NEW MUSIC

Shubertmaniac,
I have not been partial to Glass fearing the jokes may not be entirely untrue, will have to investigate further... For her may I rec'd Messiaen's rhapsodically tranquil Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus? It comes with a guarantee of longevity ;-)

Mais enchanté toujours, cher Gregm!

Esteemed Albertporter, Zaikesman, I was not aware of Edgar Varèse and am now finding him congenial - thank you...

EV excerpts:
Integrales f. small orchestra and percussion
Ofrandes: Chanson de la haut f. soprano and chamber orchestra
Ofrandes: La croix du sud f. soprano and chamber orchestra
Density for flute

Por todos los Zappatistas, EV: The Idol of My Youth

There have been so many style progressions in the 20th century. A few favorites of mine:

-Berg String Qt. and Lyric Suite for String Qt. (by the Alban Berg Qt.)
-Lutoslawski String Qt. (by the Alban Berg Qt)
-for other string quartets contemporary with Bartok but not similar in style, the quartets of Shostakovitch (Emerson Qt) and Zemlinsky (Artis Qt)

And if you like orchestral work,
- Lutoslawski's Mi Parti and Musique Funebre
- most of the orchestral works of Thomas Ades
- the idiosyncratic and non-atonal works of Rautavaara, such as Cantus Arcticus
- John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises, sung by Chanticleer. Tavener has been progressing away from strict minimalism and combining other elements, as Gregm says

Lately, I have been listening to John Adams - Naive and Sentimental Music. It has an enormous dynamic range and is interspersed with quiet, contemplative, and ambient sections. I think one could compare the essence of nature invoked in some passages with parts of the Sibelius Tone Poems released recently on Naxos. Unlike some modern music, this Adams recording can be listened to with other people in the house (but watch the volume on the percussive accents!).

Flex: I am very grateful for your kind recommendations and specificity. I feel very much that -certainly as regards contemporary classical- our musical tastes significantly overlap (but you are much further along). Thank you for the benefit of your knowledge. Rautavaara- wow!

(For anyone interested, some quicklinks to bkgrnd, etc after some of the above rec'ns & contribs to be posted later.)

Incidentally, among my favorites are also the Str Q of Shostakovich - + Kurtág's
Music for Strings... for choral work Ligeti... I lament that more chamber works like Schoenberg's Kammersymphonie N 2 Op.38 are not easy to find. I also like the compactness of Berg & Webern's shorter works (e.g. Berg's 3 Pieces for Orchestra). Reaching further back, even the understatement of some of Bach's Orgel-Büchlein seem an interesting precursor of minimalism.

Agon, thank you for your kind words. I have been learning from this thread too...out hunting for more Schnittke and Segerstam. Exchange of music is one of the best aspects of Audiogon.