MUSICAL EFFECTS IN PERSPECTIVE

It is difficult to perceive the passage of Time. I don’t mean the days, the months or the years of a life, measurable with a watch or a calendar, not even the centuries, studied as an historical subject, but the thousands and the millions of years, above all the ones to come, if and how many. However, I do not wish to speak about Eternity but of human life in Time. Eternity is a philosophical concept or Faith; one either believes or one doesn’t. Instead the passage of Time, seen as a string of events that have taken place, is comprehensible to most people but it is often confusing in perspective because the interest for the particular makes one lose sight of a wider space of Time. One is no longer able to view the historical evolution in a wider sense. The year becomes more important than the decade, the decade more important than the century and so forth. The human mind seldom stands up to a distant perspective.

Bach died more than 250 years ago, but for some he is still alive. If one thinks of Beethoven and Brahms in succession, even they seem just as distant and just as alive. For us these three successions that occur at a distance of approximately 70 years from one another mean little and make less of an impression than the recent death of a dear friend.

It is as though Time, under certain aspects, didn’t exist. It is only the passage of personal experiences that one tries to measure, classify, describe or explain in an exasperated search for self-assertion. One tries to measure oneself during the course of life so as to create illusions of immortality. Here one finds the greatest difficulty due to the lack of personal experiences. Even though it is extremely difficult, it is however easier to understand the passage of time of one’s own life than that of a previous or subsequent lives. Man will always have blinkers. Only few elected persons are without but no individual will ever have an all-embracing vision.

Man is born ignorant and has to learn everything about life right up to his death. He will make the same mistakes that his ancestors made; he will love and hate like them, feel atavic emotions and sensations as new and personal. This cycle repeats itself continuously and often the individual, even having understood it through experience, forgets it because human memory seldom remembers distant perspectives other than those of its own life.

The difficulty of having a balanced perspective of the passage of Time in the 20th century is greater than at other historical periods because, whilst the average life of Man has lengthened, the technological changes are more rapid and consequently even “fashions” or stylistic periods follow one another in rapid succession. In fact, Man today finds it more difficult to measure the passage of this multitude of different and sudden moments of Time in the space of his life. The same thing happens in the musical field.

Though one cannot identify a precise moment to determine the passage from the Baroque period (1650-1750 circa) to the Classical one (1720-1820 circa) and from the Classical to the Romantic (1820-1920 circa), one can vaguely say that each period lasts approximately a century. In the 20th century stylistic periods at first have an overall duration of approximately 30-40 years, i.e. Impressionism (1890-1930 circa), Neo-Classicism (1917-1952 circa), but then they follow one another more frequently with different and inferior overall durations, (Expressionism and Dodecaphony). From 1950 onwards Serialism itself is made up of periods in continuous evolution that overlap one another and it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish their durations. Electronic Music and Aleatoric Music follow one another rapidly during the early 1950’s. The same can be said with the advent of New Simplicity, Minimalism, Ethnic Music, music with Sound Effects, Neo-Tonality, New Age Music etc. from the early 1970’s onwards. At the present time one can notice that every few years styles change and that many of these intermingle with one another, though one can approximately subdivide the music between that of Tonal or Atonal origin.

If, for example, one examines in retrospective “masterpieces” written in the space of 5 or 10 years, one has a “human” vision, that is more restricted, but if we examine “masterpieces” written in the space of 50 or 70 years or even preferably 100 years, one can evaluate far better the “historic” evolution. With the word “masterpiece” the present essay does not mean to express an “artistic” judgement but exclusively an “historical” one.

It is extraordinary to notice that during the period 1893 to 1898 the following extremely diverse masterpieces were born:

1893	Tchaikowsky: Symphony N. 6 “Patetique” Dvorak: Symphony N. 9 “New World” Verdi: Falstaff Debussy: Quartet
1894	Debussy: L’Après-midi d’un Faune Mahler: Symphony N. 2
1895	Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel
1896	Bruckner: Symphony N. 9 Puccini: La Bohème Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra Mahler: Symphony N. 3
1897	Dukas: L’Apprenti Sorcier
1898	Strauss: Ein Heldenleben Ravel: Shehérazade

Surely, the complex of the harmonic, rhythmic, melodic and timbric innovations of Debussy can be understood better now that more than 100 years have passed. We clearly perceive that “L’Après-midi d’un Faune” was the first “modern” composition that influenced all the music that came in the following century.

