Modern Classical
Various Artists
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- The Basics
How many times have you heard it: "I just don't get what these modernists are up to"? With so many choices, it's hard to know where to dip in to the modern classical scene. We're here to help. No matter your taste, we guarantee there's something — perhaps many somethings — on our playlist that you're going to dig. Philip Glass' "Koyaanisqatsi" (the word is a Hopi term for "life out of balance") brings a sort of tribal minimalism into play — earthy, spiritual, and much more heart-driven than some of Glass' earlier, more cerebral work. If that's too adventurous a first step, check out Joshua Bell's neo-romantic theme from The Red Violin. Like the movie's instrument itself, Bell's performance is the perfect union of passion and craftsmanship. And if flat-out gorgeous is what you crave, try Sharon Isbin's reading of Cuban composer Leo Brouwer's "El Decameron Negro: III. Balada De La Doncella Enamorada," ripe and succulent as a mango.
In Next Steps, we travel the globe, from north to south and into the Far East in search of an international perspective on modern classical music.$25.05 The Basics
Name Artist Time Price 1 Koyaanisqatsi Philip Glass & Philip Glass Ensemble 3:27 $0.99 View In iTunes 2 Symphony No. 3: II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo David Zinman, Dawn Upshaw & London Sinfonietta 9:45 $0.99 View In iTunes 3 Shaker Loops: I. Shaking and Trembling John Adams & Orchestra of St. Luke’s 8:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 4 Electric Counterpoint: I. Fast Pat Metheny 6:50 $0.99 View In iTunes 5 The Red Violin (Instrumental) Joshua Bell & Philharmonia Orchestra 1:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 6 The Promise Michael Nyman 3:01 $0.99 View In iTunes 7 Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis One (Metamorphosis One) Bruce Brubaker 6:29 $0.99 View In iTunes 8 Cantus in Memory Of Benjamin Britten for Strings and One Bell I Fiamminghi & Rudolf Werthen 7:11 $0.99 View In iTunes 9 Asyla (For Orchestra): III. Ecstasio City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 6:21 $1.29 View In iTunes 10 Requiem: I. Requiem Aeternam Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, City of London Sinfonia & Timothy Brown 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 11 A Streetcar Named Desire: I Want Magic! James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Renée Fleming 4:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 12 Rejoice! for Violin and Cello: Heed thyself Gidon Kremer & Yo-Yo Ma 5:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 13 Symphony No. 1 for chamber orchestra: II. Notturno: Lento Berliner Philharmoniker & Hans Werner Henze 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 14 5 Neruda Songs: Ya Eres Mia. Reposa Con Tu Sueno en Mi Sueno. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine 7:15 $0.99 View In iTunes 15 Fragment for the Virgin (World Première Recording) Daniel Harding, London Symphony Orchestra & Nicola Benedetti 4:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 16 Atmosphères, for large orchestra Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 6:52 $0.99 View In iTunes 17 El Decamerón Negro: III. Balada de la Doncella Enamorada Sharon Isbin 5:17 $0.99 View In iTunes 18 Toward the Sea I: 1. the Night Göran Söllscher & Patrick Gallois 3:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 19 Sinfonia for 8 Voices and Orchestra: II. O King Göteborgs Symfoniker, London Voices, Peter Eötvös & Terry Edwards 4:43 $0.99 View In iTunes 20 Five Tango Sensations: Anxiety Astor Piazzolla & Kronos Quartet 4:57 $0.99 View In iTunes 21 Spring Music (For Violin / Cello And Piano): I. Aubade Contrasts Quartet 3:08 $0.99 View In iTunes 22 Fifth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman American Brass Quintet 3:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 23 Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet - Single Remix Gavin Bryars Ensemble & Tom Waits 4:02 $0.99 View In iTunes 24 Lua descolorida Dawn Upshaw & Gilbert Kalish 4:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 25 Farewell to Stromness David Russell 3:43 $0.99 View In iTunes Total: 25 Songs - Next Steps
Take a global journey with us as we explore modern classical music from three different hemispheres. Finnish-born composer (and longtime musical director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic) Esa-Pekka Salonen's "Gambit, for Orchestra" was composed in 1998 as a 40th-birthday present for his friend, composer Magnus Lindberg, but it also resonates with the sonorities of his famous countryman (whose academy Salonen attended) Jean Sibelius. In Argentine composer and tango king Astor Piazzolla's "Buenos Aires Hora Cero" ("Buenos Aires Zero Hour"), violinist Gidon Kremer's impassioned and elegant style complements the traditional bandoneón (and the less traditional harpsichord) with a muscular grace. And the young Toru Takemitsu points toward his future while nodding at the past in "Solitude Sonore (1958)," written in response to Toshiro Mayuzumi's Nirvana Symphony, right down to its evocation of bells as a portent of delight and destiny.
