Hi, I just heard the CD set of Henze's first six symphonies on DG label conducted by the composer himself. The first five were played by Berliner Philharmoniker while the Sixth was played by London Symphony Orchestra. This is my first exposure to the composer and to me, his style is similar to Hindemith and Bartok, but in the Sixth I've heard he experiment with percussions like Varese. I haven't heard much and will try to finish it this two days. BTW, what is the percussive instrument that sounds like "popping" sound in his Sixth Symphony?
Quote from: MISHUGINA on September 19, 2007, 04:20:07 AM
to me, his style is similar to Hindemith and Bartok
HUH???
I've owned these symphonies on LP when they were first released so I know them very well. Those works do not sound remotely like Hindemith or Bartok.
I wouldn't say "similar", but there are analogies between Henze's and Hindemith's works.
I.e. for Symphonies Nos. 1-5. No.6 (blub-blub) must have been some sort of joke.
Thomas
To me, the more obvious influences in the first five are Berg and Stravinsky (one could say Hartmann too).
The Sixth is one of those things that must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it has dated horribly.
My favourite of the cycle is the Seventh (recorded well by Rattle; I haven't heard Cambreling's take). The Eighth is also a strong work, but unfortunately DG seems to have been stalling forever on releasing Knussen's recording of it. I find the Ninth intermittently powerful but too monotonous in tone and haven't heard the Tenth in any detail.
Most interesting, thank you, Edward!
i have this exact set ;D
fun to listen to, every now and then
Quote from: MISHUGINA on September 19, 2007, 04:20:07 AM
BTW, what is the percussive instrument that sounds like "popping" sound in his Sixth Symphony?
are you talking about a popping sound like, possibly, a plucked solo violin microphone and lightly distorted? maybe it's another popping sound. (or maybe he's instructed a performer to break the strings off of a violin?...)
What's the deal with the 6th? Why is it so horrid?
Quote from: Catison on September 19, 2007, 12:00:11 PM
What's the deal with the 6th? Why is it so horrid?
It's basically "One of those Sixties Things."
Henze was in Cuba at the time he wrote it (shortly afterwards, he was ejected from the country by Castro) and tried to write an avant-garde piece for two orchestras using lots of Cuban rhythms to celebrate the Great Socialist Revolution or something. It's a mess, and a classic example of unnecessary density, misunderstanding of popular music and mistaken idealism.
IMO, there actually are some good works that came out of Henze's Cuban trip, but this symphony is emphatically not one of them.
There's a story about Henze when he was conducting a German orchestra.
He couldn't stop bragging that he was a communist and about all the socialist ideals he had.
Until a member of the orchestra couldn't take it anymore.
"You know, if I owned an island in the Mediterranean I would be a Communist, too."
Mr. Henze was very quiet after that.
Thomas
For such a major living composer and symphonist it is odd that one cannot currently obtain CDs of the 8th or 9th symphonies. I have to say that I find Henze a bit hard-going and sometimes wonder how much of his music will survive as time goes on but I do try to appreciate what I have heard. The 10th symphony is available in a recording by the Orchestre National de Montpelier-not an orchestra one would expect to be playing Henze?-conducted by Friedemann Layer on the Accord label. How good a performance I am certainly not qualified to judge!
Quote from: Catison on September 19, 2007, 12:00:11 PM
What's the deal with the 6th? Why is it so horrid?
i like it, while it isn't GREAT, it's still a fun mess
I think that sound I mentioned could be a champagne popper. :P
Quote from: MISHUGINA on September 20, 2007, 06:40:15 PM
I think that sound I mentioned could be a champagne popper. :P
A champagne popper for a champagne Communist. How appropriate. ;)
If you can find it, there is a fairly good analysis/multiple biography called Hindemith, Hartmann, Henze by Guy Richard. The author shows the connections or at least the parallels among all 3: the Henze - Hartmann connection is especially interesting.
Quote from: Cato on September 21, 2007, 10:53:39 AM
If you can find it, there is a fairly good analysis/multiple biography called Hindemith, Hartmann, Henze by Guy Richard. The author shows the connections or at least the parallels among all 3: the Henze - Hartmann connection is especially interesting.
Yes, one side of Henze always strikes me as a less successful version of Hartmann (of course there's more to that in Henze's music).