Consequently, during the period 1899 to 1909 Debussy seems less “innovative” than Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.

1899	Elgar: Enigma Variations Sibelius: Finlandia Sibelius: Symphony N. 1 Ravel: Pavane pour une Enfante Défunte Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht
1900	Puccini: La Tosca Debussy: Nocturnes Mahler: Symphony N. 4
1901	Sibelius: Symphony N. 2 Rachmaninoff: Concerto for Piano N. 2 Dvorak: Rusalka
1902	Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande Mahler: Symphony N. 5 Ravel: Jeux d’Eau Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
1903	Ravel: Quartet
1904	Puccini: Madama Butterfly Janacek: Jenufa Mahler: Sinfonia N° 6 Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
1905	Debussy: La Mer Lehar: Die Lustige Witwe Strauss: Salome Sibelius: Pelléas et Mélisande Mahler: Symphony N. 7
1906	Mahler: Symphony N. 8 Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie Op. 9
1907	Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole Ives: Central Park in the Dark
1908	Webern: Passacaglia fur Orchester Berg: Sonate fur Klavier Debussy: Iberia Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Skrjabin: Poeme de l’Extase Schoenberg: Quartet N. 10
1909	Strauss: Elektra Mahler: Symphony N. 9 Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony N. 1 Schoenberg: Funf Stucke fur Orchester Schoenberg: Erwartung Webern: Sechs Stucke fur Orchester Op. 6

The works of the “School of Vienna” are now comprehensible to most musicians, but they were not at the time. Only with study and exercise in listening did they become so. Notwithstanding this, many people find their music still incomprehensible or maybe comprehensible but not totally acceptable. For many the “barrier” has been and remains Atonality, not entirely present in the other masterpieces listed here and thus not assimilated as a language.

However, without “L’Apres-midi d’un Faune” (and the consequent masterpieces influenced by it) the “Sacre du Printemps” wouldn’t have existed, neither the stylistic development of Schoenberg, Berg and, above all, Webern.

1910	Strawinsky: L’Oiseau de Feu Skrjabin: Prometheus ou Le Poème de Feu Mahler: Symphony N. 10
1911	Strawinsky: Petrouchka Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales Ravel: Daphnis e Chloe Gliere: Symphony N° 3 Op.42 Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Ives: The Unanswered Question
1912	Debussy: Jeux Ives: Symphony N. 3 Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
1913	Strawinsky: Sacre du Printemps Schoenberg: Der Gluckische Hand Webern: Funf Stucke fur Orchester Op. 10 Russolo: Bruitismo

Notwithstanding every masterpiece mentioned above has striking artistic originality, Ives, Schoenberg, Strawinsky and Webern capture the greatest attention for their “innovations” during the period 1910 to 1913. No other compositions can any longer appear “shocking”, not even the first two Twelve-Tone works Op. 23 and Op. 25 for piano by Schoenberg. If one compares Schoenberg’s atonal works to his Dodecaphonic ones, they appear less diverse from each other than to the Sacre du Printemps, but also to the “Sechs Stucke fur Orchester Op. 6” and the “Funf Stucke fur Orchester Op. 10” by Webern. In fact many works of Schoenberg’s Twelve-Tone period seem more “tonal” than those of the successive Atonal period. Therefore Schoenberg’s original application of Atonality and successively of Dodecaphony (but also Berg’s) is less innovative to the ear than that of Webern, where there is harmonic, melodic and rhythmic “innovation” but above all timbric and “spatial”, which is more radical and similar to the advent of Debussy’s “L’Après-midi d’un Faune” in 1894. The same can obviously be said about Strawinsky’s “Rite of Spring”. Thus, it is not the abstract invention of a musical technique that allows the creation of a “masterpiece” but its application so that it results alive and clear to the ear. If so it means that the process of communication has taken place. This could not have been easily understood in those times due to the lack of comparison with other “masterpieces”. One understands this best after a few decades.

An interesting “historical” period is that between 1926 and 1931. It is incredible to notice that Puccini was still writing an opera like “Turandot” only one year before Varese’s “Arcana” and that Ravel wrote his “Concerto in G” three years after Schoenberg’s “Variation’s for Orchestra Op. 31”. This kind of observation is applicable to “masterpieces” in the space of the 20th century.

