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.
― Frederik B, Friday, 13 September 2019 09:35 (four years ago) link
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)!
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Friday, 13 September 2019 11:05 (four years ago) link
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??
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Friday, 13 September 2019 12:38 (four years ago) link
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).
― Frederik B, Friday, 13 September 2019 12:43 (four years ago) link
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)
― sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Friday, 13 September 2019 13:23 (four years ago) link
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, Friday, 13 September 2019 13:34 (four years ago) link
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
― Frederik B, Friday, 13 September 2019 13:47 (four years ago) link
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.
― sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Friday, 13 September 2019 14:14 (four years ago) link
Take your time – this is an adagio thread for the most part.
― pomenitul, Friday, 13 September 2019 14:17 (four years ago) link
Who tf writes operas?
My inkling is that they're more popular on this side of the pond.
― pomenitul, Friday, 13 September 2019 14:19 (four years ago) link
i know a bunch of opera writers but i think that's a lol nyc thing
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 13 September 2019 19:00 (four years ago) link
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!
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Friday, 13 September 2019 20:59 (four years ago) link
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".
― sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Saturday, 14 September 2019 01:49 (four years ago) link
I'm all for such experiments.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 08:14 (four years ago) link
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.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 14 September 2019 14:53 (four years ago) link
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.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:16 (four years ago) link
Seeing Barbara Hannigan sing Let Me Tell You from the third row was one of the bigger musical experiences I've had lately.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:18 (four years ago) link
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
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:38 (four years ago) link
Yeah, it's wonderful. The first instalment is worth hearing as well.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:40 (four years ago) link
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.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:49 (four years ago) link
Not crazy about most of their picks tbh but why not? I look forward to Noodle Vague's spinoff.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:52 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that would definitely be the best part.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:55 (four years ago) link
Anyways, I'll try and set it up later.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:56 (four years ago) link
Sounds good. Thanks!
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:57 (four years ago) link
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
― a wagon to the curious (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:08 (four years ago) link
Make it all André Rieu, Max Richter and John Williams. Oh, and Sting.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:11 (four years ago) link
Trans Siberian imo And “Two Steps to Hell” or whatever those trailer guys call themselves
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:18 (four years ago) link
Number one is clearly Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to Dunkirk.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:19 (four years ago) link
Yesssss! Two Steps from Hell iirc.
xp
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:19 (four years ago) link
Come to think of it, Jeremy Soule would also be a good fit.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:20 (four years ago) link
True but not lol enough
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:25 (four years ago) link
You're right, not to mention needlessly edgy in light of recent events.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:31 (four years ago) link
Top opera = The Black Parade
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:40 (four years ago) link
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/
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
Maybe too raucous, actually. Not calm and relaxing like classical music is supposed to be. xp
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
Ah, that chart: that's real music right there.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:43 (four years ago) link
At a first pass, I'm tempted to go with The Priests.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:45 (four years ago) link
bingo
― a wagon to the curious (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link
Never forget:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVAp7e5zFaM
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 16:48 (four years ago) link
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/
― pomenitul, Saturday, 14 September 2019 17:33 (four years ago) link
Poll: New Cat Power
― Frederik B, Saturday, 14 September 2019 20:14 (four years ago) link
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)
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 14 September 2019 20:54 (four years ago) link
I really enjoyed this performance of Debussy's Six Epigraphes antiques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08WYwr4eUsg
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 17:12 (four years ago) link
Giving concerts this week with some of the best choral music I have ever sung. Or at least, it's some of the most fun to sing ever, I don't know how it feels to listen to. Per Nørgårds Wie Ein Kind. Listen to this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Lvkc0I4AkSo much fun. I want to learn it by heart and sing it at bars.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 17:52 (four years ago) link
Just listened to the new recording of Aaron Jay Kernis's Flute Concerto, which is pretty fun and energetic. Three of the four movements are based on old dance rhythms (barcarole, pavan, tarantelle) and the other is a pastorale. I'd want to listen more to break down more of what's going on harmonically but it was an enjoyable casual first listen. Kernis credits Jethro Tull as an influence on the fourth movement! Idk how well I heard it.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Wednesday, 2 October 2019 18:55 (four years ago) link
I just ordered the Philip Thomas 5CD box of Morton Feldman solo piano music from the Another Timbre label and they sent me a download link for a FLAC file of Triadic Memories, which is 90 minutes long and thus split between discs 3 and 4. So they're good folks and I recommend purchasing this set from them if you want one. (It's actually a little cheaper on their website than on Bandcamp.)
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Thursday, 10 October 2019 23:25 (four years ago) link
It’s excellent, but I think I’m burnt out on Feldman at this point.
― pomenitul, Friday, 11 October 2019 08:30 (four years ago) link
https://jessicapavone.bandcamp.com/album/brick-and-mortar
this is a rather beautiful two violins, two violas quartet.
― calzino, Friday, 11 October 2019 09:50 (four years ago) link
Thanks, I'll check it out.
Btw, Hannes Kerschbaumer's first Kairos monograph is thoroughly worth investigating as well:
https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015060kai
― pomenitul, Friday, 11 October 2019 09:54 (four years ago) link