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Topics - Ilja

#1
Composers & Music / Symphonies with solo voice
Friday 22 March 2024, 10:08
In a different thread, Maury and I were discussing Mahler's contemporary influence, which he rated higher than I did. After some further digging I think I was in the wrong in at least one aspect: the symphony for solo voice (usually soprano) and orchestra - i.e., a symphony with an orchestral song inserted for just one voice in the finale. I know of no examples before Mahler's Fourth in G major (1901), but have counted no fewer than five in the years afterwards: by Hans Huber (4th, "Heroische" in C minor, 1902), Mathilde Kralik von Meyerswalden ("Hymnische" in F minor, 1904*), Jan van Gilse (3rd, "Erhebung" in D major, 1903) and Rued Langgaard (2nd, "Vaarbrud" in A minor, 1914). That can't be a coincidence. Peter Gram's 2nd symphony of 1927 could also be mentioned, but it's quite a bit later, and the song is used in the penultimate movement, not the finale.

Interestingly, of these really only Van Gilse's sounds somewhat Mahler-esque at some points, and it is also the only one to share a major key. The rest appear to have used the form (orchestral song by soprano as movement or part of movement(s)) but not so much its musical content. I am not entirely certain what that means for my hypothesis about Mahler's rather limited influence, but I am reminded of a possible parallel in popular music: David Bowie. A hugely successful artist, but arguably more influential in issues of form and presentation than in the music itself.

All this to lead up to my question: can you think of other examples of this setup, possible even ones predating Mahler? I have been looking, but came up short. There are several for voice and chorus

*From Kralik's great-grandson I understood that the symphony's fourth movement was probably not completed before 1943, but it was conceived as containing an orchestral song from the beginning in 1904).
#2
Hi all, this was in the Newsletter I received from the Woyrsch-Pfohl-Gesellschaft (in translation):

QuoteIn March of 2022, Burkhart Schmilgun (cpo) and Andreas Dreibrodt spoke on the phone about the further planning of the CD series with orchestral works by Felix Woyrsch. Both agreed to continue the series, which also includes the violin concerto. A recording is planned for 10 - 14 July 2023 in Reutlingen with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen and conductor Howard Griffiths. The 1st and 6th symphonies are to be recorded. A cooperation with DeutschlandRadio Kultur (Stefan Lang) was planned. Walter Zielke [who produced performance editions of the concerto and the 6th Symphony, and has his own YouTube Channel, IN] was primarily responsible for the scores and performance materials. Friendly contact was established with the conductor.
The Society website reports that the recordings have taken place:
QuoteThe renowned conductor Howard Griffiths recorded Felix Woyrsch's symphonies nos. 1 and 6 for the cpo label with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen from July 10th to 13th, 2023. The release date is not yet known. cpo plans to continue the series with orchestral works. The Pfohl-Woyrsch Society supported the production with performance materials and will also be responsible for the booklet.

Furthermore:

QuoteThe society promotes the work of Wilhelm Petersen (1890-1957), a composer from Darmstadt who composed tonal music. The society is planning a recording of his violin concerto with the violinist Linus Roth and the conductor Constantin Trinks and would be interested in a coupling with the Skaldic Rhapsody [the subtitle of the Violin Concerto, IN] by Felix Woyrsch.

Unfortunately, I do not know whether the second recording has already taken place and when either is to be released, but I've asked Ellen Pfohl for more information.
#3
This discussion started as part of the one on Peter Benoit's De Oorlog (Der Krieg), but to avoid confusion I thought it best to continue it in a separate thread.

In the commentary, Jac van Steen commented on Bamert's recording of this work (on Chandos, from the early 1990s) and claimed that Bamert "didn't have a great choir". Honestly, I can't see his point; the choir in the Bamert is perfectly adequate. There is, however, a clear difference in recording balance between both recordings; in the newer recording, the choir is placed further to the front. I'm not entirely sure that is a good thing, to be honest.

#4
From roughly the same period (moderator's edit: i.e. as the Symphonie-Poème No.1) is his rather excellent Cello Concerto, here in a performance by the MDR Symphony, with Matt Haimovitz as the cellist, and Dennis Russell Davies conducting.
#5
One of the other works that I discovered due to Alan's post about Coenen on "Mdmusics"'s YouTube channel was a symphony by Willem Kes (1856-1934), the first conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1888. You can find it here.

