GMG Classical Music Forum

Not counting the opera, which are your three favorite?

(sorry to pick on you, Ken ;))

For me:
1. "Jeux"
2. "La Mer"
3. "Sirenes"

Unfair! There simply must must be 3 pieces by Satie the dude orchestrated, but none are listed.
I'm calling Banana!

:laugh:

I voted for Nuages, La mer & Iberia, though the breaking up of works into separate entities seems arbitrary and pointless, since other works could have been listed instead - not that my votes would be different then.

Nuages, La Mer, Jeux.

I first grew to love these works from this disc:

[asin]B000001GM5[/asin]

Quote from: North Star on May 06, 2014, 03:23:43 PM
I voted for Nuages, La mer & Iberia, though the breaking up of works into separate entities seems arbitrary and pointless, since other works could have been listed instead - not that my votes would be different then.

I still could have listed other works (I broke them up since they are performed separately often enough), but I decided to go with these since they are the most common names (perhaps I should have included "Printemps", the two-part choral work).

C'mon 'Jeux'! You can do it!!!

Saint-Sebastian, La Mer and Sirenes.

Quote from: NJ Joe on May 06, 2014, 03:27:09 PM
Nuages, La Mer, Jeux.

I first grew to love these works from this disc:

[asin]B000001GM5[/asin]

I haven't heard that recording before, but I'll check it out if/when I'm in the market for another one. I like the Dutoit/Montreal for everything except "La Mer", for which I prefer de Burgos with the LSO.

Fetes, La Mer, Jeux

Sarge

La Mer.

Quote from: North Star on May 06, 2014, 03:23:43 PM
I voted for Nuages, La mer & Iberia, though the breaking up of works into separate entities seems arbitrary and pointless, since other works could have been listed instead - not that my votes would be different then.

Hear, hear! I don't understand the need to break up the works either. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Come on, Nate! Combine the movements of Nocturnes and Images.

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on May 06, 2014, 04:46:19 PM
Fetes, La Mer, Jeux

Sarge

I almost picked "Fetes" and I always think that this one's my favorite while it's playing, but then when the chorus in "Sirenes" begins I almost literally melt from its beauty.

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 06, 2014, 06:13:49 PM
Hear, hear! I don't understand the need to break up the works either. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Come on, Nate! Combine the movements of Nocturnes and Images.

Pshhh, go back to your progressive rock :P.

I would have if I knew that I'd be chased from breakfast to hell for it :P, but I don't want to now because I assume that it will start from scratch.

Quote from: EigenUser on May 06, 2014, 06:19:35 PM
Pshhh, go back to your progressive rock :P.

I would have if I knew that I'd be chased from breakfast to hell for it :P, but I don't want to now because I assume that it will start from scratch.

;D One work, besides the masterpiece La Mer, which isn't listed and that has continued to leave me in a trance, is Danse sacrée et danse profane. Gorgeous work.

http://www.youtube.com/v/RdIrI06hFyw

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 06, 2014, 06:31:44 PM
;D One work, besides the masterpiece La Mer, which isn't listed and that has continued to leave me in a trance, is Danse sacrée et danse profane. Gorgeous work.

http://www.youtube.com/v/RdIrI06hFyw

I've been meaning to hear this. Thanks for reminding me! :)

I read (in a biography of Ravel, I think), that Ravel was commissioned by a harp manufacturer to write his "Introduction and Allegro" (one of my favorite Ravel works) to show off what their new chromatic harp could do. Then, another harp manufacturer (competitor) commissioned Debussy to write the "Danse Sacree et Danse Profane" to show off what a traditional harp could do. It may have been the other way around, but it was something funny like that.

Beautiful, as I had expected.

Quote from: EigenUser on May 06, 2014, 06:38:11 PM
I've been meaning to hear this. Thanks for reminding me! :)

I read (in a biography of Ravel, I think), that Ravel was commissioned by a harp manufacturer to write his "Introduction and Allegro" (one of my favorite Ravel works) to show off what their new chromatic harp could do. Then, another harp manufacturer (competitor) commissioned Debussy to write the "Danse Sacree et Danse Profane" to show off what a traditional harp could do. It may have been the other way around, but it was something funny like that.

Beautiful, as I had expected.

Both Debussy and Ravel could write absolutely mesmerizing harp parts. Just think of all those beautiful note cascades from the harp in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe (still one of my favorite works by any composer and one that has meant a lot to me). Also, the woodwind writing of both composers is just in a class of it's own. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here....

