sun, the great luminary of the universe - (revealed by Luke)
204 - Zimmermann - Stille und umkehr - (revealed by Luke)
205 - Ligeti - Cello Concerto - (Guido)
206 - Glass - Vessels (from Koyaanisqatsi) - (revealed by Luke)
207 - Berio - Folksongs - (Symphonien)
208 - Part - Rottkappchen und der Wolf - (Sforzando)
209 - Ligeti - Lontano - (Greg)
210 - Ligeti - Artikulation - (Greg)
211 - Bussotti - La Passion Selon Sade - (Symphonien)
212 - Stevenson - Passacaglia on DSCH - (Johan)
213 - Grainger - Ramble on Love - (Sforzando)
214 - Penderecki - De Natura Sonoris I - (Mark/Greg)
215 - Cowell - ? - (Karl)
216 - Dallapiccola - Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera - (Symphonien)
217 - Xenakis - à r - (Johan)
218 - Ives - Improvisation (transcr. Dapogny) - (Mark)
219 - ? -
220 - Messiaen - Mode de valeurs... - (Guido)
221 - Messiaen - Tombeau de Paul Dukas - (Johan)
222 - Crumb - Agnus Dei (Makrokosmos II) - (Symphonien)
223 - Emsley - For Guitar 1 - (Johan)
224 - Villa-Lobos - Amazonas - (Johan)
225 - Koechlin - Les Heures Persanes - (Sforzando)
226 - Mussorgsky - Sunless - (Sforzando)
226 - Brant - Four Traumatics - (Sforzando)
227 - Schoenberg - Songs op 22 - (Mark)
228 - Foulds - Essays in the Modes - (Johan)
229 - ? -
230 - Gould - So you want to write a fugue - (Johan)
231 - Schoeck - Elegie - (Johan)
232 - Feldman - ? - (Guido)
233 - Gurdjieff - something-or-other-I'll-find-out-later - (Johan)
234 - ? -
235 - Rachmaninov - Piano Trio 1 - (Guido)
236 - Britten - Michelangelo Sonnets - (Sforzando)
237 - Wyschnegradsky - Etude sur le carré magique sonore - (Johan)
238 - ? -
239 - Mosolov - Two Dances op 23b - (Johan)
240 - Bryars - Mr Sunshine - (Sforzando)
241 - Francaix - La Promenade d'un musicologue éclectique - (Johan)
242 - Britten - Cadenza for Mozart K482 - (Sforzando)
243 - Sciarrino - Anamorfosi - (Johan)
244 - ? -
245 - ? -
246 - Beethoven - Equali - (Mark)
247 - Boulez - Notations - (Sforzando)
248 - Ustvolskaya - Piano Sonata no 6 - (Johan)
249 - Hamelin - Preambulum to an Imaginary Piano Symphony - (Johan)
250 - Stockhausen - Gruppen - (Sforzando)
251 - ? -
252 - Ravel - Ronsard à son âme - (Johan)
253 - Chopin (aged 7) - Polonaise - (Sforzando)
254 - Chopin reconstr. Kallberg - 'Trill' Prelude - (Sforzando)
255 - ? -
256 - Ravel - Noël des jouets - (Johan)
257 - ? -
258 - Handel - Guilio Cesare - (Sforzando)
259 - Gliere - Concerto for Coloratura Soprano - (Sforzando)
260 - ? -
261 - ? -
262 - ? -
263 - ? -
264 - ? -

Set by Greg
31 - Mahler - Ressurection symphony - (Johan)

Set by Symphonien
1 - Lachenmann - Pression - (Luke)
2 - Stravinsky - Les noces - (Johan)
3 - Schoenberg - A Survivor from Warsaw - (Mark)
4 - Murail - Désintégrations - (Luke)
5 - Schnittke - Prelude in memoriam Dmitiri Shostakovich - (Mark)
6  - Sciarrino - Sei quartetti brevi - (Luke)
7 - Stockhausen - Es (aus der sieben Tage) - (Mark)
8 - Nietzsche - There flows a brook - (Guido)

