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Tag: serial

Editor's Choice, Music, Symphony2 Comments

Henze Symphony no. 2

October 4, 2018October 3, 2018 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under the composer’s baton, or below by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Marek Janowski …music for a winter’s day, utterly grey and gloomy. Henze, of his second symphony (cover image by Cesare Burei) What would your struggle … Continue reading Henze Symphony no. 2

American Symphony, Music, SymphonyLeave a comment

Irving Fine: Symphony

October 30, 2017October 28, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project under Gil Rose, or below by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the composer’s baton (cover image by Andrew Yardley) Irving Gifford Fine was born in Boston on 3 December 1914. He earned both … Continue reading Irving Fine: Symphony

concerto, Music1 Comment

Schoenberg Violin Concerto, op. 36

September 1, 2017August 26, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by Hilary Hahn and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen [It] is extremely difficult, just as much for the head as for the hands. I am delighted to add another ‘unplayable’ work to the repertoire. I want … Continue reading Schoenberg Violin Concerto, op. 36

Music, PianoLeave a comment

Boulez: Éclat

June 28, 2017May 19, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain, or below by members of the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, from The Proms 2016 Boulez completed his Éclat for 15 instruments in 1965. Properly (I think?) called Éclat-Multiples, it is (or was to be) … Continue reading Boulez: Éclat

Music, SQS, The HornLeave a comment

Babbitt: Around the Horn

April 9, 2017March 25, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by William Purvis (sorry, no YouTube today, but hop on over to the Naxos page featuring this album to hear a few snippets of this vibrant, varied work for solo horn.) Doesn’t anyone here know anything about baseball? … … Continue reading Babbitt: Around the Horn

Lieder, Music, SQSLeave a comment

Babbitt’s The Head of the Bed

March 4, 2017February 27, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by Judith Bettina and Parnassus under Anthony Korf (sorry, there’s no video here again today, but if you can spare the dollar or whatever, I highly recommend purchasing the recording [I guess it has to be the entire album, so about $10…] on … Continue reading Babbitt’s The Head of the Bed

podcast, thoughtsLeave a comment

Podcast: Livre pour Quatuor Diotima

August 30, 2016September 11, 2016 Fugue for Thought

featuring Yun Peng Zhao from Quatuor Diotima. Listen here or in iTunes, or an abridged Chinese version here But when you listen to the twentieth century, maybe just give up this habit, for example, nice melody. For example, some drama… maybe … Continue reading Podcast: Livre pour Quatuor Diotima

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music1 Comment

Stockhausen: Gruppen

July 27, 2016July 25, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Friedrich Goldman (I) Claudio Abbado (II) Marcus Creed (III) “a landmark in 20th-century music . . . probably the first work of the post-war generation of composers in which technique and imagination combine on … Continue reading Stockhausen: Gruppen

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music, SQSLeave a comment

Berio: Quartetto (1956)

July 24, 2016July 23, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Arditti quartet The string quartet under discussion begins at this point in the above video, or from here In searching for information about this quartet, I came to find that there is very little discussion virtually anywhere of Berio’s almost-earliest work … Continue reading Berio: Quartetto (1956)

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music, SQSLeave a comment

Bruno Maderna: Quartetto per archi in due tempi

July 23, 2016July 22, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Cicada Quartet Maderna’s Quartet is the hardest nut to crack [on the album], with its fragmented phrases and restless rhythms and dynamics. But behind the notes the Cikadas’ deeply committed playing reveals glimpses of a dramatic personality … Continue reading Bruno Maderna: Quartetto per archi in due tempi

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music4 Comments

Nono: Il Canto Sospeso

July 21, 2016July 16, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, with Susanne Otto, Marek Torzewski, Barbara Bonney, Dietrich Knothe & Rundfunkchor Berlin under Claudio Abbado If any evidence exists that Webern’s work does not mark the esoteric “expiry” of Western music in a pianissimo of … Continue reading Nono: Il Canto Sospeso

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music3 Comments

Luigi Nono: Liebeslied for mixed choir and instruments

July 19, 2016July 8, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Wiener Jeunesse-Chor, Günther Theuring, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado Today we begin a rather brief discussion of one of the pillars of the Darmstadt school, in fact of the very man who coined the phrase … Continue reading Luigi Nono: Liebeslied for mixed choir and instruments

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music, Piano, SonataLeave a comment

Boulez Piano Sonata no. 1

July 13, 2016July 13, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by Paavali Jumppanen (from his album of the three sonatas) or below by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (from Boulez’s Ouvres Completes box set), both fantastic performances We now jump forward a little bit in time to another of Boulez’s still-early works, the first … Continue reading Boulez Piano Sonata no. 1

Darmstadt Beginnings, Music, Piano1 Comment

Boulez: Douze Notations

July 11, 2016July 1, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, or the first Notation performed by the composer, also below We start off our discussion of the Darmstadt school with Pierre Boulez. Needless to say, this is going to be a tough month of articles, for … Continue reading Boulez: Douze Notations

Darmstadt Beginnings, thoughtsLeave a comment

Series: The Darmstadt School

July 1, 2016July 28, 2016 Fugue for Thought

It’s July. Do you remember what we did last July? Go have a look. It seemed like a cool thing at the time to dedicate July to an interesting program of stuff, and last year’s month-long piano series was originally … Continue reading Series: The Darmstadt School

Music, Symphony1 Comment

Webern: Symphony, op. 21

June 30, 2016June 25, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or the below with (members of) the Berlin Philharmonic also under Boulez Greater unity is impossible. Even the Netherlander didn’t manage it. In the fourth variation there are constant … Continue reading Webern: Symphony, op. 21

Music3 Comments

Pierre Boulez: Livre pour Quatuor (1962)

March 23, 2016March 23, 2016 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Quatuor Parisii from the DG box set the Livre pour Quatuor, from its history as well as its overall economy, does not appear as a bloc but, in reference to Mallarmé’s Livre, like a series of detachable pages that … Continue reading Pierre Boulez: Livre pour Quatuor (1962)

MusicLeave a comment

Schoenberg String Quartet no. 4, op. 37

September 2, 2015November 21, 2015 Fugue for Thought

performed by the New Vienna String Quartet (Neues Wiener Streichquartett) A playlist with all four movements can be found here.  “…it awakens feelings that are not far from those caused by euphony.” From this article, which I’ll cite also below … Continue reading Schoenberg String Quartet no. 4, op. 37

Music2 Comments

Babbitt String Quartet no. 2

August 28, 2015March 28, 2017 Fugue for Thought

performed by the Composers Quartet There was until recently no YouTube Video to share, but one has appeared, and I’m not sure how long it will stay up.  There’s only one (studio?) recording of this piece, to my knowledge, and … Continue reading Babbitt String Quartet no. 2

Music1 Comment

Babbitt: Composition for Four Instruments

August 26, 2015March 28, 2017 Fugue for Thought

played by any of the people in the recordings listed here, or as below (more detail on the performers later, but they are listed in the YouTube video’s info “… the general lesson of Composition for Four Instruments is that … Continue reading Babbitt: Composition for Four Instruments

Music3 Comments

Milton Babbitt: Three Compositions for Piano

August 24, 2015December 4, 2018 Fugue for Thought

performed by Robert Taub. The CD is available here The first of these three pieces is above on YouTube, and if it’s even the  least bit intriguing, I would highly recommend buying the album.  Here we are, at a place I have … Continue reading Milton Babbitt: Three Compositions for Piano

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