Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1980s – Part I (1980-1984)

Honourable Mentions

Brian Ferneyhough – Lemma-Icon-Epigram (1982)
Hans Abrahamsen – String Quartet No. 2 (1981)
Michaël Lévinas – Concerto pour un piano espace n° 2 (1980)
Olivier Messiaen – Saint-François d’Assise (1975-1983)
Olivier Messiaen – Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement (1984)
Sofia Gubaidulina – Rejoice (1981)
Witold Lutosławski – Chain I (1983)
Wolfgang Rihm – String Quartet No. 6, ‘Blaubuch’ (1984)

There are fewer honourable mentions than usual because I kinda half-assed it.

Wow, the early eighties were great, apparently. Once again my shaky grasp of composition dates makes for a nice surprise. LOL.

Same here tbh.

This is between Offertorium, Tehilim, and Triadic Memories for me. I don't remember the first two that well, but I do love Feldman's stupid-long pieces.

Well-Tuned Piano, easily, sounds trite but it really is a culmination of his work imo

Nono's A Carlo Scarpa is amazing as well

I'm probably going to vote Feldman, on first glance the only other contenders from the few I've heard are Nono's Fragmente or the Schnittke SQ2. Time to finally listen to The Well-Tuned Piano eh?

La Monte Young – The Well-Tuned Piano (1964-1981)

Haha, well he shaped it into various avatars across the decades. I stopped at 1981.

Another playlist (with a number of mainly spectral absences, unfortunately)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4FF76C4AyIJVPCVyHXCVhg

oh my goodness

Répons and at least one of the Murail peices *do* feel quite 'eighties' in my memory. Shall see how I feel about the electronics this time around... :)

Lonely Child, Tehillim, and Well-Tuned Piano are all favourites. This is probably Lonely Child but we've actually been listening to WTP (on cassette!) a lot recently when going to bed. My partner actually seems to really like it. I really should listen to more, though. I regret not digging deeper into the last list.

This has 3 of my heavy heavy hitters in it, very hard to choose

Lutoslawski 3
Messages of the Late RV Troussova
Patterns in a Chromatic Field

Lutoslawski has the edge - I consider this the best postwar symphony full stop - but we’ll see.

Carter's Night Passages or Young's The Well-Tuned Piano? The latter is colossal but the former is so good. Not a fan of Tehillim.

no love for koyaaaaaanisqatsiiiii

It was my introduction to Glass and I’m a semi-fan but it’s one for the soundtrack poll.

Once you get past the 70s classics, from the 80s onward film score Glass is my favorite Glass

Ah! Weeks ago I was thinking I must remember to suggest the Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied when the right time came around. Not necessary, as it turns out. :-)

I play the 1964 recording of Well-Tuned Piano a lot more often than the 1981 or 1987 these days, though the 1987 is the peak

you counting Les Espaces Acoustiques as 1985?

Indeed. Now that is one title I could never leave out.

I don't think I'd heard Lutosławski's Double Concerto before. Failing to notice an 8th volume in that Naxos series wouldn't have helped. I'm digging it.

I'll candidly admit to including it in no small part because it was commissioned for Heinz and Ursula Holliger, whom I enjoy hearing in any setting, without exception.

I'm wavering between Vivier's Lonely Child and Niculescu's 3rd Symphony, which features a concertante part for the saxophone. The two pieces have a fair amount in common, come to think of it, especially as regards their infinite well of melody:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=687Y3Nz0A_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QWt_hd6FNg

Barbara Hannigan conducts the latter version. I'd love to hear her sing it.

The recording with them (heinz and ursula) and Michael Gielen/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Vox is hopefully still available - it rules

Susan Narucki's studio recording remains definitive for me, though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP23EnBQjw8

It's no accident that the four Vivier pieces I ended up picking for this half-decade are all on that disc.

xp

Oh I’m gonna YouTube to MP3 that Hannigan Vivier thanks
I wanted to go to that Ojai festival so bad

The recording with them (heinz and ursula) and Michael Gielen/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Vox is hopefully still available - it rules

A cursory search reveals that it's available on Spotify and Apple Music. I'll have to check it out.

Cool. I just switched to that one in above playlist.

Pretty sure I'd not heard a note of Niculescu before the last poll either. This (3rd) again sounds kinda remarkable.

I always listened to the recording of Lonely Child from this 1984 LP: https://www.discogs.com/fr/Claude-Vivier-Shiraz-Pulau-Dewata-Lonely-Child/release/2390406. I believe that Vivier actually wrote it for Parent. I will listen to these others. I started this Lonely Child vs Lonely Woman thread some time ago; it never really went anywhere but I do think about the comparison sometimes: Taking Sides: Claude Vivier - Lonely Child vs Ornette Coleman - Lonely Woman

Listening to Niculescu for the first time. This is very cool and immediately gripping and intense. At times a bit like a sax concerto? I keep imagining the disgusted face that would have been made by a friend in undergrad who also vociferously complained that the Well-Tuned Piano was out of tune.

getting over the lack of koyaanisqatsi and deciding between these

Alfred Schnittke – String Quartet No. 3 (1983)
Steve Reich – Tehilim (1981)
Toru Takemitsu – A Way a Lone (1981)
Witold Lutosławski – Double Concerto (1979-1980)
Witold Lutosławski – Symphony No. 3 (1981-1983)

leaning towards the symphony

Where's Akhnaten, then?

If I had 50 extra slots...

Tbh, Glassworks, also from this period, is the Glass I listen to most. His ideas work best in pop-sized bits for me. I'm the exact opposite way with Reich.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Went with Lonely Child in the end.

voted la monte young

Any last minute requests for pt. 2?

Went with Lonely Child in the end.

There's no other answer, really.

Any last minute requests for pt. 2?

as we have cruelly neglected leo brouwer it would be nice to see cuban landscape with rain

I'll try to throw in the Tavener.

I'm pathetically under-acquainted with Brouwer's music, hence his absence. I'd love to see a classical guitar thread curated by Sund4r.

I want to have a cuban landscape with rain vs electric counterpoint discussion!

Went with Nono's Prometeo

Once you get past the 70s classics, from the 80s onward film score Glass is my favorite Glass

― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 30 April 2020 bookmarkflaglink

Glass and Takemitsu's best music is left to the soundtracks imo

"I play the 1964 recording of Well-Tuned Piano a lot more often than the 1981 or 1987 these days, though the 1987 is the peak"

What did Young do to it by '87? I think I've only ever played the 60s version.

Otherwise Lonely Child and Bhakti are other notables for me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Mad props to the two Gubaidulina voters. I was worried she’d get shortchanged.

The other half:

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1980s – Part I (1980-1984)

You probably want this one:

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1980s – Part II (1985-1989)

Indeed, thank you!

Ha, I think there is a classical guitar thread or two in the archives but maybe I could do a poll one of these days. Cuban Landscape vs Electric Counterpoint is interesting - the two pieces are pretty different and the Reich is a significantly larger work but I like both a lot.

Damn, completely forgot ILM existed for while. Did a *lot* of (re-)listening, which was fab, but it still felt like a 20-way tie or something. Cool that Lutoslawski and Promoteo did well.