Nicodé's "Gloria!" Symphony - World first recording of the greatest romantic sym...

[fahl5]

I just finished the first recording of the "greatest" romantic symphony ever written.

OK "greatest" is obviously a individual judgement, but no one can dispute, that "Gloria!" is definitly the longest ever written "romantic" Symphony (at least in terms of musical epochs: Romantic=1815–1910).

You can listen the whole 123 Minutes recording at the klassik-resampled-page of "Gloria!"

For a shorter overview here is a little 10 minutes Youtube-Trailer

Nevertheless (beside DaveTubakings incredible Sorabji-Project) with a densly printed 338 pages Score and 250 000 notes which had to to be shaped musical reasonable "Gloria!" belongs presumably to the larger projects which are realised with VSL

Without mentioning some individually solved loading Problems. The VSL-Samples and software did a really great job and with their latest improvements finally made a project possible I have dreamed of for so long time.

"GLoria!" definitly demands "dimension"-Patches with eightfold devided first violins, eightfold devided second violins, sixfold divided Violas and sixfold devided Celli and fourfold devided basses (the score is definitly concieved for 16 first Violins at "8 Pulten" and 16 second also at "8 Pulten" which can mean two musicians for each seperate miditrack in the string section.In combination with all other VSL-Stringsamples the dimension Strings and Celli therefore helped me alot trying to meet the musical demands of this very challenging score as it does the dimension brass for this score very rich of brass section (for instance: 6 Trumpets, 12 Horns)

Aswell it was definitly a pleasure to work with MIR in VE not only for integrating the EW Choirs Zero-G Soloist for the last part of Gloria in a common acoustic room, but also for the many different occasions when singers brass, winds or percussion are placed "behind the scene, or outside the Room to imitate acoustic distance in the way the 19th century used it to imitate in their concert halls and operas.

I hope if ever my rendering might have any good for any one he will know how much this depnds on the great possibilities the VSL-Products provided to meet this challenge.

best

Steffen

[William]

This is an amazing project!  What an enormous amount of work and it is sounding extremely good!  Also to incorporate the choir and voices is very difficult and it actually works extremely well in many places.    I only listened to some excerpts as I can't listen to an extended piece on a streaming computer. I'd like to download it for listening separately.  Congratulations on completing this.  The music has influences of Wagner, R. Strauss and Mahler but is not stolen and has many beautiful passages.  The ending with the one note still hanging up high is very striking.  Why is it so neglected?  Probably because of fashion changing. It seems with all art including music that if something "new" comes along, everyone must drop what is not "new" like a hot potato and switch, even though immense amounts of work can be done in an "old" style without repeating what has already been done.  I personally think one could write MEDIEVAL HOMOPHONY that is perfectly valid today, let alone complex Post Romantic music, but tell that to academics and music directors and they will laugh you in the face.  So great composers like Nicode (and many others) are either ignored or forgotten. Anyway  this is a great project.  If you have time maybe more information on the instrumentation and how you did it in VSL would be good to hear especially since it is such an ambitious undertaking.    This should be released on a CD set for sure. I for one would buy it!  

[fahl5]

Thank you again for your friendly reaction to my project.

My personal theory why Nicodé'sis so much neglected is related to the high demands for the musicians for whom he wrote music.  Meanwhile he knows quite well what the musicians of an orchestra are able to, it is still necessary that they keep playing for long time on a very high musical and technical standard. I expect that there are not that much orchestras really ready to do so.

I am not that sure how much Mahler was able to influence Nicodé that much, when I am right none of Mahlers Symphonies was ever played, when Nicodé already rehersed (1888) and finally premiered (1889) "the Sea". Just the first two Mahler were played before Nicodé began with Gloria only three until Nicodé ended Gloria. It does not seem to me that probable, that Mahler would have at that time already dominated the musical world that much to be inevitable an influence for all other composers of his time. At least by far the Major Part of Mahlers Oeuvre is definitly composed after Nicodés great symphonies.(Who knows how far Mahler himself might be likewise influenced by Nicodé???)

