Thread: Today I discovered...

Originally Posted by silmarillion

Henryk Gorecki - Symphony no.3
Ottorino Respighi - Pini di Roma and Fontani di Roma
Johannes Brahms - Symphony no. 4
Aram Khachaturian - Violin Concerto in D minor.
Miklos Rozsa - Symphony no. 1, Theme and Variations
Jean Sibelius - Violin Concerto
Pyotr Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto

WOW!. That's too many big shots for the same day. Was your intention to discover only violin concertos in the key of D today? Or was it casual...

Originally Posted by Manuel

WOW!. That's too many big shots for the same day. Was your intention to discover only violin concertos in the key of D today? Or was it casual...

No it was not intentional, it just so happened to be. Although I might have been cheating a little: some of these (the last two) were sort of rediscoveries. But lately I've been working a lot at home on papers and exams and I can't work without music. So I decided to use my time doubly by working on the assignments and to discover as much new music as I could. It's going pretty well so far

Today I have some Bruckner and Brahms on the menu Always searhcing for that next great piece of music.

Originally Posted by Manuel

Was your intention to discover only violin concertos in the key of D today? Or was it casual...

Actually, if you look at it, many of the VC at the core of the repertoire are in D. The big ones definitely are: Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius...I've always wondered why.

I've read about this on Wikipedia when I was looking up Brahms's VC:

Brahms's choice of D major for his concerto is significant. Since the violin is tuned G'D'A'E, the open strings, resonating sympathetically, add brilliance to the sound. Possibly for the same reason, this key has been used in several other concertos, such as Beethoven's, Tchaikovsky's, Schumann's (D minor) and Sibelius' (also D minor).

Today I discovered the following:

-Nikolai Miaskovsky's (1881-1950) Piano Sonata No. 1 and 4.
-Julius Reubke's (1834-1858) Piano Sonata in B flat minor.

Hexameron!!! You're here again! Where have you been?

Hi, Lisztfreak. I've taken a long hiatus, I know, but it's mostly due to an intense year of schooling.

The Liszt freaks are back!!!

Beware!

Ah yes... Hexameron, as for Reubke you mentioned, I've heard he was a favourite student of Liszt's, but died very young. Is his sonata 'Lisztian' in style (or at least 'Lisztish')?

Indeed, Reubke's early death deprived of us of who knows what kind of compositional fruition. He is mostly recognized, if at all, for his organ music, but his only Piano Sonata is a stunning work of both melodic and virtuosic power. Oh, and I would definitely call it "Lisztian" in an affectionate and complimentary way. I've read some say that Reubke's inspiration for this work came from Liszt's Sonata in B minor. While the thematic development and perhaps the structure shows such an influence, Reubke's sound world is quite different from the Sonata in B minor.

Without being derivative, he employs sinister melodic ideas like something out of Liszt's Malediction for piano and orchestra and the Dante Sonata, and weaves his own passagework and thematic transformations into the fabric. It's a great piece that is somewhat difficult to find on recording. I've only noticed four available on amazon, and the performance I familiarized myself with is by Till Fellner reissued on the Apex label. Lisztfreak, I think you'll love it. The only problem I have with hearing his Piano Sonata is that I now want more piano music from Mr. Reubke.

The recording you have is exactly the one I noticed in the store a couple of weeks ago!
It seems that's the only one available. It's coupled with Kreisleriana, isn't it?

Thanks a lot for the information about Reubke! I'll get the Sonata asap.

As for discovering new music, today I became aware of Johan Svendsen.
I bought a disc with both of his symphonies yesterday. The No.1 is very nice but quite generically Romantic - it sounds much like something you've heard many times before.
However, No.2 is much better and certainly much more memorable, particularly the second and third movements.

Listened to some suites by Lopartz and Magnard today. I liked them a lot. Magnard wrote a fun little suite 'Dans le Style Ancien', a collection of miniatures: Fugue, Gigue, Gavotte, Sarabande and a Menuet. Does anyone know his symphonies? Are they worth looking into?

Originally Posted by silmarillion

Listened to some suites by Lopartz and Magnard today. I liked them a lot. Magnard wrote a fun little suite 'Dans le Style Ancien', a collection of miniatures: Fugue, Gigue, Gavotte, Sarabande and a Menuet. Does anyone know his symphonies? Are they worth looking into?

Never heard (of) Lopartz. But I do now Ropartz.
And I remember listening to Magnard's symphonies last year. Too many things happened since then, and I'm affraid would be no reliable critic of Magnard's output now. (Not that I even could have been a proficient one in any other circumstance).