Desert Island with a Twist

[Florestan]

At gun point, only vocal music allowed --- a capella, Lieder, melodies, art songs, oratorios, cantatas, operas whatever involving singing. Nothing whatsoever without singing allowed.

Would you survive, or just order "Fire!"?

[Mirror Image]

How much vocal music are we allowed to bring?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

At gun point, only vocal music allowed --- a capella, Lieder, melodies, art songs, oratorios, cantatas, operas whatever involving singing. Nothing whatsoever without singing allowed.

Would you survive, or just order "Fire!"?

So, when you say operas, are we allowed the complete opera--as in with orchestra including things like "non-singing bits"?   

PD

[Florestan]

How much vocal music are we allowed to bring?

As much as you want. Just nothing non-vocal.

[Florestan]

So, when you say operas, are we allowed the complete opera--as in with orchestra including things like "non-singing bits"?  

PD

Nope! If it has no vocals, it has no place on the island. 

Complete operas allowed, of course, just not orchestral tidbits. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Nope! If it has no vocals, it has no place on the island. 

Complete operas allowed, of course, just not orchestral tidbits. 

No, course, I had been referring to including the vocal parts!  I was wondering more if you were referring to a highlights and/or recitals vs. the "real deal".  Thank your for the clarification.

And, yes, I could certainly deal with it.   

PD

[Florestan]

yes, I could certainly deal with it.   

Okay, what?

[Wanderer]

At gun point, only vocal music allowed --- a capella, Lieder, melodies, art songs, oratorios, cantatas, operas whatever involving singing. Nothing whatsoever without singing allowed.

Would you survive, or just order "Fire!"?

I would thrive.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Okay, what?

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused here.  He didn't say anything about whether or not one needed to limit it to something like one genre and/or which piece of music?  To me, it seemed to be asking whether or not you/one could deal with just/primarily vocal music.

PD

[Florestan]

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused here. 

No, it's my bad.

What I meant was: what would you bring to the island? 

[Florestan]

I would thrive.

On what?

[Mirror Image]

As much as you want. Just nothing non-vocal.

Ah, well that would be a HUGE list, which I won't bother listing.

[Florestan]

Ah, well that would be a HUGE list, which I won't bother listing.

No problem. The idea is to survive with vocal music only.

[Szykneij]

I would be the skeleton in the sand by the palm tree.   

[ritter]

The island would sink into the see with the weight of all the stuff I'd bring to it....

[Mirror Image]

Okay, I think I'll assemble a "Top 10" or something close and see what happens:

In no particular order and one work per composer -

Debussy: Ballades de François Villon
Ravel: Trois poèmes de Mallarmé
Duruflé: Requiem, Op. 9
Szymanowski: Litania do Marii Panny, Op. 59
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24
Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Op. 7

To be honest, I don't even feel I've covered even a quarter of the vocal music that I love, but at least I tried to narrow it down.

[VonStupp]

Okay, I think I'll assemble a "Top 10" or something close and see what happens:

In no particular order and one work per composer -

Debussy: Ballades de François Villon
Ravel: Trois poèmes de Mallarmé
Duruflé: Requiem, Op. 9
Szymanowski: Litania do Marii Panny, Op. 59
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24
Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Op. 7

To be honest, I don't even feel I've covered even a quarter of the vocal music that I love, but at least I tried to narrow it down.

Nice list, though.

VS

[Mirror Image]

Nice list, though.

VS

Thanks! I know this would be a difficult list for you to make as well.

[VonStupp]

Thanks! I know this would be a difficult list for you to make as well.

Indeed, but when I get a chance next, I'll give it a go!

VS

[amw]

I mean, sure. If we're allowed to bring "as much as we want" I could bring the complete vocal works of Machaut, Dunstable, Fayrfax, Josquin, Victoria, Morales, Palestrina, Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons, Dowland, Gesualdo, Marenzio, de Rore, A. Scarlatti, Strozzi, F. Couperin, Charpentier, J.S. Bach, Zelenka, Vivaldi and Haydn, the complete vocal and stage works of Monteverdi, Rameau, Mozart, Martinů, Stravinsky, Nono, Kurtág, Holliger and Sciarrino, the complete songs/romances, part-songs and choral/choral-orchestral music of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Brahms, Dvořák, Fauré, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Wolf, Schoeck, Debussy, Ravel, Hindemith, Bartók, Prokofiev, Martin, Shostakovich, Grisey, Vivier, Feldman and probably others. And I could do a carve-out for the few romantic and modern operas I already know I like, but I might as well add the whole lot in from Rossini to Wagner to Stockhausen, just in case I get a hankering to explore the genre, but by this point the questions are more like "how much room actually is there on this island" and "how much time am I going to have to listen to all this stuff".

The only thing I'd categorically need to exclude is anything with narration or spoken word.

Could give a top 10 limited to one per composer and one per genre:

Mozart - Figaro KV 492 (sung-through version) - opera
Stravinsky - Les Noces - ballet
Beethoven - Missa Solemnis Op. 123 - mass
Bach - SMP BWV 244 - sacred oratorio
Palestrina - Stabat mater - motet
Schnittke - Choir Concerto - miscellaneous sacred choral
Handel - Judas Maccabaeus HWV 63 - secular oratorio
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13 op. 113 - miscellaneous secular choral
Schumann - Dichterliebe Op. 48 (version with 20 songs) - songs
Brahms - Liebeslieder Walzer Op. 52 - part songs
Charpentier - Leçons de ténèbres - miscellaneous solo vocal

but I'm not sure this would be an illustrative "top 10" because I tend to prioritise some genres over others. "Miscellaneous stage works" left out on purpose because most of those are melodramas, musical theatre, operettas, Singspiels and similar and therefore include spoken word (so do some operas, oratorios and ballets of course).