But I admitt I thought in the 5.Part of Gloria I thought I heard the Brassband playing "against" the Rest of the Symphonie like in Mahlers 1. So this could maybe indeed inspired by Mahler, while the context here is still a bit different.

Wagner? I mean that seem to me at the end of the 19th century nearly inevitable.... For me this seem to be in that time more something like a temporary commen sens than a mater of individual taste. Richard Strauss ? This appeares quite probable and reasonable since we know Nicodé has introduced some R. Strauss Works for the first time in Dresden.

I do understand your interest for details of the production with VSL. I do personally hesitated to start talking about, since I know this is definitly a pretty large subject. You can find the exact demands of the composer in the first pages of musical guide linked on my Gloria page.

To keep it as short anmd overviewable as possible: There are just a few VSL-Patches I did not neede at all. (Recorders, Saxophones, Guitars, Jazzdrums, Pianos & Harspsichords and alike). But for most of the regular Orchestrainstruments I definitly neede nearly all different kinds of samplesets available. With 64 GB Ram and 1 TB SSD's  I was able to load nearly all available variations in my VE-Project.

I used a self constructed nearly fo all tracks useable "universal expressionmap" just to decide wich VI matrix should be selcted for just a general Type of Articulation (Stacc, non-legato, sus, legato, perf-rep, sforz, pfp/fpf, Dynamic, perfTrill, Halftonetrill, wholetonetrill, pizz, Harmonics, Flautando/sultasto)

Inside such a matrix I chose via one CC on the x direction for example which special Version of Legato (perfleg, Marcato, sul G, zigane...) I need.a

In the y-direction I chose with another CC wich certain available variaty of Instrument, or ensemble  I need (solo, one Dimensionplayer, two dimensionplayer, four dp, eight dp, Chamberstrings. orchestra strings. Appasionato strings).

This was great  to follow he vast variety of differentiation  which are detailed notated up to often exactly defined differences between for example one "Pult" of the Strings and another. The only thing I missed (beside dimension Violas and Basses are muted dimension strings (oh sorry VSL I know my totally immodest whishes will make me to one of the most hated VSL customers, but still muted DS would have been great sometimes [;)] )

Oh I would like to have any excinting medival Piece not alredy recoded to try with my DAW, but it ssems to me, that they already have been quite curious in the field of medival music in the last decade.

Please just ask if you know or feel any certain aspect you would like to talk or think it should perhaps be thought about.

best

Steffen

[William]

Yes, that's a good point about Mahler at that time.  His music was very little known in general then.  I actually was listening and wondering - did Nicode influence Mahler?  The Wagner influence I was thinking of was the Liebestod, but you are quite right about the general significance at the time of Wagner.   Again, I must say this is a tremendous use of the VSL samples - certainly one of the best reasons why samples are a great thing for musical art.  Best of luck on all of your work!

[mbrylka]

Es scheint so, dass nun so langsam die Zeit der "virtuellen Orchester" beginnt. Ich habe vor wenigen Tagen ein Projekt begonnen, dass mich für 1 - 1 1/2 Jahre beschäftigen wird: Allan Pettersson Sinfonie Nr. 13 (ca. 70 Minuten lang). Über die Vienna Community stiess ich dann auf diesen Bericht über Nicodé und es ist eine großartige Leistung, dieses Werk so zugänglich gemacht zu finden, Gratulation Steffen.

Ich selbst bin Pianist und Komponist und seit über 30 Jahren ein Enthusiast für die Musik Allan Petterssons, so verbindet sich nun meine Vorliebe für Sinfonisches mit meiner Liebe zum eigenen Gestalten in diesem äußerst anspruschvollen Projekt, wovon hier

schonmal ein Preview / Prehearsel zu hören ist. Eventuell könne wir uns über das Eine oder Andere austauschen, denn allzuviele "von uns" gibt es anscheinend noch nicht.

beste Grüße,

Markus Brylka

http://www.opus100.de

http://www.facebook.com/thecomposer

https://soundcloud.com/markus-brylka