12 Ridiculously Underplayed Symphonic Poems
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- 12 Ridiculously Underplayed Symphonic Poems
Liszt: Festklänge
Rimsky-Korsakov: Skazka (Fairy Tale)
Duparc: Lénore
Sibelius: The Wood-Nymph
Glazunov: Stenka Razin
Strauss: Macbeth
Suk: A Summer Tale
Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande
Bax: November Woods
Tchaikovsky: Hamlet
Dvořák: The Wood Dove
Franck: Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne
Anything by Dvorak, other than the three popular symphonies, Carnival, and the Cello Concerto are woefully underplayed.
BOY, you said it. There's a lot more outstanding pieces by Dvorak other than the ones you mentioned.
The Violin Concerto, the Slavonic Dances and the String/Wind Serenades also get a fair number of outings. On the other hand the wonderful Symphonic Variations and Scherzo Capriccioso are virtually unheard nowadays.
Dvorak’s “Noonday Witch”. is one of my favourite tone poems. Absolutely brilliant work, IMO up there with the best ever written.
@@TheVaughan5 I was introduced to it when Neeme Jarvi and the Scottish National Orchestra paired it with Dvorak's 6th Symphony on a release in the 1980s, which was great. It tells its story very colourfully yet succinctly, more so than the other Dvorak tone poems I feel. A much-valued recording; at the time the only good CD alternative for the 6th was Kertesz, but Jarvi was punchier.
Should become new "Underplayed" series list!!
Give us Underplayed Concerto next!
Might as well dedicate an entire series to underplayed piano concerti alone then. And possibly also for violin concerti as they're far more abundant than any non-piano concerto and do a 3rd series for all other instruments.
@@classicallpvault8251 A perilous undertaking in the wrong hands. There are more dreadful piano concertos on CZcams, all celebrated as criminally underrated masterpieces, than I can count. Luckily Hurwitz's discernment is finely honed, and he would omit all the dross, picking only the worthy sleepers. He did, after all, introduce me to the Tippett concerto, so props to him!
@@bobschaaf2549 The Kiel and Rubinstein 1st Concerto are hidden gems that should be played more often.
I also miss Tchaikovsky's Hamlet at concerts. It is a poignant piece, full of wonderfully dark and dramatic feelings. One of my favorites by the composer.
Tschaikowskys Hamlet is a swashbuckler film music!
Liszt Hamlet is much better.
A precise character study, not music Kitsch!
Hamlet is great however I think the even more rarely played The Tempest is even better 😁
The Wood Nymph like Kullervo is still overall unbelievably ignored Ok Kullervo does get more performances now. I adore the music of Sibelius, have since I was introduced to his works back when I was teenager.
I chanced on the last few minutes of Wood Nymph for the first time on the radio a few weeks ago and it blew me away.
One more for the list - Delius's 'Paris: Song of a Great City'. Magnificent, and suitable for those who usually find Delius something of a haul....
I think this one might be a harder sell than the others, but I love Holst's "Egdon Heath"; it's my own favorite piece of his. I got to play in it about 15 years ago here in Seattle and have never forgotten it.
It was Holst's favorite too, I believe, or certainly one of them.
Frank's Psyche is wonfearful as well.
At Burning Man in the aughts, the theme was Psyche. I went dressed as Franck. One guy guessed who it was.
Great list Dave! Another great and unfairly neglected Bax Tone Poem is 'In Memoriam' - a magnificent piece which contains one of the great melodies in English music - a tune so good Bax salvaged it for later use in his music for David Lean's film 'Oliver Twist'. 'In Memoriam' enjoyed a 'live' performance at the BBC Proms in recent years, and Vernon Handley recorded it expertly for Chandos - but essentially it remains a forgotten gem, sadly.
Totally agree! Bax was a great composer but some of his works lack truly memorable themes. Not so with “In Memoriam”, which is one of the most noble and beautiful pieces of music known to me. Along with “Tintagel” and “November Woods”, it’s undoubtedly one of Bax’s finest tone poems and deserves much more acclaim.
Again, almost anything by Bax is neglected. I hardly know his music and it's hard to get a chance to hear it. In Bernard Shore's "Sixteen Symphonies" of 1948, covering pieces all well-known at the time ranging from Haydn to Walton, the only one that is no longer in the repertory is Bax's Third.
That symphonic poem by Franck sounds interesting, I think I haven't given it a spin yet.
