Awful, but magnificent!

[Alan Howe]

'Awful' here just means 'terrible',' dreadful', i.e. 'very bad'. Thus Bungert's Mysterium couldn't possibly be enjoyed by anyone except a masochist; it tries so hard to be significant that it's magnificent in its awfulness.

[Pengelli]

Like I,sort of,enjoyed parts of the Knipper.

[Pengelli]

Does anyone think Khatchaturian's 'Spartacus' fits in this category? The Knipper link,somehow,led me to it. Khatchaturian's scenario is so big and on such a grand scale,yet allot of the music is so kitsch And let's face it the score is desperately uneven,to say the least. Yet,looking at the Bolshoi ballet strutting their stuff,for me,at least, he somehow manages to bring it off. All,all those bare muscular torso's,not to mention the make up,costumes and sets  straight out of an old Hollywood biblical epic are just asking for ridicule,('camp',is a good word for it),yet somehow or other that's what makes it so good,in a ridiculous,tacky,portentous kind of way. As an admirer of Khatchaturian's best work,I really do think 'Spartacus' is magnificent in an awful kind of way. (Although,it has to be said that the best bit's of 'Spartacus' are on a higher level of inspiration than Knipper's Fourth).
Mind you,allot of that is due to the skill of the choreographers and the dancers. Indeed,looking at the video's made me realise that Khatchaturian's 'Spartacus' really does need to be seen AND heard,in order to be fully appreciated.

[swanekj]

.

Orff's Prometheus.  Lots of shouting, roaring, wailing, screaming and ululating in Ancient (not modern) Greek, all around middle C, plus some early electronic effects.

.

[Pengelli]

Ooh! I'd love to hear that.

[swanekj]

FROM THE WRITINGS OF Nicolas slonimsky:

With the spread of musical education in the Soviet Union, the minority republics began to cultivate music of theirown, largely derived from folk songs. In order to stimulate artistic development in these republics, the Union of Soviet Composers assigned their members to write operas and symphonic works based on native folklore.

The Ukrainian composer, Boris Liatoshinsky,wrote an opera Shchors named after and based on the life of a Ukrainian revolutionary commander.

Glière wrote the opera Shakh-Senem on Caucasian themes;

Brusilovsky composed Kyz-Zhybek, derived from the folklore of Kazakhstan;

Shekhter wrote Yusup and Akhmet on Turkmenian motives;

Tchemberdzhi contributed the opera Karlugas on Bashkyrian folklore;

Kozlovsky wrote Ulugbek (Tamerlane's grandson) on Uzbek melodies;

Balasanian wrote a Tadzhik opera, The Song of Wrath;

Frolov composed aBuriat-Mongol opera, Enke Bular Bator;

Paliashvili is the composer of the Georgian opera Abessalom and Eteri.

The harmonic idiom of these operas is in the tradition of Russian orientalism, withextensive pedal points and chromatic leads in the inner voices. Native instruments areused in many of these productions. Visits of native artists in performances of nativemusic at festive occasions in Moscow have further enhanced cultural exchange betweenRussia proper and the peripheral republics.

Shostakovitch spoke of these developments in his address as a delegate at the Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace inNew York on March 27, 1949: Today, in the five capitals of the five Soviet Republics in Middle Asia, there are five first-rate theaters of opera and ballet...The national art works performed on the stages of these theaters are eloquent testimony to the fact...that new, peculiarly national branches of international musico- dramatic arts have been created. The Uzbek operas Buran and Leyli and Medjnun provide the greatest pleasure to a listener of any nationality..."

WHAT EXISTS OF ANY OF THIS NOW?

[TerraEpon]

Well the overture Gliere's opera was recorded, at least.

[swanekj]

'Awful' here just means 'terrible',' dreadful', i.e. 'very bad'. Thus Bungert's Mysterium couldn't possibly be enjoyed by anyone except a masochist; it tries so hard to be significant that it's magnificent in its awfulness.

I've listened to it a few times at the computer while doing work.  It's rather well-orchestrated at least.

[MikeW]

I've listened to it a few times at the computer while doing work.  It's rather well-orchestrated at least.

Reminds me of the occasion when one of the staff at Harold Moore's played me a new piece for my opinion. After about 15 minutes of listening to this inoffensive but unmemorable piece, my only conclusion was that "it's orchestration not composition".

However, returning to the subject at hand, does anyone remember Todd Levin's 1995 album De Luxe on Deutsche Grammophon? I tripped over it in the (Kenny Everett- administered) archives of my collection recently.

[Alan Howe]

Bungert's Mysterium...I've listened to it a few times at the computer while doing work.  It's rather well-orchestrated at least.

I hear the bottom of a barrel being scraped...

[Lionel Harrsion]

When you refer to your

Kenny Everett- administered archives

does that mean that this album is in the 'best possible taste' category?

[Latvian]

does anyone remember Todd Levin's 1995 album De Luxe on Deutsche Grammophon?

Yes! Fun at times, in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

Interesting.. I don't recall having ever heard anything else by him since that album. Has he thrown in the towel or will no one record his music? 

[MikeW]

does anyone remember Todd Levin's 1995 album De Luxe on Deutsche Grammophon?

Yes! Fun at times, in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

Interesting.. I don't recall having ever heard anything else by him since that album. Has he thrown in the towel or will no one record his music? 

It's a bit like a live version of the Avalanches doing "Frontier Psychiatrist".

He seems to have gone back to his day job at Sotheby's, or at least to being a NYC-based "art consultant".

[MikeW]

When you refer to your

Kenny Everett- administered archives

does that mean that this album is in the 'best possible taste' category?

Possibly, I'll send Samantha down to ask the archivists.

[Lionel Harrsion]

Oh don't tempt me...