The nice thing about all these second and third rate composers is that recordings of their works tend to be so few and far between that you don't need to go through the headache-inducing process of comparing endless takes on the 'Eroica' or whatever. There's likely better out there in most cases but these are the ones I've heard (just the conductors for convenience's sake):
Carl Maria von Weber - Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 19 (1806-1807) – Roger NorringtonFerdinand Ries - Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 115 (1809) – Uew GroddFrançois-Adrien Boieldieu - Harp Concerto in C major (1800-1801) – Leo Hussain (see YT link upthread)Franz Joseph Haydn - Mass No. 13 in B-flat major (1801) – Helmuth RillingFranz Joseph Haydn - Mass No. 14 in B-flat major (1802) – Helmuth RillingFranz Joseph Haydn - The Seasons (1801) – René JacobsGaspare Spontini - La Vestale (1807) – Riccardo MutiGiachino Rossini - Demetrio e Polibio (1806) – Massimiliano CarraroJohann Nepomuk Hummel - Trumpet Concerto in E major (1803) – Alison BalsomLouis Spohr - Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 26 (1808-1809) – Robin O'NeillMuzio Clementi - Piano Sonatas, Op. 40 (1802) – Pietro de Maria
(I half-take back what I wrote, there are more alternatives than I expected.)
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 13:32 (four years ago) link
well that's my listening for today sorted
i don't care if it makes me "basic", i love love love beethoven's fifth, i love the ridiculous james brown codas on all the movements except the third, i love how totally all-time the melodies are. i mean i just saw a really good performance last weekend but even if i hadn't, it'd be the fifth
i'll try to listen to some more before voting but i don't really see anything changing my vote
nominations for compositions you've missed? anton reicha's "36 fugues", unless there's some revised version that's going to show up on a later list.
― tantric societal collapse (rushomancy), Friday, 1 November 2019 13:41 (four years ago) link
Am not familiar with Reicha's 36 Fugues and I fucking love fugues. Thanks for the tip.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 13:45 (four years ago) link
Thanks so much Pom!
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 1 November 2019 13:45 (four years ago) link
And I do agree that the 5th is absolutely incredible and has yet to buckle under the weight of the palimpsest-like meanings that have been ascribed to it over the centuries.
xp my pleasure, LBI!
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 13:47 (four years ago) link
dunno if i'll get round to listening to all the ones i don't know so well from this list but i have to point out that Beethoven's Violin Concerto is fucking amazing
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 November 2019 13:49 (four years ago) link
Hell yes. The prick who sneeringly dismissed it as a 'tympani concerto' or whatever after its premiere can go fuck himself.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 13:52 (four years ago) link
The central movement is transcendent, I like to think he was just too out there to be appreciated by his cloth-eared contemporaries on this one
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 November 2019 13:55 (four years ago) link
LVB, Op 131, C#min — my favourite late quartet; an opening Adagio that feels like darkness descending, a bonkers Scherzo where the wheels seem always about to fall off, and that amazing galloping final movement with its almost Eastern-sounding passages and the soaring trill at the end that's the high point of the whole piece. I haven't listened to it in a while — thanks for reminding me how much I love it!
― dinnerboat, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:12 (four years ago) link
We're not quite there but it will be among the strongest 1820s contenders, no doubt about it!
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:18 (four years ago) link
*there yet
Shit, sorry — I misread the title. A vote for Pastoral, then.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:21 (four years ago) link
Yeah, my instinct is to go Pastoral as well
― Frederik B, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:24 (four years ago) link
No love for the piano trios? The so-called 'Ghost Trio' features an appropriately spooky middle movement that inspired Samuel Beckett to write (compose?) a television play.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:30 (four years ago) link
Pastoral is the most vividly cinematic music for me - it creates an entire film in my head.
― jmm, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:31 (four years ago) link
I'll take a listen to the piano trios :)
― Frederik B, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:55 (four years ago) link
I'm partial to the Trio Wanderer set fwiw.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 14:57 (four years ago) link
Top 5 here are waldstein sonata, eroica, pastoral, 5th, op. 59 #1Why’d you leave out op. 27#1? I love that piece best of all the “opus twentysomething” sonatas
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Friday, 1 November 2019 17:08 (four years ago) link
No idea tbh, maybe because I assumed no one would vote for it anyway (in which case I should have excluded far more than I did). I agree that it holds up better than the Moonlight Sonata.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 17:25 (four years ago) link
I also love the designation 'Quasi una fantasia', which Sibelius later took up in his 1st Symphony.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 17:26 (four years ago) link
pom thank you in advance for this project which will be truly educational for me
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 1 November 2019 18:16 (four years ago) link
My pleasure, silby! I hope one decade per week isn't too rapid a pace.