OTOH, these are ten symphonic/tone poems I consider worth listening yet unjustly underplayed:
Tchaikovsky: The Voyevoda, op. 78 (it's a symphonic ballad, actually, but it works as a genuine tone poem)
Smetana: Richard III
Nielsen: Pan and Syrinx
Rachmaninov: Prince Rostislav (it's early Rachmaninov and it's terrific)
Bax: Christmas Eve (a real gem of a piece)
Villa-Lobos: Amazonas
Holst: Indra
Balakirev: Tamara
Chausson: Viviane
d'Indy: Jour d'été
Wood Nymph! I just received the score I ordered. Thanks Dave!
Would you consider Sibelius' Tapiola underplayed?
It appears in many recordings, but not so often heard in concert.
I might also include Balakirev's Tamara.
I'd second Tamara
Hey Dave. Would you consider a repertoire chat for Shostakovich’s “The execution of Stepan Razin”? It would be awesome if you did.
Thank you
Wonderful piece. Should be performed more, but no one does cantatas anymore.
The Scandinavian heritage in Seattle makes Sibelius quite popular here. A few years ago, my civic orchestra performed Finlandia in the Nordic Museum. You could sense the joy in the building.
Hello Dave, since you mentioned "The Execution of Stepan/Stenka Razin" by Shostakovich, I was wondering if you ever covered that piece in any of your videos. I couldn't find it.
How about doing "12 Ridiculously Underplayed Cantatas"? 😀
Strange the totality of sometimes objectionable characters. Liszt's Princess was despicable in many ways, yet she influenced him to give up concertizing and compose, and her correspondence with Berlioz over Les
Troyans (and encouragement of him doing so) was enlightening; and helped him to continue to work on it knowing he might never hear it! Even if it was to counterpose Wagner (whom she hated), it still counts in her favor.
She almost got him to start work on Anthony and Cleopatra, old, sick, and bitter as he was! That, and the symphony Berlioz dreamed about but decided not to compose because of the tremendous difficulty he would have to produce it, are 2 other sad might have been's of classical music. I mention this to at least give her some credit, and also to say I have always considered Berlioz's King Lear more of a tone poem than overture, and something not played enough today either.
I would also like to add Saint Saens' Journey of Hercules and Phaeton, Gade's Echoes of Ossian and Berwald's Footrace.
I had totally forgotten that Franck and Liszt wrote orchestral works based on "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne."
Thanks for this list. I hadn't heard of Duparc's Lenore before, let alone that it had survived.
Thanks also for giving a shout-out to Bax. I love his orchestral pieces.
This list was a lot of fun...the first 4 on the list are new to me. I hope this topic becomes a new mini series of its own! Here are a few more I would suggest, that really succeed as 'program music' in the symphonic tone poem genre in my opinion and are also woefully under played today
V.d'Indy=Istar Variations Symphonique
J.A. Carpenter=Adventures in a Perambulator
Grofe=Grand Canyon Suite
Bartok=Miraculoius Mandarin (which is recorded more than programmed)
Congrats on 35K subs Dave!!!
Yes, November Woods! A fantastic work.
How about
Chausson’s Vivienne?
Respighi’s Ballad of the Gnomes?
A good list. Nowadays you could probably say that almost any symphonic poem is underplayed because they don't fit into the standard orchestral concert programme of overture - concerto - [Germanic] symphony. Ein Heldenleben seems to get in, as a "symphony substitute", because of its length.
I would add Vítězslav Novák's "Lady Godiva" to your list, though it's technically an overture. An exciting, beautiful and lushly orchestrated piece, written in 1907.
Alfven's "En skargardssagen". An absolute masterpiece, sadly ignored.
The Chicago Symphony is doing Schoenberg's Pelleas and Melissande next February under Christian Tetzlaff and Karina Canellakis brings Dvotak's Wood (Wild) Dove next April. Saints be praised! Bax nowhere to be seen except maybe if Sir Mark Elder ever returns.
Regarding Liszt Tone poems, Orpheus is the gem of the collection
Stay tuned...
Thank you for mentioning the little gem by Rimsky-Korsakov. Indeed a work that ought to be played. It contains all the Rimsky-magic without traveling to the Middle East.
I heard Festklänge (and Missa Solemnis) some ten years ago in Budapest with the Liszt Academy Orchestra!
Excellent list. Of course, the list could be many times it's length. I do understand why the Schoenberg isn't played very often: a massive orchestra like Mahler at his most extreme. And it's so difficult not just for players but for the conductor, too.