One thing I find most striking about current German contemporary music is that the Mahler-Berg-Hartmann-Henze line is still going strong: Henze's pupil Detlev Glanert is very technically accomplished and his music (IMO) just needs a bit more emotional depth to vault him up the ranks of contemporary composers, while Wolfgang Rihm has been developing a very Hartmannesque expressionist side to his writing in recent years (see, for example, the wonderful
Vers une symphonie fleuve series).
Glanert certainly is a very prolific, and successful composer. I saw him twice in consecutive years at the Proms, presenting new works. Such a thing doesn't happen very often at the Proms these days.
Last season, our opera house in Frankfurt presented his new work "Caligula". For a stage work on such a potentially "saucy" subject, the opera was disappointingly tame, with a musical language derived from Berg, Webern, even harking back to Richard Strauss. There weren't even "boo's" at the premiere, which means that "Caligula" should be forgotten very quickly.
Henze is, to a certain extent, also a "safe" composer, but IMHO on a higher level.
Thomas
Quote from: sound67 on September 22, 2007, 10:01:29 AM
Glanert certainly is a very prolific, and successful composer. I saw him twice in consecutive years at the Proms, presenting new works. Such a thing doesn't happen very often at the Proms these days.
Last season, our opera house in Frankfurt presented his new work "Caligula". For a stage work on such a potentially "saucy" subject, the opera was disappointingly tame, with a musical language derived from Berg, Webern, even harking back to Richard Strauss. There weren't even "boo's" at the premiere, which means that "Caligula" should be forgotten very quickly.
Henze is, to a certain extent, also a "safe" composer, but IMHO on a higher level.
Thomas
A pity to hear that: it sounds as if Glanert's tendency to play it safe is even more of a problem than I'd seen from my limited exposure to his music.
That's one thing I've been very glad of when hearing Rihm's explorations of this sort of musical territory: IMO for him making use of a more musically conservative language has not led to any kind of playing it safe.
Quote from: MISHUGINA on September 19, 2007, 04:20:07 AMBTW, what is the percussive instrument that sounds like "popping" sound in his Sixth Symphony?
It's a thin plate of metal that "pops" when you flex it. See the bottom of the instrumentation from his publisher's website:
Orchestra instrumentation: Orchester I: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 0 · Engl. Hr. · 0 · Bassklar. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) - 2 · 0 · 3 · 0 - S (I: 3 Bong. · Glspl. · Vibr. · III: Tamt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Metallplatte · 3 Herdengl.) - Hfe. · Klav. · Git. (auch Banjo oder Charango mit Kontaktmikr. ad lib) - Str. (12 · 0 · 6 · 6 · 4) Orchester II: 0 · Altfl. · 2 · 2 (2. auch Piccoloklar.) · Tenorsax. · 0 - 2 · 3 (3. auch Tr. in hoch B) · 0 · 0 - P.S. (II: Mar. · hg. Bambusstäbe · Kettenrassel auf Beck. · Kettenrassel auf Paukenfell · Marimb. · IV: 3 hg. Beck. · Tamt. · 6 Tomt. · Guiro ·
Metallplatte) - elektr. Org. (Beat-Org.) - Viol. mit Kontaktmikr. · Str. (12 · 0 · 6 · 6 · 4)
For anyone who has noticed-Capriccio is issuing a recording of Henze's Symphony No.8 this month. The Gurzenich Orchestra conducted by Markus Stenz(CAP71134).
Well, I must say that what I find odd about this thread is that the sixth has been universally excoriated. Even the lone poster who likes it was quick to agree that it's a mess.
I hadn't listened to this set since LP days--and I had never owned it. Had to borrow it from a friend. When I recently bought it on CD, I only remembered a small bit from the end of the fourth.
But one thing I'm sure of, the sixth is the pick of the litter. It's inventive and colorful and various and less tied to musics of the past than one through five. It's fun to go around chasing influences and parallels--really! But only for awhile. And once that's over, one is left with the sounds. The sixth sounds good. Far from being dated, it's the one that comes out sounding the freshest.
Quote from: MISHUGINA on September 19, 2007, 04:20:07 AM
. This is my first exposure to the composer and to me, his style is similar to Hindemith and Bartok, but in the Sixth I've heard he experiment with percussions like Varese.
