The Slipped Disc daily comfort zone (242): Nailed it

David K. Nelson says:

Paul it is interesting to read that this “issue” exists with the Janáček Sinfonietta because I believe pretty much the same issue/dispute/ambiguity exists for the Sibelius Symphony No. 4 – is “glock” to be taken as shorthand for glockenspiel, or does it means orchestral bells. I can recall an extended back-and-forth in the letters section of Fanfare magazine on that matter back in the 1980s. The smart money is on bells but there are plenty of recordings that employ the glockenspiel. Stokowski with typical insight, uses both for fine effect!

I always liked hearing the Sinfonietta over the radio and on recordings but it was not until I heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, back in the Solti era so you know what THAT brass section and that tympanist could do (not to mention the extra brass who sat in), play it “live” that I fully realized just what Janáček could and presumably was trying to arouse in the way of overall effect and audience reaction. The conductor might have been Claudio Abbado – I know it wasn’t Solti himself. But it was a feeling of being physically pushed back into your chair, almost threshold of pain stuff. Your body and mind were being manipulated by the music – an astounding and stunning sensation. Perhaps (speaking of Stokowski) the brass-heavy Khachaturian Symphony No. 3 in concert or the Berlioz Requiem would have something of that same effect; from personal experience I can only think of the opening of the Dies Irae from the Requiem of Verdi as being of this nature.

As far as other works for percussion, I second the motion of others for the Nielsen “Inextinguishable” Symphony and its battle between the rival tympani players, as well as for Ionisation and other works by Edgard Varèse. I’d also nominate Michael Colgrass’s variations for four drums and viola, and Paul Chiara’s “Redwood” also for viola and percussion; both are pieces to really clean out the ears. Perhaps the various works (and unique instruments) of Harry Partch are just too specialized to be compared to anything else. For subtlety: the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and I’d also mention the opening of William Schuman’s New England Triptych, where the tympani taps out the actual “melody” of the Billings hymn tune. It may not excite the audience but it is a real test of artistry.

But I’ll throw the name of another piece out there and perhaps some percussionists can agree with or dispute my hunch that it is a great deal of fun to play: Rodion Shchedrin’s “Carmen Ballet” for string orchestra and lots and lots (plus yet more!) of percussion. Whether it really works as a ballet or not I cannot say, but I still remember the publicity that attended the Arthur Fiedler recording (RCA Victor) and performances with the Boston Pops, and in an unusual reversal of the usual order of things, Erich Leinsdorf himself took up and programmed the work. The Fiedler recording was made during a time when RCA Victor was utilizing a process they called Dynagroove, which in essence meant the recording was equalized and mastered to sound its best on ‘ordinary’ to low end stereo systems. I didn’t mind at the time because that is the sort of sound system I had. For CD they went back to the tapes and the sound is much more vivid, clear enough that you can hear Fiedler say something about a tentative wrong entrance that is heard and corrected, evidently not caught during initial playback or assumed to be something that normal tape hiss and groove noise would mask. There are other recordings but not with a string section of that size and heft.

Petros Linardos says:

Link to your recording please?