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[Symphonie pour courdes by Pierre Dervaux]

Symphonie pour courdes  by Pierre Dervaux

ORTF, Conductor  Andre Girard
May 2, 1969
Radio Broadcast

From the collection of Karl Miller

Wiki Bio:


Pierre Dervaux (born January 3, 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died February 20, 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and harmony with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau and Jean and Noël Gallon, as well as piano with Isidor Philipp, Armand Ferté, and Yves Nat. He also served as principal conductor of the Opéra-Comique (1947-53), and the Opéra de Paris (1956-72). In this capacity he directed the French première of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. He was also Vice-President of the Concerts Pasdeloup (1949-55), President and Chief conductor of the Concerts Colonne (1958-92), Musical Director of the Orchestre des Pays de Loire ((1971-79) as well as holding similar posts at the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (1968-75), where he collaborated with concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki, and the Nice Philharmonic (1979-1982).

He taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (1964-86), the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (1965-72) and was also president of the jury of the international conducting competition in Besançon.

Dervaux composed two symphonies, two concertos, a string quartet, a trio and several songs.

In addition to the Légion d'honneur, Dervaux also received the Ordre national du Mérite.

His recordings include: L'Enfance du Christ (Berlioz) in 1959, Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet) in 1961, and Istar, Wallenstein and La Forêt enchantée (d'Indy) in 1975.

[Aubade for Strings (Op. 89) by Marcel Mihalovici]

Aubade for Strings (Op. 89) by Marcel Mihalovici

ORTF, Andre Girard, Cond.
Radio Broadcast, Date unknown

From the collection of Karl Miller


A Romanian by birth, but "considered" to be a French Composer. 

Wikipedia Bio

Marcel Mihalovici (Bucharest, 22 October 1898 – Paris, 12 August 1985) was a French composer born in Romania. He was discovered by George Enescu in Bucharest. He moved to Paris in 1919 (at age 21) to study under Vincent d'Indy. His works include his Sonata number 1 for violin and piano (1920), Mélusine opera (1920, libretto by Yvan Goll), his 1st string quartet (1923), 2nd string quartet (1931), Sonata number 2 for violin and piano (1941), Sonata for violin and cello (1944), Phèdre Opera (1949), Étude in two parts for piano and instrumental ensemble (1951) and Esercizio per archi (1960). Many of his piano works were first performed by his wife and renown concert pianist Monique Haas.

Mihalovici was the original composer for the music of Samuel Beckett's Cascando (1962). His Fifth Symphony features a soprano singing a setting of a Beckett poem, and he used Krapp's Last Tape as the basis for a small opera, Krapp, ou, La dernière bande. His memories of their friendship are recounted in the collected work Beckett at Sixty A Festschrift by John Calder, Calder and Boyars (1967).

[A Small Bunch of Flowers to the Monument on the Mamay Tumulus: Symphonic Fantasy by Josef Matej]

A Small Bunch of Flowers to the Monument on the Mamay Tumulus: Symphonic Fantasy by Josef Matej


Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra of Olomouc
Jaromir Nohejl, conductor
Source LP:  Panton 810839

From the collection of Karl Miller

Very brief wikipedia entry about Matej:

Matej, Josef
Matej, Josef, Czech composer; b. Brusperk, Feb. 19, 1922; d. there, March 28, 1992. He learned to play the trombone from his father. He studied composition with Hlobil at the Prague Cons. (1942–47) and fodky and Janecek at the Prague Academy of Musical Arts (1947–51). His early works are characterized by folksong inflections of the Lachian region of his birth. After 1960 he introduced into his works some coloristic oriental elements; also made discreet use of dodecaphonic techniques.

[Jean Louis Martinet : Symphonie en hommage à Jean Philippe Rameau (création)]

Jean Louis Martinet : Symphonie en hommage à Jean Philippe Rameau (création)

ON ; M. Rosenthal
(1964-creation)
From the collection of Karl Miller
Radio Broadcast- possibly 1964


Note:  I've haven't been able to find much about Martinent in English, and what little I did was not able to shed much light on this symphony-- I found a French website that did not list this one, but an "In Memoriam" written in 1962-3.  I would describe this work as somewhat turbulent and dramatic, but definitely tonal and approachable,  and also quite engaging.


