# Condensed Music.



## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

*Concise Music.*

I'm looking for composers other than Webern who wrote extremely concise music. Anybody have any recommendations?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The first example I can think of where music was quite conciously condensed was Beethoven's Serioso Quartet, Op. 95. Well, the first movement anyway. He did the same thing (in a much gentler fashion) in the opening movements of his piano sonatas Opp. 109 and 110.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Actually, I think the word I should have used is _concise_.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

In terms of concise as opposed to condensed, Anatoli Liadov, wrote very brief pieces in the late Romantic Russian idiom, and worked equally well with both solo piano and orchestra.

In a more modern and impressionist idiom, you have the piano writing of Federico Mompou, who is often pretty brief though some of his slower pieces carry on longer.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Kurtag is very similar to Webern in this way. See what you think.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Chopin's preludes are mostly quite concise. The longest is around 5 minutes, but most are a minute or shorter.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Well, but almost every composer has some concise pieces, particularly in chamber music.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Morton Feldman: The earlier (and serial) works are certainly 'concise.' 
Try " I Met Heine on the Rue Furstenburg" or 'The Viola in my life' and others, up through the later "Madame Press died last week at ninety,' the seminal piece marking his turning point to tonal and repetitive music.

Stravinsky: the early serial (but still tonal) phase (Septet) and some of the serial works, such as 'In Memorium Dylan Thomas' and 'Introitus in Memoriam T.S. Eliot.' His Variations for piano and orchestra are in a way most 'Webernian' in sound and style, while staying quite on their own -- in these Stravinsky seemed to successfully 'out-Webern Webern.'

ViiolaDude's Kurtag suggestion is excellent: Kurtag is by nature a miniaturist, and the earlier tonal works or the later serial pieces are all models of concise brevity, all excellent writing.

Ditto for BurningDesire's thoughtful mention of the Chopin Preludes!
Concise too, can be 'spare' as a praiseworthy quality. Classical 'restraint' often is in play in this type of work.

Irving Fine, the Notturno for strings and harp, is a quietly remarkable piece.


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## Guest (Oct 29, 2012)

Varese.

Aside from a few largish pieces, his are about as condensed as Webern's are.

There's also a fun game that a lot of electroacoustic composers have played over the years, resulting in several recordings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60x60

(I haven't read this article. I was looking for one of the albums I have online without moving from my chair what a lazy son of a [sudden fit of coughing]. So I don't know how accurate it is. It's prolly fine.)


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

some guy said:


> Varese.
> 
> Aside from a few largish pieces, his are about as condensed as Webern's are.


Varese, and aside from a few largish pieces?! He only wrote a few pieces altogether!


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

George Crumb.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Prokofiev's Visions Fugitives are as the title suggest meant to be brief 'images' passing by. Looking at an arbitrary recording right now, the shortest piece is 0:23 long. A few stretch to over 2 minutes, but there are several below 1 minute.

In a more national romantic idiom, many of Grieg's folk tune arrangements (like op. 17 and 66) fits easily on half a page of music. The shortest from op.66 is 12 bars/measures long.


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## WavesOfParadox (Aug 5, 2012)

*read title* Webern of course!

*read description* never mind...


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

Bartok wrote lots of short pieces for piano (esp Mickrokosmos) and 44 short duos for violin.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Perhaps what I should have said was concise _and_ condensed. Anyway, the Kurtag was right on: I'll have to listen to more of his stuff. I also really enjoyed the Fine, even thought it wasn't really what I was looking for.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Boulez* - 12 Notations for piano (there's also a version for orchestra).

*Qigang Chen *- Wu Xing (The Five Elements - water, wood, fire, earth, metal)

*A.A. Saygun* - did a set of 12 preludes on Turkish (Askak) rhythms, here is one of them, some of the rest are on youtube as well.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Klavierspieler said:


> Perhaps what I should have said was concise _and_ condensed. Anyway, the Kurtag was right on: I'll have to listen to more of his stuff. I also really enjoyed the Fine, even thought it wasn't really what I was looking for.


Yay! I win!


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