This is another composer I *took a chance* with, can't recall why i shut the cdp off, but I trust your comments here to speak for me.
So why would i want to buy a Henze cd when i can hear the original with Bartok , Varese or Hindemith?
Though Bartok at times pulls ideas from Stravinsky in the Wooden Prince, i still find WP to be my cup of tea vs Stravinsky's Rite.
So though Bartok is not completely original in WP, he manages to transcend Stravinsky's RoS.
what Henze have you listened to, Paul?
Quote from: paulb on February 20, 2008, 05:33:09 PM
This is another composer I *took a chance* with, can't recall why i shut the cdp off, but I trust your comments here to speak for me.
So why would i want to buy a Henze cd when i can hear the original with Bartok , Varese or Hindemith?
Though Bartok at times pulls ideas from Stravinsky in the Wooden Prince, i still find WP to be my cup of tea vs Stravinsky's Rite.
So though Bartok is not completely original in WP, he manages to transcend Stravinsky's RoS.
I love Henze, well my wallet loves him anyway. I found a used copy of his DG symphonies for $6 and sold it on ebay for $30 :)
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on February 20, 2008, 05:42:15 PM
what Henze have you listened to, Paul?
I can't recall, it was 3 yrs ago, bought 2 cds of Henze. I believe it was Uffeviking and another member that highly recommended Henze, i took the chance and....... came up short.
Quote from: paulb on February 20, 2008, 05:59:21 PM
I can't recall, it was 3 yrs ago, bought 2 cds of Henze. I believe it was Uffeviking and another member that highly recommended Henze, i took the chance and....... came up short.
i wonder if you'd like the 8th?
try this:
http://rapidshare.com/files/67159590/henze_sinfonia_n.8.zip
my favorite one, i'd even go far enough to say it's one of the best 20th century symphonies ever written, if you ask me.
Quote from: paulb on February 20, 2008, 05:33:09 PM
So though Bartok is not completely original in WP, he manages to transcend Stravinsky's RoS.
What rubbish.
The Wooden Prince is beautiful and hugely enjoyable, but it's second-rate, watered-down Bartok compared to
Bluebeard,
Mandarin,
Concerto for Orchestra and even the rarely heard
Cantata Profana. Stravinsky's
Rite, overplayed and overfamiliar as it may have become, is a seminal work, one of the greatest and most important pieces ever composed.
Quote from: Cato on September 21, 2007, 10:53:39 AM
If you can find it, there is a fairly good analysis/multiple biography called Hindemith, Hartmann, Henze by Guy Richard. The author shows the connections or at least the parallels among all 3: the Henze - Hartmann connection is especially interesting.
I think you mean
Guy Rickards (also a member of the Havergal Brian Society, btw).
For some reason I had to notion to listen to something by Henze and got this recording for about one dollar, used, on Amazon marketplace.
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e1/8c/5eda793509a05669e2ae3110.L._AA300_.jpg)
My lord, what horseshit! How anyone can persuade themselves to sit through this is beyond me! Then I read that it was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic to celebrate their centenary in 1982. Ok, clearly they were trying to thumb their noses at Karajan, who they knew wouldn't touch this thing with a 10 foot pole. This is the sort of recording I have to keep on my shelves to remind myself never, ever, never, ever to get another recording of any "music" by Henze.
Had to listen to the Berg chamber concerto immediately afterward to clean the palette.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 11, 2010, 02:25:34 PM
For some reason I had to notion to listen to something by Henze and got this recording for about one dollar, used, on Amazon marketplace.
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e1/8c/5eda793509a05669e2ae3110.L._AA300_.jpg)
My lord, what horseshit!
I like it...but then, I like everything ;)
Sarge
That disc I found quite appealing, although the 7th felt like a re-tread of work done earlier that sounded better (I think maybe the 5th). The coupled work I recalled being really fun too :-\
Quote from: Scarpia on July 11, 2010, 02:25:34 PM
For some reason I had to notion to listen to something by Henze and got this recording for about one dollar, used, on Amazon marketplace.
