# Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy & Extravagant --> Your favourites



## Goddess Yuja Wang (Aug 8, 2017)

Hello.

TC member *mathisdermaler* suggested Berio's _Sinfonia_ in my "Bombastic/Loud" thread (thank you!), and I was simply _blown away_ with it. I love how far out there it is. Until yesterday night, it was one of the "craziest" pieces I had ever heard, and I _loved it_! It inspired me to create this new thread.

Like the thread title reads, let's list here your favourite pieces that you consider _"Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy or Extravagant"_, etc.

This list will be most likely leaning heavily towards the avant-garde and very modern stuff, so feel free to include music from any period that has those characteristics (adjusting for time period, of course).
The idea is to have a taste of this that covers all the history of music time-line, like a _time machine_, just like in the other thread (I loved the "bombastic" Baroque pieces).

It could be something in the spirit of>
*"When composers go crazy - outside the norm"*...

So the above mentioned Berio Symphony led me to some other pretty far-out-there music. This is what I'd call eccentric, extravagant and weird... and daring>

*Luciano Berio, Sequenza III*, for female voice:






...and this one grabbed my attention instantly until the end:
*György Ligeti, Mysteries of the Macabre*, with Barbara Hannigan.






And this other version of the *Ligeti* is even better and more hilarious, also with her.






I'm really enjoying this music!
By the way, I didn't know Barbara Hannigan and I must say I'm quite impressed with her. She can also sing the classics perfectly and beautifully... while she conducts!

So, let's make ourselves raise some eyebrows. *Hit me with your best weird and daring music shot*


----------



## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

Maybe not quite as weird, but Walton's facade is very interesting and a bit unusual. On the weirder side of things, much of Stockhausen's music can be very strange.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Billone: Sgorgo

Sina introduced me to this on our "21st century listening chain" thread. It's out there but so cool.


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

R3PL4Y said:


> Maybe not quite as weird, but Walton's facade is very interesting and a bit unusual.


Regarding Facade, Barbara Hannigan and showy ... In the second half of this excerpt she conducts with Simon Rattle as soloist!!


----------



## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Schnittke's 1st Symphony is as crazy as a piece I've ever heard. A wild ride from start to finish.


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




----------



## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Almost anything by John Cage, e.g. _Rozart Mix_, _Credo in Us_. He had quite crazy ideas.


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

A lot of american mavericks. Harry Partch, Conlon Nancarrow, Charles Ives, Sun Ra, Thelonious Monk, The residents, Albert Ayler, Captain Beefheart, Pee Wee Russell, Robert Pete Williams. Giacinto Scelsi is another big favorite of mine. Teiji Ito. Sorabji, Scriabin.


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Goddess Yuja Wang said:


> *Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy & Extravagant --> Your favourites *
> So, let's make ourselves raise some eyebrows. *Hit me with your best weird and daring music shot*


Well, so much of the good stuff's already been mentioned. My first thought was the Schnittke First Symphony, a masterpiece of chaotic weirdness. Stockhausen's _Momente_ certainly qualifies; feel free to shout and clap along. As does John Cage's _Roaratorio_, which, when I first heard it on a radio broadcast, had me attempting to adjust the radio controls for nearly fifteen minutes till I figured out that was what the music was supposed to sound like.

And since I follow contemporary music, I must say there is quite a bit coming out of the Donaueschingen scene that qualifies as rather ... strange.

But I'll offer one work in honor of a too soon deceased (since March 14, 2016) Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. And that work is his "Eight Songs for a Mad King". Believe me: it's unforgettable.


----------



## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

Goddess Yuja Wang said:


> The idea is to have a taste of this that covers all the history of music time-line, like a _time machine_, just like in the other thread.)


The six string quartets in Haydn's Opus 33. For its time it was considered showy, weird, and crazy. It changed music so much that it became a kind of a new normal. That we don't see anything crazy about it is a testament to how powerfully things were changed. IMO


----------



## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy or Extravagant doesn't have to mean kooky or random. I hope anyway...


----------



## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Malcolm Arnold: A Grand, Grand Overture, complete with vacuum cleaners and a floor polisher. I often hum the melody while vacuuming the house; it makes household chores feel much more artistic and musical!


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Varese - Arcana


----------



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Hans-Joachim Hespos - _Kaps_


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Performance Indeterminate Cage Opera


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

JeffD said:


> Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy or Extravagant doesn't have to mean kooky or random. I hope anyway...


Hmmm maybe 4'33" isn't so bad after all.


----------



## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

And


----------



## Goddess Yuja Wang (Aug 8, 2017)

Wow! Thank you for all these suggestions!

I'm still listening to them (with headphones so I don't drive my wife crazy), and I'm really enjoying most of it.

So far, my favourites have been *Walton's Facade*, and ESPECIALLY the *Schnittke 1st Symphony*. 
You guys are really turning me into a Schnittke fan! I only knew a couple of his pieces, but now he's quickly escalating my favourites list. I will definitely get all his symphonies.

This *Schnittke Concerto for Piano and Strings*, while not necessarily crazy or weird (relative to this thread), is simply amazing. This USED TO be one of the "craziest" pieces I knew _before I joined TC_... But not anymore... And Kogan's dramatic performance goes great with it. The energy and drama she injects at 16:00 culminating in the forearm cluster is a joy!






The *Arnold A Grand Overture* is quite fun, and the *Hespos* pieces really honor the title of this thread! That was REALLY far out there 

So far I have only really disliked 2 pieces, mostly due to my irrational bias against *Yoko* and *Zappa*. Especially Yoko... I mean, did that woman do anything special other than mingling with the Beatle guy? (it doesn't help that I despise the Beatles. I can't think of a more over-rated band than them, BTW). 
The Zappa... I just really don't like the persona of the guy, but I'm working on my bias. I think I might overcome it 

I am listening to more YouTube *Cage* performances as they are offered there. Very interesting, but I'm not sure I really understand his concepts (is there something to understand in the first place?). I probably need to listen to him some more. His ideas were probably inevitable> He HAD to happen as the natural quick evolution of art.

I still need to listen to the *Stockhousen*, the *Haydn* quartets and the *Stolet* and *Bryars* suggestions.

After all this, I'd probably listen to some Mozart or Bach to "readjust" and recharge (and amuse myself with this stunning evolution of music). Then back to some more avant-garde!

Thank you for showing me all this music and all these (new to me) composers! It's opening up a whole new door of music to enjoy. You gave me exactly what I was looking for


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Bettina said:


> Malcolm Arnold: A Grand, Grand Overture, complete with vacuum cleaners and a floor polisher. I often hum the melody while vacuuming the house; it makes household chores feel much more artistic and musical!


Gloriously silly piece! I once saw Arnold conduct this Overture, thoroughly entering into the crazy fun of it.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

How about Gottschalk's Paraphrase The Union? Fairly crazy.


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

At least one of the adjectives has to fit with these two pieces:

Shchedrin - Concerto for Orchestra No.1





Korndorf - Hava Nagila


----------



## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

especially for Goddess Yuja Wang I think that Yuja Wang is all above written Daring, Eccentric, Showy, Weird, Crazy & Extravagant , but not my favorite. So perhaps wrong thread, off topic


----------



## Honegger (Sep 8, 2017)

"Showy".... Liszt!


----------

