NEW MUSIC
Ligeti. 1st and 2nd String Quartets Schnittke. 1-6 Concerto Grosso; 1-8 Symphony; Piano Quintet and Piano Trio Webern: all the instrumental pieces; the lied are very hard to take (hard to believe but some of his works are almost 100years old now!) Berg: if you like opera try Wozzeck; Lulu is ok Bartok: his six string quartets IMHO are the creme de creme of the 20th century, some are more freely chromatic than others A. Part: highly emotive mystical tone poems What do you think of Philip Glass? I am not sure if I do but I have his Glassworks CD. Reminds of a repetitive 3 chords garage band song. Over and Over and Over....... BTW: I can only play most Modern Music when my wife is away. She hates the stuff. She says if she had to listen to it she would kill herself in about an hour..... |
Shubertmaniac, I have not been partial to Glass fearing the jokes may not be entirely untrue, will have to investigate further... For her may I rec'd Messiaen's rhapsodically tranquil Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus? It comes with a guarantee of longevity ;-) Mais enchanté toujours, cher Gregm! Esteemed Albertporter, Zaikesman, I was not aware of Edgar Varèse and am now finding him congenial - thank you... EV excerpts: Integrales f. small orchestra and percussion Ofrandes: Chanson de la haut f. soprano and chamber orchestra Ofrandes: La croix du sud f. soprano and chamber orchestra Density for flute Por todos los Zappatistas, EV: The Idol of My Youth |
There have been so many style progressions in the 20th century. A few favorites of mine: -Berg String Qt. and Lyric Suite for String Qt. (by the Alban Berg Qt.) -Lutoslawski String Qt. (by the Alban Berg Qt) -for other string quartets contemporary with Bartok but not similar in style, the quartets of Shostakovitch (Emerson Qt) and Zemlinsky (Artis Qt) And if you like orchestral work, - Lutoslawski's Mi Parti and Musique Funebre - most of the orchestral works of Thomas Ades - the idiosyncratic and non-atonal works of Rautavaara, such as Cantus Arcticus - John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises, sung by Chanticleer. Tavener has been progressing away from strict minimalism and combining other elements, as Gregm says |
Lately, I have been listening to John Adams - Naive and Sentimental Music. It has an enormous dynamic range and is interspersed with quiet, contemplative, and ambient sections. I think one could compare the essence of nature invoked in some passages with parts of the Sibelius Tone Poems released recently on Naxos. Unlike some modern music, this Adams recording can be listened to with other people in the house (but watch the volume on the percussive accents!). |
