Modern Classical (1 Viewer)

Unknown Convict · Sep 2, 2014

re minimalism - alan licht has done three top 10s over the years, with quite a few lesser-knowns included Alan Licht’s Minimal Top Ten / The Next Ten / Minimalism Top Ten III - Root Blog / Content warning

i like some of luc ferrari's more pastoral concrete stuff - presque rien era

for a contemporary take on minimalism and just intonation, check out michael harrison Michael Harrison composer and pianist

dunderhead · Sep 2, 2014

have bits and pieces of this stuff

what I likes:

reich obviously as you've mentioned. this is cool footage of alarm will sound doing music for mallets

ryan teagues. apparently does music for lavish adverts. have lp called field drawings. v good

saw this lad a few months back. monotonous but very nice nonetheless

the label erased tapes is a good go to for this type of stuff generally

hugh · Sep 2, 2014

Cornu - that is phenomenal information. Thanks!

7 - No tomorrow · Sep 2, 2014

Bravo, sir

Cornu Ammonis · Sep 2, 2014

hugh said:
Cornu - that is phenomenal information. Thanks!

Wait til I get on to a composer I really like!

ogy · Sep 2, 2014

A few pieces I like:

Famous for being from 2001: A Space Odyssey

The dirty projectors use hoketing a lot. This whole piece is based on hokets.

Interesting to compare to hiphop, turntablism and all sample based music.

For any guitar geeks, the score says the cello should be plugged to a distortion pedal, ideally an ibanez tubescreamer ts-808.
If this piece is played loud enough it creates difference tones!

Unknown Convict · Sep 2, 2014

"...the first genuinely new sound in maybe 10 years. It's as if the Dirty Dozen Brass band got a hold of some of Arnold's records and decided to give it a go. I cannot overstate how unbelievably brilliant this record is. When played loud, I firmly stand by my declaration that it is one of the 4 or so best records ever made". - Jim O’Rourke

"This particular release from 1995 is initially striking because of its pure energy. I guarantee that it's one of the few releases you'll find featuring "classical" instruments which encourages you to "listen at maximum volume!" Dreyblatt also uses a wider palette than most Minimalists, as his Orchestra of Excited Strings actually consists of strings, horns, percussion, and just-intonation guitar. Yet he holds the same concern with microtonal structure that (Tony) Conrad does, just through more propulsive music. Some people back in the Seventies used to talk about how the music of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass was somehow related to "rock," but those charlatans don't have anything on Arnold Dreyblatt. - Pataphysics Research Journal

Cormcolash · Sep 2, 2014

jimmybreeze · Sep 2, 2014

Some nice ol tips in this thread

Cormcolash · Sep 2, 2014

Bit pissed I couldn't go to that De Staat concert cause I was working or something

Cornu Ammonis · Sep 3, 2014

Minimalism - The Big Four (Part Two)

I'm going to nail my colours to the mast here and say that up until recently, I couldn't get into Philip Glass at all. I had him dismissed pretty much as car insurance ad music (not that I've heard him in a car insurance ad but if I wanted something bland and soothing, I would have picked him). I was wrong. Out of the four most important minimalists, he is the one that fits least into the minimalism box as he is the one that has most moved out beyond the boundaries and constraints of minimalism. To me, while there is minimalist elements in his music, he is more like John Adams in that he uses repetition to emphasis change in hihttp://thumped.com/bbs/threads/modern-classical.94007/page-2s music than as a mode of exploring the possibilities of sound like Reich, Riley or Young.

This is most obvious on the pieces on his Solo Piano album (1989; his most minimal works to my ears) where he recycles and reappraises themes throughout the piece. Most of the album is inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis and you can hear the music metamorphisising throughout the movements, familiar strands becoming something new. Unlike Kafka's story, there is no horror here as Glass keeps it very pretty throughout. You might be interested to note that this work became the basis for Glass's soundtrack to The Hours for which he won a BAFTA (and was nominated for an Oscar, Grammy, etc.). I haven't seen the film but the score is quite nice (but I prefer the original piece). His other main minimalist piece is "Music in Twelve Parts" (1970s) which I find to be horribly dated and overrated. It's impressive only because of its length but honestly it just sounds like someone fastforwarding through a CD of regular classical music.

The type of music explored in the solo piano pieces is also representative of his String Quartets. Some of the Quartets were made to accompany films or plays and others were written just for performance/recording. String Quartet No. 3 (1985) was for a documentary about the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. Mishima's final four novels which make up his Sea of Fertility series are a nice parallel with Glass's own music as Mishima uses the idea of reincarnation to reintroduce the same character over and over again, exploring different facets of their personality much in the same way as Glass works with his musical themes.

Glass's works for larger ensembles are far less effective, in particular his symphonies based on David Bowie's albums Low and Heroes sound like a budget Danny Elfman (and Danny Elfman already sounds like a budget Danny Elfman) and it feels like the simplicity that makes his solo piano and quartets so beautiful is just swamped by the orchestra. Some of the other symphonies are good but still sound too heavy handed for me. Not a symphony but a work for a larger ensemble, "Glassworks" (1982) has moments of clarity (the opening is stunning and any of the slower, quieter parts are quite nice) marred by fussy interludes.

Unlike the other minimalists, Glass embraced opera in a big way. I've just checked Wikipedia and there are 18 operas listed on his page (I would have hazarded a guess at around 5). The operas are a frustrating listen and they remind me of a criticism of Wagner that I love: "Wagner is a composer who has beautiful moments but awful quarter hours." Einstein on the Beach (1975) is the most famous of Glass's operas and I've yet to make it all the way through. It's probably best experienced live so I'll give it a go if it ever comes here but only if I can get cheap tickets. On the other hand, Akhnaten (1983) has some particularly lovely passages that fit perfectly with the aesthetic explored in the String Quartets yet manages to use the larger ensemble to much better effect than the symphonies. I would definitely pay good money to see this one.

