Less ambitious and grand Godspeed You! Black Emperor, with a slowcore song stuffed in the middle of it, basically.
Tag: Modern creative
The Element Choir at Rosedale United (2010)
It must be hard to be in the art music field these days. Sure, you’ve got a world of genres to play with – most of them unknown or nonexistent in the recent past – but sometimes having too much choice is worse than having little choice. (Actually, that’s true a lot of the time.) …
Knussen: Horn Concerto, Whitman Settings, The Way to Castle Yonder, Flourish with Fireworks (1996) by Various Artists
This is a collection of Knussen’s orchestral music.
Augusta Read Thomas: Selected Works for Orchestra (2014) by Various Artists
This is a compilation of performances of some of Thomas’ writing for orchestra. I got this from the library by accident but decided to listen to it anyway.
Higglety Pigglety Pop!; Where the Wild Things Are (2001) by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen, starring Cynthia Buchan, Lisa Saffer et al
This disc features both of Oliver Knussen’s “children’s operas,” based on books by Maurice Sendak.
Knussen: Symphonies Nos. 2-3, Trumpets, Ophelia Dances, Coursing, Cantata (1988) by Various
This is a compilation of a few of Knussen’s pieces, which, far as I can figure, are performed by three different ensembles, including an ensemble conducted by Knussen himself.
Geocidal (2014) by tetema
Mike Patton has long been one of my favourite rock musicians. And I think he has also made some objectively great music; at least six albums he has been involved with I would put on my “core” list of important music a neophyte should listen to. (For your reference, those albums are, in chronological order: …
Abaton (2003) by Sylvie Courvoisier, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander
So to make this super confusing, apparently the idea here was to actually credit this trio as Abaton rather than the record, despite the fact that there are at least three other bands in the world with that name. It’s a popular idea, I guess, sleeping in temples…
Seven Words; Silenzio; In croce (1995) by Sofia Gubaidulina, performed by Maria Kliegel, Elsbeth Moser et al.
This is just an awesome set of really challenging modern chamber music, sort of smaller versions of what Penderecki was up to, I guess. The set contains three works by Gubaidulina centered around the cello and the bayan, a Russian version of the accordion.
Morawetz / Ginastera: Harp Concertos (1989) by Gianetta Baril, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Uri Mayer
I have long loved the harp. Ever since I first heard “She’s Leaving Home” sometime in my tweens I was enchanted. And yet I have done a piss poor job of ever seeking out harp music. I can’t really say why exactly, I guess I was just too busy looking for other sounds (that of …
Kleines Requiem fur eine Polka; Concerto for Harpsichord; Good Night (1995) by Henryk Gorecki, performed by the London Sinfonietta et. al
This is a rather arbitrary collection of Gorecki’s later “avant garde” works, featuring a concerto from 1980 and two chamber pieces from the 1990s. But putting the arbitrariness to the side, what we are left with is some very stirring music.
Einstein on the Beach (1976, 1979) by Philip Glass
I am a very big fan of John Adams’ Nixon in China from pretty much the moment I heard it. It seemed impossible to me that two seemingly diametrically opposed styles of music could be merged s seamlessly. It’s safe to say it changed my (musical) life.
Piano Concertos; Elegy for Anne Frank (2001) by Lukas Foss et al.
This is an odd compilation in that it combines performances of Foss’ work by others with two by himself. I don’t really know why they aren’t all by himself, but whatever. I was unfamiliar with Foss and I must say his music is interesting, if far less radical than the 20th century music I normally …
String Quartets Nos. 1-4 (2012) by Michael Tippett, performed by the Britten Quartet
This is certainly my king of music. I do prefer it a little more out there, but this is still pretty great stuff. 9/10
RIP Elliott Carter
I have come late to Carter’s work, having only heard most of his string quartet cycle in the last year. I must say that I was extremely impressed and really interested in hearing more. Carter’s music – at least his music of the ’60s – breaks boundaries – and perhaps that’s why it is most …
Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Angela Cheng and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
This seems to be an attempt to collect Spanish piano concertos from the last 150 years into one spot. We have Isaac Albeniz’s “Spanish Rhapsody” from 1887, Joaquín Turina’s “Symphonic Rhapsody” from 1931, de Manuel Falla’s title track from 1915, and Xavier Montsalvatge’s “Brief Concerto” from 1953. The result of a survey of something like …
Laborintus II (2012 Ipecac) by Luciano Berio, performed by Ictus Ensemble, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Mike Patton
I should eat this up. This is a work written by my favourite Italian composer of the second half of the 20th century – and with Busoni and Puccini, a contender for my favourite Italian composer of the 20th century – performed, in part, by my favourite male rock singer of all time – and …
Percussion Music: Works by Varese, Colgrass, Saperstein, Cowell, Wuorinen (1974, 1997, Nonesuch) by the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble
This is a fine selection of modern “art music” attempts to break out of western traditions by making percussive music. Not really knowing a ton about any of the composers, save Varese, that’s tough for me to say, but it seems a fair sample.
L’amour de loin by the Canadian Opera Company
I’m pretty sure I forgot to tell you that we went to a performance of Tosca a few weeks ago. For me it was a real experience to see a Puccini, even one I didn’t know. I know reviewers felt like the leads were a little wooden but having only seen a couple operas in …