Pole dancer.
Sat, Jan 5 2013, 12:34AM
I'm a European. I like paninis, I like panna Cotta, I like piano forte, I like panna kournikova, I like panam airlines, I like the panama canal, I'm as european as you can get without having a bidet. So what about Panufnik. A Pole working in the UK is pretty run of the mill these days, but I don't want a dentist and I don't want a plumber. Anyone prepared to 'give it up' for Panufnik. Explore (ex Decca) have symphonies 5 and 6 at a very good exchange rate. But I've thrown good money at these second rate Poles before, Arvo Part has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I like taramasalata. £4.50 on Amazon, deal or no deal.
Sat, Jan 5 2013, 8:18PM
#2
RE: Pole dancer.
Hi Hugh, have you thought of moving to Devon? The farmer there would probably get on very well with you.
He seems to like sitting under bridges, so you'd have that in common as well.
P
Sun, Jan 6 2013, 1:37PM
#3
RE: Pole dancer.
Hi Hugh!
Go on youtube and listen to the Panufnik Violin Concerto at a mere twenty-two minutes. It is a beautiful piece.
Also try Sinfonia Votiva 1st movement (Symphony 8) and if it's on (I think it is) Sinfonia Sacra 1st movement (Symphony 3).
You will not be disappointed...
Mark
Sun, Jan 6 2013, 10:42PM
#4
RE: Pole dancer.
Arrh Mr Partsong, I'm glad you called. You have been banging on about 20th century Poles for as long as I can remember. Lutoslawski and Pendereki make a lot of noise but I haven't found the music yet. Arvo Part, not a Pole admitted, but near enough, is a little bit too smug and needs to base his works on more than five seconds of ideas. So I was a little bit tentative of a Pole with less of a reputation. However Mr Panufnik (admittedly only symphonies 5 and 6) has been a complete revelation. Why isn't this composer better known. I've cleared my shelves of all composers yet to hit the spot to make room for more Panufnik. Symphonies 1, 3 and 4 (emi) and symphony 9 and piano concerto (conifer rca) on order. Now sit down Mr Partsong and tell me everything you know.
Sun, Jan 6 2013, 11:29PM
#5
RE: Pole dancer.
If, dear Hugh, you are so fond of Mr.Panufnik's music, try his daugter Roxana too. You may like even her music. Perhaps, her Westminster Mass or the Spirit of the Saints or, for something more inspiring, give a shot to her "Beastly Tales".
As for the father, I trust you may get nuts with his Cello Concerto with Rostropovich, on NMC, and, if you go deeper to his music, CPO has embarked on a fascinating journey of recording every possible "masterwork" of this...Polish underdog.
Parla
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:17AM
#6
RE: Pole dancer.
I trust you may get nuts with his Cello Concerto
Parla
Not really sure what you mean there Parla, but if they are giving away nuts, count me in, I want nuts, I want nuts, I choose almonds, I want nuts.
I have noticed his 8th symphony is available on a cheap 'helios' CD, though it comes with a work by Roger Sessions. uuum, he sounds a bit wierd from what I've heard. Still, I want nuts, I want nuts...
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:28AM
#7
RE: Pole dancer.
Hugh,
Did not the shepherd leave his flock and go looking for the sheep that had strayed?
You, my friend, have been found and saved. Rejoice!
I am delighted that you have discovered Panufnik. Will be back later today....
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 8:52PM
#8
RE: Pole dancer.
Hi Hugh!
Just for you, I had a listen to the CD of symphonies 5 and 6 this afternoon. It's probably the same CD with LSO/Atherton. 5 (Symphony of Spheres) is a tremendous piece, with prominent parts for piano and drums. Both are good, but it struck me today that 5 in particular is.
I also like very much 3, 7 and 8. Symphony 1 (Rustica) is also pretty good too! You'll enjoy three with its opening fanfare for four trumpets, 7 is for organ and strings, very intense, and 8 (I have it on vinyl and it's the same one as the one you mention - well it's well worth it even if the Sessions isn't particularly to your liking - or mine).
