tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post8878468028451510859..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: The Case of Elizabeth MaconchyBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-12195750740151777882015-07-29T19:00:19.345-05:002015-07-29T19:00:19.345-05:00Do like that Quintet for oboe and have listened to...Do like that Quintet for oboe and have listened to it a couple of times, but I can tell that my momentary interest is passing, although her quartets are still on my 'to be listened to' list. One has one's learned preferences, after all, and that's not not going to be the case because there are a thousand composers out there whose works aren't on that list and are somehow oppressed because it isn't comprised of equal numbers of males and females, and equal proportions of writers from each century etc etc. Not until the state sends out its commissars to enforce such things. And I suppose the state could require an equitable proportion of GLBT etc composers, too. Jobs for psychiatrists to certify which identity categories one belongs to!Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59988411332538224212015-07-29T17:14:12.239-05:002015-07-29T17:14:12.239-05:00I think that you have listened to more Maconchy th...I think that you have listened to more Maconchy than I have.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-84949127643864848862015-07-28T17:54:22.237-05:002015-07-28T17:54:22.237-05:00I started with the two one act operas, The Sofa an...I started with the two one act operas, The Sofa and The Departure. I can see listening again, although neither one features tunes one hums afterward walking down the street. (The Opera Today reviewer in 2009 thinks 'once is enough', at least about The Departure [http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/08/maconchy_the_so.php] but Geoffrey Norris, then and now at the Telegraph, was more positive [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/geoffrey-norris/4985194/Elizabeth-Maconchys-The-Sofa-and-The-Departure-Classical-CD-of-the-week.html].) There are two or three lovely clouds of music, and several beautiful passages of the soprano voice. Ralph Vaughan William's wife/widow, Ursula, is the librettist of The Sofa (from the French of Crebillon <i>fils,</i> 1707-1777).<br /><br />Listened to her Quintet for oboe and strings (1932) just now and it's interesting with hints of dissonance and edginess. I see that her third string quartet is less than 11 minutes, from <i>lento</i> to <i>poco largamente</i>.Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52962811525213651072015-07-28T07:51:03.518-05:002015-07-28T07:51:03.518-05:00Maconchy was not out of touch with the aesthetic c...Maconchy was not out of touch with the aesthetic currents in the 20th century as we can see from her increasing use of dissonance. But she was not a fashion follower either. Just a good composer. I like her succinct writing: nothing bombastic, no padding. At 13 or 14 minutes, her quartets are shorter than most.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-34697179838988355582015-07-27T12:05:06.166-05:002015-07-27T12:05:06.166-05:00The String Quartet No. 3 sounds interesting and be...The String Quartet No. 3 sounds interesting and beautiful (from what I can tell, haven't listened to it all). I don't like the 11th as much (haven't listened to it completely yet) because of the dissonance levels but maybe it's not bad once I get used to it (it's somewhat similar with certain works by Bartok or Schoenberg for instance). Obviously many composers have been out of place, or rather out of time over the course of history but it's especially true for the 1900s with the modernist ideology in dominance. It is basically an "either adapt to the current trends or become the new trend (if you want to relevant that is)" type of ideology. Fashion in other words.Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.com