Originally posted by HighlandDougie
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I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time now and was lucky enough to meet her and get her autograph when she played the Brahms Violin Sonatas with Leonadis Kovakos at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago. As a violinist who has played the sonatas many times I was stunned by the piano part which was like hearing them for the first time. Ms. Wang was gracious enough to let me hold her right hand and let me see how supple it was. I told her how much I was in awe of the capability of those hands. She winked at me and said ‘well, there’s a lot of practice goes into them!’ An absolute sweetie!
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Some neglected British Symphonies, including Bill Wordsworth's Third , and Maurice Blower's Symphony in C, both on Lyrita.
Blower is an interesting figure, a sort of 'General Practitioner' of music, organising local music festivals, etc. for many years. . His symphony was completed in 1939 and perhaps seeing little chance of a performance he quietly put it away in a drawer where it was discovered after his death by his son . The influences are Bax and Sibelius with perhaps a dash of Eric Coates in the finale. A well-constructed work which makes good use of its thematic material and, unlike many more recent works 'doesn't outstay its welcome'. It's a world I can imagine John Wilson playing at a Prom to considerable applause.
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Having been on a recent Sinfonia Antartica kick: Vaughan Williams, the complete Scott of the Antarctic music, Martin Yates’s recording (of course? is there another?).
Fascinating stuff. Lots of familiar things sometimes defamiliarised, and of course a few things which didn’t make into the symphony or even the film (which I haven’t seen). Haven’t made it to the end though. (I’m listening in a departure lounge…)Comment
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Oh, what a charmer (both of you, by the sounds of it!)...Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time now and was lucky enough to meet her and get her autograph when she played the Brahms Violin Sonatas with Leonadis Kovakos at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago. As a violinist who has played the sonatas many times I was stunned by the piano part which was like hearing them for the first time. Ms. Wang was gracious enough to let me hold her right hand and let me see how supple it was. I told her how much I was in awe of the capability of those hands. She winked at me and said ‘well, there’s a lot of practice goes into them!’ An absolute sweetie!
I agree she's a musician above all, despite the sometimes apparent showiness. Her Prokofiev Sonata 8 is enthralling, finally convinced me that is a masterpiece.Comment
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There's a Chandos recording of a 41 minute 'suite' from Scott of the Antarctic. edited by Stephen Hogger. I was glad these reordings were published as they laid to rest once and for all the absurd accusation that Sinfonia Antartica was 'just film music'. On the contrary, as Michael Kennedy pointed out years ago,the very opening theme of the symphony is a superb symphonic theme. I remember being thrilled with it from the outset when I first heard it, on the Ace of Clubs reissue fothe 1953 Boult recording.
I've been catching up with some Italian concerti grossi, and the most pleasing performances were form 1956! I Musici in a selection of Torelli's opus 8.Comment
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One thing I found particularly interesting is that some of the ideas which are old friends from the symphony are developed further (and absolutely symphonically) in the film music, whereas in the symphony they are more static presences. In other words, to a certain extent some materials are debatably treated more ‘symphonically’ in the film music than in the symphony itself…Originally posted by smittims View Post
[edit: I am reminded of Prokofiev 3’s first movement, derived from The Fiery Angel, in which the development section is taken straight from an entr’acte in the opera, with the result that the development was finished before the themes had been written in their ‘expository’ form.]
I must now check out the other suite you mentioned. And of course the film!Last edited by oliver sudden; 31-05-24, 15:16.Comment
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Sadly, I cannot watch the film I find it too depressing!
As a footnote, you might be amused by a letter VW wrote to his publisher Alan Frank about the symphony on24 May 1952 (it's in Cobbe, no. 580) :
'I suggest that we should meerly say that some of the themes are taken from the music which I wrote for Scott of the Antarctic. Otherwise people will think that it is a mere bit of carpentry - which as a matter of fact, it largely is; but don't tell anybody this. '
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I did feel a certain amount of trepidation on playing the Dutton CD. It felt like there was a definite risk (‘we took risks…’) of undermining my appreciation of the symphony—Bismarck’s observation on laws and sausages certainly does apply to some pieces of music as well.
If anything the opposite seems to have happened. The guts of the symphony for me is the Landscape movement. Knowing now where all the bits come from if anything increases my admiration for how organic and above all cumulative the final thing is. It’s literally just all the landscapey bits of the film music strung together and appropriately reshuffled, but that description does it absolutely no justice. As I mentioned, I find the film music in some parameters more symphonic than the symphony. And strangely enough the most overtly ‘cinematic’ thing in the symphony, the organ at the climax of Landscape, is not in the film music! (Or did I miss it? I was very much looking forward to it (even though I’m now very pleased that it doesn’t seem to be there!) so that would be a bit odd.)Comment
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The organ outburst, and the inclusion of short repeated passages in the first two movements (anticipating John Adams, I often think) are two aspects of the Sinfonia which link it to Job, a connection I haven't seen mentioned in commentaries (not that I read them!). I agree VW's film music generally tends to be symphonic, which helps when it is detached from the film and heard as a continuous movement. I'm thinking of my own favourite , The Loves of Joanna Godden , here. I believe in some cases he wrote the music before seeing the film!Comment
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If I remember correctly from the booklet (which is at home and I am not), VW may well have written the Scott music before any of the film had been shot. I think some of the film might even have been timed to fit his music!
Someone else he anticipates is Bernard Herrmann. Hard to imagine Vertigo without Vaughan Williams. I suspect that might have been a two-way street to some extent but I don’t know if anyone has looked into that subject in detail.Comment
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Bridge: Oration
Hoad: Cello concerto (Earth, Sea, Air)
Walton: Cello concerto
Laura van der Heijden
BBCSSO
Ryan Wigglesworth
Released yesterdayComment
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Last nite…
Martinu. Violin Concertos.
Franz Peter Zimmermann, violin. Jakub Hrůša conducting the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. BIS label.
I’ve tried very hard with Martinu over the years but there’s always been a suspicion of note spinning in his music. Alas, I don’t find these concertos any different from the rest of his output. There are some interesting ideas but they seem to be diluted until it becomes a bit of a hodgepodge. I will try again since are extremely well played but I’m not holding out much hope.Comment
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I might give those a spin/stream if I can find them (I have Suk/Czech PO/Neumann).Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
Try the symphonies (number 5 never fails to raise the spirits) or piano concertos (number 4 for starters) instead.
But I think I know what you mean; think of it as his trademark instead: that might help!
PS: Found. The soloist doesn't look too happy in the CD cover picture.
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We heard John-Eliot Gardiner conduct the fourth symphony with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague at the Rudolfinum a few years ago. What was really odd was he changed the position of the first and second violins so the layout was seconds, firsts, violas then ‘cellos! Absolutely no idea why.Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
I might give those a spin/stream if I can find them (I have Suk/Czech PO/Neumann).
Try the symphonies (number 5 never fails to raise the spirits) or piano concertos (number 4 for starters) instead.
But I think I know what you mean; think of it as his trademark instead: that might help!
PS: Found. The soloist doesn't look too happy in the CD cover picture.
I really enjoyed that work and have listened to George Whitehead’s recording with great pleasure but the others just leave me scratching my head.Comment
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Arnold Schoenberg. Expressionist Music.
Claire Booth, soprano with Christopher Glynn, piano.
I’m determined to get to know these songs although Mrs. PG doesn’t seem to be relishing the challenge!Comment
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