Your Musical Discoveries of 2011

[snyprrr]

Messiaen: Though I had the Chung back in the day, and had 'done' my time with Messiaen, I was reintroduced to OM through a bevy of exceptional recordings, which did the trick in flipping me.

Gerhard: I finally got around to Gerhard's Symphonies just this month. Of course, you all know what I've just discovered.

Aperghis: I haven't really gone back to these cds all that much, only because this Composer is going to need some more time to digest.

Penderecki: Again, I thought I was done with KP a long time ago, but just within the last months, I have reintroduced myself to all his early work, culminating with the Symphony No.2.

The Rite of Spring: Also reintroduced myself, courtesy of Dorati and Mackerras.

Grisey/Dufourt: I finally got around to the Big Ones of the spectral movement. What a revelation!

Villa-Lobos Orchestral Works: The Marco Polo cds put me on an Amazonian journey.

Ginastera Chamber Music: Bristling with dissonance!!

"The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band: Amazing how they just happen to have all the pieces I want to hear, in wonderfully streamlined performances.

Norgard: Yikes!, how could I forget? Some of the Most Amazing Music Ever!!

C. Halffter: The Grand Old Man of the Spanish Avant Garde has left a very personal legacy. Everything you want from that generation.

Malec: The successor to Varese? Excellent discs on Timpani.




Is that it? What about you?

[springrite]

Schnabel's symphony #2.

De Sabata's orchestral music.

Sorabji's mega opus!

Stevenson's Pascagglia, one of the greatest piano work since .... well, since Brahms?

[Karl Henning]

Sorabji's mega opus!

Zowie! How many times have you given it a go?

Stevenson's Passacaglia, one of the greatest piano work since .... well, since Brahms?

Aye, 'tis a rattlin' good piece!

[madaboutmahler]

Within 2011, the works I heard for the first time, which soon became favourites included:
Mahler 6, 7 and 9.
Ravel Daphnis et Chloe
Nielsen 4
most of the Sibelius symphonies (I knew no.1-3 and 5 before)
Adams Harmonielehre, plus much other minimalist music.

Those are just a few.... obviously, the Mahler was the most important for me. My life changed after hearing those works!

Then, some of the composers I have explored into for the first time this year, some with thanks to the GMG Forum are:
Koechlin, Novak, Karlowicz, Villa Lobos, Honegger, Pfitzner, Kaminski, Svendsen, Lutoslawski and Bantock.

So, a year full of discoveries. Looking forward to the next one - in which I imagine I'll be exploring Wagner....

[chasmaniac]

I discovered the 14th century. Funny that.

[asin]B00000204S[/asin]

[71 dB]

I have explored some of Beethoven's and Schubert's piano sonatas. I heard Hammerklavier the first time this year. 

Janacek's string quartets. Holst's Planets. Stölzel's chamber cantatas.

On non-classical side my major discovery has been Carly Simon.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Norgard: Yikes!, how could I forget? Some of the Most Amazing Music Ever!!

Been a slow year for me - don't think I've discovered any new composers. But I have to agree with The Snip here: I finally had the Norgard "ear opening" experience, starting with the 3rd Symphony. He's making sense now. And thanks partly to The Snip's enthusiasm, I've now got symphonies 4 & 5 on the way 

Otherwise, I did discover Schubert's Winterreise. Is this the beginning of a love affair with Lieder? I doubt it; but this is damn good stuff.

[Karl Henning]

Outright personal "discoveries":

Ives Violin Sonatas (thank you, Hilary Hahn)
Haydn piano trios (thank you, Marcelle & Gurn)
Ronald Stevenson's Passacaglia (thank you, Luke)
Busoni
Frescobaldi, esp. Fiori musicali
Purcell, Fantasies for viols (thank you, Heavy Metal Dave &al.)
Hugh Bean (thank you, Alan)
Koechlin, Les heures persanes for piano solo (thank you, Luke)
Langgaard, Sinfonia interna (thank you, Langgaardians)
Bruckner Seventh (thank you, Ray & Sarge)
Janáček, choral music (thanks again, Luke)
John Ireland (erm, thanks again, Luke)
Hindemith, Sonata for four horns (thanks, snypsss)
Hindemith, Ludus tonalis (thanks yet again, Luke)
Sorabji (thanks, Sara & Luke)
Xenakis, Synaphai
Liszt, Dante Symphony (& more)
Dallapiccola, Canti di prigionia
Schnittke !!!!
Tippett, King Priam

2011 "discoveries" of, erm, modification:

Ives Symphony recordings I like a lot (Litton/Dallas Symphony)
The Harnoncourt HIP Beethoven box

[bhodges]

Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen (Schnee) was a major discovery for me this year. Also, a few others leaped onto my radar, even though I'd heard some of their works earlier than 2011: the late Italian innovator Fausto Romitelli (Professor Bad Trip and An Index of Metals) and the great spectral master Gérard Grisey (heard live: Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil, Le noir de l'étoile and Vortex temporum).

