Rolling Classical 2020

works for me

"Drawn Into the Flight Path of the Sounds": Xenakis Listening Thread

enjoyed Philip Corner's Chord Gong! (with Carles Santos), four-hand versions of Corner’s “Chord” and “Gong!”: https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/chord-gong-with-carles-santos

actually, I've liked everything Unseen Worlds has released this year

This might be the dumbest woke classical music take yet (by a UMass Amherst theorist): https://slate.com/culture/2020/10/fullname-famous-composers-racism-sexism.html

Collaborative Arts Chicago streaming a concert of art song by modern women composers tonight: https://www.caichicago.org/broadcast.html

Programme: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xF2RFfp5Wg3rhCH4NEzDwFY7-7BRlTuO/view

On that fullname thing, I thought someone who was as universally known as Beethoven or Mozart was referred to by last name only because of their fame? I can see a case for Schumann, since there are two of close to equal standing. But if I said Bach, would you assume I meant CPE, or Johann Sebastian? Price is almost known enough to be referred to by surname, but really, why try that when she's still a forgotten composer? New composers aren't known yet, why would you say "the Blanchard" if I'm not going to know what that is?

Yes. It's true that white men dominate the European art music canon but the fairly obvious reasons for that precede their 'last-naming'. People do say "Ellington" or "Oliveros". Demanding that people say "Ludwig van Beethoven" every time will not help women or minorities and if anything just seems even more alienating and exclusionary to a general audience. As a nonwhite composer, this is certainly not something that has ever concerned me, nor does the white male author cite any women or minorities who have expressed concern about this. If you want to do something, do more to promote performances of contemporary composers so more diverse names become well-known enough to recognize.

I don't think even my undergrad music and gender prof would argue that Clara Schumann was as important a composer as Robert btw.

Yeah, I think I took a joke too seriously about Clara being "the good Schumann" tbh. Bobby did some pretty great stuff, and I'm not as into solo piano music as I am symphonic stuff, so I'm probably overcompensating.

I've been happily but haphazardly dipping into the 19th century thanks to pomenitul's polls, and so far the big revelation is Gabriel Fauré (I've listened to plenty of new-to-me pieces by other more familiar composers), based only on the Nocturnes so far. I gather the Requiem is major--does anyone have a recording to recommend? And my thanks to pom for specifically mentioning Le Sage's Nocturnes, which is wonderful.

I like William Schuman, me. And I like the full-name proposal! didn't really need to be argued so hard, even. Thought it was funny that the article concluded with "let it be Ludwig Beethoven" ... ...

Also plz let it be "Adolf Hitler"; Idi Amin not getting enough respect.

I think I'd actually be on board with people saying "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi" tbf.

Clara was always "the good Hitler" tbf

lol

*Kneels in fgti’s direction*

enjoying this"

https://www.kairos-music.com/sites/default/files/cds/0015030KAI_scelsi_frontcover.jpg

https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015030kai

rob, which recording(s) of fauré's "requiem" did you end up listening to?

Not rob, obv., but I'm very fond of the pared down 1893 chamber version, featuring two of the greatest living French vocalists (really):

https://www.allmusic.com/album/fauré-requiem-mw0001869315

And I second your enjoyment of Scelsi Revisited. Pure (post-)(proto-)spectralist bliss.

Today's listening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6357vL9TPg

"Poor fellow, I weep for him"

Does that Scelsi cover actually say "Ragnhild Berståd"?? Over-Nordicizing if so; her name is Berstad afaik.

rob, which recording(s) of fauré's "requiem" did you end up listening to?

― budo jeru, Saturday, November 7, 2020 12:21 PM (two days ago)

pomenitul very kindly ilxmailed me a recommendation of the Accentus recording he linked to. I loved it—and have really enjoyed all the other Fauré I've checked out in the past few weeks—though my mental space was invaded by the US election and I need to return and revisit. I'm definitely open to other versions though, so let me know if you have a favourite!

Does that Scelsi cover actually say "Ragnhild Berståd"?? Over-Nordicizing if so; her name is Berstad afaik.

Mötley Crüe-style, heh. At least Kairos's website dispenses with the overring.

Now that the year is slowly drawing to a close, I put together a list of my favourite 2020 classical releases so far, if anyone's interested. A word of warning, however: it skews heavily towards contemporary music, in keeping with my listening habits of late. Oh, and the periodization is a bit iffy at times, but that's almost always the case anyway.