Debussy wrote some tremendous music that has continued to touch me time and time again.

Quote from: EigenUser on May 06, 2014, 06:19:35 PM
Pshhh, go back to your progressive rock :P.

I would have if I knew that I'd be chased from breakfast to hell for it :P, but I don't want to now because I assume that it will start from scratch.

It's vote splitting! Next Nate will split La Mer into pieces!
:D

Yes! I should have done that. "Jeux" is losing to "La Mer" (as much as I love "La Mer") because it is only in one part. How can it possibly compete?

Quote from: EigenUser on May 06, 2014, 07:06:54 PMHow can it possibly compete?

It can't. :)

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 06, 2014, 07:14:02 PM
It can't. :)

:o ??? :( :'( >:( :blank:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Speaking of "Jeux", here's an interesting article I found on the piece:
http://tranb300.ulb.ac.be/groupe317/archive/files/4b45df1e9dea8f9884887c65038fb0c9.pdf

I picked:

'Le martyre de Saint Sébastien', 'Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune' and 'La mer'. 

I vote for La Mer, Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune and Iberia.

If the items were listed otherwise, my votes would be:

Jeux
Images pour orchestre
Khamma

And an interesting, introductory blog post (http://notesfromapianist.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/k-is-for-khamma-and-koechlin-debussys-khamma/) about the last.

Quote from: karlhenning on May 07, 2014, 04:05:39 AM
If the items were listed otherwise, my votes would be:

Jeux
Images pour orchestre
Khamma

And an interesting, introductory blog post (http://notesfromapianist.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/k-is-for-khamma-and-koechlin-debussys-khamma/) about the last.

I, too, was sorry to not see Khamma on the list.

Ugh, you guys ask for SO MUCH! jkjk... I probably should have included it, but I've never heard it before -- I've only heard of it. I know that Koechlin was the orchestrator for most of it (under the direction of Debussy, I believe). Probably a beautiful work, too.

'Jeux', I'm disappointed in you >:( . Not surprised at the number of votes for "La Mer". Well-deserved, too, I suppose.

The only piece listed that I don't like very much is "Iberia". I don't know why, but that one never did much for me. I love "Gigues" and the "Rondes de Printemps", though.

Quote from: EigenUser on May 07, 2014, 05:39:45 AM
Ugh, you guys ask for SO MUCH! jkjk... I probably should have included it, but I've never heard it before -- I've only heard of it. I know that Koechlin was the orchestrator for most of it (under the direction of Debussy, I believe). Probably a beautiful work, too.

Just for that I didn't vote for Jeux!  ;)

Okay, so I voted...

La Mer
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Danse sacrée et danse profane

Nate joins the dark side!

Quote"Not surprised at the number of votes for "La Mer". Well-deserved, too, I suppose.
...piece I don't like very much is "Iberia".

Repeat after me Nate, "And Faun gets kinda irritating after a while."
>:D :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: >:D :P 8)

I would have voted for La Mer three times if I could have.  If a monument could be erected to the Ten Greatest Classical Compositions Ever Composed it belongs there.  His mélodies get too short-shrifted, in my opinion, as that form often is.  And Yes, the Faune sometimes seems labored - you have to let yourself go a bit and realize that that is the kind of afternoon you might like! (also helps to read Mallarmé's orig. poem). 

The French have "un faible", a thing, for Spain, EigenUser; just curious if your dislike for Iberia might extend to other French works about Spain?  Eg: Ravel - "L'Espagne est ma seconde patrie musicale."

Quote from: Ken B on May 07, 2014, 07:07:09 AM
Nate joins the dark side!
Repeat after me Nate, "And Faun gets kinda irritating after a while."
>:D :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: >:D :P 8)

Neveeeeeeerrrr!!!

Quote from: Ken B on May 07, 2014, 07:07:09 AM
Nate joins the dark side!
Repeat after me Nate, "And Faun gets kinda irritating after a while."
>:D :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: >:D :P 8)

The faun is a beautiful piece, but it is sometimes a little bit dull. Too much flute and not enough of everything else (though, I guess that is the point)! I do love it, but it isn't my favorite Debussy.

It isn't just that "Iberia" isn't a favorite -- I actually dislike it somewhat. I mean, I don't find it awful or anything, but some of the melodies are kind of annoying. I strongly prefer Ravel's "Rapsodie Espagnol" -- now that's an awesome depiction of Spain!

Let me put it this way -- I love nearly all of his orchestral works (including the faun), but "Iberia" is significantly below everything else for me. I'd rather listen to the Ravel.

