tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post3447908102841490615..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Stravinsky and the Ballet, part 5Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-22111363243808019962017-09-06T18:45:20.882-05:002017-09-06T18:45:20.882-05:00Bryan, welcome to the small, but hopefully growin...Bryan, welcome to the small, but hopefully growing, population of listeners that are aware of Myaskovsky and his music. One can marvel at the connections and organic relationships in the evolution of western music. And the connections that develop in the community of modern listeners. Where would we be without your comment-triggering remarks? OK, you would be doing something other than listening to M's Symphony no. 22. I hope you enjoy this avenue of discovery.<br /><br />DavidDavidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-18581594711836744702017-09-06T16:35:42.824-05:002017-09-06T16:35:42.824-05:00Yup, Svetlanov conducted the Myaskovsky set I have...Yup, Svetlanov conducted the Myaskovsky set I have.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-13242615153211267042017-09-06T13:35:29.512-05:002017-09-06T13:35:29.512-05:00David, thanks. I'm reading the article and lis...David, thanks. I'm reading the article and listening to the Symphony no. 22 to cure my ignorance!! I need to make shallow, ignorant remarks from time to time, just to provoke some comments. Mind you, that's not too hard for me! I don't know why I haven't heard more about him?<br />Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-54266411598391576152017-09-06T12:57:18.262-05:002017-09-06T12:57:18.262-05:00Bryan, I think I may have the same box set of Mya...Bryan, I think I may have the same box set of Myaskovksy that Will referred to. The conductor is Svetlanov. I was prompted to comment by your impression that Myaskovsky is an "older and less interesting Shostakovich". To my ear, Myaskovsky is easier to listen to than Dimitri S, with a less industrial sound and"a more digestible finished product. It may be that Myaskovsky has suffered the "forgotten or ignored composer syndrome". I think the notes to the box set say that Svetlanov made it a project of his to expose more ears to Myaskovsky's work. Here is the URL for a paper that surveys his works: http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/nikolai-miaskovsky.pdfDavidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-58979189092165293762017-09-05T22:10:21.420-05:002017-09-05T22:10:21.420-05:00That Hungarian collection looks vast! All on vinyl...That Hungarian collection looks vast! All on vinyl, too. I will have to look into this when I get a chance.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-68676963302552941072017-09-05T20:28:36.994-05:002017-09-05T20:28:36.994-05:00And a search at Amazon.com, under the category CDs...And a search at Amazon.com, under the category CDs/vinyl, using the key words "Russian folk", yields many interesting album and cd covers with pictures of the ensembles and instruments. Not quite anthropologist field recordings but a lot of it looks like the next best thing, which is more modern groups specializing in the musical lore of Russia. I imagine the catalog would be vast....Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-26753192864473426662017-09-05T20:15:33.241-05:002017-09-05T20:15:33.241-05:00Here, in these notes to a different collection of ...Here, in these notes to a different collection of Hungarian folk music recordings (30 LPs!), is a different categorization, mostly geographical. But the notes also describe previous collections and their categories, which were more chronological. These notes are worth reading for insight into the projects of collecting their indigenous melodies while they were still part of the living culture. When I visited in 2000, I saw a folk music group play and dance some traditional Hungarian songs in traditional costume. Everywhere I was impressed with the people's strong sense of national identity and history, but also I saw they wanted more contact and commerce and cultural exchange with the west, and although I haven't been back (yet) to see what 17 more years have done to them, I suspect the allure of globalization and the pop music scene has eroded the traditional music scene, probably in a corruption not so different from how electricity has been ruining music here in North America as well.<br /><br />https://www.discogs.com/Various-Magyar-N%C3%A9pzenei-Antol%C3%B3gia-T%C3%A1nczene-I-Anthology-Of-Hungarian-Folk-Music-I-Dance-Music/release/3757128Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-60664894257364523382017-09-05T11:23:46.019-05:002017-09-05T11:23:46.019-05:00That's too bad! The existence of this kind of ...That's too bad! The existence of this kind of typology, dividing Hungarian folksongs into ten historic and prehistoric levels, presupposes a pretty robust theory of how exactly it might be possible to even do that!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-40344158632016953382017-09-05T11:10:43.918-05:002017-09-05T11:10:43.918-05:00There are no notes with the CD, just list of track...There are no notes with the CD, just list of tracks in Hungarian and the categories as section headings, in Hungarian and English.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-53420398687062942017-09-05T08:03:12.200-05:002017-09-05T08:03:12.200-05:00I really don't know the music of Myaskovsky at...I really don't know the music of Myaskovsky at all, but my impression from a few brief passages is that he is a Soviet composer, a bit like an older and less-interesting Shostakovich.<br /><br />Wow, that Hungarian project sounds fascinating. I know quite a bit about Bartók's folksong research as I wrote a paper on it for a Bartók seminar in grad school. But this sounds as if there is a developed theory about the stages of evolution of Hungarian folksong. I would love to read about how that theory was developed. Are any musicologists mentioned on the discs?<br /><br />And thanks again for taking the time to comment on the Stravinsky posts!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-53892050237061601832017-09-04T17:07:56.995-05:002017-09-04T17:07:56.995-05:00Nice to read how much Myaskovsky appreciated Petru...Nice to read how much Myaskovsky appreciated Petrushka right from the start. I have a box set of his 27 symphonies and he does not remind me of Stravinsky!<br /><br />The bit about Stravinsky studying field recordings of Russian folk songs reminds me of a presumably much later recording project in Hungary that I bought on CD in 2000 while visiting that country. It is a 2-disc set called (in English translation) "A History of Hungarian Folk Music," and has 58 tracks on disc 1 and 65 on disc 2 of carefully cataloged field recordings of folk songs. The songs are grouped into categories: 1) Prehistoric, archaic stratum of Hungarian folk music; 2) Primitive stratum from the Ugrian period; 3) Strophic development of the primitive stratum from the Ugrian age -the lament style; 4) Supernational stratum: the psalmodic style; 5) Old Turkic stratum: narrow range pentatonic style; 6) Old Turkic stratum: broadly descending (fifth-shifting) pentatonic style; 7) Medieval folk music; 8) Folk music of the 16th & 17th centuries; 9) Folk music of the 18th & 19th centuries; 10) Folk music of the 18th & 19th centuries: the new style. Most of these recordings sound pretty rustic and the variety of melodies and textures and inflections is fascinating.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.com