The Western Lands Mixtapes Part IV: The Underworld, Illusions of Fury

A swan drifting through the land of the dead opens this volume of The Western Lands mixtape series. Illusions, delusions, Faustian bargains, the underworld - the Western Lands from the Egyptian Book of the Dead - haunt this collection, from Sibelius's Finnish phoenix, through Rimsky-Korsakov's Arabian Nights, Liszt's trio of devils, Branca's satanic choir, Partch's furies, and Stravinsky's Russian phoenix. As per usual, twists and turns abound, from romanticism to atonalism to minimalism and points in between. A loose narrative flow was attempted on tape 8 (more details here), but it really doesn't demonstrate any more cohesion than any of the others.

Next up: songs. As always, the Spotify playlist is not always the same as the tapes, though it is as close as possible.

Tape 7

Side 1

Jean Sibelius – The Swan of Tuonela (Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra)

Edvard Grieg – Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra: I Allegro molto moderato (Von Karajan/Philharmonia Orchestra)

Elliot Carter – Piano Concerto (Leinsdorf/Boston Symphony)

Anton Webern – String Trio Op. 20: 2. Sehr getragen und ausdrucksvoll (Boulez/Ensemble Intercontemporian)

Benjamin Britten – The Courtly Dances: III Pavane (from Symphonic Suite: Glorianna, Op. 52a) (Bedford/LSO)

Side 2

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade: I The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship (Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra)

Alban Berg – Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin, and 13 Wind Instruments (Pisek/Chamber Ensemble of Wind Instruments, Prague)

György Ligeti – Doppelkonzert für Flöte, Oboe, und Orchester (Howarth/Swedish Radio Orchestra)

Tape 8

Side 1

Franz Liszt – A Faust Symphony: III Mephistopheles (Bernstein/NYP)

Glenn Branca – Symphony No. 6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven): Fifth Movement (Branca/Ensemble)

Eduard Tubin – Symphony No. 9: I Adagio (Järvi/Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra)

Side 2

John Philip Sousa – George Washington’s Bicentennial March (Urbanec/Czechoslovak Brass Orchestra)

Vyacheslav Artiomov – Sonata of Meditation: III Evening

Harry Partch – Delusion of the Fury: Exordium Beginning of the Web (Mitchell/Ensemble)

Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird Suite (Ozawa/Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Harald Weiss – Arche (excerpt)