For long I kind of ignored Debussy. I thought he was a wimp making lame music. Lately I have warmed up to his music. I have only 3 hours and 10 minutes of Debussy's music. I ripped it all on my computer, crossfed it in Audacity and loaded on my iPod. Now I can listen to Debussy while sitting in bus to and from my work.  :)

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is my favorite Debussy of the 3 hours and 10 minutes I have.

Quote from: 71 dB on May 07, 2014, 10:09:47 AM
For long I kind of ignored Debussy. I thought he was a wimp making lame music. Lately I have warmed up to his music. I have only 3 hours and 10 minutes of Debussy's music. I ripped it all on my computer, crossfed it in Audacity and loaded on my iPod. Now I can listen to Debussy while sitting in bus to and from my work.  :)

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is my favorite Debussy of the 3 hours and 10 minutes I have.

I've always preferred Ravel over Debussy, yet I love both. And I definitely prefer Ravel's piano music over Debussy's and I'm aware that I'm in the minority here.

Quote from: EigenUser on May 07, 2014, 10:16:07 AM
I've always preferred Ravel over Debussy, yet I love both. And I definitely prefer Ravel's piano music over Debussy's and I'm aware that I'm in the minority here.

There is also the matter of quantity here, but I sure as hell don't want to choose the piano music of one of them over the other's.

Quote from: 71 dB on May 07, 2014, 10:09:47 AM
For long I kind of ignored Debussy.

A good start!


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Sorry Nate, I couldn't resist. I must stop teasing you. (Ravelians suffer enough already). But Debussy is a great composer because of his piano music! It's his best stuff, followed by the chamber music. (You are right that his orchestral music is only at the Ravel level.  >:D
Bad Ken! Bad!)

Quote from: Ken B on May 07, 2014, 01:00:58 PM
A good start!


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Sorry Nate, I couldn't resist. I must stop teasing you. (Ravelians suffer enough already). But Debussy is a great composer because of his piano music! It's his best stuff, followed by the chamber music. (You are right that his orchestral music is only at the Ravel level.  >:D
Bad Ken! Bad!)

Haha. I have no idea why I prefer the orchestral works. I tend to prefer orchestral works period (though I can appreciate good solo piano music, too), so that explains part of it.

I just thought of something. "Jeux" is actually winning! Divide the 14 votes "La Mer" by three and each movement gets 14/3 = 4.667 votes. "Jeux" is a single movement and it has 7 votes currently. :P

;D

Quote from: EigenUser on May 07, 2014, 01:52:54 PM
Haha. I have no idea why I prefer the orchestral works. I tend to prefer orchestral works period (though I can appreciate good solo piano music, too), so that explains part of it.

I just thought of something. "Jeux" is actually winning! Divide the 14 votes "La Mer" by three and each movement gets 14/3 = 4.667 votes. "Jeux" is a single movement and it has 7 votes currently. :P

;D

Nate, do you realize how silly it is for you to tamper with the results and split pieces arbitrarily? In a Ravel poll, you'd probably split all the pieces in movements and act surprised when La Valse wins...

Quote from: North Star on May 07, 2014, 02:01:40 PM
Nate, do you realize how silly it is for you to tamper with the results and split pieces arbitrarily? In a Ravel poll, you'd probably split all the pieces in movements and act surprised when La Valse wins...

;D

Good to see La Mer is still top of the heap. Yeah, it's just that good.

Nuages

Jeux

Other: Khamma

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 07, 2014, 05:04:57 PM
Good to see La Mer is still top of the heap. Yeah, it's just that good.

"La Mer" is just that good. But "Jeux" is just better ;).

I don't know why I'm being so aggressive about promoting "Jeux", because I really do love "La Mer" and the former wins by only a micrometer.

I'm a big Jeux fan, as well.

Quote from: karlhenning on May 08, 2014, 04:45:44 AM
I'm a big Jeux fan, as well.

+1

Quote from: karlhenning on May 08, 2014, 04:45:44 AM
I'm a big Jeux fan, as well.

I was going to +1 this, but that would be stating the obvious ;D.

8)

Quote from: karlhenning on May 08, 2014, 04:45:44 AM
I'm a big Jeux fan, as well.

de Cartes   gobsmackingly huge +1

I knew that I had this somewhere... This is the result of waking up too early (when I have the most energy), having too much coffee, studying something that I love, and (of course) listening to music that I love. When I was first getting acquainted with "Jeux" it was (and still is) first on my playlist of background music (music I'd play while studying). I often made music-related comments in the margins of my scratch-work. Here's a relevant one I jotted down in a burst of excitement ;D :
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/yv7a1jub01lsmuz/MEEG690-Jeux.jpg)

(Ken, care to guess the topic I was studying?)