In Deep Cuts, we'll discover how modern composers . . . may not be quite as modern as you think.$25.05 Next Steps
Name Artist Time Price 1 Mass: Simple Song Andreas Delfs, Renée Fleming & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 4:05 $0.99 View In iTunes 2 Serenade Opus 50 Costas Cotsiolis, Leo Brouwer, Odair Assad, Orquesta de Cordoba & Scott Tennant 5:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 3 Velocities (Moto Perpetuo) For Solo Marimba Evelyn Glennie 7:23 $0.99 View In iTunes 4 Six Elizabethan Songs: 1. Spring (Thomas Nash) Barbara Bonney & André Previn 1:32 $0.99 View In iTunes 5 Fifth Symphony: IV. Machine American Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies 3:59 $0.99 View In iTunes 6 Mysterious Adventure Philipp Vandre 8:42 $0.99 View In iTunes 7 Guitar Concerto, "For Two Christophers": III. Celebration Christopher Parkening, Elmer Bernstein & London Symphony Orchestra 4:12 $1.29 View In iTunes 8 China Gates Ralph van Raat 5:13 $0.99 View In iTunes 9 String Quartet No. 2: III. Tranquillo Con Delicatezza Kontra Quartet 3:38 $0.99 View In iTunes 10 Foreign Bodies: Part II: Language Esa-Pekka Salonen & The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 6:03 $0.99 View In iTunes 11 Buenos Aires Hora Cero Gidon Kremer 6:31 $0.99 View In iTunes 12 Prayer Bell Sketch, Op 29 Peter Serkin 6:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 13 Makrokosmos I: Part III: XI. Dream Images (Gemini) Laurie Hudicek 4:09 $0.99 View In iTunes 14 David Diamond (b. 1915): Elegy In Memory Of Maurice Ravel (LP Version) John Adams & Orchestra of St. Luke's 6:19 $0.99 View In iTunes 15 Susannah - Music Drama in 2 Acts: The Trees On the Mountain James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Renée Fleming 5:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 16 Mariel Maya Beiser 7:32 $0.99 View In iTunes 17 Water Night Polyphony & Stephen Layton 5:03 $0.99 View In iTunes 18 Vocalise Barbara Bonney & Sato Knudsen 4:44 $0.99 View In iTunes 19 Dead Things Lyric Quartet, Michael Riesman & Nick Ingman 4:24 $0.99 View In iTunes 20 Tokyo / Vermont Counterpoint Kronos Quartet 9:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 21 Impromptu Patricia Goodson 5:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 22 Sounds of the Forest Magnus Irving Bage & Bengt-Ake Lundin 2:52 $0.99 View In iTunes 23 Solitude Sonore (1958) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Marin Alsop 6:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 24 The Ocean That Has No West and No East Peter Serkin 4:37 $0.99 View In iTunes 25 Da Pacem Domine The Hilliard Ensemble 5:40 $0.99 View In iTunes Total: 25 Songs - Deep Cuts
In the classical music world, just as in our daily lives, everything old is new again, and we have the selections to back up our contention. Danish composer Per Norgard's "Bach to the Future: I. C Major" is the first movement of a fantasy on Bach's preludes from "The Well-Tempered Clavier," performed with a certain airy playfulness by a pair of percussionists known as the Safri Duo, supported by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. While Poland's Henryk Górecki's haunting "Amen" remains resolutely modernist in its sound (which was dubbed by some critics as part of the "holy minimalist" movement), his theme is as ancient as Western music itself, steeped in the majesty and mystery of faith. And Academy Award®-winning American composer John Corigliano's "Voyage for Flute and String Orchestra," performed by flautist James Galway and the Eastman Philharmonia, conducted by David Effron, has roots in the lush, pastoral sounds of Ives and Debussy.
