Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post Reply
User avatar
UncleJenny
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:52 pm

Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by UncleJenny »

As I am trying to expand my musical horizon during my self isolation, I stumbled upon this old thread in the TTF Archives and thought to bump it up:
https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php? ... 380&p=4738

So, any new suggestions? I'm especially interested in works by BIPOC and female composers, who got neglected for too long in the classical music scene. This includes also contemorary music.

So far I've discovered composers like

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Florence B. Price
George Walker
William Grant Still
Julia Perry
Amy Beach
Ethel Smyth
Judith Weir

I'd also like to add David Maslanka with his 1st and 6th symphony.
(I know, he is well known in the concert band world)

Please read the old thread before posting to avoid double postings.
________________
2003 Shires bass
2020 Throja bass
Dennis
Posts: 196
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:23 pm
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by Dennis »

I know you asked for orchestral works, specifically, but Ruth Crawford Seeger (stepmother of Pete and mother of Peggy) was a composer who (in my opinion) wrote far too little and not nearly enough for orchestra. Her *String Quartet (1931)* is a marvelous piece of music. The 1952 Wind Quintet is worth seeking out, too.

Her principal influences seem to be Eliot Carter, the second Vienna School, and Scriabin. It's definitely 20th Century music, but it is approachable 20th Century music.
User avatar
Burgerbob
Posts: 4526
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:10 pm
Location: LA
Contact:

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by Burgerbob »

I'm in a listening club and we listened to all of William Grant Still's symphonies. Interesting stuff.
Aidan Ritchie, LA area player and teacher
ronnies
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 4:22 am
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by ronnies »

I've played the first movement of an Amy Beach Symphony. I enjoyed it and it had one or two small 'bass trombone moments'. :-)

Ronnie
Shires Tru-Bore (Bb/F/Gb/D)
Bach Stradivarius 42 (unlacquered bell)
Excel Bb/F/Gb/D (Chinese made Yamaha YBL-613G clone)
User avatar
Finetales
Posts: 858
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 12:31 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by Finetales »

There's a YouTube channel called "Cmaj7" that posts a ton of lesser-known orchestral works. Really a great resource if you're looking for new composers (and lesser-known pieces by well-known composers) to listen to.

I spend quite a bit of time searching out lesser-known symphonies and other works and keep my thoughts on them in a Word document. Some highlights from the past few years:

- Amy Beach Symphony in E minor
- Mieczyslaw Karlowicz Symphony in E minor Op. 7 "Rebirth" (sounds like Tchaik 7)
- Giovanni Sgambati Symphony No. 1
- Glazunov Symphony No. 1 (some nice Russian bass trombone writing)
- Charles Villiers Stanford Symphony No. 3 Op. 28 "The Irish"
- Rued Langgaard "Music of the Spheres" (I found it pretty compelling in a way that most avant-garde orchestral music doesn't seem to be...and the horn parts have some insane low notes)
- Rued Langgaard Symphony No. 6 BVN 165 "Heaven-Rending"
- Rued Langgaard Symphony No. 10 BVN 298 "Yon Hall of Thunder"
- Khachaturian Symphonies No. 2 and 3 (incredible pieces...I'm also convinced John Williams borrowed quite a lot from the 3rd)
- Edmund Rubbra Symphony No. 11 Op. 153
- Paul Gilson "La Mer" (lovely piece, that deserves to be as well known as the Debussy...and has a lot more for the trombones to do!)
- Dvorak "The Water Goblin" Op. 107
- Every single Holst orchestral work that's not the Planets

There's a lot of great pieces mentioned in the original thread as well, for those who haven't seen it. Gliere 1, Dvorak Requiem, Dvorak 1-7, Elgar symphonies, etc.
AndrewMeronek
Posts: 972
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 6:09 pm
Location: Detroit area
Contact:

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by AndrewMeronek »

The biggest problem with finding female composers is that until very recently, they simply didn't get the gigs. It's tragic; the simplicity of being under pressure to deliver for a career really can make a difference, no matter how talented someone is.

Two of my favorite "lesser known" composers from the last year or two (at least, new music for me) are Howard Hanson and Erich Korngold. Each has at least one very iconic piece: Hanson's Symphony No. 2 and Korngold's violin concerto - besides Korngold's obvious contributions to film music, of course.
“All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians.”

- Thelonious Monk
User avatar
WilliamLang
Posts: 406
Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2019 6:12 pm

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by WilliamLang »

It's a chamber piece but still just discovered this work last night that's really nice

TJ Anderson: Variations on a Theme by MB Tolson


Anything by Galina Utsvolskaya is worth listening to, in my opinion, even her smaller chamber pieces sound like symphonic works

Also a new to me piece was Gliere Symphony 3 (dead white guy but the piece is still cool)
William Lang
Interim Instructor, the University of Oklahoma
Stephens Horns Artist
Long Island Brass Artist
faculty, the Longy School of Music
founding member of loadbang
www.williamlang.org
User avatar
robcat2075
Posts: 1338
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:58 pm

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by robcat2075 »

I often think that orchestras could stop commissioning rotten new music if they were to just mine the mountains of neglected Classical and Romantic era music that are out there.


There's lots of forgotten music by famous composers, even.

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a lot of great stuff that is rarely heard outside of Russia today.

Like wise for the other Russians whose names were not Tchaikovsky.

There were wonderful Soviet composers besides Shostakovich. They were writing great Romantic-style music into the 50s and 60s even but only the occasional ballet theme has made it into the Western conciousness.


One of my favorite forgotten composers is William Herschel. His primary claim to fame is being the first person to discover a new planet since the Stone Age. But before he was an astronomer he was an oboist and composer.

He's not very good but how many musicians do you know who could grind their own telescope mirror?

>>Robert Holmén<<

Hear me as I play my horn

See my Spacepod movie
User avatar
robcat2075
Posts: 1338
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:58 pm

Re: Lesser known orchestral works, part 2

Post by robcat2075 »

From the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica bio of composer and astronomer William Herschel...

Herschel.jpg

I'm picturing his sister sitting on a stool and tossing a peanut into his mouth every time he passed by.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
>>Robert Holmén<<

Hear me as I play my horn

See my Spacepod movie
Post Reply

Return to “Performance”