Symphonic Dialogue for percussion and orchestra performed by Gert Mortensen and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Okko Kamu, available on Spotify (cover image by Gerald Berliner) Full disclosure: I’m not entirely sure what makes this a symphony and not a … Continue reading Sallinen Symphony no. 2, op. 29
performed by the Cape Town Philharmonic under Owain Arwel Hughes, available on Spotify (cover image by Serge Kutuzov) Strong arguments exist both for and against publishing works that composers either themselves decided not to publish or later withdrew (or perhaps … Continue reading Schnittke Symphony no. 0
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
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Thord Svedlund I am a pupil of Shostakovich. Although I never took lessons from him, I count myself as his pupil, his flesh and blood. Weinberg (cover image by Brian McMahon) Mieczysław Weinberg’s first … Continue reading Weinberg Symphony no. 1 in Gm, op. 10
performed by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra under Owain Arwel Hughes, available on Spotify (cover image by Charlie Wild) One of the difficult things about some of these more obscure works, no matter how rewarding it is to discover (and yes, even to … Continue reading Holmboe Symphony no. 1, op. 4
performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jirí Bělohlávek, or in an actual video that doesn’t have a weird stock photo with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Andrés Orozco-Estrada You cannot change a single note…it is a classical symphony… Serge Koussevitzky (cover … Continue reading Martinů Symphony no. 1, H. 289
performed by the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt, available on Spotify (cover image by Eleni Afiontzi) Rosenberg’s second symphony dates from 1934, and we have what I perceive to be a similar situation with the quartets. The second quartet … Continue reading Rosenberg Symphony no. 2, op. 62 ‘Sinfonia Grave’
performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Nikolaus Harnoncourt (cover image by Dorian Mongel) Here it is. Music post no. 700. No. 600 was Mahler 9, 500 was Schoenberg’s violin concerto, 400 was Mahler’s Das Lied, 300 was Shostakovich’s violin … Continue reading Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A, op. 92
performed by the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Jean-Jacques Kantorow (available on this album on Spotify) My music is not neo-Classical, it is Classical, for it retains the timeless aspect of Classicism : the rigour of expression. My music is not neo-Romantic, it … Continue reading Nicolas Bacri: Symphony no. 4, op. 49 ‘Classique Sturm und Drang’
performed by the Orchestre Radio Symphonique de Strasbourg under Charles Bruck (this work isn’t on YouTube, but this performance, perhaps the only one in existence for now, is on Spotify. It can be found here.) (cover image by Hieronymus Bosch, … Continue reading Serge Nigg: Jerome Bosch Symphonie
performed by the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot, or as below with the Orchestre National de l’ORTF under Roger Albin (cover image by John Towner) (this piece is featured on a list of pieces I heartily recommend to music directors for inclusion … Continue reading Dutilleux Symphony no. 1
performed by Yvonne Loriod, Jeanne Loriod, and the Orchestre de la Bastille under Myung-Whun Chung, or as below with Roger Muraro, Valérie-Hartmann Claverie, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, also under Chung (cover image by Kai Oberhauser) I asked … Continue reading Revisit: Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie
performed by the Orchestre National de la RTF under Jean Martinon, or below by somebody under Manuel Rosenthal The music of Elsa Barraine wins over its listeners by a contrapuntal independence of line, virtuosity, and expressive intensity through motivic and rhythmic … Continue reading Elsa Barraine: Symphony no. 2
performed by the Orchestre National de France under Charles Dutoit (cover image by Soroush Karimi) Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was born on April 5, 1869, and turned to music only as an adult, after seven years as a midshipman. … Continue reading Albert Roussel: Symphony no. 3 in Gm, op. 42
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Kawin Harasai) So this one really tops them all, I think. What do you to to top off a symphonic cycle, even if it’s just a … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 6, op. 79
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Samuel Zeller) Here we are at Milhaud’s op. 75, the opus number right after his fourth. It was composed in 1922. As the previous little symphony was … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 5, op. 75, ‘Tentet’
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Daria Shevtsova) The fourth little symphony was completed in 1921, the same year as the third. It’s longer than the previous works, at about six minutes, of … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 4, op. 74
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Aaron Burden) As you can see, we’ve moved forward a bit in this third post on this Monday in the middle of the year. The third little … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 3, op. 71 ‘Serenade’
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Lisa Hobbs) Well, here we are again in record breaking time for our second article of the day, and for a work with such a similar subtitle … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 2, op. 49, ‘Pastorale’
performed by the Orchestre de Radio Luxembourg under the composer’s baton (cover image by Trevor Cole) I apologize in advance. Today and tomorrow, there will be three posts each. You’ll see why. Beginning in 1917, in his mid-twenties, Darius Milhaud … Continue reading Milhaud Little Symphony no. 1, op. 43 “Le Printemps”
performed by Les Siècles under François-Xavier Roth, interviewed in the video below, with the piece itself available on Spotify (cover image by Bruno Abatti) François-Clément Théodore Dubois was born on August 24, 1837 in Rosnay in Marne. He studied with, among … Continue reading Théodore Dubois: Symphonie Française