Quiz: Mystery scores

Started by Sean, August 27, 2007, 06:49:47 AM

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Larry Rinkel

Quote from: Maciek on September 04, 2007, 06:26:21 AM
Type that into Google, and what do you get?

VeggieTales - Sumo of the Opera

Is my guess correct? :P


Just scroll down 4 paragraphs in that link . . . .

I've never even heard of Serocki.

lukeottevanger

Quote from: Larry Rinkel on September 04, 2007, 06:41:38 AM
Just scroll down 4 paragraphs in that link . . . .


'Schoolhouse Polka with Larry' - but...but....but that's my number 13! :P

lukeottevanger

Quote
...Larry is quite exhausted by the time it's all over....

karlhenning

QuoteBuckle down, Serocki, buckle down . . . .

karlhenning

This has become one my favorite threads, BTW.

Larry Rinkel

Quote from: karlhenning on September 04, 2007, 06:53:23 AM
This has become one my favorite threads, BTW.

Then post a selection of your own!

Not to sound sententious, but what's good about this thread is that it calls upon you to use all kinds of musical knowledge - history, style, even typography - rather than just seeing a piece and identifying it on the spot.

karlhenning

Quote from: Larry Rinkel on September 04, 2007, 07:47:24 AM
Then post a selection of your own!

But, if I post a piece of my own, I am the only one who will be able to identify it!  ;)

Maciek

#387
Not really - if you posted Castelo, I'd propably recognize it! ;)

OK, I'll just add a few clues to mine. The Serocki - I've already given you a clue that basically narrows it all down to one piece. ;D And BTW, if Larry doesn't know him, I'm definitely starting a thread on him this week!

As for the other two:

One is by a composer whose cause I've been championing almost since the moment I joined GMG. Luke once criticized this composer's cello writing, saying it's not idiomatic and very contrived. (Guido, I understand, thought the cello piece quite intriguing.) I've once posted samples of 3 different performances of the beginning of this piece.

The other is by a composer who doesn't really need advertising. The piece in question (certainly not one of his best) has been released by Naxos (though that wasn't the premiere recording). IIRC most of the GMGers who commented on that disc weren't very enthusiastic about this piece (though one or two of them did say they liked it). It is dedicated to a pianist with a Polish surname who isn't really Polish but a Swede of Polish descent.

Larry Rinkel

Quote from: karlhenning on September 04, 2007, 08:14:25 AM
But, if I post a piece of my own, I am the only one who will be able to identify it!  ;)

Not if you post something from that score of yours you gave me . . .

But I was thinking of a selection from your own score library.

Maciek

I've added clues to mine one post above (accidentally - fully believing that I'm actually writing a new post... ::))

Maciek

#390
Since my stock of good guesses had been depleted, I'll repost those of Guido's pictures which haven't been solved yet (BTW, Luke: it's 4th Symphony, and no. 5 is Serocki! $:), and thanks for including me in the list, BTW :)):

GMB 15


GMB 17

lukeottevanger

#391
Quote from: Maciek on September 04, 2007, 08:16:21 AM
One is by a composer whose cause I've been championing almost since the moment I joined GMG. Luke once criticized this composer's cello writing, saying it's not idiomatic and very contrived. (Guido, I understand, thought the cello piece quite intriguing.) I've once posted samples of 3 different performances of the beginning of this piece.

Well, I suppose this - and it can only be no 1 or no 2, and I'm plumping for no 1 (see below) - must be Szymanski, though I don't recall being that harsh on his cello writing. I think I remember what you are talking about - I think the piece in question had some polyphonic techniques which I've also seen in James Dillon, and which never really come off as written to my mind, though they can be effective in other ways. Can't make a guess as to the piece, though to be safe I'll ask if it's a piano concerto

Quote from: Maciek on September 04, 2007, 08:16:21 AMThe other is by a composer who doesn't really need advertising. The piece in question (certainly not one of his best) has been released by Naxos (though that wasn't the premiere recording). IIRC most of the GMGers who commented on that disc weren't very enthusiastic about this piece (though one or two of them did say they liked it). It is dedicated to a pianist with a Polish surname who isn't really Polish but a Swede of Polish descent.

