# reasoning behind pairings



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Edit: Pairings on recordings. But you can talk about odd concert parings too if you'd like.

For instance, Fauré's and Duruflé's requiems are so often together. Why is that?

Hilary Hahn, an artist I really like, records Higdon's violin concerto. I have to hear it! But she pairs it with Tchaikovsky's violin concerto - though _she_ hadn't previously recorded it, everyone else did, and I already have _them_.

The first time I heard Ligeti's _Lux Aeterna_, it was on the end of Holst's _The Planets_. Now that made sense. It sounded right. So why is Holst so often paired with Strauss's _Also Sprach Zarathustra_?


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Explain pairings. Pairings on an album, or on a concert program?

Here's an obvious one for album: Glazunov and Dvorak violin concertos: Both are in A minor.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

science said:


> Edit: Pairings on recordings. But you can talk about odd concert parings too if you'd like.
> 
> For instance, Fauré's and Duruflé's requiems are so often together. Why is that?
> 
> ...


The Holst/Strauss pairing may be the '2001' thing. The Higdon/Tchaikovsky pairing suggest marketer's fear that the Higdon wouldn't sell with another 'obscure' work (seems like Hahn's cachet would take car of that).


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Here's an obvious one for album: Glazunov and Dvorak violin concertos: Both are in A minor.


Schumann and Grieg piano concertos: both in A minor.


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

People get angry when you don't fill up a cd with something. They feel cheated or something. 
Yeah, I've read my fair share of stingy Amazon reviews.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I really appreciate the odd 5 minute piece at the end of a recording. Some interesting stuff gets to me that way.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Something I haven't seen but would work together really well: Nyman's "MGV" and Glass' first violin concerto.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Science, I was thinking about starting a thread similar to this one, so if you don't mind, I'm going to discuss a slight variation of what this thread is about. 

There are lot's of composers that seem to be grouped together in people's mind for some reason and they ought not to be (in my opinion) because there are only shallow attributes that hold them together, but deeper attributes make them unique.

Mozart and Haydn, for example are often paired together in people's minds because they were the two giants of the classical period and the untrained ear has a hard time telling them apart. However, closer examination of their music shows that Mozart's music is generally much more "vocal oriented" (even in the instrumental works) and Haydn's music is often much more instrumental in character. 

Bruckner and Mahler tend to be two that are paired together perhaps merely because they were both Wagnerites living in Vienna who wrote 9 (give or take a few) huge German symphonies, but that's about all that holds their music together. Bruckner was from a completely different generation than Mahler and the spirit of his music is much more traditionally Romantic while Mahler's music is much more similar to very early 20th century music. I would say even that Mahler has more in common with Schoenberg and his generation of German composers than Bruckner. Also, Mahler's orchestration is much stranger and more "colorful" in a 20th century sort of way, while Bruckner's orchestration often sounds more traditional, often reminding me of Wagner or Brahms at times. 

Debussy and Ravel are often paired together because they were the two big "impressionist" composers. But Ravel's music often has a sensuous and graceful quality that Debussy's music does not have. Instead, Debussy's music has much more of an edgy sound to it, especially when listening to both composer's piano music. At times Debussy even reminds me of Scriabin, that similar atonal-ish washy, gestural quality to their piano music. However, I would never compare Ravel's piano music to Scriabin's.


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

Economic reasons I suppose - trial by error - I'm sure they do a lot of feedback with the audiences and they tend to continue the parings that work i.e. yield more income. Affinity of taste. 

When you pair things that are disparate, and lots of concertmasters do this, pairing Tchaikovsky and modernist music, concert-goers rebel.


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