Kes was a very important figure in the history of classical music. Not only because his role in founding and "drilling" the Concertgebouw Orchestra into a first-rate ensemble, but also in two ways relevant to this forum. The orchestra wasn't founded for the purposes of musical innovatiion, but primarily to "perform music by the great masters" as perfectly as possible. That is not to say that the CGO never played new works - they did, and plenty of them at least up to the Second World War - but it wasn't its reason for being. That was a choice that would have lasting consequences for the petrification of the repertoire. A second aspect is that Kes actively tried to educate the concert-going audience in Amsterdam. Much of how we behave in concerts is due to what Kes thought was acceptable: no talking during concerts, closed doors at the beginning of the concert, applause only at the end of the completed work, to name three. In how far he was innovative in this respect of whether he just followed international trends, I cannot tell.

I found the symphony rather interesting; unfortunately, the pre-Noteperformer synthesizers make some perseverence necessary when listening. The YT channel claims that "his only symphony can easily be called "Brahms' 5th", but to be honest it doesn't come across to me as all that Brahmsian. From what I can tell it's quite early; he did write more works, although mainly chamber music.

Edit: the MS is apparently in the Willem Kes archive at the NMI; correspondence with them reveals that the work was composed in 1896 and the movements titles are: 1. Allegro / 2. Allegro / 3. Andante sostenuto / 4. Finale. Allegro. Most tantalizingly, it's listed as "No. 1" which suggests the existence of others.
#6
Hi all, 

Thought you might be interested in this (free) webcast of the Stockholm Philharmonic's concert of October 16th, containing Alfvén's 2nd Symphony and Anders Nilsson's Cello Concerto. 

#7
Dear all, I am somewhat desperately looking for a recording of Kurt Atterberg's opera Fanal (1932). A recording from 1957, conducted by Kurt Bendix, was released in 2016 on the label Historische Tondokumente, but it has disappeared so thoroughly from the market that I can't even find it in a library. Therefore, should anyone have it, please DM me and perhaps we could make a trade of some kind. Many thanks in advance. 

#8
On April 21, the Orquesta de Extremadura will be performing Felix Woyrsch's 1st Symphony in Badajoz, Spain. Although I had bought a ticket to the concert, I find myself unable to go. Should anyone be able to attend, they're welcome to use my ticket for free. Please PM me if you're interested.
#9
Dear all,


For a while, I've been trying to acquire a recording of several orchestral works by the Maltese composer Paolino Vassallo (1856-1923), which was released in 2007 by the house label of the National Orchestra of Malta, conducted by Christopher Muscat. Unfortunately, the orchestra has not replied to my queries, and I can find it for sale nowhere, either new or used. Can any of you good people help me?
#10
Composers & Music / Zemlinsky Symphony in E minor
Saturday 12 February 2022, 11:12
Now that we're talking about Zemlinsky's early symphonies, can anyone shed light on the location and/or fate of the early E minor symphony (also described as E flat minor) of 1891? Wikipedia/IMSLP (same list, I believe) mention "two surviving movements only" but I can find no recording of this work.
#11
Composers & Music / Your discovery of 2021
Monday 27 December 2021, 20:46
Hi all,


In the past years, people have posted threads (I might even have myself, not sure) about their personal discovery of the last year. And as it might help us get through the somewhat desolate span of time between Christmas en New Year, I hope no one minds me initiating it now.

I'll kick off with my threesome:

       
  • The ongoing revelation of Julius Röntgen's symphonic oeuvre, with the recent recording of symphonies 7 and 11, 12, 14 and 22-24 as a very welcome surprise a few weeks ago. They are of invariably high quality despite (or because) of their compact form, and show how a composer was searching and finding satisfying new ways of expanding romantic composition in a period where traditional historiography has it as stale and obsolete. It's an approach similar to that of Felix Woyrsch, to name one, or:
  • Joseph Lauber's symphonies. It took me a while to warm up to them, but I can hardly wait for the release of symphonies nos. 4 and 5. Again, a satisfying personal journey to find new expression in traditional forms, by a composer of great talent.
  • The cartload of musical rarities that continues to be revealed through the tireless work of Martin Walsh, Tuomas Palojärvi, Gerd Prengel, and others (among which I include the person behind Albis Music, whose name eludes me for the moment). Where listening to synthetic music used to be something to chew through (at best), the technical advances made in recent years have made many of them a joy to listen to. These people deserve everyone's warmest gratitude.
Edit: elaborated on my choices.
#12
Recordings & Broadcasts / 150 Years of Stenhammar
Monday 01 November 2021, 20:55
Dear all,

I thought some of you might be interested in the three concerts broadcast by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their "150 Years of Stenhammar" celebrations. As usual, the videos are an example of how concert registrations should be done. And the music isn't half bad, either.

