for the piano #3: Debussy vs. Ravel vs. Satie

don't count Satie as on the level of the other two, so for me it's between Gaspard de la nuit and Tombeau de Couperin or Estampes and the piano Images. I'll have to go with Ravel.

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

Gotta go for Debussy here. Even though I prefer the orchestrated version of "Clair De Lune" (ironically done by Ravel), it was a piano piece after all. And what a beautiful one at that!

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

debussy by a far larger margin than liszt or chopin in the others

etudes, preludes II, preludes I, estampes, suite bergamesque, images

even debussy's piano juvenilia is pretty great

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

Debussy ahead of Ravel (Ravel wins as master orchestrator but that's not what we're talking about here). Satie is nice enough but does not belong on the same page as the other two, nowhere near.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

this record might contract that margin for you some, it blew my mind

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

The winner of this poll has to go up against Iron Maiden.

― Mark G, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

corey you don't rate Debussy's Preludes?

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

agree that Gaspard is 50th-level mage stuff

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

argerich's gaspard is awesome

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

xp I haven't heard them yet u_u

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

may I recommend mitsuko uchida's version

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

sorry that's the etudes

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

love the etudes!

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

sandor kocsis is excellent in debussy tho ymmv

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 15:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

I am more fond of Satie in the long run but since we're talking piano, I have to go with Debussy.

― Le mépris vient de la tête, la haine vient du cœur (Michael White), Thursday, 3 March 2011 16:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Broke my long absence to vote for Ravel, who is untouchable.

― it also takes hip-hip with it (Eric H.), Thursday, 3 March 2011 17:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

the main thing standing between me & a Ravel vote is that I was ignorant of his piano music until last year. had just plain missed it. but it's phenomenal. Debussy I have known about for ages.

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 17:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Satie was my entry point to classical music in 1991 when I read Roger Shattuck's amazing The Banquet Years (kind of a 4-way bio of Satie, Jarry, Apollinaire and H. Rousseau). But then Satie led to Debussy and my mind exploded.

Since I rate the Preludes Book I and II as pretty much the best music ever created ever, my vote for D is I guess inevitable.

But Ravel is TREMENDOUS and I don't mean to diminish his power at all. One thing D and R have in common is that every little bit of their music in every genre they touched is worth hearing and rehearing. Also the aesthetic legacy of these two is still very much an alive and electric thing.

Satie-- def the most fun to READ about!

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 18:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

My vote goes to the author of the original oblique strategies: Erik Satie's Performance Indications

― Milton Parker, Thursday, 3 March 2011 18:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

^^^ My point exactly! Like Eno, Satie is an awesome spirit guide, but, also like Eno, the music kind of wore off for me.

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

wait I thought JL and MP were the same person? o_O

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

ravel

― ciderpress, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

We have almost the same given name. This has caused confusion before!

MP = west coast, an actual musician with accomplishments
JL = east coast, an insignificant musician with modest cartooning accomplishments

I think we are probz about the same age too.

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Doppelgänger!

I think nakh is my overseas counterpart, though I wonder if he would agree :)

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

hmmn not sure

you seem pretty immersed in 20th c classical and ~idm~

they are favourites of mine too, tho in general my listening habits are more scattershot and noisy / rockish (see the geir hongo listening club)

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

if you have the concentration to really explore a certain area, i think that whole chromatic period between wagner and schoenberg, including d, r & s but also scriabin, szymanowski, zemlinsky et al would be a worthwhile subject....i think maybe you are doing that already?

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

I am! I tried posting a little thing about it on the general CM thread about three times before I gave up (was using my rm's comp which crashes when you use this wireless receiver thing). A recent find in this vein is Franz Schreker's Chamber Symphony — luxuriously orchestrated and a feeling for harmony that is subtly unique. I'd recommend it.

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

I also have a bunch of Zemlinsky downloaded, need to delve into those.

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

nakhchivan have you heard the new Michael Hersch? fucking spectacular imo

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

i love these threads

― ℳℴℯ　❤＼(◕‿◕✿ (Princess TamTam), Thursday, 3 March 2011 20:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

I like them all. Satie for "Trois Gymnopedies," one of my favourite pieces of music ever, but I also love Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte" and some little Debussy piece I have on a promotional CD given out years ago by W.H. Smith when we still had them in Canada. Maybe someone can answer a question I posed a few days ago (I'm an amateur when it comes to this stuff): is "Trois Gymnopedies" classified as classical or 20th-century? It was written in 1888, and I don't how literal the term "20-century" is supposed to be.