Is this Kilar, by any chance? Guessing no 2 is the second mvt of his Piano Concerto, which has this tempo marking and is described on Amazon UK as having a repetitive piano part (in keeping with what else I've heard of Kilar) (I could just listen to their sample, I suppose)(I did, and it is!)

lukeottevanger

Quote from: Maciek on September 04, 2007, 09:01:43 AM
(BTW, Luke: it's 4th Symphony, and no. 5 is Serocki! $:)

Oops, slip of the finger (corrected). At least I got it right in my original answer.

Maciek

#393
Well done, Luke! I was going to say Watson but in fact you're definitely Holmes! 8)

I didn't think your criticism of Szymanski was all that harsh, and I'm pretty sure I disfigured it quite a bit anyway. Obviously, I was close enough for you to remember what I meant though. ;D It is Szymanski, and it is his Piano Concerto - the toccata-like opening, to be exact.

And yes the other piece is Kilar's Piano Concerto. But, surprise, surprise, it's the first movement (well, you couldn't have got everything right! ;D). Actually, I think this one works quite well. It's the second and third that are a bit tiring and trying...

I guess I should be more reticent in my clues. The title of the Serocki is still open to discussion though. ;D

Update: this is what you originally said about Szymanski's Gigue. I'm reposting it because I think it's a very intelligent and interesting comparison (even if I'm not sure if the complexity is actually less calculated than Ferneyhough's - I'm not saying that based on my analytical abilities - which are nonexistent, only taking Szymanski's word for it ;)):

QuoteStrange looking piece! Certainly extremely hard! Reminds me in general (specifics are different) of James Dillon's special way of writing for strings, which makes the assumption that two part counterpoint in complex rhythms (say, a line in ninths on the D string against on in sevenths on the G) is a normal way to play. This is a sort of idealised complexity a world away from the horrendous and more carefully calculated demands of a Ferneyhough, for instance.

lukeottevanger

Quote from: Maciek on September 04, 2007, 09:17:42 AM
Update: this is what you originally said about Szymanski's Gigue. I'm reposting it because I think it's a very intelligent and interesting comparison (even if I'm not sure if the complexity is actually less calculated than Ferneyhough's - I'm not saying that based on my analytical abilities - which are nonexistent, only taking Szymanski's word for it ;)):

I wasn't saying that Szymanski isn't as calculating as Ferneyhough, more that Ferneyhough's primary concern, one could say, is the difficulty of his music - it is a parameter he calculates and grades almost as a contrapuntal element in the music. It follows that however insanely difficult Ferneyhough is, it is always potentially possible. Whereas this string-writing technique of Dillon's, also seen to my mind in the piece of Szymanski - (a technique which is more broad-brush, simple in its own way, and yet often pretty much technically impossible to bring off) - really functions as a kind of shorthand for something else. IOW, what is written is not what is expected of the player, but their attempt to play it will produce the right sound. Taking this into account, the music is generally easier than Ferneyhough, who never uses this kind of notational 'shorthand'.

Maciek

Thanks, Luke. That's even more interesting now that I understand what you meant. ;D

Maciek

#396
Guido, why not add a few clues for us?

Guido

#397
GMB 14 is correct Luke - Carter's cello concerto is one of the most significant CCs of recent years I think - and a piece that amply demonstrates how beautiful atonal scores can be in a fairly traditional sense (though it has its fair share of eruptive dissonance too! The Symphonia is another beautiful score).

OK Here's some clues for the rest

2 composers became US citizens after moving from Europe
1 composer is famous for only one piece really
1 composer worked very closely with two very famous composers on the creation of this piece
1 composer is primarily known as a (current) conductor and also a film composer
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Maciek

GMB 06 Previn - Sonata for cello and piano (1st mvt)!!! :D

lukeottevanger

I'm going to say that Larry's 31/22 is the prelude to the second scene of Delius's A Village Romeo and Juliet. I finally managed to catch on to Larry's syphilis Larry's clue about two composers having suffered from the same disease was what led me there - Wolf had syphilis; so did Delius, who also has American elements to his career (another Larry clue). I don't know this work, but 31/22 looks fairly Delian, and at least is fairly obviously English; listening to the Amazon sample I found I wasn't entirely sure until the last few seconds, where that opening flute figure returns.

For some reason I never imagined Larry owning a Delius score, mind you...