There is only a brief Wikipedia entry about him in English

Jean-Louis Martinet
Jean-Louis Martinet (born 8 November 1912, Sainte-Bazeille,died 20 December 2010[1]) is a French composer. He studied at the Schola Cantorum with Charles Koechlin and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Jean Roger-Ducasse and Olivier Messiaen. He also studied privately with René Leibowitz. In 1971 he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.[2]


However, if you speak French, this may be of more use:
http://www.musimem.com/martinet-autobio.htm

[Saraband- Symphonic Poem with Chorus (1907) by Jean Roger-Ducasse]

Saraband- Symphonic Poem with Chorus (1907) by Jean Roger-Ducasse


ORTF,  Conducted by A Girard
Radio Broadcast   Feb 2, 1969

From the collection of Karl Miller

If you like the last movement of Debussy's Nocturnes (Sirenes), you will very likely appreciate this work.


I've unearthed a couple of blurbs about the composer.

Short Bio:
A French composer and an educator. Formal name is Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse. He was born in Bordeaux on the 18th of April in 1873. After a basic musical education in his birthplace, he moved to Paris in 1892 and entered Paris Conservatory to study music under Emile Pessard, Gabriel Fauré, and Andre Gédalge. He was particularly influenced by Faure. After the three years of trials, he obtained the second prize of Prix de Rome in 1902 with his cantata "Alcyone". Then he succeeded the position, from Fauré, of the professor of composition class in Paris Conservatory. Later on, he also succeeded Paul Dukas's orchestration class in 1935 (because of the former professor's death). From 1909, he was appointed as the director of the department of singing in Paris educational committee. His compositional diction can be characterized as typical latter romantic idiom inheriting his teachers (such as G. Fauré or C. Saint-Saëns) dictions with hints of impressionistic colorations in harmonic content. He died in Taillan on the 19th of September in 1954.


Wiki Bio:

Jean Jules Amable Roger-Ducasse (Bordeaux, 18 April 1873 — Le Taillan-Médoc (Gironde), 19 July 1954) was a French composer.

Biography
Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile Pessard and André Gedalge, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré. He succeeded Fauré as professor of composition, and in 1935 he succeeded Paul Dukas as professor of orchestration. His personal style was firmly rooted in the French school of orchestration, in an unbroken tradition from Hector Berlioz through Camille Saint-Saëns. Among his notable pupils are Jehan Alain, Claude Arrieu, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Jean-Louis Martinet, and Francis George Scott.

Compositions
Roger-Ducasse wrote music in nearly all classical forms, and was particularly known for his operatic stage works and orchestral compositions. These include:
•   Au Jardin de Marguerite, 1901-1905 Based on an episode in Goethe's Faust
•   Sarabande, 1907 Symphonic poem with chorus.
•   Suite française, Concerts Calonne, Paris, 1907
•   Marche française, 1914
•   Nocturne de printemps, 1920
•   Nocturne d'hiver, 1921
•   Epithalame for orchestra, 1923
•   Orphée mimodrame lyrique, Opéra Garnier, June 1936 Based on his own libretto, closely following the Greek myth. The production was mounted by Ida Rubinstein.
•   Cantegril, comédie lyrique, Paris Opéra-Comique, 6 February 1931. His most ambitious work, with thirty-two demanding roles, was directed by Masson and Ricou with Roger Bourdin as Cantegril.
•   Petite Suite
•   Variations sur un thème grave ("Pleasant Variations on a serious theme") for harp and orchestra.
•   Ulysse et les sirènes ("Odysseus and the Sirens"), 1937

His piano pieces and chamber music are also noteworthy. He composed a piano quartet, a Romance for cello and piano, and two string quartets; the second, his swan song, debuted 24 May 1953, at the Château de la Brède.

Roger-Ducasse wrote only one work for organ, entitled Pastorale, a masterpiece rarely played in France. Written in 1909 and published by Éditions Durand, it is a challenging virtuoso showpiece. The work has been eclipsed by more recent compositional styles, nevertheless it has remained popular with performers in the United States.

Like Paul Dukas and Maurice Duruflé, Roger-Ducasse was severely self-critical, destroying music that did not meet his exacting standards.

Thanks for the clarification!

[Music of John Williams]

Music of John Williams

John Williams and Ann Hobson-Pilot

1. Radio Intro
2. Fanfare for a Festive Occasion
3. Esplanade Overture
4. Radio Outro
Boston Pops
John Williams, Conductor
(Source- Radio Broadcast, Early 80s?)

5. Radio Intro
6. On Willows and Birches (Concerto for Harp)-I
7. On Willows and Birches (Concerto for Harp)-II
8. Radio Outro
Ann Hobson Pilot, Harp
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Danielle Gatti, Conductor
October 1, 2009

(Note, this is NOT the October 3, 2009 performance that the BSO has released as a commercial download.)

All from radio broadcasts.
From the collection of Karl Miller

Some comments.  Williams may not be an "unsung" composer.   The first two works are pretty typical Williams in an extroverted mode.   The work for Harp is much more "artsy", but the second half has some of the typical Williams flair to it, and I've enjoyed the work.  It's certainly worth a listen if you like that sort of thing.


There is a LOT of source material about this work, I'll share some with you. 


First of all, we have a video interview with the composer about the work,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6OsY5C6mYA

Of all the written descriptions, this one by Joseph  Dalton seems the most complete:

By JOSEPH DALTON
Special to the Times Union

The harp is typically an elusive, soft spoken star set amidst the more brash instrumental characters that make up a symphony orchestra.   The sounds of its strings, plucked or strummed, become precious moments within a more grand and sweeping score. As if for added mystic, the instrument is often entirely absent form the proceedings, since so much repertoire just leaves it out entirely.

Yet the harp will be fully in the spotlight this Saturday night when the Albany Symphony Orchestra presents "On Willows and Birches," a recent concerto by John Williams.  The soloist will be Ann Hobson Pilot, who was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 40 years, serving 28 years as principal.  The piece was commissioned by the BSO to honor her retirement in 2009.

"James Levine said they've like to give me a retirement gift and I thought a new concerto would be good to add to the repertoire," explains Pilot.  "Then he asked who I'd like to ask to write it."

Such an opportunity doesn't come often and Pilot says she spent about a week considering some of the big composers names of today.  When she settled on Williams, he actually turned her down, at least a first.

"He's an extremely modest man and said it would be too intimidating for him," recalls Pilot. "Eventually he said something like I'll give it a try and if you don't like it then put in the fireplace."

Pilot was confident that Williams would deliver something suitable.  Having also been a member of the Boston Pops, she worked extensively with Williams and knew his sensitivity to the instrument, as both composer and conductor.

"He seems to understand the instrument, but some composers maybe should be intimidated by the instrument because of the pedals," she explains.  "Lots of composers write at the piano, where all the notes are right in front of you. But the harp has white keys and the pedals make the black keys.  And there are certain things you cannot or should not do."

As for the title "On Willow and Birches," Williams has a famous fascination with trees.  A number of his other concerto works bear similar names, including the bassoon concerto, "Five Sacred Trees," and the violin concerto "TreeSong."

The 15-minute concerto is in two movements, as suggested by the species in the title, first willows, then birches.  The opening was suggested by a line from Psalm 137, which begins "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept."  It continues, "We hanged our harps upon the willows."

"In the process of my reading about trees, which I do fairly frequently, I came upon a quote from the Bible," explains Williams in a program note for the piece.  "This fascinated me, the picture of harps hanging on the trees with the wind wafting through the strings making, one can imagine, a beautiful, very delicate, subtle sound."

That's followed by a more rhythmically charged second movement.  It also takes an image from poetry, this time that of Robert Frost, who wrote, "One could do worse than be a swinger of birches."

"'Swinger' in our language has a lot of connotations," says Williams.  "I remember in my mind the picture of the little boy swinging on the birch branches."
The debut of the concerto in 2009 occurred during a troubled time for the Boston Symphony, just as its music director James Levine (who has since left the orchestra) suffered a health setback just after conducting the debut at Symphony Hall.  Two additional performances that week, including in a concert at Carnegie Hall, were led by two different conductors.

"It was challenging enough to be at Carnegie, and my first time as a soloist there," recalls Pilot.  The third performance, back in Boston, was her farewell performance and featured her as soloist in two additional works."

Thank you!

