Favorite Discoveries of 2008

[Superhorn]

    I  had  been  wanting to  hear  Havergal  Brian's  Gothic  symphony  for  years,  but  finally  got  around   to  it  by  reserving  a  copy  from  a  library
near  me.  This  vast  work,  for  an  orchestra  that  dwarfs  that  required  for
Schoenberg's  Gurrelieder,  and   several  choruses  and  brass  bands,  is
fascinating.  It's  sort  of  like  Vaughn  Williams  on  steroids. It lasts  nearly
two  hours  and  took  several  hearings  for  me  to  grasp,  but  it  was  worth  the  effort.  It   was origianlly  on  Marco  Polo,  but  is  now  on  Naxos.

[mahler10th]

    I  had  been  wanting to  hear  Havergal  Brian's  Gothic  symphony  for  years,  but  finally  got  around   to  it  by  reserving  a  copy  from  a  library
near  me.  This  vast  work,  for  an  orchestra  that  dwarfs  that  required  for
Schoenberg's  Gurrelieder,  and   several  choruses  and  brass  bands,  is
fascinating.  It's  sort  of  like  Vaughn  Williams  on  steroids. It lasts  nearly
two  hours  and  took  several  hearings  for  me  to  grasp,  but  it  was  worth  the  effort.  It   was origianlly  on  Marco  Polo,  but  is  now  on  Naxos.

It is a MAGNIFICENT work I agree, wide, diverse, and OVERWHELMING.  At the moment there is only one commercial version available (as you say, Naxos) and just like you Superhorn, when I became accquainted with Brian, I made a point of buying it straight away. 
You know, it still takes my breath away how such a symphony and subsequent series of symphonies are constantly overlooked.  I mean, all one has to do is listen to the first and you KNOW, YOU KNOW WITHOUT QUESTION that here is a Symphonist of incredible talent and acuity who just NEEDS to be noticed, even above so many better known in the genre.
And yet he isn't.  He is forgotten...now just wait a moment, I'm getting angry as hell writing this, I better take a break...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

    I  had  been  wanting to  hear  Havergal  Brian's  Gothic  symphony  for  years,  but  finally  got  around   to  it  by  reserving  a  copy  from  a  library
near  me.  This  vast  work,  for  an  orchestra  that  dwarfs  that  required  for
Schoenberg's  Gurrelieder,  and   several  choruses  and  brass  bands,  is
fascinating.  It's  sort  of  like  Vaughn  Williams  on  steroids. It lasts  nearly
two  hours  and  took  several  hearings  for  me  to  grasp,  but  it  was  worth  the  effort.  It   was origianlly  on  Marco  Polo,  but  is  now  on  Naxos.

Excellent. Good to hear you 'get' the work! The 31 symphonies that follow all have their particular beauties, but none have the life-or-death quality of the 'Gothic.'

He is forgotten...now just wait a moment, I'm getting angry as hell writing this, I better take a break...

'Calm down dear!'

But he isn't forgotten. Not when someone nearly gets a heart attack over him! 

[Keemun]

Here's my list:

Bach: Cello Suites
Beethoven: String Quartets
Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 1-6
Martinu: Symphony No. 4
Mendelssohn: String Quartets
Monteverdi: Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, 1610
Mozart: Mass in C minor
Tchaikovsky: String Quartets

It's been a great year so far.

I have some more to add:

Beethoven: Mass in C
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (actually a re-discovery)
Schmidt: Symphonies Nos. 1-4
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra and Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration)
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony

[Superhorn]

    The  Gothic  symphony  will  never  be  performed  very  often  because  of  the   humongous  forces  it  calls  for.  Too  bad.  It's  just   impractical.

[Lethevich]

    The  Gothic  symphony  will  never  be  performed  very  often  because  of  the   humongous  forces  it  calls  for.  Too  bad.  It's  just   impractical.

If I recall correctly it has been scaled down in a variety of ways by the HB society in order to make it more "performable", but its reputation preceeds it...

