# Late 20th Century Music: 1972-1999



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*I am started this thread as a place for people to post some works from the last quarter of the 20th century that they think are notable. * (This thread is different from the 1980-2000 Listening Group, which is a structured process of listening to a specific work and then discussing it.)

The idea for this thread is for it to be a place to house as many works from this period as we can come up with. Any classical work (no film music, please) written between 1975 and 1999 qualifies, and you needn't say anything about it if you don't want to. *But I request that you post YouTube clips so we can listen to the works as we go along.*

I also ask that you contribute no more than *two works a day*.

I'll kick it off with a work by *Jonathan Harvey*, _Bhakti._

The composer's program note:



> Bhakti was written in 1982, to a commission from IRCAM, Paris. It is in twelve short movements totalling about fifty minutes. There are thirty-six subsections, each one defined by a certain number of instruments playing a certain pitch cell. As there are only twelve types of subsection, each one occurs (with variation) three times, thus making for repetitions over the course of the work. The musical syntax is symmetrical around a central axis. The ear is unconsciously attracted to hear the harmony not as dissonant over a fundamental bass but as floating free from bass functions and yet rigorously controlled. The tape is composed largely of sounds drawn from the instrumental ensemble transformed and mixed by computer. It has many functions: of dialogue, transformation, memory, anticipation, 'simultaneous translation' and of reaching beyond the instrumental scale to a more universal dimension. A quotation from the Rig Veda is appended at the end of each movement. These Sanskrit hymns were written some four thousand years ago. They are keys to a transcendent consciousness.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My second work today is *Toru Takemitsu*, _And then I knew 'twas Wind_



> _And then I knew 'twas Wind_ (1992) by Toru Takemitsu
> for flute, viola, and harp
> 
> The title of And then I knew 'twas Wind is from a poem by Emily Dickinson:
> ...


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Two violin concertos:

*Henri Dutilleux*, _L'arbre des songes_





*Sofia Gubaidulina*, _Offertorium_


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Just a note to the OP, I would consider adding "Youtube" to the title of these threads, since that's what you seem to want in the threads, ie. "Late 20th Century Music on Youtube". That way, you will have less posts of just album covers or names of works, and more Youtube videos.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Permit me the opportunity here in this thread to post two works by the composer whose surname I've appropriated as my TC user name.

Jean Prodromidès wrote this oratorio (for soloists, chorus & orchestra) in 1977 entitled _Le livre des Katuns_; its first and only appearance on disc was 'side A' of a 1981 _Chant du Monde[/n] vinyl LP. Never re-issued onto CD to my knowledge, it is available as a download and in YouTube: 




When Polish film director Andrzej Wajda heard that '81 LP, he was impressed by Prodromidès enough to commission him to provide music for Wajda's French-language film *Danton* - the soundtrack of which was released in 1983 by DRG records (and later on CD by Disques Cinemusique). Here it is in YT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzhk329J-YhIrwQ8r9lh4SLy4vYY7V95D

Realizing that this thread was created for absolute/abstract concert music, I nonetheless consider (some) film scores as works of musical art. If SanAntone does not wish soundtrack albums to be deposited into this thread, then I hope I am indulged at least this one time. 
I do think, though, that the content within *Danton* is truly 'serious' contemporary composition worthy of TC members' attention._


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Scelsi, Dharana for double bass. I've not listened to the YouTube so I can't attest for the quality, it's on record played by Robert Black. The time period of this thread _just_ allows for one or two of Scelsi's last works, where the music becomes like a living force of nature - a breath.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

1975-1999? Looks like the Williams quarter of the century - his second period "heroic" (1975-1993) and a half of the third period "reflective" (1993-2008).

From _Jaws _to _The Phantom Menace_. A great feast to explore!

If I can nominate one work, I will nominate what I would pick even if was asked about the entire century. 
_Empire_


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Please no film scores.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

John McCabe...4th Symphony, 1994.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)




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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

mikeh375 said:


> John McCabe...4th Symphony, 1994.


Thanks for this, John McCabe is an interesting composer.

If you don't want to hear the opening remarks, the symphony starts at 2:30.


