Post #521765 by tiki mick on Sat, Apr 3, 2010 8:18 AM

I am going to have to check out the Ginastera...as to the Scythian suite...I don't know, that is one of the more scarier sounding songs ever written...in particular, the first movement is frightening sounding....by the time you hit the "Enemy God Dances with the Black Sprits" section, you are ready to run screaming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Y1lLfVzy8

it's one of my personal favorites (But then again, I am a nut who loves Bartok, Schoenberg, Webern, Ives and Shostakovich)

One recent discovery that I have gotten into is William Grant Still, the first major African american composer. His tone poem "Africa" is something worthy of checking out (On Naxos label) as it is also proto-exotica, with some hidden elements of Jazz.

Here is his "african American Symphony"It even has the original version of Gershwin's "I've got Rythem" in it, which arguably, Grant Still may have written.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB6K8PiecgI

Another one that is really good is Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite! Especially, "The painted Desert" section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZac9hvvEJg&feature=related

You can tell by listening what a huge influence it was on Disney. He even used a portion of "On the trail" section in the diorama in the train ride (The horse hoof's music you hear at the beginning)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYXMr17Xn0w&feature=related

But a lot of what Grofe did was was really exotic sounding, like his "Death Valley suite".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7PnmOKCako

Olivier Messiaen had some really exotic stuff, such as "Turangulia",

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=170VZGFoTKg

and boy was he into bird calls! of course, they are not actual bird calls, but the same "melodies" played by instruments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMG07mv4Jyw&feature=related

Aaron Copland had the famous "Appalachian suite", and again, while not strictly exotic, was more or less a huge influence on later Baxter (The pop standards and movie themes he did)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RXLwtvGH9c

Not for everyone is Varese, who also had some very exotic sounding stuff, like the flute solo "density".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcIXuwLFTOw&feature=related

But when you see it done on vibes....ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnh_VT6JIZQ&feature=related

John Cage did "sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano", where he inserted various objects into the piano and between the strings (Nails, rubber, etc) and it actually made the piano in turns sound like a Gamelan, marimba or even vibraphone. This was between 1946 and 1948 so I have to wonder how influencial it might have been at the time on other artists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYsx5Di3bso

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2010-04-03 10:06 ]