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e1/8c/5eda793509a05669e2ae3110.L._AA300_.jpg)
My lord, what horseshit! How anyone can persuade themselves to sit through this is beyond me! Then I read that it was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic to celebrate their centenary in 1982. Ok, clearly they were trying to thumb their noses at Karajan, who they knew wouldn't touch this thing with a 10 foot pole. This is the sort of recording I have to keep on my shelves to remind myself never, ever, never, ever to get another recording of any "music" by Henze.
Had to listen to the Berg chamber concerto immediately afterward to clean the palette.
I like Henze a lot, and the 7th is his most popular symphony. I connected with Henze the first time I heard his music - we're soul mates just like I am with Bach.
I have to admit I didn't make it past the first movement of the symphony, and the worst aspect of it was the shrillness, the relentlessly shrieking high frequencies with no warmth or low frequency. I had to stop it.
Try the Baracola if you have yet to throw the CD out the window :P If it's the work I am thinking of, it sounds quite light and Frenchy.
I don't think I even have the 7th. I have 1-10, but no 7 or 9.
You have to listen to the 8th, though. Absolutely incredible, and blows away all of the other symphonies I've heard by him. (it's a live recording, and you'll have to actually listen to the whole 26' of it to catch the best parts, such as the crazed swing-like dance in the middle and the ultra-mysterious ending). PM me if interested.
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 11, 2010, 02:38:17 PM
I like it...but then, I like everything ;)
Well, not everything surely, Sarge! I like it, too.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 11, 2010, 02:58:03 PM
I have to admit I didn't make it past the first movement of the symphony, and the worst aspect of it was the shrillness, the relentlessly shrieking high frequencies with no warmth or low frequency. I had to stop it.
To a (much restrained) degree, I see your point: There are trumpet entrances in each of the first, second and third movements which are designedly strident. I don't think he 'crosses the line', though. And if you gave up, you've missed the warmth of the 'pay-off' in the fourth movement.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 12, 2010, 08:11:49 AM
To a (much restrained) degree, I see your point: There are trumpet entrances in each of the first, second and third movements which are designedly strident. I don't think he 'crosses the line', though. And if you gave up, you've missed the warmth of the 'pay-off' in the fourth movement.
If there are two problems with this recording they are Rattle and EMI. I saw the Janowski recording, list price $26.98 for a single disc. Even the bargain houses are quite pricey. That's an obstacle.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 12, 2010, 08:18:28 AM
If there are two problems with this recording they are Rattle and EMI. I saw the Janowski recording, list price $26.98 for a single disc. Even the bargain houses are quite pricey. That's an obstacle.
Understood! I got my copy of the Janowski a good deal cheaper.
Quote from: Greg on July 11, 2010, 05:43:20 PM
You have to listen to the 8th, though. Absolutely incredible, and blows away all of the other symphonies I've heard by him. (it's a live recording, and you'll have to actually listen to the whole 26' of it to catch the best parts, such as the crazed swing-like dance in the middle and the ultra-mysterious ending).
Here I've got to echo Greg's enthusiasm for the Eighth. If anything, I like it even a bit better than the Seventh. I am curious about the earlier symphonies now (or, again). Long ago, while I was yet at Wooster, the first five on LP didn't make a strong impression (not necessarily a reflection of the music itself). I think I remember that double-LP containing five symphonies (and not yet the sixth).
I just listened to the 7th on youtube and had no problems at all with the "incessant high frequencies" or whatever (and I know exactly what you're talking about). Maybe it's the recording?
And I happened to think it was really good! Possibly my 2nd favorite, after the 8th.
Rattle described the Seventh as "insane light music". To me too it comes across as airy, shrill and without any sense of weight or depth.
That's not how I should have described the Seventh at all. Rattle probably has his reasons, but the music is bigger than his brochure for it.
It might also be worth checking the 10th, which I recall being very much along the lines of the 7th, but with more rounded-edges.
Well, I've decided to pony up for this one:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/WER67212.jpg)
The price is outrageous in the US as in import, but direct from mdt it is just annoyingly full price.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 13, 2010, 03:33:14 AM
That's not how I should have described the Seventh at all. Rattle probably has his reasons, but the music is bigger than his brochure for it.
Yes, I have that CD!
Henze and "light music" - whether "insane" or not - practically never go together!
Certainly if one follows the progression through the first six symphonies, you should be able to hear its ancestry:
Lethe earlier mentioned the
Fifth Symphony.
