Please do not mention the “Erotic (standing for Heroic) Symphony”
David Thomas Roberts states in the liners to his wonderful CD recordings that eroticism is a very fundamental part of his creative process. I cannot see it myself; that is to say there is nothing in the pieces which produces erotic associations in me as either listener or performer. As a matter of fact I don't think any piano music does this with me. I certainly form images and sensations, but they are arbitrary and frequently change from time to time.Perhaps people with high testosterone levels and massive libidos will hear erotic things in music more often than those like me. After all, I scored 18% on a "How sexy are you ?" test and my eighty-three year old father scored ninety. I COULD deliberately construct erotic images for my music but only in the objective, descriptive sense, not in the directly pornographic.
Scriabin. His orchestral tone poem, "Poeme d'ecastase" is programatically erotic. It's basic form is building to a climax, then backing off, building to a slightly bigger climax, backing off, etc. until the final really big climax. Well, that's pretty obvious. (I believe he also planned for this piece to be played with a light show and aromas/fragrance in synch with the music, to involve all the senses).
Granados "Goyescas" #3 El Fandango de Candil Why sexy? Part French, part Spanish, need I say more? It's Bolero-style but much more interesting (well, hard not to be). It goes on a bit, but sometimes that's a good thing.
Hi Granados ' Escenas Romanticas' is pretty unparalelled in this regard! <snip> Finding a recording is difficult though!!
here's a ps. what do you think of the sarabande in bach's english suite III?
Alkan's symphony for solo piano, first movement.
I had a good time reading all about your erotic tendencies towards music. Now, when I started learning Rachmaninov's b minor prelude, I imagined the coaxing of 2 lovers, (tender theme of beginning) and the intense lovemaking of the chords which result in the c major outburst which, in my mind, symbolised the orgasm. Hell, it worked! Only recently did I hear that it really portayed Rach's return from exile. I was a bit off but I had fun...
Sorabji: Le Jardin Parfume
Grieg composed a Lyric Piece named “Erotik”, but I’m not sure of finding much erotism in it. There are other Lyric Pieces that could sound more erotic.