1926	Kodaly: Hary Janos Janacek: Glagolitic Mass Hindemith: Cardillac Sciostakovic: Symphony N. 1 Puccini: Turandot
1927	Varese: Arcana Krenek: Jonny Spielt Auf
1928	Gershwin: An American in Paris Ravel: Bolero Strawinsky: Apollon Musagète Schoenberg: Variationen fur Orchester Op. 31 Berg: Lyrische Suite Webern: Symphonie Op. 21 Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper
1929	Respighi: Feste Romane
1930	Strawinsky: Symphonie des Psaumes Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane Roussel: Symphony N. 3 Sciostakovic: The Nose
1931	Ravel: Concerto in G Ravel: Concerto in D (left hand) Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast Skalkottas: Octet Szymanowski: Harnasie Varese: Ionisation

For over a century multiple musical styles and techniques have coexisted and prove that “Masterpieces” have been created independently of stylistic choices imposed by passing “fashions”. Every real composer, urged by his own natural artistic vitality, has continued to compose according to his inclinations and not under pressure from any of the artistic, political and social “cleansing”, which, in the long run, has never had any effect. Shostakovich may be considered a successful compromise, but not always. It was pointless to banish Rachmaninov from Russia because he was ” bourgeois” in 1931 and just as pointless to banish Beethoven and Schubert from China because they were considered “capitalists” in 1974. Just as pointless is that exasperated imposition of “Radicalism” at all costs on the part of composers, historians and musicologists of the last decades and pointless are the defences of their equivalent “Reactionaries” at the opposite extreme.

In a few thousand years or more, will it matter that Bach lived approximately a hundred years before Beethoven? If the Earth still exists and Humanity with it, maybe all that will be remembered is that in the second half of the second millennium A.D. (will Humanity still record time according to Christian faith?) there were composers who wrote Music using mainly a language called Tonality and that, for example, the above two composers used Tonality in a different style from one another. Will it ever matter that Bach came before Beethoven?

Time is only Relative and Irrelevant.

Time makes a mock of us all and, paraphrasing Molière, one can say that Time has nothing to do with artistic values.

1999

A list of so-called Masterworks. My point of view is that the more time passes, particularly from the end of the War onwards, the worst the artistic quality becomes.

1893 Ciaikowski: Sinfonia Patetica N°6

Dvorak: Sinfonia dal Nuovo Mondo N°9

Verdi: Falstaff

Puccini: Manon Lescaut

Debussy: Quartetto

1894 Debussy: L’Aprè Midi d’une Faune

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 2

1895 Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel

1896 Bruckner: Sinfonia N°9

Puccini: La Bohème

Giordano: Andrea Chénier

Strauss: Così parlò Zarathustra

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 3

1897 Dukas: L’Apprenti Sorcier

Strauss: Don Quixote

1898 Strauss: Vita d’Eroe

Ravel: Shéhérazade

1899 Elgar: Enigma Variations

Sibelius: Finlandia

Sibelius: Sinfonia N°1

De Falla: Trio con Pianoforte

Ravel: Pavane

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht

Debussy: Nocturnes

1900 Puccini: La Tosca

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 4

Elgar: Dream of Gerontius

1901 Rachmaninoff: Concerto per Pianoforte N°2

Ravel: Jeaux d’Eau

Dvorak: Rusalka

Elgar: Cockaigne

Skrjabin: Sinfonia N° 2

1902 Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 5

Sibelius: Sinfonia N°2

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur

1903 Ravel: Quartetto

Debussy: Estampes

Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica

Sibelius: Concerto per Violino

Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisand

Bartók: Kossuth

1904 Puccini: Madame Butterfly

Janácek: Jenufa

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 6

Mahler: Kindertotenlieder

Elgar: In the South

1905 Debussy: La Mer

Lehàr: La Vedova Allegra

Strauss: Salome

De Falla: La Vida Breve

Sibelius: Pelléas et Mélisande

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 7

Elgar: Introduction and Allegro

Skrjabin: Sinfonia N° 3

Suk: Asrael

Debussy: Images (I° libro)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Il Gallo d’Oro

1906 Mahler: Sinfonia N° 8

Roussel: Sinfonia N° 1

Sibelius: La Figlia di Pohjola

Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie N° 1 Op. 9

1907 Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole

Ravel: Histoires Naturelles

Rimsky-Korsakov: La Leggenda della Città Invisibile di Kitezh

Ives: Central Park in the Dark

Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-Bleue

Debussy: Images (II° libro)

