tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post878122906781552138..comments2024-03-01T03:50:30.073-05:00Comments on Unsung Symphonies: Symphonic Stag Party - Henze's Symphony No. 4Mugshothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04118832685122190192noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-1748319951793655502011-01-03T21:08:25.418-05:002011-01-03T21:08:25.418-05:00@Emiel - Yes, one of my dissertation's six cha...@Emiel - Yes, one of my dissertation's six chapters is about Die Soldaten! It's a piece I have studied for many years and for which I have a great deal of admiration.<br /><br />@Frank and Matt, I feel like Ryan would have a lot to contribute to this, because it seems like there are a lot of parallels between this specific situation and the more general issue of different arrangements or versions of the same piece. You'd run into discourses about bastardization pretty quickly, but veering around those, you can get to interesting ideas about the different uses for music and the differences between, for example, concert and stage performance contexts/ audiences/ expectations. <br /><br />One interesting "lowbrow" example I have noticed is the practice on commercial classical radio of versions of operatic arias with the vocal part taken up instead by a solo violin or cello ("opera without voices"!)- many of these stations being biased against the heaviness of operatic voices. <br /><br />You could also expand this discussion to include an inquiry into the practice of concert performances of operas and opera arias WITH vocal soloists, which have the benefit of sometimes bringing unstageable operas to public ears.Emily RPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09384650592584808816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-61887104951684119662010-12-31T20:14:47.499-05:002010-12-31T20:14:47.499-05:00Hi Emily, very interesting post!
Im just wondering...Hi Emily, very interesting post!<br />Im just wondering about your dissertation - has Bernd Alois Zimmermann and his opera 'Die Soldaten' come up at all?Emiel de Langehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04910826893688035709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-2430171617416276422010-12-18T09:55:33.053-05:002010-12-18T09:55:33.053-05:00To add to Frank's comment, another example tha...To add to Frank's comment, another example that comes to mind is Mahler 2 -- the whole fifth movement is essentially done with instruments first, then repeated with voices.Mugshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04118832685122190192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-8505964029955448912010-12-18T09:12:10.538-05:002010-12-18T09:12:10.538-05:00The clips are awesome! I wish more composers crea...The clips are awesome! I wish more composers created symphonies out of operas and gave the vocal lead to the trombones! How about Dr. Atomic?!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08707130943055466711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-52569264332225815242010-12-17T12:22:52.465-05:002010-12-17T12:22:52.465-05:00Thanks to Emily for this fascinating post! That...Thanks to Emily for this fascinating post! That's an interesting issue you raise, about how composers recast vocal lines as instrumental parts in works derived from the stage. It came up a little in the Rautavaara symphony we did earlier, but I think the Henze shows it much more vividly. I wonder if it forms a "tradition" in any way -- all I can think of now is the orchestral version of the Liebestod from Tristan. I suppose part of exposing (or in Henze's case, recovering!) operatic music to the public would seem to require voice-to-orchestration in some of these cases.Frank Lehmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12932507223420413511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6464483192473464743.post-21307251571511291822010-12-17T09:38:29.034-05:002010-12-17T09:38:29.034-05:00Thanks to Frank for the awesome Photoshop graphic!...Thanks to Frank for the awesome Photoshop graphic!Emily RPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09384650592584808816noreply@blogger.com