Renaissance

Philippe Pierlot, Lucile Boulanger, Myriam Rignol & Rolf Lislevand – Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe et ses filles

Baroque

Johann Sebastian Bach – Johannes-Passion (Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe)

Classical

Ludwig van Beethoven – Violin Sonatas 1-4 (Frank Peter Zimmermann & Martin Helmchen)
Ludwig van Beethoven & Joseph-François Gossec – Symphony No. 5; Symphonie à 17 parties (Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth)

Romantic

Edvard Grieg – Violin Sonatas (Eldbjørg Hemsing & Simon Trpčeski)
Franz Liszt – Années de pèlerinage (Suzana Bartal)
Franz Liszt – Between Light & Darkness (Vincent Larderet)
Johannes Brahms – Clarinet Sonatas (Jörg Widmann & András Schiff)
Johannes Brahms – The Final Piano Pieces (Stephen Hough)

Late Romantic / Early Modern

Amatis Trio – Enescu, Ravel, Britten
Carl Nielsen – Symphonies 1 & 2 (Seatle Symphony, Thomas Dausgaard)
Célimène Daudet – Messe noire. Liszt, Scriabine
Charles Ives – Complete Symphonies (Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel)
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 2; King Kristian II (Gothenburg Symphony, Santtu Matias-Rouvali)
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 3, ‘Pastoral’; Symphony No. 4 (BBC SO, Martyn Brabbins)

Modern

Constantin Silvestri – Complete Piano Works (Luiza Borac)
Cyrillus Kreek – The Suspended Harp of Babel (Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve)
Daniil Trifonov – Silver Age
Dmitri Shostakovich – Piano Quintet; Seven Romances (Trio Wanderer, et al.)

Postwar / Late 20th Century

Luciano Berio – Coro; Cries of London (Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Grete Pedersen)

Contemporary

Alberto Posadas – Poética del laberinto
Bára Gísladóttir – HĪBER
Benjamin Dwyer – what is the word
Christian Mason – Zwischen den Sternen
Clara Iannotta – Earthing
Enno Poppe – Fett; Ich kann mich an nichts erinnern
Éric Montalbetti – Chamber Music. Harmonieuses dissonances
Gerald Eckert – absence
Gonçalo Gato – NowState
Howard Skempton – Preludes and Fugues; Nocturnes; Reflections; Images (William Howard)
Klangforum Wien – Scelsi Revisited
Leo Brouwer – 30 Estudios sencillos (Thibault Cauvin)
Linda Buckley – From Ocean’s Floor
Liza Lim – Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus
Naomi Pinnock – Lines and Spaces
Outi Tarkiainen – The Earth, Spring’s Daughter; Saivo
Rebecca Saunders – Still; Aether; Alba
Richard Valitutto – Nocturnes & Lullabies
Sebastian Hilli – confluence / divergence
Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble, Andrej Power, Lawrence Power & Christianne Stotijn – Voices of Angels
Thomas Wally – Jusqu’à l’aurore
Timothy McCormack – KARST
Tobias Eduard Schick – Chamber Music
Tõnu Kõrvits – Hymns to the Nordic Lights
Tõnu Kõrvits – You Are Light and Morning (Sei la luce e il mattino)
Víctor Ibarra – The Dimension of the Fragile
Wet Ink Ensemble – Smoke, Airs
Xavier Dayer – Chamber Music
Zeynep Gedizlioğlu – Verbinden und Abwenden

Cross-Era Recitals

Barbara Hannigan & Ludwig Orchestra – La passione: Nono, Haydn, Grisey
Bertrand Chamayou – Good Night!
Élodie Vignon – D’ombres. Dutilleux, Ledoux
Jean-Pierre Collot – The Way to Sound: Spectral Visions of Goethe (Dufourt, Liszt, Schubert)

i will likely go fishing in the contemporary collection. what from that list do you think is most accessible?

Howard Skempton, Leo Brouwer, Linda Buckley, Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble, et al., Tõnu Kõrvits are probably your best bets.

Right now, I'd say the Buckley is my favourite of the lot. Here's a review if you're curious:

https://johnsonsrambler.wordpress.com/2020/10/01/linda-buckley-from-oceans-floor/

nice, thanks!

Big up Pom, thanks for that list! Bára Gísladóttir was a wonderful surprise already, so I'm stoked to explore more from your list.

My pleasure! A few more I haven't heard yet but that I suspect are quite good:

Enno Poppe – Stoff
Georg Nigl & Olga Pashchenko – Vanitas: Beethoven, Schubert & Rihm (out Nov 13)
Tigran Mansurian – Con anima (out Nov 13)
Toru Takemitsu – Orchestral Works (Akiko Suwanai, NHK Symphony Orchestra Paavo Järvi) (not readily available in Canada)
Various Artists – Donaueschinger Musiktage 2019 (ditto)

Really enjoyed the Ives set and the Dwyer. Listened to 2/3 of the Hannigan, which is ofc good. Look forward to listening to more.