― pomenitul, Friday, 1 November 2019 18:23 (four years ago) link
Didn't we all play Clementi when we took piano lessons? I sure did. I went back and listened to some of it recently and honestly I think it holds up well.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 1 November 2019 18:29 (four years ago) link
a decade a week is definitely too rapid but I love lists and I'll file these away
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 1 November 2019 18:57 (four years ago) link
I like this thread idea. I'm not voting but I look forward to the discussion and results.
― wasdnuos (abanana), Friday, 1 November 2019 20:07 (four years ago) link
I'll mainly be listening and reading during this period, but I don't need much excuse to make a playlist and hurriedly created this one before bed last night. (pomenitul's recommendations where I could find them, but kinda arbitrary otherwise.)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EYlQf53HQG7HmGpmCwmw0
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 2 November 2019 02:41 (four years ago) link
Thanks, Nag! Much appreciated.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 2 November 2019 09:38 (four years ago) link
Btw what are everyone's favourite recordings of the Beethoven picks?
― pomenitul, Saturday, 2 November 2019 09:39 (four years ago) link
Op.27 “Moonlight” Sonata: Rudolf Serkin, Ivan Moravec, Ronald BrautigamOp. 53 “Waldstein” Sonata: Alfred Brendel (his first one, on Vox), Pollini, Stephen Kovacevich, ArrauOp. 57 “Appassionata” Sonata: Sviatoslav Richter, Ivan Moravec[for the ones you should have included: Alfred Brendel’s 90s recordings of Op. 27 #1 and the almighty Op. 32 trilogy.]3rd, 5th and 6th symphonies: I always come back to Pierre Monteux on London Decca. The most satisfying cycle I know. For a recent fast and stinging approach, Mackerras. 4th piano concerto: Ivan Moravec or Stephen KovacevichViolin Concerto: Isabelle FaustString Quartets: Vegh Quartet (their stereo ones on London Decca), Takacs Quartet Trios: I have several I like but no resounding favorite Cello Sonatas: Richter/Rostropovich [you should have included the awesome Op.30 trilogy of Violin Sonatas! Here I like kremer/argerich and dumay/pires. Not sure if Faust/Melnikov have recorded these but if they have it probably slays).
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 2 November 2019 12:50 (four years ago) link
I love the Op. 30 trilogy, but I tried my best to preempt Beethoven overkill. And Faust/Melnikov have indeed recorded it – by far one of my favourite violin/piano duos, alongside the other two pairs you mention!
― pomenitul, Saturday, 2 November 2019 14:36 (four years ago) link
Waldstein vs Symphony 5 atm
― No language just sound (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 November 2019 11:43 (four years ago) link
I've been listening to the 1954 Stokowski recording of Pastoral on NML. A really pleasant listen.
― No language just sound (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 November 2019 13:10 (four years ago) link
will give these a fair listen but I gotta say symphony no 5 is gonna be hard to beat
― esempio (crüt), Sunday, 3 November 2019 13:46 (four years ago) link
I ended up going with the so-called 'Kreutzer' sonata (with Kremer/Argerich in mind) because it, too, deserves our love.
― pomenitul, Monday, 4 November 2019 09:05 (four years ago) link
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, November 2, 2019 3:41 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink
Thankig u! <3
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 4 November 2019 17:19 (four years ago) link
Would you prefer two weeks instead of one for the remaining polls or is the current pace fine? Let me know.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 10:44 (four years ago) link
I think this poll series is absolutely awesome but I just don’t have the time to seriously listen to even a tenth of this list or of the rock/metal tracks poll going on :(
― Siegbran, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 11:04 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
Ludwig van Beethoven - Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (1808)
this is really good - thanks, Spotify playlist
― Josefa, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 14:30 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 7 November 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
aw man i forgot to vote. Symphony No. 5 for me.
― esempio (crüt), Thursday, 7 November 2019 00:35 (four years ago) link
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1807-1808) 2Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 (1805) 1Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27/2 (1801) 1
c'mon y'all!!
― esempio (crüt), Thursday, 7 November 2019 00:37 (four years ago) link
I did vote for Symphony 5 in the end. As much of a cliché as it has become, it is a perfect composition imo.
― No language just sound (Sund4r), Thursday, 7 November 2019 02:40 (four years ago) link
Heh, I didn't expect Hummel to make a dent out of all the non-Beethoven selections, but I'm glad there was at least one exception to the rule.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 7 November 2019 08:40 (four years ago) link
Onwards to part 2:
Wherein We Vote for Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1810s
― pomenitul, Thursday, 7 November 2019 08:54 (four years ago) link