I just listened to the Sacred Veil while working….and I will say it made for perfectly good background listening (I don’t think there was any other way I would’ve listened)…except when the lyrics were coming through clear enough that I could make out the words. I have similar reservations to Maestro Will about the subject matter…and I think the found lyrics aspect of it is a huge problem. I’ve been noticing something of a trend here where librettists & lyricists assemble their texts from existing non-poetic/dramatic sources rather than acting as creators (for realism? immediacy? relevancy?). I don’t like it. Writing lyrics is a skill and an art, and the use of everyday documents not intended as lyric just doesn’t cut it.
The Bolling jazz flute suite, on the other hand is delightful.
This NTT is, once again, quite tricky, but I have to say that I *really* liked it. I'll go with Laurie's assertion that it's clarinet, viola, and piano... though I'll sheepishly admit that it sounds to me like it might be a violin and I'm not quite sure which!
I also like Laurie's assertion that it's early-mid 20th century, but I don't hear it as 2nd Viennese school—there's just too many patterns. But it does sound (Eastern) European to me rather than American. I don't *think* it's Soviet, just because the patterning has some interesting overlapping and I think a Soviet composer would have laid out the phrases more neatly.
NTT: I keep listening to this and I'm hearing more of the patterns Will was talking about. (And I can't usually tell a Viola from a Violin either, so I'm just guessing because it sounds a bit lower register to me on this clip.)
I'm still thinking European. Maybe American - only because Schoenberg lived in the US in his later years I recall. So I'll throw out finally some names as a wild guess after a few days of pondering, mainly because I've played some of their orchestral and/or chamber music:
Hindemith - because his horn quartet and horn sonata came to mind on hearing the NTT. And he wrote something for Piano, Alto Horn (unusual), and Viola.
Ligeti - because his homage to the Brahms Horn Trio doesn’t sound anything like Brahms and, frankly, sounds absolutely insane to play, with the 3 instruments at odds.
And Ives - simply because the guy wrote for marching bands coming at each other 😉
The more I read that quote of Schoenberg's, the more I wonder what he actually meant. Was it really an insult like I've been assuming? Or was that particlar clue a ruse and it was some kind of strange back-handed compliment? It's an odd turn of phrase . . .
If it's not an insult, maybe he did apply it to Webern or Berg. Hmmmm . . . and now I'm overthinking it altogether because negligence and contempt are also both legal terms . . .
My post missed the cut-off for the NTT discussion, but I certainly didn't get it right this week. The closest composer in my basket was perhaps Amy Beach (details are in my comment for #38).
But Will, that reminds me to ask you:
What is your posting deadline for reviewing NTT responses? Thanks.
I'll definitely have to listen to Smyth's complete Mass after that gorgeous horn quartet. I know of her, but haven't explored her work yet. Thanks for that introduction to her music!
For this week's NTT, the best I can guess is that it's a Trio for Piano, Clarinet and probably Viola. Modern, somewhat atonal and dissonant to my ear, maybe written early/mid 20th century, European - maybe American - composer. I think Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg were perhaps friends, so it’s probably not either of the latter two. But that's all quite specifically vague without having any composers to offer.
I just listened to the Sacred Veil while working….and I will say it made for perfectly good background listening (I don’t think there was any other way I would’ve listened)…except when the lyrics were coming through clear enough that I could make out the words. I have similar reservations to Maestro Will about the subject matter…and I think the found lyrics aspect of it is a huge problem. I’ve been noticing something of a trend here where librettists & lyricists assemble their texts from existing non-poetic/dramatic sources rather than acting as creators (for realism? immediacy? relevancy?). I don’t like it. Writing lyrics is a skill and an art, and the use of everyday documents not intended as lyric just doesn’t cut it.
The Bolling jazz flute suite, on the other hand is delightful.
This NTT is, once again, quite tricky, but I have to say that I *really* liked it. I'll go with Laurie's assertion that it's clarinet, viola, and piano... though I'll sheepishly admit that it sounds to me like it might be a violin and I'm not quite sure which!
I also like Laurie's assertion that it's early-mid 20th century, but I don't hear it as 2nd Viennese school—there's just too many patterns. But it does sound (Eastern) European to me rather than American. I don't *think* it's Soviet, just because the patterning has some interesting overlapping and I think a Soviet composer would have laid out the phrases more neatly.
My bucket: Enescu, Kodaly, and Martinu.
NTT: I keep listening to this and I'm hearing more of the patterns Will was talking about. (And I can't usually tell a Viola from a Violin either, so I'm just guessing because it sounds a bit lower register to me on this clip.)
I'm still thinking European. Maybe American - only because Schoenberg lived in the US in his later years I recall. So I'll throw out finally some names as a wild guess after a few days of pondering, mainly because I've played some of their orchestral and/or chamber music:
Hindemith - because his horn quartet and horn sonata came to mind on hearing the NTT. And he wrote something for Piano, Alto Horn (unusual), and Viola.
Ligeti - because his homage to the Brahms Horn Trio doesn’t sound anything like Brahms and, frankly, sounds absolutely insane to play, with the 3 instruments at odds.
And Ives - simply because the guy wrote for marching bands coming at each other 😉
The more I read that quote of Schoenberg's, the more I wonder what he actually meant. Was it really an insult like I've been assuming? Or was that particlar clue a ruse and it was some kind of strange back-handed compliment? It's an odd turn of phrase . . .
If it's not an insult, maybe he did apply it to Webern or Berg. Hmmmm . . . and now I'm overthinking it altogether because negligence and contempt are also both legal terms . . .
My post missed the cut-off for the NTT discussion, but I certainly didn't get it right this week. The closest composer in my basket was perhaps Amy Beach (details are in my comment for #38).
But Will, that reminds me to ask you:
What is your posting deadline for reviewing NTT responses? Thanks.
I'll definitely have to listen to Smyth's complete Mass after that gorgeous horn quartet. I know of her, but haven't explored her work yet. Thanks for that introduction to her music!
For this week's NTT, the best I can guess is that it's a Trio for Piano, Clarinet and probably Viola. Modern, somewhat atonal and dissonant to my ear, maybe written early/mid 20th century, European - maybe American - composer. I think Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg were perhaps friends, so it’s probably not either of the latter two. But that's all quite specifically vague without having any composers to offer.
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