My favorite part of Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet is the 45 seconds it takes Hamlet to die after being stabbed - a beautiful long descending melodic line for the cellos.
(It’s in keeping with Shakespeare’s tendency to have characters give a long soliloquy while dying!)
Love a little Hunnenschlacht every once in a while.
I’ve heard the three by Sibelius, Bax and Dvorak. To move on, I’ll have to get out of the woods . . . 😄
Mr.Hurwitz I think you should do a ridiculously overplayed liszt😉😁
Yeah, like Les Preludes and Piano Concerto No. 1. Let's hear MAZEPPA (Symphonic Poem No. 6) once in awhile or List's version of the Rakoczy March instead of the one by Berlioz.
The Wood Dove yes! Really a bunch of Dvorak tone poems are underperformed
Do these qualify as symphonic poems?
Deems Taylor: Through the looking glass
Roussel: The spider's feast
Holst: Beni mora
No.
These are great lists but it's hard to keep up with your prodigious output. For what it's worth I think Macbeth is overblown rubbish. I tried the Kempe and just couldn't follow it. I love all the other Strauss poems but that one defeated me.
You just need to listen until it sinks in. It does after a couple of tries.
Actually neither Liszt nor Franck invented the symphonic poem. Franz Berwald, the great Swedish composer, wrote his "tone paintings" much much earlier.
His first, "Slaget vid Leipzig" (The battle at Leipzig), was written in 1828! Then he wrote Elfenspiel in 1841, Ernste und heitere Grillen -42, Erinnerung an die norwegishen Alpen -42, Bayaderen-Fest -42 and Wettlauf -42.
So I don't understand why people keep claiming that Liszt invented something that was already invented long before...
Because no one cares about Berwald (and I love his music). For my money the first tone poem is Haydn's Representation of Chaos from The Creation, but you can always go back farther.
@@DavesClassicalGuide
Yes, we can actually go back to Sakada's pythian nomos, depicting Apollo's fight with the dragon....
Well, Haydn describes chaos, but it is not a symphonic poem standing on its own. In that case we have Biber's Battaglia or Vivaldi's The four seasons.
But if we talk about romantic orchestral music in one piece, describing something particular,
I think we can start with Wellingtons Sieg... I also think The Midsummer night's dream, The Hebrides, Meerstille und glückliche Fahrt, Ruy Blas etc. can be called symphonic poems, though they were still called "uvertures" at the time (the 1820:s).
Liszt was the first to put the name to the artistic phenomenon that had outgrown its early confines as the "overture". People (artists and audiences) were certainly more disposed towards this kind of thing in the Romantic Century. The "descriptive" pieces of music that came before had different aesthetic about them, engaging and/or dramatic as they were. Like, Rebel's "Les Elemens" is still a suite; and Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" - still a set of concertos (and he as not the first to play around with the evocation of seasons, either). I agree about Berwald's symphonic "paintings", but he can't be credited except retrospectively, since most of them were unknown then, and remain so to this day (admittedly, I have heard the names, but not the music - maybe you can recommend a good recording?..). It seems like the composer himself did not make a big deal out of his "invention", so the the laurels went to Liszt. Not undeservedly, though, he did a lot to popularize the "New German" school.
@@bigg2988 I think the only new thing Liszt did was giving them the label "symphonic poem"... Besides, many of his own such works were originally overtures, e.g. Hamlet, Tasso, Les préludes and Prometheus. Or they were reworkings of older music, e.g. Mazeppa and Hungaria.
For Berwald's works, they are not unknown at all, but regrettably not appreciated very much outside Scandinavia. But Dave has done a lot to promote him.
I can recommend Ulf Björlin with the Royal Philharmonic on EMI. They play all the 4 symphonies, the piano and violin concertos, 2 overtures and 5 of the symphonic poems. All really high class music and worth getting to know!!
@@laggeman1396Thank you!
I have to listen to Tchaikovsky's Hamlet and compare it to Liszt's.
The Tchaikovsky HAMLET is tops and as Dave mentioned THE TEMPEST is just fantastic, but you hardly ever hear it. Dvorak's THE WOOD DOVE is my most favorite of his symphonic poems, but who can really choose, they're all masterpieces.
Did you know that Joseph Joachim, known mostly for his violin concertos, also wrote a Hamlet Overture? It’s a very appealing work, and sounds like it may have influenced Brahms’ Tragic Overture (written some 27 years later).
Will have to check J. J.'s Hamlet out.