Sibelius: Sinfonia N° 3

1908 Webern: Passacaglia per Orchestra

Berg: Sonata per pianoforte

Debussy: Images – Ibéria per orchestra

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Skrjabin: Poema dell’Estasi

Holst: Sävitri

Elgar: Sinfonia N° 1

Elgar: Elegy

Strauss: Elektra

Strawinsky: Fuochi d’Artificio

Strawinsky: Sinfonia in Mi b

Bartók: Concerto per Violino

Bartók: Due Ritratti

Bartók: Quartetto N° 1

Schoenberg: Quartetto per Archi N° 2 Op. 10

1909 Mahler: Sinfonia N° 9

Strawinsky: Le Rossignol

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony N° 1

Debussy: Rondes de Printemps

Rachmaninov: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 3

Wolf-Ferrari: Il Segreto di Susanna

Schoenberg: Cinque Pezzi per Orchestra

Schoenberg: Erwartung

Webern: Sei Pezzi per Orchestra Op. 6

1910 Strawinsky: L’Uccello di Fuoco

Skrjabin: Prometeo o Poema del Fuoco

Bartók: Deux Images – Due Quadri

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

Mahler: Sinfonia N° 10

Elgar: Concerto per Violino

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West

Massenet: Don Quichotte

Berg: Quartetto per Archi N° 3

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

1911 Strawinsky: Petroushka

Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales

Ravel: Daphnis e Chloé Suite N° 1

Glière: Sinfonia N° 3 Op. 42

Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien

Schoenberg: Gurrelieder

Bartók: Il Castello del Principe Barbablu

Nielsen: Concerto per Violino

Nielsen: Sinfonia N° 3

Sibelius: Sinfonia N° 4

Elgar: Sinfonia N° 2

Ravel: L’Heure Espagnole

Ives: The Unanswered Question

1912 Debussy: Jeux

Ives: Sinfonia N° 3

Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye

Prokofiev: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 1

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos

Dukas: La Péri

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire Op. 16

1913 Strawinsky: Sagra di Primavera

Schoenberg: Der Glückische Hand

Webern: Cinque Pezzi per Orchestra Op. 10

Russolo: Bruitismo

Ravel: Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé

Ravel: Daphnis e Chloé Suite N° 2

Prokofiev: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 2

Rachmaninov: Le Campane

Elgar: Falstaff

1914 Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

Ives: Three Places in New England

Reger: Variazioni e Finale su un Tema di Mozart

Berg: Tre Pezzi per Orchestra Op. 6

1915 De Falla: El Amor Brujo

De Falla: Noches en los Jardines de España

Debussy: Sonata per Flauto, Viola e Arpa

Debussy: Douze Etudes

Prokofiev: Suite Scita (Ala e Lolli)

Ives: Sonata N° 2 “Concord” per pianoforte

Bloch: Schelomo

Sibelius: Sinfonia N° 5

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

1916 Respighi: Fontane di Roma

Strawinsky: Les Noces

Strawinsky: Renard

Holst: The Planets

Bartók: Suite Op. 14

Bartók: Il Principe di Legno

Bloch: Schelomo

Nielsen: Sinfonia N° 4

Szymanowski: Sinfonia N° 3

Szymanowski: Canto della Notte

Szymanowski: Concerto per Violino N° 1

Ives: Sinfonia N° 4

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (seconda versione)

