Rolling Classical 2019

I saw Roderick Williams and Christopher Glyn performing an English translation a couple of years ago and altho I have my doubts about lyrics in translation this was really well done, it worked for and Williams is a lovely, intimate singer

I've come around – there's no cause to shoot such attempts down on principle. Looks like a recording is available, so I'll check it out soon.

You're not wrong about Mattei's voice. I'm liking this a lot four tracks in. The recording is also very pleasant-sounding.

Don’t forget Hans Zender’s ‘composed interpretation’ of Winterreise when you really want to flip your wig.

All rankings are worthless and arbitrary, etc., etc., no doubt about it, but it's still an amusing exercise that contemporary classical isn't often afforded:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/12/best-classical-music-works-of-the-21st-century

16 of the 25 greatest classical works of the 21st century were written by anglophone composers. 🤔

I was scrolling through the list getting angrier and angrier that they left off 'Let Me Tell You'... Which of course was also written for, and after an idea by, an anglophone performer.

Thanks: stuff to check out. But omg their critics love vocal music. The top 7 are either operas or song cycles (and I think six of those are operas)!

That might partly explain the anglophone slant (?), although tbf a 64% anglo share is much lower than what you would find on a list of greatest pop or jazz releases in an English-language paper. Tbh, the majority of the contemporary composers I like probably are anglophones, tbh. Always happy to learn more.

But an even greater percentage of the new notated music I see consists primarily of solo or chamber music (or of makeshift versions of larger ensembles, e.g. guitar orchestras). Who tf writes operas??

I think a lot of people write chamber operas? I liked the discussion I saw recently of what was the best long full orchestra piece, 45 min+. It was kinda hard to make a list (though Andrew Normans Play is obviously missing from the Guardian list).

which you'd guess based on the sub-Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer orchestral writing and programmatic attempt at erasing the 20th century from living memory (except for Strauss and Mahler and maybe Florent Schmitt). I'd be curious to hear some of his earlier works, which are reportedly arch-modernist in idiom.

― pomenitul

fucking hell, florent schmitt is about the only composer i'd argue _should_ be erased from living memory (not for artistic reasons, admittedly)

I'd be happy to erase him from living memory and consign his works to anonymity. They would still be played but no one would know who wrote them. One can dream…

The proms had a new choral piece by John Luther Adams, btw. It's for 600+ singers. Not as good as Canticles of the Holy Wind to me, a bit kitschy, but it's also quite beautiful. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00088y5

I'd be happy to erase him from living memory and consign his works to anonymity. They would still be played but no one would know who wrote them. One can dream…

― pomenitul

I actually have been thinking further on him since your mention of him and I have further thoughts, which I don't have time to write up right now. I will attempt later.

Take your time – this is an adagio thread for the most part.

Who tf writes operas?

My inkling is that they're more popular on this side of the pond.

i know a bunch of opera writers but i think that's a lol nyc thing

wait lol the david moss in olga neuwirth's lynch opera is the same david moss who I have demolishing the human throat on an old LP with Tom Cora? Man I totally forgot about him! Downloading!

I wrote something up today during a catastrophic system outage but I feel like leaving it more as background for myself.

I kind of take a different tack towards the issue than you. I think Florent Schmitt, the man, should be remembered, but if given the opportunity I think that I should destroy every note that he ever wrote, as a counter-proposal to the theory that one can "separate the art from the artist".

I'm all for such experiments.

Obv someone is writing these operas but ime most composers don't have as much access to orchestras or operas, especially if they are younger/less-connected/less-conservative, so it's not where I usually see the most activity in new music. I'll freely admit, though, that I don't spend that much time seeking out new operas and mostly prefer solo or chamber music anyway, so my gauge could be off.

In any event, I'm listening to Let Me Tell You for the first time and liking it fairly well so far.

The notion that operas are, well, the magna opera of the classical tradition as a whole irritates me to no end (like when literature is assumed to be synonymous with narrative, at the expense of poetry), so my go-to stance is correctively anti-operatic. Which isn't to say that I dislike the form (I am currently listening to Pascal Dusapin's Penthesilea and am finding it quite excellent so far) but, like you, I tend to prefer solo and chamber music as well.

Seeing Barbara Hannigan sing Let Me Tell You from the third row was one of the bigger musical experiences I've had lately.

Prism II, new ECM from Danish String Quartet, has Well Tempered Clavier, Beethoven's String Quartet #13 and String Quartet #3 by Alfred Schnittke (who i won't pretend I know). seems lovely on first spin

Yeah, it's wonderful. The first instalment is worth hearing as well.

Oh, didn't know it was out yet! Yeah, really looking forward to hearing that. Also, as I'm bragging about concerts I've been to, hearing the last night of the Beethoven cycle the Danish String Quartet did last fall was pretty incredible. Even if 16 is a bit of an anticlimax coming after 14.

Would anyone be up for a poll of the Guardian list, btw? I only really know three of the pieces, but I'd try and check some more of it.

Not crazy about most of their picks tbh but why not? I look forward to Noodle Vague's spinoff.

Yeah, that would definitely be the best part.

Anyways, I'll try and set it up later.

Sounds good. Thanks!

i don't know how i'd go about generating the entries for a spin-off because there's no equivalency to sales, except obviously i'd add Gaz's Quatuor pour la fin du Trumps

Make it all André Rieu, Max Richter and John Williams. Oh, and Sting.

Trans Siberian imo

And “Two Steps to Hell” or whatever those trailer guys call themselves

Number one is clearly Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to Dunkirk.

Yesssss! Two Steps from Hell iirc.

xp

Come to think of it, Jeremy Soule would also be a good fit.

True but not lol enough

You're right, not to mention needlessly edgy in light of recent events.

Top opera = The Black Parade

Here's the crutch we needed:

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-biggest-selling-classical-albums-of-the-last-25-years-in-the-uk-revealed__20262/

Maybe too raucous, actually. Not calm and relaxing like classical music is supposed to be. xp

Ah, that chart: that's real music right there.

At a first pass, I'm tempted to go with The Priests.

bingo

Never forget:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVAp7e5zFaM

Oh look, Norman Lebrecht has an opinion again. He disagrees with The Guardian's top 25, which only overlaps with his own top 20 by about 8 composers.

https://slippedisc.com/2019/09/best-works-of-the-21st-century/

Poll: New Cat Power

wtf...

Credit where due, lebrecht’s 20th century music guide was a helpful starting point for me when I started digging in in 1996, but he really is a crank.

Titanic is legit the best thing on that linked top 20 (tbh despite some hella cornball opuses Horner was the real deal and certainly makes most film composers working now look like ants)

I really enjoyed this performance of Debussy's Six Epigraphes antiques:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08WYwr4eUsg