Harriet Harding – Music in Modern Times
Consider the work of 4-6 major composers who produce significant work both before and after the First World War (eg. Bartok, Ravel, Schoenberg, R. Strauss, Stravinsky, but there are many others). Does their post-war work (up to c.1930) differ significantly from their pre-war music, and if so, how? What changes are common to more than one composer?
The First World War unarguably affected all of European society, as well as composers, their musical language and approaches to music. However, the ways in which composers responded to the affects of war differs greatly. Through looking at the composers Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Leoš Janáček, Maurice Ravel and Jean Sibelius, one can see a huge contrast of musical and personal responses. Three of the most common musical reactions to the war were avoidance of the horror causing a return to styles of the past, complete unaffectedness in musical language, or an obvious shift in style and approach. This essay will consider the works of these composers in relation to the wars affect on them, and then compare and contrast the different responses. The first composer in this study is Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951). Born in Vienna to a poor family, Schoenberg studied violin and began composing pieces imitating what he learnt in his lessons. He later earned a living by arranging operettas. His early musical style is often referred to as his “expressionist” period1 , with a romantic orchestral sound inspired by Wagner, Strauss and Mahler2. This period (18941907) peaked with Verklärte Nacht (1899), a programmatic work using Wagnerian leitmotif treatment mixed with the Brahmsian technique of “developing variation”, a term coined by Schoenberg. Other works of this period include Gurre-lieder (1901/11), 6 Songs (1899/1903) and his 1st String Quartet (1904-05). Already Schoenberg had begun to be criticized for his dissonance3, showing that even in his
1
Charles, Rosen. Schoenberg (London:Marion Boyars Books, 1975), page 9.
2
Egon Wellesz. Arnold Schoenberg. (London: Galliard Paperbacks, 1971) page xii.
3
Rosen, Schoenberg, 11.
early period he was pushing the bounds of tonality. This can be seen in a section of Verklärte Nacht, where, as Schoenberg states in his “Criteria for the Evaluation of Music”, because of “one single uncatalogued dissonance” [ex 1, marked X] Verklärte Nacht was rejected performance by a Viennese musical society4. Ex. 1
Schoenberg’s next musical period was his “Free Atonal”5 period, though he never referred to it under that name. This was a time of experimentation and increased compositional freedom. Schoenberg said that much of his composition at this time was intuitive and that he didn’t know how much of his musical material was connected6. This period encompassed WWI, when Schoenberg was drafted into the army. The war halted his composition, with Jacob’s Ladder (unfinished) being his only output during the war. Schoenberg’s pre-war “free atonal” music is often illustrated with his 2nd string quartet with soprano (1907-08). This piece is a clear example of Schoenberg’s escape from traditional tonalities and keys; with the first three movements using key signatures, and the fourth movement going without. Example 2 suitably shows how the 4th movement is letting us “feel air blowing from another planet” [ex. 2]
4
Richard Swift, 1/XII/99: Tonal Relations in Schoenberg’s "Verklärte Nacht" 19th-Century Music, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jul, 1977) University of California Press, page 10 5
Dika Newlin, Review: [untitled]. Notes, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jun. 1962) Music Library Association, page 434 6
Wellesz, Arnold Schoenberg, xii
Ex.2
During his free-atonal period Schoenberg explored changes not only in harmony but in all other aspects of musical composition. This can be seen in the creation of “klangfarbenmelodie” in 5 Pieces for Orchestra (1909) and the sprechstimme vocal technique in Pierrot Lunaire (1912). It’s hard to argue whether World War I led Schoenberg to create his twelve-tone serial system, or whether it was an inevitable, logical progression simply sped up by the war. Schoenberg had always considered himself a composer following in the German tradition of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner. To him, serialism was a logical, almost neoclassical approach, leading music to where it naturally needed to go7. One can see this in his neo-classical use of tone rows in his Opus 26 (1924), using a wind quintet to play sonata forms, using a tone row in a classical context, recapitulating and developing it. Germany and Austria, after being defeated in the war, were in a huge state of flux. It could be seen that Schoenberg’s hugely logical, strict new harmonic innovation was searching for stability in an unpredictable social atmosphere. This can be seen in 1923: the year of the hyper-inflation collapse in the German economy was the same year that Schoenberg created and put his twelve tone system into his music. In his String Trio (1946) we can see the evolution of his music, with a 12 tone row passing through registers from the tuba to the solo violin. His music is no longer conceived intuitively, but is
7
Wellesz, Arnold Schoenberg, xiii
serially planned [ex. 3]. Historically now, we can see Schoenberg’s logical musical development in clear sections. Simplified: romantic tonality, free atonality and serial music.
