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Glad to hear that someone likes the Paderewski symphony.... although the people of Poland would obviously have a natural attachment to it, it seems to evoke a "ho-hum" response among many commentators. As an aside, the Wiki page notes Elgar's beautiful Polonia, equally Polish in its inspiration but (IMHO) of a quite different order.

I also see from Wiki that the symphony received its premiere in Boston, and "The score very unusually calls for three sarrusophones, a tambour de Basque, a thunder sheet and an organ."   

Interesting, in view of the subject matter of The Immortal Hour and Ivanhoe. The 'Ancient Britain' theme was obviously still popular, although I'm not sure why - maybe something to do with the war?  It was clearly still floating around in Elgar's music too, although King Olaf, Caractacus, etc were written in the 1890s as I recall. Anyway, time I had a listen to said opera! 

The sad fact is that Birmingham has trashed its culture, architecture and history during the last sixty years and with the exception of the concert hall, the council itself has done very little to encourage anything Birmingham based which might be construed as of great artistic merit.

We really seem to know very little about these UCs and why they are indeed UCs! Maybe it's another example of not nurturing or valuing the home-grown product. So often on UC we are dismayed by this lack of respect for one's own composers, musicians or orchestras, and the assumption that 'outsiders' must be better.  As to their music, we generally know even less, unless we can access their scores or concert reviews. Pity! 

[Fanfare]

I see (http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Yearning-Iernin/story-19916038-detail/story.html) that the libretto is written by Lloyd's father (who wrote the librettos for two other Lloyd operas).  According to this webpage, Iernin was conceived, composed and first performed in Penzance, and was inspired by the ancient Nine Maidens stones nearby. "It tells the story of a beautiful maiden turned to stone by puritanical priests at the dawn of Christianity, only to reawaken hundreds of years later to entrance a betrothed Cornish nobleman who abandons his wedding for her.

This is set against the backdrop of a soon to be occupied Cornwall and the struggle of its leader and people to retain their independence from the Saxon overlords. It is a story about the defence of the weak and society's fear of change, but above all our fear of and fascination with the unknown. Written during the rise of German National Socialism and alongside the abdication of Edward VIII, the story also strikes some resonant chords with one of the most dramatic periods in British history."

Hmmm ... but then perhaps most opera plots are equally obscure.

You are not alone in thinking the opera a poor piece - a review of Surrey Operas's performance says it all at: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-oct-2013-surrey-opera-iernin although I do think it is rather unfair to criticize his operatic writing by comparing him to Britten.

And, of course, not everyone thinks it awful. The Times critic Frank Howes is reported to have given it a "glowing review" when he saw its premiere in Penzance in 1934. More recently....

"This is a lovely opera with something that most of us despaired of finding in a twentieth-century work - tunes that stay in the memory."  
Fanfare

" I do find that the heart goes out to this opera. "  Gramophone

"Lloyd showed that rarest of all qualities in a British composer, an almost unerring perception of what the stage requires .. an extraordinary achievement."  
The Times
[http://www.georgelloyd.com/index.php/latest-news-library]

Most of it was apparently written when Lloyd was in his teens, and it's the libretto which is the main stumblingblock, so maybe we can lay the blame on his Dad! 

It seems like a rather impressive list for an industrial city in that part of the world, and over a quite short time span. Was Birmingham really such a hub of musical life around the turn of the century?  I wonder what happened to them, and why their music was neglected.  Maybe it was performed in Birmngham but never got any further? It all seems a bit odd to me, but maybe similar lists could be constructed (not a prompt to do so!! ) for other big cities in the UK?

Gosh, that's really fierce criticism. It's very disappointing if it really is that bad.

