Lesser known Russian/Soviet composers

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

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cilgwyn

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on February 12, 2013, 10:28:12 PM
In the glory days of Unsung Composers the 'Soviet Composers" thread came up with some gems of downloads (hope they're still there in the archives). Here's a quick list from my iPod

Adzhemian
Akhinian
Astvatsatryan
Bardanashvilli
Khagagortian
Machavariani
Mansurian
Nasidze
Nurymow
Tsintsadze
Zhubadnova

All of these write symphonies, concertoes or chamber music in a late-Romantic manner keeping in mind the folk-music of their respective republics (Armenia, Georgia, Khazakstan &c). Many of these pieces are just beautiful, turn your heart over type music, and I sooner listen to it than almost anything else the C20 has produced.

I guess the composer who is most like these who is best known in the West is the Latvian Vasks, much though he would hate to be labelled "Soviet".
Aren't they available at the even more glorious Art Music Forum?!! ;D
I wonder if they have the Balachivadze First? (sounds interesting) I'll go & have a look later.

calyptorhynchus

Thanks a lot Cilgwyn, now I have to spend all day going through the Art Music Forum downloading stuff!

Life is hard   :)
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

cilgwyn

I hope that Melodiya,or maybe another label,will start reissuing some of their recordings of the less well known 'soviet' composers. That was the one good thing about the Soviet Union of course (unless you were a party official ;D);excitedly,rifling through the pages of the Collets & Russian Record Company catalogues! All those exotic sounding names & the sheer frisson of knowing that they were being imported over 'enemy' lines! ;D It's all a bit boring now ;D! And I don't know of any good (or bad) North Korean composers,anyway! ;D
Downloads seem to be the only way now,for most of these less well known composers! :(

Daverz


Cato

Any opinions on the Kalinnikov tone poems?

e.g. Epic Poem, Tsar Boris, The Cedar and The Palm, etc

I have been thinking of buying a replacement CD for my long-gone records of the symphonies, and came across this:

http://www.amazon.com/Symphonic-Works-Kalinnikov/dp/B008CWQYU8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_5

The one review of a Marco Polo CD with only tone poems is fairly negative. 
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Cato

Quote from: Cato on May 09, 2013, 07:22:26 AM
Any opinions on the Kalinnikov tone poems?

e.g. Epic Poem, Tsar Boris, The Cedar and The Palm, etc

I have been thinking of buying a replacement CD for my long-gone records of the symphonies, and came across this:

http://www.amazon.com/Symphonic-Works-Kalinnikov/dp/B008CWQYU8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_5

The one review of a Marco Polo CD with only tone poems is fairly negative.

Still hoping somebody has an opinion on these works.
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Johnll

IIRC no one has mentioned Lokshin, particularly his 9th "symphony" which more accurately a vocal work with orchestra. This is probably a contrarian recommendation and I only make it as you can sample it for free on his site   http://www.lokshin.org/en.htm. The lyrics are almost obligatory available here    http://www.eclassical.com/composers/lokshin-alexander/lokshin-symphonies-nos5-9-and-11.html.  The work is as grim as Shosty 14 but more defiant than despairing.       
I really admire this composer but he only has a few works of this quality.  BTW the comments by Lokshin's wife and Barshai under Composers Life are interesting.

Hattoff

Quote from: Cato on May 09, 2013, 01:11:16 PM
Still hoping somebody has an opinion on these works.
I'm listening to them now, they are very pleasant in a Borodiny sort of way but not earth shattering in a Mussorgsky way. I've heard them several times over the last year and nothing stands out like his symphony No1 does. But, that said, I'd get them if I didn't have them.

Cato

Quote from: Hattoff on May 09, 2013, 09:55:17 PM
I'm listening to them now, they are very pleasant in a Borodiny sort of way but not earth shattering in a Mussorgsky way. I've heard them several times over the last year and nothing stands out like his symphony No1 does. But, that said, I'd get them if I didn't have them.

Thank you for responding!  Being compared to Borodin is not a bad accomplishment!  ;)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Karl Henning

Quote from: Cato on May 09, 2013, 01:11:16 PM
Still hoping somebody has an opinion on these works.

Sarge will come through!

I am dipping into the sound samples, and enjoying them. So I, too, shall await Sarge's ruling, with interest.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Sergeant Rock

The Epic Poem is not grabbing me (my response so far is like Hattoff's). Only a first listen though, and I've not heard the complete disc yet.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Cato

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on May 20, 2013, 04:58:07 AM
The Epic Poem is not grabbing me (my response so far is like Hattoff's). Only a first listen though, and I've not heard the complete disc yet.

Sarge

Okay!  We await the full review!  Could Epic Poem's problem be the music itself or a less than epic performance?
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Cato

Works by Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov are available on a Melodiya LP from someone on Amazon:

See:

http://www.amazon.com/Vyacheslav-Ovchinnikov-Childrens-Vocalise-Melodiya/dp/B00CNHMTCK/ref=sr_1_15?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1372176329&sr=1-15&keywords=Ovchinnikov

I gave away my turntable to my little brother years ago!