Set by Guido
21 - Beethoven - Triple Concerto - (Luke)
22 - Ligeti - Hungarian Rock - (Luke)
23 - Bartok - Study for the Left Hand - (Luke)
24 - Miaskovsky - Cello Sonata 2 - (Luke)
25 - Schulhoff - Violin Sonata - (Luke)
26 - Webern - Piece for cello and piano - (Luke)
27 - Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations - (Luke)
28 - Scarlatti - Sonata K175 - (Luke)
29 - Vaughan Williams - Romance - (Luke)
30a-c - Ives - Skethces for Universe Symphony - (Luke)
31 - Korngold - Romance-Impromptu - (Johan)
32 - Ives - Some Southpaw Pitching - (Luke)
33 - Honegger - Cello concerto - (Luke)
34 - Ysaye - Solo Cello Sonata - (Luke)
35 - Klengel - Hymnus - (Luke)
36 - Piazzolla - ? - (Luke)
37 - ? -
38 - Janacek - Violin Sonata - (Luke)
39 - Ravel - Concerto for the Left Hand - (Luke)
40 - Bartok - Solo Violin Sonata - (Luke)

Set by Sforzando
1 - Schubert - Reliquie Sonata - (Luke)
2 - Feldman - Last pieces - (Guido)
3 - Griffes - The White Peacock - (Luke)
4 - Ferneyhough - Superscriptio - (Mark)
5 - Ibert - Le petit ane blanc - (Guido)
6 - Ruggles - Sun-Treader - (Mark)
7 - Verdi - original version of Liber Scriptus, Manzoni Requiem - (Luke)
8 - Berwald - Symphony no 3 - (Mark)
9 - Rimsky-Korsakov - Le coq d'or - (Mark)
9(a) - Beethoven - sketchbook for opp 130, 132 - (Luke)
10 - Gluck - Le calme entre dans ma coeur (Iphigénie en Tauride) - (Luke)
11 - Rameau - Les tendres plaintes - (Luke)
12 - Roussel - Le festin de l'araignée - (Luke)
13 - Alfvén - First Swedish Rhapsody (Midsommarvaka) - (Johan)
14 - Panufnik - Jagiellonian Triptych - (Johan)
15 - Respighi - Brazillian Impressions - (Luke)
16 - Beach - Gaelic Symphony - (Luke)
17 - Hoffmann - Piece for Orchestra - (Luke)
18 -  Flothuis - Symphonic Music - (Luke)
19 - von Einem - Philadelphia Symphony - (Luke)
20 - Martin - Concerto pour sept instrument à vents - (Luke)
21 - Bernstein - Serenade - (Luke)
22 - Larry Rinkel - Sonatina - (Luke)
23 - Chabrier - Bourrée Fantasque - (Johan)
24 - Wolf - Er ist's - (Luke)
25 - Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini - (Luke)
26 - Hummel - Trumpet Concerto - (Luke)
27 - Varese - Density 21.5 - (Luke)
28 - Gottschalk - Grand Tarantelle - (Johan)
29 - Berio - Sequenza XI - (Luke)
30 - Schumann - Fantasy op 17 (orig. ending) - (Luke)
31 - Schmidt - The Fantasticks - (Luke)
32 - Wolf - Ganymed - (Luke)
33 - Wagner - Die Meistersinger.. - (Luke)
34 - Wagner - Das Rheingold - (Luke)
35 - Alkan - Allegro Barbaro (no 5, Etudes Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs) - (Johan)
36 - Massenet - Don Quichotte - (Johan)
37 - Schumann - Genoveva - (Johan)
I think I've missed Sfz 38 if it's been posted
39 - ? -
40 - ? -
41 - Walton - Belshazzar's Feast - (Luke)
42 - Boulez - First Sonata - (Luke)
43 - Handel - Saul - (Luke)
44 - ? -
45 - ? -
46 - Dvorak - Symphony no 3 - (Luke)
47 - Liszt - Hungarian Folksong - (Luke)
48 - Clementi - Sonata op 40/2 - (Luke)


Set by Chrone
1 - Gibbons - Cries of London - (Sforzando)
2 - Billings - Jargon - (Sforzando)
3 - Joplin - Treemonisha - (Mark)

[lukeottevanger]

And my clues again, now with ADDED CLUE^©!

215 - a notational experiment - an attempt to do away with 'tuplet' figures and brackets and replace them with noteheads of different shapes. Karl identified the composer - Cowell - but not the piece yet.

219 - composer much more famous as a legendary pianist who died too early; he recorded this piece and it is available on one of the great CDs, though it isn't the major draw. The major draw on those CDs is the pianist playing the works of a greater composer, also one of the great violinists, who he also accompanies. As revealed above, either this one or  234 is by John Ogdon. NEW CLUE - there is a famous photo of the violinist-composer crowning the pianist-composer with a laurel wreath, when the latter is just a small boy.

