String Them Up!

[Cato]

Dudes!  Dudettes!

Arrange for us (from Best to Lesser Best, or maybe for you from Best to Beast) the following works for String Orchestra: include any personal comments as to why.

Alphabetically the works are:

Dvorak  Serenade for Strings

Grieg Holberg Suite

Karl Amadeus Hartmann  Symphony #4

Bernard Herrmann  Psycho

Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Mendelssohn  Symphony #8 for Strings

Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Schoenberg String Orchestra version of the String Quartet #2

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht

Shostakovich Chamber Symphony in C minor (i.e. String Quartet #8)

Richard Strauss Metamorphosen

Tchaikovsky  Serenade for Strings

For me: From Best to Lesser Best

Dvorak because of the second movement, and because of a girl many many decades ago!
Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht  because of a (different) girl many many decades ago!
Herrmann because in film music it is perfection.
Tchaikovsky because you need something to live for after the Herrmann.   
Penderecki because of The Ten Last Words of the Wizard of Oz.
Strauss because of his age and the era he composed the work in.
Grieg because of Joy!  (No, not another girl.)   0:)
Schoenberg String Quartet #2 because it always describes the future.
Shostakovich because it described his spiritual situation so well.
Hartmann because it described his spiritual situation so well, and because Hartmann RAWKS!
Mendelssohn because of his age.
Mozart because of Mozart!   

[Lethevich]

Oh, hell yes - bring on the mother of all terrible ranking lists...

Dvorak  Serenade for Strings - Eye-clawingly nice tunes
Karl Amadeus Hartmann  Symphony #4 - Really nifty devil music
Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Super neato
Shostakovich Chamber Symphony in C minor (i.e. String Quartet #8) - Neato
Grieg Holberg Suite - Cute, but lacking in ambition!
Schoenberg String Orchestra version of the String Quartet #2 - Neat-esque
Mendelssohn  Symphony #8 for Strings - Nice, but how can you pick between them?
Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima - Snobbery
Tchaikovsky  Serenade for Strings - Tchaik hated Brits, so he's screwed in my rankings 0:)
Richard Strauss Metamorphosen - Overheated
Bernard Herrmann  Psycho - Snobbery
Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht - OVERHEATED

This is the only correct order, BTW!

[Brian]

No love for Dag Wiren's Serenade for Strings? Or Barber's Adagio? 

[Cato]

No love for Dag Wiren's Serenade for Strings? Or Barber's Adagio? 

I thought about the last one, along with the Mahler Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, but thought they complicated matters.

Lethe wrote:

Bernard Herrmann  Psycho - Snobbery

Interesting!        The Ghost of Herrmann may haunt you for that comment!   0:)

[greg]

Interesting!        The Ghost of Herrmann may haunt you for that comment!   0:)

Not to mention all the dead souls of Hiroshima-ites....

[Bulldog]

Strauss - Metamorphosen.
Hartmann - Sym. 4.
Shostakovich - Chamber Sym.
Schoenberg
Schoenberg
Dvorak - Serenade for Strings
Grieg - Holberg Suite
Penderecki - Threnody
Tchaikovsky - Serenade
Mozart - EKN
Mendelssohn - Sym. 8 for Strings
Hermann - Psycho

[Wanderer]

Korngold's Symphonic Serenade would go on top of my list for sheer ambition, depth of expression and gorgeous sonorities.
Second place would go to Bantock's Celtic Symphony (for string orchestra and 6 harps).
Other than that, I'd compile a rather fluid and ever-changing list where Mozart and Grieg would reside on the upper side of the rank most of the time (extra marks for being sunny and delightful), while Schoenberg and R. Strauss would bring up the rear (for being too languid and overbearing).

PS. Bartók would have a place on the top side of the rank, as well.

[Cato]

Korngold's Symphonic Serenade would go on top of my list for sheer ambition, depth of expression and gorgeous sonorities.
Second place would go to Bantock's Celtic Symphony (for string orchestra and 6 harps).

I do not know those two works, so could not include them with the original idea.

Why do you find the Bantock more compelling than say Tchaikovsky's or Dvorak's Serenades?

[The new erato]

No Tallis Fantasia ..?  Naah!

Edit: Or do I think of the Greensleves variations? Need to check my CD library......

[Dancing Divertimentian]

PS. Bartók would have a place on the top side of the rank, as well.

Yes, the runaway best is Bartok's Divertimento.

[Wilhelm Richard]

I remember a Garrison Keillor skit where parts of the Tchaikovsky serenade were used to illustrate "Perfect Harmony"...not too far from the truth.


But Metamorphosen definitely tops this list.

[The new erato]

I remember a Garrison Keillor skit where parts of the Tchaikovsky serenade were used to illustrate "Perfect Harmony"...not too far from the truth.


But Metamorphosen definitely tops this list.

Yes. So it is.

[Wanderer]

Why do you find the Bantock more compelling than say Tchaikovsky's or Dvorak's Serenades?

There's no issue of actual comparison of course, as each one of these works has its own unique character and each one aspires to different things.

What I find especially compelling and gripping about Bantock's Celtic Symphony is the masterly combination of what I consider as genuine depth of expression, thematic ingenuity and effortless melodic appeal - all clad in rich, lush and pellucid sonorities (accentuated by the harps). Everything is bound together with a relentless visionary quality, a uniqueness of purpose that permeates the whole fabric of the work and makes it especially memorable, enthralling even. Of course, it helps tremendously that the Hyperion recording is of absolute demonstration quality.

In direct "comparison" one might say that the Serenades are less ambitious or more episodic but that's neither here nor there, as these characteristics aren't really shortcomings and don't render them lesser works in any conceivable way.

[Cato]

There's no issue of actual comparison of course, as each one of these works has its own unique character and each one aspires to different things.

What I find especially compelling and gripping about Bantock's Celtic Symphony is the masterly combination of what I consider as genuine depth of expression, thematic ingenuity and effortless melodic appeal - all clad in rich, lush and pellucid sonorities (accentuated by the harps). Everything is bound together with a relentless visionary quality, a uniqueness of purpose that permeates the whole fabric of the work and makes it especially memorable, enthralling even. Of course, it helps tremendously that the Hyperion recording is of absolute demonstration quality.

In direct "comparison" one might say that the Serenades are less ambitious or more episodic but that's neither here nor there, as these characteristics aren't really shortcomings and don't render them lesser works in any conceivable way.

Many thanks for elucidating the reason for your choice! 

Somebody wanted to know the story behind the girl in my choice of Dvorak's Serenade.  It is somewhat complicated; in shortened form: I was extremely shy at one time, and my mind had linked the second movement of Dvorak's Serenade to my impression of a certain girl whom I had not yet approached.

Given the Romantic and romantic nature of my personality at the time, it seemed perfectly logical to me that I would record this piece on a cassette tape, and then send it to her with an extravagantly worded note demonstrating not only a masterful hand in penning puppy-love persiflage, but also an originality not found among my peers, and therefore showing her how wonderful it would be to make my acquaintance, in preparation for even more wonderful events in the future!   0:)

She was already engaged.