--Bruce

[mc ukrneal]

I heard Biber for the first time and that was a real discovery. Some real surprises (the second movement of the Battalia a 10 in particular). Can't wait to get some more. Peter Cornelius just a short time ago - some remarkable songs (melodic, with beautifully shifting chords- very moving). I redisovered Farrenc - does that count? Tyberg is another - just mentioned today on the listening thread. Those are the ones that spring to mind anyway.

[71 dB]

Outright personal "discoveries":

Haydn piano trios (thank you, Marcelle & Gurn)

Haydn's piano trios are indeed strangely neglected works. 

[pjme]

I bought Gardiner's Brahms disc ( symphony nr 3 &Nänie) but fell in love with " Ich schwing mein Horn ins Jammertal"...a short choral piece ( on some obscure Wunderhorn text) that works its magic everytime I listen to it.

Was happy to discover obscure composers : Eivind Groven's two symphonies, Theodor Berger, Irgens Jensen, and Otar Taktakishvili's Megrelian songs ( the Rustavi male ensemble is just great!).

Peter

[Lisztianwagner]

So, a year full of discoveries. Looking forward to the next one - in which I imagine I'll be exploring Wagner....

About time too!

Some of my discoveries:

Bortkiewicz Piano Concertos No.1 & 2 - Symphonies No.1 & 2
Roussel Symphony No.4
Schönberg Verklärte Nacht
Berg Lyrische Suite
Koechlin Symphonic Poems
Svendsen Symphony No.1/Romance for Violin
Respighi Church Windows, Brazilian Impressions, Sinfonia Drammatica, the Piano Concerto and Belkis, Queen of Sheba

[Papy Oli]

I'll mostly remember 2011 as being my first proper season attending classical concerts at Snape Maltings and I intend to attend even more of them next year.  This definitely has brought me a greater appreciation of classical music as a live performance art and also a much greater respect of the musicianship involved.

Although I was familiar with some of the works beforehand, the most impactful moments were :

- D.960 by Christian Blackshaw
- Allegri's Miserere by La Nuova Musica
- Matthias Goerne in Winterreise
- Louis Lortie playing the complete Années de Pélerinage
- A fantastic display of the Quatuor Mosaiques in various SQ.
- a close-up performance of  Bach's Piano partitas No.5 and 6 (Madzar)

Musical discoveries of the year :

- Beethoven : SQs
- Beethoven : Violin sonatas
- Haydn : SQ Op.76
- Dvorak : Cello Concerto
- Mendelssohn : Lieder ohne worte
- Schubert : Piano Trios
- Liszt : Etudes Transcendantales / Hungarian rhapsodies
- Portuguese Polyphony/Early Music

And maiden composers discovered this year :

- Gerschwin
- Elgar
- Obrecht
- Desprez
- Gesualdo
- Respighi

And Celibidache in the non-Bruckner boxsets 


I'm happy 

[madaboutmahler]

About time too!

Some of my discoveries:

Bortkiewicz Piano Concertos No.1 & 2 - Symphonies No.1 & 2
Roussel Symphony No.4
Schönberg Verklärte Nacht
Berg Lyrische Suite
Koechlin Symphonic Poems
Svendsen Symphony No.1/Romance for Violin
Respighi Church Windows, Brazilian Impressions, Sinfonia Drammatica, the Piano Concerto and Belkis, Queen of Sheba

haha Certainly!

Looks like it has been a great year for you as well, Ilaria! Have a nice evening!

[Lisztianwagner]

haha Certainly!

Looks like it has been a great year for you as well, Ilaria! Have a nice evening!

It has, absolutely Thank you Daniel, have a nice evening too!

[Drasko]

Franco-Flemish polyphony
Faure's chamber music past string quartet
few orchestral song cycles finaly clicked: Les nuits d'été, Vier letzte lieder and Les Illuminations

Handel and Holst

Planning Ibert and Ives for 2012?

[some guy]

I spend almost all my time discovering things, so I usually don't play on these kinds of threads. But I did discover something really cool this year, and that is that there's a new generation of Russian composers currently enrolled in the Moscow Conservatory.

I have checked on Russia from time to time, but come up with nothing. Ukraine, sure; Belarus, yeah; Russia? Naw. I talked to a young Russian composer in 2006 or 7 and to another in 2009 about new music in Russia, and they both said the situation there was pretty grim.

That was then, and now is now. Apparently, there's a new crop, and it might turn out to be as significant as the class that had Denisov, Gubaidulina, and Schnittke in it. Time will tell. For now, it's just cool to know that there's new music in old Mother Russia.