1917 Prokofiev: Sinfonia Classica N° 1

Busoni: Turandot

Puccini: La Rondine

Bartók: Quartetto N° 2

Debussy: Sonata per Violino e Pianoforte

Pfitzner: Palestrina

Satie: Parade

1918 Strawinsky: Histore du Soldat

Janácek: Taras Bulba

Puccini: Il Trittico

1919 De Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos

Milhaud: Le Boeuf sur le Toit

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

Prokofiev: L’Amore per le Tre Melarance

Fauré: Masques et Bergamasques

Bartók: Il Mandarino Meraviglioso

Elgar: Concerto per Violoncello

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

1920 Ravel: La Valse

Strawinsky: Pulcinella

Strawinsky: Sinfonia per Strumenti a Fiato

1921 Honegger: Le Roi David

Fauré: Quintetto con Pianoforte N° 2

Chávez: El Fuego Nuovo

Varèse: Offrandes

Hindemith: Kammermusik N° 1

Bartók: Sonata per Violino e Pianoforte N° 1

Roussel: Sinfonia N° 2

Prokofiev: Concerto per Pianoforte N°3

1922 Ravel: Sonata per Violino e Violoncello

Bartók: Sonata per Violino e Pianoforte N° 2

Strawinsky: Mavra

De Falla: El Retablo de Maese Pedro

Walton: Façade

Berg: Wozzeck

Bax: Sinfonia N° 1

Nielsen: Sinfonia N° 5

1923 Ravel: Alborada de Gracioso

Sibelius: Sinfonia N° 6

Strawinsky: Ottetto

Honegger: Pacific 231

Bartók: Dance Suite

Milhaud: La Création du Monde

Schoenberg: Klavierstücke Op. 23

Schoenberg: Serenade Op. 24

Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus

Poulenc: Les Biches

Fauré: Trio con Pianoforte

Zemlinsky: Lyrische Symphonie

Varèse: Octandre

Varèse: Hyperprism

1924 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Respighi: Pini di Roma

Ravel: Tzigane

Sibelius: Sinfonia N° 7

Strawinsky: Piano Sonata

Busoni: Doktor Faust

Prokofiev: Sinfonia N° 2

Szymanowski: King Roger

Janácek: La Volpe Astuta

Strauss: Intermezzo

Ruggles: Men and Mountains

1925 Ravel: L ‘Enfant et les Sortilèges

Janácek: Sinfonietta

Nielsen: Concerto per Flauto

Nielsen: Sinfonia N° 6

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 1

Gershwin: Concerto in Fa

Chávez: Los Cuatro Soles

Varèse: Intégrales

1926 Kodály: Háry János

Janácek: Messa Glagolitica

Hindemith: Cardillac

De Falla: Concerto per Clavicembalo

Bartók: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 1

Bartók: Sonata per Pianoforte

Berg: Lyrische Suite

Puccini: Turandot

Sibelius: Tapiola

Szymanowski: King Roger

1927 Varèse: Arcana

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 2

Rachmaninov: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 4

Antheil: Ballet Mécanique

Krenek: Jonny Spielt Auf

Strawinsky: Oedipus Rex

Bartók: Quartetto N° 3

1928 Gershwin: An American in Paris

Ravel:Bolero

Strawinsky: Apollon Musagète

Strawinsky: Le Baiser dela Fée

Bartók: Quartetto N° 4

Prokofiev: L’Enfant Prodigue

Prokofiev: Sinfonia N° 3

Sciostakovic: Il Naso

Janácek: Messa Glagolitica

Janácek: Dalla Casa dei Morti

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance

Nielsen: Concerto per Clarinetto

Honneger: Rugby

Schoenberg: Variazioni per Orchestra Op. 31

Webern: Sinfonia Op. 21

Weill: L’Opera da Tre Soldi

1929 Respighi: Feste Romane

Prokofiev: Sinfonia N° 3

Strawinsky: Concerto per Pianoforte

Strawinsky: Capriccio per Pianoforte

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 3

Walton: Concerto per Viola

1930 Strawinsky: Symphonie des Psaumes

Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane

Roussel: Sinfonia N° 3

Bartók: Cantata Profana

Prokofiev: Sinfonia N° 4

Honegger: Sinfonia N° 1

1931 Ravel: Concerto in Sol

Ravel: Concerto in Re (mano sinistra)

Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast

Strawinsky: Concerto per Violino

Bartók: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 2

Skalkottas: Ottetto

Szymanowski: Harnasie

Varèse: Ionisation

1932 Schoenberg: Moses und Aaron

Poulenc: La Voix Humaine

Strawinsky: Duo Concertant per Violino e Pianoforte

Szymanowski: Sinfonia N° 4

Sciostakovic: Lady Macbeth del Distretto di Mtsensk

Britten: Sinfonietta

Bax: Sinfonia N° 5

Prokofiev: Concerto per Pianoforte N° 5

1933 Kodály: Danze di Galánta

Sciostakovic: Concerto per Pianoforte N°1

Schmidt: Sinfonia N° 4

Strauss: Arabella

Ghedini: Marinaresca e Baccanale

Weill: I Sette Peccati Mortali

Honegger: Mouvement Symphonique N° 3

1934 Hindemith: Mathis der Mahler

Bartók: Quartetto N° 5

Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia N° 4

Britten: Simple Symphony

Roussel: Sinfonia N° 4

Rachmaninov: Paganini Rhapsody

Strawinsky: Perséphone

1935 Walton: Sinfonia N° 1

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie N° 2 Op. 38

Berg: Concerto Per Violino

Strauss: La Donna Silenziosa

Strawinsky: Concerto per Due Pianoforti

1936 Rachmaninoff: Sinfonia N° 3

Prokofiev: Romeo e Giulietta

Schoenberg: Concerto per Violino

Copland: El Salòn Mexico

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 4

Prokofiev: Pierino e il Lupo

Khachiaturian: Concerto per Pianoforte

Ginastera: Panambí

Barber: Adagio

Barber: Sinfonia N° 1

Chávez: Sinfonia N° 2 “India”

Varèse: Density 21.5

Bartók: Musica per Archi, Celesta e Percussione

1937 Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 5

Strawinsky: Jeu de Cartes

Bartók: Sonata per Due Pianoforti e Percussione

Menotti: Amelia al Ballo

Orff: Carmina Burana

Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge

Schmidt: Il Libro dai Sette Sigilli

Martinu: Julietta

1938 Strawinsky: Dumbarton Oaks Concerto

Webern: Streichquartett Op. 28

Prokofiev: Alexandr Nevskij

Bartók: Concerto per Violino N° 2

Poulenc: Concerto per Organo

Hindemith: Nobilissima Visione

Copland: Billy the Kid

Honegger: Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher

Schoenberg: Kol Nidre

1939 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

Dallapiccola: Volo di Notte

Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra

Bartók: Quartetto N° 6

Britten: Les Illuminations

Harris: Sinfonia N° 3

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 6

Bartók: Quartetto per archi N°6

1940 Strawinsky: Sinfonia in Do

Khachaturian: Concerto per Violino

Honegger: Sinfonia N° 2

Dallapiccola; Volo di Notte

Chávez: Xochipili

Webern: Variazioni per Orchestra Op. 30

Messiaen: Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps

Petrassi: Coro dei Morti

1941 Ginastera: Estancia

Dallapiccola: Canti di Prigionia

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 7

Tippett: A Child of our Time

1942 Copland: Rodeo

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis

Schoenberg: Ode a Napoleone

Strauss: Capriccio

Strawinsky: Danses Concertantes

Khachaturian: Gayaneh

Schoenberg: Concerto per pianoforte

1943 Britten: Serenade

Bartók: Concerto per Orchestra

Hindemith: Metamorfosi Sinfoniche

Strawinsky: Ode

Prokofiev: Guerra e Pace

Messaien: Visions de l’Amen

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 8

1944 Prokofiev: Sinfonia N°5

Prokofiev: Cenerentola

Sciostakovic: Quintetto con Pianoforte

Strawinsky: Scènes de Ballet

Copland: Appalachian Spring

Barber: Capricorn Concerto

Bernstein: On the Town

Bernstein: Fancy Free

1945 Strawinsky: Ebony Concerto

Strawinsky: Sinfonia in Tre Tempi

Strauss: Metamorphosen

Honegger: Sinfonia N° 4

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 9

Britten: Peter Grimes

Bartók: Concerto per Pianoforte e Orchestra N°3

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras N°9

1946 Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Hindemith: Symphonia Serena