Ex.3
The effect of the war, whether conscious or subconscious, coincided with a huge shift in musical approach, completely revolutionizing twentieth century music. The next composer in this study is Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971). Arguably the most famous and influential twentieth century Russian composer, Stravinsky’s pre-war music is distinctly Russian. In fact, Stravinsky had two major style changes in his lifetime, from Russian to neoclassical and from neoclassical to serial. Stravinsky’s response to the war was one of avoidance. By returning to a style of the extremely conservative past he attempted to evade the horrors of war. One can see this when contrasting works such as The Rite of Spring (1913), a violent ballet portraying pagan rituals, and Pulcinella (1920), a ballet with song in the musical style of the eighteenth century. It would be hard to find a less war-torn work than Pulcinella. Two examples of the contrast between The Rite and Pulcinella are shown below.
Ex. 4A
Ex. 4B
Ex. 5A
Ex. 5B
In example 4A and B one can see how differently Stravinsky has treated simple quavers. In 4A, they are percussive, rhythmic and violent, with unpredictable accents. Seven years later in example 4B, tonal pianissimo quavers are accompanying a melodic dialogue between flute and violin. Example 5A and B show the change in Stravinsky’s bassoon writing. 5A shows the melody at the beginning of The Rite, modal, and rhythmically indistinct. 5B shows the bassoon parts in Pulcinella’s ‘Serenata’, with a clearly rhythmic, predictable melody and harmony. Whether Stravinsky consciously decided to emotionally, and musically ignore the war by focusing his composition on eighteenth century music, or whether, for different reasons altogether, he decided to dramatically shift style, it’s obvious that his pre-war music and his post-war music is incredibly different. However, similarly to Schoenberg, Stravinsky still saw his music as a logical progression forward: “tradition is not the relic of a past that is irretrievably gone; it is a living force that animates and informs the present…a tradition is carried forward in order to produce something new.”8 Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949) also went from being a leading innovator in European music to returning to a style of the past, though it is arguable whether the war caused the shift, as Die Rosenkavalier (1910), his first opera after the ground-breaking Elektra (1909), and his first opera in nineteenth century style to which he later returned, was composed before the war. Pre-war, up to 1910, Strauss pushed the limits of tonality in his highly successful, and often scandalous, operas and tone poems. In his tone poems, the idea of natural sounds is explored, such as in Don Quixote (1898), where one hears sheep
8
Theodore Strawinsky, The Message of Igor Strawinsky (Boosey & Hawkes Ltd, 1953) page 57
bleeting, and windmill sails turning. Harmonically, both his tone poems and operas develop further away from traditional tonality in the 1890s and early 1900s. An example is the Elektra chord [ex.6A] which implies E major and C# Major [ex.6B] at the same time, giving it tonal and bitonal leanings9. Strauss’s Ex. 6A
Ex. 6B
development of dissonance and extended tonality could be seen to stem from his subject matter. In Salome (1905) and Elektra, the protagonists are emotionally disturbed, with dark murderous intentions. This, along with other troubled characters, allows, if not calls for, disturbed, even maniacal, music to fit the context. This can be seen in Elektra, in Clytemnestra’s music at “ich habe keine guten Nachte” in the altering between the chords in the basses, celli, violas, contrabass tuba, tubas and flute. The chords are dominant 7 chords moving up and down a semitone, however they also alter between G and Gb between the outer voices [ex. 7] Ex. 7
G Cb Ebb F Gb altering to Gb Bb Db Fb G Enharmonically spelt, these are G B D F Gb and F# A# C# E G These chords give an undertone of a sick mind, the dominant 7 sound of disturbed pleasure tainted with the semitone alteration permeating through the parts. To contrast this, one could look to the final scene of Die Rosenkavalier, happy love duets finishing the piece with a perfect cadence in G Major. 9
H. H. Stuckenschmidt; Piero Weiss. Debussy or Berg? The Mystery of a Chord Progression, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 3. (Jul., 1965), pp. 453-459.
