What are your favorite "child prodigy" works composed before the age of 20? The astonishing inspiration and assuredness of these works (among others) amazes me:
Britten: Double Concerto for violin and viola (19 y/o)
Enescu: Octet (19)
Franck: 3 Piano Trios, op. 1 (17-20)
Korngold: Sinfonietta (14-15)
Mendelssohn: Octet (16)
Langgaard: Symphony no. 1 (16)
Lloyd: Symphony no. 3 (19)
Schubert: Symphony no. 2 (17-18)
Suk: Piano Quartet (17)
Walton: Piano Quartet (16)
One could fill this list with Schubert songs. Erlkønig, Heidenrøslein, Gretchen am Spinnrade an so on. To name a few.
The first one is probably the greatest work written by a teenager. Don't let the short duration and the small scale fool you.
I would also nominate Mendelssohn 2nd quartet written at 18 but published after his first written at 20.
Quote from: kyjo on October 15, 2021, 08:02:18 PM
What are your favorite "child prodigy" works composed before the age of 20? The astonishing inspiration and assuredness of these works (among others) amazes me:
Britten: Double Concerto for violin and viola (19 y/o)
Enescu: Octet (19)
Franck: 3 Piano Trios, op. 1 (17-20)
Korngold: Sinfonietta (14-15)
Mendelssohn: Octet (16)
Langgaard: Symphony no. 1 (16)
Lloyd: Symphony no. 3 (19)
Schubert: Symphony no. 2 (17-18)
Suk: Piano Quartet (17)
Walton: Piano Quartet (16)
A very fine list. Some others:
- Arriaga, 3 string quartets (~17)
- Lekeu, Cello Sonata (19)
- Haydn, Symphonies 1-8 (17-20)
- Mahler, Piano Quartet (17)
- Mozart , Piano Concerto no.5 (17), Symphony no.25 (17), Violin Concerto no.1 (20)
- Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no.1 (20), Piano Sonata no.1 (18)
Mendelssohn a minor quartet is by far my favorite. It's his favorite quartet of mine and one of his top 5 pieces or so.
also Mendelssohn octet and MSND ouverture
Mozart: symphonies g minor K 183, A major K 201 (17-18)
Handel: oboe concerto in g minor (17-18, of course dates are comparably uncertain but there are a bunch of chamber sonatas and lots of keyboard pieces Handel very probably wrote as a teenager)
Chopin: Concerto f minor (19)
Glazunov: Symphony 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No.1
In my book there's no significant competition for Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schubert in this field.
Quote from: Florestan on October 16, 2021, 11:53:44 AM
In my book there's no significant competition for Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schubert in this field.
+1
Das Klagende Lied by Mahler: composed between ages 18-20.
https://www.youtube.com/v/PBkJ9VAnXFM
It would be a little challenging since that information is often unknown to me. I'm gonna think about my choices.
Quote from: MusicTurner on October 16, 2021, 12:29:51 AM
A very fine list. Some others:
- Arriaga, 3 string quartets (~17)
- Haydn, Symphonies 1-8 (17-20)
- Mahler, Piano Quartet (17)
- Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no.1 (20)
I endorse these. Those Arriaga's quartets are sheer delight and wit.
Quote from: kyjo on October 15, 2021, 08:02:18 PM
What are your favorite "child prodigy" works composed before the age of 20? The astonishing inspiration and assuredness of these works (among others) amazes me:
Britten: Double Concerto for violin and viola (19 y/o)
Enescu: Octet (19)
Franck: 3 Piano Trios, op. 1 (17-20)
Korngold: Sinfonietta (14-15)
Mendelssohn: Octet (16)
Langgaard: Symphony no. 1 (16)
Lloyd: Symphony no. 3 (19)
Schubert: Symphony no. 2 (17-18)
Suk: Piano Quartet (17)
Walton: Piano Quartet (16)
You have mentioned at least 5 or 6 works that could have been in a tentative list of mine.
Quote from: The new erato on October 16, 2021, 12:18:13 PM
+1
I mean, sure there were quite a lot of composers who wrote one or two beautiful and well-crafted works, occasionally even a masterpiece, at tender ages --- but none of them displayed such a consistent flow of beautiful and well-crafted works, many of which could be considered masterpieces, as did Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn.
Quote from: Cato on October 16, 2021, 01:00:18 PM
Das Klagende Lied by Mahler: composed between ages 18-20.
https://www.youtube.com/v/PBkJ9VAnXFM
Good choice! I often forget how young Mahler was when he wrote this. A superbly imaginative work, and it already sounds very much like Mahler!
Quote from: vandermolen on October 16, 2021, 12:50:23 AM
Glazunov: Symphony 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No.1
The Shostakovich is growing on me - I'm currently playing it in my school's orchestra. A bit of an uneven work, maybe, but the latter half of the finale, in particular, contains some stupendous music.
Quote from: Jo498 on October 16, 2021, 12:42:43 AM
Mendelssohn a minor quartet is by far my favorite. It's his favorite quartet of mine and one of his top 5 pieces or so.
also Mendelssohn octet and MSND ouverture
Mozart: symphonies g minor K 183, A major K 201 (17-18)
The Mendelssohn A minor quartet (no. 2) is a firm favorite of mine as well. Really, I could've included anything he wrote before the age of 20. An astonishingly precocious fellow!