[Boleslaw Szabelski, Symphony 3 (1951)]

Boleslaw Szabelski, Symphony 3 (1951)


Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
Conducted by Krzysztof Missona (Thanks to Markniew!)
Radio Broadcast (Likely between 1964 and 1974). 

From the collection of Karl Miller

Although Szabelski is better known for his later work with atonality, and also his mentorship to Gorecki, this work is much more type of symphonies that a Miaskovsky or Shostakovitch would write.  there are some dissonant/impressionist moments in the beginning, but the first movement as a whole struck me a s very well-structured work of symphonic writing.  The ending is somewhat akin to Shostakovitch's 5th in that it chases away the melancholia with a very uplifting and powerful finale.  From what I have been able to find, his first three symphonies have never been commercially recorded-- and based on this, I would consider that a great loss.

(An interesting note on the ORTF broadcasts- they were pioneers of a stereo technique that they  spaced two microphones to approximate the distance between person's ears--  more details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORTF_stereo_technique) Of course, I must admit to be pretty ignorant in the realm of recording. )


Wikipedia Bio:

Bolesław Szabelski (3 December 1896 in Radoryż - 27 August 1979 Katowice) was a Polish composer of modern classical music. While his style shifted and varied over the course of his life, he is best known for his atonal work composed during the 1950s and 1960s.

Szabelski studied at Polish Musical Society School with Łysakowski in 1915.[1] He attended the Warsaw Conservatory under Karol Szymanowski. Between 1929 and 1939, he taught organ and composition at the conservatoire of Katowice.[2]

Szabelski began working in the neoclassical and romanticism modes typical of the early 20th C. He adopted the serialist technique[3] in the 1950s and was one of a number of Polish new wave of composers to embrace atonality.[4] His early work had been characterised by monumental forms and fanfare motifs[5] and Szabelski adapted to the new astetic while retaining his old signatures. As a result he developed a style described as "strikingly innovative".[1]

He composed five symphonies (1926, 1934, 1951, 1956 and 1968), as well as concertos, chamber and choral works. Szabelski was highly influential on the "New Polish School" composers of the early 1950s, and had a formative influence on his student Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.

[Le Bal du Destin (Ballet, 1954) by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur]

Le Bal du Destin (Ballet, 1954) by   Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur


Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF),
Georges Tzipine, Conductor
Radio Broadcast, October 18, 1965
From the collection of Karl Miller

As far as I can determine (not knowing any French...), this is the complete ballet, as it runs over 40 minutes, and the suite is only supposed to run for 23 minutes.


Before I go any further, let me say I really like this work, and would be interested in anyone as has any Lesur they can share.  He reminds me somewhat of Koechlin, whom I adore, as well as "Petrushka"-era Stravinsky.   It is interesting that he as a member of a movement that was trying to place a more human voice to what was being developed in the Avante-Garde, and Virgil Thompson described the style as Neo-impressionism.

I did a quick search on youtube, and found another work I like (although quite differnent) called the Suite Mediévale, which pretty much lives up to its name.  For some reason, I can't stop listening to the second link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhB0c-cGuOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QSPm4mY7Kc

He wrote a Dance Symphony in 1958 that I still need to listen to. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGOXi_Bg-I

I guess the worst I can say about him is that what I've heard is episodic in nature, but some incredible color, strong rhythms, and some memorable lyric moments.  As he was an organist, I'll also be wanting to check out anything he's written for organ.

With all that out of the way, this is whatever else I've been able to dig up on him.  Any other insights are welcome.



Here is one blurb I found:
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, composer
Born: November 19, 1908, in Paris
Died: July 2, 2002, in Paris
Studied composition with: the organist-mystic Charles Tournemire

Co-founded: the group La Jeune France in 1936 with fellow composers Olivier Messiaen, André Jolivet, and Yves Beaudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition

Other accomplishments: professor of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum; director of the Opéra National de Paris from 1971-1973; administrator for Radio France, the Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Conservatoire; in 1973 appointed Inspector General for Music at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs

Le cantique des cantiques: his best-known work


Another blurb:
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, known often simply as Daniel-Lesur (November 19, 1908 – July 2, 2002) was a French organist and composer. His mother, Alice Lesur, was an accomplished composer in her own right; some of her music was even published.

Daniel-Lesur was a student of Charles Tournemire. In 1935 he became a professor of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum under its new director, Nestor Lejeune.

