# Modern Fantasia Selections



## dandixon (Dec 2, 2020)

I've always enjoyed Disney's Fantasia. Watching it recently it struck me how young many of the compositions were when the film was released. Of the 8 compositions in the film, 3 of them were less than 50 years old (Rite of Spring, Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Nutcracker). Another 2 were less than 75 years old (Dance of the Hours and Night on Bald Mountain). What compositions from the last 50 or 75 years would you include in a third Fantasia? This means we are only going back to 1970 or 1945. I would suggest the piece would need to be dramatic, cinematic, easily relatable, under 25 minutes, and a near instant classic. What works since 1945 meet the criteria?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

That's an interesting idea you have. Did you look at Fantasia 2000. I haven't seen in since it was in the theaters - I know it had some Gershwin and Elgar, but I can't recall if it had any more modern music. As to making a new one, with more recent music, I can't think of anything worthy of treating like that. There's been nothing to excite the general classical audiences, nothing that has filtered into the popular consciousness of society. Maybe Adam's Short Ride in a Fast Machine?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Not as hard as I imagined it would be. Here are 6 selections that are kid friendly with the right visuals.

Barely making it from 1945:
Britten's Young Person's Guide to Orchestra - Fugue
Shostakovich Symphony 9 - Moderato

Piston Three New England Sketches - Seaside
Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony - Turangalila 3
Ligeti Horn Trio - Alla Marcia
Carter Flute Concerto (need to edit to make shorter)


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Maxwell Davies' Orkney Wedding with Sunrise?


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## dandixon (Dec 2, 2020)

I'm excited to check these out!

In Fantasia 2000 they did add one piece in this time frame, from 1957, Dmitri Shostakovic's Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102. It is the Tin Soldier segment and, candidly, is the only one in either movie that I skip.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

My ideas are not instant classics, but the selections below are under 30 minutes and cinematic as well as post-1949 & pre-1999:

1957: Nykken (Water Sprite) by Geirr Tveitt 



1972: Cantus Arcticus by Einojuhani Rautavaara 



1974: The Chagall Windows by John McCabe 



1986: Elegy in Memory of Samuel Barber by Aubert Lemeland 



1988: The Seasons by Thea Musgrave 



1989: Sunrise Serenade by Aulis Sallinen 



1990: The Way to Castle Yonder by Oliver Knussen 



1991: Adagio Cantabile by Marcel Landowski 



1992: Gong by Poul Ruders 



1998: The Lobster by Christopher Gunning


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I have a good memory for memorable turns of phrase that tickle my fancy. A few from the Boston papers over the years:

"I don't know if a definitive performance of a Bruckner symphony can exist, or if anyone would recognize it if it did . . ." Harry Neville in the Boston Herald, ca 1969

"[X violinist] started out and continued a quarter tone flat, and performed the whole piece [a Mozart concerto] as if he were recording the solo part, with the orchestra to be dubbed in later. For sheer unprofessionalism, it beat anything I have ever heard."
Michael Steinberg in the Globe, of the NH Music Festival Orchestra., summer, sometime in the '70s.

"These days there's always a composer who appeals to people who don't like classical music, while driving crazy those that do. This year it's Arvo Part, . . ." Richard Dyer in the Globe, ca 1995


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Moderator: Please move above to "Quotable Reviews" thread. Thanks. mw


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

+1 for Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus, Adams's Short Ride, and Davies's Orkney Wedding.

How about
Hovhaness - Mount St Helens Symphony, 3rd movement, 'Volcano'
Reich - Clapping Music (I'm sure there are plenty of animators who would relish the challenge of constructing a story to go with so little musical material!)
Sculthorpe - Earth Cry
Adès - 'Ecstasia' from Asyla
Arnold - Tam O'Shanter overture


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## dandixon (Dec 2, 2020)

Thank you all! These are great!


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I’m giving this some serious thought. Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine would be PERFECTO


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

dandixon said:


> Thank you all! These are great!


Let us know how you'r going .


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## signorsciano (3 mo ago)

If Disney made a third "Fantasia" in the future, what piece of music do you want in the film and if you, explain your idea of what the piece should be.