The war did not cause the shift in Strauss’s style, but perhaps permeated it. As Jefferson, the historian, argues, “Strauss was at his peak, and ready, if the right librettist presented themselves, to extend the frontiers of his music further still into a totally new zone of musical experience…instead, he was tempted by Hoffmannsthal’s Die Kavalier, and finally diverted from the road which led forwards from Elektra...and resumed a nineteenth century compositional career.”10 Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958), the famous English composer, was heavily affected by the war, both personally and musically. He served as a stretcher-bearer and later as an officer throughout the entire war, later becoming Director of Music, First Army in France11. Though his music didn’t change completely after the war, it was certainly intensified, and extended. One only needs to compare Vaughan Williams’ first two symphonies with the following two to see the wars affect on his music. The Sea Symphony (1903-09) and the London Symphony (1913), though well crafted, are essentially hopeful works, reflecting life in Edwardian England. The Pastoral Symphony (1921) and Symphony No.4 (193134) are much more intense and dissonant than their predecessors. The Pastoral Symphony, though outwardly calm, is subtly anguished, an answer to Beethoven’s cheerful pastoral world, now ravaged by war. The fourth movement contains a wordless soprano, echoing in the loneliness of the world’s war torn remains. Symphonies 4 and 6 (1946-47) are probably the best examples of the effect of war on Vaughan Williams’ life and music. Symphony 6 is often seen as a vision of the nuclear holocaust, though Vaughan Williams denied it12.
10
Alan Jefferson, Richard Strauss. (London, Macmillan London Limited, 1975), page 70
11
Michael Hurd, The Great Composers : Vaughan Williams. (Faber and Faber, 1970)
12
Frank Howes, The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. (Oxford University Press, 1954), page 54
Symphony 4, on one level explicitly references the war in the last post imitation, but on deeper levels shows the effects of war on humanity. Even the beginning of the work is startling in comparison to his earlier works, with fortissimo alterations between Db and C [ex. 8], with this violence and intensity being continued all the way throughout the symphony. This is in comparison with Vaughan Williams’ pre war London Symphony, with animated ‘street tunes’ accompanied by triangle and harp13 [ex. 9] and [ex. 10].
