Lesser known composers deserving more recognition

[Frederik Magle]

I want to mention a few of the (older) composers whose music I think deserves much more recognition than it gets. They are not unknown but these works are absolutely world-class and should be standard-repertoire in their respective categories:

First: John Ireland (1879-1962)
I would recommend everybody to get a recording (or attend a concert if possible) of his wonderful work "Concertino Pastoral". Especially the middle movemnet "Threnody" is a remarkable beautiful, fervent piece. Here is a website about him (use google to find more information)

Max Reger (1873-1916)
Max Reger is of course not unknown (especially in "organist circles") but how many of his works do you really know?
"Variations and Fugue on a theme by Johann Sebastian Bach, op.81"
A great work for solo piano, virtous and intense. I have a plan to play this in the future (but for now, I'm busy composing, so it's impossible to tell when...)

Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)
He is getting more and more recognition but could use even more! For a start I recommend "Les Fresques de Piero Della Francesca" which is a fantastic piece (great frescos too btw!).

I'm not going to post any analysis of anything - you can do that yourself if you like, just listen to the music!

There are of course more composers and works I could mention, but these are the first that comes to my mind of the "less broadly known". Feel free to add more names and works to the list if you like!

 

[corno]

Just to add a few others to your list.

In the french flute "section" I have a few:

Cécil Chaminade (1857-1944) - and a woman nonetheless... - together with Jules Mouquet (1867-1946) - they make a hell-of a couple... - the pieces to start with "Concertino for flute and orchestra" op. 107 (chaminade) and "La flute de pan" op. 15 for flute and orchestra (or piano) - I have a good BIS cd with them - BIS-CD-529 - Manuela plays French Flute Concertos - with Manuela Wiesler and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Auguin.

But also... in the french "department" - Jean Francaix (1912-) and Jacques Ibert are also noteworthy... - Francaix has made some quite good pieces like his woodwind quintet and a divertimento for horn and piano...

to finish up these frenchmen - Camille Saint-Saëns - who really has made some awsome stuff, besides his piano-concertos which are marvelous - not to mention his organ symphony... but also... his sonata for oboe and piano op. 166 is a real gem... and finally . Francis Poulenc - his elegy for horn and piano written in the memory probably the greatest hornplayer of the last century Dennis Brain - who died in a car accident on the 1st of september 1957 while driving home from a festival in Edinburgh.

Then we have Sir Wiliam Walton and Ralph Vaughan-Williams - a couple of very crafty Englishmen... - the former has especially made 2 excellent coronation marches - where the latter of the two - "Orb and Sceptre" is a real gem!!! - Vaughan-Williams - english folk-music... - his symphonies are awesome... and there are also some fine works by him original scored for concert band/wind band...

and I could go on and on... there are quite a few composers out there who you only to seldom hear in concert or on the radio.

 

[Pamadu]

Reger.!!!!!! Some Great Works. Herbert Howells is another,with His Psalm Preludes. and The Greatest of ALL to Me (Apart from Bach..hardly lesser known lol) Is Segfied Karg-Elert. A Full set of His Organ & Harmoniums Works was Done By Johannes Matthias Michel (CPO Label Germany). Later This Year I will be doing ALL his Organ & Harmonium Works,PLUS...Complete Piano/Flute/Clarinet/Violin/Cello.a Few Choral/a Few Full Orchestral/etc. and also a Few Works that were Handed Down to me by His "Australian Connection" never Published and I have the "Signed Manuscripts". Will Let You Have More Deatails when That Project is Complete.It will be done on an Australian organ or Many.Also an Australian Label. Cheers. pamadu/Paul.

 

[Pamadu]

In a couple of week's time I will start a new thread in the correct section,and tell you more about My Own Project of recording The "Complete Works of Karg-Elert". All is Now in "Midi" form. but I will be offering a few MP3 excerpts to members of the MIMF and others interested, for download and comments etc.I do not have the time to be dealing with MP3's but a Friend here is organising that for me.I will also Post in This thread a Lot More about Lesser Known Composers,as started by our admin,in a few weeks as well.
Cheers/skaal. Pamadu/Paul.

tak

 

[Eismon]

Charels E. Ives 1874-1954 American composer. If You combined Scriabin and Stravinsky You would create this very innovative composer. Large body of work but hard to find recordings.

