Classical Music Compositions from 1940 and later - Vinyl only
This is the theme for the next music listening gathering of our local group and I'm looking for suggestions. This is a vinyl only listening session, so new music available only on digital are excluded. Yes, I know that is limiting, but that's the way it is for this listening session.
A few pieces I've been thinking to bring from my collection, just starting from the "As", are:
Adams, John - Harmonium, for large orchestra and chorus - De Waart/San Francisco SO - ECM 25012 Alwyn - Str Qt 2 (1975) - Quartet of London - Chandos ABRD 1063 Alwyn - Symphony No. 2 - Alwyn/LPO - Lyrita SRCS 85 Arnold, Malcolm - Pf Trio, op54 - Nash Ensemble - Hyperion A66171
Arnold, Malcolm - Overture to Tam O'Shanter, Op51 - Eiji Oue/MinnO - Reference Recordings RM 2510 Bernstein - Serenade for Violin Solo, Strings and Perc - Bernstein/SymoftheAir, Isaac Stern, vn - Columbia
I had the pleasure of hearing his Concerto for Cor Anglais and Orchestra (2004) performed for the first time with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra with Maw in the audience back in 2005. The PSO had commissioned it. http://www.fabermusic.com/repertoire/concerto-for-cor-anglais-4219
frogman: that LP of the "Chamber Music" for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano (Argo ZRG 536) was also my first introduction to Nicholas Maw.
Learsfool, Alan Civil also recorded Maw's succinctly titled "Chamber Music" for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano (1962, Argo, lp). This piece was my first exposure to Maw; very interesting British composer. If I am not mistaken, his sonata for strings and two horns is one of his last works.
Rushton, very impressive list of works; sure to expand the musical horizons of the attendees of your listening gathering. Congratulations and have a great time!
OK Rushton - I'm a professional horn player, and I have NEVER heard of either Maw or the work you mention, a sonata for strings and two horns?? Since it was recorded by Alan Civil, I see, it can't be a really recent work, either. What do you know about the work?
Thanks for so many good suggestions. The selections I currently have under consideration for our upcoming listening session, which prompted the original post, will come from among the following works:
Zwilich: Symbolon or Concerto Grosso, Mehta/NYP, New World NW 372 Larrson: Concertino for Db & Str Orch, Wedin/OskarshamnEns, Fredin-db, Opus 3 8502 Rochberg: String Qt #3, Concord Qt, Nonesuch H 71283 Takemitsu: Rain Tree, Sugahara/Percussion Museum, Super Analogue 9207 or Piano Distance, Serkin, RCA ARL1-4730 Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchrestra, Kletzki/OSR, London CS 6665 Bozay: Improvisations No 2, Bozay/Perenyi/Papp/Perenyi, Hungaroton SLPX 12058 Druckman: Aureole, Slatkin/StLouisSO, New World NW 318 Duarte, John: Idylle pour Ida, Alice Artz-gui, Hyperion A66146 Maw: Sonata for strings and two horns, Del Mar/EngChmOrch, Civil-hn, Argo ZRG 676 Wuorinen: Speculum Speculi, Speculum Musicae, Nonesuch H 71300 Kokkonen: Symphony No. 3, Berglund/Finnish Radio SO, Decca SXL 6432 Martin, Frank: Concerto for seven wind instruments, timpani, percussion, and string orchestra, Ansermet/OSR, London CS 6241 Imbrie: Three Sketches, Dempster-trmb, Aanerud-pf, New World NW 254 Tubin: Sym 4 (Sinfonia lirica), Jarvi/Bergen, BIS LP 227 Piston: Symphony No. 7 or 8, Mester/LouisvilleO, Louisville LS 746
Of course, we can't play everything and all is subject to change upon reflection. As usual, we will at least play whole movements if not entire works. My goal, as I've said, is to expose my friends to some music and composers they've perhaps not yet heard.
frogman, the Rachmaninoff "Symphonic Dances" are certainly worthy of inclusion in any list of outstanding music from the second half of the twentieth century. One of the additional criteria for me in pulling selections to play will be that the composer is not so well known. So, not including Rachmaninoff among my selections for this coming listening group session is no slight to his immense contribution.
In my enthusiasm for the piece I forgot about one of the preconditions: The Temirkanov/St. Petersburg is not available on vinyl to the best of my knowledge. Still, a terrific version.
Rachmaninoff "Symphonic Dances". A beautiful and compositionally brilliant work that I have always had a soft spot for due, in part, to the use of the saxophone in a prominent solo role. The go-to audiophile favorite has always been the Johanos/Dallas which does have spectacular sound and pretty good playing overall; but, is marred by a horribly out of tune saxophone solo. The Ormandy/Philadelphia (they premiered the work) is very good, but there is something about Russian orchestras performing the works of Russian composers that rings true for me. The Temirkanov/St. Petersburg is a favorite.