For those who might not know, Ovchinnikov is known for his film scores (War and Peace, Andrei Rublev, Ivan's Childhood as well as concert music.  Thanks to a GMG member I have the first two symphonies: most excellent works!

Today I happened upon this happy discovery: Children's Suite for Orchestra #6

http://classical-music-online.net/en/production/30724

And, for new people:

http://www.youtube.com/v/nfemhSHDlrY
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

vandermolen

Here is a charming CD for all you Ippolitov-Ivanov fans out there  8).

I don't think that either of these fine versions have been on CD before (LPO/Fistoulari, recorded in London in 1955-57). I have always enjoyed the 'Caucasian Sketches' (there is a second set on ASV too). Although Ippolitov-Ivanov lived until 1935, his romantic/fairy tale type sound world belongs to the late 19th century - rather in the spirit of Rimsky-Korsakov (his teacher). It is very atmospheric music and not without depth. Fistoulari is a name long known to me as years before I had any real interest in classical music I can recall my mother having a Decca LP of him conducting (a very fine version of) Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto, played by Ashkenazy. The recordings are very good despite their age and as I like Gliere's not quite so conservative sounding music too, this is a fine coupling of two very enjoyable works.
[asin]B004BGJVTK[/asin]
"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).

pencils

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on February 13, 2013, 11:48:04 AM
Thanks a lot Cilgwyn, now I have to spend all day going through the Art Music Forum downloading stuff!

Life is hard   :)

The Art Music Forum? Linky anyone??


pencils

Thank you. Amazing resource. I am now listening to composers that even Wikipedia doesn't care about  :laugh:

kyjo

Time to revive this thread. I just listened to the Violin Concerto no. 1 of Soviet composer Mikael Tariverdiev (1931-96) on YouTube (it can be located on the wonderful channel of "fyrexianoff", which focuses on obscure Soviet music). Tariverdiev was a prominent composer of film music and this delightful work, to varying degrees, reflects this fact. The first movement is playful and melodic, the second is a deeply felt Bachian aria, and the third is an infectious Prokofievian romp with a crazed ending. Do check it out! Here's his Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariverdiev and the links to the VC:

I: http://youtu.be/ozq1ou32aWM
II:  http://youtu.be/SwwxkargGAo
III: http://youtu.be/MjjfLo-3gq0

kyjo

A friend of mine who shares very similar musical tastes recommended to me Edison Denisov's Symphony, which he called a "masterpiece". Anyone familiar with it, or any of Denisov's music for that matter? It's available on this CD:

[asin]B000005E7J[/asin]

I've also had my eye on this one:

[asin]B007X98RDS[/asin]

Here's a brief bio of Denisov from Boosey & Hawkes:

Edison Denisov was a strikingly innovative Russian composer of Siberian extraction * A leading figure of the post-Shostakovich generation and a hugely influential teacher * Gravitated towards European models like Boulez and Ligeti as well as to the French aesthetic of Debussy and Messiaen * His modernist leanings provoked severe official disapproval, but he stayed loyal to his Russian roots including sweet romantic melodies of Glinka and confessional psycho-dramas of Shostakovich * Style is refined, ornately detailed and elaborate, at the same time romantic and melancholy, creating rich play with elaborate chromatic textures and micro-polyphony * A master of colourful instrumentation in such works as Peinture, and skills used to complete pieces by Schubert, Musorgsky, Debussy and Mosolov.

Mirror Image

Quote from: kyjo on October 13, 2013, 05:33:35 PM
A friend of mine who shares very similar musical tastes recommended to me Edison Denisov's Symphony, which he called a "masterpiece". Anyone familiar with it, or any of Denisov's music for that matter? It's available on this CD:

[asin]B000005E7J[/asin]

I've also had my eye on this one:

[asin]B007X98RDS[/asin]

Here's a brief bio of Denisov from Boosey & Hawkes:

Edison Denisov was a strikingly innovative Russian composer of Siberian extraction * A leading figure of the post-Shostakovich generation and a hugely influential teacher * Gravitated towards European models like Boulez and Ligeti as well as to the French aesthetic of Debussy and Messiaen * His modernist leanings provoked severe official disapproval, but he stayed loyal to his Russian roots including sweet romantic melodies of Glinka and confessional psycho-dramas of Shostakovich * Style is refined, ornately detailed and elaborate, at the same time romantic and melancholy, creating rich play with elaborate chromatic textures and micro-polyphony * A master of colourful instrumentation in such works as Peinture, and skills used to complete pieces by Schubert, Musorgsky, Debussy and Mosolov.

I can't say I'm very familiar with Denisov's work, Kyle, but apparently he belongs to the same group of post-Shostakovich Soviet composers like Schnittke and Gubaidulina who were blacklisted by the Soviet government. I would like to hear some of his orchestral works but something tells me that he's not going to be one of the those composers I endorse. Gubaidulina was an interesting exploration but her music was just too 'one-dimensional' for my tastes. There appears to be some Denisov on BIS. I might investigate those recordings. Not sure about his Symphony or that other recording on Harmonia Mundi.