Pieces that have blown you away recently

[Kalevala]

I tried before...Jindrich Feld and Petr Eben :

https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,29166.msg1252089.html#msg1252089

https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,30512.msg1339432.html#msg1339432

this was my introduction to Eben, late seventies...Vox clamantis:

.In the case of Petr Eben's Vox clamantis (1969) it was the trauma of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (and the suppression of "Prague Spring" liberalism) that was the inspiration behind this 'symphonic movement' which – despite the presence of controlled aleatoric elements that Polish composers such as Lutosławski were then exploring – follows in the lineage of Janáček and Martinů. The former is evident in the placing of the three trumpets (Gareth Bimson, Martin Hurrell and David Hilton) 'above' the orchestra so that their timbre cuts through at climaxes, while the latter is discernible through the way melodic elements – from Czech, Gregorian and Hebrew sources – are layered across the texture and come to the fore at moments of greatest emotional tension. Only the extraneous presence of a speaker (on tape) twice reciting the words of John the Baptist strikes a slightly passé note in what is otherwise a convincingly shaped and also powerfully felt response to troubled times. Vividly projected in this performance, it made one regret that orchestral music is not more prominent within Eben's output
Source: https://www.classicalsource.com/concert/vox-clamantis/

I liked Petr Eben's Vox clamantis; haven't listened to the PC yet.

K

[Luke]

The Delage Four Hindu Poems, especially as sung here by the peerless Janet Baker. Not new to me, but they are always a revelation, with astonishing instrumental writing for their date of composition - the cello part in particular - and as exquisite as the companion pieces on the disc, which is saying something considering what they are - Chausson's tender, subtle Chanson Perpetuelle and Ravel's Mallarme and Madegascan sets, which are right at the top of his masterpiece-stuffed oeuvre.

[Luke]

... also this disc, which I am just digesting but which is full of new and quite overwhelming things.

[Cato]

The Delage Four Hindu Poems, especially as sung here by the peerless Janet Baker. Not new to me, but they are always a revelation, with astonishing instrumental writing for their date of composition - the cello part in particular - and as exquisite as the companion pieces on the disc, which is saying something considering what they are - Chausson's tender, subtle Chanson Perpetuelle and Ravel's Mallarme and Madegascan sets, which are right at the top of his masterpiece-stuffed oeuvre.

... also this disc, which I am just digesting but which is full of new and quite overwhelming things.

Many thanks for the recommendations!

[vandermolen]

Maximilian Steinberg: Symphony No.3

[Roasted Swan]

I posted about this work on the listening thread but I love this third movement of Matthew Hindson's Symphony No.1.  Commissioned by the Australian Youth Orchestra no less back in 2003.  A review of the 1st performances likened this to Appalachian Spring meets Steve Reich - a brilliantly concise description I think!

[vandermolen]

I posted about this work on the listening thread but I love this third movement of Matthew Hindson's Symphony No.1.  Commissioned by the Australian Youth Orchestra no less back in 2003.  A review of the 1st performances likened this to Appalachian Spring meets Steve Reich - a brilliantly concise description I think!

Very attractive music - reminding me, sort-of, of the finale of David Bedford's Symphony No.1.

[Roasted Swan]

Very attractive music - reminding me, sort-of, of the finale of David Bedford's Symphony No.1.

that makes me want to hear David Bedford'd 1st Symphony!

[Irons]

Seiber: Fantasia Concertante.

The Casella VC was reason for playing this LP but it was the coupling that was to grab my attention. Seiber does enter the dark side (serialism, twelve-note etc) but for this conservative listener at no time did I find this off-putting, quite the opposite. I found the innovative Fantasia Concertante to be a force that refreshed my listening palate.

[Roasted Swan]

Seiber: Fantasia Concertante.

The Casella VC was reason for playing this LP but it was the coupling that was to grab my attention. Seiber does enter the dark side (serialism, twelve-note etc) but for this conservative listener at no time did I find this off-putting, quite the opposite. I found the innovative Fantasia Concertante to be a force that refreshed my listening palate.

Gertler was a very fine player.....

[hopefullytrusting]

Something good has come from all my Law & Order watching: Mark Isham's Sense of Touch (apparently it was from Crash, but I do not recall that, just as I do not recall most of that movie)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKdwwACEHc4

The Welsh language just lilts and lofts above the swirling orchestra. It feels like a dream, and reminds me of (or is reminiscent) of Walking in the Air from The Snowman. There's something so piercingly crisp about the voice as it breaks, and like all great music, I think, it feels nostalgic without being nostalgic - like you've know the sound a thousand years, so long it has become part of your body - it reaches out as you reach out.

Also, easily one of the the most loopable songs.