BTW, I mentioned the Messiaen "Quartet FTEOT" in my first post; wonderful work.
jetrexpro, no, I don't think anyone has mentioned Messiaen's Quartet For The End of Time. An amazing work with tremendous impact.
As to labels still making new classical recordings and pressing on vinyl, there are two small interesting labels whose expanding catalog I follow. Both record on analog tape and then release in multiple formats.
Was Messian mentioned in this thread? His Quartet For The End of Time comes to mind and would been released on vinyl. He wrote this while a German prisoner during WWII and it was premiered in a prison camp. When I listen to it I often think of all the wonderful talented composers and artists who were killed during that war.
Rushton, you are welcome and thank you for starting this interesting thread. I know that current rock and pop groups are now offering vinyl as well as CD and digital downloads, but I don't know if classical labels are presently releasing on vinyl. One of the reasons I invested in a good CD player was so I could play the many classical CDs we amassed. My CD player has a USB in so I can also play music from my computer, including YouTube which has thousands of classical performances from the past and present. The Berlin philharmonic offers streaming of all their concerts. I felt it was important to both have vinyl and cd since after around 1985 or so labels stopped pressing vinyl and only released cd. Some food for thought. - regards jet
For small form (simple songs) I think the most American of composers is Stephen Foster, hands down. He wrote My Old Kentucky Home, Beautiful Dreamer, I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Oh Susannah, Old Folks at Home (Swanee River), Hard Times Come Again No More, Old Black Joe and Camptown Races. Gershwin excelled in both shorter songs and larger works such as Rhapsody in Blue and Porgy and Bess. Both men gave us a good measure of very American music.
By the way, I offer a big "Thank you" to all who've participated in provided suggestions and engaging in some conversation about MUSIC for a change. How refreshing is that!?!
Jetrexpro, thank you for offering the names of three contemporary composers whose music I don't know. I'm stuck in this time warp of very few new music recordings since the advent of digital recordings because I've continued to maintain a vinyl-only listening room. Sigh... This simply points out that I'll have to look at how to supplement my listening. Streaming media, I suppose - will have to sort out how I want to do that.
However, Ives actually used quite a bit more of American folk tunes than Copland did, and was very original, experimenting with bi-tonality pretty much before anyone else did, and with quarter-tones, etc.
Learsfool, you make some very instructive observations about Ives' music. Thank you. I would not disagree with your and frogman's comments. And, I think I still enjoy listening to Copland! :-)
A few composers I have been listening to who are all still alive. There are many more but these three happen to come to mind. Aaron Jay Kernis George Tsontakis Valentin Silvestrov
I agree that Ives is without a doubt the most quintessentially American composer. He believed, in the classic American tradition of inclusiveness, that "all sound is potential music". One of my favorite examples of Americanness, and of his genius, can be found in his "Concord" piano sonata. In one of the movements he borrows the famous "fate" motif from Beethoven's Fifth for the main theme, but accompanies it with typical Ivesian dissonance. A German cliche with American looking to the future; a classic American theme.
Another favorite fact about Ives, and not meaning to turn this discussion to politics, is his refusal to have his music copyrighted and he had his publisher make free copies available. For me, a sign of the generosity of America. An amazing genius.
Hi Rushton - many people do say that Copland is the most American of composers. He is certainly the most popular, and his music is the most accessible, and he helped define how much American music sounded afterwards, especially in the realm of film music. He did write a great deal of music that had American history as the theme, too.
However, Ives actually used quite a bit more of American folk tunes than Copland did, and was very original, experimenting with bi-tonality pretty much before anyone else did, and with quarter-tones, etc. He was very largely self-taught, after the instruction his father gave him, unlike Copland, who was heavily influenced by the European tradition, having studied with Boulanger and others over there. At least as much of his music was American themed as Copland, as well. So for those reasons I would argue that Ives is more quintessentially American as a composer than Copland. It is an interesting debate, to be sure.
rushton, there is a Rorem Naxos CD, 8.559128 ,in their American Classics series called "The End of Summer" that has some of the most original Chamber works I've heard in a long time Every time I play it, I play it again which is rare for me .. Sorta like Messaien on LSD . Excellent sound as well .
A little early in your time frame, but you could add Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber to the playlist, it's a lot of fun. There is a reissue of a Decca recording by Abbado (can't remember the orchestra) out there which was pretty good.
The mention of Ives by Learsfool really got me thinking about who is the best expositor of America in his music and in what work does he express the American reality best.
I suppose so many think of Ives in this respect because so many of his compositions were explicitly "Americana", like: From the Steeples and the Mountains Holidays Symphony Thanksgiving The Fourth of July Three Places in New England Variations on "America"
But, the composer who has always captured the American reality best
for me is Aaron Copland, with his compositions like these: Appalachian Spring Billy the Kid - Ballet Suite Fanfare for the Common Man Lincoln Portrait Quiet City Rodeo Symphony No. 3 The Red Pony .
