Listening Project

Re: Vermaelen's Fifth...I mean Vertonghen's Fifth...sorry Vermeulen's Fifth (well it is Saturday afternoon guys).

Hmm...I'd say musically interesting but it doesn't float my boat the way Koppel's Third does. The technique of forever unfolding and varying melody, while it gives you a real focus, tires after a while. His idea of two consecutive statements of a melody where the 2nd varies the first is good in places - e.g. the first few minutes of the adagio. Now that was worth hearing - the passing from one woodwind to another in greatly extended lines for each instrument.

But the 2nd movement like the first is too long imo. That 2nd movement would have been great at about 8 minutes not fifteen. In fact all three movements are about a quarter hour long each.

As an example of free atonality and free melodic development, musically interesting alright but overblown. Restless and forward moving propulsion, and therefore a sameness of mood in each movement, which leaves me thinking uh...where's the first, second, third subjects/contrasting sections/re-caps etc...? (which I understand is exactly what he was trying not to do!)

I can see I share some views on this work with Chris and Graham, looking back at the comments above.

I'm still behind with my homework assignments. I'll catch-up!

This is exactly the kind of thread that we should be having. We are a listening community, especially on topics like this one.

Mark

My God, a Dutch composer, that's terrible!

CW, if you take some time to read my previous posts, you may get why and what I meant by mentioning "Vermeulen is just a Dutch composer" (there has been some exchanges with me and the initiator of the thread).

Tagalie, I kept it in one sentence.

Parla

Well, going back to Koppel's third I'll just repeat what I said at the start: the one-movement structure does suffer a little from a lack of seamless transitions between sections (Sib7 it is not) but that I think the sheer power of the work more than compensates for that. Besides, there is something quite visceral about a sudden change in tempo or mood, primitive though it may be.

I'll also repeat that if those taken by the symphony want to explore further, then symphonies 4 (1946) and 5 (1955) are three movement pieces in a similar vein; No.6 (1957) is a much more compact and cogent piece of 15 minutes duration; while No.7 (1961) is a bit tougher but also excellent. I would also recommend his superb Piano Quintet (1953) which is on a similar level to the Shostakovich. Did anyone ever write a bad piano quintet? :)

I only have half a dozen or so Schnittke CDs but what I have I generally like. The third is another interesting symphony (but the others I have heard did not quite grab me), his concerti grossi are good fun and his viola concerto is (like Symphony 5) pretty close to a masterpiece. His two cello concertos strike me as being a bit too self-consciously gloomy. Allen Petersen fans should enjoy them! There's also a pretty over-the-top Faust cantata and enjoyable pastiches such as (K)ein Sommernachtstraum.

Now need to programme the SQ4....