$22.08 Deep Cuts
Name Artist Time Price 1 Gloria: III. Vivace e ritmico St Albans Cathedral Choirs, Andrew Lucas & Ensemble DeChorum 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 2 Voyage Metamorphosen & Scott Yoo 6:47 $0.99 View In iTunes 3 One Star, At Last Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Stephen Cleobury 3:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 4 Violin Concerto (1984): I. Twilight: Free and Spacious - Attacca Gidon Kremer, Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 3:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 5 Pastoral for Clarinet and Piano Chicago Pro Musica 9:27 $0.99 View In iTunes 6 Quintet for String Quartet and Contrabass: Movement IV Edgar Meyer & Emerson String Quartet 5:17 $0.99 View In iTunes 7 Nine Bagatelles Soyeon Lee 7:51 $0.99 View In iTunes 8 3 American Pieces: Early Song (Andante) Itzhak Perlman 4:57 $1.29 View In iTunes 9 Three Elegies: No. 2 Roger Heaton 6:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 10 Brin David Arden 1:49 $0.99 View In iTunes 11 Quartet for 4 Percussionists: I. Moderate Markus Hauke & Mainz Percussion Ensemble 4:31 $0.99 View In iTunes 12 Notations: 3. Très Modéré Claudio Abbado & Wiener Philharmoniker 3:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 13 Atlas: Travel Dream Song Meredith Monk & Wayne Hankin 5:07 $0.99 View In iTunes 14 String Quartet No.2: 3. III Balanescu Quartet 3:39 $0.99 View In iTunes 15 Chamber Concerto for 13 Instrumentalists: 1. Corrente (Fliessend) Ensemble InterContemporain & Pierre Boulez 5:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 16 Nr. 4 Klavierstück VII Massimiliano Damerini 7:54 $0.99 View In iTunes 17 Mirrorrim John Sampen & Marilyn Shrude 2:44 $0.99 View In iTunes 18 Amen, Opus 35 Chicago Symphony Chorus & John Nelson 6:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 19 'Lyra Angelica' Concerto for Harp and String Orchestra: I. Adagio London Philharmonic Orchestra & William Alwyn 8:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 20 Notturno for Strings and Harp: Adagio (LP Version) Gerard Schwarz & New York Chamber Symphony 5:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 21 Bach to the Future: I. C Major Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Safri Duo & Thomas Dausgaard 7:19 $0.99 View In iTunes 22 Suffolk Suite: I. Prelude: Moderato London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Hickox 2:25 $0.99 View In iTunes Total: 22 Songs - Complete Set
Modern Classical? Sounds a bit of an oxymoron, doesn't it, like "contemporary artifact" or "improvised choreography." No need for confusion: while serious contemporary composers' styles run the table from primitivist to minimalist, from 12-tone serialism to found-sound collage and beyond, we've skimmed off the crème de la crème for your enjoyment and edification. We aren't going to pretend that all of it's going to be to your taste, unless you have a very eclectic palate, but if you weren't sure where to dip into the roiling waters of modern classical composition, we can provide something of a road map. From superstar composers like Philip Glass and Henryk Górecki, to celebrated conductors like Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, to A-list soloists like Joshua Bell and Meredith Monk, we've got an indispensable guide to the best of the modern classics.