The mention of Ives by Learsfool really got me thinking about who is the best expositor of America in his music and in what work does he express the American reality best.
I say its Samuel Barber in his 1947 masterpiece " Knoxville ; Summer of 1915" based upon what many think is the Great American Novel , James Agee’s "A death in the family " .
The fact that Barbers "Adagio for Strings" has become the de-facto American anthem in times of tragedy is also a strong argument for him being the most American of composers .
Thanks Learsfool . I'm old and lazy and if I think its a one -off like the Oboe Cnt. I just skip the soloist . It is lazy and I shouldn't do as I know better.
Hi kmccarty and schubert - I cannot resist commenting that when a musician talks about a performance of a concerto, or finding the same, usually the conductor is not even mentioned. Any concerto recording will be much easier to find with reference to the soloist, or soloist and orchestra, rather than the conductor. Particularly if it is that soloist's only recording of the piece. Saying "the Karajan performance" of a concerto really doesn't even make much sense - he probably conducted the Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 with a dozen different horn players at least over the course of his career, and probably recorded them with at least two or three.
Schubert, the Strauss Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra can be found on LP. The Karajan performance, coupled with Strauss’ Horn Concerto, is available on LP through eBay. I think the performances of both pieces are very fine.
Thank you, tostadosunidos. I have only one piece of music by Brouwer, his Homenaje a Falla, played by Alice Artz on a Hyperion LP. I'll pull this out to listen to again and I'll look forward to exploring more of his music.
If you like (mostly solo) guitar you may want to check out Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. He covers a lot of musical ground over the span of his career. There are some recordings of him playing his own pieces (before he had to quit playing). Eduardo Fernandez, among others, does an excellent job of interpreting Brouwer's music.
... you might want to
consider Hyperion A66050, Roger Sessions’ "Concerto for Orchestra" + Andrzej Panufnik’s "Sinfonia Votiva" (Symphony No. 8)...
Hi almarg, thanks for the suggestion. I have this LP but haven't listened to it in years. I'll have to pull it out and listen to it again. I've long been a fan of Hyperion's recordings, particularly those engineered by Tony Faulkner.
Rush, you might want to consider Hyperion A66050, Roger Sessions’ "Concerto for Orchestra" + Andrzej Panufnik’s "Sinfonia Votiva" (Symphony No. 8), Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Both were composed around 1981. The recording was issued, and I believe the works were composed, in commemoration of the BSO’s centennial.
Disclaimer: The LP was digitally mastered, in the early days of such masterings. Although the Soundstream digital recorder that was excellent in its day was used, and engineering was by Tony Faulkner.
I am not sure what the diversion into the relative merit of pop music has to do with the OP, but (and perhaps against my better judgment), I would like to ask bdp24 for examples of what he means when he states:
****'The separation of Classical and Pop musics can be indefensible in purely artist terms. A fair amount of 20th Century Classical barely qualifies as music at all,****
Bdp24, you like Brian Wilson, we get it. Would you like to make a contribution a little closer to what the OP is about?
learsfool, I agree with you completely about including
Lou Harrison, Elliot Carter,
Roy Harris, Walter Piston, Carl Ruggles and Charles Ives in any list of great 20th Century American composes. All should be explored by music listeners with any interest in recent classical music.
As you can see from my lists, my focus is not just American composers. I'm really interested in exposing some friends to some of the less well known composers from the second half of the century. But many of the names you've listed are not well know and should be better known.
. . . . . and I guess I'm the THIRD GUY who bought the Smiley Smile album? I also was lucky enough to have a good friend drag me to Brian's live "Smile" concert (in Phoenix) when that album was finally released a few years ago . . . .
Oh, so YOU"RE the other guy who actually bought and listened to "Smiley Smile...?" I'd been wondering for all these years and now I'm a little less lonely. I saw the Beach Boys on tour (my 3rd BB show) after the release of this LP and they totally ignored the music on it. Still, a great show.
The separation of Classical and Pop musics can be indefensible in purely artist terms. A fair amount of 20th Century Classical barely qualifies as music at all, imo, and an album of the most artistically ambitious and rewarding music of the Century came from not a Classical composer, but a Pop songwriter, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. His 1965 album Pet Sounds was hailed by Paul McCartney as the best album he had ever heard, and was Pauls inspiration for The Beatles Sgt. Pepper (don't blame Brian if you, as I, don't care for Pepper ;-). Pet Sounds is still voted All-Time Number One Album in many poles. But PS is not the album to which I refer.
