Quiz: Mystery scores

[karlhenning]

Up-to-the-minute reduction:

kh21  The key to this piece's realization is scordatura.

kh28  This piece is connected to an event which the composer found shattering.

kh34  In this piece, at least, the composer was at pains not to appear naughty.

kh36  The décor for this might conceivably have been inspired by Modern Times; the composer was certainly a fan of Chaplin's.

kh39  A piece which served a commemorative function.

kh40  A piece commissioned by a consortium of five orchestras.

kh45  From a set of twenty-four, though the edition I have is half, and titled "The Sharp Keys."

kh46  This piece is scarcely known, but the piece the composer wrote immediately before was an international success.

kh49  Older band?

[Maciek]

Is 39 Bartok by any chance?
Is 40 a piano concerto?

[karlhenning]

Yes to both. Which & which? : )

[Maciek]

40 - Hailstork??? (I've never heard it)

I'll get back to you on the Bartok - I think I know, but have to check with a recording.

[Maciek]

Dance Suite, 4th mvt (Molto tranquillo)! Have no idea what it commemorated, though.

[(poco) Sforzando]

There I've misled you; but Shostakovich's set was the example for the actual composer.

Rodion Schedrin's The Sharp Keys and The Flat Keys.

[karlhenning]

Yes, gentlemen both!

[karlhenning]

Dance Suite, 4th mvt (Molto tranquillo)! Have no idea what it commemorated, though.

Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were united into one city, Budapest, in 1873. In 1923 the City Council commissioned Bartók, Dohnányi, and Kodály to compose works for the fiftieth anniversary of the unification. Dohnányi fulfilled the commission with his Festive Overture, Kodály with Psalmus Hungaricus, and Bartók with the Dance Suite.

Nice program notes for the piece here.

[karlhenning]

Up-to-the-minute reduction:

kh21  Composer's favorite pastime is Rummikub.

kh28  The villain in the incident referred to earlier was actually a fellow musician.

kh34  A piece for children, so no limerick.

kh36  Not Antheil, but nonetheless a model ballet mécanique.

kh40  Third of four (so far).

kh46  Admittedly, a genre for which the composer is not particularly noted.

kh49  Don't nod, Don: Older band?

[Maciek]

kh40  Third of four (so far).

Well, I think that Wuorinen has written four piano concerti so far. But I know nothing about the history of the third...

[Maciek]

kh21  Composer's favorite pastime is Rummikub.

Andriessen?

[karlhenning]

That's it. And it is an obscure enough history, that one would practically have to have read the liner notes to the disc to know it, methinks ; )

[karlhenning]

Andriessen?

Yes . . . any stab at the piece?

[Maciek]

I'm looking through his catalog to see what might fit...

[Maciek]

Well, Symphony for open strings (1978) fits the score perfectly (5-0-2-3-2), so that's my guess. Though I also glanced at some notes about the piece, and the description doesn't really fit, well, not like a glove at least.

[karlhenning]

Well, Symphony for open strings (1978) fits the score perfectly (5-0-2-3-2), so that's my guess. Though I also glanced at some notes about the piece, and the description doesn't really fit, well, not like a glove at least.

But this is just the first system, of course; you're right, Maciek, it's the Symphonie voor losse snaren.  What seemed to be amiss in the description?

[Maciek]

The piece was described somewhere as "romantic", whatever that means. It looks (and your description confirms that impression) extremely minimalistic, which, at least for me, wouldn't be the same thing. But then...

[karlhenning]

The piece was described somewhere as "romantic", whatever that means. It looks (and your description confirms that impression) extremely minimalistic, which, at least for me, wouldn't be the same thing. But then...

Hmm, that's playing rather loose with the adjective Romantic, I agree.

[Maciek]

Could 36 be Pas d'acier?

[karlhenning]

Yes, The Factory scene (L'usine). Well done!