$72.18 Complete Set
Name Artist Time Price 1 Koyaanisqatsi Philip Glass & Philip Glass Ensemble 3:27 $0.99 View In iTunes 2 Symphony No. 3: II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo David Zinman, Dawn Upshaw & London Sinfonietta 9:45 $0.99 View In iTunes 3 Shaker Loops: I. Shaking and Trembling John Adams & Orchestra of St. Luke’s 8:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 4 Electric Counterpoint: I. Fast Pat Metheny 6:50 $0.99 View In iTunes 5 The Red Violin (Instrumental) Joshua Bell & Philharmonia Orchestra 1:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 6 The Promise Michael Nyman 3:01 $0.99 View In iTunes 7 Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis One (Metamorphosis One) Bruce Brubaker 6:29 $0.99 View In iTunes 8 Cantus in Memory Of Benjamin Britten for Strings and One Bell I Fiamminghi & Rudolf Werthen 7:11 $0.99 View In iTunes 9 Asyla (For Orchestra): III. Ecstasio City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 6:21 $1.29 View In iTunes 10 Requiem: I. Requiem Aeternam Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, City of London Sinfonia & Timothy Brown 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 11 A Streetcar Named Desire: I Want Magic! James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Renée Fleming 4:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 12 Rejoice! for Violin and Cello: Heed thyself Gidon Kremer & Yo-Yo Ma 5:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 13 Symphony No. 1 for chamber orchestra: II. Notturno: Lento Berliner Philharmoniker & Hans Werner Henze 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 14 5 Neruda Songs: Ya Eres Mia. Reposa Con Tu Sueno en Mi Sueno. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine 7:15 $0.99 View In iTunes 15 Fragment for the Virgin (World Première Recording) Daniel Harding, London Symphony Orchestra & Nicola Benedetti 4:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 16 Atmosphères, for large orchestra Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 6:52 $0.99 View In iTunes 17 El Decamerón Negro: III. Balada de la Doncella Enamorada Sharon Isbin 5:17 $0.99 View In iTunes 18 Toward the Sea I: 1. the Night Göran Söllscher & Patrick Gallois 3:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 19 Sinfonia for 8 Voices and Orchestra: II. O King Göteborgs Symfoniker, London Voices, Peter Eötvös & Terry Edwards 4:43 $0.99 View In iTunes 20 Five Tango Sensations: Anxiety Astor Piazzolla & Kronos Quartet 4:57 $0.99 View In iTunes 21 Spring Music (For Violin / Cello And Piano): I. Aubade Contrasts Quartet 3:08 $0.99 View In iTunes 22 Fifth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman American Brass Quintet 3:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 23 Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet - Single Remix Gavin Bryars Ensemble & Tom Waits 4:02 $0.99 View In iTunes 24 Lua descolorida Dawn Upshaw & Gilbert Kalish 4:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 25 Farewell to Stromness David Russell 3:43 $0.99 View In iTunes 26 Mass: Simple Song Andreas Delfs, Renée Fleming & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 4:05 $0.99 View In iTunes 27 Serenade Opus 50 Costas Cotsiolis, Leo Brouwer, Odair Assad, Orquesta de Cordoba & Scott Tennant 5:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 28 Velocities (Moto Perpetuo) For Solo Marimba Evelyn Glennie 7:23 $0.99 View In iTunes 29 Six Elizabethan Songs: 1. Spring (Thomas Nash) Barbara Bonney & André Previn 1:32 $0.99 View In iTunes 30 Fifth Symphony: IV. Machine American Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies 3:59 $0.99 View In iTunes 31 Mysterious Adventure Philipp Vandre 8:42 $0.99 View In iTunes 32 Guitar Concerto, "For Two Christophers": III. Celebration Christopher Parkening, Elmer Bernstein & London Symphony Orchestra 4:12 $1.29 View In iTunes 33 China Gates Ralph van Raat 5:13 $0.99 View In iTunes 34 String Quartet No. 2: III. Tranquillo Con Delicatezza Kontra Quartet 3:38 $0.99 View In iTunes 35 Foreign Bodies: Part II: Language Esa-Pekka Salonen & The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 6:03 $0.99 View In iTunes 36 Buenos Aires