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Arvo Pärt: Tabula rasa (1977)
first movement









Kaija Saariaho: Graal théâtre (1994)
first movement:


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

^^^...love the Saariaho but not so keen on Tabula Rasa.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Have to get Shostakovich in - just.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Reich - Different Trains

part 1 2 3

Different Trains is a composition for string quartet and tape completed in 1988 by American composer Steve Reich (1936). During World War II, Reich made train journeys between New York and Los Angeles to visit his parents, who had separated. Years later, he pondered the fact that, as a Jew, had he been in Europe instead of the United States at that time, he might have been travelling in Holocaust trains. Different Trains uses a 'live' string quartet, as well as recordings of speeches, train sounds, sirens and warning bells, as well as prerecorded multiple lines by the string quartet. The three part work has an average playing time of 27 minutes (AllMusic). I have three versions, with a strong preference for the one by the Kronos Quartet on a Nonesuch CD.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Salvatore Sciarrino: *Luci mie traditrici* ("Oh My Betraying Eyes"), opera, 1996-1998

An incredible chamber opera, based loosely on the composer Gesualdo and the murder of his wife and her lover, though it makes no reference to that particular event.

This performance below Sciarrino himself considers definitive. The acting is superb, there's a lot a great symbolism concerning love, lust and betrayal, the music is incredibly tense and anxiety-inducing (the snarls in the flute give the Count a sort of predatory character); even the rather simple stage set -- which resembles a cage, entrapping the Countess to her fate -- enhances the performance.

Oh, and there's English subtitles.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

calvinpv said:


> Salvatore Sciarrino: *Luci mie traditrici* (opera, 1996-1998)
> 
> An incredible chamber opera, based loosely on the composer Gesualdo and the murder of his wife and her lover, though it makes no reference to that particular event.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately the video is blocked for me. But I will go to Youtube to listen. Thanks for posting it.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

SanAntone said:


> Please no film scores.


Sounds quite arbitrary, but ok. You may wish to update the OP, however.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Fabulin said:


> Sounds quite arbitrary, but ok. You may wish to update the OP, however.


Thanks ............ (this minimum character rule is annoying, you can't even just say "thanks")


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

SanAntone said:


> Thanks ............ (this minimum character rule is annoying, you can't even just say "thanks")


Thanks


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

SanAntone said:


> Unfortunately the video is blocked for me. But I will go to Youtube to listen. Thanks for posting it.


Yeah, it's blocked for me too. Sorry about that, I didn't even know that was a thing. But I can definitely watch it on youtube, so no problems there.

And do watch it. I'm not much of an opera guy in general, so when I post an opera here on TC, it's because I think really highly of it. This is easily a top-10 late 20th-century work for me.

And I know you only want youtube videos posted, but I'll just say there's also two recordings of this opera put out by the Stradivarius label and the Kairos label (don't remember who performs them). There might be playlists of them on youtube, but I haven't checked.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

The Sea for Piano and Orchestra, Farhad Badalbeyli (1977)

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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Some years ago I kind of decided that Penderecki symphony no. 2 marked a big change in direction for the composer, compared to his first symphony. IT'S TOTALLY ROMANTIC  I might overlook many of his other pieces from 1973, when no. 1 came, to 1979, when no. 2 came. Also I like your starting year of 1975, as I believe it is the beginning of contemporary music, or postmodernism. I happen to like the term "postmodernism", although it kind of says that anything is possible, where the composers are a bit here and there, blending several styles in one and the same work...


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

The greatest symphony I'm aware of in the relevant time period: Lutoslawski's 3rd Symphony. His 4th is also good, but, in my opinion, this is the best since Shostakovich's passing. I've lived with the premiere recording by Essa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Philharmonic for several decades, and I really don't find it terribly "difficult."


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Magnus Lindberg - Cello concerto No. 1 (1999)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

JAS said:


> The Sea for Piano and Orchestra, Farhad Badalbeyli (1977)
> 
> The greatest symphony I'm aware of in the relevant time period: Lutoslawski's 3rd Symphony. His 4th is also good, but, in my opinion, this is the best since Shostakovich's passing. I've lived with the premiere recording by Essa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Philharmonic for several decades, and I really don't find it terribly "difficult."


