Odd pieces

I've been listening to a lot of pieces by Bach and Mozart lately that are just weird for them, and I'm sure those aren't the only two composers who did odd things in their music every now and then. What are some pieces that strike you as incorporating things uncharacteristic of the composer that wrote them?

I can't think of anything on the top of my head, but I know every so often I listen to a composer and have to do a double take and make sure it's the right composer. Kinda annoys, but I guess it's natural.

I still remember the first time I bought a record (yes, this is PRE-CD era) of Puccini's Turandot. I had only heard Nessun Dorma and Non Piangere Lu, the two "hit" tenor arias, so I didn't really know anything about the rest of the opera.

I put the record on, and it starts with this bizarre whole-tone fanfare.. and then all of a sudden, these polychords of C# over D minor.

I literally stopped the record to read the label. I was SURE it was the wrong record they had put in the sleeve. :toothygrin:

I think I was 17 or 18 at the time, and needless to say, that marked me for life! :w00t: I loves me my polychords now. And Turandot remains one of my two favourite operas.

Chopin's Prelude in a minor. A bit schizo -- the melody seems to be a fragment of Chopin while the accompaniment of fifths, tritone and octaves sinking into the ground comes from a totally different world. You only know you are in the mid 19th century Western art tradition when Chopin resolves with a V7 - I cadence at the very end (and a bit tenuously). Also, late Listz -- very bizarre whole tone/atonal spare piano pieces.

Leroy Anderson's Piano Concerto in C. A couple of moments sound like they came straight out of the Rach 2! Atypical of Anderson's usual style, to say the least.

Scott Joplin's Bethena. It starts out like any other ol' rag, and then all of a sudden it hits you with this jazzy tune of melancholy. A very pleasant surprise - this rag really *speaks* to the listener in a way few others do.

Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor. Maybe I'm just not used to hearing Tchaikovsky do chamber music, but it's so drastically different in style from his other stuff. Maybe it's just the recording I have (it's Argerich, whose style I'm not exactly found of).

I am not a big Tchiakovsky fan except for a few works - his Violin Concert (yes it get overdone but hey it is such a beautiful piece) and one of his most popular chamber works, Serenade for Strings. If you like the Trio, and haven't heard of this piece, do get it. Naxos has an excellent recording of it.

At first glance, Tchaik 6 is a bit off.

At first glance, Mahler 7 is a bit off.

As well known as it is, Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is a little odd for him. There are parallel fifths all over the piece, something Bach was very experienced in avoiding in his music. Add to that it's not even certain he wrote it for organ originally, although chances are he did. The "Great" (as distinguished from the "little") Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor for organ is also a little strange.

Cut to a couple years later lol, and you get Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3, which is drastically different from anything else he wrote.

^ Well, Bach did write it in his earlier days, so I suppose he was still finding that "Bach voice".

I am not a big Tchiakovsky fan except for a few works - his Violin Concert (yes it get overdone but hey it is such a beautiful piece) and one of his most popular chamber works, Serenade for Strings. If you like the Trio, and haven't heard of this piece, do get it. Naxos has an excellent recording of it.

Yeah, I've got a recording with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, but...are you sure it's chamber music? o.O

Tchaikovsky himself supposedly wrote in the score, "The larger the string orchestra, the better will the composer's desires be fulfilled." I'd say that's in direct antithesis to the inherent nature of chamber music. :D

I've got his Violin Concerto w/ Jascha Heifetz and Reiner conducting the CSO, and the performance is great, though to be honest I've never found much appeal in the work itself. :/

Cut to a couple years later lol, and you get Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3, which is drastically different from anything else he wrote.

funny, I don't see such a dramatic identity problem with this piece. It's late Bartok, and seems to fit quite well into a return to the Hungarian folksong roots of his early works, along with the Concerto for Orchestra and the Cantata Profana.

I always found it intriguing to see how later in life a composer who had stretched so far musically, was comfortable enough to sort of "return" to roots.

Voce - the famous D minor prelude and fugue Bach authorship has been contested. Aside from parallel fifths the style is a spare, gallant style. When Bach incorporates the gallant style into his own the counterpoint is much denser and the harmonic movement either a bit quicker or more complex than with the D minor. Lastly Bach's early style is closer to the North German style that stemmed from Scheidt et al with the influence of Buxtehude and Vivalvdi a little later. If you want a good idea of early Bach just look at his Toccattas. He breaks some counterpoint rules and his structure is a bit overgrown (he tends to go on and on with sequences at times!!) but you see some of his mature style coming out.

My opinion is the D minor is not JS Bach.

The 8 Little Preludes and Fugues has been shown by musicologists to be NOT by Bach but by a contemporary of his. Yet, they are little gems and worthwhile study.

Matt -

Well, about the Sreenade For Strings, not sure if you can classify aschamber music. By late 19th century standards, possibly. Otherwise I agree it probably isn't.

Mozart wrote lots of stylistically unusual music throughout his career, Bach less so. There are a great number of spurious or contested (mainly keyboard) works by Bach, but most of his vocal and chamber compositions are watermarked with his style within the first few bars. The secular cantatas are some of the most unusual pieces he wrote; the two in Italian are, at least superficially, about as close as close to Opera as Bach got.