 

[corno]

just to anyone who might want to learn more about Charles Ives - I'm, myself, still a little undecided in my view of him, mainly due to the limited amount of his music I've been exposed to.

http://www.charlesives.org/

And welcome to the forums Eismon.

 

[Pamadu]

WELCOME Aboard to MIMF, Eismon

Hope you will enjoy the Forum/s and become an Active Poster.......
Charles Ives....
I have played many times on The Pipe Organ His "Variations on America" but mainly in "Jest"...It is NEVER played anywhere near "The Royals" in England, as Her Majesty "is NOT Amused"

(The Dissonant/Minor Variation,almost brings you to Your knees

) The theme of America,being the tune to "God Save the Queen/King".....However,Many of his Piano Works are in the AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board)
Piano Syllabus,and I have taught them and played them......As to his other Works,I am like Captain Corno.....Never had a lot of Exposure to them.....Must try to listen to some of them in the near future.....BUT.!!!! Yes,
he was a Profilic Writer and does certainly come under this Thread.Your Comparisons would be "very close to correct" as I have heard Variations done by Full Orchestra,and his Piano Works do fit the Style of the two Composers you have mentioned.... Thanks for bringing Him to our attention.Cheers

Pamadu/Paul
P.S. His Discography is listed in Captain Corno's Link.I have just checked My Connections here in Aussieland,and his Orchestral Works are listed,and available.(certainly SONY)
EDIT.!!!!!
His "Essays" are very interesting & are downloadable from the Guttenberg Project Library,at Yale.
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03/ivess10.txt
"A Question is Better than an Answer"
http://www.charlesives.org/ives_essay/index.htm
__________________________________

 

[corno]

"The Unanswered Question" is one of his pieces which I have heard a few times in concert... very interesting piece... and I seem to recollect something about a concert here in Copenhagen some years back where some composer had made something called "The Answer" or "The Answered Question" - or something like it... a, to my recollection, rather poor atempt at that... - oh well... - maybe someone here have heard of this too?

 

[corno]

while on this note... I remember a story a friend of mine told me while we were in high school about a German performance called something in the line of "the answered question"... - where a person sings "warum?" [english: "why?] - and a musician plays a Db (D flat) a half note long in a given tempo - and they repeat that in some manner... - a very odd thing really... unless you know a little German becaus then the "answer" from the musician would be "Deshalb" (Des=Db=D flat - Halb=half note; english "because, therefore")... and then it just becomes extremely silly... oh well... musicians and humor...

 

[Pamadu]

hehehe.....I Like that one Thomas......(warum/Db).
"musicians & humour"....I thought we all were supposed to be "Excentric"

 

[Jamie]

tut tut tut commodore 'eccentric & tempremental'

HOWEVER,corno i am sure i have read somewhere,that story you have told is in 'the charles ives experiment' will look for it later.but his works are very odd at times,almost 'cosmic'. interesting character. regards Jamie

 

[Jamie]

A Composer often forgotten is 'Sir John Stainer'. his best known work is the oratorio 'The Crucifixion'. but have a look at this site and you will see that he made a great contribution to 'Church Music' with hymns & anthems etc.also a few books still used today as reference:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/johnstainer/
we have a big following here in Australia for Stainer. his works are performed every year at St.Paul's Cathedral. Melbourne.Victoria. Dr June Nixon (Director of Music there) and a friend of Commodore Pamadu,keeps his tradition going of presenting 'The Crucifixion' every year. regards Jamie

 

[corno]

another composer - or maybe more an arranger in this context - who deserves a little more recognition is the Japanese Isao Tomita... - during a course on electronic/computer music some years ago I stumpled upon a few people, besides the "obvious" Stockhausen, in the area of computer music who are rather interesting... among them Wendy Carlos who've made the music featured in "A Clockwork Orange" and she's made some really interesting "digitalizations" of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos for the Moog synthesizer...
Isao Tomita in this connection, has made some extremely interesting, almost atmospherical arrangement of, among others, Gustav Holst's Planets Suite and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition... the latter challenging the Ravel instrumentation, though probably also a little inspired by it... - they are all worth a listen... - it may not be to alls taste these computerized arrangements, but I really do think that they, in their own right, are very good examples of the "new world" of music which the computer and electronized advances/developments have made possible...