― clemenza, Thursday, 3 March 2011 20:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

Like Eno, Satie is an awesome spirit guide, but, also like Eno, the music kind of wore off for me.

I thought they'd both faded more me as well but every once in a while I rediscover Thursday Afternoon and it's like the first time all over again.

Satie was my entrance point to earlier classical as well, as he is for many people because he's just so modern (he often gets classified as 20th century despite most of his hits technically being 19th, but he's no romantic). It took an extra decade for me to wake up to Ravel and perhaps I'm still waking up to Debussy, but I've definitely responded more to the Preludes & the Etudes more than almost all the orchestral works.

There's that great exchange, I forget whether it's reprinted in 'Silence' or 'A Year From Monday', where Cage the young new-music critic and another critic were tussling over Satie in the 40's, Cage arguing in favor of Satie as the most forward-thinking & important, the other critic saying 'well he's been dead for 20+ years and he still isn't being prgorammed any more often in concerts, so just face it, the audience is never showing up for this guy', and Cage just making a quiet response that his time will come. And the concert hall was in fact never the appropriate venue for furniture music, but the second those Ciccolini LPs showed up and it finally had a chance to be heard in the right context, Satie found his audience. All this just underlines how the audiences for him and these other two composers don't quite completely intersect.

ps thanks for calling me 'actual' JL! helps to read that every once in a while in my cubicle here

― Milton Parker, Thursday, 3 March 2011 20:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Is #4 going to be Jerry Lee Lewis vs. Fats Domino vs. Little Richard? I want to get a head start on some relistening.

― clemenza, Thursday, 3 March 2011 21:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

nah, Bartók vs. Schoenberg vs. Scriabin 8)

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, Schoenberg doesn't have a huge volume of solo pcs though, despite their significance.

I'd say Bartok v Scriabin v Prokofiev myself. Prok's large solo piano ouevre is very very underrated outside of a couple of sonatas...

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 21:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

Schoenberg doesn't have much piano music, you're right (the Op. 25 suite has been in my head lately, so I'm biased) — Prokofiev does makes more sense, but I've only heard his symphonies so far.

― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 21:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Try Frederic Chiu in Prok's sonatas, he brings out the kinship with Debussy and Schumann more than yr demon-banger type pianists. Harmonia Mundi has collected them into a big cheap box. Also Prok's 3rd and 6th syms are AMAZING...

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

nakhchivan have you heard the new Michael Hersch? fucking spectacular imo

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 19:55 (2 hours ago)

no, nor had i heard of him, which recording do you refer to?

he gets the same 'no adumbration needed' packaging as charles ives! pretty august for a 39 year old

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

This one. It is extremely modern, like the sort of stuff you'd keep away from people whose take on modern classical is gonna be "lotta racket." It's not busy-noisy, but it is challenging/abstract/"out." And, for me, breathtaking. Mandatory disclosure, I've worked with Cuckson and consider her one of the most exciting players working, she has incredible taste and vision. But that aside this is a truly breathtaking piece of music in my opinion

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

a couple of weeks ago I couldn't sleep and I listened to The Wreckage of Flowers on headphones in the dark, close hard listening w/o any internet/visual distractions, and it was really like traveling into the depths of space - or seeing glaciers form - or something like that: this feeling of a thing that didn't exist before being built with sound. but with simple sound: brief two- and three-note phrases, one instrument alone most of the time playing on one or two strings, and rests in between the phrases. not "minimalist," but taking cues from minimalism; emotional but not romantic; an incredible piece of music

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

I would pick Debussy here, though to be honest, I love almost everything Ravel wrote for piano. As technical piano music, he's almost unsurpassed, and the compositions are generally ridiculously beautiful to boot. But Debussy's music just opened up a whole pandora's box, while Ravel was refining what poured out. Also, Debussy is at his least precious and "impressionist" in his piano music (the etudes in particular), and also his funniest (his homage to Haydn totally doesn't sound like Haydn to me, and in fact sounds like someone playing a modern jazz ballad in 1910). I have almost exactly the same opinion re: the Debussy and Ravel string quartets.

