# Recommend song cycles with unusual instrumentation



## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

Hey everyone. I'm very interested in song cycles (or songs in general, but preferably cycles) with unusual instrumentation. That is, not simply voice and piano, but voice accompanied by (or in combination with) string quartets or any other combination. I'm thinking something along the lines of Le Marteau... by Boulez, On Wenlock Edge by RVW, Zyia by Xenakis, for instance. For the purposes of this thread I'm excluding orchestral song cycles like the Mahler ones.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

One of my all-time favourites is Warlock's The Curlew (voice, flute, cor anglais and string quartet).


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Ravel: Chansons madécasses - soprano, flute, cello, piano. (Wikipedia: “the set is usually performed complete as a true song cycle although this was not the composer's designation.”)

Ravel: Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé – mezzo-soprano, 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), string quartet, piano


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire





Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I posted this on the current listening thread not long ago:

_Wie es wär', wenn's anders wär'_ [_As it Would Be - if it Were Different_] - song for soprano, flute, oboe, bassoon and string quartet WoO [Text: Franz Bonn] (1918):
_Melancholie_ - cycle of four songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet op.13 [Texts: Christian Morgenstern] (1919):
_Des Todes Tod_ [_Death's Death_] - cycle of three songs for female voice, two violas and two cellos op.23a [Texts: Eduard Reinacher] (1922):
_Die junge Magd_ [_The Young Maid_] - cycle of six songs for alto voice with flute, clarinet and string quartet op.23b [Texts: Georg Trakl] (1922):
_Die Serenaden_ - 'little cantata on romantic texts' for soprano, oboe, viola and cello op.35 [Texts: Adolf Licht/J.L.W. Gleim/Ludwig Tieck/Joseph von Eichendorff/J.W. Meinhold/S.A. Mahlmann] (1924):


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

SuperTonic said:


> Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, of course I forgot to mention Pierrot which I love. I have listened to the Crumb, but I don't remember it well, will give it another go.

Naturally, I thank every and any past, present and future recommendation!


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

How about the overly familiar Winterreise re-arranged for tenor and a chamber group with an accordion solo?

This is one of my favourite Winterreises, and Christoph Prégardien is one of favourite Schubert singers. I think the melancholy depicted by the accordion is fantastic!


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

James MacMillan: _Raising Sparks_ (1997)
Mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, harp, piano, string quartet

This cycle of 6 songs I find strong and dramatic. Excellent rendering by the Nash Ensemble on YT


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Othmar Schoeck: Notturno Op. 47 (1933)
Baritone, string quartet

The song-cycle _Notturno_ has been described as one of the best works by this Swiss composer, who was championed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and strings...wonderful piece...
Also- by Britten
Nocturne
Less Illuminations

How about Shostakovich-
Symphony #14....voice, percussion Strings
Mussorgsky- Songs and Dances of Death....a few different arrangements...


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Respighi: _Il Tramonto_ - Mezzo-soprano and string quartet

This beautiful setting of Shelley's poem "The Sunset" in translation has operatic characteristics -- it's a gorgeous piece.

Peter Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King - described as "a classic of music theater." 
- Baritone or bass, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion/cimbalom, violin, cello

I've attended a performance of this work and disturbing music theater it is, yet riveting. Though consisting of songs, it probably stretches the meaning of "song-cycle" too far.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

elgars ghost said:


> I posted this on the current listening thread not long ago:
> 
> _Wie es wär', wenn's anders wär'_ [_As it Would Be - if it Were Different_] - song for soprano, flute, oboe, bassoon and string quartet WoO [Text: Franz Bonn] (1918):
> _Melancholie_ - cycle of four songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet op.13 [Texts: Christian Morgenstern] (1919):
> ...


Thanks for putting this list of Hindemith song-cycles. I like Hindemith but have never heard these works and now I can find them.


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## Posauner (Nov 8, 2020)

There is the Four Folk Song Upsettings, by P.D.Q. Bach. It is for mezzanine-soprano, piano, and "devious instruments" (Ocarina, Pastaphone, Schlagenfrappe, Tuba Mirum).


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I agree with a lot of the recommendations above. There's some really great music in there.

Maurice Delage - Quatre poemes hindous





Giacinto Scelsi - Canti del Capricorno (it's not just the instrumentation, the vocals are definitely unusual)





Peter Maxwell Davies - Eight songs for a mad king





Gyorgy Ligeti - Síppal, Dobbal, Nádihegedüvel





Heinz Karl Gruber - Frankenstein





Maurice Ohana: Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

norman bates said:


> I agree with a lot of the recommendations above. There's some really great music in there.
> 
> Maurice Delage - Quatre poemes hindous
> 
> ...


Per my avatar of course I love the Ligeti piece, also Eight songs for a mad king. I think we may have similar tastes, so thank you!


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Posauner said:


> There is the Four Folk Song Upsettings, by P.D.Q. Bach. It is for mezzanine-soprano, piano, and "devious instruments" (Ocarina, Pastaphone, Schlagenfrappe, Tuba Mirum).


