Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1830s

No hate :) Only love. Elixirs.

Sor's op. 60 (also titled "Introduction à l'étude de la guitare") is, as it sounds, a collection of short etudes for beginning to intermediate classical guitar students. Fantaisie Élégiaque is a major repertoire work for solo performers and the far more substantial piece imo, maybe an OPO for Sor. The "Marche funèbre" movement (about 9:35 in this video) is one of my favourite pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buhQtXKc88U

Any further recording recommendations for these Schumann works? He has somehow mostly washed over me in the past. This seems as good a time as any for some immersion!

Thanks for the heads up, Sund4r – that is indeed a worthier piece than the Op. 60. If you've got any guitar recommendations that I'm likely to overlook for the coming decades, do let me know.

As for Schumann recording recommendations:

Papillons, Op. 2 – Sviatoslav Richter (1963)
Carnaval, Op. 9 – Maria João Pires
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 11 – Leif Ove Andsnes
Etudes symphoniques, Op. 13 – Maurizio Pollini
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 14 – András Schiff
Kinderszenen, Op. 15 – Radu Lupu
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 – Alexandre Lonquich
Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 – Martha Argerich
Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 – Marc-André Hamelin
Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 – Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

No Davidsbundlertanze??? That would have been my vote most likely. Not that you don’t have ample Schumann but it’s his crown jewel imo.

I've never gotten into them tbh. Which recording would you recommend?

Charles Rosen, Benjamin Frith, Maria Tipo.

Rosen’s sections on Schumann in The Romantic Generation are some of my favorite music writing anywhere ever. Was a real turning point in my appreciation of what Schumann was up to in his diabolically elusive and allusive solo piano works

Actually that whole book would be urgent and key for this installment of this poll

Duly noted, thanks. I haven't read Rosen and am only acquainted with his pianism via his Elliott Carter recordings.

Dude you will LOVE the romantic generation
It’s actually one of my top 5 non fiction books period

Sold! I'm fascinated with German Romanticism in all of its forms (literary, philosophical, pictorial, musical, etc.) so it's my fault for not getting to it sooner.

absolutely cosine the rosen writing love, he's great

listening to an extremely crackly youtube of the cleveland symphonie fantastique (by choice - it seemed a more me-friendly interpretation than the cleaner boston one)

With Boulez conducting?

nah some chap called rodzinsky, maybe i'll look for the boulez

*rodzinski

i am grand charlatan lol

i'm listening to Fantaisie Élégiaque and maybe it's me but this _really_ sounds like guitar tuning, like if it wasn't written in the 1830s i'd assume that was on purpose and it was some kind of postmodern thing

For a powerful recent recording of the SF, look to Les Siecles conducted by Francois Xavier Roth.

^ seconded. All period instruments, to boot.

I'd also like to rep for Schumann's 2nd Sonata, whose first tempo marking is 'So rasch wie möglich' ('as fast as possible'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1y9yQoDCng

boulez one is pretty sick i must say

Indeed. All finely hued sinewy analytic colours.

My fave of the three Schumann sonatas is definitely the first, but all three are great. For #2 I keep coming back to Bernd Glemser, Jorg Demus, and Richter.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Went with the Fantasie in the end.

I've certainly spent most time listening to The Hebrides.

Kreisleriana, as a representative of Schumann at his gnarliest and most formally unique

Is there any reason why there are so many pieces by Felix Mendelssohn on the list, but nothing by her sister? A lot of her best work was composed in the 1830s, such as the 1831 Bible Oratorio and the 1834 string quartet.

I'm not a huge fan of her music but I agree that the string quartet should have been an option.

I ended up voting for 24 Preludes over Symphonie Fantastique, just bc I have already voted for a symphony and not for any solo works.

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

Thanks for the recording tips by the way. This ended up being Schumann Piano Works Week in this house!

Only 14 votes? :(

I suppose it was to be expected after last week's Beethoven-Schubert bonanza.

Which recording of the Preludes do you goodly people recommend?

I'm a Pollini stan when it comes to Chopin in particular, so… Maurizio Pollini.

He has a fine forehead.

Ivan Moravec for the preludes

Here’s my top 12 Schumann piano albums
Davidsbundlertanze + Carnaval - Rosen (Sony)
Kreisleriana + Kinderszenen - Argerich (DG)
Fantasie + Carnaval - Arrau* (Philips/Decca whatever UMG call it now)
Sonata #1 + Kreisleriana - Perahia (Sony)
Richter DG recital incl Fantasiestucke + Waldszenen (DG)
Humoreske et al - Richter (Melodiya)
Symphonic Etudes + Humoreske - Andrew de Grado (Centaur)
Sonata #2 et al - Bernd Glemser (Naxos)
Fantasie (coupled with Schubert) - Pollini (DG)
Novelettes - Jorg Demus (Nuova Era and other labels)
Davidsbundlertanze + Fantasiestucke - Benjamin Frith (Naxos)
Kinderszenen + Kreisleriana - Horowitz (Sony)

*not sure what the current availability of Arrau’s Schumann recordings is, I’m sure they are in print, but in the Arrau Plays Schumann box set I have, Carnaval and Fantasie are on one disc and are both absolutely crushing

Yes you end up with three Kreislerianas but whattayagonnado people like recording it

These polls are so great - just what I needed in terms of focussing what has been a hideously disparate approach to stuff for so many years. I've always dabbled with him but it turns out I absolutely bloody love Chopin.