Matching visual arts with music: cd covers.
Matching visual arts with music: cd covers.
For labels such as Hypérion, a particular recording offers an opportunity to creatively match visual arts with music. In the case of A. Scriabin's preludes, for example, the producers opted for a painting by Louis Walden Hawkins, "Auréoles," which conveys both the spiritual and the erotic sides of several of the Russian composer's pieces. It's really beautiful, just like the preludes. I wonder if you would contribute other examples of what you view as a perfect match between visual arts and music.
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Posts: 4687
- Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:31 pm
- Location: Brush, Colorado
No commercial reissue CD labels have thought of putting his output on digital disc, but I'm presently duping for a new buddy (out in the UK) my entire collection of ALFRED HERTZ/SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY recordings from the late 20s. No better cover art would equal this:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641 ... 31,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641 ... 31,00.html
Good music is that which falls upon the ear with ease, and quits the memory with difficulty.
--Sir Thomas Beecham
--Sir Thomas Beecham
Two Mahler cycles:
Bernstein's DG series used a series of illustrations by Erté on white background to great effect.
Likewise, Philips used a series of prints by Oskar Kokoschka on a woodgrain background for their not quite complete cycle by Haitink.
The typefaces on both sets are also well-chosen.
The two series of illustrations are quite different in style but they both match facets of Mahler's music.
Bernstein's DG series used a series of illustrations by Erté on white background to great effect.
Likewise, Philips used a series of prints by Oskar Kokoschka on a woodgrain background for their not quite complete cycle by Haitink.
The typefaces on both sets are also well-chosen.
The two series of illustrations are quite different in style but they both match facets of Mahler's music.
Last edited by Haydnseek on Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be." - Raymond Chandler
I do not mean to insult anybody. I rely on Google's "Images" rather than "Web" to copy a picture's url. I bet that everybody knows this already but, just in case, it's free info.
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
It's mighty ... convincingWallingford wrote:No commercial reissue CD labels have thought of putting his output on digital disc, but I'm presently duping for a new buddy (out in the UK) my entire collection of ALFRED HERTZ/SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY recordings from the late 20s. No better cover art would equal this:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641 ... 31,00.html
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Site Administrator
- Posts: 20851
- Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:27 am
- Location: Binghamton, New York
- Contact:
Totally agree! What an outstanding digital reproduction of a 1927 cover! Go for it!Wallingford wrote:No commercial reissue CD labels have thought of putting his output on digital disc, but I'm presently duping for a new buddy (out in the UK) my entire collection of ALFRED HERTZ/SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY recordings from the late 20s. No better cover art would equal this:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641 ... 31,00.html
Lance G. Hill
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
The Great Gate of Kiev
But is it a great artistic match with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition?
Victor Alexandrovich Hartmann "was an architect and designer of ordinary talent," wrote Alfred Frankestein, the individual who discovered the very "tableaux" (in the late 1930s) that inspired Mussorgsky to write his famous piano pieces. These pictures are "actually not paintings at all, at least in the ordinary sense of that word. Many are architectural drawings." In this instance, then, Mussorgsky made the drawings greater than they are, thereby immortalizing his dear friend who died at the age of 39.
But is it a great artistic match with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition?
Victor Alexandrovich Hartmann "was an architect and designer of ordinary talent," wrote Alfred Frankestein, the individual who discovered the very "tableaux" (in the late 1930s) that inspired Mussorgsky to write his famous piano pieces. These pictures are "actually not paintings at all, at least in the ordinary sense of that word. Many are architectural drawings." In this instance, then, Mussorgsky made the drawings greater than they are, thereby immortalizing his dear friend who died at the age of 39.
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Composer-in-Residence
- Posts: 9812
- Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:12 am
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
The Gate is certainly an architectural drawing. But the drawing which Musorgsky rendered as the Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells was a costume design, and I believe the Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba Yaga) was a design for a clock.piston wrote:. . . These pictures are "actually not paintings at all, at least in the ordinary sense of that word. Many are architectural drawings."
At any rate, Musorgsky's title is perfectly accurate: Pictures (not "Paintings") at an Exhibition.
Cheers,
~Karl
Karl Henning, PhD
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
In that case, the English language has proven more accurate than the French title: Tableaux d'une exposition. You're correct about "The Hut": Hartmann designed a clock in the form of Baba Yaga's hut, "the Russian witch who lives on human bones which she grinds up in a mortar and pestle; she also uses the mortor to ride through the sky."karlhenning wrote:The Gate is certainly an architectural drawing. But the drawing which Musorgsky rendered as the Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells was a costume design, and I believe the Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba Yaga) was a design for a clock.piston wrote:. . . These pictures are "actually not paintings at all, at least in the ordinary sense of that word. Many are architectural drawings."
At any rate, Musorgsky's title is perfectly accurate: Pictures (not "Paintings") at an Exhibition.
Cheers,
~Karl
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Composer-in-Residence
- Posts: 9812
- Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:12 am
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
Tableau is "picture"; peinture is "painting," yes?piston wrote:In that case, the English language has proven more accurate than the French title: Tableaux d'une exposition.
Cheers,
~Karl
Karl Henning, PhD
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
-
I actually own this cd. Not bad. It is the most bizarre cover I've ever seen.
I actually own this cd. Not bad. It is the most bizarre cover I've ever seen.
