The tone poems are big, grand, amazing, and blow your socks off. The 4 last songs blow yout socks off by bring you into his world and touches touches our soul....so GREAT pick👍
my favorite work of richard strauss is the alpensinfonie....symphony which propels us to high altitude it must be said.magnificent work, full of contrast, which smells good, with a full and colorful orchestration....my two versions. ...? andré prévin with philadelphia....and karajan and the berlin philharmonic
same, there's not a dull minute on it for me, the 3 or 4 climaxes of the piece are just unbeatable. if i had it on vinyl i would have worn the disk mirror smooth by now
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. It's an opera, a farce, and a film noir, all within the span of 15 minutes. Richard Strauss was - along with Wagner - the composer who spawned 100 Hollywood composers. All the heavy hitters - Steiner, Waxman, Herrmann, Rozsa, Newman, E. Bernstein, Goldsmith, Williams - stood upon Strauss's giant shoulders.
For me it has to be an opera and so it has to be Ariadne auf Naxos. It has all the soaring lyricism of the Four Last Songs, all the transparency of orchestration, the aching beauty, but there's also the leavening of comedy, that miraculous way Strauss brings together an array of oppositions, the high and low of life, idealism and realism, music and speech, the tragic and comic--all the complicated, messy, beauty of life gets fitted into the opera, all interwoven and mingled to exhilarating effect. NYT critic Zachary Wolfe put it memorably when he wrote that "it is a piece, just as opera is a genre, about polarities brought into vibrating equilibrium by being made to inhabit the same space . . . No other work so well captures how opera, at its best, is both of the world and a rapturous heightening of it. Time and again, Strauss almost off-handedly swirls his orchestra into another sphere, conjuring, out of the clatter and babble, a sudden shockingly full rush of feeling that tingles the skin." Exactly.
I have to go with opera as well. Ariadne is a beautiful choice, even though I'd pick Rosenkavalier just for the sake of the more Viennese sujet and the melancholic comedy feeling that to me is the essence of Strauss. But alas, that exercise is much to painful for me, no matter what the composer! I would be inconsolable if there was no Salome, no Elektra, no Bourgeouise gentilhomme and so on and so forth...!
As much as I love the 4LL, my gut choice was Salome. I have seen the same amounts of Salomes as 4LL and the Salome’s always came off better. Those long high floating notes in 4LL, like “und die Seele unbewacht”. And Salome gives a whole Opera company a chance to perform - even clapped out old mezzo’s and tenors. And you even get a small tone poem in the middle! And dancing, and sex, and an execution! Not to mention work for all the Regieteater people! And the opportunity for singing actresses to sing their lungs out!
It's difficult to pick among Strauss's fantastic works. I'd give "Salome" tenth place, and the Four Last would get ninth place. The first eight would all be "Elektra", "Elektra", etc. It leaves me worn out every time I hear it or see it. If not ruined by a stage director, it leaves you thinking at the end. The final scene from "Daphne" mesmerizes, too.
One work for Poulenc: The piano concerto. Thanks to you Dave for making me pay real attention to Poulenc. In the last two years I’ve listened to much of his stuff on repeat. I think the piano concerto is very representative - the mood swings and genre switches and a beautiful stream of elegant melodies.
For me, it'd be "Dialogue of the Carmelites." The extended sonorities, his expertise on writing for the voice in full display, and the orchestration is colorful. Plus, scene 2 from Act 2 and that ending are incredible!
I'll be a total contrarian here. I wouldn't willingly give up the bigger, serious works like Dialogues, the Organ Concerto, or any of the orchestral cantatas, Stabat Mater, Gloria, and Sept Repons. Nor would I give up the various works for solo or duo pianists, especially the nutty two-piano concerto. BUT it makes sense to me that the one work that combines Poulenc's knack for chamber music, Dada, and his engaging vocal lines: Le Bal Masqué.
With a lot of wonderful music in various veins and moods of happy, sad, angry, triumphant and reflective, this is a decidedly tough choice. However, if I could have only one, it would be Till Eulenspiegel. A big orchestra playing a fun and challenging piece of delightful, episodic ear candy. Quintessential happy Richard Strauss.
You are right about Die Frau ohne Schatten and Der Rosenkavalier. I love both (AND Arabella, which you hate) quite a lot. I would not choose any Lieder over them. Long live Schatten!
