April 15, 2014

  • Building A Classical Library: 1901-1925

    It has been a while since I've just done a general non-review article and thought I'd while away some time thinking about some of the great art music of the 20th Century.  There are a variety of ways to work through classical art music and it seems like most of the time we look at great testaments of art and forget so many other pieces of a given period.  Through the next few weeks, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to share with readers a few pieces from throughout the 20th century that I would consider “essential” and which have become personal favorites.  There are thousands of pieces I have had the luck to hear and enjoy and so these are chosen as ones that made an important impression.  Rather than present them chronologically, I thought it might be best to organize them by type.  And I will say that unfortunately my opera/vocal music sections are going to be rather lacking as my greatest attraction came through large-scale orchestral music.  I’ve bolded works that should be considered “essential” for those building a classical music library.

     

     

    Favorite Symphonies

    Alfven: Symphony No. 4 in c, "From the Seaward Skerries"

    Gliere: Symphony No. 3 in b, Op. 42 (Il'ya Muromets)

    Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in d

    Nielsen: Symphony No. 4, Op. 29 "Inextinguishable”

    Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 "Classical"

    Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in e

    Scriabin: Symphony No. 3, Op. 43 "Divine Poem"

    Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1

    Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 14; Symphony No. 3, Op. 52; Symphony No. 5, Op. 82

    R. Strauss: Alpine Symphony

    Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony

     

    As I look at my favorite symphonies in this period, you can certainly see the form itself in transition.  The Alfven is a very romantic work that I discovered early in my exploration of Nordic composers after enjoying the Sibelius symphonies.  The vocalises may seem a bit too impassioned and goofy to some, but the yearning and romantic themes of the piece are really engaging.  I like the second Sibelius symphony for its last gaze backward into the 19th century and then have always been captivated by Sibelius’ shift to thematic transformation in the 3rd and 5th symphonies.  There are such great moments in these latter two works that one gets to through amazingly slow builds that just suddenly explode emotionally.  Nielsen’s fourth symphony may be more an acquired taste (sometimes referred to by my grad school friends as the “Indistinguishable”).  One might say the same for Gliere’s third symphony which has grown on me over the years.  Of any Russian symphony, the Rachmaninov could very well be my favorite of the list here.  The Scriabin was just such an amazing thing to hear with its ultra-romantic chromaticism and sensuality, or perhaps ecstasy is the better word here.  And the first essays by by Shostakovich and Prokofiev have been constant companions.  The former made me a convert when I first heard it on the classic Ormandy Columbia recording.  When it comes to Mahler, I tend to prefer the earlier symphonies for some reason, it could very well be the programmatic aspects of them, though I do like the 6th quite a bit.  His final testament is a powerful piece though that often has me trying to better appreciate the two leading up to it.  Finally, who could not love Vaughan Williams’ exciting programmatic essay with its exciting choral explosion and invigorating orchestration.  That said, Strauss’ monumental work had me when the wind machines kicked in and it almost cinematic orchestral storytelling.

     

    Favorite Works for Soloist with Orchestra

    Dohnanyi: Variations on a Nursery Song, Op. 25

    Falla: Nights in the Garden of Spain

    Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

    Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1

    Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in c; Piano Concerto No. 3 in d

    Sibelius: Violin Concerto in d, Op. 47

     

    It is certainly hard not to love the Rachmaninoff second concerto, but as I get older, I find myself gravitating far more to his third work which seems so much more powerful and virtuosic.  For those who love a great joke, nothing is better than Dohnanyi’s wonderful variations on a very familiar children’s song.  I cannot say how often I have used this to demonstrate variation techniques for students as they can easily hear how he uses this innocuous tune to create very serious music.  For orchestral color, Manuel De Falla’s piece cannot be beat and is one of those works to just turn off the lights and let wash over you.  The two violin concertos could not be further from one another stylistically, but also provide great examples of both the remnants of romanticism (Sibelius) and the modern/neo-classical shifts (Prokofiev).  And what better way to mark the early 20th Century than with Gershwin’s signature piece!