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Helmut Lachenmann: Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Harrison Birtwistle - Earth Dances (1986)


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Francis Dhomont - Forêt Profonde (1999) 




This electroacoustic work is divided into sections - hence the playlist. This one is one of my favorites - includes synthesized sounds, ambient sounds, noise, voices, tonal music (at the very least, it quotes Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen throughout). Immediately beautiful and captivating. Lots of relationships between the pieces in the album. Juxtaposes a child-like innocence with a pastoral gravity.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

SeptimalTritone said:


> Francis Dhomont - Forêt Profonde (1999)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Gosh. I've never heard Dhomont before -- that's unexpected music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> Gosh. I've never heard Dhomont before -- that's unexpected music.


*Francis Dhomont* is an amazing man, now 94. He was kind enough to speak with me for a *short interview* back in 2014.

I am really glad someone posted one of his works, they are legendary in the world of acousmatic music, a term I believe he coined.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Isang Yun's 1976 cello concerto:


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Julius Eastman - The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc* (1981)

Davóne Tines, baritone
TJ Borden, cello
Seth Parker Woods, cello
Judith Hamann, cello
Jennifer Bewerse, cello
Ashley Walters, cello
Derek Stein, cello
Timothy Loo, cello
Eric Byers, cello
Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, cello
David Mason, cello
Jonathan Hepfer, conductor

View attachment 144126




> Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 - May 28, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer whose work fell under minimalism. He was among the first composers to combine minimalist processes with elements of pop music, and involve experimental methods of extending and modifying music in creating what he called "organic music".[1] He often gave his pieces titles with provocative political intent, such as Evil ****** and Gay Guerrilla, and has been acclaimed following new performances and reissues of his music.
> 
> Eastman's works often involve repeating, slowly evolving and discordant aleatoric sections, and pop structures (particularly in Stay on It (1973) or The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc (1981), which repeat but dramatically evolve catchy riffs). As well as this, his long-form piano pieces like Evil ****** (1979) and Gay Guerrilla (c. 1980) show his intent to dramatically explore his Black and gay identity through motifs that, in tone and repetition, represent heightening conflict, particularly strong in emotion for minimalism. Eastman described his works as "organic music"[1] involving "gradual accrual and accumulation, often followed by gradual disintegration",[1] where he would gradually and sometimes abruptly alter repeated refrains and phrases to create the basis for sheet music and its performance. (*Wikipedia*)


The "Prelude" by a solo baritone lasts until about 12:45 when the cello ensemble comes in.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

The great John Williams. 

- and some Robert Simpson


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

SanAntone said:


> *Julius Eastman - The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc* (1981)
> 
> Davóne Tines, baritone
> TJ Borden, cello
> ...


Wonder why he wrote for all those cellos!


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'll list Maxwell Davies Symphony No.5, a work I've been living with recently and really loving. It takes some cues from Sibelius7 according to program notes I've read.


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Cristóbal Halffter: Cello Concerto no. 2 "No queda más que el silencio" (1985)





That's what I wrote in September 2018 in an earlier "Current Listening" thread:
"This cello concerto never fails to put a spell on me. Like watching a thriller - you know that something terrible is to happen, though the protagonist doesn't know it, just an uncertain feeling of danger - everything getting totally dense - terror strikes - the victim left to die in silence. The soft dark tones of the cello, so under menace in the beginning of the first movement, change into the fading breathing in the last movement. Until there is silence.
The three movements are played without break, quotations from Lorca's poems are used as titles. The booklet says that these quotations contain recurring themes of Lorca's poetry: silence, cries and death."

This work got an unfavorable review by Gramophone:


> "The Second Cello Concerto of 1985, dedicated to the memory of Lorca and with a motto from the poet - "only silence remains" - likewise fails to marry expansiveness and expressionism in a productive way, and although Boris Pergamenschikov brings all his Rostropovich-like charisma to bear on the demanding solo part it soon becomes difficult to concentrate on music that is so obviously over-inflated. The playing throughout has verve and commitment, and the recordings have been efficiently done."
> https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/halffter-cello-concerto-no-2-elegías-a-le-muerte


The musicweb-international review (dealing with a performance by Rostropovich) comes to a different judgment: 


> "It's a big work - as big as the Dvořák but very different. In its nuanced wispy dissonance, Penderecki-slaloming strings, raw woodwind chords, awareness of the silence between notes and statuesque subtle percussion it speaks a language of angst. There seems more tragedy in this score and fear for the future than consolation. Powerfully atmospheric stuff. "
> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Aug08/Rostropovich_2564696817.htm#ixzz5QKNYZ5gF


I've got the Pergamenschikow performance and prefer it to the one by Rostropovich, as I think it to create an almost unbearable intensity. It's a pity that Youtube offers only the Rostropovich performance, though it's good, too.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

sonance said:


> Cristóbal Halffter: Cello Concerto no. 2 "No queda más que el silencio" (1985)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*Cristóbal Halffter* is a composer I've not spent much time with, hardly any if I'm being honest. Thanks for posting this, I'm listening to it as I type.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> Wonder why he wrote for all those cellos!