[sound67]

Richard Arnell.

[PaulR]

Pēteris Vasks Symphonies #2 and #3 and Violin and Cello Concerto's.  I listened to them for the first time this week, and I really do like them a lot....

[Sef]

It is a MAGNIFICENT work I agree, wide, diverse, and OVERWHELMING.  At the moment there is only one commercial version available (as you say, Naxos) and just like you Superhorn, when I became accquainted with Brian, I made a point of buying it straight away. 
You know, it still takes my breath away how such a symphony and subsequent series of symphonies are constantly overlooked.  I mean, all one has to do is listen to the first and you KNOW, YOU KNOW WITHOUT QUESTION that here is a Symphonist of incredible talent and acuity who just NEEDS to be noticed, even above so many better known in the genre.
And yet he isn't.  He is forgotten...now just wait a moment, I'm getting angry as hell writing this, I better take a break...

From a music guide quoted on Borders web site:

"It is a magnificent achievement in every way but one: Brian's music is awful. The opening Allegro assai is a mixture of dramatic sonata form with undigested chunks of folk song. The following Lento espressivo e solenne is a massive funeral march in gauche 5/4 time. The following Vivace is an eccentric Scherzo that becomes an out of control Rondo. But while the a cappella opening of the Te Deum is as close as Brian ever got to inspiration, and all Lenard's hosts sing splendidly, the movement spends itself rambling and mumbling. And while the colossal "Judex" outdoes even Berlioz's Te Deum in its stupendous waves of sound, the music itself is so simple-minded as to be stupefying. And while the closing "Te ergo" is as cogent as it is ever likely to get, it still sounds like music with delirium tremens and delusions of grandeur. Naxos' sound is better than the music."

I'm off to buy it!

[Haffner]

Still listening

[Haffner]

Can't forget this

[Haffner]

Or this; all Celibidache Bruckner qualifies here actually

[Haffner]

Finally, this:

[Jay F]

Chamber music, beginning with the Beaux Arts Trio.

Does WINTERREISE count as chamber music? I'm listening to this one:

[ragman1970]

Is this the recording you are referring to?

I'm not Boris, but this is the recording!

[Opus106]

2008 in now behind us and now I can finally update you on what my favourite discoveries in classical music from that year were.

Early in the thread, I mentioned Brahms, but it was not really a discovery of his music, per se, since some of his concerti were and still are very high on my list of favourites. It had more to do with getting acquainted with his symphonies and an acceptance of the fact that I liked his music beyond the aforementioned concerti.

In terms of true discoveries come the names of two behemoths of the symphonic repertoire: Mahler and Bruckner. I thought it would be a long time before I would even start listening the works of these two men, but it wasn't so. I had sampled one or two works which never "clicked" then. But thanks to a Google group (which I found through GMG  0:)) I was able to download all the symphonies of Mahler and most of the good ones by Bruckner, and listen to them at my leisure.

The first listen was of course the live performance of the 'Resurrection', with Boulez conducting the VPO, and it completely rattled* me. Finally, I understood what some people meant when they said that they felt exhausted after listening to a piece of music. No, one listen wouldn't do for me, I had to listen to it again the same day. Wow! But then came a sort of fear. The hangover -- if you can call it that -- lasted for a day, and I didn't want to listen to even my beloved Bach, not to mention pretty much everything else. And I was worried that if this was going to be the end of discoveries for me (I know how incredibly silly that sounds. ) given my not-so-warm feelings for post-Romantic 20th century music. But I also didn't think that I was going to become this Mahler fanatic the previous day.  0:) Today, I wouldn't say I like all his symphonies. I have to listen to more of those beyond No. 5, but I am really glad of the "progress" I made.

