What are your top 5 favorite 20th century choral/orchestral works?

Started by relm1, April 15, 2017, 04:20:44 PM

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relm1

April 15, 2017, 04:20:44 PM
There are so many fantastic choral orchestral works written during the twentieth century, but in no particular order, here are my favorites:

Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Bells (1913)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sea Symphony (1903-9)
Arnold Schoenberg: Gurrelieder (1903-11)
Vitezslav Novak: The Storm (1908-10)
Benjamin Britten: War Requiem (1961-2)

Honorable Mention (sorry for breaking my own rule):

Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time (1939-41)
Sergei Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (1939)
Carl Orff: Carmina Burana (1935-6)

SymphonicAddict

#1
April 15, 2017, 05:41:44 PM
Janácek: Glagolitic Mass
Shostakovich: The Execution of Stepan Razin
Rachmaninov: The Bells
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
Langgaard: Music of the Spheres

Honorable mention
Stravinsky: Les Noces
Prokofiev: Zdravitsa
Respighi: Lauda per la Natività del Signore

James

#2
April 15, 2017, 05:45:58 PM
Debussy, Sirens
Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe #2
Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms
Holst, Neptune

Those come to my mind right now.
Action is the only truth

Mirror Image

#3
April 15, 2017, 06:22:34 PM
Oh man, there are so many of them! Here goes nothing (in no particular order):

Szymanowski: Litania do Marii Panny
Duruflé: Requiem
Janáček: Glagolitic Mass
Boulanger: Du fond de l'abîme (Psalm 130)
Poulenc: Litanies à la Vierge Noire

Spineur

#4
April 15, 2017, 11:57:22 PM Last Edit: April 16, 2017, 01:43:29 AM by Spineur
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Cloe
Rachmaninov All night vigils
Arvo Part: Stabat Mater
Schostakovich: The execution of Stephan Razin
Francis Poulenc: Gloria

As MI says there are many, many more.
Elgar, Dream of gerontius
Kodaly, Psalmus hungaricus
are amazing pieces also

Dancing Divertimentian

#5
April 16, 2017, 11:34:11 AM
We had a thread on this very subject years ago. It's since fizzled but seems relevant now. The tread started life as "20th Century Oratorio" but soon expanded.


http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,10121.0.html
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Karl Henning

#6
April 16, 2017, 12:44:21 PM
In a pinch, I'd list:

Schnittke, Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar
Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms
Vaughan Williams, A Sea Symphony
Wuorinen, Genesis
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

relm1

#7
April 17, 2017, 05:54:44 AM
So not much love for Britten's War Requiem?  I'm surprised it doesn't make anyone's list so far. 

ritter

#8
April 17, 2017, 06:17:46 AM Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 06:41:37 AM by ritter
Let' see:

Manuel de Falla / Ernesto Halffter: Atlántida
Igor Stravinsky: Canticum Sacrum
Pierre Boulez: Cummings ist der Dichter
Claude Debussy: Le Martyre de saint Sébastien
George Crumb: Star-Child

More Stravisnky would have made it on the list (Threni, Les Noces--even if defining the ensemble of four pianos and percussion as "orchestral" is perhaps pushing it a bit far--, Requiem Canticles, Zvezdoliki), but the Canticum towers over them all IMHO. Poulenc's Gloria and Walton's Te Deum are also favourites of mine, as are Cristóbal Halffter's Preludio para Madrid 92 and Officium defunctorum. Also, Charles Wuorinen's Mass for the Restoration of St. Luke in the Fields, Schoenberg's Die Jakobsleiter and Luigi Dallapiccola's Canti di Liberazione fit the bill (the small ensemble for the Canti di Prigionia might rule these out as well). I suppose that Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, as a stage work, would not quailify (although the same could be said of Debussy's Martyre in its original garb). Then there's Enescu's Symphony No. 3...and Nono's Il canto sospeso, and Berio's Coro....and...and...the list of runner-ups might be intrerminable  ::)  :)

Mirror Image

#9
April 17, 2017, 06:37:31 AM
Quote from: relm1 on April 17, 2017, 05:54:44 AM
So not much love for Britten's War Requiem?  I'm surprised it doesn't make anyone's list so far.

Both Britten's War Requiem and Tippett's A Child of Our Time could have easily made my list, but since we're only allowed five choices, they would be further down the line.