I suppose for the same reason Villa-Lobos did.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Some years ago I kind of decided that Penderecki symphony no. 2 marked a big change in direction for the composer, compared to his first symphony. IT'S TOTALLY ROMANTIC  I might overlook many of his other pieces from 1973, when no. 1 came, to 1979, when no. 2 came. Also I like your starting year of 1975, as I believe it is the beginning of contemporary music, or postmodernism. I happen to like the term "postmodernism", although it kind of says that anything is possible, where the composers are a bit here and there, blending several styles in one and the same work...


Thought this was an interesting piece. May give it another go at some point - which is praise indeed .

Incidentally, I agree 1975 is not a bad year to choose. Just a pity it excludes Frank Martin's Polyptyque (1973), as I happen to like that a lot.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

It's *Neither* here (



) ... nor there - it's Feldman in '77.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Prodromides said:


> It's *Neither* here (
> 
> 
> 
> ) ... nor there - it's Feldman in '77.


Kurtag also wrote a Beckett opera, I posted it today in the Opera YouTube thread.


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Boris Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 3 „Sebastopol" (1980)


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

For me, easily the best post-Shostakovich symphony is Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 8, from 1994. Beautiful and harrowing, especially the adagio which is the center of gravity for the whole work. Might be one of my favorite symphonies from any time period, actually.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Simon Moon said:


> Magnus Lindberg - Cello concerto No. 1 (1999)


Beautiful Simon, I really enjoyed this. I could hear shades of "Tout un Monde Lointain.." by Dutilleux, another favourite of mine.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Knussen, Horn Concerto (1994) with the big man himself conducting....


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

(1985) John Adams Harmonielehre

I feel like it is one of the towering masterpieces of the late 20th century.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Salvatore Sciarrino: La perfezione di uno spirito sottile* (1985)

Françoise Kubler, soprano
Mario Caroli, flauto
Christian Dierstein, bells.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Philip Glass - Concerto for a Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra (1995)


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Good to have something from someone who was composing at the time of World War I. Herbert Howells.






And some slightly different religious music from James MacMillan.


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

SanAntone - Just now I listened to your clip with Sciarrino, "La perfezione di uno spirito sottile". In the beginning I've been a bit sceptical, but very soon felt hooked and enjoyed it immensely. - It reminded me too of Cristóbal Halffter's "Noche pasiva del sentido". Maybe you'll enjoy that one (though it's composed already in 1970 - and not quite as "sottile" as Sciarrino's work):





My two (more conventional) suggestions for today:

Olivier Greif: Sonate de Requiem (1979-93)
(playlist)





Sylvie Bodorová: Pontem video (concerto for organ, strings and timpani, 1983)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Eclectic Al said:


> Good to have something from someone who was composing at the time of World War I.


Here's a _grand septuor_ (



) by another composer [Goffredo Petrassi (1904-2003)] who was a senior citizen during the late 1970s.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Tavener: Svyati






Tavener: Song for Athene


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Here is the most difficult piece for classical guitar according to me. Has taken me more than 30 years to accept this new complexity thing. In our "guitar-club" in the 90's, Magnus Andersson came once and played some fantastically difficult music to listen to. I found out later that he is the man responsible for Ferneyhough writing this piece. Now I have been through many changes of mind regarding music. This piece is fantastic and this performance is even more fantastic, because you don't have to be superhuman to play it. Only start early with practicing and play bearfooting! https://www.kokifujimoto.com/profile_e/


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Even if the two following works don't belong to my favorites (at least not yet), they should be mentioned as being a notable work from the last quarter of the 20th century:

Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (1987-91)





Einojuhani Rautavaara: Symphony no. 7 (1994)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Thirsting for some '*T*'s?