The following year he co-founded the group La Jeune France along with composers Olivier Messiaen (with whom he would remain a lifelong friend), André Jolivet and Yves Baudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition. La Jeune France developed from the avant-garde chamber music society La spirale, formed by Jolivet, Messiaen, and Daniel-Lesur the previous year.

That same year he, together with Jean Langlais and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, gave the first performance of Olivier Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur.





This is a machine translation from a German Wiki



Jean Yves Daniel Lesur (eigentl. Daniel Jean Yves Lesur, * 19. November 1908 in Paris; † 2. July 2002 ebenda) was a French organist and composer.

The son of the Komponistin Alice Lesur studied de of Paris at the Conservatoire harmony teachings with Jean Gallon and Kontrapunkt with Georges Caussade. Besides it had piano instruction with arm and Ferté and organ and composition instruction with Charles Tournemire, whose assistant at Sainte Clotilde was he from 1927 to 1937. From 1937 to 1944 it was organist of the Benediktinerabtei Sainte Marie.

1935 became Daniel Lesur professor for counterpoint to the Schola Cantorum. it created 1936 with Yves Baudrier, André Jolivet and Olivier Messiaen the Groupe Jeune France, which used itself contrary to the prevailing Neoklassizismus for a expressiven composition style. From 1957 to 1961 he was a director of the Schola Cantorum. Beginning of the 1970er years was he inspector general for music at the French ministry for education and cultural.

Daniel Lesur composed operas, ballet, organ works, choir works and songs.

[Pres d'un Source (for strings) by Ayme Kunc]

Pres d'un Source (for strings) by Ayme Kunc

1.Radio  Intro
2. Pres d'un Source

Ricercata de Paris
Alexandre Brussilovski, Cond.

Radio Broadcast, Date Unknown

From the collection of Karl Miller


This is the first of two French works for strings from a radio broadcast.

I've only been able to dig up the following snippets on Kunc in English.

Aymé Kunc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aymé Kunc (born Toulouse, 1877 – died there, 1958) was a French composer and administrator, director of the Toulouse Conservatory from 1914 until 1944. He won second prize alongside Maurice Ravel in the Prix de Rome competition of 1902; until 1907 he was the orchestra chief at the Théâtre Apollo in Paris. In 1914 he took over leadership of the Toulouse Conservatory, in which capacity he served for thirty years.

Beginning in 1996, the Association Aymé-Kunc has promoted the composer's music, and has recorded a number of his works, including the Messe de Sainte-Cécile.


Aymé Kunc (1877-1958)
A French conductor, composer and educator. Born in Toulouse, 20 January 1877 as the 10th child of 12 children. His father held a degree with his research on church music and worked at the Toulouse Cathédral. His mother also had studied piano with César Franck in Paris Conservatory. Needless to say his first musical lesson was from his parents. In 1894, he obtained the first prize at piano class in Toulouse Conservatory and entered Paris conservatory where he also obtained the first prizes on the classes of piano, solfège, and harmony. Then he started to learn composition with Charles Lenepveu from 1985. He had subscribed The Roman Prize (Prix de Rome) for 5 times, and in 1902 he obtained the first prize with his cantata 'Alcyone'. Although he had gone back to France in 1907 after 4 yesrs of life in Rome, and took up the director's post of Apolo theater in Paris, he moved out Paris to Toulouse in proportion to the request for the director's post of Toulouse Conservatory where he kept the position until 1944, and played an important role to raise the level of musical concern in there by conducting the first performance of Richard Wagner's 'Parsifal'. He was chosen a member of Academy of Beaux-Arts in 1949. He died in Toulouse, 13 February 1958.

[Samba de Camera for Strings by Ivo Josipovic]

Samba de Camera for Strings by Ivo Josipovic

Croatian RTV
Mladen Tarbuk, Cond

(original LP release: CROATIAN COMPOSERS' SOCIETY 0101 24)

From the collection of Karl Miller

If you can handle Bartok's "night music", you should be able to enjoy this work.  SOme very interesting use of strings and rhythm-- dissonant in parts, but not "random", IMO.