I especially loved the tuned tubes, but the Tuba Mirum was a bit tubby ...


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

I was beginning to wonder who was PDQ Bach... :tiphat:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Not mentioned yet: Berio's Folk songs, originally for voice, flute (doubling on piccolo), clarinet, harp, viola, cello, and percussion (two players).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Roger Knox said:


> Thanks for putting this list of Hindemith song-cycles. I like Hindemith but have never heard these works and now I can find them.


I hope you can stream/download the recordings or hear them on youtube or something - the actual cd is long out of print and I had to wait a heck of a long time to snare a used copy in VGC at a reasonable price.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Some good recommendations here. You might also try the wonderful Kafka Fragments of Kurtag (voice and violin) ... or, indeed, quite a lot of Kurtag's other songs.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

I also love Kurtág!


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: _*Merciless Beauty*_ (1921) for tenor, two violins & cello
:: Langridge, Endellion Quartet minus viola [EMI]




_Merciless Beauty_ comprises three little settings of rondels likely misattributed to Chaucer. "Those strange cold Chaucer Rondels," as Simona Parkenham describes them, are indeed strange and cold … stripped-down and severe anomalies in Vaughan Williams's output.

Julián ORBÓN: _*Tres cantigas del rey*_ (1960) for soprano, harpsicord & string quartet (w/light percussion in the third song)
:: Baird, Puyana, Mata/Solistas de México [Dorian]




This tiny trio of neo-Spanish Renaissance songs sounds like a cross between Vaughan Williams's _Merciless Beauty_ and Falla's Harpsichord Concerto.

György KURTÁG: _*Scenes from a Novel*_ (1982) for soprano, violin, double bass & cimbalom
:: Csengery, Keller, Csontos & Fábián [Hungaroton]




_Scenes from a Novel_ is a motley cycle of fifteen little songs that have a whiff of the theater about them. Indeed, the cycle might be thought of as the disparate and extroverted alter ego of the deeply self-centered and introverted _Kafka Fragments_. If _Kafka Fragments_ is ultimately the more profound work, _Scenes from a Novel_ is the more inviting and immediately accessible work.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Henry Purcell's songs:


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #5 for soprano and 8 cellos


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Schubert *Ganymed* with orchestrated accompaniment ... sounds much different than the piano version - lighter and more like spring ...






Beethoven *Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur* for solo or choir ...











Berlioz *les nuits d'été* especially _Absence_ - surely one of the most beautiful songs ever






Eisler *Hollywood Songbook*

Schubert: *Auf dem Strom for tenor, horn, and piano, D. 943* ... the model for Britten's similar songs mentioned earlier.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> Hey everyone. I'm very interested in song cycles (or songs in general, but preferably cycles) with unusual instrumentation. That is, not simply voice and piano, but voice accompanied by (or in combination with) string quartets or any other combination. I'm thinking something along the lines of Le Marteau... by Boulez, On Wenlock Edge by RVW, Zyia by Xenakis, for instance. For the purposes of this thread I'm excluding orchestral song cycles like the Mahler ones.


Probably worthwhile quoting the OP as a reminder.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Roger Knox said:


> Ravel: Chansons madécasses - soprano, flute, cello, piano. (Wikipedia: "the set is usually performed complete as a true song cycle although this was not the composer's designation.")
> 
> Ravel: Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé - mezzo-soprano, 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), string quartet, piano


Two of my all time favorites.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Another fine one is Samuel Barber's Dover Beach for voice and string quartet. Also Die junge Magd, or The Young Maid, by Paul Hindemith, for soprano, flute, clarinet and string quartet.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

SearsPoncho said:


> Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #5 for soprano and 8 cellos


I recently dived a little into Villa-Lobos. I'm afraid that almost nothing of what I listened to stuck with me.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Roger Knox said:


> Othmar Schoeck: Notturno Op. 47 (1933)
> Baritone, string quartet
> 
> The song-cycle _Notturno_ has been described as one of the best works by this Swiss composer, who was championed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.


I have this on CD (DFD with the Cherubini Quartett, EMI). It is coupled with Siegfried Matthus' Nachtlieder for bariton, string quartet and harp, which also fits the OP's requirements.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Walton's _Façade_. It has been recorded with orchestra but also with small ensemble (flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, cello and percussion). It comes over like a camp cousin once removed of Schoenberg's _Pierrot lunaire_, a work to it owes much. Definitely more Bayswater than Bergamo.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

Roger Knox said:


> Othmar Schoeck: Notturno Op. 47 (1933)
> Baritone, string quartet
> 
> The song-cycle _Notturno_ has been described as one of the best works by this Swiss composer, who was championed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.


Today I listened to some of the recommendations on here that I hadn't listened to before, the Warlock, the Hindemith and this one. The first two I really liked, although I have to give the Warlock another try to really get my head around it, and Hindemith is always a favourite of mine. But this work tops them all, what a beautiful piece of music, really.

EDIT: Of course thanks to everyone that participated, and if anyone else wants to give me more, you're always welcome to do so!


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