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It started, as you'd expect, with Raff. Coming from a home devoid of music, I discovered classical music at university in the early 70s. The first LP I bought was Barenboim's performance of Tchaikovsky's Fourth. Being a logical (some would say unimaginative) soul, I reckoned that if I liked that, I'd like all his symphonies, so I bought them all and loved them. So then I thought: "Hmm, he was from the mid-19th century, so I expect I'll like other symphonies from around then". Next, I think was Dvorak, all of whose symphonies (from Kertesz on Decca for preference) I soon mopped up. Within a few weeks I'd chanced upon Herrmann's classic recording of Raff's Lenore. I didn't know that Raff was a total unknown then, I just assumed that he was up there with Tchaikovsky and Dvorak and was duly utterly bowled over by it. When I went back to the shop to buy more Raff I was dumbfounded to find that there was none.

My tendency to vacuum up everything I can find by a particular composer or in a particular genre or era once I have developed a taste for it quite naturally meant that I soon discovered the Genesis and Vox labels and my interest in Raff's fellow unsungs was aroused and has never left me. I suppose it's fired by two things. In the case of Raff in particular as well as a love of his music there's the sense that he has suffered a real injustice and that posterity has denied us things of real beauty. In the case of unsungs generally, there is (still, after all these years) an insatiable curiosity for the new, the thought that the next "new" piece I hear will be a hidden masterpiece.

Of course the advent of the internet meant that I soon realised that I wasn't alone in my dedication to Raff, which lead in the late 1990s to the web site and, eventually, this Forum.

My life has been enriched hugely by it all and in particular by the many friendships, both physical and virtual, which I've been lucky enough to make as  a result. And the good thing is: it goes on and on...

It's the same reason. Until I get it fixed, you can still type them in :-)

For the techie amongst you, the problem appears to be a Javascript error. The software can't find the Javascript file which works the buttons in the editor. Unfortunately, beyond that I have drawn a blank as nothing has changed in the set up since we resumed service on the now Forum. So, you'll just have to grin and bear it for the time being until I can get to the bottom of the problem.

I can't find any other impairment to the Forum's functionality, but if you do come across something else can you please post it here as it may help me track down the problem.

Thanks.

For some reason, the buttons which enable features such as adding italics, bold and links to posts have stopped working. I'm investigating.

You can still add these features to posts by entering the code directly into your post. Simply type square opening and closing brackets before and after the word or words you want to change thus: []Word[] and then between the pairs of brackets type the code letter for the feature in the opening pair and the same code letter preceded by an oblique stroke: / in the second pair.

The most commonly used codes are bold: b, italic: i and to make a clickable link: url.

Using the imaginary code z, the finished result looks like this:

[z]Phrase to be formatted[/z]

Just substitute b, i or url for z to get the feature you want. I'll post here as soon as I have got to the bottom of he problem.

Yes, "hear, hear" to that. It's a very persuasive release which shows these four works in the best possible light. Even cpo's usually tortuous/tedious sleeve notes are lucid and interesting!

The Rufinatscha pieces are a mouth-watering prospect,  Alan. I do hope that you'll give us report on them, Ilja.

Great news about the recording, Alan. Coincidentally, Ilja, I will be in that part of Austria this summer but not until August I'm afraid. Looks like you'll have to hold up the "Hello, Mum!" banner for all of us...

Although clearly I disagree with Amphissa on the merits of the Górecki, I do agree entirely with the sentiments of his third paragraph. Well said. We should all enjoy what we enjoy.

I don't know the Messiaen. I do know the Górecki. It was quite in vogue in the UK 10-15 years ago. It's very accessible but IMHO pretty much a naive "Johnny-one-note" one-trick pony. The mood of lamentation and grief is effectively built up but, because it and the uniformly slow pace are maintained throughout the whole work, it looses its impact because there is no contrast, nothing to throw things into focus. Very much a case of "more is not always better".

Later this month cpo will be releasing Bruch's Oratorio Arminius in a two CD set and continue their Herzogenberg-fest with the first of three CDs covering his string quarrtets. This one has the String Quartet No.5 coupled with the early Piano Quintet. Two must-buys in my book as everything is a recording premiere I think.

I do agree on all counts: first two movements are great stuff, the finale on a rather lower plane, but I'm pleased to have the work and play it often.

Maybe, just maybe, it's fairer to criticise after you've heard the work?

Amen to that.

You'd expect me to beat the drum for Raff and so I shall.

The Piano Quintet is one of his masterpieces and I recommend that you buy the new Divox recording with Il Trittico. You get the added bonus of the substantial Fantasie for Piano Quintet (itself a delight) and Goetz' Piano Quintet. Avoid the MDG disk which couples it with the String Sextet. That's a fine interpretation, but the Piano Quintet is dire.

Then there are the four Piano Trios, any and all of which are superb. There are two cycles: Il Trittico once again on Arte Nova (discontinued but easy to find) is a fine budet option and there are also two separate disks from Trio Opus 8 on cpo. All these recordings are reviewed at Raff.org.

Coming up, possibly as early as the end of the year, is a second Divox CD which features the premiere recordings of the two Piano Quartets. The players are Il Trittico once again and these are stunning performances of two more glorious works.

Raff really is at his consistent best in these eight works. If you like his orchestral music you'll be bowled over by his works for piano and strings.

Dvorak's 2nd. One BIG tune and umpteen other great ones. A whistle fest...