 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
Looking to expand a bit beyond the major composers and even some of the second stringers to find underappreciated gems. As an example of something I would put in this category, say the Miaskovsky Cello Concerto, or the Suk Asrael Symphony. Any advice appreciated.
Follow Ups:
2 suggestions:"Nueva Espana" by Lorenzo Ferrero on Naxos, performed by Natl. Symphony of Ukraine under Takuo Yuasa. Powerful, absorbing music, superbly recorded with lots of percussion all over the place, this is a great test for your system's imaging and soundstaging capabilities.
"Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei" by Elliot Carter, who wrote this piece (and his Clarinet Concerto, also on the same Deutsche Grammaphon CD) when he was pushing the age of 90! Performed by the BBC Symphony conducted by Oliver Knussen, this is not the easiest music you will ever hear, but compared to some of this composer's earlier work, it's a walk in the park and you will be immensely rewarded for your effort. And the sound quality isn't bad either. (I think this was a Gramophone magazine Record of the Year last year.)
These aren't as obscure as they used to be but I like Zelenka's orchestral music(especially Sinfonia in a minor, Capriccio #5 in G, Ouverture in F) and Heinichen's Concerto in F, S.234.
Yes, I have a set of his on Archiv. Those works you recommend, are they on the Archiv box, by chance? I'd like to get some of his other works.For anyone not familiar: Baroque composer around the time of J.S. Bach. Think he was Czech, don't quote me on that, been too long since I've played him. Time to go on a search.
Yep, those works are on the Archiv box set performed by Camerata Bern. That's what I have. Zelenka's trio sonatas are also very good. Check those out if you enjoy the oboe. I think there are a few performances of the trio sonatas available. I have the Glaetzner and Goritzki box of those.Correct, Zelenka was Czech.
Will look for those sonatas. Glad that I still have a vestige of memory left. Now, where the hell did I put that box set?!#$!
I only have the Smetana Quartet performing in the second one. Have the Melos Quartet performing both. The Smetana is on Testament. I would go for both of the Smetana on 2 discs on Testament along with some Dvorak and other stuff. The Dvorak Tercet with the Janacek #2 is superb.These are great 20th cen. chamber music works IMO. Better than the Debussy and Ravel quartets which are also essential.
Some good stuff below. Two more that blow me way are John McCabe's String Quartets 3, 4 & 5 (Hyperion) and -- hold your nose -- an album of Satie piano works performed on ACCORDION by Teodoro Anzellotti (Winter & Winter label). The Satie album is also the most visually striking in my collection.
Mozarts K423 and 424.sonata for Violin, and Viola - his favourite string instrument.
The one with the Pasquier brothers, on one of HMU's budget labels.Timbo
Praetorius, Dances from the Terpsichore
Gabrieli, Brass Music, on Nimbus.
Le Sieur de Machy, Viola da gamba Suites, with Laura Jeppesen
Nicholas de Chedeville, Il Pastor Fido (formerly attributed to Vivaldi)
J. G. Graun, Bassoon Concerto
J. M. Kraus, Symphonies
J. B. Vanhal, Symphonies
Franz Berwald, 4 Symphonies, Septet
Massenet, Le Cid ballet
Ippolitov-Ivanov, Caucasian Sketches
Carl Reinecke, Symphony no. 1
Sibelius, 4 Legends from the Kalevala (Lemminkainen Suites), "Voces Intimae" Quartet
Deems Taylor, Through the Looking Glass
Sowande, African Suite
Xenakis, Bohor
Toru Takemitus, On the Edge of a Dream
Toshiro Mayuzumi, Samsara (tone poem), Nirvana Symphony
Morton Subotnick, The Wild Bull
Einojuhani Rautavaara, Cantus Arcticus
Philip Feeney, Dracula
____________________________________________________________
"Nature loves to hide."
---Heraclitus of Ephesus (trans. Wheelwright)
"Le Cid" is wonderfully rich orchestral music. Also recommended is the Borodin string quartet. Fabulous melodies, although I'm not sure if it qualifies as obscure. And as a final thought, Gershwin's "Lullaby for String Orchestra" is really a lovely work, containing occasional phrases reminiscent of Delius and other early 20th century English composers. Sorry. All of this stuff is terrifically tonal.
Louis Fremauz and the Birmingham SO did a very fine recording of Le Cid. Also Martinon. I didn't like the Naxos version, which seems to have a very restricted sound.
