- Location
- Jerusalem. Israel
Kempff's Schubert is indeed quite wonderful. I always struggled with his Beethoven though I think I'm getting there. My composition teacher Humphrey Searle, who was possibly the most authoritative Lisztian who has ever lived, thought his Liszt recordings at the very pinnacle and indeed things for which he was not so famous, like Chopin, can be equally glorious.Schubert, piano sonata in c minor, D. 958. One of Schubert's last works, written a few months before his death. Played by Wilhelm Kempff. Quite wonderful.
I was shopping in Notting Hill Gate yesterday and popped into the second hand shop Exchange. I'd not been there in years. I wasn't expecting much but they had a CD set of Schubert's sonatas, played by Kempff, for only £14. An irresistible bargain.
Jeremy,
My composition teacher Humphrey Searle, who was possibly the most authoritative Lisztian who has ever lived
Absolutely delighted to hear that, Dan, his was an extraordinary story. His memoirs can be read here Humphrey Searle: Memoirs - Quadrille with a Raven : Index , a bit of a fag their being online only but it's so very very British a life in the best possible way. I am so often amazed by the sheer industry of that generation.I have discovered more previously unknown treasures through this thread than anywhere else - have now listened to Humphrey Searle's piano sonata three times with great pleasure, and also The Riverrun, which has given me a completely different way of hearing Joyce. I will be exploring further.
I played that many years ago in quite an important London concert series. I can think of few conventionally notated pieces which emerge in so varied a manner according to who is playing it! Susan Bradshaw told me that Pierre Boulez was very annoyed by this piece, feeling that he'd lifted the material wholesale from his second sonata.I've been on a bit of a Jean Barraqué binge. Not maybe the most famous composer of serial music but I've liked the ones I've listened to so far. It's quite a romantic -era influenced take on serialism at least with my limited listening so far. So maybe not the most difficult entry into serialism?
Susan Bradshaw told me that Pierre Boulez was very annoyed by this piece, feeling that he'd lifted the material wholesale from his second sonata.
I like Barraqué's music very much, its sensuality feels no need whatever to mollycoddle its listeners, but its aesthetic for some reason now feels as dated as Messiaen's pre-1960s work.
Pierre Boulez was very annoyed by many things, it seems...I played that many years ago in quite an important London concert series. I can think of few conventionally notated pieces which emerge in so varied a manner according to who is playing it! Susan Bradshaw told me that Pierre Boulez was very annoyed by this piece, feeling that he'd lifted the material wholesale from his second sonata.
I like Barraqué's music very much, its sensuality feels no need whatever to mollycoddle its listeners, but its aesthetic for some reason now feels as dated as Messiaen's pre-1960s work.
Not really. Seventy years on it doesn't seem to matter much and the pieces are really very different. I like your characterisation of Barraqué as romantic.Oh no! I love Boulez's 2nd sonata! At a stretch I can see why the Barraqué might seem like a romanticized version of Boulez but I mean are they really that similar to warrant such a comparison?