Hora Cero Gidon Kremer 6:31 $0.99 View In iTunes 37 Prayer Bell Sketch, Op 29 Peter Serkin 6:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 38 Makrokosmos I: Part III: XI. Dream Images (Gemini) Laurie Hudicek 4:09 $0.99 View In iTunes 39 David Diamond (b. 1915): Elegy In Memory Of Maurice Ravel (LP Version) John Adams & Orchestra of St. Luke's 6:19 $0.99 View In iTunes 40 Susannah - Music Drama in 2 Acts: The Trees On the Mountain James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Renée Fleming 5:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 41 Mariel Maya Beiser 7:32 $0.99 View In iTunes 42 Water Night Polyphony & Stephen Layton 5:03 $0.99 View In iTunes 43 Vocalise Barbara Bonney & Sato Knudsen 4:44 $0.99 View In iTunes 44 Dead Things Lyric Quartet, Michael Riesman & Nick Ingman 4:24 $0.99 View In iTunes 45 Tokyo / Vermont Counterpoint Kronos Quartet 9:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 46 Impromptu Patricia Goodson 5:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 47 Sounds of the Forest Magnus Irving Bage & Bengt-Ake Lundin 2:52 $0.99 View In iTunes 48 Solitude Sonore (1958) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Marin Alsop 6:33 $0.99 View In iTunes 49 The Ocean That Has No West and No East Peter Serkin 4:37 $0.99 View In iTunes 50 Da Pacem Domine The Hilliard Ensemble 5:40 $0.99 View In iTunes 51 Gloria: III. Vivace e ritmico St Albans Cathedral Choirs, Andrew Lucas & Ensemble DeChorum 5:34 $0.99 View In iTunes 52 Voyage Metamorphosen & Scott Yoo 6:47 $0.99 View In iTunes 53 One Star, At Last Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Stephen Cleobury 3:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 54 Violin Concerto (1984): I. Twilight: Free and Spacious - Attacca Gidon Kremer, Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 3:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 55 Pastoral for Clarinet and Piano Chicago Pro Musica 9:27 $0.99 View In iTunes 56 Quintet for String Quartet and Contrabass: Movement IV Edgar Meyer & Emerson String Quartet 5:17 $0.99 View In iTunes 57 Nine Bagatelles Soyeon Lee 7:51 $0.99 View In iTunes 58 3 American Pieces: Early Song (Andante) Itzhak Perlman 4:57 $1.29 View In iTunes 59 Three Elegies: No. 2 Roger Heaton 6:16 $0.99 View In iTunes 60 Brin David Arden 1:49 $0.99 View In iTunes 61 Quartet for 4 Percussionists: I. Moderate Markus Hauke & Mainz Percussion Ensemble 4:31 $0.99 View In iTunes 62 Notations: 3. Très Modéré Claudio Abbado & Wiener Philharmoniker 3:30 $0.99 View In iTunes 63 Atlas: Travel Dream Song Meredith Monk & Wayne Hankin 5:07 $0.99 View In iTunes 64 String Quartet No.2: 3. III Balanescu Quartet 3:39 $0.99 View In iTunes 65 Chamber Concerto for 13 Instrumentalists: 1. Corrente (Fliessend) Ensemble InterContemporain & Pierre Boulez 5:04 $0.99 View In iTunes 66 Nr. 4 Klavierstück VII Massimiliano Damerini 7:54 $0.99 View In iTunes 67 Mirrorrim John Sampen & Marilyn Shrude 2:44 $0.99 View In iTunes 68 Amen, Opus 35 Chicago Symphony Chorus & John Nelson 6:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 69 'Lyra Angelica' Concerto for Harp and String Orchestra: I. Adagio London Philharmonic Orchestra & William Alwyn 8:25 $0.99 View In iTunes 70 Notturno for Strings and Harp: Adagio (LP Version) Gerard Schwarz & New York Chamber Symphony 5:28 $0.99 View In iTunes 71 Bach to the Future: I. C Major Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Safri Duo & Thomas Dausgaard 7:19 $0.99 View In iTunes 72 Suffolk Suite: I. Prelude: Moderato London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Hickox 2:25 $0.99 View In iTunes Total: 72 Songs
Customer Reviews
Try Mass: Simple Song
Renee Fleming does a wonderful job on Simple Song, from "The Mass", which was written by Stephen Sondheim and scored by Leonard Bernstein in (i think) 1968. As she sings, "For God is the simplest of all."
Ignore That Other Review
Really, iTunes? No Delete Button? Not even for all us who just feel like critisizing something one day? This is actually pretty good from what I sampled but it wasn't what I expected. But still, they are just aiming to make money and nothing more. Hopefully this star rating will cancel the other one.
