I pretty much missed most of ABC FM's "Hottest 100" of 20th century classical music, most signficiantly the voting part.

Twentieth-century classical music has some bad rap; most of us seem to prefer a bit of Beethoven or Mozart or Bach to that outrageous modern stuff, particularly when it went all atonal later in the century. 

I'm by no means learned in the ways of 20th century classical, beyond having played a bit in youth orchestra (and for solo cello), so I expect a proper classical music person would find these selections populist and gauche. And possibly a bit 19th-century, except for the film music. (Though even that often adheres to the "traditional" styles of composition).

I'm hoping to see classical instruments and techniques mixed more with the newer instruments and styles of the 20th and 21st century - there's no denying the emotional pull of massed strings or horns; the greater depth and range of feeling that a longer, more intricate piece of music can sustain.

Some faves:

Ravel: Rhapsodie espagnole (1907-1908) Part 1. Spooky.

Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1910, from the ballet). It's mostly very quiet, but then there are also a few fantastically loud bits. It was used in Allegro non troppo for the bit with the wicked/hapless snake.

Ralph Vaugh Williams is not my favourite composer but his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) is gorgeous. Also I reckon whoever wrote the soundtrack to The Princess Bride totally ripped this off.

De Falla: Ritual Fire Dance (1915) - here for piano, here for orchestra

Everybody loves Prokofiev, right? I grew up listening to his Classical Symphony (1916), but Romeo & Juliet (1935) is also great (especially the Dance of the Knights), Lieutenant Kije (1934 - you'll no doubt recognise the Troika) and The Love for Three Oranges (1919).

As an ex-cellist I have to include Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor (1918-1919). The first movement is lush and tragic, the rest is a bit odd, to be honest. If we're going to listen to it we should listen to Jacqueline Du Pre's version, try not to laugh at Daniel Barenboim's hair.

Respighi's Ancient Air and Dances. There are three suites (1917, 1923, 1932). There's a fair bit of lute action in them. Except for the last one, which is only strings. Here's the Siciliana from Suite III.

Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936-38). Famous for being used in Platoon. Look, I have to like it, OK? I played the cello! It is awesome for cellos! Though some recordings take the whole "adagio" thing just a bit too far, in my opinion.

Orff's Carmina Burana (1937). I know, I know, everyone loves it. Here is one of my favourite bits, the song of the roasted swan.

Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez (1939), for classical guitar and orchestra. Here is the tragic second movement set to beautiful nature pictures, as is common over on YouTube.

Khatchaturian's Sabre Dance (from a much longer ballet), complete with fabulous cello melody in the middle. Here is another nice cello bit from the ballet which apparently was also used in "2001: A Space Odyssey" and was also borrowed a fair bit for the score of "Aliens".

Shostakovich wrote film music! No, really! I've always loved his suite for "The Gadfly" (1955) - the overture is excellent, you may also recognise the "Romance" as it was used as the theme to "Reilly, Ace of Spies".

In fact Shostokovich wrote quite a few cool things, including this cello concerto (1959) (here performed by the great Rostropovich, what a name!) and many symphonies, including No. 5 (1937), watch Berstein gettin' down.

Aaron Copland wrote a lot of popular musics, including the Billy the Kid suite (1938, we played this in orchestra, here's a nice allegro), Appalachian Spring (1944) and of course the Fanfare for the Common Man (1942).

Phillip Glass is coridally despised by many but he wrote a beautiful score for the film Mishima (1984), which includes many tracks performed by the Kronos Quartet. Here's the closing track.

Morricone wrote heaps of great music for films, I partiucularly love the soundtrack for "A Fistful of Dollars". But his most well-known more typically classical soundtrack was for that really depressing film "The Mission" (1986). Here is "The Falls". (And here's the theme for A Fistfull of Dollars because I can't resist, and besides, there are violins in it).

There was a terrible film in the 1980s called "Warlock" (Julian Sands being evil and with bad hair) but it had quite a good score, by Jerry Goldmsith. Here is the first track. I heard this on a show ABC FM used to have on Sunday afternoons, all about film music. I wish they'd bring it back. (Jerry Goldsmith also wrote for "Alien", "Poltergeist", "Gremlins" and some Star Trek films).

Michael Nyman's soundtrack for The Piano (1993) also divides audiences, but I quite like it. Here's a piece from it, "The Sacrifice". 

I'm a big fan of Bear McCreary's work on Battlestar Galactica - I don't think it would have been nearly as successful without his music. Here's Kara Remembers, Main Title, Roslin and Adama and the gorgeous Passacaglia.

Hans Zimmer has written more film scores than you've had hot showers and OMG I just found out he worked with Mr Buggles! You've all grown up with Hansie because he wrote (amongst others) the music for My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Rain Man (1988), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Backdraft (1991), the Lion King (1994), MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND (1996), The Thin Red Line (1998), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2000), Pearl Harbour (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), King Arthur (2004), THE DAVINCI CODE (2006 - hey, composers have to eat too), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2011)...and he's even collaborated with others on the music for video games! Far out. I love Hans. He does moody, "something-important-is-about-to-happen" really well. Often Hans is the best thing about a film. You know when sometimes you come out of a film and think "you know, that was pretty crap but there was something about it that was great that I just can't put my finger on"? That thing is Hans.

 

Yes, I was alive in 1984 and have treasured this fabulous Advent calendar ever since. I think it is proof that, in fact, they DON'T make Advent calendars like the ones they did when I was a lad. My family was living in Canada at the time, and those North Americans do seem to have a natural talent for Christmas GLITZ, but still. Advent calendar manufacturers, get your acts together!

