Quiz: Mystery scores

[greg]

g20 Xenakis ATA

yep

Nomos gamma??

nope
it has a very unusual arrangement, where the orchestral players sit.
if you don't know it right away, just do a little research

[Maciek]

Terretektorh?

[Guido]

Luke - am a bit stumped on the cello concerto (or concertante work) - remember not all of us mere mortals have your awesome score reading abilities and score knowledge. Will keep thinking (though I have an inkling)...

Chor Anglais concertante work - only two pieces I can think of are both programmatic - Kernis' Coloured field, and MacMillan's The World's Ransoming.

Am keen to find out what no. 54 is!

(am thinking of trying to track down the scores of the three most difficult cello concerti that I have come accross - all of them are worth it I think - a project for the Cambridge library - though I suppose you might start guessing already!)

[Larry Rinkel]

Terretektorh?

Or possible Le Polytope de Montreal.

[Maciek]

Yes, that would have been my 3rd guess. 0:)

[Guido]

Luke - pieces for cello and orchestra, which include references to other works (including titular references) - I can only think of a few - Murill Cello concerto no.2 "Song of the Birds", Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Sussex theme tunes, Schoenberg's concerto based on Monn's keyboard concerto, Foulds concerto on themes by Corelli (lost and unrecorded), Cassado concerto based on themes from Tchaikovsky's piano music, Denisov - Death is a Long Sleep - Variations on a canon by Haydn. Its none of the first four, definitely. I don't really think its any of these, but if I had to suggest one it would be the Denisov. Stab in the dark though.

[lukeottevanger]

The Denisov is closest, though not perhaps for the reasons you think (though I don't know what they are)

[Maciek]

The cryptic hints are what I like best about this thread...

[lukeottevanger]

Well, it could well be for the reason Guido thinks...in fact, it possibly is.....hell, I don't know! Guido, what do you think?

[Guido]

They are literally all the one's that I can think of with names that have titular reference to other works, and that seemed the most likely one based on the harmony (although even then, hmm...) - the first three I own scores to so I know its not them, and the Cassado is so obscure that I doubt its that (and its not Tchaikovskian harmony).

hmmm.....

[lukeottevanger]

They are literally all the one's that I can think of with names that have titular reference to other works, and that seemed the most likely one based on the harmony (although even then, hmm...) - the first three I own scores to so I know its not them, and the Cassado is so obscure that I doubt its that (and its not Tchaikovskian harmony).

hmmm.....

It's none of the ones you mentioned, sorry.

Anyway, want more clues?

50 - as I say, the language is a big clue, as is the metre (or the implications of the metre) I think name of composer and, in the most basic way, type of piece, would be enough here

51 - Mark has spotted that this piece, especially, I will say, this quoted part, is largely based around the Hussite chorale 'Ye who are the warriors of God', a piece quoted famously and obsessively by Smetana in Tabor and Blanik (Ma Vlast) and later by e.g. Suk (Praga) and Janacek (Mr Broucek) - it is a symbol of Czech pride and defiance. It is certainly that in this piece. Larry thought the melody line looked vocal, and whilst this is not correct, it is possible to imagine this line as a setting of some kind of defiant text, deliberately and necessarily rendered dumb by being played instrumentally. This, though, is pure symbolic speculation on my part and has no grounds in fact. It might help to guide you towards the composer and the piece, however.

52 - This is the one about which I said:

The composer of this piece is at the same time a much less famous composer than any of those you mentioned, and much more famous

Understandably, Larry took this to mean that he is/was better known as a musician in another field than as a composer. In fact, though, it goes further than that: he is better known as something other than a musician at all, though throughout his life, and despite his prolific creativity in his higher profile career, he continued to think of himself as a composer above all else, and to value music above the other arts despite his profound working knowledge in other areas. His career is inevitably linked with Beethoven's Ninth, amongst other works.

53 - The text here is clear; so, I assume is the nationality of the composer and, perhaps, the period from which this piece dates. This, added to the fact that I have called this composer a major figure - which he surely is - should limit the possibilities somewhat. Remember that this piece is unrecorded, but it is far from unmentioned online.

54 - this is the sensuously beautiful one, which I realise may be no clue at all. You see a reference to a certain number of soloists in the middle of the score, playing certain types of instruments; this knowledge alone could tell you for whom the piece was written. This, I think, is also one of those scores where the publisher and thus the composer are fairly evident.

55 - This is from the middle movement (of five) of a too-little-known (though hardly unknown) masterpiece of late Romanticism.  A quite wonderful and very suggestive piece, in fact, typical of its composer but a little less convoluted and more fantastically alive than some of his similarly-scored works, IMO, great though those are also. This movement is for a much reduced orchestra - just six solo players, for the most part, until the last bars. I have mentioned this composer's name in this thread.

56 - The one Guido should know (in fact, he does know it, I think). Again, the publisher is fairly clear. Sometimes this composer's notation strikes me as a little 'messy', as indeed it does a little on this page, but that is part of his style. Like no 54, this is an unremittingly beautiful work - almost too much so, possibly.

57 - Scored for a fairly standard orchestra, but in a typically glittering fashion; this composer is well-known for his short, dazzling orchestral pieces. This is one of the (slightly) less well-known ones, but even so is recognised as a mini-masterpiece, as indeed are many of this composer's pieces. If you can isolate the composer and the possible work, the wind figuration should give a little hint.

58 - Larry's almost got this one: a male part song by Schoenberg. The voices are 'just' engaged in childish impressions of drums etc., as they are throughout much of this song.

[Guido]

oh yeah. Duh! I thought of the Farewell to Philosophy, but didn't see the titular connection (of course it's to two of Haydn's Symphonies). Wouldn't have recognised the score though! The too beautiful thing was a massive clue of course!

[lukeottevanger]

Certainly was - to clarify, this is a page from late in Gavin Bryars' Cello Concerto 'Farewell to Philosophy', whose title refers to those two Haydn symphonies, The Farewell and The Philosopher. The page shown, with its paired horns and oboe/cor anglais over padding strings is making reference to the latter work; the orchestral 'thinning-out' at the end of the piece refers to the former one.

[lukeottevanger]

I'm going to bed in a minute, but before I go I might as well put up a few more samples I've prepared this evening (quite low quality,these ones, I'm afraid). And then that will do from me for a few days, I hope, though I have more in mind if we get that far.

LO 59 and LO 60 go together; they are not by the same composer, though they both look very similar to another composer, which is significant

[lukeottevanger]

LO 61 is just a straightforward question, without peculiarities to latch on to, I'm afraid. An unexpectedly potent and well put-together piece, IMO.

LO 62 is quite a funky piece....

LO 63 - I could have chosen a more intricately jewelled page from the 400 or so that this work has, but this is one of the most beautiful moments in the entire collection.

[lukeottevanger]

LO 64 - he he

LO 65 - no comment

LO 66 - ought to be relatively straightforward

[lukeottevanger]

LO 67 - quite a typical piece

LO 68 - an impressive piece of juvenilia

[Larry Rinkel]

LO 67 - quite a typical piece

LO 68 - an impressive piece of juvenilia

68 Richard Strauss?

[lukeottevanger]

Not 68 (though that's a good guess).

[Larry Rinkel]

LO 64 - he he

LO 65 - no comment

LO 66 - ought to be relatively straightforward

65 looks like a Chopin mazurka but I don't think it is, so Szymanowski. And don't ask me which!

66 looks like Richard Strauss too! But don't ask me which opera!