# SS 18.8.18 - Kancheli # 4 "In memoria di Michelangelo"



## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Back with another pick and a continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:
*
Giya Kancheli (1935)*

Symphony No. 4 "In memoria di Michelangelo"

in one movement

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

I've always admired Kancheli's music, and he seems to fit somewhere within the Minimalist genre. The symphony #4 seems to be one of his more accessible works. Known for his extreme changes in dynamics this 1974 work is an engaging one movement work from this acclaimed Georgian composer. I'll listen to the Helsinki Philharmonic with James DePriest.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)




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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Somewhat surprised to see this one surface, but delighted nonetheless.
I shall go with the Tblisi SO recording on Beaux. I have a live recording somewhere on cassette tape which I recorded from a radio broadcast about 20 years ago, but alas I no longer have the technology to play it.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A big difference in duration for the three versions I see on YouTube. Anybody know why?

Kakhidze/Tblisi 25:13
Kakhidze/State Symphony Orchestra of Georgia 24.58
DePreist/Helsinki 18:40


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Kakhidze for me as well.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Kakhidze / Tbilisi on youtube for me. Not my thing but some nice moments.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

cougarjuno said:


> I've always admired Kancheli's music, and he seems to fit somewhere within the Minimalist genre. The symphony #4 seems to be one of his more accessible works. Known for his extreme changes in dynamics this 1974 work is an engaging one movement work from this acclaimed Georgian composer. I'll listen to the Helsinki Philharmonic with James DePriest.


I will listen this one also. Thank you cougarjuno for stepping in again. Summer vacation period is causing some delays for me at the moment


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Listened to the Kakhidze/State Symphony Orchestra of Georgia performance on YouTube. Some interesting sonorities, a lot of sudden bangs and crashes, a clock ticking… Maybe I simply missed the point! Evidently not my cup of tea.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I managed to get hold of the Kancheli Symphonies (Kakhidze) when I was with a download bunch called emusic. They were cheap!! I found them very episodic, and, as Ken indicates, a wide sonic range.

Perhaps I should actually listen a bit more, rather than just own.........


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Kancheli's music is at once startling and then somber and serene. This symphony tends to have more extended melodic and melancholy phrases than other Kancheli symphonies. I think the DePriest version is taken faster overall, but listening to that and the Tbilisi version I really couldn't tell a significant difference as the general pace is still quite slow.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I listened to the Tblisi recording and sadly have to say it did nothing for me, which is fine! Thanks cougarjuno for stepping in this weekend - much appreciated.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

I listened to the DePriest recording largely because it's the only one on my shelf - not his best work in my opinion.

View attachment 106876


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## Weird Heather (Aug 24, 2016)

I don't have this in my collection, so I listened to the Youtube link that Merl posted. I'll probably add it to my collection the next time I buy some music. I enjoyed it; like a lot of postmodern orchestral music, it is quite accessible without sounding old-fashioned. Although easy on the ear, there is a bit too much going on for it to be used merely as background music. To me, it sounds more like a symphonic poem than a symphony, but that distinction is merely one of semantics. In the postmodern period, the only definition of a symphony that seems to hold is that if the composer declares a piece of music to be a symphony, then it is a symphony. I like to listen to this sort of thing fairly regularly, and it is nice to have a lot of choices on hand. I don't know that it stands out from the crowd, but it holds its own.

I also listened to "Styx" for viola, chorus, and orchestra, which is the only work by Kancheli currently in my collection. My opinion of that work is similar. Those who like this symphony might want to check it out.


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