Quote from: EigenUser on May 12, 2014, 01:20:11 PM
I knew that I had this somewhere... This is the result of waking up too early (when I have the most energy), having too much coffee, studying something that I love, and (of course) listening to music that I love. When I was first getting acquainted with "Jeux" it was (and still is) first on my playlist of background music (music I'd play while studying). I often made music-related comments in the margins of my scratch-work. Here's a relevant one I jotted down in a burst of excitement ;D :
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/yv7a1jub01lsmuz/MEEG690-Jeux.jpg)

(Ken, care to guess the topic I was studying?)

Well I see a lot of trig, some integrals, and polar co-ordinates, and nothing musical. So you were rehearsing Gruppen.

(Too hard to make out but could be fluid dynamics, but all those Capital I make me suspect moments were involved. Some sort of dymaics, like road inclines or rollercoasters? )

Quote from: Ken B on May 12, 2014, 02:23:20 PM
Well I see a lot of trig, some integrals, and polar co-ordinates, and nothing musical. So you were rehearsing Gruppen.

(Too hard to make out but could be fluid dynamics, but all those Capital I make me suspect moments were involved. Some sort of dymaics, like road inclines or rollercoasters? )

It was for an engineering math class (literally, called "Intermediate Engineering Mathematics"). This part of the class was field theory (i.e. Stokes and Divergence Theorems, line integrals, potentials, etc.), so it could be fluid mechanics. The capital 'I's are actually just my way of labeling annoyingly long integrals so I don't have to write them over and over. Not dynamics, but that was my favorite area in engineering!

Quote from: EigenUser on May 12, 2014, 02:34:37 PM
It was for an engineering math class (literally, called "Intermediate Engineering Mathematics"). This part of the class was field theory (i.e. Stokes and Divergence Theorems, line integrals, potentials, etc.), so it could be fluid mechanics. The capital 'I's are actually just my way of labeling annoyingly long integrals so I don't have to write them over and over. Not dynamics, but that was my favorite area in engineering!

I won't ask if you have read Div, grad, curl.
Here is the sequel. You'll thank me later. http://www.amazon.com/Geometrical-Vectors-Chicago-Lectures-Physics/dp/0226890481/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Quote from: Ken B on May 12, 2014, 02:23:20 PM
Well I see a lot of trig, some integrals, and polar co-ordinates, and nothing musical. So you were rehearsing Gruppen.

:P

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 12, 2014, 03:49:41 PM
:P

Yes, I LOL'd.

Quote from: James on May 16, 2014, 07:20:49 AM

Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune, Nocturnes, La Mer, Jeux.

Those are my top picks.[/font]

I guess you can't count (which isn't surprising). Nate (EigenUser) asked us all to pick three, not four, favorite Debussy orchestral works.

Quote from: James on May 16, 2014, 07:20:49 AM
Debussy (along with Ravel & Fauré) is one of my very favorite composers.

Some of the best music ever written is on that list, the Nocturnes should be listed as one piece.

Join the club, I guess... :-\

Quote from: James on May 16, 2014, 08:05:41 AM
I listed my favorites. Since you're so anal-retentive for 'rules' here .. take the first 3 from my list. There you go.

I'm glad you can at least read. I was worried for a minute, but only a minute. :)

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 16, 2014, 06:43:49 PM
I'm glad you can at least read. I was worried for a minute, but only a minute. :)

And I am glad that James's taste aligns so well with yours and Nate's ...

>:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D

Quote from: Ken B on May 16, 2014, 07:15:31 PM
And I am glad that James's taste aligns so well with yours and Nate's ...

>:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D

Remember that his tastes in music and his ability/inability to read are two different matters. ;) ;D

Well, now I'm upset because "Sirenes" only got 2 (TWO!!!) votes! >:(

What is WRONG with you people??

;)

Quote from: EigenUser on May 17, 2014, 05:08:16 AM
Well, now I'm upset because "Sirenes" only got 2 (TWO!!!) votes! >:(

What is WRONG with you people??

Someone divided Nocturnes into movements (and Images, too) - that's what's wrong with certain people..

Quote from: North Star on May 17, 2014, 07:28:04 AM
Someone divided Nocturnes into movements (and Images, too) - that's what's wrong with certain people..

:P