Daniel Beland puts together a 'short list' of mouthwatering twentieth
century works and wonders why they're not more often programmed.  Good
question.  Talking to musicians and programmers, the answer is often "Gee
-- I wish I could do this, but people just won't pay to come hear this
stuff." Talking to concertgoers, it's "Gee -- I wish they played more
'off-the-wall' stuff -- maybe I'd go to hear it more often." Perhaps it's
really a case of "I'm sorry, Sir -- you're the fourteenth person I have
told this week that there's no demand for this."

Daniel's list is a fascinating starting-point, full of little tugs of
memory taking me down almost-forgotten paths.

Bloch -- Schelomo is also fascinating, but so are the Suite for Cello and
Piano, the Baal Shem Suite and the C minor Symphony.

Bolcom -- I remember attending a premiere in California of a work of his --
called 'Gaia' from memory -- which consisted of three piano concertos.  The
first was for left hand, the second for right hand and the third consisted
of them both played together.  Very stimulating stuff, though my date was
horrified at the end when I told her the encore would be the third concerto
played backwards!

Denisov -- some of his film music is really gripping and his choral music
is to die for.

Frankel -- almost any of the symphonies are worth getting hold of.

Kokkonen -- this is the first time I have seen anybody refer to his
Requiem, which I saw the Sibelius Academy and Washington Performing Arts
Society do in 1997 or 1998 at the Kennedy Centre.  I have about 60 Requiem
Masses at the moment and this figures very high on my list of favourites,
along with the Kabalevsky and the Saint-Saens.

Langgaarrd -- a composer who blows my mind totally.  Not only his 14
symphonies, but some of his tone poems and his more adventurous pieces
(Music of the Spheres is on Chandos or cpo, from memory -- the Symphonies
were on Danacord) -- well worth investigating for lovers of late
Romanticism.

Composers not featured on Daniel's list but worthy of a mention might
include:

Foulds -- April England, Diptych, the quartets (microtones before Bartok!),
cello sonata, Three Mantras
Bowen -- piano music and string quartets
Aho -- probably one of our greatest living symphonists -- now 10 and
counting -- Insect Symphony
Eshpai -- try Symphony No. 4 or the first Violin Concerto
Boiko -- Symphonies 2 and 3
Blumenfeld -- Symphony in C minor
Englund -- almost anything
Hill -- Symphony No. 3
Paray -- Jeanne d'Arc Mass

Oh, the list goes on and on. So many composers, so little time!!!

Tim Mahon
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