226 - I put this one up because it is pertinent at the moment, just as my 203 was pertinent when I put it up (a glance at 203 might help to see what I'm talking about). Alright, then - why was 203 pertinent? Because it's by Hoddinott, who, when I posted it, had just died.....ergo.... NEW KICK UP THE REAR - OK, who just died!? Although, as is the nature of these things, that event was now a couple of weeks ago.

228 - a quick examination reveals what is going on here. This is one of its composer's most well-known works, I think, though recently his name has been in the news for an altogether larger piece, about which we had a thread here. NEW CLUE Johan has a particular favourite among composers, shared by me but not by that old crank Rinkel  ; the best-known writer on that composer is also an expert on this composer.

229 - I chose a sample which includes this composer's trademark technique in its baldest form. What is going on with the time signatures? Who does this sort of thing a lot? NEW CLUE I often get him mixed up with Barraque 

232 - not quite for the forces it looks like. Guido got the composer - Feldman. Remember that Feldman sometimes distributes his music around the staves as he does in odd ways, to do with keeping things clear, in this case, the various rhythmical strands. NEW CLUE I feel like I'm being mean here, but really I'm only telling it like it is. So a little more: there's only one instrument here.

234 - as stated earlier, the composer was much better known as a prodigiously gifted, prematurely deceased pianist with an impressive repertoire ranging from the classics to Boulez and Sorabji. As revealed above, either this one or no 219 is by John Ogdon.

238 - not a composer associated with the piano, which instrument isn't very well suited to the technical concerns he developed later in life. This piece, slightly earlier, isn't quite there yet. It refers to the music and culture of an Asian country often bypassed by western composers looking for an Eastern fix. That country is Tibet; this composer visited Tibet and Nepal, I believe, and was greatly influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. NEW TAUNT - come on, there have only been one or two composers directly influenced by Tibet, and this piece is this composer's most obviously Tibetan work. And it's not Glass; nor is it one of my favourites, Jonathan Harvey.

244 - look at the technique involved here; the composer is quite clear then. We had a piece by this composer a long time back, and Mark identified it then - he spotted that the piece was a complex canon at various speeds, as is this one, though it's much simpler here. Who composes such things? NEW TAUNT 

245 - One of a set of pieces, all of which start with the same letter. This one is the last; it depicts a nightingale with a cold. The letter is R, and thus the piece's title is.... NEW PIECE OF ENCOURAGEMENT - think laterally, as I said before. All the pieces start with the same letter, and that letter is R. So the whole piece is called...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Okay! 228 must be John Foulds!! Essays in the modes!

[lukeottevanger]

That's the one, Johan - what took you? It's got a bloody great big mode printed across the top! 

Oh yes - my 257, the newest one*: from the context, the composer is obvious. I've chosen one of those passages in which he willfully creates an entirely new technique only not to use it again. Incredible profligacy of invention. A piece with a relatively early opus number - it predates the more famous studies in the minor and major keys, in any case. Like early Schumann or even early Brahms, what it lacks in the classical solidity the later works possess (for all their extreme difficulty and wild creativity) it makes up for in the sheer exhilaration of its bizarre new ideas.


* no, not the newest - but the newest real one!

[lukeottevanger]

And I just realised, I haven't given clues to the other remaining ones of mine yet -

251 This piece, by a somewhat mysterious and enigmatic composer, shows solidarity with a nearby, beleaguered nation in time of war.

255 An early work by a composer (mysterious, too) who went on to share something of the interest manifested by the composer of my 238; this is the original version of the piece, but it later appeared in another arrangement which, from which, if you are lucky, I will extract an audio sample corresponding to the relevant pages for your delectation when it is found. It's not a great piece by any stretch of the imagination, but I love the section starting on the quoted page!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I think 256 must be 255, Luke...

[lukeottevanger]

Thanks for noticing that - it's changed now!

BTW, Johan, are we going to get any scores from you? Karl doesn't seem to be rising to requests to do so.... 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks for noticing that - it's changed now!

BTW, Johan, are we going to get any scores from you? Karl doesn't seem to be rising to requests to do so.... 

If I could, I'd be happy to oblige - but neither do I own that many scores, nor do I have a scanner... Sorry.

[Chrone]

As a total n00b to this thread, I'm going to guess that LO226 is from "Two Conclusions" by Henry Brant.