Thanks Ron how could I refuse at that price ? In fact I've ordered the Cello Concerto as well. Thank you for the link.
  And now I see it the Sinfonia comes with Mr Barrett's recommendation-say no more!

I don't know that much of his work, though I was very pleasantly surprised by my encounter last year with one of the symphonies in particular. In fact, it was in my mind (and a mechanical reproduction of it in my hand) just a few minutes ago as I wandered down to the post office for a 10-minute break from the purgatory that my life is going to be for hopefully not much more than a few more hours now. (Still not quite sure whether I end up in heaven or hell at the end of it. I'll attempt to report back, either way.)

Hi Andy D
wonder what yr impression is listening to Rothko Chapel - i have the cd you mentioned and like it for its atmosphere - i find i have to be in right mood to listen just to get the full benefit - like going into a trance and absorb it - sorry im not expressing myself very well !
I found Why Patterns more difficult but has many similarities to minimalist works and needs concentration 

I'm revisiting Kancheli's Styx - a work the musical 'elite' will tell me isn't worth the effort. I disagree.



Yes, it's heavily influenced by the composer's experience of scoring for cinema. True, it can get a little too sugary, dreamy and sentimental in places. And okay, its appeal rests as much on its extremes of dynamics as its solo viola line or writing for the chorus. Nonetheless, it sucks me in.

I heard it for the first time this summer: it made the hairs stand up on the back of neck. I had headphones on and was trying to work. After the first couple of movements, I abandoned that idea and just listened.

It's so dramatic, so Hans Zimmer, so very nearly OTT - but for all this, so enjoyable. A classic example of music that's not for the head, but for ... well, if not the heart, then maybe the solar plexus. That's where it hit me first, leaving me shaken, yet energised, excitable. Sometimes, that's what you want from music.

FK

I must confess, richard, that I know nothing about Schnittke beyond his name. But the way you succinctly describe his Viola Concerto does pique my interest. I'll look up a recording somewhere online where I can hear at least some of it for free, then decide if it's something I'd like to experience in full.

The 'naive quality' of Styx is rather an apt turn of phrase. There are one or two moments when I involuntarily imagine a cringe-making love scene between whoever may be Hollywood's latest leading man and women, bathed in soft lighting on the set of a film about pirates, or hobbits, or wizards. But for all this, it's that 'naive quality' that makes the work so appealing to me. It's like a guilty pleasure you don't usually speak about: you occasionally want it, but you don't really want others to know you want it. Until now, obviously.

As for the 'elite' remark, I was being flippant. Though I have encountered many self-appointed members of this exclusive set, always ready to decry anything that's less than 'challenging' or in some way intellectual, rather than (naively?) emotive.

FK

Undoubtedly they do. Perhaps I've just been unfortunate in having met a disproportionately high number of ivory tower dwellers who won't admit as much.


Very good. But I suspect, if you really were a member of such an elite, the fact that you post in this forum would mean you'd berate me far more harshly for not using the whole of the original quote; the point size would be very much a secondary matter.

FK