The pro-Communist political aspect of the
Sixth Symphony I just try to ignore. 0:)
Quote from: Scarpia on July 13, 2010, 05:06:52 AM
Well, I've decided to pony up for this one:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/WER67212.jpg)
The price is outrageous in the US as in import, but direct from mdt it is just annoyingly full price.
There are occasional Wergo sales (I can remember a couple over the last 1-2 years) on europadisc or mdt where you might be able to save a couple of quid.
I put thing in wishlists, and when sales occur I search the lists for the relevant labels.
Quote from: edward on September 20, 2007, 06:53:58 PM
A champagne popper for a champagne Communist. How appropriate. ;)
I'm sure that a list of Capitalist Champagne poppers could easily stretch around the earth. I doubt it would for the Commuist Champagne poppers.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 13, 2010, 05:06:52 AM
Well, I've decided to pony up for this one:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/WER67212.jpg)
The price is outrageous in the US as in import, but direct from mdt it is just annoyingly full price.
How was it?
Quote from: Scarpia on July 13, 2010, 05:06:52 AM
Well, I've decided to pony up for this one:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/WER67212.jpg)
The price is outrageous in the US as in import, but direct from mdt it is just annoyingly full price.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 11, 2010, 02:25:34 PM
For some reason I had to notion to listen to something by Henze and got this recording for about one dollar, used, on Amazon marketplace.
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e1/8c/5eda793509a05669e2ae3110.L._AA300_.jpg)
My lord, what horseshit! How anyone can persuade themselves to sit through this is beyond me! Then I read that it was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic to celebrate their centenary in 1982. Ok, clearly they were trying to thumb their noses at Karajan, who they knew wouldn't touch this thing with a 10 foot pole. This is the sort of recording I have to keep on my shelves to remind myself never, ever, never, ever to get another recording of any "music" by Henze.
Had to listen to the Berg chamber concerto immediately afterward to clean the palette.
How's that change of heart coming along? How's that 7-8?
I still maintain that if you like the idea of Henze, but find, say, nos.5 or 7 too jagged, then no.10 is a good port of call. It's very similar to certain earlier pieces but is smoother and less aggressive.
I like that 7-&-8, but you probably knew that.
For some reason that DG set is becoming my go to Symphony set to listen to in the car. Perhaps it is because there are 6 Symphonies that I'm not that familiar with, haha!
So, I've been listening a lot to No.4, which I like very much. It definitely feels smooth and comfortable to me. It doesn't seem to have great peaks and valleys, but has a roundness I like. Very dark green and grey-blue.
No.5, in three mvmts., from 1962, is a lot more vigorous, yet still retains the sound of a typical Symphony (for 1962, that is). Once again, I just like the flow of this piece.
No.1, rewritten for chamber orchestra (in 1963), I really like. The slow mvmt. sounds like a Stravinsky melody (or is it a neo-classical melody, haha?). The thinner orchestration gives a really nice, tight, compact sound to the proceedings.
Perhaps Henze has a very refined sense of contour. Whatever his gifts, I find a certain freshness in these Symphonies that I don't know who I would compare them to. I'm not yet too familiar with Hartmann, but Henze certainly doesn't sound like Pettersson. Perhaps it's just that Henze's soundworld subconsciously has the hustle-bustle of the Modern World coursing through it. They do sound like LvB modelled pieces for a more Industrial World?
So, howz bout it? What about Symphonies 1-5??
Quote from: Dundonnell on September 19, 2007, 01:59:41 PM
For such a major living composer and symphonist it is odd that one cannot currently obtain CDs of the 8th or 9th symphonies.
Here's No.8: http://www.amazon.com/Henze-Symphonie-No-Nachtstucke-Arien/dp/B001AMM3C0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1300423369&sr=8-3
Here's No.9: http://www.amazon.com/Henze-Symphony-No-Rundfunkchor-Berlin/dp/B002DYLTZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1300423458&sr=8-1
or No. 7 & 8: http://www.amazon.com/Hans-Werner-Henze-Symphonies/dp/B001ERJV0I/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_2
or No. 7 & 9: http://www.amazon.com/Hans-Werner-Henze-Symphonies-Barcarola/dp/B001LTPOSW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_3
Quote from: snyprrr on March 15, 2011, 07:06:15 AM
For some reason that DG set is becoming my go to Symphony set to listen to in the car. Perhaps it is because there are 6 Symphonies that I'm not that familiar with, haha!