I wouldn't call the Borodin Quartet obscure, but that's relative. The Second Symphony is a great work and Martinon's recording is classic.
____________________________________________________________
"Nature loves to hide."
---Heraclitus of Ephesus (trans. Wheelwright)
It inspired Dvorak's!clark
Carlos Seixas(1704 - 1742), PortugueseConcerto in A major for harpsichord and strings
Sinfonia in B flat Major
Keyboard sonatasKetil Haugsand, harpsichord and direction
Norwegian Baroque OrchestraVIRGIN VERITAS VC5 45114 2, 1995
Mario
Joly Braga Santos, any symphony. They're available on Naxos.
Regards,
Jorge
There is a great deal of wonderful 17th century music that languishes in obscurity. I suggest...Any choral music of Heinrich Schuetz recorder by Frieder Bernius and Kammerchor Stuttgart.
NAXOS recordings of the organ works of Matthias Weckman.
NAXOS "18th Century Symphony" series has some wonderful stuff. Papa Haydn may have been the symphony's "Father", but it seems that there were plenty of others, mostly pretty much forgotten, working in the same form. My favorite:Franz Ignaz Beck--"Symphonies" Naxos 8.553790
Naxos is great for this kind of stuff. Nobody else is recording this kind of obscure-but-worthy music, and at $6 each its no great risk to take a chance on the unknown. They also have a teriffic web site...
For lesser known 18th century symphonies, I suggest J. M. Kraus and J. B. Vanhal on Naxos. I think they are more enjoyable than symphonies by J. C. Bach and C. P. E. Bach.
____________________________________________________________
"Nature loves to hide."
---Heraclitus of Ephesus (trans. Wheelwright)
this link may work a little better?
nt
Check out Robert Gretinger: CITY OF GLASS. It was recorded back in the 1950s by the Stan Kenton orchestra and has been reissued on CD. This is a work of aleatory, but it brings to mind Harbisson and other jazz influenced composers. I can't say that I like it all the time but in a certain mood it can be interesting. You know, like some of Stockhausen.
most of the following are tonal and very assessible in nature - only the klami and enescu are really more modern in nature - the rest are romantic to neoclassical period.bantock - celtic and hebridean symp's hyperion (and all other bantock issues) not your typical bucolic english music.
boughton - symp#3 - hyperion
d'indy - symphonie sur un chant montagnard francais & symp #2
enescu - sym 1,2,&3 - chandos
klami - symphony #2 - ondine
gretchaninov - symp #1 & snowflakes are falling - chandos - i can't recommend this enuf - especially "snowflakes"
menotti - violin conc - reference recordings
rott - symp in e major - hyperion - something of a precursor to mahler, although he was mahlers contemporary.
thats just for starters..............
Great suggestion. One listen to these Hyperion discs of Bantock, and you wonder why in the world IS this guy obscure?Fantastic Tony Faulkner recordings, too.
These were "obscure" to me but don't know if that qualifies:Prophetiae Sibyllarum by Orlando di Lasso
Tango and Five Preludes for Harp by Carlos Salzedo
Hovhaness Symphony No. 4
Anything by Messiaen
Grieg's Lyric Pieces for Piano
Webern's Vartiations for Piano
Prokofiev's Visions Fugitives, Toccata, and Sarcasms for Piano
steve
Schubert's second Piano Trio in E flatEspecially the fourth movement. The second movement, everyone's probably familiar with, mostly because of the move "The Hunger", but it's the fourth movement that blows me away on a repeated basis. I was late for work the first time I heard it.
Ah, a favorite topic. If you type 'tubin' in the search feature (Eduard Tubin is one of my favorite 20th century unknown composers) and open my post, you'll see a thread similar to your question with lots of ideas and recs.A few of my favorites:
Tubin symphonies
Kalinnikov symphony 1&2
Zdenck Fibich symphonies 1-3
Magnard symphonies 1&2
Jon Leifs -- various orchestral pieces and Saga symphony
Paul Creston
Josef Suk Summer Tale
Weber symphonies
Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht (probably not considered a minor work)
Martinu
Scharwenka piano concerto (I think it's #3, paired with Emil von Sauer's piano concerto -- both are great)Those are the ones that come to mind.
Email me offline if you want to explore further off the beaten path -- I am always looking for new music and ideas.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