Satie I like, but his music has yet to really grab me by the heart. I find him pleasant, and also clever, but not really the gripping for some reason.

― Dominique, Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

and also, see Ligeti's piano music for modern takes on these three composers' piano styles

― Dominique, Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

and it was really like traveling into the depths of space - or seeing glaciers form - or something like that: this feeling of a thing that didn't exist before being built with sound.

I think of this as 'the Sibelius thing' and I seek it out wherever it is reported. What label, aero? (ie can i get it off eMusic)

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

Whoah I just looked him up on the Fanfare review database and his 140 minute piano cycle The Vanishing Pavilions sounds amazing!

The generating seed for The Vanishing Pavilions was the poetry of Christopher Middleton (b. 1926), and the booklet notes suggest that Hersch’s piece be considered “a shattered song cycle without words.” There are some 50 movements, approximately half of which are responses to poetic images by Middleton.

Moments of stasis are gratefully received. A case in point is the stark “Intermezzo (D)” of the first Book, a dark modernist chorale. Other movements take this sort of stasis and contrast it with violent outbursts, while one of the longest movements of Book 1, the 14th, is a telling funeral march that transforms into exploratory canons, bookended by a repeated intermezzo.

This is disquieting music, to be sure. It holds its spell not because it offers windows of hope but because it forces us to examine ourselves as we are now. The deathly images of the chosen poetry act as visceral reminders of our own mortality. The repetition of movements, either verbatim, altered, or entirely re-examined, is a feature of Hersch’s structural play, framing large statements or simply altering our viewpoints. It all leads to the climactic 48th movement, a vast Mahlerian procession. The final two movements act as a sort of leave-taking, the simple mechanics of the final statement—36 chords slowly heading towards the extreme upper end of the keyboard’s range—being all the more effective for that simplicity, that openness.

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's on Vanguard, and it is on eMusic, but as is often the case with eMusic classical stuff, it's labeled/sorted wrong - it's under Miranda Cuckson's name (which is actually somewhat fair, as she is a tirelessly champion of new music and deserves name recognition). It's here:

http://www.emusic.com/album/Miranda-Cuckson-Hersch-the-wreckage-of-flowers-MP3-Download/12330504.html

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Cool-- I have cred on there right now so I will listen and possibly DL tonite!

(PS yeah their "artist" field is fkin useless for classical-- I usually search using the "composer" option)

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

I grabbed it in mid-January, have listened several times & am listening again now - to me the effect of this music is so vivid, it's like discovering a new planetary system. but I can totally see how if somebody hadn't had any time for Berg/Webern/Weber, this would be tough - though to me - this is profoundly lyrical, just in a less metrical (is that a musical term? I mean in the poetic sense) way than lyricism often implies

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

the piano passage toward the end of part XIV of the wreckage of flowers is to me so heavily weighted with feeling...eager to hear how you like this

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

Psyched to hear it!

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 March 2011 22:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

Satie is one of the only classical composers to whom I feel any heart connection.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 4 March 2011 00:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Possibly I am completely missing the point, since for me at least some of his work is very emotionally expressive and evocative.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 4 March 2011 00:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

I have the Uchida. And that was a surprise too, I had her typed as a delicate player, but not on this

I love the Preludes -- it's just they're more in line with what I knew from his orchestral works, so it was hard for me to hear Debussy strictly in light of the piano. The Etudes are definitely more of a specific statement for the instrument. And I have to say, they are a lot more Satie than his earlier works!

& this is my favorite Tombeau / Gaspard: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/antonbatagov

xpost you may feel a heart connection with Satie, but it's not because he reached out and gripped it, it's because you already live in the same attic apartment with one disused piano stacked on top of the other one

― Milton Parker, Friday, 4 March 2011 00:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also, yeah, I think there will be a silent majority win for Satie, but maybe most people like me won't actually bother to vote.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 4 March 2011 00:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

actually that was why I had assumed Satie would walk this poll - I think his music appeals to a broad number of people who are reading it "wrong," which of course is an absurd notion - there is no "wrong" - but I feel like many people, on hearing Satie, regard him as expressive in the romantic style but in much simpler lines. Which is broadly appealing.