So, I've been listening a lot to No.4, which I like very much. It definitely feels smooth and comfortable to me. It doesn't seem to have great peaks and valleys, but has a roundness I like. Very dark green and grey-blue.
No.5, in three mvmts., from 1962, is a lot more vigorous, yet still retains the sound of a typical Symphony (for 1962, that is). Once again, I just like the flow of this piece.
No.1, rewritten for chamber orchestra (in 1963), I really like. The slow mvmt. sounds like a Stravinsky melody (or is it a neo-classical melody, haha?). The thinner orchestration gives a really nice, tight, compact sound to the proceedings.
Perhaps Henze has a very refined sense of contour. Whatever his gifts, I find a certain freshness in these Symphonies that I don't know who I would compare them to. I'm not yet too familiar with Hartmann, but Henze certainly doesn't sound like Pettersson. Perhaps it's just that Henze's soundworld subconsciously has the hustle-bustle of the Modern World coursing through it. They do sound like LvB modelled pieces for a more Industrial World?
So, howz bout it? What about Symphonies 1-5??
Once again pulled out the Henze DG set. It seems this is one of the few Symphonic Cycles that I seem to crave. Perhaps it is because he is complex enough, yet, they are still 'normal' music. There is also a lushness and generosity of atmosphere that keep me coming back.
I really like the snarling brass in the first movement of
No.5.
Well, ok, I've got nothing, haha,... but, anyone else listening lately?
Quote from: paulb on February 20, 2008, 05:33:09 PM
This is another composer I *took a chance* with, can't recall why i shut the cd off [....]
So though Bartok is not completely original in WP, he manages to transcend Stravinsky's RoS.
Vintage paulb!
My Henze 1-6 set landed yesterday, and I listened to 1 this morning. For the work of a 21-22 y.o. kid, this symphony is pretty impressive. (Though perhaps a little too much Stravinsky influence for my taste.) Listening to this, I'm wondering if this is what early/middle-period Prokofiev might have sounded like, had he abandoned tonality.
Quote from: snyprrr on March 15, 2011, 07:06:15 AM
For some reason that DG set is becoming my go to Symphony set to listen to in the car. Perhaps it is because there are 6 Symphonies that I'm not that familiar with, haha!
So, I've been listening a lot to No.4, which I like very much. It definitely feels smooth and comfortable to me. It doesn't seem to have great peaks and valleys, but has a roundness I like. Very dark green and grey-blue.
No.5, in three mvmts., from 1962, is a lot more vigorous, yet still retains the sound of a typical Symphony (for 1962, that is). Once again, I just like the flow of this piece.
No.1, rewritten for chamber orchestra (in 1963), I really like. The slow mvmt. sounds like a Stravinsky melody (or is it a neo-classical melody, haha?). The thinner orchestration gives a really nice, tight, compact sound to the proceedings.
Perhaps Henze has a very refined sense of contour. Whatever his gifts, I find a certain freshness in these Symphonies that I don't know who I would compare them to. I'm not yet too familiar with Hartmann, but Henze certainly doesn't sound like Pettersson. Perhaps it's just that Henze's soundworld subconsciously has the hustle-bustle of the Modern World coursing through it. They do sound like LvB modelled pieces for a more Industrial World?
So, howz bout it? What about Symphonies 1-5??
No.6Very raucous this time around. I like the banjo, the odd stuff, the jazzy,... but I found a lot of it to be too noisy for me this day. Still, it's worth coming back to later.
Nos. 2-3Prokofiev-meets-Hartmann? I like these just fine, wondering which I'd like better, Henze or Hartmann (I still haven't really sampled the Hartmann 1-5 and 6-8)? There's really nothing to say here other than superlative mid-century Symphonies of delicacy and sumptuousness and very young and modern sounding in a brisk urban, cosmopolitan way.
This thread just doesn't get enough love.
I think I now what Mishugina means. There is a crepuscular nocturnal feel apparent sometimes in all three composers' work that is similar. But fundamentally (certainly with the early symphonies) the similarity is with Stravinsky and Webern.
*Berg, not Webern ;D