[Vox Maris]

I was completely blown away when I revisited Enescu's Symphony No. 3 last week. I actually ended up listening to it three times over two nights. The performances I listened to were Foster (EMI) and Jurowski (LPO's house label --- from the 10 Years box set). This sound-world is so complex yet completely compelling. The last movement in particular took my breath way with the wordless chorus coming in to elevate the music into ethereal blissfulness. I own several performances of the Enescu's symphonies, but I have to say that Jurowski (w/ the LPO) is now my favorite in the 3rd. From my understanding, Jurowski has recorded Oedipe --- fingers crossed this performance sees the light of day and is issued on CD.

[hopefullytrusting]

Jerusalem by Parry/Elgar sung by everyone at Proms (inspired to look this song up after watching a million times the arrival of Baldwin in Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven - then, I recalled it was also in Chariots of Fire):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sERiPuOQyvo

Was so blown away by this, I actually bought Parry's version and the Parry/Elgar version (plus whatever other pieces are on those discs, which I am sure I will also enjoy).

[Christo]

The Planets, by the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Tarmo Peltokoski, heard live, Sunday December 15, with Johan Herrenberg -- the very best Planets we have both ever heard, especially an incredibly perfectly timed Saturn -- 12.50 minutes, no recording takes this long, which can only be done live -- the perfectly chosen, minimal silences made the 'human time and vulnerability' at the end move us to tears. See: https://www.dedoelen.nl/nl/agenda/22351/rotterdams-philharmonisch-orkest/the-planets 

[Roasted Swan]

The Planets, by the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Tarmo Peltokoski, heard live, Sunday December 15, with Johan Herrenberg -- the very best Planets we have both ever heard, especially an incredibly perfectly timed Saturn -- 12.50 minutes, no recording takes this long, which can only be done live -- the perfectly chosen, minimal silences made the 'human time and vulnerability' at the end move us to tears. See: https://www.dedoelen.nl/nl/agenda/22351/rotterdams-philharmonisch-orkest/the-planets 

What a great (and unexpected) programme - how was Sinfonia Antartica? - a bit of a surprise that they managed to spell it wrong on the orchestra's website link though!!

[Christo]

What a great (and unexpected) programme - how was Sinfonia Antartica? - a bit of a surprise that they managed to spell it wrong on the orchestra's website link though!!

The whole concert -- the combo is a find, if only because of the theme and some kinship, although RVW 6 is his real 'Requiem for Holst', the Seventh has new sources of inspiration, and besides: both pieces need a wordless female choir, both times from far behind the scenes -- was just superb. Just ask accomplice Johan Herrenberg (often found here on the Havergal Brian thread).

Happily, the 'Antartica' was spelt correctly with the concert (they must have read my criticism :-). The five superscriptions were shown on screens at the start of each movement -- and clearly recited by a British male voice. This 'solution' (RVW himself did not think it was necessary for them to be recited; citations in the programme booklet were enough for him) also worked fine. The programmatic nature was thus made clearer to the audience: in the Netherlands, RVW is a great unknown (& BTW, not considered great at all by most snobs).

[Cato]

Greatest discovery of 2025 so far  !  Thanks to all the members who have mentioned her music recently!


Dora Pejačević !

[Christo]

Greatest discovery of 2025 so far  !  Thanks to all the members who have mentioned her music recently!


Dora Pejačević !

"Harry is right after all", you mean. 

[Roasted Swan]

The whole concert -- the combo is a find, if only because of the theme and some kinship, although RVW 6 is his real 'Requiem for Holst', the Seventh has new sources of inspiration, and besides: both pieces need a wordless female choir, both times from far behind the scenes -- was just superb. Just ask accomplice Johan Herrenberg (often found here on the Havergal Brian thread).

Happily, the 'Antartica' was spelt correctly with the concert (they must have read my criticism :-). The five superscriptions were shown on screens at the start of each movement -- and clearly recited by a British male voice. This 'solution' (RVW himself did not think it was necessary for them to be recited; citations in the programme booklet were enough for him) also worked fine. The programmatic nature was thus made clearer to the audience: in the Netherlands, RVW is a great unknown (& BTW, not considered great at all by most snobs).

Your "Requiem for Holst" comment jumped out at me.  My first thought was I'd never heard that before and I'm not sure I agree.  If for no other reason than the fact the symphony was written a full decade after Holst's death.  But that got me looking through a chronological list of RVW's work to see if another work closer to Holst's 1934 death might fit that bill.  The truth is there is no single work that could be considered an in memoriam or hommage.  Of course RVW was - as far as his own musical mind was concerned - an individualist and pretty sure of his own mind.  This was forged in his earlier years when Holst's professional and personal companionship was so significant.  Perhaps all of RVW's music is to some degree a product/indebted to that relationship....?

But returning to the concert - it is so rewarding to read that these great scores are getting performed by new/younger/unexpected artists with such conviction.  You don't mention the audience reaction to this "unfamiliar" - I hope it was positive......

[Cato]

Greatest discovery of 2025 so far  !  Thanks to all the members who have mentioned her music recently!


Dora Pejačević !

"Harry is right after all", you mean. 

Amen!!! 😇