While there is a common thread running through these works for regular ensembles, Glass has also dipped into electronic music and music styles. "Music with Changing Parts" (1970) is a Reichian work for any instruments but the recording for keyboards/organ is phenomenal and was a major component in my re-evaluation of Glass as a composer. If you listen to one YouTube link in full, make it this one.

Often parodied and pop-referenced, Glass's soundtrack for Koyaanisqatsi (1982) is another oddball moment for him which is well worth hearing. It's foreboding, stunning and inspiring in equal measure. The deep baritone singing and long, heavy chords in the opening movement to me sound like the kind of stuff that metal bands like Ulver and Sunn O))) have been doing in recent years. At times, it feels like a cross between a Latin mass (echoes of plainsong and organum) and some sort of future classical music. It runs a close second to "Music with Changing Parts" for me.

Next up: Terry Riley.

hugh · Sep 3, 2014

More great stuff but you can slow down, I haven't even gotten around to listening to the Reich ones yet! By the way, this interest is partly inspired by my efforts to play Metamorphosis on the piano (the sheet music of which I more or less randomly grabbed hold of the other day). I have the first part pretty much down .. second one is a bit trickier. Bloody arpeggios.

Cornu Ammonis · Sep 3, 2014

Grand, I'll give you a week before the next one. Expect a test on Tuesday morning though.

Unicron · Sep 3, 2014

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I'm not mad on him myself, he's more the Beach Boys to Glass and Reich's Rolling Stones / Beatles.

I had a listen based on that description expecting it to be a million times better than Glass and Reich, but was then disappointed.

Cornu Ammonis · Sep 3, 2014

Unicron said:
I had a listen based on that description expecting it to be a million times better than Glass and Reich, but was then disappointed.

I don't really like John Adams, especially his shorter pieces as they just sound like Aaron Copland but more boring. However, I absolutely adore his opera Nixon in China. It's the only opera that I know most of the words to. My wife and I sing bits of it at each other (badly) most days of the week. Saw it at the Bord Grand Gais Canal Theatre a few months ago and it was amazing.

EGE YURTUM · Sep 3, 2014

... unsung and overshadowed but stands shoulder to shoulder with Ligeti and Stravinsky in this instance...

... this one blurs a lot of boundaries and is unfortunately a standalone release ( although there's a remix album ) ... just superb...

...sweet cacophony... Will fry your brain if you're not in the right place for it but will do wonderful things to it otherwise...

...also, don't forget the soundtrack-y people... when Preisner is firing on all cylinders he's exceptional... some of his soundtracks are pretty flacid but his work with Krzysztof Kieslowski more than demonstrates his strengths...

...and of course, this bloke...

Cormcolash · Sep 3, 2014

And don't forget

St. Fechin · Sep 3, 2014

Cornu Ammonis said:
I don't really like John Adams, especially his shorter pieces as they just sound like Aaron Copland but more boring. However, I absolutely adore his opera Nixon in China. It's the only opera that I know most of the words to. My wife and I sing bits of it at each other (badly) most days of the week. Saw it at the Bord Grand Gais Canal Theatre a few months ago and it was amazing.

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Yeah! One of my favourite things ever

"Smoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oother than usual"

Diumraid · Sep 6, 2014

Having been excited, repelled and sometimes jaded by lots of the previous I'll add a few broad-stroke points off the top of my head.
Minimalism mostly became de facto pop-maximalism and most Glass (sorry Cornu) and a very large amount of Reich is total bullshit to me. Early process pieces by Reich stand up with the true spirit of minimalism - kept alive by La Monte Young, Phill Niblock etc.
On the UK politico wing I'd recommend Cornelius Cardew's 'The Great Learning' and much of AMM's output - their first album 'AMMMusic' is still pretty shocking to me.
By and large it's the moments where new seeds are sown and no-one quite knows where it's all going that still sound so fresh and fertile today. I'll take the final four Beethoven string-quartets and the Webern bagatelles over a lot of 'vital' modern pieces as hardcore and life-affirming. Schoenberg is also awesome.

Cornu Ammonis · Sep 6, 2014

Diumraid said:
Having been excited, repelled and sometimes jaded by lots of the previous I'll add a few broad-stroke points off the top of my head.
Minimalism mostly became de facto pop-maximalism and most Glass (sorry Cornu) and a very large amount of Reich is total bullshit to me. Early process pieces by Reich stand up with the true spirit of minimalism - kept alive by La Monte Young, Phill Niblock etc.
On the UK politico wing I'd recommend Cornelius Cardew's 'The Great Learning' and much of AMM's output - their first album 'AMMMusic' is still pretty shocking to me.
By and large it's the moments where new seeds are sown and no-one quite knows where it's all going that still sound so fresh and fertile today. I'll take the final four Beethoven string-quartets and the Webern bagatelles over a lot of 'vital' modern pieces as hardcore and life-affirming. Schoenberg is also awesome.

No need to apologise to me big D, Glass is someone I find entertaining rather than innovative or groundbreaking. I always find it depressing that Young is sidelined in music history in favour of Reich and Glass (usually with a spot of Riley thrown in to show that the author "gets it"). Young and Riley will have their day here by golly.

I never really equate AMM with modern composition, to me they always feel closer to jazz in terms of approach but I can't really articulate why.

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