ihatemusic

hey all

i looking for recommendations in the field of modern classical music, more specific, compositions for string instruments with a darker edge.
think penderecki's "threnody", ekkehard ehlers' earlier stuff, svarte greiner's use of strings and opera voices on "knive", etc..

thanx

you've heard "black angels," right? that's a good one that fits into your criteria. pardon me if it's too obvious / you've heard it. some of radulescu's string quartets maybe. scelsi, for sure. ligeti's string quartets perhaps. i'm sure there's a lot more, that's just the first stuff that popped into my head.

Morton Feldman, String Quartet II (1983)

Jürg Frey, streichquartett II (1998-2000)

Phill Niblock, Five More String Quartets

Galina Ustvolskaya
Jean Barraqué
Jorge Antunes - !No se mata la Justicia!
Heinz Holliger - Violin Concerto

Luigi Nono - la lontananza nostalgica utopica futura & hay que caminar

I like the Gidon Kremer best, but there are plenty of good interpretations.

what's the popular version of 'the viola in my life'? i have the ECM version around and haven't listened yet, but I thought i'd get more feedback before i did so.

maybe this was already discussed in the feldman thread...

m

the xenakis chamber music set on montaigne is awesome, also some of the first dumitrescu releases with fernando grillo.

mudd wrote:what's the popular version of 'the viola in my life'? i have the ECM version around and haven't listened yet, but I thought i'd get more feedback before i did so.

maybe this was already discussed in the feldman thread...

m

I & II on "Routine Investigations" by Ensemble Recherche (Montagne) are awesome. as is the whole album.
http://www.amazon.com/Feldman-Frank-OHa ... 18&sr=1-2
I'm sure I saw a (reasonably priced) copy of this somewhere recently, but can't recall (maybe Easy Street in Seattle).

____
some suggestions for this thread i've been playing recently:

Klaus Lang - Der wind und das meer / The Sea of Despair, on Editions RZ
this is endurance music(!) 1hr drone but pretty dark (as the title suggests)

John Cage - The Fives (The Barton Workshop)
haunting music. very wandelweiser, although this one is on on Megadisc

and you may like to check:
Giya Kancheli - Exil (on ECM new series)
not so sure if you like this (dark, sometimes lyrical chamber ensemble + soprano), but the control in Maacha Deubner's voice must be heard to be believed. really breathtaking.

the_mission wrote:looking for recommendations in the field of modern classical music, more specific, compositions for string instruments with a darker edge

Arditti Quartet edition on Montaigne sounds about right for you. Just about anything they've done. Carter, Ferneyhough, Lachenmann especially.

I'd certainly second the Dumitrescu, Ferneyhough, and Lachenmann recommendations. (I don't suppose I need to mention Avram as most of Dumitrescu discs are split with her. Just to note that she's done some pretty impressive things with stringed instruments as well.) And add Peter Ruzicka to that list, too.

Also Kurtág. You might enjoy the ECM disc called Musik Fur Streichinstrumente.

(I have to stop there, or this could turn into a long "recommended string quartets" post.)

I basically can only second stuff here... mostly so Scelsi, Xenakis (for the latter more the stuff for larger string ensembles though), Ustvolskaya (specifically Komposition 2), Avram + Dumitrescu.
The few recorded Michael Biel works for strings maybe are relevant here as well.

jon abbey wrote:the xenakis chamber music set on montaigne is awesome

Strongly seconded. Love this.

jon abbey wrote:the xenakis chamber music set on montaigne is awesome, also some of the first dumitrescu releases with fernando grillo.

To be more precise, this is a must:

http://home.swipnet.se/sonoloco6/Editio ... n1001.html

that one, and actually 1003 is even a bit better, as I recall (it's been a while), and 1005 is the third one I used to recommend.

jon abbey wrote:the xenakis chamber music set on montaigne is awesome, also some of the first dumitrescu releases with fernando grillo.

That one and Crumb's 'Black Angels' are the two that came immediately to mind when I read the OP.

I highly recommend Mathias Spahlinger.

wow, thanx for all the suggestions. i know what i'll be doing this evening.

i had heard the 'black angels' before, a variety of feldman works & some xenakis (except not those who got mentioned in this thread).
the other composers/works are all new to me.

could anyone recommend some good recordings of neos music?

My browser (Safari) really doesn't like that Neos site. Every time I open a page it shrinks to a tiny box in the corner of the screen!

I only own one Neos disc I think, the Spahlinger piece Farben der Fruhe for seven pianos, which is OK but tough to get into and I prefer other Spahlinger pieces elsewhere. The Liebner recordings of Cage piano pieces looks interesting though, I have a lot of time for her Feldman.

Regarding the opening request for strings music with a darker edge, well I'm not really sure what a darker edge means, but I'd certainly second the two Nono pieces mentioned above by Joe and add the Fragmente:Stille string quartet as well. If Lachenmann counts as darker then the Arditti release on Kairos of his quartets is fantastic, and I'd look up a recording of his Pression piece for cello as well.