Ex. 8
Ex. 9
Ex. 10
13
Howes, The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, 14
Vaughan Williams is an example of a composer whose reaction to the war, and his new worldviews, were reflected in his music. His musical style grew from pastoral folk tunes to intense statements on the nature of violence and peace. Leoš Janáček (1854 – 1928), the most famous Czech composer, was relatively unaffected musically by the war. Though he was nationalistic, and responded musically to the formation of the Czech Republic, his musical language did not change in response to the war. Rather, the catalyst for his musical maturation was when he fell in love with Kamila Stösslová14. This event in his life, in the year 191715, instantly crystallized his mature style, with his first mature opera Káťa Kabanová (1919-21), being dedicated to Stösslová, who inspired Janáček’s creation of the protagonist. She was also his muse for works such as The Makropulos Affair (1923-25), The Diary of One Who Disappeared (1919), The Cunning Little Vixen (1924) and his 2nd string quartet (1928) - also named Intimate Letters. In regards to the war, Janáček was personally affected, but the only display of this in his music is in his portrayal of the world in which his female protagonists live and attempt to overcome problems. Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (1926) has been said to be a “masterpiece of the twentieth-century choral repertoire”16, “his most important work17.” In fact, Janáček had already begun planning it before WWI18, proving that the war was not a significant factor in the maturation of his musical style. His obsession with folk music also helped develop his style, with his use of Czech speech rhythms and melodic
14
Michael Beckerman, Janacek and His World (Princeton University Press, 2003) page 6
15
Eva Drlíková, Leoš Janáček, Život a dílo v datech a obrazech / Chronology of his life and work. (Opus Musicum, 2004) 16
Wingfield, Paul. Janacek: Glagolitic Mass (Cambridge University Press, 1992) page 5
17
Wingfield, Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, page 22
18
Wingfield, Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, page 6
inflections. Janáček didn’t imitate folk music; however his intense analysis and passion for it led to its amalgamation into his musical language. Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) born in Ciboure, in the very southwest of France, was essentially both an impressionist and expressionist composer. He was heavily inspired by the music of his mother’s native Spain, and before WWI his music was quite Debussy-esque, eclectic and Spanish-tinged. After the war Ravel’s music changed, not completely, but it gained a jazzier, more hard-edged feel. Whether this was protecting himself from the pain of the war by toughening his music; allowing it to be more frivolous, or whether it would have happened anyway, perhaps due to his apraxian brain damage, one can’t say for sure. Either way, in comparing his pre and post-war music, a difference certainly exists. For example, one could look at his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (1929-1930). Before the war it’s very unlikely that Ravel would ever have included a march in his music [ex.11]. Ex. 11
Ravel was clearly a master imitator, as Laurence Davies argues, perhaps, despite his unrivalled technical brilliance; Ravel wasn’t as strong in invention as he was in transcription19. Either way, the war certainly bridged a gap between his imitation of Spanish styles and jazz styles. His jazz influence was not solely individual; in fact it can be seen in other composer’s music in the French 1920s reaction against the war. He could be seen to represent the Les Six composers in this analysis of war responses. To compare Ravel’s pre-war music with his post-war music one could look at early works such as Rapsodie Espagnol (1907), L’Heure Espagnole (1907-09) and Daphnis et Chloé (1909-1912) in comparison to post-war works such as the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D (1929-30), the Piano Concerto in G (1929 – 31) and La Valse (1919-20). Ravel’s earlier works are generally more lush, as can been seen in the first movement of Rapsodie Espagnol [ex. 12]. The colours are richer and more congruous, the rhythms weaving across the barlines, with the bass giving depth in colour. In contrast, one can see the changes in Ravel’s musical language in his Piano Concerto in G Major first movement [ex. 13]. No longer are layers flowing and blending together; they are separate entities, rhythmically pushing and challenging one another. The melody sounds more like a pagan Petrushka melody, the tempo is allegramente and the rhythms are distinct and separated [ex. 13]. The war’s affect on Ravel, whether conscious or subconscious, acted as a catalyst for a change in his musical style.