His music is very listenable, and I take your point about both Penderecki and Lutosalwski being noisy. Penderecki is definitely noisy, both in his earlier avant-garde and his later post-Romantic works. His concertos for vioin, cello and viola are less noisy. Lutoslawski's best bets might be his earlier (1950's ) works like the brilliant Musique Funebre for strings in memory of Bartok, and the Concerto for Orchestra.
Besides the symphonies, well there are a number of short and really haunting pieces by Panufnik like Landscape, Katyn Epitaph and Autumn Music. The Tragic overture is very powerful indeed.
Then there are the concertos for violin, bassoon and piano and the sinfonia concertante - symphony 4. The violin concerto is a favourite piece -very searching and soulful, for just violin and strings. The bassoon concerto is also a goodie.
Happy listening!
Mark
PS I also have the conifer CD you mention with symphony 9 and Piano Concerto.
It's all good...
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:33PM
#9
RE: Pole dancer.
Yes, it's the same Atherton CD. Ordered it from Amazon about a week ago and it arrived saturday afternoon. Played the disc twice on saturday and twice again on Sunday. I wasn't expecting much but it's absolutely fantastic. You often here talk of what would Shostakovich have sounded like if he had carried on down the path of his 4th symphony, and in Panufnik's 5th you are reminded of the 2nd, 4th and 15th symphonies of Shostakovich at times, but the 6th is the gem. Again you can sometimes almost even hear Vaughan Williams in Panufnik, his music sounds moderm but is very accessible, in the symphonic tradition but with his own voice. I just hope the rest of his output is up to the same standard with enough variation. 1975 - 1976 has always been a cut off point, with the deaths of Shostakovich and Britten, however I might be stepping over this watershed with Panufnik.
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:44PM
#10
RE: Pole dancer.
Good stuff! Personally I think the rest is up to that standard. I'll have a listen to 9 tomorrow, which I've been saving for a while...
I'm sure you'll like 3 and 8 as I say. The only ones I don't know are 2 and 4 (4 is the Sinfonia Concertante). I don't know that CD of 1, 3 and 4 - my 1 and 3 are on Unicorn vinyl.
Gotta dash....
Mark
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:47PM
#11
RE: Pole dancer.
Don't know any Panufnik but encouraged to give it a go, especially if Hugh is venturing beyond 1976! Before you know it you'll be into Kylie Minogue. I should be so lucky.
Mon, Jan 7 2013, 10:59PM
#12
RE: Pole dancer.
CD of Symphonies 1, 3 and 4. EMI British Composers ? Panufnik conducting.
Tue, Jan 8 2013, 10:17AM
#13
RE: Pole dancer.
Hugh, don't overestimate a nice and interesting footnote of Classical Music History, that is Panufnik. He is not even the shadow of Shostakovich, albeit intriguing and, at times, even "entertaining". Even the "Poles" do not have him that high in reputation or appreciation.
Enjoy his music, if it is attractive to you, but do not get that...excited. 1975 still is the year to remember.
Parla
Tue, Jan 8 2013, 12:50PM
#14
RE: Pole dancer.
[quote=parla]
Hugh
Enjoy his music, if it is attractive to you, but do not get that...excited. 1975 still is the year to remember.
Parla
[/quote
I'm proceeding with caution. Partsong has lead me down these dark cul-de-sacs before. But you are right Parla, I think 1975 was the last year I got excited too. But apparently it is like riding a bike, which is how I remember it to be anyway.
Tue, Jan 8 2013, 5:52PM
#15
RE: Pole dancer.
OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!
Here we go again.
Parla, Panufnik is much more than a footnote to musical history. The fact that you describe his music as nice and entertaining shows how little you actually know of his deeply heartfelt, tightly disciplined and spiritual music.
:-D
'After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music'.
Aldous Huxley brainyquote.com