All performance is a conversation with the past. It doesn't mean you ape the past or take dictation from the past. It's a conversation. This is true not only for recreative work, but for actual creative work as well, ie. composition. It's true in visual art as well.

MusicaNova Orchestra : I was going to my morning news and listen to the same dramas again. But was really glad I watched your video. I’m going to some more of your videos,you might have a new subscriber .

Bravo. This is a subject that came up for me about thirty years ago also, as a music critic for a Sacramento newspaper. We need to appreciate how much work has gone into refining performances of the great classics. We might very probably not care for Mozart's conducting, or Beethoven's, for that matter. Bernstein, Norrington, and Hogwood have wonderful versions of our favorites. I also recall reading critical comments by Mozart on the orchestras he had to put up with.

Try listening to the Koussevitzky RCA recording or his radio broadcast from the mid 40’s. It would be instructive. Copeland was close to Koussevitzky and must have had some influence on the conductor. BUT the BSO sounded totally different from the BSO of today. Koussevitzky imprinted his own sound never to be duplicated. Are we talking about interpretive qualities and/or the sonic profiles?

I think the issue is specifically _because_ it's only 60 years old. It's old-fashioned, but not quite historical. So it sounds wrong. I think, if we leapt forward a few more decades, maybe a century, it may come back into fashion among "historically informed" crowds, because it's different from the way the music of that time is performed, and so more "authentic" - as opposed to now, where it just sounds like the way the "old" orchestras played, and therefore something we've "moved past"

I liked it.

As soon as the stock. "the worst..[ ].... ever" you've lost me. Maybe worst for the speaker, but I can never accept these monster claims.

I heard the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with the original instrumentation for the library of Congress auditorium of 13 instruments in 1977-1978 with Dennis Russell Davies as the conductor and it is hands down the best version of Appalachian Spring ever. Perfect Temps. I hate the full orchestra version, there is no soul or grit. They did cut a direct to disc album along with Ives Three Places in New England also top notch.

Topic suggestion - a full lecture/demonstration on the differences between performance styles of fifty years ago and now, with audio or visual examples, especially in romantic and 20th century music. Thanks.

Yes, I noticed this when a few years ago I bought a CD of the original chamber version, and found the slow, wide vibrato in sustained passages to be really obtrusive. That made me wonder how different the vibrato practice was at the time it was written. I have noticed, too, how much basic understanding of mid-20th century style has been lost since then. The first LP recording of Penderecki's _Dies Iræ_ made a tremendous impression on me in my youth, listening with score in hand countless times. When I heard a recent new CD recording, I was aghast at how clueless the whole affair was, the work's intense drama almost entirely lost, as if the conductor and performers just assumed that all was needed was to operate the notes and never have any sense of dramatic gesture. The same is true of a recent CD of organ works by US composer William Albright. I knew Bill, heard him perform these works many times, even being his page-turner for one of his concerts, and so was well acquainted with his dramatic sense. But the recent European recording is bereft of any real expression, let alone drama, revealing no understanding of the music or where it comes from. And these are not isolated examples... It just goes to show that we cannot afford to lose awareness of our history. That you have done all the research you have on the composer's interpretation of Appalachian Spring is wonderful, and thoroughly commendable. I did the same when I performed his Organ Symphony, corresponding with an organist who had performed it with the composer conducting, and him even lending me a video of one of those performances. But, as you say, even these can lead to unanswered questions in matters of interpretation, and in the end we all have to exercise our best musical judgment, all while informed by, rather than merely imitating, the original examples.

If you listen to the original Star Wars soundtracks and compare to more recent films, you can HEAR so clearly how brass instruments have changed so rapidly

"hard not to crescendo on an upbow" BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE I was a string player. you LIGHTEN THE PRESSURE on the upbow stroke problem solved it helps not to shoot of vast amounts of bow on the down bow part of the note if that is how the bowing divides for the is one long note both of these are matters of bow technique. are you a string player?

Thank you -- that's really informative. I must say the ballet looks terribly dated, but that's probably because people hadn't worked out how to transition dance from a theatre stage to the close-up world of the TV studio. There's a HIP performance of some Gershwin pieces --- Gershwin by Grofe. On one track, there's even one performer who played when the stuff was new. You know it's right, because we have recordings, but it sounds like a period piece. But that doesn't mean HIP is bogus: precisely because "authenticity" is impossible and probably undesirable, they changed the slogan to "informed". And HIP has changed ordinary modern performance. I follow a couple of HIP bands here in Auckland -- Baroque and earlier -- and I like them because they have fun. And after being used to that, I picked up an old CD of the Brandenburgs -- von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. It sounds like an old steam engine winding itself up compared with the nimbleness of modern playing. I really don't care whether they use gut strings and Baroque bows or not, but some things that come from studying earlier performance practice really make a difference.

This is such great insight and a really an interesting way to think about music performance. Always so much to learn

Fascinating!

