Boris Blacher (1906-75), and his ilk -- (the sort of 'ilk' I'm quite fond of!)

[Rooster_Ties]

Any fans here among us?  And what other composers would you say are "among his ilk"??

I may have another disc or two of his around here somewhere (though I'm forgetting the covers)...

But these two discs I can quickly account for 100%, having dearly loved them for the better part of 20 years.  Vigorous writing, energetic and very modern, but I'd like to think them also mostly pretty approachable too. (And my wife really likes both of them too, so that makes them "mostly pretty approachable" in my book.)

https://www.discogs.com/Boris-Blacher-Horst-G%C3%B6bel-Die-drei-Klavierkonzerte/release/18955630

 

And also this one, equally...

https://www.discogs.com/Boris-Blacher-Kolja-Blacher-Philharmonisches-Orchester-Frankfurt-Oder-Nikoa-Athin%C3%A4os-Symphonie-Viol/release/12087467

[Rooster_Ties]

Here's the first piano concerto (1947) from the very same CD as above (same exact recording).

There's a slow, quiet intro that's not quite 2 minutes long, then it jumps into action quite nicely!!

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[sgcim]

I was lucky enough to attend a concert at Carnegie Hall that featured Blacher's Variations on a Theme of Paganini. I enjoyed it greatly. I had come to hear William Walton's Second Symphony conducted by Andre Previn.

Previn always programmed great modern music that was still tonal. Look for work by

Arthur Honegger

Howard Hanson's Second Symphony.

William Walton

Paul Hindemith

Norman Della Joio

Charles Koechlin

Harold Shapero

Bernard Herrmann's Symphony

Shostakovich

Miklos Rosza

[Rooster_Ties]

And here's Blacher’s second piano concerto (1952) — also from the CD above.

 

[Rooster_Ties]

Blacher's violin concerto (1948)