The Classical Thread

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by ?uesto

Maybe someone can suggest some particular composers or [preferably] individual pieces, since some composers works are huge!

I'm just looking for classical music that's a little more "out" than what I've been hearing. I'd also prefer a little faster and more rhythmic music. Percussion in the music would be a plus, but not necessary. I've heard some in Bach's music, a little Chopin, but a lot in Stravinsky.

Hoping someone can help. Thanks!

?uesto, Let me encourage you to read through this thread in its entirety. There are many, many helpful recommendations that answer your questions. A couple of starters that focus on classical percussion. Please note that this is the tip of a very large iceberg:

1. Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (1913)
Performance: Valery Gergiev / Kirov Orchestra: Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (Philips, 2000)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4am3YRpfiHs

2. Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (1975)
Performance: Steve Reich & Musicians: Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (Nonesuch, 1998) or (ECM, 1975)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9EkGC67pZI

3. Joseph Schwantner: Percussion Concerto (1995)
Performance: Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor) / Nashville Symphony / Christopher Lamb (percussion): Schwantner: Chasing Light ... (Naxos, "American Classics" series, 2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMmF9neabOg

4. Jennifer Higdon: Percussion Concerto (2005)
Performance: Marin Alsop (conductor) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Colin Currie (percussion), Macmillan: Confession of Isabel Gowdie / Ades: Chamber Symphony / Higdon: Percussion Concerto (London Philharmonic, 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_2vfRC8lE0

5. Bela Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta (1936)
Performance: Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony: Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta (RCA, 1955; remastered: 2004)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu0AuFgvme4

6. Xenakis: Rebonds B (1982)
Performance: Steven Schick (director), Xenakis: Percussion Works (Mode, 2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32l7JjEr3kM





I've added YouTube links to give you a glimpse of the grandeur of these works. Please get back to us on what you have found in your explorations.

[Vaughan]

My wife and I sat and watched/listened to this yesterday. It's an amazing piece, with Golijo9v telling a Biblical story using the instruments and musical styles from his native Venezuela. It misses choral with Jazz, Opera, and pop. It's all in the mixing pot!

If you get this, make sure you get the one with the cover I've shown. This has been reissued, sans the DVD. It'd be a shame for you to miss out on the live performance, and have to settle for the two CD's only.

Anyway - this is good fun, and recommended.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Vaughan

My wife and I sat and watched/listened to this yesterday. It's an amazing piece, with Golijo9v telling a Biblical story using the instruments and musical styles from his native Venezuela. It misses choral with Jazz, Opera, and pop. It's all in the mixing pot!

If you get this, make sure you get the one with the cover I've shown. This has been reissued, sans the DVD. It'd be a shame for you to miss out on the live performance, and have to settle for the two CD's only.

Anyway - this is good fun, and recommended.

Vaughan, So glad to hear that you got the Golijov. I got right when it came out about three years ago. It's been a work I've loved since I encountered it in the mid-2000s.

For those who don't this work: Golijov and 4 other contemporary composers were commissioned to composes Passions in commemoration of a 300th anniversary of Bach. These were premiered in Germany in 2000, and Golijov's won immediate critical acclaim. It combines Latin American folk music, Cuban jazz, African rhythms and various traditions of European classical. Here's a YouTube of the performance that Vaughan is referring to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvTiWPV2da0

I showed it to two friends of mine who are native Spanish speakers and are experts in Latin American popular piety. After the 1 hour and 20 minute performance of the DVD, they were simply overwhelmed. When it ended, they sat in silence for a couple of minutes before they began to talk about it. They were simply dazzled Golijov's sensitivity to Latin folk traditions -- all the more remarkable because Golijov is Jewish. In fact, one of the most original touches is that he ends the work with a Kaddish.

[Alypius]

Given the number of Shostakovich fans around here, let me highlight a forthcoming release:
Pacifica Quartet, The Soviet Experience, vol. 3: Shostakovich & His Contemporaries: Shostakovich: Quartets nos. 9-12 & Weinberg: Quartet no. 6 (Cedille): To be released on March 26, 2013. I had highlighted earlier in this thread the two previous volumes: Shostakovich Quartets #5-8 (vol. 1, 2011) & Quartets #1-4 (vol. 2, 2012).