Menotti: The Medium

Strawinsky: Concerto in Re

Schoenberg: Trio per Archi

Boulez: Sonata per Pianoforte N° 1

Honegger: Sinfonia N° 3

1947 Schoenberg: Un Soppravissuto di Varsavia

Copland: Sinfonia N° 3

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915

Menotti: The Telephone

Strawinsky: Orpheus

Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia N°6

Hartmann: Sinfonia N° 4

Prokofiev: Sinfonia N° 6

Ives: Sinfonia N° 3

Poulenc: Les Mammelles de Tirésias

1948 Strawinsky: Mass

Strauss: Vier Lezte Lieder

Copland: Clarinet Concerto

Boulez: Sonata per Pianoforte N° 2

Sciostakovic: Concerto per Violino N° 1

Dallapiccola: Il Prigioniero

Messiaen: Turangalila Symphonie

Cage: Sonatas and Interludes

1949 Britten: Spring Symphony

Bernstein: Prelude, Gugue and Riffs

1950 Menotti: Il Console

1951 Henze: Boulevard Solitude

Britten: Billy Budd

Tippett: Ritual Dances

Honegger: Sinfonia N° 5

Strawinsky: The Rake’s Progress

1952 Prokofiev: Sinfonia N°7

Strawinsky: Cantata

Stockhausen: Kontra-Punkte

Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica

Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage

Cage: 4′ 33″

Boulez: Structures I

1953 Martinu: Sinfonia N° 6

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 10

Messaien: Le Réveil des Oiseaux

Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes

1954 Britten: The Turn of the Screw

Lutoslawski: Concerto per Orchestra

Varèse: Déserts

Xenakis: Metastasis

1955 Henze: König Hirsch

Bernstein: On the Waterfront

Boulez: Le Marteau sans Maître

1956 Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques

Nono: Il Canto Sospeso

Stockhausen: Zeitmasse

Stockhausen: Klavierstük XI

Bernstein: Candide

1957 Stockhausen: Gruppen

Pousseur: Scambi

Boulez: Sonata per Pianoforte N° 3

Illiac: (cervello elettronico) Suite per quartetto d’archi

Bernstein: West Side Story

Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia N° 9

Hindemith: Die Harmonie der Welt

Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

Strawinsky: Agon

Sciostakocic: Sinfonia N° 11

Sciostakovic: Concerto per Pianofotre N° 2

1958 Berio: Sequenza per Flauto

Strawinsky: Threni

Messaien: Catalougue d’Oiseaux

Britten: Nocturne

Pousseur: Mobile

Lutoslawski: Trauermusik Music

1959 Poulenc: Gloria

Dutilleux: Sinfonia N° 2

Strawinsky: Movements per Pianoforte

Sciostakovic: Concerto per Violoncello N° 1

Poulenc: La Voix Humaine

Stockhausen: Refrain

1960 Berio: Circles

Stockhausen: Zyklus

Stockhausen: Kontakte

Penderecki: Anaklasis

Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Nono: Intolleranza

Walton: Sinfonia N° 2

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

1961 Britten: War Requiem

Tippett: King Priam

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 12

Henze: Elegy for Young Lovers

Lutoslawski: Venetian Games

Berio: Epifanie

Boulez: Structures II

Varèse: Nocturnal

Gerhard: Sinfonia N° 3

Ligeti: Atmosphères

1962 Boulez: Pli selon Pli

Copland: Connotations

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 13

Strawinsky: The Flood

1963 Bernstein: Kaddish Symphony

Panufnik: Sinfonia Sacra

1964 Stockhausen: Mikrophonie I

Stockhausen: Momente

Ginastera: Don Rodrigo

Britten: Curlew River

Strawinsky: Elegy for J.F.K.