Sergeant Rock

#10
April 17, 2017, 06:39:54 AM
Havergal Brian Symphony No.1 "Gothic"
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Franz Schmidt Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln
Bernard Herrmann Moby Dick
Arnold Schoenberg Jacob's Ladder


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"

Mirror Image

#11
April 17, 2017, 07:30:47 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 16, 2017, 12:44:21 PM
In a pinch, I'd list:

Schnittke, Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar
Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms
Vaughan Williams, A Sea Symphony
Wuorinen, Genesis

A huge table pounding for the Schnittke, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky. All favorites of mine as well. 8)

Trout

#12
April 17, 2017, 09:57:53 AM
Ligeti: Clocks and Clouds
Messiaen: Trois Petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine
Scelsi: Uaxuctum
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music

I would also strongly consider:

Adams: Harmonium
Bartók: Cantata Profana
Berio: Coro
Delius: A Mass of Life
Langgaard: Music of the Spheres
Poulenc: Gloria
Nono: Il canto sospeso
Orff: Carmina Burana
Stockhausen: Carré

Christo

#13
April 17, 2017, 10:12:47 AM
Gustav Holst: The Hymn of Jesus (1917)
Karol Szymanowski: Stabat Mater (1926)
Ottorino Respighi: Lauda per la Natività del Signore (1930)
Arvo Pärt: Te Deum (1984)
Richard Einhorn: Voices of Light (1994)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

TheGSMoeller

#14
April 17, 2017, 10:53:57 AM
Quote from: Christo on April 17, 2017, 10:12:47 AM

Richard Einhorn: Voices of Light (1994)

Fantastic work, great choice, Christo.

vandermolen

#15
April 17, 2017, 11:30:58 AM Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 11:35:59 AM by vandermolen
Quote from: relm1 on April 15, 2017, 04:20:44 PM
There are so many fantastic choral orchestral works written during the twentieth century, but in no particular order, here are my favorites:

Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Bells (1913)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sea Symphony (1903-9)
Arnold Schoenberg: Gurrelieder (1903-11)
Vitezslav Novak: The Storm (1908-10)
Benjamin Britten: War Requiem (1961-2)

Honorable Mention (sorry for breaking my own rule):

Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time (1939-41)
Sergei Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (1939)
Carl Orff: Carmina Burana (1935-6)
Another very difficult thread - but fun too. So, here goes:

Yes, Novak: The Storm   :) :) :)
Yes, Rachmaninov: 'The Bells' - his masterpiece IMHO
Howells: Hymnus Paradisi - heartbreaking
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
Patrick Hadley: The Trees So High

Honourable Mentions:

Sir George Dyson: Quo Vadis (for its wonderful ending)
Holst: The Cloud Messenger
Rootham: Symphony 2 - another incredibly moving ending.
"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).

kishnevi

#16
April 17, 2017, 11:42:04 AM
Mahler Symphony 8
Britten War Requiem
RVW Serenade to Music
Shostakovich Execution of Stepan Razin
Schoenberg Gurre lieder

Sergeant Rock

#17
April 17, 2017, 11:49:10 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on April 17, 2017, 11:42:04 AM
Mahler Symphony 8

Son of a bitch...I forgot the M8. Apparently I'm deeper into my dotage than I realized  :o

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"

Mahlerian

#18
April 17, 2017, 12:34:15 PM Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 12:44:09 PM by Mahlerian
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-flat
Bartok: Cantata Profana
Webern: Cantata No. 1
Stravinsky: Threni
Messiaen: La Transfiguration De Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ

Honorable mentions:

Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder, Modern Psalm #1
Ives: Symphony No. 4
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Requiem Canticles
Messiaen: Trois petites liturgies pour la presence Divine
Ligeti: Requiem
Boulez: cummings ist der Dichter, Soleil des eaux
"l do not consider my music as atonal, but rather as non-tonal. I feel the unity of all keys. Atonal music by modern composers admits of no key at all, no feeling of any definite center." - Arnold Schoenberg

Christo

#19
April 17, 2017, 10:05:16 PM Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 10:16:14 PM by Christo
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 17, 2017, 10:53:57 AMFantastic work, great choice, Christo.
It is, quietly devastating in parts. Curiously, it's also the only piece by this composer that's widely known.

Five surviving mammoths (thanks, sarge):
Vaughan Williams:  A Sea Symphony (1909)
Rudolf Tobias: Des Jona Sendung (1909)
Havergal Brian: Symphony No. 1 'Gothic (1926)
Franz Schmidt:  Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (1937)
Benjamin Britten:  War Requiem (1962)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948
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