Frau ohne Schatten is a persuasive choice but if the idea is a choice that represents the most characteristic expression of a composer's genius, its got to be Elektra, that vocal tone poem where the greatness of Strauss as a writer of Tondichtungen and the writer of opera, drama and character, most gloriously collides in one work. The Four Last Songs are a gorgeous final flowering of his genius--and probably the last music of his I'd love to hear--but an afterglow, a flaring but dying ember, nonetheless.
I'm not a great fan of Strauss in general, but I find the Four Last Songs wonderful, striking and touching, so I fully agree. Also Sprach Zarathustra always seems to me to struggle to live up to its opening minute - like Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, but more so.
I must be the only person who loves the other sections of Also Sprach Zarathustra! I find the opening somewhat over emphasised when there’s lushness afterwards and other powerfully dramatic moments.
@@danielhornby5581 I agree. The opening was used in a famous film back in the day and became over-familiar. The name of the cinematographic work in question escapes me.
@@danielhornby5581 same!! I am amazed 99% of the population never bothered to listen to the rest of the astounding masterpiece. Just the first 2 minutes in car commercials and worse.
I agree with your choice. I think it is fitting to choose Four Last Songs since in a way they are the anti-Strauss. Grandiose in their deep emotion and beauty, and totally lacking the grandiose gestures that characterize so much of Strauss’s typical masterpieces.
"Alpensinfonie" for me. But it has to have really good horns, and a conductor who doesn't rush the summit moments. The climax of the 'storm' needs to be strong as well. I find it interesting that starts and ends in minor.
Yes, you cannot disagree with that, and it's one of the most beautiful, affecting and effective pieces of all time. If I were looking for a big lump of orchestral Strauss to fill those dull desert island days it'd have to be the Alpine Symphony (or ASZ, or Tod und, or Ein Heldenleben, dammit there's too much!). And as for an opera....well i just don't where to start! Der Rosenkavalier, I guess.
This is the one I would have chosen if I had made a recommendation for Strauss. Somehow I forgot about Strauss, and it may be because I am ambivalent about the composer and his music. However, when it comes to the Four Last Songs (as well as Rosenkavalier and a few of the tone poems), I am a Straussian all the way. Schwarzkopf'r classic recording with Szell helped me, more than any other recording, to love Strauss--selectively. Two more recommendations. Verdi: Requiem (his greatest opera). Puccini: Tosca (a melodrama that has everything one wants in a melodrama.
Alban Berg - Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments (1925) I can see this as being a contest between Berg's beloved violin concerto and one of his ground-breaking opera, e.g., Wozzeck or Lulu. So I propose my favorite work by Berg, the Chamber Concerto, as a possible compromise. While it more faithfully adheres to Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, Pierre Boulez called it "Berg's strictest composition", than some of his other works, it is still more emotionally expressive than a lot of Schoenberg's formal twelve-tone compositions. To me, the Chamber Concerto sounds like lunatic asylum music and I love it!
I’m predicting Dave will go with Wozzeck rather the Violin Concerto even though his Four Last songs pick over one of Strauss’ operas surprised me a bit.
I wonder if Boulez meant “Berg’s Strictest Composition” as a compliment? Somehow that statement, if he meant that as giving the Chamber Concerto his approval over other compositions, displays a serious lack of imagination on his part.
@@michaelsimpson6958 Berg dedicated the Chamber Concerto to his mentor and teacher Arnold Schoenberg at a time, early to mid 1920s, when Schoenberg was busy working out and perfecting his 12-tone serial technique. So, the Chamber Concerto is considered to be a more strictly 12-tone composition than obviously his earlier works or his later compositions like the Violin Concerto when he had developed a more personal approach to composing that incorporated elements of tonality and romanticism in with the 12-tone technique. So in composing the Chamber Concerto, Berg was just trying to impress upon his teacher Schoenberg his mastery of the 12-tone technique. Hence Boulez was simply stating a fact and was not really indicating a preference one way or the other. I like the Violin Concerto but I also like the weirder Chamber Concerto which unfortunately doesn't get as much love from the public.
Would be my choice too. It sums up his whole long career in a perfect way. And I could be mistaken but they feel like the work of an 'old master', there's just an incredible level of expressiveness and balance in them.
Since as a newbie I have learned I do not care for classical vocal pieces, I will not pick one. After doing a deep dive on the composer I have decided to yet again go with an album. Richard Strauss: Also sprach zarathustra..... - Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker - 4 works - 78 min - A. S. Z (34 min) - Til Eulenspigel... (16 min) - Don Juan (18 min) - Salome's Dance of the seven veils (10 min).
for poulenc, id go with figure humaine. it displays his harmonicization at the height of his powers, and the 8 movements portray his love and knowledge about france and french culture accurately with all his wittiness, sensuousness, postromanticism and snarkiness in full force. of course it culminates in libertè, argued and championed by most as his magnum opus, or at least for his choral works. id make a claim that this entire set as a whole could be his chosen work too.
