Felix Draeseke's other Symphonies

[GoranTch]

That the name of Felix Draeseke will be widely known among the members of this forum is, I believe, a reasonable assumption. And most likely the same assumption can be made about his most prominent works, not the least among which is his Symphony No.3, "Tragica".

But what about Symphonies Nos.1, 2 and 4? I myself have known his Nos. 1 and 2 for almost 15 years now, and every time I return to them, I end up being in disbelief that music of that kind of depth and compositional substance, of that level of beauty and craftmanship can be so utterly absent from our concert programs. I am not aware that there exists even a small Draeseke festival of some kind that would at least once in a year (or two years) perform a selection of his major works.

Did anybody here ever have the opportunity to hear his Nos. 1 and 2 in concert? And in general, what is your opinion of these works?

[Alan Howe]

I share your astonishment and your frustration. Unfortunately, despite the existence of excellent recordings, Draeseke's music is rarely performed in public, which is an absolute scandal. However, you may find this website useful: https://www.draeseke.org/

[eschiss1]

There was a song recital with some of his songs in Coburg this past January, but that's the exception, not the rule...

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for that confirmation, Eric - sad though it is.

[eschiss1]

Well, I should say that I saw one announced, I don't know that it happened. Also, is this a CD or something being announced for 21 June? Event of Draeseke Lieder (CoburgMarketing.de) ...

[John Boyer]

It's just the concert announcement, with the usual location, performers, date, and time, and also a duration.

[Alan Howe]

Quite an important venture with regard to the composer's Lieder, but it'd be good to know of any performances of his orchestral music.

[eschiss1]

Not a symphony, but an orchestral work, the Gudrun Overture, to be performed in Coburg this season: this. (The Coburg orchestra has some interesting programming, even including Bacewicz violin concertos and thelike...- so does the Wuppertal orchestra with which Hanson recorded the symphonies, now that I look at that, too! Good orchestras both, apparently.)

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Eric. Very much better than nothing!

[GoranTch]

I share your astonishment and your frustration. Unfortunately, despite the existence of excellent recordings, Draeseke's music is rarely performed in public, which is an absolute scandal. However, you may find this website useful: https://www.draeseke.org/

Thank you for the link. I see you are based in England - did you ever have an opportunity to hear a Draeseke symphony in concert there (or in Britain in general)?

[GoranTch]

Not a symphony, but an orchestral work, the Gudrun Overture, to be performed in Coburg this season: this. (The Coburg orchestra has some interesting programming, even including Bacewicz violin concertos and thelike...- so does the Wuppertal orchestra with which Hanson recorded the symphonies, now that I look at that, too! Good orchestras both, apparently.)

Astonishing. This is the first time I have actually seen a major orchestral work by Draeseke on a concert program in Germany, and I have been living in Berlin for the last 20 years. Probably only happened due to Coburg being the town of his birth.

How does the East of US fare in performing Draeseke's orchestral music? Did you ever have the opportunity to hear his symphonies (or even just overtures) in concert in New York, Boston or any other major city (relatively) nearby? 

[eschiss1]

I haven't. I'm not aware even of any orchestral performances or chamber performances of Draeseke's music in the Eastern US since the 19th century, except for a few of his piano pieces at Bard University in the 2000s.

[Alan Howe]

in England - did you ever have an opportunity to hear a Draeseke symphony in concert there (or in Britain in general)?

No, never.

[eschiss1]

His Jubilee (Jubel-) Overture Op.65 was at the Proms once, but I doubt any of us was alive back on 7 September 1905! (It's not ultra-clear from the website whether Wood or Verbruggen conducted it; research might elucidate )
(And when the opening of the Classicstoday article is "Felix Draeseke is best known for his monumentally long (and dull) oratorio Christus", I think some work really needs to be done. The new recordings of the string quartets are a good start-- but a new recording of, e.g., the cello sonata on a label with more than nominal distribution -- or many -more- recordings of it (why should so many wonderful currently-unknown works receive one recording, revealing only one aspect, each?) - would help. (I don't think it helps that Wollenweber charges an arm and a leg for critical editions, but recordings based on the first editions would hardly be horrible. This would leave out works like the lovely A major Stelzner-quintet for which the two are the same and the Wollenweber parts cost $110 or so, discouraging performance, but.))

[FBerwald]

I'm waiting for the day when we will finally get to hear the orchestrated version of his Violin concerto.