Naxos recording of Zemlinsky Symphony No.1

Started by Hector, Friday 11 February 2022, 10:07

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Hector

Does anyone know why Naxos do not include the finale of Zemlinsky's Symphony No 1 on their recording?

The sleeve notes actually refer to the third and final movement.

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.223166

Alan Howe

I believe this was because, at the time of the Marco Polo/Naxos recording (1989), the complete score of the finale hadn't yet been published. This is conductor/Zemlinsky expert Antony Beaumont's account of what he later did:

When a copyist's score of the Symphony in D minor was discovered amongst Zemlinsky's posthumous papers, it included only forty-eight bars of the Finale. In due course the rest of the movement came to light, but at the point where the manuscripts overlapped, one bar was blank. In 1995, when editing the work for publication, I filled this gap by correlating the passage with its parallel later in the movement.
(Source: accompanying booklet to Chandos recording conducted by Beaumont)

Hector

Thank you. I rather wish it was otherwise as I like the performance, but the missing finale is always going to mean other performances are preferred.