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 4 March 2011 00:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Monday, 7 March 2011 00:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

Voted Ravel, though it was a tough choice between him and Debussy. Thanksto this thread I am now also an A. Tharaud fan. His Chopin waltzes are my current preferred versions.

― A happenstance discovery of asynchronous lesbians (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 7 March 2011 00:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tharaud has a new disc of Scarlatti, which combo sounds absolutely perfect; can't wait to hear.

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 March 2011 16:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

holy heads up, thank Jon L! in high school I had some kind of import LP of Scarlatti whose name is lost to me but which lives on in visual memory (beautiful shiny red LP sleeve with an image of a marble statue) and which I rememer as sparkling, rich stuff, looking forward to hearing the Tharaud

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 7 March 2011 16:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

Scarlatti was such a genius, hundreds of these little gems all glittery with the light of sheer invention. A great foil to Bach and sometimes I actually like him better. His working circumstances are very very interesting too.

Even though his sonatas are VERY idiomatic to the harpsichord the way he ports to the modern piano is magical with a pianist of the right imagination and humor and bite. Horowitz made a couple dazzling LPs worth of Scarlatti, Pletnev did an amazing 2CD set, more recently there's a great Scarlatti disc by this hotshot young Russian guy on the BIS label goddamit I cannot remember his name... anyway I think the Tharaud will be aces high!

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 March 2011 17:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

hotshot young Russian guy on the BIS label goddamit I cannot remember his name...

Yevgeny Sudbin?

― corey, Monday, 7 March 2011 17:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

Him!

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 March 2011 18:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Another great Scarlatti-on-piano disc is Pogorelich's, which I adore alongside the others just mentioned. And I'd put Pierre Hantai (three discs, plus an earlier one with overlapping selections) at the top of the harpsichord heap. And of course there's W. Carlos, who was at her most inspired with this composer!

― Honor de Falla (Paul in Santa Cruz), Monday, 7 March 2011 18:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Tuesday, 8 March 2011 00:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

I voted Debussy but Ravel deserves more love imo

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 8 March 2011 00:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yes. If only for the existence of Gaspard de la nuit. "Ondine" floors me every time.

― We make bouquets that fade immediately. (Turangalila), Tuesday, 8 March 2011 00:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

too close for comfort

― save a tree, write a twitter (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 8 March 2011 00:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

Broke my long absence to vote for Ravel, who is untouchable.
― it also takes hip-hip with it (Eric H.), Thursday, March 3, 2011 11:14 AM (4 days ago)

Well, 'twas fun while it lasted.

― it also takes hip-hip with it (Eric H.), Tuesday, 8 March 2011 02:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

how many voted for "clair de lune" though

― corey, Tuesday, 8 March 2011 03:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

nah, Bartók vs. Schoenberg vs. Scriabin 8)

― corey, Thursday, March 3, 2011 9:52 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well, Schoenberg doesn't have a huge volume of solo pcs though, despite their significance.

I'd say Bartok v Scriabin v Prokofiev myself. Prok's large solo piano ouevre is very very underrated outside of a couple of sonatas...

― every man and woman is a sitar (Jon Lewis), Thursday, March 3, 2011 9:56 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I knew literally nothing about Scriabin other than his name until these posts on this thread. I think I had something by him on an IOrchestral Music From Russia music club disc but that's it. I now have over a GB of Scriabin on the hard drive and have been listening to him literally every day for the past week. Thank you Jon & corey for these posts; this guy is a titan, his music is bringing me immense pleasure.

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 16:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

& thanks too to nakchivan

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 16:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've been delving more into his piano music also. The late sonatas are just otherworldly.

― corey, Wednesday, 20 April 2011 20:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

cool

now to the poem of ecstasy.....

― Some other race (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 20:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Have started listening to some of this stuff after a looong break, feel like I appreciate it more having gone off and listened to a ton of Bill Evans (and others) in the meantime. Being an unreformed rockist, I'm looking for album recommendations for all the above to be enjoyed in nice 50 minute chunks. Overall performer recommendations would be good too - some performers seem to be massively better at interpreting the material than others.

― B-Boy Bualadh Bos (ecuador_with_a_c), Monday, 27 June 2011 06:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Man, the results of this one still make me so angry.

