|
Post by Dave Dexter on Aug 6, 2019 14:09:49 GMT
An elegy for Thomas Tallis by William Byrd. Posting because last time I looked, I could only find instrumental or choral solo arrangements.
"Tallis is dead, and music dies." A fair point.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Hewer on Sept 5, 2019 7:12:21 GMT
God, that is beautiful Dave. It makes the Romantic excess seem quite vulgar at times to me. Such purity and deceptively simple music - the power of contrapuntal writing. Check out some Gesualdo if you want to listen to a radical from that period in music.
|
|
|
Post by driscollmusick on Sept 5, 2019 16:58:44 GMT
Dave, do you know Pfitzner's 1917 opera, Palestrina? It's about how Palestrina saved contrapuntal music in the 16th century.
I've never seen a live performance, but grew enamoured of the score a couple years ago... It is heavily influenced by the music of that period (though in a more modern way)
Here's some of the best music
|
|
|
Post by Dave Dexter on Sept 5, 2019 18:29:02 GMT
I found some new (to me) works from that period when trying to convince myself I wasn't going crazy with my own writing, and I love both the florid and more simple - but still really hard to write - styles. As you probably know there's a whole period where Tallis started working more or less homophonically thanks to strictures to create simpler and more understandable settings, and it's still glorious. Gesualdo didn't come up but I'll check him out, I'm sure we've discussed him before. Did a bit of murdering? That Gesualdo?
I also discovered that if you import Tallis or Byrd as poor quality midi, they don't sound good. I don't sound good in the same midi. Vindication.
John - I'd never heard of either Pfitzner or that opera, but that's lovely writing, thanks for linking! I listened to a fair bit of Palestrina but, great as he was, those pieces don't seem to remain with me.
|
|
|
Post by Dave Dexter on Sept 6, 2019 13:21:24 GMT
How about this guy: Pérotin! Never heard of him until today. 12th century french composer who was apparently the first to really develop polyphony with three and four voices. Admittedly one of the voices often seems to be a droning root note, but it's infectious and great nonetheless. I wish I knew if people imagined music the same back then; was this slow development in polyphony and complexity that we take for granted now something that people heard internally but couldn't express for centuries, or did our brains evolve, or was it stringent rules attached to composing by the church, or . . ? fascinating to consider. Makes you wonder how these composers felt when they created something that wasn't only good, but genuinely new in concept.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Hewer on Sept 7, 2019 9:49:24 GMT
Dave, do you know Pfitzner's 1917 opera, Palestrina? It's about how Palestrina saved contrapuntal music in the 16th century. I've never seen a live performance, but grew enamoured of the score a couple years ago... It is heavily influenced by the music of that period (though in a more modern way) Here's some of the best music How beautiful is that? I'd forgotten this and am now going to get acquainted again with it. Thanks John.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Hewer on Sept 7, 2019 9:59:23 GMT
How about this guy: Pérotin! Never heard of him until today. 12th century french composer who was apparently the first to really develop polyphony with three and four voices. Admittedly one of the voices often seems to be a droning root note, but it's infectious and great nonetheless. I wish I knew if people imagined music the same back then; was this slow development in polyphony and complexity that we take for granted now something that people heard internally but couldn't express for centuries, or did our brains evolve, or was it stringent rules attached to composing by the church, or . . ? fascinating to consider. Makes you wonder how these composers felt when they created something that wasn't only good, but genuinely new in concept. I like that a lot, typical modal/contrapuntal writing. The church had a stranglehold on music at that time. Tuning too was not equal temperament. My history is far too hazy to elucidate anymore, but I'm sure glad that last syllable began with an 'r'.....
|
|