In 1966, Brian, with the other Beach Boys on the road, and using the best studio musicians in Los Angeles (The Wrecking Crew, found on albums from Frank Sinatra to Sonny & Cher), began the recording of an album he conceived, envisioned, and wrote to tell the story of the expansion of the United States of America from coast-to-coast----Manifest Destiny, in music and lyric. Brian Wrote the music, and he brought in Van Dyke Parks to write the lyrics.
Recording began, but Brian's vision was soon being questioned by the obnoxious Mike Love, lead "singer" (he stinks) of TBB, who not only didn't understand it or Van Dykes lyrics (Mike never progressed beyond "teenage" love songs, and Vans lyrics were rather abstract), but also thought it wouldn't be commercially successful (Mike had already amassed three ex-wives and kids by that time that he had to support, I believe). As the recording dragged on for over a year, Capitol Records started pressuring Brian for "product", something to sell (Groups were putting out at least an album a year at that time, sometimes two!). As the resistance from Mike and the pressure from Capitol increased, Brians inner demons rose to the surface (he had already suffered a nervous breakdown in '64, and is a diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenic), and that combined with his intake of copious amounts of LSD and Cocaine resulted in his complete and utter implosion, the "Smile" album remaining unfinished. Brian retreated to the bedroom of his Bel-Air mansion, pulled the covers over his head, and stayed there for a number of years.
Needing a new album, Brians brother Carl threw together some of the completed "Smile" recordings and some new, Brian-less material, and Capitol released "Smiley Smile", an album Carl described as being a bunt to the "Smiles" home run. I knew none of this when I first heard SS in early '68, and to say I was left speechless is a gross understatement. It made everything else of the time sound so.....pedestrian. And that includes all the psychedelic music that was supposed to be re-imagining Rock n' Roll. It did no such thing, but "Smile" sure would have. What a shame. In 1968, Leonard Bernstein produced and narrated a one-hour TV Special about the newly-sophisticated Pop music he found so interesting, and Brians solo performance of "Surfs Up" (a song to have been on "Smile") on his living room grand piano was the centerpiece of the show. The clip is viewable on You Tube, and is absolutely mesmerizing.
Over the years, Smile took on a legendary status, with many bootleg LPs and CDs coming out with a lot of the unreleased "Smile" recordings. Finally, a couple of years ago, Capitol paid some professional recording people very familiar with both Brian and "Smile" to find all the tapes, listen to and organize them, and prepare a proper "Smile" release. It is available as a 9-CD boxset, and in a 2-LP or CD version. The boxset is overkill, with an entire disc devoted to every single take, partial and complete, rehearsals etc., of "Good Vibrations", and another for "Heroes & Villains". They're both great songs, but an entire disc of each?! The 2-LP set will do nicely.
oops - if we are talking American composers since 1940, Lou Harrison and Elliot Carter should not be left out - their works can be found on vinyl as well.
A few other American composers you could add to that list would be Roy Harris, Walter Piston, Carl Ruggles. The quintessential American composer for me, however, is Charles Ives. The Concord Sonata is 1939, if that is close enough. If not, then how about his Fourth Symphony, which is a wonderful work?
I would also heartily second Frogman's recommendation of Messaien. The Quartet For The End Of Time is a good place to start with his music - there is a great deal of it, however. You could probably find some solo piano things fairly easily on vinyl.
Schubert, I'll have to keep an eye out for Rorem's Violin Concerto - one never knows. I have his Eleven Studies for Eleven Players, String Symphony, Sunday Morning, and Symphony No. 3. I like them all and have always particularly enjoyed the Eleven Studies.
Kmccarty, also +1 for the Strauss Oboe Concerto. LP: Edo de Waart/NPO, Holliger -ob, Philips 6500 174
kmccarty, + 1 for the Strauss Oboe Cnt., I was going to mention it but looked years for a vinyl recording and never found one .Seems to be none on Amazon either.
Rushton , a noble effort on your part to call attention to those little played fine composers ! Ned Rorem in particular caught my eye , I believe he is perhaps the best neglected American composer even among classical lovers. His songs are superb and his Violin Concerto is exquisite . I think there was a vinyl of the later on Erato but seems unlikely you’d ever find one .
So much wonderful music. Too little can be covered in just several hours with friends, but I hope to expose them to composers who are not so familiar. Any particular favorite works from among the following?
Malcolm Berkeley (the son of Lennox Berkeley) Attila Bozay John Corigliano George Crumb (Vox Balaenae, or Black Angels, or one of the Makrokosmos) Mario Davidovsky Jacob Druckman Irving Fine Alberto Ginastera Andrew Imbrie Joonas Kokkonen György Ligeti Frank Martin
Nicholas Maw Andrzej Panufnik George Perle George Rochberg Ned Rorem William Schuman Roger Sessions Sir John Kenneth Tavener Eduard Tubin Charles Wuorinen Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
jetrexpro, you make me consider that our next music gathering should cover works from the 1st half of the 20th century. So much great music to explore from that very formative period.
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