As much as I love the orchestral tone poems, I must agree here. The Four Last Songs are quite simply, sublime. And, we just happen to be playing them in our next concer(Columbia Orchestra, MD). So many great recordings from which to choose, but if I had to settle on only one, it would be Gundula Janowitz.
Very good choice. The only thing that the Four Last Songs misses that is Uber-Strauss is the waltz. And to that end I’d consider Salome. The twisted Waltz in the seven veils dance adds to the rich texture/soprano voice list you quote here. Today’s choice: Britten The Turn of the Screw.
Four last songs would be my choice as well, but with the following caveat: Strauss didn’t indicate that they were a cycle, though he did want Flagstad to premiere them together. They were published together posthumously, so we are getting a publisher’s conception of a song cycle, not Strauss’s.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I'm sure you know the backstory of these, where his son thought his aging father was brooding too much and suggested that he write some songs to get his creative juices flowing again. I can visualize the tall white haired old Strauss sitting at his desk, jotting these down as the feelings of a closing lifetime sought expression. If that story is true, his son has my sincere thanks for motivating his dad to write these brief masterworks.
I have no quibbles about this, just an observation, when, at the end of WWII when American GIs pulled up to the gates of his house he came down to say "I am Richard Strauss, the composer of Rosenkavalier."
I have sugestion for “If I could choose only one work by BERLIOZ” The Amazing SYMPHONIE FUNÈBRE ET TRIOMPHALE (I hope I wote it right) I think that this is the right choice for Berlioz because it has amazing music for winds strings and choir, it has crazyness (something that we look for in Berlioz) and it is superbly beautiful and powerful Thank you for another amazing video Dave!
Ah nuts, I missed this one as I chose Die Frau ohne Schatten. I think there’s a good case for the Four Last Songs, but if we were going to go the orchestral songs route I may have favored the Three Hymns. I prefer these as they better represent his wild orchestrations reminiscent of his tone poems and operas versus the more restrained (although just as exquisite) Four Last songs. Of course, the problem with the Three Hymns is that nobody plays them and nobody knows them. So their lack of popularity make them a poor candidate to propose to the almighty Cancrizans.
Sincerely I could Live without symphonic poems in general and I am not a opera listenner. The Last four songs is the only work I woul save of Strauss if I should have to save 1000 works of classical Music. Sorry Strauss...easy choice
no contest -- perhaps I'm not surprised there's so much agreement here. Couple of interesting other things I like from your list, particularly Shosty 4 and Brahms 2nd sextet.
The tone poems are big, grand, amazing, and blow your socks off.
The 4 last songs blow yout socks off by bring you into his world and touches touches our soul....so GREAT pick👍
Dave, great choice! Jessye Norman and Kurt Masur with the Gewandhaus Orchestra is sumptuous beautiful.
I completely agree with everything you said about Strauss & the 4 Last Songs. Thank you.
I agree about Vier letzte Lieder. Amongst it's orchestra repertoire, it would choose Metamorphosen, absolutely gorgeous.
my favorite work of richard strauss is the alpensinfonie....symphony which propels us to high altitude it must be said.magnificent work, full of contrast, which smells good, with a full and colorful orchestration....my two versions. ...? andré prévin with philadelphia....and karajan and the berlin philharmonic
Previn and Philadelphia? There is Previn and Vienna, not sure about Philly. My favorite is Blomstedt and San Francisco.
same, there's not a dull minute on it for me, the 3 or 4 climaxes of the piece are just unbeatable. if i had it on vinyl i would have worn the disk mirror smooth by now
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. It's an opera, a farce, and a film noir, all within the span of 15 minutes. Richard Strauss was - along with Wagner - the composer who spawned 100 Hollywood composers. All the heavy hitters - Steiner, Waxman, Herrmann, Rozsa, Newman, E. Bernstein, Goldsmith, Williams - stood upon Strauss's giant shoulders.
