What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Tangentially, I have been passively enjoying your survey of the Holmboe quartets, which I need to revisit myself soon.

It's been useful to have a better understanding of these pieces so far.

[Symphonic Addict]

Tishchenko: Dante Symphony No. 4 'The Purgatorio'

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Interesting: there is a book called Hindemith, Hartmann, and Henze by a musicologist named Guy Rickards, which examines that question.

Hartmann was 10 years younger than Hindemith, but Henze was a generation younger than Hartmann.

As a result, Hindemith - after a "wild" period (e.g. Moerder, Hoffnung der Frauen ), which still uses key signatures, despite heavy chromaticism - can be understood as somewhat (or very) Neo-Classical, and we can understand his music as a continuation of Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler, but in a more Bachian vein.  e.g. The Third Piano Sonata - despite some rather dissonant passages - is wonderful, with a fugue in the last movement, and a very lyrical slow movement.

Hartmann, to my ears, is deliberately provocative with his use of dissonance, somewhat like pre-Soviet Prokofiev, and with driving rhythms, juxtapositions, and free chromaticism.  I think he takes a route which parallels Schoenberg's, similar, yet different.  With Hartmann, the music is often anguished, angry, or lamenting, shaking its fist in protest, which is quite comprehensible, given that he came of age during the Nazi period, and then saw Communism take over 1/3rd of Germany.

I do not think you can find a work of Hindemith's parallel with Hartmann's Sixth Symphony!, which is not a criticism of Hindemith, whose music had a different purpose.

Nevertheless, I think one can find at least some of Hartmann's roots in Bruckner, Mahler, and Schoenberg. 

Henze was eclectic, of course, with his music ranging all over the place: if he did not subscribe to Socialist Realism in his early days, he does seem to embrace a conservative, quasi-Neo-Romanticism - at least in vocal works - before the idea caught on later in the century.  Being eclectic, one also hears influences from e.g. Varese in other works, and Hindemith and Hartmann in others.

I recall listening to the DGG set of Symphonies 1-5 when they came out in the late '60's or early 70's, and heard a kind of Neo-Classicism in them: I was also not impressed by any of them.  They seemed as drab as Henze's work-shirt, which he wore for the album cover photo, undoubtedly to show solidarity with (East) German workers.

Some of the later works, e.g. the Requiem, were more interesting.  The Requiem might channel a little of Hartmann's fist-shaking, but certainly it follows Henze's refusal to be classified as following one style or the other.

Wow! Thanks so much, @Cato! By the way, I own that book you mentioned. It's published by Phaidon Press and I own many of their books on composers from Debussy to Stravinsky et. al., which are generally excellent and informative reads (with many great photographs and even some oddities that I haven't seen before).

I wonder if @Symphonic Addict hears some of what you hear in Henze? I only mention this member because he recently went through a traversal of a lot of Henze's orchestral works.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Holst First Choral Symphony, Op. 41, H. 155



I'm finding that the more time I spend with Holst's music, the more I like it. Such an inventive composer.

[Linz]

Jean Sibelius Luonnotar, Op. 70
Tapiola, Op. 112
Pelléas and Mélisande Suite, Op. 46
Rakastava, Op. 14
Vårsång, Op. 16
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Honegger Symphony No. 2 For String Orchestra And Trumpet, H. 153

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ibert, Debussy and Ravel. Pierre Monteux: The Early Recordings.

[Symphonic Addict]

I wonder if @Symphonic Addict hears some of what you hear in Henze? I only mention this member because he recently went through a traversal of a lot of Henze's orchestral works.

Henze is a more radical figure, I think, and one that offers a more challenging concept of what music can be. The only works where I heard a sort of neoclassicism were those pieces inspired by Baroque composers like CPE Bach, Telemann or Vitali. Otherwise, compared to Hartmann or Hindemith, Henze's music doesn't display much counterpoint. It frequently lies on atmosphere, with haunting elements, often bizarre and there's a sort of eloquence I find captivating.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Henze is a more radical figure, I think, and one that offers a more challenging concept of what music can be. The only works where I heard a sort of neoclassicism were those pieces inspired by Baroque composers like CPE Bach, Telemann or Vitali. Otherwise, compared to Hartmann or Hindemith, Henze's music doesn't display much counterpoint. It frequently lies on atmosphere, with haunting elements, often bizarre and there's a sort of eloquence I find captivating.

Very interesting, Cesar. Thanks for the feedback.

Thread duty -

Now playing Janáček On an Overgrown Path, Book I

[Symphonic Addict]

These Marco Polo discs devoted to Respighi don't cease to amaze me. The exotic La pentola magica with its echoes of Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov is a hoot. The other two ballets were unknown to me and they are incredibly delightful, carefree and fun to listen to. Sèvres de la vieille France has some irresistible music. Loving Respighi's music more and more.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

These Marco Polo discs devoted to Respighi don't cease to amaze me. The exotic La pentola magica with its echoes of Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov is a hoot. The other two ballets were unknown to me and they are incredibly delightful, carefree and fun to listen to. Sèvres de la vieille France has some irresistible music. Loving Respighi's music more and more.

La pentola magica received an excellent performance on this CPO recording:

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Last work for the night --- Sibelius Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63

[Symphonic Addict]

La pentola magica received an excellent performance on this CPO recording:

Ah, thank you, John. I wasn't aware of that recording.

[Symphonic Addict]

Holmboe: String Quartets 14-16 (Nightingale SQ)

Whereas some of these quartets reflect a quite grim, sharp and austere demeanor that often gets hard to assimilate or grasp, there are others that prove to be relatively more lively like the 15th and 16th. The 14th was another tough nut to crack. These recordings and performances are definitely much better than the ones by the Kontra Quartet.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Ah, thank you, John. I wasn't aware of that recording.

My pleasure, Cesar.

[AnotherSpin]

[steve ridgway]

Berio - Sinfonia

[steve ridgway]

Webern - Vier Lieder, Op.12

[steve ridgway]

Martinů - La Revue De Cuisine

Clever mix of neo-classical with irregular beats, tango and jazz, from a ballet about the romantic lives of kitchen utensils 😄.

[Que]