The concerto as a whole is certainly its own thing and well worth a listen.

I have been dropping clues everywhere re: #2 and #10, so be our guest!

Ahem.  Another bit of evidence that setters should really only get points when their snatches are guessed.

And whilst I have to catch up a lot, can anyone tell me how to make a snatch?  And how to upload it to somewhere other than sendspace - which has my number.

Tommo

There are no doubt easier ways and programs, but this is what I use.

a) The built-in SoundRecorder program (mine only recognizes .wav files)

b) the freeware program Audiograbber (from http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/) - check your operating system before downloading.

c) the freeware program CDex_130 (from http://www.etalonsoft.com/mp3decode.html)


Audiograbber can record from any sound input (LP, CD, tape, line input). When a CD is inserted, its contents are listed in the top window. Whichever tracks are dragged to the lower window will be saved as either .wav or .mp3 files (you can select which format you want). Since I will afterward use the built-in SoundRecorder program (see below), I save them as .wav files at this point.

To edit the file for the particular "snatch" needed, I then load the .wav file into SoundRecorder. Here I move to the beginning of the snatch, and while it is in Pause mode from the Edit menu I choose "Delete before current position". Then I move to the desired end of the snatch and (again from the Edit menu) I select "Delete after current position" after pausing the playback.

This has now provided the correct snatch, but as a .wav file. After saving this edited version you can then simply upload this to the web as it is.

I prefer to upload MP3 files, however. So here I use the freeware program CDex (see above). This converts the .wav to an .mp3 file (which is very very much smaller).

...but then I always was long-winded, and others will come up with much simpler solutions!

Baz

What time limit do you recommend? I'm certainly more than ready to spill the beans on #2.

Here are the collected clues to #2:
A thread is devoted to this composer.
The snatch is in its texture representative of the form/technique/title of the piece.
The snatch features the entire instrumentarium of the piece.
The composer was keen on women with pianos, but in desperation settled for girls who had none.
Also, we know the composer not for his imitative chamber music, but for sprawling s_mphon__s

Now, I've made a couple of guesses as to Puzzle 2.  George has replied after my two guesses with an answer that sounds substantially less guess-like and more researched.....

So what's to stop me editing my two previous answers to 'pre-date' Georges before Chafers awards points for correct answers?

Tommo

One of the rules states:


However, as George edited his own answer, presumably to add the extra info re Pettersson, he may well be docked 75 points and his answer ignored, so Members may still claim the prize....although I doubt anyone here would wish to behave in such a dastardly manner!

Also, time for a clue re Puzzle 11 which seems to have foxed people so far. This piece is not at all representative of the usual style of music associated with this very well-known composer. As well as 'ask the audience', then perhaps you should 'phone a friend' for good measure! 

Bad luck, Tommo. To compensate, I have uploaded the unsolved Puzzle 11 into Rapidshare instead!


http://rapidshare.com/files/87690485/3-02_Puzzle_11.mp3.html

I have been listening again to Roussel's Le Poème de la forêt, the subject of Puzzle No.1, and discovering a little more about it online, the notes in my Erato/Ultima CD being minimal. It comments on the use of Debussy-like whole tone scales and seemed to make an impression on the young Martinů:

This pastorale symphony brought Roussel his first considerable success, although critics were already complaining of "cruel dissonances that pierce the ear-drum like a screwdriver." It is one of the principal products of the first period of Roussel's output when he was, in his own words, "slightly influenced by Debussy, but mindful above all of the solid architecture taught by Vincent d'Indy."

Poème de la forét is a gathering of four previously written movements depicting the forest's moods through the seasons. There are elements of impressionism in the symphony, such as lush harmonies, modal melodies, and even some use of Debussy's whole- tone scale; but the very designation of the piece as a symphony runs contrary to impressionism's repudiation of classical forms. Indeed, the movements are essentially traditional in structure.

Although an early work that is little played today, this symphony has sufficient quality that the young Bohuslav Martinu fell in love with it after performing it as a second violinist in an orchestra in Czechoslovakia. He borrowed the score from the conductor and poured over it to the point of obsessesion. A few years later he moved to Paris to study with Roussel.