One other new release I would recommend is the latest volume of the complete orchestral works of Witold Lutoslawski:
Edward Gardner / BBC Symphony Orchestra: Lutoslawski: Orchestral Works, Vol. IV (Chandos):
To be released March 26, 2013. This concludes the series with Symphony #1 and Chain 2. Vol. 1 (2010) had Symphony #3 and his great Concerto for Orchestra; Vol. 2 (2012) had Symphony #4 and his Piano Concerto; Vol. 3 (2012) had Symphony #2 and his excellent Cello Concerto. The whole series is excellent. In previous posts, I noted The Royal String Quartet's forthcoming performance of the Lutoslawski and Penderecki string quartets (Hyperion, 2013).

[Jazz_Fellow]

Any recommendations from the Renaissance period? BBC Radio 3 has been doing a special on Baroque music and when I researched it, I noticed the Renaissance period preceded it. As I have a little bit of interest in Renaissance Italy, I wondered whether there were any good composers from that time. Cheers.

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Jazz_Fellow

Any recommendations from the Renaissance period? BBC Radio 3 has been doing a special on Baroque music and when I researched it, I noticed the Renaissance period preceded it. As I have a little bit of interest in Renaissance Italy, I wondered whether there were any good composers from that time. Cheers.

Renaissance music is a vast world -- a bit like asking "what is jazz?" One way to get into jazz is with a good anthology (and we know that there are lots of bad ones) and another is to concentrate on a few key artists. So let me suggest a mix, a couple of good anthologies and a few key artists.

One of the pioneers of what is known as the "early music movement" was David Munrow. He combined great skills as a communicator (he had a regular show on the BBC radio in the 1970s), a musicologist, and a performer (he was a virtuoso on numerous instruments). In his short life (he tragically died in his 30s), he released some path-breaking records. His best collection of Renaissance music is an album called The Art of the Netherlands (Virgin Classics, reissue: 2010). This record focuses on a number of excellent composers who were Dutch or Flemish but spent their careers working in Italy: Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez (or "Desprez"), Antoine Brumel, Heinrich Isaac, Jacob Obrecht. This 2 CD is a great starting point:



One of the best contemporary performers of Renaissance music is Stile Antico, a British group that works without a conductor. Their album Song of Songs (Harmonia mundi, 2009) has performances of works by Palestrina, Lassus, Gombert and others. It won a number of "Best of Year" awards. I've not heard but have read excellent things about their latest release, Tune Thy Musike to Thy Hart (Harmonia mundi, 2012).



Another of the best "early music" groups over the last few decades has been the Tallis Scholars. They have a vast discography with uniformly excellent performances. Here are four collections of works by four of the finest Renaissance composers:

The Tallis Scholars Sing Josquin (Gimell, 2004). Josquin des Prez (1440-1521) was (arguably) the greatest composer of the Renaissance. This record includes the Tallis Scholars' award winning performance of Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua:

Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josquin_des_Prez

The Tallis Scholars Sing Palestrina (Gimell, 2005). Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) was the greatest Italian composer of the Renaissance. This release includes his best known work: Missa Papae Marcelli

Here's the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovann..._da_Palestrina

The Tallis Scholars Sing William Byrd, 2 CDs (Gimell, 2007). William Byrd (1540-1623), a contemporary of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, was the greatest composer of the English Renaissance. This releases includes his two most famous religious works, Mass for Five Voices and Mass for Four Voices



The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis(Gimell, 2004). Together with William Byrd, Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) was one of the finest of the British Renaissance composers (see also Shepard). This release includes Tallis' most famous work, the 40-voice motet Spem in Alium:


Some very interesting Renaissance music is anonymous, gathered in various songbooks. One of the most interesting is the Glogauer Liederbuch (= The Glogauer Song Book). There is an excellent new performance (and very reasonably priced one) on Naxos (which is a classical budget label):
Sabrina Lutzenberg (soprano) / Martin Hummel (baritone) / Marc Lewon (lute) / Ensemble Melos, Das Glogauer Liederbuch (Naxos, 2013):



Other great groups performing Renaissance music: The Hillard Ensemble (which performs medieval, Renaissance and contemporary music); The Huelgas Ensemble; The Sixteen; The Cardinall's Musick (who have recorded the complete William Byrd)

I could make dozens more suggestions, but let these suffice for now. Let me know how you find them. All the best.

[Jazz_Fellow]

Alypius, you sir/ma'am, are fantastic. I suppose it is a bit of a vague and very open-ended question but top Baroque composers seem to roll off the tongue, and I thought (erroneously it seems!) the Renaissance period would be the same.

There is certainly a lot here for me to spend time with. And the artwork is fantastic.

Just one last question, if that's ok - I notice most of these are choral. Do you have any non-choral recommendations also?

Many thanks again!!