Violin & Orchestra (30 September 2021) - link
Excelsior! - Two Sentimental Romances for Violin & Orchestra - Serenade in F major - Violin Sonata (Johan Dalene, violin; Andrew Manze, conductor)

Piano & Orchestra (23 September 2021) - link
Piano Concerto No. 2 - From Three Little Piano Pieces (encore) - Symphony No. 1 (Martin Sturfält, piano; Patrik Ringborg, conductor)

Songs (29 September 2021) - link
Miah Persson, soprano; Karl-Magnus Fredriksson baritone; Magnus Svensson piano
#13
Composers & Music / Zeitungsportal
Sunday 31 October 2021, 12:15
I think it might interest some members that are into music research that at loooong last, we have a comprehensive German portal with digitized newspapers (with a bilingual German/English interface). It's early days yet, but there's already a good selection available:


https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/newspaper


We're still missing some key titles (most notably the Frankfurter Zeitung und Handelsblatt and the Vossische Zeitung) but the expectation is that new titles and volumes will be added to the site in due course.


Among the reasons why it has taken so long for this initiative to materialize are the regional fragmentation of the German press landscape and the federal education infrastructure. Happy it's here, though.
#14
I don't think this recent release has gotten any attention here so far: the Orquesta de Córdoba released a recording of Francisco Calés Pina's two symphonies, conducted by José Luis Temes.

Both symphonies (the first in A minor, the second in B flat) hail from 1912, and although they sound a bit old-fashioned for their time, they're quite tuneful. I would say they occupy the sound world of someone like Pedro Marques or De Lara (a military man, like Calés Pina), but more refined and grander both in concept and form. Quite a find, I think.

The recordings can be listened to on YouTube (posted by the label, don't worry) or Spotify.
#15
Composers & Music / Apolinary Szeluto (1884-1966)
Saturday 31 July 2021, 11:57
Dear all, I wanted to draw your attention to a a recent (posted July 21st) performance of Apolinary Szeluto's First Symphony, "Academic", from 1920, by the Polish Wieniawski Symphonic Orchestra (Lublin); it can be viewed here.

In later years, Szeluto turned towards social realism, but here he's still operating in firmly romantic territory. It seems he tried to rival Myaskovsky in the sheer number of his symphonies, but in the end achieved a "mere" twenty-five.
#16
I don't think mention has been made yet of forum member Tuomas Palojärvi's reconstruction of Hjalmar Borgstrøm's symphony in G of 1890. You can hear the result here (Dorico/Noteperformer). A fine work, full of atmospheric and dramatic touches.
#17
Recordings & Broadcasts / Elmas PCs 1 & 2 on Hyperion
Wednesday 20 January 2021, 10:38
There is already a thread mentioning these recordings in the Composers forum, but as I specifically want to address the recordings rather than Elmas's work in general, I felt justified in posting here. I'll of course leave the fate of my post in the hands of the admins.


Earlier this week I bought the Elmas concertos on Hyperion (as download) and since then I've spent a few days with them. These new recordings are simultaneously not very different from the ones with Armen Babakhian that some of us knew - and revelatory.


First of all, let me say that I never felt much was wrong with Babakhian's pianism. On the contrary, I feel that generally speaking his touch (and rubato) in these Chopinesque works is probably preferable to Shelley's. However, Babakhian's recordings had two major issues: first was recording and particularly recording balance, where it felt as though all he microphones were clustered together under the grand piano. Secondly, the orchestra's playing lacked the finesse that is needed to make these admittedly somewhat derivative works shine.


That's not to say that it's uninteresting music; but mostly it's very delicate, and even if there are some thunderous passages that is not what these works are about. If you're looking for Lisztian "piano lionism", look elsewhere. I've always felt that Elmas's three concertos are really iterations of the same idea - their structure is almost identical from no. 1 to no. 3, down to detail. Over time though, they got longer and more refined in a pianistic sense. For me, number three is without question the best of the three (although that means it's the most anachronistic as well), which makes it a bit regrettable it isn't included here.