For me it has to be an opera and so it has to be Ariadne auf Naxos. It has all the soaring lyricism of the Four Last Songs, all the transparency of orchestration, the aching beauty, but there's also the leavening of comedy, that miraculous way Strauss brings together an array of oppositions, the high and low of life, idealism and realism, music and speech, the tragic and comic--all the complicated, messy, beauty of life gets fitted into the opera, all interwoven and mingled to exhilarating effect. NYT critic Zachary Wolfe put it memorably when he wrote that "it is a piece, just as opera is a genre, about polarities brought into vibrating equilibrium by being made to inhabit the same space . . . No other work so well captures how opera, at its best, is both of the world and a rapturous heightening of it. Time and again, Strauss almost off-handedly swirls his orchestra into another sphere, conjuring, out of the clatter and babble, a sudden shockingly full rush of feeling that tingles the skin." Exactly.
You make a very strong case!
I have to go with opera as well. Ariadne is a beautiful choice, even though I'd pick Rosenkavalier just for the sake of the more Viennese sujet and the melancholic comedy feeling that to me is the essence of Strauss.
But alas, that exercise is much to painful for me, no matter what the composer! I would be inconsolable if there was no Salome, no Elektra, no Bourgeouise gentilhomme and so on and so forth...!
At Sunset is my favorite of the Four Last Songs. Metamorphosen is my favorite Strauss piece.
I agree that "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" is mighty tempting....but you managed to resist. LR
For me it would be the alpine symphony. Awesome piece
As much as I love the 4LL, my gut choice was Salome. I have seen the same amounts of Salomes as 4LL and the Salome’s always came off better. Those long high floating notes in 4LL, like “und die Seele unbewacht”. And Salome gives a whole Opera company a chance to perform - even clapped out old mezzo’s and tenors. And you even get a small tone poem in the middle! And dancing, and sex, and an execution! Not to mention work for all the Regieteater people! And the opportunity for singing actresses to sing their lungs out!
It's difficult to pick among Strauss's fantastic works. I'd give "Salome" tenth place, and the Four Last would get ninth place. The first eight would all be "Elektra", "Elektra", etc. It leaves me worn out every time I hear it or see it. If not ruined by a stage director, it leaves you thinking at the end. The final scene from "Daphne" mesmerizes, too.
One work for Poulenc: The piano concerto. Thanks to you Dave for making me pay real attention to Poulenc. In the last two years I’ve listened to much of his stuff on repeat. I think the piano concerto is very representative - the mood swings and genre switches and a beautiful stream of elegant melodies.
For me, it'd be "Dialogue of the Carmelites." The extended sonorities, his expertise on writing for the voice in full display, and the orchestration is colorful. Plus, scene 2 from Act 2 and that ending are incredible!
Mine’s the violin sonata, but I’m a violinist.
mass in g, for me- tricky between that and figure humaine. his a cappella choral music was his pinnacle, in my opinion.
I'll be a total contrarian here. I wouldn't willingly give up the bigger, serious works like Dialogues, the Organ Concerto, or any of the orchestral cantatas, Stabat Mater, Gloria, and Sept Repons. Nor would I give up the various works for solo or duo pianists, especially the nutty two-piano concerto. BUT it makes sense to me that the one work that combines Poulenc's knack for chamber music, Dada, and his engaging vocal lines: Le Bal Masqué.
@@briandestefano3104 I hear you!
Yes! The perfect choice with so many great versions.
Great choice. It was a favourite of my mother's (as well as mine) and I played the third song at her funeral.
With a lot of wonderful music in various veins and moods of happy, sad, angry, triumphant and reflective, this is a decidedly tough choice. However, if I could have only one, it would be Till Eulenspiegel. A big orchestra playing a fun and challenging piece of delightful, episodic ear candy. Quintessential happy Richard Strauss.
I agree with DFOS -- That's my pick. It blew me away when I first heard it.
You're my go-to classical music mentor!
You are right about Die Frau ohne Schatten and Der Rosenkavalier. I love both (AND Arabella, which you hate) quite a lot. I would not choose any Lieder over them. Long live Schatten!
Hate is such a strong word! I don't hate Arabella. It bores me, and the plot is distasteful.
Frau ohne Schatten is a persuasive choice but if the idea is a choice that represents the most characteristic expression of a composer's genius, its got to be Elektra, that vocal tone poem where the greatness of Strauss as a writer of Tondichtungen and the writer of opera, drama and character, most gloriously collides in one work. The Four Last Songs are a gorgeous final flowering of his genius--and probably the last music of his I'd love to hear--but an afterglow, a flaring but dying ember, nonetheless.
Um, sure.
Great choice. Sometimes peer pressure is best given into.
I'm not a great fan of Strauss in general, but I find the Four Last Songs wonderful, striking and touching, so I fully agree. Also Sprach Zarathustra always seems to me to struggle to live up to its opening minute - like Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, but more so.