Sorry to wander off Goetz a bit here, but I don't believe there is any inevitability about the marginalization of his music or that of other UCs ... While their music may receive ever less attention in the concert hall, I think that's going to be increasingly true of much of the more standard repertoire too. Performances are becoming fewer, orchestras are fewer, and the programmes will be increasingly designed to please the minority who can afford to attend (or 'pop' a la Rieu, or crossover a la Katherine Jenkins). The lifeblood of classical music has become the digital recording... and I don't think we will see any diminution in the CD companies' search for new material.

As to Goetz, or any other UC, I don't think we need be concerned about the occasional ridiculous judgement that gets posted on Amazon, nor even the informed judgements of influential individuals within the music business. The task of the CD companies is to sell ... which means offering something that is not available elsewhere. So, I think they will always be recording new material, regardless of people's opinions as to its merit. Along the way, I am sure we'll get more Goetz, Raff, etc, etc. Hurrah to that! 

I think Glière's rather better known for his Red Poppy suite (the Russian Sailors' Dance specifically, iirc) than for Ilya Murometz any day of the week, sorry!

Hard to know, of course, but I suspect this is true, at least outside of the Russia/ex-Soviet bloc.

Most music lovers only know Dohnányi for the Variations on a Nursery Song, and maybe Wolf-Ferrari for Jewels of the Madonna - in both cases a travesty of justice. 

Moments? Well, outside our remit, there are countless moments in Haydn's works that astound me, moments of pure genius that leave me speechless, especially in the chamber works. There are some 'golden moments' in Mahler's smphonies that would melt any heart.

But, within our UC remit its a different matter. For me, it tends to be passages rather than moments, maybe because I don't know the music as well.

Yes, indeed. As a fan of 'light music' it's a familiar piece. It appears on the very entertaining Marco Polo disc of Haydn Wood's orchestral music, played by the SlovakRSO, cond. Ernest Tomlinson.

Perhaps it has not been mentioned because forays outside the remit of UC - i.e. the romantic genre as defined on our webpages - are generally avoided. Some threads lend themselves to a little more leeway than others, as I think this one does, but we do try to keep discussion as close to the romantic genre as much as reasonable. 

Welcome to UC, Mac!

Everyone will have their preferences re finding LPs, but I often use discogs.com ... which enables you to search for whichever format you prefer. It lists old LPs and sometimes links to sales outlets. A couple of LPs featuring Pixis are currently listed ... but I don't think any for sale:
http://www.discogs.com/search/?q=pixis&type=all

There's also searchable and downloadable databases of classical LPs at:
http://www.classicrecords.co.uk/index.html
... but there's nothing listed for Pixis.

Tortellini?
(Or Marcello cello sonatas?)

Yes, "Tortellini" could serve as Marcello or any number of far less talented composers, in my view.

I've only ever heard Cowen's 3rd symphony, and I'd love to hear the 4th and 5th. Their names alone are inviting, at least to my traditional English ear - located as I am out here in the far-flung colonies! !

Thanks for all the suggestions. What I really need is firm recommendations of specific CDs to explore...

Well, I have no hesitation in rceommending the Regis disc of piano music played by Kvapil, Alan, as noted above. But then, I've never heard a disc of Fibich that I didn't enjoy. 

The finely crafted and evocative Frühlingsouverture has been on my 'wants list' for many, many years - so thank you, Semiserio, for making it available, and in such a carefully judged, expert performance. Marvellous! 

A recommendation for Fibich is so difficult, as he oozes beauty, and I've never heard anything by him that didn't impress me. Of course his orchestral music is rich and I would certainly agree with what has been said regarding the chamber works (don't forget the lovely string quartets on Supraphon!).

But .... I recently discovered his piano music (Kvapil on Regis) - and goodness me, it just gets better with each hearing.... clever and varied, full of beautiful melodies, never dull. And the disc has a Penguin recommendation. It seems like a good place to start exploring his piano works, and for something a little lighter that's what I would go for myself. You can always sample a few tracks at http://www.classicalm.com/en/composition/8505/Studies-of-Paintings (no samples on Amazon).