Arcane Composers (1 Viewer)

I know we had a classical music thread quite some time ago, but to avoid further off-topic rambling in another thread (which, coincidentally enough, was about off-topic editing), I've started this up.

String quartets are among my favorite genre, with Schnittke, Bartok, Szymanowski, Janacek, Schoenberg, and Webern, and Berg among my favorites. Let's throw some recommendations and ideas for folks to mull over.
 
keyboard works by orlando gibbons and jan pieterszoon sweelink.

if you wanna go for baroque...
 
OK - but these are not songs, which are, by definition, sung. Yeah, I know I indicated that string quartets are among my favorite genre, but bear with me...

1. Bela Bartok, Prelude and Dance 1 from The Wooden Prince, a Dance Pantomime in One Act. The Prelude is an exercise in tension build up, so hang in there for the first minute or two.

2. Arnold Schoenberg, Verklarte Nacht for String Sextet

3. Leos Janacek, String Quartet #1 - The Kreutzer Sonata
 
OK, I'm a string guy, so here are a couple more. The first is Wagner's Prelude to Act III of the opera Tristan und Isolde. But seeing as I enjoy caterwauling about as much as dropping a $100 bottle of single malt scotch onto a concrete pad, this piece is, mercifully, instrumental. It's hard to believe from the power and quality that this was recorded in 1960.


And Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence:

 
OK - but these are not songs, which are, by definition, sung. Yeah, I know I indicated that string quartets are among my favorite genre, but bear with me...

1. Bela Bartok, Prelude and Dance 1 from The Wooden Prince, a Dance Pantomime in One Act. The Prelude is an exercise in tension build up, so hang in there for the first minute or two.

2. Arnold Schoenberg, Verklarte Nacht for String Sextet

3. Leos Janacek, String Quartet #1 - The Kreutzer Sonata

These are ALL up my alley! We are on the same page, brother!

For some more fun and games, check out the operas of Ferruccio Busoni. In particular, Doktor Faust and Die Brautwuhl (sp?)

There are some good youtube links, but I can't seem to post them here for some reason. A few took hold, and then I got bounced to the moon. And speaking of the moon, there are MANY great Janacek operas, but perhaps the most outside of all is Mr. Broucek Goes to the Moon (English translation of course).

keyboard works by orlando gibbons and jan pieterszoon sweelink.

if you wanna go for baroque...

Great stuff indeed. And if one travels a little bit earlier in time, I would strongly recommend the works of Gesualdo, Guillaume de Machaut, and O. Von Volkenstein (the latter of which should certainly be accompanied by copious quaffs of Augusteinerbraü or, say, EKU Optimator. I'm a-gittin thirsty just thinking about it - and I've already imbibed more than my fair share of Irish whiskey.
 
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Time to resurrect this thread in the spirit of Crucifixions mentioned elsewhere. This piece, the Grosse Fuge, was written by Beethoven as the finale for his 13th String Quartet in Bb Major (op. 130) in 1825 or '26; very close to his death in 1827. It was not well-received by the musicians of his day, being extremely complex and demanding of the players. When approached by the players to demand a more playable finale, he penned up a trivial allegro that mocked their inabilities. He was also alleged to have said "what do I care about you and your fucking fiddles?" in response.

Not so different from Bukowski.

Today, the intended finale for Beethoven's 13th String Quartet has its own opus number (op. 133) as a result.

Watching the viddy, you can see how even the most well-trained musicians of today are locked in and laboring over this epic:

[This video is unavailable.]
 

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