Yes, a performance today could be performed like it was in the past, but we don't do it because our tastes have changed, and we'd have to practice in a style we don't like. This is true for many pieces of music. I listened to Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" between the 1983 recording and Annie Lennox's current performances, and of course even with the same performer the renditions are quite different. The past informs the present. On the other hand, I remember an anecdote from a conductor or pianist who visited Japan, and was asked to help judge a recital competition. He was unable to judge the performances, because each performance was exactly the same. Upon further inquiry, it turned out that the recitals were based on the only recording of the piece that was available in the country at the time. From the performer's perspective, they were being judged on how closely they could match the recording.

Thank you

I've seen and heard two of Malcolm Arnold's symphonies performed at the BBC Proms, the 5th and the 2nd, and have also heard the 8th symphony played by the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. Of all the others it's his remarkably powerful 7th I want to hear performed the most by one of London's top orchestras. Why conductors and concert promoters are still so reluctant to program his symphonies I find bewildering.

Happy 200th birthday for Bruckner and RIP William Carragan. I was honoured when William contacted me to praise my song 'Anton', about Bruckner's life and unrequited loves. I hope the channel doesn't mind me sharing the music video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2nUiH9sZrKabKs

Even though there is no right or wrong when it comes to musical preference some of the most ill tempered debates I've had have been over music. People aren't logical. Personally I go for the Simon Rattle version I've got on CD but that's the one I'm most familiar with and therefore sounds right to me.

Carragan's Scherzo is probably the best completion of the Scherzo I've heard-- the second strain of the trio is by far the most distinctive. Now that I think about it though, I wish the finale stayed in minor at the end instead of the Picardy third, while he did do a good job of cementing it in the mind.

Thank you very much for making this performance available for us to hear! I absolutely love this piece (as good as any other great variation set), and so it's really nice to see that it's not just the domain of super-professional orchestras - the almost chamber size also makes for a nice and refreshing sound. Many thanks again!

She’s a star now. Watch her performance of Shostakovich during the most recent Queen Elisabeth competition….she absolutely brought the house down!

Awesome performance what a Stunning talent !

Is this really so bad when not compared to the fugues of the greatest master of counterpoint in all of history? It is quite conservative but still quite beautiful and I think the sorrow comes through the counterpoint crystal clear. Then again you admittedly did play his best fugue for us, so maybe it really is downhill from there, but all this did was convince me how good of a composer Sechter was! We ought appreciate good composers in addition to the great ones, because every for every great fugue there are 100 good ones that led up to it.

The monumental sounds of Malcolm Arnold.

The fugue is of solemn introspection, perfect homage to a student that passed before his time. As a teacher of counterpoint it makes perfect sense he'd write a fugue each day. Have to keep those contrapuntal muscles stretched for class.

What a joyful performance. Made my Saturdays morning much more enjoyable!!

Kristin and Tony, GREAT JOB! Brings back memories of when I played this.

My teacher - a genius

Malcom Arnold really is wonderful. Humor ,brassy sarcasm.sounds like an American ! His film scores are always a delight these semi-serious symphonies are well worth discovering .No.9 is a triumph .

great job - musicians, conductor, and composer!

ahi aparece mi profe es uno de cuba

Nice performance! Thank you, Warren, for posting it. Also congratulations to William Carragan.

Winner of a Competition with Steinway...playing on a ...Baldwin 😮?...!!!!!!

MINABLE version (elle reprend une bonne partie de la version originale de Carragan dirigée au début des années '80 par Yoav Talmi) et MINABLE interprétation (les cuivres sont ARCHI MAUVAIS et les bois NULS) !!! C'est d'un pompiérisme ABOMINABLE !!!

I can't fathom why you would waste time trying to convince people that he was the worst composer.

Hello! I'm looking for the score of "Die Kathrin" (klavier), more exactly, score of the song from this opera "Ich soll ihn niemals, niemals mehr sehn". Сould you share the score of this song with me, please? or advise where I should search for 🙏

Hello! I'm looking for the score of "Die Kathrin" (klavier), more exactly, score of the song from this opera "Ich soll ihn niemals, niemals mehr sehn". Сould you share the score of this song with me, please? or advise where I should search for 🙏

NOT terrible!

ciarki przechodzą

nice

The first time I have herd this piece. Deeply moving, in memory of at least four musicians, sadly missed. A very beautiful performance; thank you so much.

I`ll try my best to comment with the proper regard to all the fans further down: This could be the incidental music to "Much adoe about Nothing".

Not bad at all as background music.

He is far superior to many famous composers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnvIe5aIq7GCnK8

I actually very much enjoyed this piece! I would even say that it's a good fuge! perhaps mister Sechter was just a simple man. not everyone has to be a genius

It’s rather unfair to demonstrate poor composition with a deliberately poor performance.

Says the guy who never composed anything anyone will ever listen to. What a dullard.

I have such a strong connection with this piece. I break down at the second movement. And at the end I can't contain myself either. There's something about it that feels so aggressive. Something which is undeniably unsatisfied. Where no matter the joy, it always goes downhill again. You can feel the pain and it's such a powerful moving piece