[demonrail666]

I read Alex Ross' book The Rest is Noise which is excellent but a bit too exhaustive to really know where to begin with this stuff. I know there are a few posters here that are into it and ask if they could recommend say five 'essential' CDs. No massive 'collected works' box sets or anything like that but preferably some 'key' individual pieces. And by 'modern', I suppose I mean anything from the 20th Century onwards.

So far, the only things I have that might qualify are the Deutsche Gramaphone versions of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Chronochromie and Des Canyons Aux Etoile. Oh, and a Naxos CD of Erik Satie.

So yeah, five or so essential pieces of modern classical music is what I'm after. Not necessarily your favourites but the ones that might in some way be thought of as key - and if you can stretch to it, some reasons why would be even better.

Muchas Gracias

[DeadDiscoDildo]

Does rhapsody in blue count?

[demonrail666]

I dunno, maybe. If it does that's another one I've got.

Either way, it's an interesting question: is Rhapsody in Blue a piece of modern classical music? I suppose it depends on what we mean by 'modern' (and to a degree 'classical') I don't know what I mean in terms of classical but I suppose by modern I mean something that's in some way influenced by modernism. George Gershwin is touched by jazz which I suppose qualifies him to a certain degree. Same as Scott Joplin.

[fugazifan]

schoenberg-pierrot lunaire (expressionism)
bartok-concerto for orchestra, or music for strings percussion and celesta (folklore with modernism)
alban berg- violin concerto (12 tone, but not strict like webern)
boulez-structures (not my favorite, but essential for strict serialism)
ligeti-lux aeterna, atmospheres (micropolyphony)
alfred schnittke-symphony 1 (postmodernism)

[demonrail666]

Perfect. Exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Thanks.

[The Watcher]

I'm no expert, but I would certainly suggest these excellent CDs:

 

 

 

I read The Rest Is Noise last year and really enjoyed it - however I agree it's a little difficult to throw yourself into it by going to the CD store and purchasing CDs. I also suggest Ligeti - Disc 2 of The Ligeti Project is simply sensational. I also really like this disc as well:

 

I'm a big "fan" of Mozart (I use quotes because it seems kind of preposterous when I say fan in the context of Mozart) and Berg and the pieces on this disc are fantastic.

I second the Messiaen as essential, and perhaps dipping into The Planets by Holst, although these suggestions may not be as contemporary as you'd like.

Also really important in my mind is the Shostakovitch Edition box set, the chamber symphonies and concertos are fantastic and the performances are exception. I was lucky enough to find it very cheap and I suggest downloading it because a) he's dead and b) I've seen it priced at $170 smackaroos.......

I'd also say that while they aren't contemporary pieces Goulds Goldberg Variations should stray far enough out of the realm to be considered.......

Oh and there's a great double disc set from Penderecki that's fantastic.

[DeadDiscoDildo]

SHOSTAKOVICH! Yes!!!!!

I actually didn't know he was modern haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlMHjo7Jwhk

One of my favorites! Please suggest me anything as brilliant as this, in the same vein

[DeadDiscoDildo]

I would say the part of rhapsody in blue that kicks in here is definitley classical, while the rest is a mixture of classical and jazz...but I don't know that much about this style of music, I just like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyMhg...eature=related

1:50 onward

the first time I heard this piece of music and switch, after the super long repetative main section and variations of rhapsody in blue I almost died...

it was like dying and being reborn

It was also a dark time in my life and I was real sick, maybe that had influence on the movements effects

[Glice]

Originally Posted by fugazifan

schoenberg-pierrot lunaire (expressionism)
bartok-concerto for orchestra, or music for strings percussion and celesta (folklore with modernism)
alban berg- violin concerto (12 tone, but not strict like webern)
boulez-structures (not my favorite, but essential for strict serialism)
ligeti-lux aeterna, atmospheres (micropolyphony)
alfred schnittke-symphony 1 (postmodernism)

Some other pieces by movement:

Tristan Murail - Gondwana (spectralism)
Bernard Parmegiani - De Natura Sonorum (musique concrete)
Helmut Lachemann - Gran Torso (musique concrete instrumentale - arguably a one-man movement)
Alvin Lucier - Music on a long thin wire (Uh... electro-acoustic sound installations?)
Steve Reich - music for 18 musicians (minimalism)

The last one is a great starter for 10 - you may have heard it already. I find Reich intolerable but often forget 18 is actually very good.

[demonrail666]

This is great. Thanks for these so far.

So did a similar thing happen to modern classical as happened to the major isms of the avant-garde, namely developing a centre in the US after WWII? I say this because there seems to be a dramatic shift from mostly European figures prior to the war and largely American ones after it.

[fugazifan]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

This is great. Thanks for these so far.

So did a similar thing happen to modern classical as happened to the major isms of the avant-garde, namely developing a centre in the US after WWII? I say this because there seems to be a dramatic shift from mostly European figures prior to the war and largely American ones after it.

a lot of, if not most of the major jewish (and non jewish as well) cultural figures in europe, namely vienna moved to los angeles. sp there was a period where schoenberg and adorno, stravinsky and many more were hanging there. so i think that influenced a lot of what was going on in the states and also moved the cultural focus to that side of the world for a bit.

[fugazifan]

Originally Posted by Robert Schunk

I forgot to provide an example of Charles Ives' music.

Here's a (very) brief introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cro8xaVy5E

his fourth symphony is one of my favorites.

[Pookie]

I'll second Charles Ives and recommend Symphony No. 2 and also Violin Sonatas 1-4.

And of course Edgard Varèse deserves a mention. I was lucky enough to see Ameriques performed live.

[demonrail666]

Thanks. Yeah, when I said America I was pretty much thinking of New York. But then there's the whole Black Mountain College thing so I didn't want to ignore that. Equally, the entire European avant-garde could for the most part be reduced to a few key cities.

But the big question remains unanswered: is 'Rhapsody in Blue' a piece of modern classical music?

[Pookie]

And Louis Andriessen is worth checking out, if only for De Staat a live performance of which blew me away earlier this year.

[Pookie]

And I'll also mention Janáček and recommend String Quartets 1 & 2.

[Pookie]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

But the big question remains unanswered: is 'Rhapsody in Blue' a piece of modern classical music?

Well Naxos have released a version so I guess it must be.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Robert Schunk

I forgot to provide an example of Charles Ives' music.

Here's a (very) brief introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cro8xaVy5E

Ah, you may have solved a mystery that's been plaguing me for ages. I read something about a composer who's name I could never remember and could never find any way of finding out, just by saying "He's American, meant to be great, into the American landscape". And I think that might be him. Finally!

Originally Posted by fugazifan

a lot of, if not most of the major jewish (and non jewish as well) cultural figures in europe, namely vienna moved to los angeles. sp there was a period where schoenberg and adorno, stravinsky and many more were hanging there. so i think that influenced a lot of what was going on in the states and also moved the cultural focus to that side of the world for a bit.

Great point! A number of some of Europe's most interesting experimental filmmakers also moved there - largely to be as close as possible to Hollywood - but out of that came a really interesting west coast avant-garde film scene. I've got a real fetish for West Coast pop art and it's amazing how even now, even in the US, so little is written about it. So yeah, absolutely, there's a definite tendency to over-emphasise NY's role in it all.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Pookie

Well Naxos have released a version so I guess it must be.

Yeah, but is it a modern classical piece?

EDIT: Where did your avatar go?!? It was amazing.

[Pookie]

It was written in 1924 and your definition of modern is "anything from the 20th Century onwards."