Descend into the garden (the pentagonal one by Takemitsu) 



, and help youselves to some ice *T* (Tippett's "The Ice Break" 



).


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Vagn Holmboe: Viola Concerto (1991/92)





Erkki-Sven Tüür: Violin Concerto (1999)
(concerto starts at 2'58'')


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

a 1977 *Trilogy* by Don Banks

1.



2.



3.




plus another 3-part single movement work that's been a fave of mine since hearing it in the 1990s:






*timbres, espace, mouvement* (1978, revised 1991) by Henri Dutilleux


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Listened to these two pieces tonight and enjoyed them quite a bit. Both happened to be written in 1990.

Per Nørgård- Symphony No. 5





Giya Kancheli- Mourned by the Wind


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Two symphonies from 1978:

Josef Tal's 3rd 



+
a 9th by Roger Sessions


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Pascal Dusapin: Watt (concerto for trombone and orchestra; 1994; Alain Trudel, trombone; Orchestre National de Montpellier/Pascal Rophé)





Manuel Hidalgo: Gran Nada (for accordion and string orchestra; 1996/97; Teodoro Anzellotti, accordion; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln/Peter Rundel)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Erik Bergman's 1979 flute concerto *Birds in the Morning*, which for whatever reason is divided across 3 YT clips:
I 



II 



III 




+

a *Magnificat* by Jean-Louis Florentz


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Tomás Marco: Symphony no. 2 "Espacio cerrado" (1985; Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra/José Serebrier)





Arturs Maskats: Concerto grosso (for violin, cello, percussions and string orchestra; 1996; Sandis Šteinbergs, violin; Reinis Birznieks, cello; Edgars Saksons, percussion; Riga Chamber Players/Normunds Šnē)


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Eliane Radigue - Kyema from Trilogie De La Mort (1998) 



. One of the best examples of meditative drone music. It somehow always feels like the upper notes want to resolve to the deep bass note, and yet that doesn't happen - sustaining irresistible tension.

Barry Truax - Riverrun (1986) 



. A dramatic work beginning with an overwhelming build up of sonic intensity as individual grains of sound coalesce.


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## gregorx (Jan 25, 2020)

MrMeatScience said:


> For me, easily the best post-Shostakovich symphony is Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 8, from 1994. Beautiful and harrowing, especially the adagio which is the center of gravity for the whole work. Might be one of my favorite symphonies from any time period, actually.


I think it's the best of the second half of the 20th C. by anyone not named Shostakovich, and along with Lutoslawski #3, the last great symphony of the Century. Interestingly enough, this piece is currently tanking in Bulldog's "Our Favorite 20th Century Works" tournament. Maybe a little too gloomy for everybody over there.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Two for violin and orchestra from 1980.

*Heaventree of Stars* by Alun Hoddinott 




+

Frederik van Rossum's 1st *violin concerto*


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Two from '81.

a *piano concerto* by Maurice Ohana 




+

Anders Eliasson's *Desert Point*


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Thanks for this thread. To me, all the "classical" [cough] "music" (quote-unquote] from this period might as well be a dying man's nails on a chalkboard, but I do appreciate a thread like this. Allows me to nevertheless familiarize myself with the compositions. I could actually imagine forcing myself to listen to the John McCabe symphony, but I also find myself getting twitchy and impatient with it (listening as I write this).

[Edit] And it's interesting, as I listen to more, how formulaic much of this music is (in the same sense that baroque or classical music is of its age). I hear the same chord progressions in (not each) but a number of the composers' works. That's not a criticism, just observing.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Pierre Boulez: *Incises* for piano solo [1994, revised 2001]
Pierre Boulez *sur Incises* (on 'Incises'), for three pianos, three harps & three percussionists [1996, revised 1998]

Boulez writes the three-minute piano piece Incises in 1994, then expands the material and refracts it across nine instruments to get a 15-minute work called sur Incises in 1996. Boulez then adds a 20-minute part 2 to sur Incises in 1998 to get roughly 35-40 minutes of music (and I think the music in part 2 is much better than that of part 1, as great as part 1 is). Finally in 2001, Boulez reverse-engineers from the now lengthened sur Incises to get a 10-minute Incises revision.