I originally included Mozart's Symphony no. 25 (G minor) in my list, but then I remembered about Enescu's Octet so it got the boot! :D
Quote from: kyjo on October 17, 2021, 08:06:36 AM
The Shostakovich is growing on me - I'm currently playing it in my school's orchestra. A bit of an uneven work, maybe, but the latter half of the finale, in particular, contains some stupendous music.
The dramatic timpani solo in the final movement is bloody brilliant! :)
I had not been aware that Enescu's Octet and Suk's piano quartet were such early works! I don't know them well but will re-listen to them. There is also a trio Korngold wrote as young teenager (13 or so) I also thought "Das klagende Lied" was a bit later (although I have mentioned it sometimes myself against people who claimed that Mahler needed the influence from Rott's symphony to become Mahler for which that piece is obvious counterevidence).
Of the 3 or 4 (there is another single movement one, I think) Franck trios I think the (best known) first is by far the best. They should be all at least at the fringe of the standard rep, but they are apparently so strongly piano dominated that most ensembles don't like them...
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on October 16, 2021, 08:48:37 PM
You have mentioned at least 5 or 6 works that could have been in a tentative list of mine.
No surprise there! 8)
Favorite might be more than I should give some of these, but I enjoy all of them enough. VS
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto 1
Mozart: Exsultate, jubilate
Mendelssohn: String Symphony 11
L. Boulanger: Faust et Hélène
Bizet: Symphony in C
Bernstein: Piano Trio
George Lloyd: Symphony 2
Samuel Barber: The Daisies & With Rue My Heart is Laden
Mendelssohn: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
Glazunov: Symphony 1
Gershwin: Rialto Ripples
Edit: Schubert: Mass in G
Quote from: kyjo on October 17, 2021, 08:06:36 AM
The Shostakovich is growing on me - I'm currently playing it in my school's orchestra. A bit of an uneven work, maybe, but the latter half of the finale, in particular, contains some stupendous music.
Nice!
Don't have a list, just want to pile on to the admiration for the Arriaga string quartets. Also the early string quartets of Schubert, which I ignored for a long time, assuming they were juvenalia. Big mistake.
Quote from: Daverz on October 18, 2021, 03:29:45 PM
Don't have a list, just want to pile on to the admiration for the Arriaga string quartets. Also the early string quartets of Schubert, which I ignored for a long time, assuming they were juvenalia. Big mistake.
Which of the early Schubert quartets particularly stood out to you? I must confess almost complete unfamiliarity with them.
Quote from: VonStupp on October 17, 2021, 10:03:26 AM
Favorite might be more than I should give some of these, but I enjoy all of them enough. VS
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto 1
Mozart: Exsultate, jubilate
Mendelssohn: String Symphony 11
L. Boulanger: Faust et Hélène
Bizet: Symphony in C
Bernstein: Piano Trio
George Lloyd: Symphony 2
Samuel Barber: The Daisies & With Rue My Heart is Laden
Mendelssohn: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
Glazunov: Symphony 1
Gershwin: Rialto Ripples
Very nice list! I had forgotten about Bizet's incredibly charming Symphony in C.
Quote from: kyjo on October 19, 2021, 07:52:52 AM
Which of the early Schubert quartets particularly stood out to you? I must confess almost complete unfamiliarity with them.
I know you aren't asking me - but one example is the G minor quartet, D.173
Quote from: kyjo on October 19, 2021, 07:54:20 AM
Very nice list! I had forgotten about Bizet's incredibly charming Symphony in C.
A personal discovery for me last year, and a splendid one at that!! :)
Quote from: OrchestralNut on October 19, 2021, 07:59:23 AM
I know you aren't asking me - but one example is the G minor quartet, D.173
I think that's the best of the early ones. The most often played/recorded might be E flat major D 87 but I don't really understand why.
Quote from: kyjo on October 19, 2021, 07:54:20 AM
Very nice list! I had forgotten about Bizet's incredibly charming Symphony in C.
This list took a little investigation, that is for sure. I certainly didn't realize R. Strauss' 1st Horn Concerto was a teenaged work, but have always admired his ability to write for horn.
Bizet's Symphony is nothing but sunshine for me; always a happy visit.
I was a dolt and left off Schubert's winsome Mass in G (No. 2), so consider it an addendum to my offerings.
VS
It would be easy to fill this list up with Mozart, but a recent discovery of mine is the unappetisingly-titled Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots, which is a delight from beginning to end, and belongs on that much shorter list of works composed before the age of 12.
The further back you go, the more difficult does exact dating become, but Purcell's My beloved spake was definitely composed before 1678:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJIoLEpPqJI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJIoLEpPqJI)
Kudos for a Hindemith avatar.....
Quote from: The new erato on October 20, 2021, 09:23:55 AM
Kudos for a Hindemith avatar.....
Thanks - I find it a rather endearing picture, of a man wearing a silly costume and holding a bassoon, and thinking, if his expression is anything to go by, "This is the last time I offer to play in the Boy Scouts' Christmas Concert."
Quote from: DaveF on October 20, 2021, 10:39:59 PM
Thanks - I find it a rather endearing picture,
I do as well. I always rather loved Hndemith as a rather down to earth person in a business dominated by big egos, and as a man of sound principles and moral posture.
And, what's more, Hindemith's first String Quartet is dated 1915 which, given that the composer was born late in 1895, probably qualifies it for my list.