Tag Archives: modernism

Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote, Sonata for Cello and Piano; Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 18; George Enescu’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 25

Posted on 3rd August 2017 by Robert

Richard Strauss, to me, is one of those protean composers who developed in the artistic ferment of Europe that stretched from the 1890s to the years encompassing World War I. He was, at least as much as any of his … Continue reading →

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Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings: Orchestral and Chamber Works

Posted on 29th July 2017 by Robert

Samuel Barber is one of those composers I haven’t paid enough attention to, except for the Adagio for Strings, which at its best is an overwhelming piece of music — but more on that later. Barber was born into comfortable … Continue reading →

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Guarneri Quartet’s The Hungarian Album (Ernö Dohnányi, String Quartet No. 2 in D-flat Major, Op. 15, String Quartet No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 33; Zoltan Kodály, String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10)

Posted on 12th June 2017 by Robert

The Guarneri Quartet is one of the most distinguished ensembles of the latter half of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1964, reportedly at the instigation of Alexander Schneider of the legendary Budapest String Quartet, although Arnold Steinhardt’s recollection … Continue reading →

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Works of Igor Stravinsky

Posted on 19th May 2017 by Robert

Works of Igor Stravinsky is a massive set: 22 CDs of performances of Rite of Spring, Petrouschka, L’Histoire du Soldat, Symphony in E-Flat, The Rake’s Progress and more under the direction of the composer, with additional performances by his disciple … Continue reading →

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Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque; Maurice Ravel’s Sonatine, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Alborada del gracioso

Posted on 15th April 2017 by Robert

After I had gained a little background in what we call “classical” music (which is to say, Western art music of whatever era and style, whether it is truly classical or not), the customary juxtaposition of Claude Debussy and Maurice … Continue reading →

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Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 9/ Alexander Raskatov: Nunc dimittis

Posted on 6th June 2016 by Robert

To Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke, music provided continuity, a connection with history and, in fact, to all of life. This is, perhaps, not so surprising: his musical education took place largely in post-War Vienna, and if anything typifies the life … Continue reading →

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Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen: Bartók, Lutosławski, Schnittke

Posted on 6th June 2016 by Robert

If I had to choose one word to describe the music of Central and Eastern Europe in the years after World War II, it would be “restless.” This restlessness actually predates the War, having its roots in the Vienna of … Continue reading →

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Béla Bartók: Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano

Posted on 8th May 2016 by Robert

If I seem to be enthusiastic about the music of Béla Bartók, it’s only because I am — you’d have to be, to sit and listen to more than five hours of his music for solo piano. Happily, he was … Continue reading →

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Gustav Mahler: The Complete Symphonies

Posted on 22nd February 2016 by Robert

Both Tim Page and Erik Ryding, in their essays accompanying this Sony reissue of Leonard Bernstein’s landmark cycle of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler, give Bernstein pride of place in Mahler’s “rehabilitation” in the 1960s. While I don’t want … Continue reading →

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Béla Bartók: Bartók: Solo Piano Works

Posted on 21st February 2016 by Robert

Vol. I: Seven Sketches (Sz 44), Sonata 1926 (Sz 80), Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs and Dances (Sz 71), Four Dirges (Sz 45), Allegro Barbaro (Sz 49) Vol. II: Suite (Sz 62), For Children (42 Hungarian Folk Songs) (Sz 42), Three … Continue reading →

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