     

    Favorite Music for Ballet

    Antheil: Ballet mecanique

    Falla: El Amor Brujo

    Glazunov: The Seasons

    Milhaud: La creation du monde

    Poulenc: Les Biches

    Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe

    Resphigi: La Boutique Fantasque (Adapt. from music by Rossini)

    Stravinsky: The Firebird; Petrouchka; The Rite of Spring

     

    Perhaps some of the early 20th Century’s most interesting music lies in two places, the new music for ballet, and shorter suites or orchestral pieces.  As a lover of impressionist-styles in music, it is very easy to see why some of these works stick out.  The Falla, Ravel, and Stravinsky’s Firebird are easily my favorite works in this genre from the period.  The rich orchestral colors are just too hard to resist.  That provides a bit of transition for the equally engaging Glazunov work that is well-deserving.  The wit and humor of Poulenc’s  music is on great display in this ballet which I sort of discovered in college and became a favorite piece of mine.  On the more modern end, you have to admire the amazing ideas behind Antheil’s work with its truly modern approaches to sound.  I find Petrouchka to be a more interesting exploration of modernism and prefer it to the more infamous Stravinsky ballet—perhaps The Rite of Spring just ends up being the focus of too many music appreciation courses that it has lost its appeal for me over the years.  The Milhaud is an equally interesting work as it explores jazz through the vision of Les Six.  Finally, Resphigi’s delightful adaptation of Rossini is probably the most often played work in the list for relaxing.

     

     

    Favorite Orchestral Pieces

     

    Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance Marches

    Foote: Suite in E, Op.63

    Debussy: La Mer

    Holst: The Planets, Op. 32

    Honegger: Pacific 231

    Janacek: Sinfonietta

    Ravel: Pavane for a dead princess; La Valse

    Resphigi: Fountains of Rome; Pines of Rome

    D. Taylor:  Through the Looking Glass

     

    In my orchestral works list, there are certainly a great variety of styles, with a predilection for more impressionist-influenced works.  I’ll start on the continent with these standard pieces by Debussy and Ravel that still excite and entrance me.  The Honegger left a great impression on me when I first heard an Ernst Ansermet performance of it, though the rest of his music tends to leave me cold.  Janacek’s Sinofnietta is just one great essay in brass writing that just knocks your socks off.  Both the Resphigi Roman tone poems are wonderful pieces with Pines of Rome tending to make it to the CD player more often than the others.  Heading over to England, one has to acknowledge Elgar’s marches (of which the 1st, 3rd, and 4th are personal favorites).  And Holst’s signature work is perhaps the one classical piece that provides an entry point for so many music lovers.  Finally, in America, two great pieces deserving more attention are Arthur Foote’s wonderful suite for strings and Deems Taylor’s brilliantly orchestrated take on Lewis Carrol’s work.

     

    Favorite Solo Chamber Music

    Debussy: Preludes

    Ravel: Miroirs

     

    With so much attention on early atonal writing, I find that most chamber music leaves me cold from this period apart from Ravel’s piano music and some Debussy.

     

    Favorite Works with Vocalists/Chorus

    Mahler: Kindertotenlieder;  Das Lied von der Erde

     

    These two Mahler works are again interesting thematically to me both in their textual content and in the way they are orchestrated.

     

    Favorite Opera

    Berg: Wozzeck, Op. 7

    Prokofiev: The Love for 3 Oranges

    R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

     

    You can probably not find three more different operatic expressions than the ones that made an impression on me very early on and continue to do so.  The Strauss was the first of these to find its way into my music collection most likely due to its waltz sequences and familiarity through the orchestral suites I had discovered.  It was in its suite form that Prokofiev’s opera grabbed my attention and when it was released through Virgin Classics I picked it up to find it an engaging and often breezy work.  On the other end of this extreme is Berg’s intense piece which I spent about a month or so taking apart in grad school.  But, even then, this is probably one of the great works of the 20th Century all around.

     

     

    Works for Wind Band

    Alford: Colonel Bogey March

    Holst:  First Suite in Eb for Military Band; Second Suite for Military Band

    King: Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite March

    Vaughan-Williams: English Folk Song Suite

     

    Face it, many of us come to music through public school music programs and as such we come into contact with wind music.  Here are 5 works that are mostly essential for any band music lover’s collection.  The Alford lives beyond its 1950s popularity from The Bridge Over the River Kwai (one of my favorite films).  And when Holst put “first suite” on his band piece he was really not kidding.  It is in many ways the first example of its type followed up by an equally wonderfully composed second suite.  You should have played one, if not both of these, in band by the time you graduate college!  The Vaughan-Williams tends to find life in the orchestral concert hall, but in its band form one gets a chance to experience the composer’s signature adaptation of folk song in a very British piece and style unlike what most American students are accustomed to in their literature.  Karl King’s march may be one of the most significant, if not more popular, of the great circus band marches.