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#11
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Eduard Franck 1817-1893
Last post by Ilja - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 18:35
Both of Franck's recorded symphones are hugely enjoyable works; what they also share is a certain, almost muscular, confidence. 

Chronologically, the A major and Bb major symphonies are Franck's Symphonies No. 4 and 5. There seem to be various dates floating around, from the late 1850s (IMSLP) to 1882/1883 (German Wikipedia), and it is not entirely clear which one was written first. For me, the A major feels the more "senior" of the two, but of course that doesn't mean much. 

There are three earlier symphonies in A minor, G minor and B major written in the 1840s and 1850s but they are listed as "verschollen" (lost). Does anyone know more about them and how "lost" they are exactly? 
#12
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Vaughan Williams Early Orc...
Last post by Alan Howe - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 17:23
This is a treasurable CD of RVW's forgotten early music, valuable first of all for his once-discarded 20-minute long 'Fantasia' which sounds like nothing else of the period, although the booklet notes mention Brahms and Rachmaninov - of which I can hear barely a trace! This is the work of a composer determined to be his own man.

'The Steersman' is Vaughan Williams in 'Sea Symphony' mode, which isn't surprising as it was originally intended as an extra movement for that work, preceding the finale. Evidently it is thought that the idiom, being more advanced than the rest of the Sea Symphony, would not have been a good fit; it would also have made the symphony 10 minutes longer! Whatever is the case, this is a superb work.

'The Future' seems to be the piece that has required the most reconstruction work on the CD. All I can say is that the result is a blazing 33-minute choral/orchestral masterpiece. This is surely a shoo-in for the Last Night of the Proms. Come on BBC - your resident orchestra and chorus already know the work, so put it on for a wider audience to hear! And kudos to conductor/reconstruction expert, Martin Yates!
 
#13
Composers & Music / Re: Who would you consider a B...
Last post by Maury - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 13:53
Quote from: adriano on Wednesday 27 March 2024, 11:29Scherber's First Symphony is definitely a Bruckner homage :-)

Adriano,

 It's on order but I haven't received it yet! BTW I have others that you did for Marco Polo. I think the first one I got was the Honegger Film music. 
#14
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Eduard Franck 1817-1893
Last post by Febct - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 13:41
Quote from: Alan Howe on Wednesday 27 March 2024, 12:54You are correct. The YouTube link is to Franck's A major Symphony; however, the caption is wrong - it should read "Op.47"

Thanks.
#15
Composers & Music / Re: Who would you consider a B...
Last post by Alan Howe - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 12:58
#16
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Eduard Franck 1817-1893
Last post by Alan Howe - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 12:54
You are correct. The YouTube link is to Franck's A major Symphony; however, the caption is wrong - it should read "Op.47"
#17
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Eduard Franck 1817-1893
Last post by Febct - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 12:48
Sorry - but I am confused.

Franck's Symphony in Bb is listed as his Op.52 (which is what I have on the Audite CD) - however, the YouTube reference captions it as the A Major instead.

I thought his A Major Symphony was Op. 47.

Huh?
#18
Composers & Music / Re: Who would you consider a B...
Last post by adriano - Wednesday 27 March 2024, 11:29
Scherber's First Symphony is definitely a Bruckner homage :-)
#19
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Eduard Franck 1817-1893
Last post by Alan Howe - Tuesday 26 March 2024, 22:28
The fact that Hans Franke plagiarised Eduard Franck's Symphony in A has led me to give it another couple of listens after years of leaving the CD standing on the shelf. And doing so has reinforced my view that the composer had a genuinely exceptional gift for lyrical writing; it is true that the idiom is very much in the Mendelssohn-Schumann mould, but what marks him out, I think, is the sheer beauty of the writing. In the Symphony the writing for horns - and also the bassoon - is quite individual (can anyone name a symphony which opens with such high-lying writing for the French horn?) So, I think on reflection that there is more to Franck than I had hitherto remembered.

And there's another aspect to Eduard Franck's music: the Symphony doesn't ever really 'move' with either the athleticism of Mendelssohn or the vigour of Schumann. And he's definitely light-years away from Raff's typical symphonic dynamism. In fact, he 'moves' more like Brahms (think in particular of the latter's 2nd Symphony). Franck, in other words, has a 'heavier tread'.

If you've never heard Franck's A major Symphony, it can be heard on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAEPv4Bh_rU&t=643s
#20
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Paul Lacombe: Symphony No....
Last post by Alan Howe - Tuesday 26 March 2024, 19:45
Trouble is, you end up checking websites every day...