Frank Martin

[prémont]

Martin conducted a later recording of the Petite Symphonie Concertante which I'm pretty sure is in stereo:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Frank-Martin-Kammermusik/hnum/5890841

No, it is in mono. I am pretty sure, because I own it. IMO Ansermet´s recording is preferable as to performance as well as to recorded sound. They use identical soloists on piano and harpsichord (Doris Rossiaud and Germaine Vaucher-Clerc). But Sacher´s recording (as I wrote above) is in stereo and preferable to both. I have not seen this on CD BTW.

[Philoctetes]

I could swear he did, but I can find no reference to it.  Perhaps my memory is playing tricks with me.   

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Ballades-Concerto-Wind-Instruments/dp/B00000IP65

[Scarpia]

They must have deleted it fast.

[Mirror Image]

I could swear he did, but I can find no reference to it.  Perhaps my memory is playing tricks with me.   

Actually, I just looked it up and he did, but it's so far out-of-print that I had a hard time tracking it down. I couldn't find it on Amazon, which was unusual.

[jlaurson]

Actually, I just looked it up and he did, but it's so far out-of-print that I had a hard time tracking it down. I couldn't find it on Amazon, which was unusual.

here it is.


Frank Martin
Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Ballades for Saxophone, Piano, Flute, Trumpet.
Chailly, Harle, Brautigam, Zoon, Lindberg

[Mirror Image]

here it is.


Frank Martin
Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Ballades for Saxophone, Piano, Flute, Trumpet.
Chailly, Harle, Brautigam, Zoon, Lindberg

Okay cool...wow $75 for a used CD?!?!? That's ridiculous! But I have plenty of rare OOP recordings that worth well over $300.

[Scarpia]

Okay cool...wow $75 for a used CD?!?!? That's ridiculous! But I have plenty of rare OOP recordings that worth well over $300.

As in the stock market, you can ask anything you want, the market price is defined when someone agrees to pay that price.

[Philoctetes]

This was my introduction to the composer:

http://www.youtube.com/v/5jyK7QJehjQ

In fact, I'm going to go listen to it now. 

[Scarpia]

A nice piece that was transcribed for orchestra.



but it may give the false impression that Martin wrote gloomy music.

[Mirror Image]

As in the stock market, you can ask anything you want, the market price is defined when someone agrees to pay that price.

That's true. There are a lot of idiots out there that would actually pay that price. Thankfully, I have more patience than they do.

[Daverz]

As in the stock market, you can ask anything you want, the market price is defined when someone agrees to pay that price.

I don't think Amazon has listing fees, so it doesn't cost anything to leave stuff listed until (they hope) someone with more money than sense comes along.  At least that's my theory about all the ridiculous prices on Amazon Marketplace. 

But confounding my theory is the fact that many of these listings are by bookstores, which for some reason seem particularly clueless about the going rate for used CDs.

[The new erato]

But confounding my theory is the fact that many of these listings are by bookstores, which for some reason seem particularly clueless about the going rate for used CDs.

Probably because they are accustomed to selling physical product that doesn't compete with virtual downloads. All I can say is that they are in for a surprise.

[Mirror Image]

Let me ask you all a question, why do you think Frank Martin is so neglected? Was he ever popular during his lifetime? If yes, then why do you think that popularity faded?

[The new erato]

I have no idea why it happened. He must have been pretty popular as he was selected (by whom I don't remember) to do an oratorium on the end of WWII (Et in Terra Pax).

I suspect that his reputation for 12-tone music "did him in" in conservative circles, while his moderate and very melodic use of it, coupled with his religion, made him totally out of fashion in modernist circles. I find some parallells to another neglected, major composer, Edmund Rubbra.

[jlaurson]

Let me ask you all a question, why do you think Frank Martin is so neglected? Was he ever popular during his lifetime? If yes, then why do you think that popularity faded?

There is a good chapter on Martin (and his neglect) in Robert R. Reilly's "Surprised by Beauty".

[Daverz]

Let me ask you all a question, why do you think Frank Martin is so neglected? Was he ever popular during his lifetime? If yes, then why do you think that popularity faded?

1. He didn't write easy music or make any concessions to popular tastes.
2. Like a lot of mid-20th Century composers, he was a victim of musical fashion.
3. He was Swiss.

I'm still hoping that one of our young superstar soloists will take up the Violin Concerto.

[springrite]

I'm still hoping that one of our young superstar soloists will take up the Violin Concerto.

You are right! I have a recording of that work and it is brilliant!

[Sid]

...I suspect that his reputation for 12-tone music "did him in" in conservative circles, while his moderate and very melodic use of it, coupled with his religion, made him totally out of fashion in modernist circles. I find some parallells to another neglected, major composer, Edmund Rubbra.

Yes, he's not conservative enough for the conservatives, and not radical enough for the radicals. Reminds me of how (in his lifetime), Tchaikovsky's music was said to be too Russian by the Europeans and not Russian enough for the Russians. Seems you simply can't win...

[Mirror Image]

1. He didn't write easy music or make any concessions to popular tastes.
2. Like a lot of mid-20th Century composers, he was a victim of musical fashion.
3. He was Swiss.

I'm still hoping that one of our young superstar soloists will take up the Violin Concerto.

The composers I enjoy the most are the ones who weren't afraid of experimenting with tonality, but at the same time, they kept the music grounded somehow whether it was a system of composition ( i. e. 12-tone) or particular style like Impressionism. I think Martin is one of these composers who wasn't afraid of following his own muse, which I think is wonderful thing. Even though he had little formal training, his music from what I've heard so far, which has only been excerpts from his choral work Golgotha, has a deep religious feeling that gives the music an accessible foundation. I mean people still talk about Schoenberg like he's evil incarnate, but what he did was so innovative and different sounding that people fail to look deeper inside the music and really give it a chance to grown on them.

[The new erato]

Holy crap! Hyperion is releasing the complete "Der Sturm" on a 3 CD set in May. Another great thank you to a label that dare go where the former biggies don't dare.