19
Laurence Davies, Ravel Orchestral Music. (BBC, 1970) page 5
Ex. 12
Ex. 13
Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957), the Finnish composer, was arguably unaffected musically by the war. To follow through his symphonies, one sees a continuous progression and growth of his musical language, logically refining and unifying the symphonic form as well as that of his tone poems. The silence after his seventh symphony (1924) was due to his lack of inspiration in being able to write anything he considered more perfect than his last symphony. One could argue that Sibelius quit because his music had become outdated, the European landscape around him had evolved, and he was no longer relevant. This could be seen in the pamphlets made by composer and theorist René Leibowitz in the 1955 titled “Sibelius: the worst composer in the world!”20 The difference between Sibelius’ first symphony (1899-1900) and his last tone poem, Tapiola (1926) is that the symphony is relatively un-unified, changing moods and themes, while Tapiola is monothematic. His individuality and compositional development can be seen in comparing his seven symphonies. In
20
René Leibowitz, Sibelius, le plus mauvais compositeur du monde. (Éditions Dynamo, 1955)
regards to developing symphonic form, Sibelius went from quite a traditional structure in his 1st symphony – normal four movements, with one in modified sonata form, to his 7th symphony in one movement, though it contains 1st theme, 2nd theme and scherzo, it does so without any structural looseness21. Sibelius was definitely affected by the war. Professionally, he lost a lot of money when Germany entered the war. His works were still performed but there were no longer performing rights and protection laws, meaning that Sibelius received no royalties. He was forced to write ‘light music’ to earn more money to support his family, however reports from the time show him as reasonably optimistic and cheerful throughout the troubled times22. At one point during the internal fighting in Finland, Sibelius was forced to leave his hometown Järvenpää, but returned home after Finland was proclaimed an autonomous republic23. However Sibelius’s life was interrupted, it’s hard to argue that these events affected his musical language. His music seemed to develop logically, and didn’t get darker or more harmonically or musically innovative after the war, nor did he have a complete shift in styles. As Sibelius himself said “The longer I live the more I see Classicism as the way of the future.”24 In comparing composer’s reactions to the war, one can see a few general trends, common in certain ways to different composers. The first being a retreat in style, such as in the case of Stravinsky, and slightly in the case of Strauss and Ravel. Each of these cases are arguable though, questioning whether it was the war’s influence, or a coincidence in the timing of their stylistic changes. Different composers took refuge in different stylistic periods too; Stravinsky to styles of the eighteenth century, Strauss to 21
Alfred H. Meyer, Sibelius: Symphonist. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan, 1936) Oxford University Press. Page 70 22
David Burnett-James, Sibelius. (Omnibus Press 1989) page 78
23
Burnett-James, Sibelius, 82
24
Burnett-James, Sibelius, 82
the nineteenth century and Ravel, and other French composers, to jazz styles. Predictably none of these composers saw their change as specifically a war reaction; rather they saw it as logical progression from their earlier music. The next type of war reaction was that of a musical non-reaction. This occurred in Sibelius and Janáček, whose styles, though they developed, did not do so because of the war, and arguably would have developed in the direction they did with or without the war. It’s interesting to see that two composers who did not change due to the war were nationalist composers. This is proven to be a pure coincidence, as other nationalist composers such as Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Ravel and Bartók all changed their musical voice in reaction to the war. The other type of reaction I encountered was that of progressive change, a change not just to something new, but to a musical language that pushed boundaries and tradition. This can be seen best with Schoenberg’s post-war