Lees: Concerto for String Quartet nad Orchestra

1965 Ligeti: Requiem

Penderecki: Passione Secondo S. Luca

Corigliano: Elegy for Orchestra

Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

Henze: The Bassarids

1966 Sciostakovic: Concerto per Violoncello N° 2

1967 Ligeti: Lontano

Penderecki: Diaes Irae

Pousseur: Votre Faust

Birtwistle: Punch and Judy

Stockhausen: Hymnen

Ginastera: Bomarzo

Ginastera: Estudios Sinfónicos

Sciostakovic: Concero per Violino N° 2

Takemitsu: November Steps

1968 Davies (Maxwell): Taverner

Kurtag: I Detti di Peter Bornemisza

Pärt: Credo

Taverner: Celtic Requiem

Birtwistle: Punch and Judy

Dallapiccola: Ulisse

Stockhausen: Stimmung

Berio: Sinfonia

Sciostakovic: Quartetto per Archi N° 12

1969 Davies (Maxwell): Eight Songs for a Mad King

Carter: Concerto for Orchestra

Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 14

1970 Ligeti: Kammerkonzert x 13

Sciostakovic: Quartetto N° 13

Berio: Opera

Stockhausen: Mantra

Ferneyhough: Cassandra’s Dream Song

Holloway: Scenes from Schumann

1971 Sciostakovic: Sinfonia N° 15

Reich: Drumming

Kurtag: 4 Capricci Op. 9

Bernstein: Mass

1972 Reich: Clapping Music

Petrassi: Concerto per Orchestra

Taverner: Ultimos Ritos

Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time

Bussotti: Lorenzaccio

Davies (Maxwell): Taverner

1973 Davies (Maxwell): Stone Litany

Henze: Tristan

Britten: Death in Venice

Sciostakovic: Quartetto per Archi N° 14

1974 Penderecki: Magnificat

Sciostakovic: Quartetto per Archi N° 15

1975 Nono: Al Gran Sole Carico d’Amore

Corigliano: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra

Britten: Quartetto per Archi N° 3

Ferneyhough: Transit

Carter: A Mirror on which to Dwell

Zwilich: Symposium for Orchestra

Boulez: Rituel

Sciostakovic: Sonata per Viola

1976 Berio: Coro

Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy

Del Tredici: Final Alice

Taverner: Thérèse

Glass: Einstein on the Beach

Henze: We come to the River

Davies (Maxwell): The Martyrdom of St. Magnus

Gorecki: Sinfonia N°3

Rorem: Air Music

1977 Pärt: Tabula Rasa

Pärt: Fratres

Mathias: Helios

Corigliano: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra

Carter: A Symphony of 3 Orchestras

Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre

H.K. Gruber: Frankenstein!!

1978 Carter: Syringa

Mathias: Requiescat

Berio: La Vera Storia

1979 Davies (Maxwell): Black Pentecost

Boulez: Notations

Adams: Shaker Loops

Holloway: Second Concerto for Orchestra

1980 Stockhausen: Donnerstag aus Licht

Bernstein: Divertimento for Orchestra

Gubaidulina: Offertorium

Del Tredici: In Memory of a Summer Day

Benjamin: Ringed by the Flat Horizon

Ferneyhough: Funerailles II

Penderecki: Te Deum

Kurtag: I Messaggi della Defunta R.V. Trussova

1981 Corigliano: Pied Piper Fantasy

Tower: Sequoia

Boulez: Répons

1982 Tippett: The Mask of Time

Panufnik: Arbor Cosmica

Harbison: Mirabai Songs

Benjamin: At First Light

Zwilich: Symphony N° 1

Pärt: Passio

Lutoslawski: Sinfonia N°3

Ferneyhough: Carceri d’Invenzione

1983 Berio: Un Re in Ascolto

Penderecki; Polish Requiem

Reich: The Desert Music

Messaien: Saint François d’Assise

Schwantner: Magabunda

1984 Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus

Holloway: Seascape and Harvest

1985 Davies (Maxwell): An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise

Torke: The Yellow Pages

Torke: Ecstatic Orange

Rouse: Phantasmata

Rorem: Violin Concerto

Adams: Harmonielehre

1986 Pärt: Te Deum

Tower: Silver Ladders

Del Tredici: Tattoo

Adams: Short Ride in a fast Machine

Rouse: Symphony N° 1

1987 Adams: Nixon in China

Taverner: The Protecting Veil

Gorecki: Totus Tuus

Corigliano: Le Campane di Ravello

Torke: Adjustable Wrench

MacMillan: Litanies of Iron and Stone

1988 Adams: Fearful Symmetries

Taverner: The Akhathist of Thanksgiving

Schnittke: Sinfonia N° 5 1988

MacMillan: Búsqueda

Reich: Different Trains

1989 Pärt: Magnificat

Pärt: Miserere

Adams: The Wound Dresser

Torke: Ash

Turnage: Three Screaming Popes

1990 MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie

MacMillan: The Berserking

Holloway: Violin Concerto

Corigliano: Symphony N° 1

1991 Birtwistle: Gawain

Davies (Maxwell): Caroline Mathilde

Davies (Maxwell): Ojai Festival Ouverture

Nyman: The Piano Concerto

Mathias: Sinfonia N° 3

Turnage: Momentum

1992 MacMillan: Veni, Veni Emmanuel

Lees: Concero for French Horn and Orchestra

Schwertsik: Irdische Klange

1993 Adams: Violin Concerto

Fitkin: Hook

Turnage: Your Rockaby

Turnage: Drowned Out

MacMillan: Seven Last Words from the Cross

1994 Taverner: Innocence

Schoenfield: Four Parables

Danielpour: Cello Concerto

1995 Corigliano: To Music

Reich: City Music

Torke: December

Danielpour: Anima Mundi

1996 Schwertsik: Sinfonia-Sinfonietta

Danielpour: Concerto for Orchestra

1997 Tan Dun: Symphony 1997 – Heaven Earth Mankind

1998 Previn: A Streetcar named Desire

1999 Bolcom: A View from the Bridge

Harbison: The Great Gatsby

Navigation

MUSICAL EFFECTS IN PERSPECTIVE

Our Visitors

Meta