Last edited by johnshade on Fri Feb 16, 2007 10:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
The sun's a thief, and with her great attraction robs the vast sea, the moon's an arrant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun... (Shakespeare)
-
- Composer-in-Residence
- Posts: 9812
- Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:12 am
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
No, that's not bizarre; it's just plain unattractive.
Cheers,
~Karl
Cheers,
~Karl
Karl Henning, PhD
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
Perhaps, though "tableau" is both picture and painting. On the other hand, from English to French, picture is mainly translated as image and gravure. Let's not forget that there only existed the music until A. Frankenstein found the drawings and sketches some fifty years later. IMHO people who heard "Tableaux d'une exposition" before these sketches/drawings became public knowledge had something else in mind than thiskarlhenning wrote:Tableau is "picture"; peinture is "painting," yes?piston wrote:In that case, the English language has proven more accurate than the French title: Tableaux d'une exposition.
Cheers,
~Karl
But that's just a guess.
Cheers
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Composer-in-Residence
- Posts: 9812
- Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:12 am
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
"Tableau" is picture, and it is (for instance) scene (as that of a stage work). I don't think that there is anything inherent to tableau to imply painting on canvas, e.g.piston wrote:Perhaps, though "tableau" is both picture and painting.karlhenning wrote:Tableau is "picture"; peinture is "painting," yes?piston wrote:In that case, the English language has proven more accurate than the French title: Tableaux d'une exposition.
Well, that's an easy guess; no one could visualize any work of art, that they have not already seen, just from hearing its "depiction" in music.IMHO people who heard "Tableaux d'une exposition" before these sketches/drawings became public knowledge had something else in mind than this
And if people have in mind "canvas" when all that was said is "picture," the misprision lies in the receiver, not the transmitter :-)
Cheers,
~Karl
Karl Henning, PhD
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston, Massachusetts
http://members.tripod.com/~Karl_P_Henning/
http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/
Published by Lux Nova Press
http://www.luxnova.com/
-
- Posts: 9114
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 1:06 pm
- Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA 87112, 2 blocks west of the Breaking Bad carwash.
- Contact:
It doesn't seem to be around anymore, but I remember the LP issue of Bernstein's recording of Bloch's Sacred Service had a phot of Chagall's Rabbi of Vitebsk on it, which I thought was appropriate.
Don't drink and drive. You might spill it.--J. Eugene Baker, aka my late father
"We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."--Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. Carolina.
"Racism is America's Original Sin."--Francis Cardinal George, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago.
"We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."--Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. Carolina.
"Racism is America's Original Sin."--Francis Cardinal George, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago.
Yes!
And this Chagall was also on a Bartok LP of his Sonata for pianos and percussion:
But I don't think his "Midsummer's Night Dream" was appropriate for Mendelsohn's music, so I will refrain from posting it here
And this Chagall was also on a Bartok LP of his Sonata for pianos and percussion:
But I don't think his "Midsummer's Night Dream" was appropriate for Mendelsohn's music, so I will refrain from posting it here
In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)
-
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:49 pm
- Location: New Jersey
These were the first few albums I managed to get my little hands on.
When starting my classical collection as a kid in the late 70s I was quite drawn these CBS Masterworks...something about the newspaper motif was captivating...and look at that planets - "HOLST THE PLANETS"..I get chills to this day.
Of course, all three performances above became the standards by which others were measure....to date, I've never heard the 'Vltava' performed as beautifully as Szell and Cleveland did.
The idyllic covers for the Jarvi/Gothenburg Grieg works on DG appeal greatly to my pastoral side(unfortunately, I couldn't locate a pic of the best one for his Symphony in C!)...
- - -
More recently in my collection...this line for the works of Bax are subtle and have that sleek chic contempo feel, but the simplicity and layout is what appeals to me. Chandos always has such lush covers, especially the ones for that burst of underappreciated 20th century Brit composers they rolled out in the early 90s. The Shostakovitch, while a bit obvious, is none the less striking and to the point.
- - -
While one of many Nevsky's I have, this one always makes me chuckle. The ultimate marketing attempt bridging classical music and fighting video games....Mortal Prokofiev Kombat...
When starting my classical collection as a kid in the late 70s I was quite drawn these CBS Masterworks...something about the newspaper motif was captivating...and look at that planets - "HOLST THE PLANETS"..I get chills to this day.
Of course, all three performances above became the standards by which others were measure....to date, I've never heard the 'Vltava' performed as beautifully as Szell and Cleveland did.
The idyllic covers for the Jarvi/Gothenburg Grieg works on DG appeal greatly to my pastoral side(unfortunately, I couldn't locate a pic of the best one for his Symphony in C!)...
- - -
More recently in my collection...this line for the works of Bax are subtle and have that sleek chic contempo feel, but the simplicity and layout is what appeals to me. Chandos always has such lush covers, especially the ones for that burst of underappreciated 20th century Brit composers they rolled out in the early 90s. The Shostakovitch, while a bit obvious, is none the less striking and to the point.
- - -
While one of many Nevsky's I have, this one always makes me chuckle. The ultimate marketing attempt bridging classical music and fighting video games....Mortal Prokofiev Kombat...
-
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:00 am
- Location: Wine Country, Germany
Re: Matching visual arts with music: cd covers.
A perfect match:piston wrote: I wonder if you would contribute other examples of what you view as a perfect match between visual arts and music.
Sarge
"My unpretending love's the B flat major by the old Budapest done"---John Berryman, Beethoven Triumphant
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest