Hidden Gems of the XXth Century

[Sanft]

Nobody mentioned Nikita Koshkin so far! He wrote so much more than the Usher Waltz! I've played much of his music for flute and guitar (the Sonata!) and right now started to play "Pan", another "waltz" of sorts. Or "Tristan playing the Lute". Not surprisingly his music is difficult but really suits the guitar. Those who don't like music that's too "dissonant" can play his suite "The Ballads". Or that great joke for flute and guitar "Leda". Or listen to the "May Song". I particularly like "Merlin's Dream" - at last a new tremolo composition that's worth something. He wrote a collection of easier pieces called "Happy Birthday". And what about Toru Takemitsu? "In the Woods" or - if you like "easy listening" - his "Twelve Songs" for guitar.
Clemens … el niño que soñó la musica

[Sean]

Alfred Uhl, eg., Sonata Classica (approx. 1938), quite unknown, I believe

Describe this piece to me please. Is it atonal?

[av8t0r]

Duarte was a very fine composer. I recorded his English Suite No. 1 on cd for my family and a few friends.

Do you have any plans to sell the CD, or make it available online?

[Sean]

Duarte was a very fine composer. I recorded his English Suite No. 1 on cd for my family and a few friends.

Do you have any plans to sell the CD, or make it available online?

I gave a copy to oski and one to mjbindy. That both still have a sense of hearing is nothing short of miraculous!

[av8t0r]

Well, I'm curious, and would wear proper protection:).

[Sean]

Well, I'm curious, and would wear proper protection:).

PM with email and I'll see if I can round up the files.

[Jeremiah Lawson]

I thought about mentioning Koshkin but he seems to come up often enough in conversation that I decided to mention Ourkozuounov and Kruisbrink instead. Koshkin's sonata for flute and guitar is a great piece. I'm partial to Music with Clocks. Takemitsu's music for guitar (all of it) is not what I would call a "hidden" gem of 20th century repertoire! They may be gems that guitarists just avoid playing because they don't like them or are too challenging but there's not a note Takemitsu wrote for guitar I haven't liked.

[Sean]

I've got Kruisbrink's Hommage to Segovia, and it is a very interesting set of pieces!

[Jeremiah Lawson]

I've got her five dances for double bass and guitar. Bummer of bummers the woman I know who plays double bass doesn't HAVE a double bass.

[hellow326]

Tbh, I'm not a fan of the Koskin that I have heard, pieces like the Usher Waltz seem too gimmicky for me, kinda like Gary Ryans Rondo Rodeo but not quite as cheesy...
One piece that I perform quite alot is the Fantasia by Roberto Gerhard, not too widely performed, but it is an absolutely fantastic piece. It manages to fit in so much in a short, 5 minute piece. Difficult, but great piece.

[Sean]

Ah yes, that Gerhard is a great work. A bugger to find, however.

[John O]

Tbh, I'm not a fan of the Koskin that I have heard, pieces like the Usher Waltz seem too gimmicky for me,

Check out his Sonata and The Fall of Birds. Neither uses special effects or "gimmicks", and both are a fair amount harder to play than Usher Waltz.

[hellow326]

Check out his Sonata and The Fall of Birds. Neither uses special effects or "gimmicks", and both are a fair amount harder to play than Usher Waltz.

The Sonata does seem to have more substance to it than the Usher Waltz, its quite an interesting piece. Its probably a piece which I'd have to listen to more to gain more appreciation of it I think. I cant find The Fall of Birds though, probably because its a hidden gem...!

And Sean, yes the Gerhard is difficult to find, I managed to get a copy of the score from my teacher. It's out of print, only available by "special print." I contacted the publishers, Boosey & Hawkes, about getting a score for the piece and for the vocal piece in which it serves as an interlude, Siete Cantares (soprano and guitar), for a performance I did in March. The price they gave me was pretty rediculous, coming on £50 for the two pieces with delivery, what a nightmare getting hold of it!

Incidentally, Siete Cantares, a suite of 7 Spanish folk songs arranged by Gerhard, are fantastic pieces which are very rarely performed or recorded. They are a completely different style fron the Fantasia and his other works, theyre very orthodox in terms of harmony, they sound like Falla really, very accessible for any audience. I dont think the Fantasia works when performed as in interlude in Cantares, when I performed them I performed the Cantares before the interval and the Fantasia a couple of items after the interval.

[Peter Oberg]

I am constantly on the lookout for unknown gems-whether some of those I have found rise to the level of the composers you note is debatable, but I've been working on Marek Pasieczny's 'Hommage a Aleksander Tansman', and think it a really marvelous group of pieces. The Nocturne is so loaded with emotion I had a hard time getting a handle on my own. Pasieczny in his notes calls it a work of 'medium difficulty'-not for me, in fact I think it's a bit over my head but I'm not letting that stop me from playing it's five movements. The music is tough to get a hold of-I had to go straight to the composer. If you can figure out how to order through Euterpe's website (Poland) you're a better man than I!
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[John O]

The Sonata does seem to have more substance to it than the Usher Waltz, its quite an interesting piece. Its probably a piece which I'd have to listen to more to gain more appreciation of it I think. I cant find The Fall of Birds though, probably because its a hidden gem...!

It's published with The Prince's Toys Suite. Koshkin uses a neo-baroque style--the first movement is a "quasi-passcaglia" (his term!) and the second is a toccata.