I must be the only person who loves the other sections of Also Sprach Zarathustra! I find the opening somewhat over emphasised when there’s lushness afterwards and other powerfully dramatic moments.
@@danielhornby5581 I agree. The opening was used in a famous film back in the day and became over-familiar. The name of the cinematographic work in question escapes me.
@@danielhornby5581 same!! I am amazed 99% of the population never bothered to listen to the rest of the astounding masterpiece. Just the first 2 minutes in car commercials and worse.
I agree with your choice. I think it is fitting to choose Four Last Songs since in a way they are the anti-Strauss. Grandiose in their deep emotion and beauty, and totally lacking the grandiose gestures that characterize so much of Strauss’s typical masterpieces.
"Alpensinfonie" for me. But it has to have really good horns, and a conductor who doesn't rush the summit moments. The climax of the 'storm' needs to be strong as well. I find it interesting that starts and ends in minor.
My favourite versions are the ones with Lucia popp and Jessie norman
My favourite recording of the „Vier letzte Lieder“ is Soile Isokoski‘s.
Yes, you cannot disagree with that, and it's one of the most beautiful, affecting and effective pieces of all time. If I were looking for a big lump of orchestral Strauss to fill those dull desert island days it'd have to be the Alpine Symphony (or ASZ, or Tod und, or Ein Heldenleben, dammit there's too much!). And as for an opera....well i just don't where to start! Der Rosenkavalier, I guess.
This is the one I would have chosen if I had made a recommendation for Strauss. Somehow I forgot about Strauss, and it may be because I am ambivalent about the composer and his music. However, when it comes to the Four Last Songs (as well as Rosenkavalier and a few of the tone poems), I am a Straussian all the way. Schwarzkopf'r classic recording with Szell helped me, more than any other recording, to love Strauss--selectively. Two more recommendations. Verdi: Requiem (his greatest opera). Puccini: Tosca (a melodrama that has everything one wants in a melodrama.
I would choose Also sprach Zarathustra, because I love Richard Strauss' music and the book by Nietzsche!
Alban Berg - Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments (1925)
I can see this as being a contest between Berg's beloved violin concerto and one of his ground-breaking opera, e.g., Wozzeck or Lulu. So I propose my favorite work by Berg, the Chamber Concerto, as a possible compromise. While it more faithfully adheres to Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, Pierre Boulez called it "Berg's strictest composition", than some of his other works, it is still more emotionally expressive than a lot of Schoenberg's formal twelve-tone compositions. To me, the Chamber Concerto sounds like lunatic asylum music and I love it!
I'll stay with Wozzeck
I’m predicting Dave will go with Wozzeck rather the Violin Concerto even though his Four Last songs pick over one of Strauss’ operas surprised me a bit.
I wonder if Boulez meant “Berg’s Strictest Composition” as a compliment? Somehow that statement, if he meant that as giving the Chamber Concerto his approval over other compositions, displays a serious lack of imagination on his part.
@@michaelsimpson6958 Berg dedicated the Chamber Concerto to his mentor and teacher Arnold Schoenberg at a time, early to mid 1920s, when Schoenberg was busy working out and perfecting his 12-tone serial technique. So, the Chamber Concerto is considered to be a more strictly 12-tone composition than obviously his earlier works or his later compositions like the Violin Concerto when he had developed a more personal approach to composing that incorporated elements of tonality and romanticism in with the 12-tone technique. So in composing the Chamber Concerto, Berg was just trying to impress upon his teacher Schoenberg his mastery of the 12-tone technique. Hence Boulez was simply stating a fact and was not really indicating a preference one way or the other.
I like the Violin Concerto but I also like the weirder Chamber Concerto which unfortunately doesn't get as much love from the public.
Would be my choice too. It sums up his whole long career in a perfect way. And I could be mistaken but they feel like the work of an 'old master', there's just an incredible level of expressiveness and balance in them.
Since as a newbie I have learned I do not care for classical vocal pieces, I will not pick one. After doing a deep dive on the composer I have decided to yet again go with an album. Richard Strauss: Also sprach zarathustra..... - Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker - 4 works - 78 min - A. S. Z (34 min) - Til Eulenspigel... (16 min) - Don Juan (18 min) - Salome's Dance of the seven veils (10 min).
Heldenleben probably, Beecham stereo recording. But how could I leave the 4 last songs behind?