Incises is just an okay piece, but sur Incises, for me, is one of the greatest chamber works of the 20th century. The way he refracts the material across the ensemble creates a colorful kaleidoscope effect unlike anything I've ever heard. Sur Incises would also be the first work I'd recommend to anyone who has trouble with Boulez.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Kenneth Fuchs : Christina's World* (1997)
Idyll for Winds, Brass, and Percussion after a Painting by Andrew Wyeth



> To grasp the meaning behind Kenneth Fuchs' Christina's World, you must first know award-winning American painter Andrew Wyeth's work by the same name and more specifically, Anna Christina Olson, the subject of this, Wyeth's most famous egg-tempera-on-board painting. Born in 1893 in Cushing, Maine, Christina lived on her family's dilapidated farm raising chickens and growing produce with her devoted brother Alvaro. Crippled by polio as a child, Christina was unable to walk and had limited use of her arms. Due to her affliction, she became increasingly reclusive and self-conscious of her appearance, but despite her vulnerability and physical limitations, Christina was resolute in her drive for independence; she preferred to drag her nearly paralyzed body around her home and property rather than use a wheelchair.
> 
> Wyeth first met the Olson in 1939 through Betsy James, a mutual acquaintance who lived on a neighboring farm. Wyeth would later marry Betsy and cultivate a lifelong friendship with Christina and Alvaro, who opened their farm and home to him as a source of inspiration. Wyeth established a studio in one of the Olson's unused upstairs bedrooms and it was there that he conceived this work.
> 
> ...


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Nordic post.

Arne Nordheim's 1982 *Tenebrae* 



+
a 1983 *Symphony No.1* 



 by Eero Hämeenniemi


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

sonance said:


> Pascal Dusapin: Watt (concerto for trombone and orchestra; 1994; Alain Trudel, trombone; Orchestre National de Montpellier/Pascal Rophé)


Is this anything to do with Samuel Beckett's _Watt_?


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Mandryka said:


> Is this anything to do with Samuel Beckett's _Watt_?


Yes. The booklet says:



> Watt draws its inspiration from the novel of the same name by Samuel Beckett (1953), a quotation from which precedes the printed score:
> 
> _"For Watt now found himself in the midst of things which, had they consented to be named, did so as it were with reluctance. And the state in which Watt found himself resisted formulation in a way no state had ever done, in which Watt had ever found himself; and Watt had found himself in a great many states, in his day"_ (Samuel Beckett, Watt, John Calder Publishers Ltd)


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## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Valentin Silvestrov: Postludium (symphonic poem for piano and orchestra; 1984; Ivan Sokolov, piano; The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrej Borejko)
[my recording is with Alexei Lubimov, piano; Radio Sinfonieorchester Wien/Dennis Russell Davies]





Bechara El-Khoury: Symphony "Les ruines de Beyrouth" (1985; Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Sirenko)


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Joan Tower - Concerto for Orchestra (1991)


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

sonance said:


> Yes. The booklet says:


It's got a nice central section - the rest seemed a bit meh to me!


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Jean-Claude Risset - Sud (1985) 



So pastoral, combining recorded sounds of nature with that of the computer. Lots of melodic/tonal elements too.

Jean-Claude Risset - Songes (1979) 



A beautiful electronic collage of traditional instruments like violin/clarinet/flute and computer sounds.


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Jonty Harrison - Surface Tension (1996) 




Here, Harrison is talking about tearing up literal trash, and the sounds made due to the "surface tension" of the various kinds of torn up trash - "styrofoam, polyethylene sheets and bubble-wrap" etc.

To me, the sound of this work is gorgeous and immediately compelling.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

(Orwellian) 1984

László Tihanyi's *Krios* - for Orchestra, 




+

*"Le Légendaire"* concerto for violin, choir and orchestra, 



 by Laurent Petitgirard


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*György Kurtág: Songs of Despair and Sorrow* op. 18 (1980/1994)

SWR Vokalensemble e Ensemble Modern diretti da Marcus Creed ---

I. So weary, so wretched...
II. Night, an empty Street, a Lamp and a Drug-store
III. Blue evening
IV. Where an I go to in this January ?
V. Crucifixion
VI. It's time


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

1984 continued

Andrew Imbrie's *Requiem*, 




+

*Way to Olympus*, 



 by Vyacheslav Artyomov


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

1985

*Visions and Whispers* by Usko Meriläinen, 




+

Stanisław Skrowaczewski's 2-movement *Concerto for Orchestra*
1) 



2)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

"V" is for ... er ... 1986.

