| 10 Under 10 (71-80) |
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| 71. |
Frank Martin (1890-1974, Switzerland)
Ballade for trombone and orchestra (1940) [7'56"]
Christian Lindberg - trombone, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Leif Segerstam - conductor
Track 1, Trombone Odyssey - 20th Century Landmarks for Trombone & Orchestra {BIS 538} |
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A really fun piece by a composer whose melodious music should be played much more frequently.
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| 72. |
Carlos Chavez (1899-1978, Mexico)
Xochipilli - An Imagined Aztec Music (1940) [7'15"]
La Camerata Panamerican Chamber Players + Tambuco Mexican Percussion Qt / Eduardo Mata-conductor
Track 1, Carlos Chavez: Chamber Works {Dorian 90215} |
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A fascinating musical anthropology miniature brimming with excitement and exoticism.
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| 73. |
Carl Orff (1895-1985, Germany)
Veni, creator Spiritus (1930) [8'40"]
Czech Philharmonic Chorus and Ensemble / V‡clav Smetáek - conductor
Tracks 1-3, Carl Orff: Choral Works {Supraphon 1 12 1137} |
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Minimalism from 1930 with a text by Franz Werfel! Really neat stuff that's currently out of print, but at the rate that the Supraphon back catalog is being re-issued it should re-appear any day now.
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| 74. |
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996, Japan)
Music from Banished Orin (1977) [7'46"]
Orchestra of Tokyo Concerts, Inc. / Toru Takemitsu - musical director
Track 6, The Film Music of Toru Takemitsu {Nonesuch Film Series 79404} |
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Yet another film score by a composer who worked effectively both in the concert hall and on the screen. In fact, his film music is perhaps his most immediately moving and accessible work.
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| 75. |
Ivan Wyschnegradsky (1893-1979, Russia)
Viola Sonata (1934 rev 1953) [9'28"]
Teodor Coman-viola,
Sylvaine Billier & Martine Joste - 2 pianos tuned a 1/4-tone apart
Track 2, Ivan Wyschnegradsky {2e2m 1001, distributed by Radio France} |
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A beautiful miniature from the only CD devoted to this microtonal neo-romantic. Not easy but it's fascinating.
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| 5 Under 5 (76-80) |
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| 76. |
Alois Hába (1893-1973, Moravia [Czech Republic])
Suite for 1/4-tone Clarinet & 1/4-tone Piano (1925) [3'56"]
Milan Etlík - 1/4-tone clarinet, Vladimír Koula - 1/4-tone piano
CD 2 - Tracks 8 & 9, Alois Hába Centenary {Supraphon 11 1865-2 913} |
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An even shorter work by another early microtonal music pioneer whose greatest musical achievements were a 1/4-tone opera (The Mother) and 16 string quartets in a variety of tuning systems. This tiny suite, which uses special 1/4-tone instruments designed by Hába, is a real curiosity that will get the phones ringing.
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| 77. |
Blas Galindo (1910-1993, Mexico)
Jaliscience (1940s) [2'10"]
Max Lifchitz - piano
Track 13, Mexico--100 Years of Piano Music -- Max Lifchitz {North/South Consonance 1010} |
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A delightful piano miniature based on Mexican folk music that is short enough to fit in anywhere.
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| 78. |
Ivan Spassov (1934-1997, Bulgaria)
Aïshinka (1981) [4'22"]
The Woman's Folk Choir of the Plovdiv Academy / Vassilka Spassova - conductor
Track 1, Ivan Spassov: Aïshinka {Concord Concerto 42034} |
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From a fascinating album featuring short compositions inspired by Bulgarian folk music. Each piece has been recorded in both performances by a folk choir and a classically-trained chorus. You may want to program the classically-trained chorus [Track 12, 4'11"], which is also beautiful but not nearly as haunting as the folk choir.
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| 79. |
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988, Italy)
Maknongan (1976) [3'53"]
David Smeyers - contrabass clarinet
Track 10, Giacinto Scelsi: The Complete Works for Clarinet {cpo 266} |
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A truly bizarre work that won't be to everyone's taste. But I think it's short enough that people who are channel surfing will stick around to find out what it is. For the unapologetically cynical, there is a lot of really gorgeous a-capella choral music by Scelsi as well.
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| 80. |
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971, Russia)
Greeting Prelude (1955) [0'50"]
Columbia Symphony Orchestra / Igor Stravinsky - conductor
Track 1, Igor Stravinsky: Favorite Short Pieces {Columbia LP MS 6648} |
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The shortest piece on the entire list by a composer most stations already play. Stations not already playing Igor will find it hard to make excuses not to play the under-a-minute delightful send-up of "Happy Birthday." A good excuse might be not having the Complete Stravinsky box on Sony which is currently the only way to get it in on CD. I've included infomation about the old LP, for stations still using their turntables.
10 more reasons
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