Lesser known Russian/Soviet composers

Started by vandermolen, July 13, 2008, 02:43:48 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Roy Bland

Quote from: Maestro267 on March 08, 2021, 10:01:14 PM
Absolutely zero recordings though according to Amazon. An untapped well of music?

Something here with other composers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kNTVliqqyY

calyptorhynchus

This is a general query, in the past few months I have been investigating several soviet era Russian composers although in the end I haven't found them very interesting (won't name names). However usually when reading about them I find that Shostakovich praised their music. Did DS make a habit of praising all his contemporaries, even those on the mediocre side?
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

vandermolen

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on March 24, 2021, 01:24:51 AM
This is a general query, in the past few months I have been investigating several soviet era Russian composers although in the end I haven't found them very interesting (won't name names). However usually when reading about them I find that Shostakovich praised their music. Did DS make a habit of praising all his contemporaries, even those on the mediocre side?
Not sure but he certainly rated Weinberg and Shebalin highly.
Walton and Sibelius tended to enthusiastically congratulate whoever conducted or recorded their music.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

calyptorhynchus

Obviously in the soviet situation there was a motive for DS praising his contemporaries; as a senior composer he might be seen as protecting them (though when he got into hot water this might have had the opposite effect).
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

relm1

#424
Shostakovich was very generous with his praise.  He even praised conductors who interpreted his own music in completely different ways adding to the complexity of knowing exactly what he meant.  I take his opinion as basically an educator who supports the student.  Doesn't mean they like it but are supportive of it.  When we judge students, we don't judge them critically but with an attempt to encourage them rather than excessive criticism.  Some sensitive composers take this as a general approach.  Rather than saying something critical like "Horns, you're not playing loud enough" they would say "Horns, I invite you to make this your moment" which has the same meaning.  That's how I would interpret his feedback as well.  The player or conductor could read this as a compliment or invitation but we could also read this as a critique.  I've been in rehearsals where the conductor under stress, yells at a player in front of the whole orchestra.  He said "trumpet, that solo sounds like a shoe" whatever that means.  Every time after that, trumpet cracked his solo.  Conductors need human psychology skills too to get what they want.

Irons

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on March 24, 2021, 01:24:51 AM
This is a general query, in the past few months I have been investigating several soviet era Russian composers although in the end I haven't found them very interesting (won't name names). However usually when reading about them I find that Shostakovich praised their music. Did DS make a habit of praising all his contemporaries, even those on the mediocre side?

Or is he following the party line, did he praise composers approved by the Soviet USC? DSCH was and is an enigma, a rebel or not? There are more question marks with him then any other composer.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

André

Mrawinsky in an interview on his professional relationship with Shostakovich said he never followed the composer's suggestions for tempi, which the composer would illustrate on the piano: much too fast, unplayable.

Sanderling on Shostakovich:
Quote
You knew that when he came around after the concert saying: "Wonderful, great!" and so on, you could be sure he didn't really like it. But when he came and he said: "Good, but at this point I would have liked it to sound like this and at that point like that" - then you could be sure that he was really interested and he had enjoyed the performance.


Hard to figure exactly how to take such remarks from the him (DSCH) when it seems that cultural factors should also be considered, not just the face value of the words used.

Roy Bland


staxomega

Interesting set of P&F from Vsevolod Zaderatsky... very Russian, like a more severe Shostakovich. Except lacking in Shostakovich's variety and imagination.


Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Enjoying the Naxos reissue and lesser-known recordings of N. Tcherepnin this weekend.

Roy Bland

rather questionable (combining the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia) but not without interest

https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/bitstream/id/41731/MusicInPostsocialism.pdf

Roy Bland


relm1

Quote from: Roy Bland on May 14, 2021, 07:22:31 PM


Is this the same thing as his Violin Concerto No. 2?  That's one of my favorite works of his and highly recommended.

Roy Bland

Quote from: relm1 on May 15, 2021, 05:54:38 AM
Is this the same thing as his Violin Concerto No. 2?  That's one of my favorite works of his and highly recommended.
It shoud be same thing

André

Quote from: relm1 on May 15, 2021, 05:54:38 AM
Is this the same thing as his Violin Concerto No. 2?  That's one of my favorite works of his and highly recommended.

I don't know if it's the same work, but yes, his VC 2 is an amazing work.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Enjoying the music of Rostislav Boiko, conducted by Svetlanov. Very slavic.

Roy Bland


vandermolen

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on May 20, 2021, 03:59:17 PM
Enjoying the music of Rostislav Boiko, conducted by Svetlanov. Very slavic.
I enjoy those discs as well.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Roy Bland

On 8 July premiere of oratorio Alexander Nevsky by Circassian composer Kabardokov

Roy Bland