Carl Vine's *MicroSymphony*, 




+

*Phrases* by Klaas de Vries,


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Xenakis asks: did you know *XAS* (



) is SAX spelled backwards?
... Nawta lotta pippil no dat ...
... maybe *Five* (



).
You can count on this Charles Wuorinen opus on one hand.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

1988

A splendid specimen of Maurice Ohana's choral music: *Lux Noctis* 




+

The prologue to Erik Bergman's opera *The Singing Tree* 



 to whet one's appetite.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

Prodromides said:


> László Tihanyi's *Krios* - for Orchestra,


I didn't know about him. I'm liking what I'm hearing, thank you.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Kilgore Trout said:


> I didn't know about him. I'm liking what I'm hearing, thank you.


Glad you like it. I probably wouldn't know about Tihanyi either if I hadn't bought blind that Hungaroton CD years ago.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Ah - 1989. A year to turn over a new Leif with some *Monumental Thoughts* 




and *Epos* 



 by Ivan Fedele


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Archipelago S for 21 players
Orchestra: Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo
Conductor: Tadaaki Otaka
Composer: Tōru Takemitsu

The ensemble consists of a five person brass group, two mixed seven piece groups, and two clarinets in the audience seating area left and right making a total of five "islands" hailing each other.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

One of my favorite blind buys is a Donemus CD containing 4 works by Geert van Keulen, one of which is the 1990 *Tympan* 




Goin' Dutch for 1990, here's another: 



 (*Tessituur* by Wagenaar)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Weather's getting cooler ; time to retrieve our Coates. _Her_story: Indian Sounds 




Plus a 'part 1' clip for another '91 opus: *Quodlibet* 



 by Emmanuel Nunes.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Thea Musgrave - Phoenix Rising


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Gratifying (to me) that American serialists such as George Perle were still able to 'do their own thing' in 1992 unfettered by any post-modern poly-stylisms. 

Irwin Bazelon's Symphony No.9 




George Perle's Adagio for orchestra


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

A couple of "S"s from 1993:

Schuller's *Of Reminiscences and Reflections* 



+
Sørensen's *Sterbende Gärten*


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

*Sisyphus Dreams* 



 by Jouni Kaipainen

+

Jacob Druckman's *Counterpoise*


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Aubert Lemeland's *Symphonie No.8* 




+

*Ottava Alta* 



 by Ivo Malec


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

*Quasar Symphony* by Meyer Kupferman 




+

Matthias Pintscher's *Choc*


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Lou Harrison's *Concerto for Pipa with Strings* 




+

*Lo-Shu VII* also known as *4 Enso* 



 by Hans Zender


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

*Ma(e)lstrom* 



, by Hanspeter Kyburz

+

Édith Canat de Chizy's *Moïra*


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

British composer *George Lloyd (1913-98)* continued writing in his immensely attractive, tonal, but very individual style right up until his death. I think his 4th through 7th symphonies (all composed before 1975) are his finest works, along with - relevant to this thread - his epic *A Symphonic Mass* from 1992. Also worth hearing from his later years are his *11th Symphony (1985)* and valedictory *Cello Concerto (1997)*.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Uh oh ... Y2K's comin', but this thread's twentieth century stops with 1999.

So here's my last post with 2 works in '99:

Kaija Saariaho's *Oltra Mar* 



+
*Cosmos* 



 by Peter Eötvös


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'd like to invite all of you to participate in the new Contemporary Music Listening Thread. Thanks!


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Duets For One - Gérard Grisey - Prologue pour alto seul* (1976)
𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐨 : Hans Egidi
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 : version posthume avec électronique en direct - Eric Daubresse, Ircam 2005, 15'
𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: David Poissonnier, Studio Ernest-Ansermet, Genève


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## justekaia (Jan 2, 2022)

san antone this was (is) a fabulous thread; i do not understand why you did not continue; i think it should be revived and would be willing to support it if you feel like it


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I will post stuff here that doesn't fit in one of the more specific threads. Thanks for your support, and hopefully some posts of your own.


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