Raff's neglect and the Proms

[Revilod]

It is well known that, after his death, Raff's reputation plummeted but I was not aware to what extent.  I'm sure I'm not the only one has searched the London Proms archives to see how composers' reputations have ebbed and flowed over the years. In the whole of the Proms' 115 year history there has only ever been one performance of a complete orchestral work by Raff  (the 1st 'Cello concerto in 1903) though the march from the "Lenore" symphony did get an airing in 1895!

Has anyone else made any interesting discoveries? Xavier Leroux's cantata "The Nile", for example, was played 15 times between 1908 and 1926...admittedly in an arrangement by Henry Wood who was always the conductor!

[thalbergmad]

It makes me angry just to think of this. Every year it is a lost opportunity to enlighten concertgoers with something new (& preferably romantic).

I suppose there has been no Herz in the history of the Proms.

Thal

[Mark Thomas]

Whilst it's unsurprising that the Proms has largely eschewed anything adventurous (apart from "modern music") whilst the series has been under the control of the BBC, I hadn't realised that this was so before then. The BBC took over in 1927 and I guess that in the period from 1895 until then Raff's reputation really was at its all time low, for a variety of reasons which I've rehearsed too often here and elsewhere to repeat now. It's not uncommon, though, for composer's reputations to suffer in the decades immediately after their death and I imagine that if you looked at the frequency with which Stanford or Parry, to choose two British unsungs, were played once they were safely buried you'd find that, apart from "Jerusalem" and some Stanford organ music, they were absent too until the present decade.

[Revilod]

A few more surprises:

Lalo: 'Cello Concerto. Surely his best work and one which has been recorded numerous times....not since 1921.

Glazunov: Only one symphony ever performed complete (No 6).....4 performances, the last time in 1919. Since then, nothing.

Myaskovsky: 'Cello Concerto. Is it his best piece? I wouldn't rank it far below Elgar's yet it has never been performed at the Proms.

Medtner: Piano Concerto No 1. One of the greatest piano concertos of the 20th century....Never.  Nos 2 and 3, one performance each, the last one (No 3) in 1946.

Bruch: Violin Concerto No 2....not since 1919. "Scottish Fantasy"...not since 1912. Violin Concerto No 3....Never.

Nielsen: Flute Concerto.... Never.

[thalbergmad]

(apart from "modern music")

How true. They would not hesitate to premier an obscure modern work for 18 triangles and a lawnmower and leave a vast amount of romantic works unheard.

Thal

[albion]

Whilst it's unsurprising that the Proms has largely eschewed anything adventurous (apart from "modern music") whilst the series has been under the control of the BBC, I hadn't realised that this was so before then.

Henry Wood was in fact something of a champion of new music still being written in a basically romantic idiom, especially by British composers. To a lesser degree the acknowledgement of this repertoire continued until the 1950s. For example, Holbrooke had quite a good run with 39 performances ranging from the world premieres of the Three Blind Mice Variations (8/11/1900), Les Hommages (25/10/1906) to Boult's performance of The Children of Don Overture (7/8/1942) and Sargent's rendition of Byron (as late as 7/9/1954). Likewise Bantock scored highly (118 performances between 1903 and 1948).

The performances of romantic British music tailed off significantly after the Second World War and have never recovered: it is telling that a symphonist as great as Arnold Bax has been (sporadically) represented since then chiefly by shorter tone poems (especially Tintagel). The frustration of the Proms is that it seems to take no account of the greatly expanded adventurousness and eclecticism of the CD-buying public, of which members of this forum are prime representatives: composers such as Bantock, Raff and Glazunov certainly deserve representation in the programming by virtue of their extremely positive recent reassessment.

[Hovite]

Lalo: 'Cello Concerto. Surely his best work and one which has been recorded numerous times....not since 1921.

His Symphonie espagnole has been performed 31 times, but often with one or more movements omitted.

Glazunov: Only one symphony ever performed complete (No 6).....4 performances, the last time in 1919. Since then, nothing.

His violin concerto has been performed 12 times. Presumably it is is his most popular work. But it is a shame that the symphonies are neglected. No doubt this is due to strong competition from other Russian symphonies.

Myaskovsky: 'Cello Concerto. Is it his best piece? I wouldn't rank it far below Elgar's yet it has never been performed at the Proms.

Just three of his works have been performed, an each of them only once. One of his finest symphonies is the 21st, and that received an outing in 1961. He must rank as the most unjustly neglected of composers.

Medtner: Piano Concerto No 1. One of the greatest piano concertos of the 20th century....Never.  Nos 2 and 3, one performance each, the last one (No 3) in 1946..

I personally prefer No 1, and I vividly recall that I first heard it in a live performance broadcast by the BBC (obviously not a Prom concert), so credit where credit is due for that. I imagine that the public prefer Rachmaninov, so he gets scheduled more frequently. His 2nd concerto has been performed 72 times.

Bruch: Violin Concerto No 2....not since 1919. "Scottish Fantasy"...not since 1912. Violin Concerto No 3....Never.

Well, Bruch is regarded as a one hit wonder. His 1st concerto has been performed 38 times. His symphonies have been ignored.

Nielsen: Flute Concerto.... Never.

I think that he is better known for his symphonies. No 4 has been performed 10 times.

Clearly, the emphasis is on works that are already popular.

One composer who has gone from unsung to recognized during my lifetime is Bruckner. His 7th Symphony was performed in 1903, but the 4th had to wait until 1958. After that his works began to be scheduled more frequently, and in some years he has been quite well represented. His 8th symphony was first performed at the Proms in 1965 and was clearly a hit, as it has now been featured 16 times. On the other hand, Symphony No 0 has never been performed.

By definition unsung composers are not (yet) popular, and therefore tend not to be scheduled. Hence I no longer attend Prom concerts. I buy CDs instead.

[eschiss1]

The one Prom concert I ever attended contained I think basically always popular works by Debussy (La mer) and Sibelius (symphony no.2) and two emotional and excellent (no.24 brief, no.130 more extended, unsettling and stunning) psalm settings by Lili Boulanger (one of the two of which I recalled reading about when Walter Simmons had written reviewing a poor recording or performance- can't recall this moment, of the purely orchestral setting of the same, De Profundis, psalm, by Vitezslav Novak; he suggested there a CD with the Novák, the Boulanger and Giannini's cello/orchestral work inspired by that psalm also, a work which I believe may not be recorded. The Novák has otherwise been recorded, the striking Boulanger setting received a recording from the same forces as at the Prom and has been recorded at least once or twice besides, as has her Psalm 24 setting also performed there - the Giannini Simmons mentioned is not, yet anyway I think.)

For the Boulanger, and the company of a now deceased friend I otherwise knew only from the internet and got to meet only that one evening, I'm glad I went, but that -was- 10 or so years ago and I wouldn't think to defend the Proms of today for any reason...

Eric