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Jazz_Fellow

Alypius, you sir/ma'am, are fantastic. I suppose it is a bit of a vague and very open-ended question but top Baroque composers seem to roll off the tongue, and I thought (erroneously it seems!) the Renaissance period would be the same.

There is certainly a lot here for me to spend time with. And the artwork is fantastic.

Just one last question, if that's ok - I notice most of these are choral. Do you have any non-choral recommendations also?

Many thanks again!!

JF: It's "sir." The first record I recommended -- David Munrow & the Early Music Consort of London's Art of the Netherlands -- is an anthology which includes lots of non-choral works, and a number of them are purely instrumental works. the last record I recommended -- The Glogauer Liederbuch -- mixes up things as well, alternating solo male vocalist with instrumental accompaniment, then female vocalist with instrumental accompaniment, then a purely instrumental piece or two. Just check out the tracks on Amazon or iTunes. You'll get a feel for these.

There are lots of fine Renaissance albums that are mainly instrumental. One fun set of works is Michael Praetorius' Terpsichore, a collection of Renaissance dance works. David Munrow & the Early Music Consort of London had a great version but that seems to be out of print on CD (though iTunes Amazon have it available as a download). There's a good version by Philip Pickett & the New London Consort: Praetorius: Dances from Terpsichore (L'Oiseau Lyre, reissue: 2008). There's also a version on Naxos, which is a budget label -- it's led by Westra Aros Pijpare under the title: Praetorius: Dances from Terpsichore (Naxos, 1998):



Another suggestion: John Dowland composed lots of excellent lute music. A very good budget-price performance is by Nigel North, John Dowland: Dowland's Tears: Lute Music, Vol. 2 (Naxos, 2006).



There's a sale on Naxos records going on right now at Presto Classical:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/naxos.php
That should get you started.

[Jazz_Fellow]

Alypius, thanks again for more recommendations. I will no doubt enjoy listening to these.

[KBerube80]

So who here has heard the new David Lang yet?

[Alypius]

KB, Thanks for the heads up on this. I listened to clips. Very interesting -- though I don't tend to enjoy classical vocals. Well, this isn't traditional classical -- either in terms of vocal style or in terms of instrumentation. For instance: electric guitar. It's got a very interesting group of performers: The guitarist is Bryce Dressner of The National (who was the guitarist on Steve Reich's recent 2 x 5). The pianist is the young composer Nico Muhly. The vocalist is Sara Worden of the group My Brightest Diamond, a very fragile yet expressive voice (traditional classical singers don't have that fragile vulnerability). A few links. Here's one to David Lang's own website announcing the premier:
http://davidlangmusic.com/music/death-speaks

Before its release, it was available on NPR's "First Listen" but is no longer available. Still there's a discussion on it:
NPR

finally, and most interestingly, there's a review of it on the indie rock website Pitchfork:
Pitchfork review
All I can say is that if the young folks who read Pitchfork embrace it, classical may have an interesting future.

[Vaughan]

I have all the David Lang recordings thus far. I didn't know this was coming. Doesn't release here until the 15th, but I pre-ordered it.

[KBerube80]

Originally Posted by Alypius

KB, Thanks for the heads up on this. I listened to clips. Very interesting -- though I don't tend to enjoy classical vocals. Well, this isn't traditional classical -- either in terms of vocal style or in terms of instrumentation. For instance: electric guitar. It's got a very interesting group of performers: The guitarist is Bryce Dressner of The National (who was the guitarist on Steve Reich's recent 2 x 5). The pianist is the young composer Nico Muhly. The vocalist is Sara Worden of the group My Brightest Diamond, a very fragile yet expressive voice (traditional classical singers don't have that fragile vulnerability). A few links. Here's one to David Lang's own website announcing the premier:
http://davidlangmusic.com/music/death-speaks

Before its release, it was available on NPR's "First Listen" but is no longer available. Still there's a discussion on it:
NPR

finally, and most interestingly, there's a review of it on the indie rock website Pitchfork:
Pitchfork review
All I can say is that if the young folks who read Pitchfork embrace it, classical may have an interesting future.

Yes, exactly. I was too late to the NPR pre-listen party unfortunately but caught wind of it through Pitchfork. I am highly intrigued and the clips seem extremely promising; not to mention the review. I do prefer that "fragile vulnerability" that you speak of in vocals and enjoy Worden's past output through MBD. Also, it's probably why I don't typically enjoy classical vocals.

Originally Posted by Vaughan

I have all the David Lang recordings thus far. I didn't know this was coming. Doesn't release here until the 15th, but I pre-ordered it.