A reader who attended a talk I gave in Seattle last weekend — an MP3-driven tour of twentieth-century composition, inspired by my forthcoming book The Rest Is Noise (fall '07, FSG) — requested a playlist. I managed to get through the below in 90 105 minutes, but only by practicing triage on the final decades of the century; fewer than half of the last twenty selections were played. I've left in the rest, to preserve the original utopian scheme of one hundred tracks. N.B.: The idea was not to represent all the most important compositions of the period but to illustrate a diversity of styles. [Robert Gable has gone to the trouble of finding sound links for many of these — thanks!] At the end I've listed a dozen significant recordings. Many thanks to my excellent hosts at On the Boards, and also to the EMP Pop Conference for inviting me into their dazzling mélange. Some highlights of the latter: Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer eulogizing Sassy magazine, Jody Rosen exposing the Jewish novelty number inside "God Bless America," David Grubbs pondering John Cage's imponderable dislike of recordings, Daphne Carr inveighing against the phrase "art school."
Walking-in music: Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians
1. Luigi Boccherini, Flute Quintet No. 3 in C
2. Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, "Glorification of the Chosen One" (Boulez/Cleveland, Sony)
3. George Gershwin, Rhapsody In Blue (Bernstein, Sony)
4. Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gruppen (Abbado, DG)
5. Osvaldo Golijov, Ayre, "Tancas Serradas a Muru" (DG)
6. Sergei Rachmaninov, Second Symphony
7. Arnold Schoenberg, Five Pieces for Orchestra, IV: Peripetie (Levine, Berlin Philharmonic, DG)
8. Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, Prelude
9. Claude Debussy, Prelude to 'The Afternoon of a Faun' (Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, DG)
10. Debussy, Preludes Book I, "Voiles" (Pascal Rogé, Onyx)
11. Maurice Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit, "Le Gibet"
12. Richard Strauss, Salome (Karajan, EMI)
13. Schoenberg, Second String Quartet, IV: "Entrückung" (Arditti Quartet, Naive)
14 and 15. Alban Berg, Wozzeck, Act III Scenes 2 and 4
16. Anton Webern, Six Pieces for Orchestra, IV: Langsam (Levine, DG)
17 and 18. Stravinsky, The Rite of Sping
19 and 20. Stravinsky, Histoire du Soldat
21. Stravinsky, Pulcinella
22. Stravinsky, Symphonies of Wind Instruments
23. Erik Satie, Parade
24. Francis Poulenc, Les Biches
25. Paul Hindemith, Kammermusik No. 2
26. Hindemith, Kammermusik No. 1
27. Hindemith, The Flying Dutchman Overture As Played By A Bad Spa Orchestra Sight-Reading At Seven In The Morning
28. Leos Janacek, Amarus
29. Janacek, Glagolitic Mass
30. Béla Bartók, Quartet No. 2: II. Allegro molto capriccioso
31. Bartók, Quartet No. 4: V. Allegro molto
32. Darius Milhaud, Création du monde
33. Ernst Krenek, Jonny spielt auf, "Du Lumpenkerl!"
34. Edgard Varèse, Arcana
35. Alexander Mosolov, Iron Foundry
36. Hindemith, "Trickaufnahme" (from CD accompanying Mark Katz's Capturing Sound)
37. Schoenberg, Die Jakobsleiter
38. Schoenberg, Variations for Orchestra
39. Kurt Weill, "Alabama Song"
40. Weill, "Moritat von Mackie Messer" (f/ B. Brecht)
41. Hanns Eisler, "Der Heimliche Aufmarsch"
42. Aaron Copland, Billy the Kid
43. Charles Ives, Three Places in New England, "Putnam's Camp, Redding, CT"
44. Shostakovich, The New Babylon
45. Shostakovich, Fourth Symphony
46. Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex, "Gloria"
47. Strauss, Metamorphosen
48. Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings
49. Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time
50. Webern, Variations for Piano
51. Milton Babbitt, Three Compositions for Piano
52. Pierre Boulez, First Piano Sonata
53. Stockhausen, Klavierstück IV
54. Pierre Schaeffer, Etude aux chemins de fer
55. Herbert Eimert, Klangstudie II
56. John Cage, Williams Mix
57. Conlon Nancarrow, Study No. 3a
58. Iannis Xenakis, Metastasis
59. György Ligeti, Atmosphères
60. Stravinsky, Requiem Canticles
61. Copland, Connotations
62. Luciano Berio, Sinfonia
63. Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Requiem for a Young Poet
64. Henry Cowell, Aeolian Harp and Sinster Resonance
65. Harry Partch, Barstow
66. Cage, String Quartet in Four Parts
67. Morton Feldman, Extensions 3
68, Terry Riley, In C
69. Miles Davis, "So What"
70. Junior Walker & The All Stars, "Shotgun"
71. James Brown, "Lost Someone"
72. Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
73. Steve Reich, It's Gonna Rain
74. Reich, Piano Phase
75. Philip Glass, Music in Similar Motion
76. Velvet Underground, "Heroin"
77. Velvet Underground, "What Goes On" (live 1969)
78. Glass, Koyaanisqatsi
79. Messiaen, From the Canyons to the Stars, "Zion Park"
80. Witold Lutoslawski, Third Symphony
81. Sofia Gubaidulina, Stimmen...Verstummen
82. Arvo Pärt, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
83. Benjamin Britten, Winter Words
84. John Adams, Harmonielehre
85. Louis Andriessen, De Stijl
86. Michael Gordon, Decasia
87. Martin Bresnick, My Twentieth Century
88. Gérard Grisey, Transitoires
89. Magnus Lindberg, Kraft
90. Kaija Saariaho, Du Cristal
91. Sibelius, Tapiola
92. Toru Takemitsu, Toward the Sea
93. Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Apsheron Quintet
94. Unsuk Chin, Violin Concerto
95. Helmut Lachenmann, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern
96. György Kurtág, Stele
97. Elliott Carter, Clarinet Concerto
98. Thomas Adès, Asyla
99. Björk, "An Echo, A Stain"
100. Osvaldo Golijov, Ayre
SOME CORE RECORDINGS
Stravinsky, Rite and Petrushka, Boulez/Cleveland (Sony)
Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Pieces for Orchestra, Levine (DG)
Berg, Wozzeck, Abbado (DG)
Sibelius, Symphonies 4-7, Karajan (DG)
Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra / Music for Strings, Reiner (RCA)
Britten, Peter Grimes, Colin Davis (Philips)
Copland, Copland the Populist, MTT (RCA)
Shostakovich, Quartets 5 and 15, Borodin (EMI)
Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time, Tashi (RCA)
Feldman, Rothko Chapel (New Albion)
Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Poulenc Gloria, Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Bernstein (Sony)
Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians (Nonesuch)
