To Henrik : I'll come up with a list of classical music soon, but you can look into my Spotify list every now and then, because I'm feeding it with classical (and thanks for subscribing)
Some great classical picks there nicolas, but I'm afraid that the best two (IMO) are not from 1900-49, namely Shostakovich's "Waltz 2" (1956) and Fauré's "Pavane Op. 50" (1887).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_for_Jazz_Orchestra_No._2_%28Shostakovich%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_for_Variety_Orchestra_%28Shostakovich%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9
If this makes me look like a classical besser-wisser or expert, I'm certainly not (at least not the latter...)
No one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell.
And I bet Robert Plant and Jimmie Page knew this song
very well because it justs sounds like it's out of "Led Zeppelin IV".
It's great that we allow classical music. I will at least include the following:
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op.11
Carl Orff – Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
Joaquín Rodrigo - Concierto De Aranjuez
Sergei Prokofjev – Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: Montagues And Capulets
Maurice Ravel – Bolero
Remo Giazotto (Tomaso Albinoni) – Adagio In G Minor
George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
Please recommend me more!
Hi Henrik, another obvious choice is Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre Du Printemps (1911), which was more or less his signature composition.
Not so much classical, but also of interest may be Kurt Schwitters. He was a principal member of DaDa, the influential absurdist art movement which was founded in 1916, in the Swiss cafe Cabaret Voltaire. Schwitters was known for his paintings and collages, but his most famous piece was an oral piece called Ursonate. He actually recorded the whole thing himself in 1921, but unfortunately nothing of it is available on you tube. What I got is an interpretation of the Ursonate by Dutch performance artist Jaap Blonk, and, like in the best DaDa tradition, it sounds pretty kooky. here (My 5-year old son loves this clip. Could it be that it reminds him of his father, after a good night out? :).
Apart from the Modern Classical, Blues and Calypso recommendations which can be found in this thread, the most popular and dominant music form from the 20s till the late 40s was Jazz. Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie etc. and of course Duke Ellington, IMO the greatest of them all. Ellington was no.3 in my all-time artists list, just behind The Beatles and James Brown.
Oh yes, finally, I'm not a besser-wisser or expert on it as well, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Debussy's Clair De Lune is from 1890.
To make a complete list of the best music from 1900-1949, you must not forget that the king of romantic opera, Giacomo Puccini, premiered three of his greatest operas after 1900.
Oh yes, finally, I'm not a besser-wisser or expert on it as well, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Debussy's Clair De Lune is from 1890.
This one is up for debate...Suite Bergmamesque was first written in 1890, but revamped greatly in 1905, with Clair de Lune being renamed and scored to the way we know it today. This said, I think it belongs.
Also, I'm gonna have to vote for Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht, even though it's technically written in 1899, I'm pretty sure it wasn't performed until the 20th century.
the French national anthem according to Django Reihnardt and Stéphane Grapelli. It is 1946 and France is now a free country.
all this optimism shows in this tune.
Trénet was the main figure in French music between 1935 and 1950. I've never been a huge fan personally, although Brassens and a lot of other singers praised him.
Just one thing : Le Jardin extraordinaire is not eligible because it's from 1957.
Let's not forget country music. Here's a blugrass anthem. I love this version, recorded in 1954, just after Elvis did his own. Old Bill beats him hands down.
Roy Acuff is one of my favorite pre-1950 country artists. He was the one who did the transition between hilbilly and honky tonk, between Appalachian folk and Hank.
PS : hope I don't bother you with my daily posts, and hope I don't discourage you from posting your own suggestions
Here's a little masterpiece by Jimmie Rodgers, the first country music star.
His most acclaimed pieces are the excellent Blue yodels, but this lesser-known great ballad is my favorite.
Bascom Lamar Lunsford - I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground (1928)
The pre-history of country music is fascinating, especially those folk songs from the Appalaches. Fans of The Tallest Man On Earth will recognize a few verses.
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a lawyer from North Carolina who collected and performed many songs.
Thanks, Nicolas, glad you liked it. Gardel is a mythical name in Argentina tango and he recorded hundreds of great songs (excellently represented on Miguel’s list). This is the You Tube link:
And here’s a link to a page with the English translation.
I posted the wrong video and didn't even noticed !
Coleman Hawkins was my first choice yeserday and then I thought of Gardel. So you had both of them and that's cool.
Today's pick is John Lee Hooker, one of the very greatest bluesmen. I wanted to post "Boogie Chillen", but I didn't find the 1948 version on Youtube, the one with just JLH and his guitar. So I posted the sequel to Boogie Chillen, when you can hear this haunting rhythmic playing on the guitar. It is blues at its rawest, the closest to its African roots : one chord and a half, and this foot tappping on the floor.
Here's another song that will be in my top 30.
A great example of hillbilly blues, eg blues played by the white folks in the South. Jimmie Rodgers was the most famous of them, but Sam McGee was a great guitarist that played like a real bluesman.
Lonnie J was the first guitar hero of the blues era, and he influenced a lot of guitar players in the thirties. Robert Johnson took his name and pretender he was his brother. But the man himself was more of than a bluesman. He played with Louis Armstrong, and did these wonderful duets with guitarist Ediie lang.
Erik Satie was one of the first minimalists, a great influence for people like Philipp Glass.
here's "Je te veux" a waltz that he wrote for the cabaret when he needed money.
I love music in 3/4
The appreciative comments are in the lists of the actual 1900-1949 forum poll, Nicolas. If you take a look at them, you'll notice that many participants picked titles from your recommendations and included them in their lists.
By the way, we're still eagerly awaiting yours.