One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th Century. Martin achieves the perfect poise between octatonicism and the 12-tone technique, all grounded in tonality. A unique achievement. This is one of the most underrated composers in the 20th Century.
We played with our orchestra Pasacaglia for organ (orchestral version). I have just found out about this composer .. I started to dream about this music. It is so unbeliveable amazing for me. Now I started to search for his opus and studie it. One of the best surprises of my life was Mr. Martin. Thank you so much for this music...
A lovely performance of a great piece. I first heard/saw this at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1958 at a concert for the UN. I was struck by its beauty and, even though then a poor student, boought the score. It's now in shreds! Orchestra and soloists are not identified, which is too bad.
Thanks for posting this! It's an incredibly difficult piece, and certainly not one where the balances between instruments take care of themselves. Sadly, I have yet to hear a live performance of this work where I live, Washington, DC.
After just previously hearing Martin's full orchestra version, I find that I prefer this original version. It seems to fit the character of the music perfectly, and allows all parts to be clearly heard and defined. The second movement here is especially haunting. The performance sounds excellent and very enjoyable. Thanks for the upload!
Martin made the full orchestra version even before the original version had its premiere, because he thought that the unusual requirements - piano, harp & harpsichord soloists, double string orchestra - would limit its chances for performance. As he himself later admitted, the opposite was true: the original version made his name as a composer worldwide, while the version for "conventional" forces was neglected. The latter, however, remains a fascinating reworking of the original - there are now 2 versions on CD - even though I think most people would agree with you in preferring the original. :)
Among the finest recorded performances those (2 Decca releases) by Ernest Ansermet and l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, one in mono and the other later one in stereo, stand out. Ansermet was a personal friend of Martin and championed Martin throughout his (Ansermet's) career with particular zeal.
One of the great works of the 20th century. The commission stipulated the instrumentation had to be for string instruments. This is for double string orch., piano, harpsichord, harp. Fabulous. Listen for the 12 tone row presented at the beginning and used throughout.
Joining the piano, the harp and the harpsichord is extremely difficult considering the different strengths of these instruments. Frank Martin achieved here an actual tour de force.
Considerando el exito actual de Bohemian Rhapsody, lo que deberia conducir pronto al reconocimiento de muchas otras bandas de rock progresivo, el paso siguiente para popularizar la clásica de veras deberia ser F. Martin, no?
I have the great privilege of having performed Petite Symphonie Concertante twice during my professional career, and, in addition played in an ensemble as they prepared to perform, but I was not able to play the actual performance. It was such great fun for me to play PSC. Fortunately, it is actually a not very difficult piece to play, but as @Mezzotenor (below) tells it I concur it is more difficult for the conductor to balance. The stage layout is critical to this.
+Rastattt Herzlichen Dank! Und absolut! Daher programmieren wir ihn hier in Neuchâtel so oft es geht - bei meinen Videos finden Sie ja noch einige weitere Werke, bald kommen noch mehr dazu!
well observed, Luka! Actually you can combine both manuals so that, if you play a key on the lower one, the upper one is "going with". This gives more possibilities to create different colors!
Moreover, there are several registers for the different keyboards,(just like organs) which allows to have a variety of sounds according to the combinations. Here Frank Martin's intructions regarding the registration are very precise, and he composed the harpsichord part for the Pleyel instrument.
@@fabricemartinez6538 Then why isn't such an instrument ever employed? It's the only one that is audible. Harpischordists have such a stupid bias against them. And why is the piano uncovered? Still, this is better balance than many other performances.
@@nonenoneonenonenone I had to insist to get this Pleyel. Though I'd told the orchestra producer that there was a Pleyel at the Neuchatel conservatoire, I had a Neupert at the 1st rehearsal (that did not even have the whole 5 octaves!). Also the insturment was not amplified for the concert (the microphones were just set up for the recording), I would say it's the conductor's job to get the right balance between the different sections of the orchestra. The work itself is more than well written considering the 3 solo parts, Frank Martin is here a genius. For the uncovered piano, I guess it's position (face to the conductor, between the 2 orchestras) has something to do with (and also it's easier to catch sight with the harpist). Alexander Mayer may answered better that question than me. I do regret that the Pleyel is not used (even for Poulenc's Concert Champêtre), the fact it's less brighter than a copy of a Taskin for instance might be a reason. It is not always easy to find a Pleyel in a good state (even the Geneva's Conservatoire is not well cared) and when you have one, the transport becomes (alas!) a problem (where there would be oddly none for a piano). Your question is worth to be discuss, I wish we could talk in live!
I love this piece. The conducting is pretty good. Too bad that the clavecinist begins messing up around 18mn, and then the pianist a bit later (wrong notes, off tempo, doesn't help the harpist do her part). Still, I guess the score is pretty hard for the solists.
One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th Century. Martin achieves the perfect poise between octatonicism and the 12-tone technique, all grounded in tonality. A unique achievement. This is one of the most underrated composers in the 20th Century.
I totally agree with you
I'm delighted to meet a fellow admirer of this great composer. I just sent you a Facebook message
We played with our orchestra Pasacaglia for organ (orchestral version). I have just found out about this composer .. I started to dream about this music. It is so unbeliveable amazing for me. Now I started to search for his opus and studie it. One of the best surprises of my life was Mr. Martin. Thank you so much for this music...
Tense and magnificient, superbly perfomed...
Thank you very much!
+Alexander Mayer Thank You very much Alexander, for share all this amazing music!
Excellent performance... great sound from soloists and orchestra!
Totally agree...this performance rivals many I've heard on commercial recordings and broadcast concerts. Thanks for sharing this ..
Bravo a million times!!
Lovely performance! Bravo!
Increible descubrimiento, gracias.
A lovely performance of a great piece. I first heard/saw this at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1958 at a concert for the UN. I was struck by its beauty and, even though then a poor student, boought the score. It's now in shreds! Orchestra and soloists are not identified, which is too bad.
Terrific piece. Thanks for posting.
One of the century's greatest, and this work shows just why.
Fine performances. Martin is one of the nicest and most painful operations. I really like.
Absolutely wonderful performance of this masterpiece!! Bravo!!
Une excellente oeuvre pour se familiariser avec l'atonalité. Une des rares susceptible d'être appréciée à sa juste valeur à premièère écoute.
if you don't like live performances, so you have to listen to a CD: there are plenty of recordings of Petite Symphonie concertante...
Once heard never forgotten.
Wonderful performance of a great piece!
1890-1974. 125 AÑOS DE NACIDO.
Thanks for posting this! It's an incredibly difficult piece, and certainly not one where the balances between instruments take care of themselves. Sadly, I have yet to hear a live performance of this work where I live, Washington, DC.
After just previously hearing Martin's full orchestra version, I find that I prefer this original version. It seems to fit the character of the music perfectly, and allows all parts to be clearly heard and defined. The second movement here is especially haunting. The performance sounds excellent and very enjoyable. Thanks for the upload!
Martin made the full orchestra version even before the original version had its premiere, because he thought that the unusual requirements - piano, harp & harpsichord soloists, double string orchestra - would limit its chances for performance. As he himself later admitted, the opposite was true: the original version made his name as a composer worldwide, while the version for "conventional" forces was neglected. The latter, however, remains a fascinating reworking of the original - there are now 2 versions on CD - even though I think most people would agree with you in preferring the original. :)
Nice discovery of a composer who should be better known...Frank Martin! One of his operas will be produced in Brussels next season
which opera is that? monsieur pourceaugnac? or the tempest?
It's actually an operatic performance of his Oratorio "Le vin herbé"
www.lamonnaie.be/en/opera/429/Le-Vin-herbe
davís goodman
I saw LE VIN HERBE in Zürich in 1994, it was very nice!
davís goodman
I have a Frank Martin Facebook group if you are interested...
Oh cool. What's the link?
Among the finest recorded performances those (2 Decca releases) by Ernest Ansermet and l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, one in mono and the other later one in stereo, stand out. Ansermet was a personal friend of Martin and championed Martin throughout his (Ansermet's) career with particular zeal.
Yes and if I'm not mistaken that's the version with the mythical harpist Lily Laskine !
Wonderful! Thank you
Alegre y optimista obra. Muy buena la ejecución y direccion
One of the great works of the 20th century. The commission stipulated the instrumentation had to be for string instruments. This is for double string orch., piano, harpsichord, harp. Fabulous. Listen for the 12 tone row presented at the beginning and used throughout.
not bad remind me od beitney soears baby baby one more time.. with many more notes and strings.
@@lawyer6343 Yes, as Meat Loaf would say-"Wal-ya took the words rahght outta maah mowth!".
Joining the piano, the harp and the harpsichord is extremely difficult considering the different strengths of these instruments. Frank Martin achieved here an actual tour de force.
Considerando el exito actual de Bohemian Rhapsody, lo que deberia conducir pronto al reconocimiento de muchas otras bandas de rock progresivo, el paso siguiente para popularizar la clásica de veras deberia ser F. Martin, no?
It's too bad the conductors always fail to balance the instruments.
@@nonenoneonenonenone Unfortunately you are right, and this is quite challengine.
magnifique ensemble!
I have the great privilege of having performed Petite Symphonie Concertante twice during my professional career, and, in addition played in an ensemble as they prepared to perform, but I was not able to play the actual performance. It was such great fun for me to play PSC. Fortunately, it is actually a not very difficult piece to play, but as @Mezzotenor (below) tells it I concur it is more difficult for the conductor to balance. The stage layout is critical to this.
I felt in love with this composer, but I can`t find him :)
Where I can download?
You can easily find recordings of his music. Not in MP3 most likely, but in CDs certainly.
Großartige Interpretation. Leider wird der geniale Meister Frank Martin viel zu wenig aufgeführt.
+Rastattt Herzlichen Dank! Und absolut! Daher programmieren wir ihn hier in Neuchâtel so oft es geht - bei meinen Videos finden Sie ja noch einige weitere Werke, bald kommen noch mehr dazu!
magnifique
GRANDIOSO
How does the harpsichord work? I saw some of the keys on the upper manual being depressed though the player wasn't actually touching them.
well observed, Luka! Actually you can combine both manuals so that, if you play a key on the lower one, the upper one is "going with". This gives more possibilities to create different colors!
Moreover, there are several registers for the different keyboards,(just like organs) which allows to have a variety of sounds according to the combinations. Here Frank Martin's intructions regarding the registration are very precise, and he composed the harpsichord part for the Pleyel instrument.
@@fabricemartinez6538 Then why isn't such an instrument ever employed? It's the only one that is audible. Harpischordists have such a stupid bias against them. And why is the piano uncovered? Still, this is better balance than many other performances.
Your harpsichord is gutsy, unless it is amplified. But it is actually louder than the harp.
@@nonenoneonenonenone I had to insist to get this Pleyel. Though I'd told the orchestra producer that there was a Pleyel at the Neuchatel conservatoire, I had a Neupert at the 1st rehearsal (that did not even have the whole 5 octaves!). Also the insturment was not amplified for the concert (the microphones were just set up for the recording), I would say it's the conductor's job to get the right balance between the different sections of the orchestra. The work itself is more than well written considering the 3 solo parts, Frank Martin is here a genius.
For the uncovered piano, I guess it's position (face to the conductor, between the 2 orchestras) has something to do with (and also it's easier to catch sight with the harpist). Alexander Mayer may answered better that question than me.
I do regret that the Pleyel is not used (even for Poulenc's Concert Champêtre), the fact it's less brighter than a copy of a Taskin for instance might be a reason.
It is not always easy to find a Pleyel in a good state (even the Geneva's Conservatoire is not well cared) and when you have one, the transport becomes (alas!) a problem (where there would be oddly none for a piano).
Your question is worth to be discuss, I wish we could talk in live!
125 AÑOS DE NACIDO
Pleyl był stworzony dla Polskiej klawesynistki Wandy Landowskiej, w Krakowie mamy instrument na którym kiedyś grała
What's petite about it :) Wonderfully dramatic.
Un grand compositeur hélas trop méconnu, rarement joué (au même titre que Charles Koechlin)
I love this piece. The conducting is pretty good. Too bad that the clavecinist begins messing up around 18mn, and then the pianist a bit later (wrong notes, off tempo, doesn't help the harpist do her part). Still, I guess the score is pretty hard for the solists.