Next comes Bruckner. I had heard more of Bruckner than Mahler previously. Actually, I had heard nothing of Mahler. I even managed to sit through the Ninth [B's] once, but as I said, I wasn't compelled to come back to it again. I decided to give it another try. And listening to it after experiencing the colossal nature of M's orchestration, the D minor was an instant fav. It happened with Brahms 4th, and it's now happening again with Bruckner's 9th - the playing of the symphony in my head for nearly the length of the day. A week or so ago, I was listening to this symphony (on the computer) day after day, and that rarely happens with a any work. Again, I have not heard all symphonies by Bruckner, but in this case, I have instantly come to love a late work early which in general doesn't happen all that often.

I don't think it would be far-fetched to say that I took the steps forward inspired by the "explorers" on this board, so thank you. Please continue posting all those obscure, unpronounceable names. It helps.   I can only begin to imagine what wonderful discoveries lie ahead in the days to come.   




* No jokes about Sir Simon, please.

[Kullervo]

Fauré's chamber music.

[haydnguy]

I feel like I may be the luckiest person on the board, as I discovered so MUCH in 2008. However, I'll give Mahler and Schubert the nod, as I spent the most time on them and enjoy both of them. I'll give Mahler's #2 as my favorite so far. (I've only listened to the first 6 and . I enjoy Schubert's lieder and also his Piano Sonatas. 

[ChamberNut]

2008 in now behind us and now I can finally update you on what my favourite discoveries in classical music from that year were.

Early in the thread, I mentioned Brahms, but it was not really a discovery of his music, per se, since some of his concerti were and still are very high on my list of favourites. It had more to do with getting acquainted with his symphonies and an acceptance of the fact that I liked his music beyond the aforementioned concerti.

In terms of true discoveries come the names of two behemoths of the symphonic repertoire: Mahler and Bruckner. I thought it would be a long time before I would even start listening the works of these two men, but it wasn't so. I had sampled one or two works which never "clicked" then. But thanks to a Google group (which I found through GMG  0:)) I was able to download all the symphonies of Mahler and most of the good ones by Bruckner, and listen to them at my leisure.

The first listen was of course the live performance of the 'Resurrection', with Boulez conducting the VPO, and it completely rattled* me. Finally, I understood what some people meant when they said that they felt exhausted after listening to a piece of music. No, one listen wouldn't do for me, I had to listen to it again the same day. Wow! But then came a sort of fear. The hangover -- if you can call it that -- lasted for a day, and I didn't want to listen to even my beloved Bach, not to mention pretty much everything else. And I was worried that if this was going to be the end of discoveries for me (I know how incredibly silly that sounds. ) given my not-so-warm feelings for post-Romantic 20th century music. But I also didn't think that I was going to become this Mahler fanatic the previous day.  0:) Today, I wouldn't say I like all his symphonies. I have to listen to more of those beyond No. 5, but I am really glad of the "progress" I made.

Next comes Bruckner. I had heard more of Bruckner than Mahler previously. Actually, I had heard nothing of Mahler. I even managed to sit through the Ninth [B's] once, but as I said, I wasn't compelled to come back to it again. I decided to give it another try. And listening to it after experiencing the colossal nature of M's orchestration, the D minor was an instant fav. It happened with Brahms 4th, and it's now happening again with Bruckner's 9th - the playing of the symphony in my head for nearly the length of the day. A week or so ago, I was listening to this symphony (on the computer) day after day, and that rarely happens with a any work. Again, I have not heard all symphonies by Bruckner, but in this case, I have instantly come to love a late work early which in general doesn't happen all that often.

I don't think it would be far-fetched to say that I took the steps forward inspired by the "explorers" on this board, so thank you. Please continue posting all those obscure, unpronounceable names. It helps.   I can only begin to imagine what wonderful discoveries lie ahead in the days to come.   

Navneeth, thank you for sharing this.  Year 2008 was an incredible year of pleasant surprises, discovery and re-discovery (in Bruckner's case). 

I will post my soliloquy in a separate post.

[karlhenning]

2008: The Year of the Behemoth?