The three composers I met this year, at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Utrecht (newly moved from Amsterdam), were Sergey Khismatov, Anna Korsun, and Vladimir Gorlinski. I only heard Sergey and Vladimir's pieces in concert, and very strong, inventive, imaginative pieces they were, boy howdy. I had to leave Utrecht for Lisboa, so I missed the performance of Anna's piece, Landscapes, but it's on Myspace, so I could at least listen to a recording.

Really exciting to see signs of new musical life in Russia. (I know, Anna's from the Ukraine, which has been steadily cranking them out for forever, but she's Sergey's girlfriend and part of that whole Moscow Conservatory crowd.)

And, what the hell. I'm here now, with a pile of 2011 discoveries before me. Here's a wee list of those:

Radio Royal. The live set I heard in Ostrava was pretty good, but the CD I bought there (RRCD01) was even better.

Stevie Wishart and Jim Denley, tibooburra. (Split Records)

Christopher DeLaurenti, Favorite Intermissions. Performers noodling during breaks in symphony concerts. (GD Stereo)

Novi_sad, Inhumane Humans. (sub rosa)

Wolfram Schurig. Just another Kairos CD. Many of their people have been composers I've never heard.

Israel Martinez, El hombre que se sofoca. (sub rosa)

Vultures Quartet & Philippe Petit, Tourbillon d'obscurité (sub rosa)

Cristian Vogel, Black Swan. (sub rosa)

Michel Banabila, Hannes Vennik, and Bobby, Cards on the Table. (staalplaat) And yes, this is to be played in shuffle mode.

Polyphasic, The map is not the territory. (Polyphasic)

Contemporary Portuguese Chamber Music. (Arditti Quartet on Et Cetera) António Pinho Vargas, João Pedro Oliveira, Alexandre Delgado, Luís Tinoco, Eugénio Manuel Rodrigues.

Alex Nowitz, Homo Ludens. (now-rec 01) Two electroacoustic pieces (Sirenentränen und Seelentöne and Agnelus Novus, Nr. 2) and one live electronics (Musik für einen Sänger mit Live-Elektronik und Zuspiel für zehn Lautsprecher).

Aemae, Maw. (Isounderscore) One of my favorite finds of the year.

Delicate Sen. (cfyrecords) Billy Gomberg, Anne Guthrie, and Richard Kamerman. It was the listing by Richard's name that sucked me in: "motors, objects."

Chuck Bettis, Sonic Sigils. (scarcelight)

Elena Mendoza, Niebla-szenen, Fe de erratas, and Gramática de lo indecible. (Wergo)

Hemmelig Tempo, Who Put John Cage on the Guestlist? (Musea Records) A member of this group has posted here. But I don't remember his moniker for GMG.

Nos Phillipé, Shh... Camille. (Confront Collectors Series) This is Jonathan Webb, turntable & electronics and Robert Hopps, prepared guitar & electronics

Peter Cornelius, Der Barbier von Bagdad. Of course I had heard of Cornelius. He's the one who coined the phrase "the three B's" after all, by which he meant Bach, Beethoven, and Berlioz. It was later that von Bülow, who had been a huge fan of Berlioz, replaced that composer with Brahms. Anyway, 2011 was when I purchased and listened to this charming opera. (The EMI disc also has Busoni's Arlecchino.)

Carola Bauckholt, Klingt gut. (Wergo) I met Carola this year at the Ostrava Days festival. And heard live the first piece on this disc, Treibstoff. Wow. From 1995, but I'd never heard it (or of its composer) until this year. Very very cool stuff. All new sounds from the instruments, but all very assured and wonderful music. Takes a lot of nerve to call your disc "Klingt gut," but fortunately, it does!

2011 was also the year I added a bunch of Japanese composers to my collection. A bunch that I'd not heard before, that is, mostly by simply ordering a bunch of abruitsecret discs. That added Mukai Chie, Yamamoto Sei-ichi, Taku Sugimoto, and Fukuaoka Rinji, among others.

A Monochrome disc (Gambetta) added Kiyoshi Mizutani, Hideaki Shimada, Kiyorharu Kuwayama. Just a few more people to keep an eye out for in future.

Good times!!

[springrite]

Zowie! How many times have you given it a go?

Aye, 'tis a rattlin' good piece!

I have given the Sorabji two complete listenings, and the Stevenson 3.

The Sorabji discovery could prove to be expensive if I were to dip further into this composer, though.

[Mirror Image]

My most recent discovery happened moments ago when to my surprise Casella's Symphony No. 3 conducted by Alun Francis with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra completely steamrolled themselves over my ears with some of the most glorious music I've heard all year. Yes, this is a major find for me and I plan on listening to this performance again and again.