Behind each door is an adorable animal doing something adorable. Squirrels gossiping over a pile of nuts behind #15! Fishies under the frozen stream under #11! Beavers wrapping presents behind #7! Deer and ducks behind the counter at the Cap and Bell, behind #1! (You can see the wildcat by the fire just below, where one of the doors has fallen off).

Note that trolls seem to be more adorable in North America than in Europe. Or Australia.

Well butter cake is certainly easier to work with than Genoese sponge, but perhaps that is a reflection on my sponge-making ability more than anything. My butter cake bits held their shape during the successive dippings & didn't lose their "crust" like the sponge tended to. The coconut dish even remained relatively snowy-white! Taste & texture-wise they were entirely satisfactory, a bit more substantial than the sponge, as you might expect. I'd be happy eating either. (NB those below dipped in kumquat jam before the chocolate, though again you can't really tell).

Well I don't know how the professionals get their lamingtons so even & regular-looking...but I guess these ones taste the way they're supposed to! I dipped the sponge in some melted blackberry jam first but you can't really tell. The Genoese sponge has a very fine crumb; on its own you can taste the egginess. My sister didn't like the texture at all. Here it is really just a vehicle for chocolate icing & coconut, I don't mind it. Man, lamingtons are fiddly though. You end up with sponge crumbs in everything.

Don't look back...I will find you...leave... No Halloween House is complete without this chap!

In motion...Madison Square Park.

I guess the ultimate test of a good cover version is, do you enjoy it as much as the original? Or even more than the original? If you'd still plump for the original every time, then the cover hasn't succeeded.

What makes a good cover version, though? Looking at the ones I'm drawn to, it's usually a major change in mood - and, I notice, often from an upbeat, major-chord-type tune to a darker, sadder minor-chord number. (Except for Mr Floppy; see below). But they all make something new of the original - as in the old classical music tradition, the song has become a "variation on a theme". Or, in the case of the modern film adaptation, "based on an original story by...".

Sometimes it is a quality of the band or singer that makes a cover version stunning. Say what you like about him, Bono has a great voice and it's a thrill to hear him sing Cole Porter's words. (See the comments on the YouTube site if you don't believe me: "Bono is so gorgeous and erotic"). KD Lang's version of "Hallelujah" doesn't really move so far from Jeff Buckley's, but the strength and quality of their respective voices renders their versions stunning.

Sometimes it's because the artist covering the material can do the original justice. I don't think anyone else at the Queen Tribute concert came close to being able to match the strength of Freddie Mercury's voice as George Michael did. In itself, it's a fairly straight rendition of the song - a bit more gospel, perhaps. But it taps into the admiration everyone had for Mercury.

Others just have fun with the material (see Mr Floppy). You can tell that they're a fan of the original, but they don't let themselves be tied to the original too much.

Comfortably Numb: Pink Floyd vs Scissor Sisters. Warning: The Pink Floyd video clip is a bit weird and scary. OK a lot.

Night and Day: Cole Porter/Fred Astaire vs U2. Warning: Creepy bit with razor and finger at end of U2 version. Also, Bono's chest.

Hallelujah (I know I know): Leonard Cohen vs Jeff Buckley vs KD Lang. I confess I'm not a huge Cohen fan and tend to prefer his songs sung by others. But it's interesting to hear the original.

If it be your will: Leonard Cohen vs Antony Hegarty. More Cohen. This song is beautiful. I even don't mind the Cohen version. OK no I get bored after a while. But when Antony goes for it - HELL YES. When I first watched it I was a bit worried Antony was going to break down, he was feeling it so much.

Mad World: Tears for Fears vs Gary Jules. The original is pretty tragic but Jules' slow, pared-back version racks it up (down?) by a zillion. An example of how sometimes less is more.

Somebody to Love: Queen vs George Michael. Two great voices. Yes, I know Queen has more street cred.

Wuthering Heights: Kate Bush vs Mr Floppy. You really can't go past the original. But Mr Floppy's version is SO MUCH FUN.

Sweet Jane: Velvet Underground vs the Cowboy Junkies. OK I'm going to trash what little indie music cred I have left...I HAVE NEVER WARMED TO THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. Mostly I think because of Lou Reed's weird voice. 

Can't Get You Out Of My Head: Kylie vs Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. I'm not a huge Kasey fan but this version of a boppy Kylie number is gorgeous. You'd go out dancing to the Kylie version, down a bottle of spirits to Kasey's.

Poker Face/ Neutra Face: Lady Gaga vs a bunch of bearded typographers. Hahaha ahhhh...

From @ARPy_ - Umbrella: Rihanna vs Manic Street Preachers. Actually I have a huge soft spot for the original because it was used on So You Think You Can Dance. Well, I thought it was but I can't find a clip anywhere so maybe I'm making that up. But the Preachers' version makes the song lovely rather than fierce. (If I may channel Tyra for a moment). And possibly less affected by occult and prophetic messages.

From @spikelynch - Wish you were here: Pink Floyd vs the Bee Gees. Floyd's makes me think of a cowboy, riding alone on the prairie...the Bee Gees' transports me to the set of the Bold and the Beautiful.

From @slimejam - We can work it out: The Beatles vs Stevie Wonder.

 

 

Eek!

You thought I was kidding, didn't you?! Ha! For your afternoon WTF pleasure...a mob of miscreant magpies! Presumably this was an ad for meerschaum pipes, but who can tell?