I also forgot to include Paavo Järvi's excellent Franz Schmidt symphony cycle with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Schmidt has a dodgy reputation because he turned a blind eye to the Nazi regime, although I've come across pieces that claim he was hopelessly naïve and had no understanding of politics, much like Wilhelm Furtwängler (besides, Schmidt died a few months before WW2 broke out). I suspect his legacy was also marred by his audible resistance to modernism, which is less of a dealbreaker for us than for the proto-hipster caste of the interwar and postwar periods. Anyway, the music itself is quite good and very much worth hearing if you're fond of the Austro-Germanic tradition. It's almost on par with the early and mid-period symphonies of Gustav Mahler, under whom Schmidt often played the cello while he was a member of the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra. The elegiac 4th Symphony is the most famous of the four, and rightly so: there's a depth of feeling that reminds me of another instrumental requiem composed in the 1930s: Alban Berg's Violin Concerto (admittedly, this is a bit of a damning comparison).

Interesting! I picked up Neeme Järvi's Chandos set on a whim years ago. (Not the first time the Salvation Army got me listening to things no one seemed to talk about, lol.) I have to remind myself what I liked about it between listens, but I do indeed quite enjoy it when it's on. It gets better in chronological order, I recall. An extremely quick skim through reviews suggests that Paavo J's may be an improvement. Will listen...

Neeme Järvi has always struck me as a merely serviceable and all-too prolific conductor whose recordings lack the extra oomph required to ascend to the top of the pile. Paavo Järvi, on the other hand, is a much cleaner and more dynamic performer, one who almost never gives the sense that his sole aim is to add yet another trophy to an already vast discography. While I haven't heard the father's Schmidt set, I can't imagine it topping the son's.

I dove into a "listen to violin music" whirlpool and remembered this bizarrely spectacular iPhone recording of Hilary Hahn playing the much-maligned Ysaye 6:

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

I can't really describe how incredible this is from top to bottom

Impressive performance and recording both.

I know nothing about the sonata's reputation among violinists, so I'm curious: why is it much-maligned?

I think the consensus is that the difficulty of the work doesn't justify the compositions... and I'd agree with Sonata 2, which is the one that is the most accessible but is kinda dum (but disagree with Sonatas 3 thru 6)

Ah, I see, thanks. I haven't listened to whole set in a long time but that seems like a fair assessment.

1 is weak, 2 quotes dies irae ad nauseam, 3 onward are tricky to present correctly but are sublime when successful

Enjoyed this composition for sine waves, zither, and choir. Very spare but pleasant and spacious: https://martaforsberg.bandcamp.com/album/new-love-music

I find it absolutely hilarious that Eton College (UK) sports a composer in residence and that from 2014 to 2015 it happened to be Christian Mason, who reminds me of a posher and hence twattier Mark Hollis if we go by appearance and affiliation alone, but his Zwischen den Sternen for chamber ensemble is possibly my favourite of the new contemporary classical works that I discovered this year, thanks to the ensemble recherche's recording for Winter & Winter. Soundworld-wise, it reminds me of Peter Maxwell Davies's Ave maris stella more so than the music of Mason's recent mentor, Harrison Birtwistle, and the ensemble recherche/Winter & Winter connection also brings to mind Hans Abrahamsen's marvellous Schnee. Looming in the background are George Benjamin (his PhD supervisor) and Julian Anderson, whom I both very much admire. Like Anderson, Mason has an unabashedly spectralist approach to instrumental writing, with conspicuous folk inflections that recall late Ligeti and especially late Rădulescu, which I thought I was just making up at first, yet, sure enough, upon googling the two names in tandem, I learned that Mason has written an explicit homage to the defunct Romanian expat. Anyway, it's a beautiful and fairly accessible cycle (its German title means 'Between the Stars', after all), one I think even listeners who find 21st century classical music forbidding are likely to enjoy.

And that Marta Forsberg album looks intriguing, Sund4r. I'll check it out soon.

I just watched this video of ensemble recherche playing that Mason piece in Freiburg in 2019. It's quite something, goes a lot of places in half an hour, really gripping and intense at times. The sound is pretty good on the video and the lighting is v cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZccjziC-5k

Haha, I watched that video in a different browser and everything was mauve and green but I see there is just normal white lighting now. I think my partner may have done something with the colour settings in the other browser.

Nice! It was uploaded to the er's official YT channel, so its production values are bound to be superior to the usual fare.

On the other hand, who's to say mauve and green aren't the two dominant colours when you're drifting between the stars? (Don't answer that.)

2 Grammy noms for the Dudamel Ives set.

Good article on the history of Canadian works for guitar and electronics: https://www.musicworks.ca/feature/Canadian-compositions-guitar-electronics

A solid EOY list courtesy of The Rambler:

https://johnsonsrambler.wordpress.com/2020/12/08/rambler-releases-of-2020

I haven't heard all of these, but the Liza Lim and Clara Iannotta are undeniable highlights, especially the former.

Fine list to do some cherry picking from, thanks!

Ah, thanks. Listening to the Lim now. The first movement sounds fascinating so far.

The bird call on the piccolo (or flute?) was great.

The "Dawn Chorus" movement is completely acoustic? Wow.