 

[corno]

while on the subject of arrangements... have anyone of you heard the Dutch group "Ekseption"? http://members.home.nl/ekseption/ - some of it is really odd... but there are also some quite interesting things in between

or what about the infamous pdq bach? - his 1712 overture is a lot of fun

- or the concert for horn and hardart (a vending machine) - or maybe his "Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments"

hehe - great humour... but may require some amount of knowledge of classical music(history) to be able to get the "full load" of humour

 

[Jamie]

thanks corno for bringing him up.have heard all his 'modern world' efforts and they are GREAT:
http://www.isaotomita.com/ just click 'cancel' on transaltion download. it still comes through.

Will check out the Dutch Site later.(Pamadu did some work for Ralph van der Linden) will look it out. also add a few more interesting composers on this topic.while paul is in hospital. Regards. Jamie.

 

[corno]

you should try their rendition of the Toccata and Fugue in d-minor

- not that "strange", but not really that "authentic"

hehe

 

[corno]

just thought of one more composer who could really deserve some more recognition... none other than Percy Grainger... the extremely well traveled aussie

- and with connection to both our countries... he's made some very interesting rendition of Danish folk music...
a link: http://www.amcoz.com.au/composers/composer.asp?id=243
his instrumentation of "An Irish Tune from County Derry"/"Londonderry Air"/"Danny Boy" are really awsome...

will just add some more now I'm at it... William Walton and Ralph Vaughan-Williams... REALLY good music... try Walton's coronation marches "Orb and Sceptre" and "Crown Imperial"... and Vaughan-Williams's "English Folk Song Suite"... his songs "The Vagabond & other songs", his Symphonies... his concert for (bass) tuba and orchestra...

a couple of links:
http://www.rvwsociety.com/
http://www.williamwalton.net/

And finally a danish composer... Rued Langaard (orinally Rud Langgard, but he changed his name so as not to be mistaken for Rud(olph) Langgaard, for which it isn't an abbreviation)... the composer who, because of Carl Nielsen and his "following" never really got a chance in the "hot lights"... - he's really an excentric... and he has made some very interesting and very personal musical expressions like "con albero" instead of "con legno" which instructs the stringplayer to play with the wooden side of the bow instead of using the hair, as would be normal... nothing in particular with that, except that the expression "con albero" translated from italian actually means "with tree" (the one in a forest hehe)

check out his symphonies - a Danish Mahler, though a bit more extreme

link: http://www.langgaard.dk

 

[Jamie]

GREAT.!!!! will tell you a little 'true' story in a PM about Percy Grainger later(extreme in travel & a lot of other things too).but like all his works.did not know he did danish folk tunes.'he was terribly ENGLISH you know'.

do play the 'Coronation Marches' written for Pipe organ,by walton.
Also play the Organ arrangement of 'Greensleeves' Vaughan-Williams. all his music is awesome. will look at the 'danish mahler' later.lol. got to be in the mood to listen to mahler or anything like him.lol. 'with a tree' bow

GOOD LINKS. Thanks. Jamie

 

[corno]

the correct Langgaard link is of course, http://www.langgaard.dk

 

[Jamie]

Actually,that is a very good link.well worth reading all secktions.THEN. listen to the excerpts (with a little something added to the coffee

).his symphonies certainly go much further than Mahler,but his other works do embrace his basic concept of music 'symbolism' and also show the theosophical influence in his life. eccentric (YES) but at least the FULL notes explain his many ideas,and he succeeds in getting his style across. even if a bit hard on the ear at many times

WELL WORTH THE TIME. regards & thanks. Jamie

EDIT...........
have just finished listening to all of his excepts.they are really good.that is 'Langgaard'

BTW. the other link re. Percy Grainger's Life,Works & Museum etc. the museum at the Melbourne University(Melba Con.)) is closed for things.It is 'well documented' in other biographies about this composer that ALL his wonderful works are held in 'high esteem'.,despite his rather well travelled & eccentric lifestyle.he lived his life TO THE FULL to many peoples' 'shock & horror'.

It always brings a smile to my face when playing his 'Country Gardens'. what may have been going on.