RVW:
Dona nobis pacem
Sancta Civitas
Richard Hickox/LSO and Chorus (EMI)
Recorded Abbey Road Studio No 1, March 1992
Wow. Heavy duty Judy.
https://neos-music.com/
Great modern music box I picked up a few years ago.
Interesting book for classical music nerds and Cleveland orchestra fans.
Interview with the author.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ2IlGZpI3M
I ordered a copy. Hardcovers available at ABEbooks.com for under 7 bucks, free shp.
lately I have been getting a kick out of this album: Aizuri Quartet ~ Blue printing
https://aizuriquartet.bandcamp.com/album/blueprinting
A new string quartet dedicated to playing new music. All the pieces are by young American composers. I think the album is outstanding!
When you dig a bit deeper there seems to be really a vibrant scene of young ensembles and composers playing new (classical) music all gravitating around NyC. Very exiting. Thanks Simon_moon for pointing me in that direction.
^^ Your average composer stands a much better chance of having their works performed by a string quartet, piano trio, etc. Someone with a masters degree or doctorate in music theory, and/or composition stands a slim chance of having their works performed by an orchestra. That is, unless they're some kind of prodigious genius.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
^^ When I was in college the composition prof told his students to write for their friends if they ever wanted to hear it.
The sampled programs available now can get a composer a pretty good idea of the basic sound of the thing if its scored on the computer. Start at 17:00 for the full Star Wars demo. Its pretty great overall...obviously you can hear many "computer" moments but its better than what Beethoven, Bach, and even Debussy had.
https://youtu.be/2zcjPbLfTwA
I just rediscovered a great YouTube channel, that I came across a long time ago, but forgot about.
It is Samuel Andreyev's channel. He is a contemporary composer of of formidable skills (IMO), with the ability to explain, and describe contemporary classical music, in a very clear and easy to understand manner. Even if one is pretty illiterate in music theory, you can still get a grasp of what he is referring to. His emotional descriptions are also very revealing.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...amuel+andreyev
He lectures about modern, avant-garde, and contemporary classical at schools and conservatories all over the world, so it is not surprising he has great lecture skills.
He has: interview, composer analysis, music analysis, and live Q&A style videos.
For those that do not enjoy: atonal, poly-tonal, 12 tone and/or dissonant music, may not come to enjoy it after watching his videos, but at the very least, might come away with an understanding on why some of us do love it.
Some videos to start with, just to give examples of his stelt, may be:
And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell
I think its just wonderful that a lot of new modern classical music gets written, played and recorded these days.
I remember seeing Bang on a Can some 10 to 15 years back and one of the comments Evan Ziporyn made in between tunes was that there were very little modern composers who wrote music for them so he was happy with the next tune by Lukas Lygetti (which was great).
That seems to have changed. Missy Mazzoli, Caroline Shaw, Yevgenly Sharlat, Gabriella Smith, David Crowell just to name a few.
And not only composers. A whole new army of young ensembles dedicated to playing new music stepped up; Aizuri quartet, Now Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, Ymusic, Victoire, Alarm will Sound etc etc.
The material they play feels fresh, energetic and 'relevant' to me.
I just started to get my teeth in this scene and I am not finished. Not by a long time.
A few more Samuel Andreyev videos:
And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell
Yes a great channel. I have him in my YT subscriptions...seen a few of his videos.
They had to know how things would sound, because there was not really a way to hear what they composed, unless there was an orchestra. Of course one could compose on the piano, but when Beethoven was deaf he had to imagine everything in his mind.
If you want to write stuff that be performed, one could concentrate on work for brass-bands, because that is in demand.
Wonderful piece
There are at least 2 times where a short run (few notes) reminds me of Yes: Awaken. Most likely a coincidence, but Wakeman might know the piece. First time 0:27 second around 3:25
So much so that I would bet that Wakeman was quoting it (although isn’t there some thought that Moraz had a hand in writing Awaken or am I misremembering?).
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