development of serialism, though, again, it’s possible to argue that this was a logical natural progression, perhaps just sped up by the effects of war. The other composer as an example of this is Vaughan Williams, whose style expanded into whole new realms. Overall, composers, like all human beings, have showed varied reactions to the devastation of Europe through World War I. It can be seen that all of the musical styles of these composers changed for different reasons, but they still changed, and the international social effects of the war have changed how we subsequently view their music. Perhaps, no matter how the composers changed the world of music after the war, it is testament to the strength of human spirit that they made it through at all. In the words of Jean Sibelius: “Look at the great nations of Europe and what they have endured. No savage could have stood so much. I do believe in civilization.”25
25
Burnett-James, Sibelius, 77
BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Bryon and Wells, Robin. Vaughan Williams Essays. Ashgate Publishing, 2003. Auner, Joseph. A Schoenberg Reader – Documents of a Life. Yale University Press, 2003. Beckerman, Michael. Janáček and His World. Princeton University Press, 2003. Burnett-James, David. Sibelius. Omnibus Press. 1989. Craft, Robert. Stravinsky, in conversation with Robert Craft. Pelican Books Ltd, 1958. Davies, Laurence. Ravel Orchestral Music. BBC. 1970. Howes, Frank. The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Greenwood Press, 1954. Howes, Frank. The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Oxford University Press, 1954. Hurd, Michael. The Great Composers : Vaughan Williams. Faber and Faber, 1970. Janáček, Leos. Jenufa. Dover Publications, Inc.,2002. Janáček, Leos. Msa Glagolskaja. Universal, 1928. Jefferson, Alan. Richard Strauss. Novello & Co, 1978. Jefferson, Alan. Richard Strauss. Macmillan London Limited, 1975. Jefferson, Alan. The Life of Richard Strauss. David & Charles, 1973. Lubaroff, Scott. An Examination of the Neo-Classical Wind Works of Igor Stravinsky. The Edward Mellen Press, 2004. MacDonald, Malcolm. Schoenberg. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. 1976. Meyer, Alfred H. Sibelius: Symphonist. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan, 1936) Oxford University Press. Newlin, Dika, Review: [untitled]. Notes, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jun. 1962) Music Library Association Payne, Anthony. Schoenberg. Oxford University Press, 1968. Perlemuter, Vlado and Jourdan-Morhange, Helene. Ravel According to Ravel. Kahn & Averill, 1988. Ravel, Maurice. Alborado del Gracioso. Ernst Eulenburg Ltd., 1984.
Ravel, Maurice. Concerto in G Major. Musigraphic Publishers Ltd. Ravel, Maurice. Concerto pour la main gauche. Editions Durand, 1931. Ravel, Maurice. L’Heure Espagnole. Dover Publications, 1996. Ravel, Maurice. Rapsodie Espagnole, Mother Goose Suite & Pavane for a Dead Princess. Dover Publications, Inc., 2001. Rosen, Charles. Schoenberg. Marion Boyars, 1975. Schoenberg, Arnold, Five Orchestral Pieces, Edition Eulenburg, 1950. Schoenberg, Arnold, Serenade, Wilhelm Hansen Edition, 1924. Sibelius, Jean. Symphony No. 1. British and Continental Music Agencies Ltd, 1902. Sibelius, Jean. Symphony No. 2. Breitkopt & Hartels, 1931. Sibelius, Jean. Symphony No. 7. Wilhelm Hansen Edition, 1925. Strauss, Richard. Der Rosenkavalier. Dover Publications,1987. Strauss, Richard. Elecktra. Dover Publiations,1990. Strauss, Richard. Salome. Belwin Mills, Stravinsky, Igor. An Autobiography. W.W.Norton & Co. 1936. Stravinsky, Igor. Les Noces. Dover Publications, 1998. Stravinsky, Igor. Octet. Boosey and Hawkes, 1952. Stravinsky, Igor. Petrushka. Dover Publications, 1988. Stravinsky, Igor. Pulcinella. Boosey and Hawkes, 1949 Stravinsky, Igor. Symphonies of Wind Instruments. Boosey and Hawkes, 1952. Stravinsky, Igor. The Rakes Progress. Boosey & Hawkes, 1949. Strawinsky, Igor. Oedipus Rex. Boosey & Hawkes,1949. Strawinsky, Theodore. The Message of Igor Strawinsky. Boosey & Hawkes Ltd, 1953. Swift, Richard, 1/XII/99: Tonal Relations in Schoenberg’s "Verklärte Nacht" 19th-Century Music, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jul, 1977) University of California Press Tausky, Vilem and Margaret. Janáček: Leaves from his Life. Taplinger Publishing Company, 1982.