That refinement also means that proper sonics are crucial, and although I generally don't really care about audio quality that much, here the superior recording proves to be revelatory. Overall though, this new release doesn't really tackle the concertos that differently from Babakhian and Siranossian; timings don't differ too much, certainly rarely so much that it stands out (with the possible exception of the first movement of the first concerto). Without a doubt, they do as much justice to Elmas's concertos as anyone can possibly do: my only hesitancy - and it is slight - is with Shelley's playing, which is perhaps a tad too target-oriented for my liking. But the sonics are more than fine, and the Tasmanians really give it their all. An example of how to present unknown works, as far as I'm concerned.
#18
Composers & Music / Juli Garreta i Arboix (1875–1925)
Wednesday 25 November 2020, 10:56
Lately, I've become very interested in Catalan and Galician culture for reasons not relevant to this forum. However, in the process I've become quite impressed by the music of a number of Catalan composers, and perhaps most unexpectedly by that of Juli Garreta. Primarily known for his Sardanas (a type of musical dance popular in Catalonia around 1900), he also wrote a number of very good orchestral works (in which Sardanas are often integrated).

Towards the end of his life, he appears to have gotten more ambitious: I would consider the symphonic poems Les Illes Medes (The Medan Isles, 1923) and the monumental Violin Concerto (1925) to be his finest orchestral pieces. These display a quality of melodic and rhythmic invention, craftsmanship, and sophistication not generally associated with such "provincial" composers, and frankly, they are my personal discovery of the year. Most of these works have been recorded, thankfully.

It is perhaps important to stress that although Garreta can be called a Catalan nationalist, Catalan nationalism around this time was primarily cultural rather than political (contrary to, say, Bohemia or Poland), also because of the absence, both in a practical and intellectual sense, of the Spanish state. So rather than explicit calls for a Catalan state, one sees references to either local Catalan culture or pan-Iberian themes (see also Cassadó's and Manén's works).


Orchestral Works

       
  • La Cuna, for symphonic band (recorded)
  • Symphonic Impressions (1907), for string orchestra
  • Preludi Mediterrani (Mediterranean Prelude, 1918; recorded)
  • Suite Empordà in G major (1921; recorded)
  • Pastorale, symphonic impression  (1922; recorded)
  • Les Illes Medes, Symphonic Poem (1923; recorded)
  • Concerto for violin and orchestra (1925; recorded)
Chamber Music

       
  • Scherzo for Cobla (Catalan ensemble using percussion, strings and (predominantly) wind instruments; recorded)
  • Concerto for violin and piano
  • Joguina (Toy), for cello and piano
  • Mar Plana (Calm Sea), for cello and piano
  • Piano Quartet
  • Sonata in C major for piano
  • Sonata in C minor (1923) for piano
  • Sonata in F for cello and piano
N.B. The Forum's search function 403'd on me, so if there's already a thread on him, apologies but I couldn't check just now.
#19
Dear all,


A few weeks ago, I corresponded with a Belgian musicologist, who told me in the course of that conversation that Gabriel Pierné used to combine three of his pieces for piano and orchestra to create a de facto second piano concerto, with the Poème Symphonique Op. 37 as the first movement, the Fantaisie-Ballet Op. 6 as the second, and the Scherzo-caprice Op. 25 as the third. Perhaps not coincidentally this is the order that Hyperion puts them in on their RPC CD, but I haven't read the notes there.
I was rather intrigued by that concept, and couldn't off the top of my head think of many other examples where separately composed pieces were played consistently together, in the same order, thereby in fact creating a new, "accumulative" piece.
I vaguely remember reading that Philipp Scharwenka instructed his Wald- und Berggeister and Frühlingswogen to be played back-to-back (although I'm unsure in what order), and there is Granados' "Piano Concerto" of course, but IIRC that was an assembly job concocted after the composer's death.
Therefore: can you give other examples of the same?
#20
Hi all,
I think this Chandos release passed us by until now. Neeme Järvi conducts the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in a selection of mostly unknown works (with the exception of the Lemba concerto). Included are:

       
  • Mihkel Lüdig, Overture-Fantasy No.2 (1945)
  • Arthur Lemba, Piano Concerto No. 1 (1905, rev. 1910)
  • Mihkel Lüdig, Midsummer Night (1910)
  • Mihkel Lüdig, Overture-Fantasy No. 1 (1906)
  • Artur Kapp, The Last Confession (1905)
  • Artur Kapp, Symphony No. 4, "Youth" (1945)
For those clamoring for instant satisfaction, it can also be found on Spotify.