― ephendophile (Eric H.), Monday, 27 June 2011 17:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

There was no Prokofiev option :)

Borrowed from the library a rec of Gieseking playing Children's Corner (most of the recordings from the 50s) and other pieces, gonna listen to it tonight.

― corey, Tuesday, 28 June 2011 02:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

I guess it's silly to be mad about wishing for a two-way tie between Debussy and Ravel.

― ephendophile (Eric H.), Tuesday, 28 June 2011 03:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Just got this

It's gonna keep me busy for a while

― B-Boy Bualadh Bos (ecuador_with_a_c), Tuesday, 28 June 2011 08:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've been interested in that set. He plays a piano from Ravel's time right?

― corey, Tuesday, 28 June 2011 12:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yup. A 1901 Steinway.

― B-Boy Bualadh Bos (ecuador_with_a_c), Tuesday, 28 June 2011 13:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

nakh & Jon and anybody else, did you investigate Michael Hersch any further? I thought of starting a Michael Hersch Appreciation thread, he merits one imo, but it'd be a pretty windswept thread I think.

I'm in a hotel in the middle of nowhere listening hard to The Vanishing Pavilions - what incredibly visual music; Hersch is a lover of poetry and tries to shape a music that responds to it (romantic in his heart I think!) with incredible success. Putting my few thoughts very drily here but this music has great scope & depth, is for the ages honestly - deeply inspiring, challenging, satisfying.

― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 1 August 2011 12:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Every time this thread's revived, another stab in the heart.

― third-generation stripper (Eric H.), Monday, 1 August 2011 12:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

aww man I should start the Michael Hersch thread to spare the feelings of Ravel voters, whose grief is not without some merit

― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 1 August 2011 13:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Lately I'm begging to think Schubert might be my favorite composer for piano.

― corey, Monday, 1 August 2011 14:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

Aero, I have had Hersch's long violin + piano work on my eMusic Saved list since your earlier posts. Mebbe this is the month I grab it. The samples are very, very interesting.

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Monday, 1 August 2011 15:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

There are few things as transcendent as Ashkenazy's recording of "Ondine" from Gaspard de la nuit.

― The Not Liking Radiohead Awards (Turangalila), Monday, 1 August 2011 15:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

No Faure option? I probably would have voted Satie.

― o. nate, Monday, 1 August 2011 19:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

Faurés nocturnes for piano are so lovely.

― The Not Liking Radiohead Awards (Turangalila), Monday, 1 August 2011 19:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Faure vs. Koechlin vs. De Severac

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 15:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

De Severwho?

― corey, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

If this is some fin de siècle composer I didn't know about, tell me more!

― corey, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

Every time this thread's revived, another stab in the heart

no way! Debussy is one of those composers who has the aura of establishment, but in actuality, I run into not enough people who rep for him. underrated in my book

― Dominique, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Totally, especially the last three sonatas. They're a whole other world.

― corey, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

this thread makes me want to listen to every single thing mentioned in it

― davon cuul II (m bison), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 03:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Corey, Deodat de Severac was roughly a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel and is definitely within that musical orbit. Add a more french-rustic feel as well as more frequent visits to musical Spain. There is a cheap 3CD set of Aldo Ciccolini performing the whole oeuvre.

For another lesser known figure from that world of piano magic, seek out Decaux, whose sole piano work is on a fantastic Fredric Chiu recital disc on Harmonia Mundi which also includes my favorite rec of Ravel's Miroirs and a beautiful rendition of Schoenberg's op. 11.

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 4 August 2011 16:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

Thank you! I know Decaux's "Clair de Lune" — odd, lilting little Scriabinesque reverie. Apparently he destroyed everything else he wrote?

― corey, Thursday, 4 August 2011 16:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

aero ~ i hadn't heard hersh previously, i looked at what's on youtube and it's interesting, quite compressed and lapidary though the full 'vanishing pavillions' is seemingly two hrs long....i will probably investigate more fully in time

― nakhchivan, Thursday, 4 August 2011 16:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

dominique otm

― The Not Liking Radiohead Awards (Turangalila), Thursday, 4 August 2011 18:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, I forgot to OTM that when dominique posted it but I clamorously agree.

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 4 August 2011 19:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

happy birthday Debussy!

― Dominique, Thursday, 23 August 2012 02:55 (9 months ago) Permalink