My idea for a segment in the third "Fantasia" would be R. Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" and the segment should follow the program the composer originally wrote but I would put in some inspiration like the comedic elements of "Monty Python" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and the art styling of Mary Blair, especially her work on "Ichabod and Mr. Toad".


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## Monsalvat (11 mo ago)

_Till Eulenspiegel_ would be a great choice. Maybe even _Don Quixote_, but it's longer and might be harder to pull off as an animation.

My question is, who would conduct? Stokowski did the original, and Levine did the second film. Maybe Simon Rattle? We need somebody with a distinctive hairstyle.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

"There's no lock on that door. No one bar the way; you simply have to walk through it."


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

I think it's a great idea, although probably "too soon".

The original *Fantasia* was released in 1940, with *Fantasia 2000* released 59 years later. It's possible we'll have to wait until 2058 for the followup.

*Fantasia (1940)*

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite
Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Beethoven - "The Pastoral Symphony"
Ponchielli - Dance of the Hours
Mussorgsky - Night On Bald Mountain
Schubert - Ave Maria

*Fantasia 2000 (1999)*

Beethoven - Symphony No. 5
Respighi - The Pines of Rome
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro
Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals
Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance, Marches 1-4
Stravinsky - Firebird Suite

The iconic *Sorcerer's Apprentice* with Mickey Mouse is re-used, and *Beethoven* and *Stravinsky* are the only two composers that got a second work featured.

I find it interesting that *Walt Disney's* original intent was to re-release the original film at regular intervals with one or two segments swapped out every time.

As for the setlist, I imagine one choice might very well be like *Chillham*'s *Journey through Classical Music*, that is, a chronological voyage through the subgenres of Classical Music. 

Maybe start with some *Gregorian Chant*, and move on to something from one of *Bach's* *Brandenburg Concertos*. Or maybe some *Four Seasons* from *Vivaldi*. *Mozart* has been absent from the first two films, so I imagine one of the opera *Overtures* might be a decent choice. Where to after that? Maybe some more *Beethoven* and *Tchaikovsky*, like *Symphony No. 3* and *Capriccio Italien*, respectively. *Chopin* and *Debussy* were ignored in the first two films, so they'd be up for inclusion I suppose. But there's been some remarkable "Contemporary" music that ought to be included as well. *Walton*'s *Belshazzar's Feast*? *Khachaturian*'s *Toccata In Eb minor*? *Bartók*'s *Cantata Profana*? Or maybe something more mainstream like *Copland* . . .


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

TC already has a similar thread on this (from December 2020):

Modern Fantasia Selections | Classical Music Forum (talkclassical.com)


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## signorsciano (3 mo ago)

What about Gustavo Dudamel? He's been quite a celebrity for some time.


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## signorsciano (3 mo ago)

Monsalvat said:


> _Till Eulenspiegel_ would be a great choice. Maybe even _Don Quixote_, but it's longer and might be harder to pull off as an animation.
> 
> My question is, who would conduct? Stokowski did the original, and Levine did the second film. Maybe Simon Rattle? We need somebody with a distinctive hairstyle.


What about Gustavo Dudamel? He's been quite a celebrity for some time.


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## signorsciano (3 mo ago)

pianozach said:


> I think it's a great idea, although probably "too soon".
> 
> The original Fantasia was released in 1940, with Fantasia 2000 released 59 years later. It's possible we'll have to wait until 2058 for the followup.
> 
> ...


Hmmmm.....maybe. Or perhaps they might do a version of "Sing, Sing, Sing"??


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Nereffid said:


> +1 for Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus, Adams's Short Ride, and Davies's Orkney Wedding.
> 
> How about
> Hovhaness - Mount St Helens Symphony, 3rd movement, 'Volcano'
> ...


*Tam O'Shanter Overture *would be an excellent inclusion.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Prodromides said:


> TC already has a similar thread on this (from December 2020):
> 
> Modern Fantasia Selections | Classical Music Forum (talkclassical.com)


*Perhaps a moderator or admin could merge the two threads??*


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

pianozach said:


> *Perhaps a moderator or admin could merge the two threads??*


Good idea. Done.


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