Vaughan Williams, Ralph. A London Symphony. Dover Publications, 1996. Vaughan Williams, R. A Sea Symphony. Stainer & Bell, 1961. Vaughan Williams, R. Five Tudor Portraits. Oxford University Press, 1935. Vaughan Williams, R. Sancta Civitas. J Curwen & Sons, 1953. Vaughan Williams, R. Serenade to Music. Oxford University Press, 1938. Vaughan Wiliams,R. Symphony in D Major. Oxford University Press, 1947. Vaughan Williams, R. Symphony in F Minor. Oxford University Press, 1935. Vaughan Williams, R. Symphony No. 6 in E Minor. Oxford University Press,1948. Wellesz, Egon. Arnold Schoenberg. Galliard Paperbacks,1971. White, Eric Walter. Stravinsky: The Composer and his Works. University of California Press, 1966. Wilde, Denis. The Development of Melody in the Tone Poems of Richard Strauss. Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd. United Kingdom, 1990. Wingfield, Paul. Janáček: Glagolitic Mass. Cambridge University Press,1992. Zemanova, Mirka. Janáček’s Uncollected essays on Music. Marion Boyars, 1989.
DISCOGRAPHY Janáček. Jenufa. The Decca Record Company, 414 483-2, 1993. Janáček. Piano Music Vol.1. Along an Overgrown Path : Sonata. HNH International Ltd. 8.553586, 1996. Janáček. Vec Makropulos. The Decca Record Company, 430 372-2, 1979. Mahler, Gustav. Schonberg, Arnold. Die Jakobsleiter/Symphony no. 8. Michael Gielen. Haenssler Classic 93.015. 2001, 2002. Ravel. L’Heure Espagnloe. Polydor International, 1965. Ravel, Maurice. Rachmaninov, Sergei. Piano Concertos. Ettore Gracis. EMI Records 7-49326-2, 1958. Ravel, Maurice. Rapsodie Espagnole/Tzigane. Yan Pascal Tortelier. Chandos Records. 1990, 1991, 1993. Ravel. Piano Trio. Chandos Records 8458, 1986. Ravel, Maurice. The Piano Concertos. Krystian Zimmerman, Pierre Boulez. Deutsche Grammophon 449 213-2. 1998.
Schonberg, Arnold. Gurre-Lieder. Sony Classical, 48 459, 1975. Schonberg, Arnold. Oeuvres Pour Piano. Claude Helffer. Harmonia Mundi 90752. 1976. Schonberg, Arnold. Piano Concerto. Pierre Boulez. Philips Classics 468 033-2. 2001. Schoenberg, Berg, Webern. Piano Music. Naxos, 8.553870, 1999. Schoenberg, Arnold. Pierrot Lunaire. Deutsche Grammophon, 457 630-2, 1998. Schoenberg, Arnold. Verklarte Nacht. Yuli Turovsky. Chandos Records. 1992. Sibelius, Jean. Symphonies 1 – 7. Sixten Ehrling. Warner Music 3984-22713-2, 1952-1953. Sibelius, Jean. Symphonies 3, 5, 6 & 7. Vladimir Ashkenazy. Decca Record Company 455 405-2. 1981, 1983, 1985. Strauss, Richard. Der Rosenkavalier/Suite. Antal Dorati. Decca Record Company 411 893-1. 1985. Stravinsky, Igor. Oedipus Rex. Sir Georg Solti. Decca Record Company 430 001-2. 1977, 1990. Stravinsky, Igor. The Rake’s Progress. Kent Nagano. Erato Disques 0630-12715-2. Stravinsky, Igor. Symphonies. Igor Stravinsky. Sony Classical 01-046290-10-4. 1991. Vaughan Williams. A Sea Symphony. EMI Classics, 7 49911 2, 1989. Vaughan Williams. Fantasia on a Theme. EMI Records 764017 2, 1976. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Five Tudor Portraits, Five Mystical Songs. Hyperion Records, 55004, 1988. Vaughan Williams. Serenade to Music. Hyperion Records Ltd. 66420, 1990. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Symphony No. 4. Paul Daniel. Naxos Radio 8.557276. 2003. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Symphonies 4 & 6. Sir Adrian Boult. EMI Records 7-47215-2, 1986. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Symphony No 5 in D. Vernon Handley. EMI Records 7 62029 2. 1987.