Right ON ! -- I had it RIGHT !!!
for poulenc, id go with figure humaine. it displays his harmonicization at the height of his powers, and the 8 movements portray his love and knowledge about france and french culture accurately with all his wittiness, sensuousness, postromanticism and snarkiness in full force. of course it culminates in libertè, argued and championed by most as his magnum opus, or at least for his choral works. id make a claim that this entire set as a whole could be his chosen work too.
As much as I love the orchestral tone poems, I must agree here. The Four Last Songs are quite simply, sublime. And, we just happen to be playing them in our next concer(Columbia Orchestra, MD). So many great recordings from which to choose, but if I had to settle on only one, it would be Gundula Janowitz.
I adore the 4 last songs. Janowitz & HVK and Schwartzkopf & Szell are my personal favourites. Though Janet Baker is wonderful too
Janet Baker was a mezzo and, to the best of my knowledge, never performed them.
@@henrygingercat You’re absolutely right. I was thinking of her recording ofMahler’s 5 Ruckerr Lieder with Barbirolli!
Very good choice.
The only thing that the Four Last Songs misses that is Uber-Strauss is the waltz. And to that end I’d consider Salome. The twisted Waltz in the seven veils dance adds to the rich texture/soprano voice list you quote here.
Today’s choice: Britten The Turn of the Screw.
Turn of the Screw would be my choice for Britten if it weren't for the War Requiem.
Completely understand your choice, but for me it would be Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
I’d go for Till Eulenspiegle’s. It is his most round piece.
Eager for Prokofiev.
What is the "kankruzan" he keeps mentioning (the one who destroys all music except for 1 work per composer)?
Watch the first video in the series (Ravel).
I have managed using iTuens to whittle Die Frau… down to 42mins of excerpts. It really drags in the middle. Am I a philistine?
No. Lots of Strauss drags in the middle (and at the end).
@@DavesClassicalGuide Cheers, Dave. I love Thielemann’s recent recording on Orfeo!
Four last songs would be my choice as well, but with the following caveat: Strauss didn’t indicate that they were a cycle, though he did want Flagstad to premiere them together. They were published together posthumously, so we are getting a publisher’s conception of a song cycle, not Strauss’s.
That really doesn't matter in this case. Cancrizans said one work or album.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Haha!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I'm sure you know the backstory of these, where his son thought his aging father was brooding too much and suggested that he write some songs to get his creative juices flowing again. I can visualize the tall white haired old Strauss sitting at his desk, jotting these down as the feelings of a closing lifetime sought expression. If that story is true, his son has my sincere thanks for motivating his dad to write these brief masterworks.
I have no quibbles about this, just an observation, when, at the end of WWII when American GIs pulled up to the gates of his house he came down to say "I am Richard Strauss, the composer of Rosenkavalier."
Die Frau ohne Schatten for me. Bad taste is underrated.
I have sugestion for “If I could choose only one work by BERLIOZ”
The Amazing SYMPHONIE FUNÈBRE ET TRIOMPHALE (I hope I wote it right)
I think that this is the right choice for Berlioz because it has amazing music for winds strings and choir, it has crazyness (something that we look for in Berlioz) and it is superbly beautiful and powerful
Thank you for another amazing video Dave!
I think Dave choses Symphonie fantastique
He did. I chose Harold in Italy, but no one seems to get as excited about that piece as I do.
We haven't done Berlioz yet.
The Symphony Romeo et Juliette could be a good choice too!
Oh, that’s right. I nominate Harold in Italy then (in my mind I already thought I choose the wrong one:)
What would you pick if the evil God canker sore would eliminate all classical music save 1?
Leroy Anderson.
Ah nuts, I missed this one as I chose Die Frau ohne Schatten. I think there’s a good case for the Four Last Songs, but if we were going to go the orchestral songs route I may have favored the Three Hymns. I prefer these as they better represent his wild orchestrations reminiscent of his tone poems and operas versus the more restrained (although just as exquisite) Four Last songs. Of course, the problem with the Three Hymns is that nobody plays them and nobody knows them. So their lack of popularity make them a poor candidate to propose to the almighty Cancrizans.
I did push them in another video...
Sincerely I could Live without symphonic poems in general and I am not a opera listenner. The Last four songs is the only work I woul save of Strauss if I should have to save 1000 works of classical Music. Sorry Strauss...easy choice
no contest -- perhaps I'm not surprised there's so much agreement here. Couple of interesting other things I like from your list, particularly Shosty 4 and Brahms 2nd sextet.
Wagner might be in trouble.
He’s quite capable of looking after himself (Parsifal!)