An Evening at Carnegie Hall: Requiem for the 20th Century
Made it on the subway in a light snow. Nothing like Manhattan; streets are packed day and night. I’ll try to reconstruct the concert for you. This is not full of yuletide cheer, if anything it is downright sorrowful, depressing, and serious. Sometimes you need some of that. The 2oth Century was one helluva hundred years. Each composer was affected by war.
May the century rest in peace.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6
Excellent introduction. Listen for the saxophone solo.
Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem
A most incredible choral piece. Think: you have heard it.
Alfred Schnittke: Nagasaki
Nagasaki, City of Grief
Morning
On That Fateful Day
On the Ashes
Rise Sun, Rise Sun of Peace
Thanks for the interesting links, Sue. I love to hear conductors talking about the work they are going to conduct and also to attend orchestral rehearsals. It’s magic.
The review is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/arts/music/american-symphony-orchestra-samples-the-20th-century.html
Conducting
College lecture
Congratulations Sue, on your concert choice: not light-hearted entertaintment at all, rather heavy weight engagement, but worth the attendance. I’ll comment starting from the last composition.
The most unexpected, to me, was the third piece, by Schnittke. I am more familiar with his serial works, most of them extremely challenging. His “Nagasaki” oratorio seems to me more traditional, easier to get into, therefore I could get more out of it, I felt it packed with emotions and rewarding.
The atmosphere of Ligeti’s choral “Requiem” is powerful, redolent with suffering and war-like colours. The composer is one of my present favourites. In particular, I loved the rarefied “Lachrymosa”movement.
I am not a fan of Ralph Vaughn Williams music, just a matter of taste, I suppose. Nevertheless, this Symphony is imposing, with its huge orchestration. Intriguing and challenging.
I must confess that I don’t know the conductor Leon Botstein, I have never hear him conducting. What was your opinion?
Dani, Botstein is amazing. He gives a lecture an hour before his concerts and is funny, sardonic and brilliant. His conducting is wonderful.
I found some interesting videos.
You can listen to lectures here and get an idea of what they are like, many on youtube.