Grimm Symphony/Suite in Kanonform (cpo)

[eschiss1]

I'll agree that the string version of Grieg's Holberg Suite is more in Baroque manner than using contrapuntal techniques; and I don't even know Henschel's string-orchestra Serenade in 4 movements in Canonform (pub.1874) for comparison (though MPH has republished it, too)...
I'd be surprised if Saint-Saëns hadn't had a go at it. His 1883 opera Henry VIII has a section that contains several Tudor Dances, I know... one of which is the theme "The Jolly Miller" I know from Brian's "Comedy Overture".

[Alan Howe]

If I'm going to be honest, the 2nd Suite doesn't interest me. No doubt it's ingeniously constructed, but it doesn't interest me any more than baroque music as a whole. No, the Symphony's the thing here - and what a work it is. Take that, Herr Dahlhaus!

[John Boyer]

The 2nd Suite is much harder work (for me, at any rate) - and it's somewhat odd to encounter baroque-style orchestral music in 19th-century guise. I can't think of anything like it, unless it's a Stokowski Bach arrangement!

Like the Holberg mentioned by Eric, there's also Raff's Suite, Op. 181.  If we extend, for stylistic purposes, the 19th century to include the first decade of the 20th, there are also Reger's Suites, Op. 93 and 103, as well as the Concerto, Op. 123.  Going back to Raff and considering chamber music, there the Quartets Op. 193/1 & 3.  So, perhaps not so unusual after all?

[Alan Howe]

The Grimm isn't just a suite, though. It's canonic throughout, giving it a distinctly contrapuntal, baroque flavour quite different from most 19th century compositions called 'suites'.

[Justin]

Closest thing I can think of is Toivo Kuula's Fugue from his Opus 10. But it sounds like Grimm's suite is slimmer than that.

[Ilja]

Let's not forget Jadassohn's G major Serenade No. 1 in 4 canons of 1872 - written amidst the onslaught of Grimm's three suites, and sounding more attractive than either the latter's 1st or the 3rd.

[Alan Howe]

Good spot. Thanks.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Let's not forget Jadassohn's G major Serenade No. 1 in 4 canons of 1872 - written amidst the onslaught of Grimm's three suites, and sounding more attractive than either the latter's 1st or the 3rd.

And I think the only recording of it to date is the one I instigated with Cameo Classics now available from Wyastone here: https://www.wyastone.co.uk/salomon-jadassohn-orchestral-works.html

[eschiss1]

Note too that Grimm originally called the 2nd suite a symphony. (No idea if the cpo notes mention this, but Ms Hamilton does.)

[Alan Howe]

Grimm originally called the 2nd suite a symphony

The liner notes tell us that the programme acompanying the performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 3rd March 1870 described the work as a 'symphony in canon form'.

[Alan Howe]

Regarding the genesis of the composition of the Symphony, the booklet notes reiterate the view that the first three movements almost certainly date back to 1852, but that the finale is later - although the Grimm estate at the Münster City Archive 'has preserved an earlier handwritten version that differs significantly from the published final movement.' Various performances of the work took place in 1862, 1872 and 1873, all of which pre-date its publication by Rieter-Biedermann in 1874.

I wonder what Golo Berg knows? Intriguing...

[John Boyer]

The New York Philharmonic performed the Suite/Symphony in Canon Form on April 18, 1874, where it was billed "Suite #2, Op. 16".

No NYPO performances of the Symphony in D minor, alas, though the Boston Symphony did perform it on February 22, 1884.

No further performances for either, however.

[Alan Howe]

although the Grimm estate at the Münster City Archive 'has preserved an earlier handwritten version that differs significantly from the published final movement.'

This was evidently something that Chris Fifield didn't know about when writing his book a decade ago; on p.269 he says that its 'whereabouts are unknown today'.

[eschiss1]

Oh, you meant of the finale of the symphony, not of the 2nd suite... (I see you've uploaded the manuscript.)

[Alan Howe]

(I see you've uploaded the manuscript.)

Huh?

I was pointing out that there is clearly another (earlier) version of the Symphony's finale which is mentioned in cpo's booklet notes. It would be useful to know a bit more about it.