Quiz: Mystery scores

[Larry Rinkel]

OK, I have quite a few left, but it seems that no one wants to guess at them at the moment

Not a matter of not wanting, just preoccupied with other things.

[bwv 1080]

76 is Messiaen - Couleurs de la Cité céleste? (don't see the piano though)

[lukeottevanger]

That's because it isn't Couleurs... but you've got the right composer, and the right period. This page exhibits a technique which he didn't use elsewhere AFAIK (unless it's buried in St Francois somewhere) and which otherwise is most closely associated with Schumann, of all people.

[bwv 1080]

70- Schoenberg's String Sextet?

[lukeottevanger]

Not knowing what method you used, Luke, I would say yes.

Good, thought so.

[lukeottevanger]

70- Schoenberg's String Sextet?

No. I think this is the only piece written for this combination of instruments, but it is fairly well-known. A gorgeous work.

[bwv 1080]

That's because it isn't Couleurs... but you've got the right composer, and the right period. This page exhibits a technique which he didn't use elsewhere AFAIK (unless it's buried in St Francois somewhere) and which otherwise is most closely associated with Schumann, of all people.

Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum then? 

[lukeottevanger]

That's the one. And the unusual technique on this page is what Messiaen calls 'melodie par manques' - that is, the illusion of a melodic line is created by the notes of a chord disappearing; the memory of each note, after it is gone, is what produces the impression of melody (though Messiaen helps this along by giving each note a little crescendo before it is cut off)

[bwv 1080]

Another batch

BWV17

[bwv 1080]

bwv18

[bwv 1080]

bwv19

[bwv 1080]

bwv20

[bwv 1080]

bwv21

[Larry Rinkel]

bwv19

That's Liszt's Nuages Gris.

[Larry Rinkel]

bwv21

BWV21, of course. 

[lukeottevanger]

Larry got the two I knew, so I've had to research a little. But, based on the scordatura in no 18 - Manuel Ponce: Sonata Meridional


(And btw, a nice page on it here whose music examples tend to confirm my answer!   )

[bwv 1080]

Yes it is the Sonata Meridional.

Did you all really know BWV21 cantata from sight, or just guess at the ruse?

[Larry Rinkel]

Yes it is the Sonata Meridional.

Did you all really know BWV21 cantata from sight, or just guess at the ruse?

A good magician never reveals how he performs his tricks. But since I'm not much of a magician . . . .

It was obviously Bach, and the title Sinfonia meant it was obviously a cantata. So I tried to find a list of all Bach cantatas with sinfonias, which was easy, and then looked at the incipits to find a suitably mournful text. Once I had narrowed that down to a few candidates, I checked the scores, easily found the piece, and then the ruse fell into place.

[lukeottevanger]

Yes it is the Sonata Meridional.

Did you all really know BWV21 cantata from sight, or just guess at the ruse?

In my case, I knew it was Bach, and it looked very familiar - I knew it was on one of the more sorrowful-themed Cantata CDs I have, and I also knew that BWV 21 was the most likely. However, I wasn't thinking in terms of BWV numbers, I just had 'sense' of which work it was, without that work's actual name and number coming to mind, so I didn't notice your hidden message! I was going to go to that CD and play through the likely tracks, but Larry came up trumps first.

[Guido]

I couldn't find the place in the score from one listen through of the last movement, but my best guess would be Gulda's outrageous and hilarious cello concerto - instrumentation seems right too... But given that I can't find the place in the recording, I'm really not sure.