This work is interesting for a couple reasons.  One is that, if you are so motivated, you can download the score here:
http://www.ivojosipovic.com/partiture/Samba%20da%20camera%20Score.pdf

The other is that Josipovic is currently the President of the Croatian Republic!   Here is a wikipeidia entry, but I've trimmed some of the political info.

Ivo Josipović (Croatian pronunciation: [ǐːv̞ɔ jɔsǐːpɔv̞it͡ɕ] (  listen); born 28 August 1957) is a Croatian politician, the third and current President of Croatia, having taken office in 2010.[2][3][4] Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH), and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the SKH-SKJ. He left politics in 1994, but returned in 2003 as an independent Member of Parliament. In addition to politics, Josipović has also worked as a university professor, legal expert, musician and composer.

Music
After graduating from a secondary music school he enrolled at the Composition Department of the Zagreb Music Academy under the tutelage of renowned scholar Stanko Horvat. He graduated in 1983 majoring in composition.[7] Between 1987 and 2004 Josipović was also a lecturer at the Zagreb Music Academy.[11]

Josipović composed some 50 chamber music pieces for various instruments, chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra. In 1985 he won an award from the European Broadcasting Union for his composition "Samba da Camera" and in 1999 he was awarded the Porin Award for the same composition,[12] which was followed by another Porin Award in 2000 for his piece titled "Tisuću lotosa" ("A Thousand Lotuses").[13] His most successful pieces also include "Igra staklenih perli" (The Glass Bead Game) and "Tuba Ludens".[8] These pieces are performed by numerous musicians in Croatia and abroad.[8] Since 1991 Josipović also served as director of the Music Biennale Zagreb (MBZ), an international festival of contemporary classical music.[14]

During the 2010 election campaign Josipović announced that as president he will compose an opera based on the murder of John Lennon.[15]

[Symphony 3 by Krsto Odak (Op. 73, 1961)]

Symphony 3 by Krsto Odak (Op. 73, 1961)



Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra
Niksa Baneza, Cond.
original LP release: CROATIAN COMPOSERS' SOCIETY 0101 24


From the collection of Karl Miller

A couple snippets about Odak:

KRSTO ODAK
(1888-1965, CROATIAN)
Born in Siverič, near Drniš. After some private music lessons, he joined the Franciscan Order. He then went to Munich to study theology but also studied composition and organ with Pater Hartmann. Having left the Order, he went to Prague to study there at the Conservatory with Vitězslav Novák. He composed prolifically, producing over 200 works in various genres from opera to chamber works. His other Symphonies are: Nos. 1, Op. 36 "Simfonija Jadrana" (Adriatic) (1940), Symphony No. 2, Op. 52 "Sinfonia Brevis" (1951) and 4 (1965).

The following is a machine translation to English form a Wikipedia page.



Krsto Odak ( Siverić , March 20 1888 . - Zagreb , November 4 1965 .), Croatian composer and music educator .


Education
Days of his schooling conducted in Sinj , Sibenik and Makarska revealing his knack for music to work with John Ocvirk and Matthias Melchiarom . Then they went out of theological studies in Munich , at the same time he studied with the respected German musician Father Hartmann. After returning home 1913th years as a priest working in Sinj and nearby islands. In 1919. leaving their previous occupation and went on to study music in Prague in the class of distinguished Czech composer V. Novak.

Since then, entirely dedicated to music and his first artistic success already achieved in the Automotive Expert concert when his "Sonata for Violin and Piano" wins first prize. Upon his return to Zagreb became a professor at the Music Academy in which it operates to retirement 1961st year. He died on 04th November 1965. g at 78 age and is buried at the cemetery Mirogoj .

Artistic Legacy
Odakova artistic legacy includes more than 80 numbered and unnumbered works . His musical style Odak has already hinted in his early works. They can easily notice a tendency polyphonic shaping and emphasizing folk characteristics which is clearly visible in his later works. However, accepting the positive contemporary compositional techniques, the composer was gradually enriched its expressive resources, especially harmony, which are outlined in the expansion of most of its old foundations modalities. However, the main means of expression Odakovo was and still is ringing. In all forms of music which has touched, from which he created valuable artistic works that are, without doubt, greatly enriched the Croatian musical culture.
Sacred Music in Latin and Croatian

The choral compositions of spiritual substantiality are also the origins of general compositional K. Odak. His earliest compositions were therefore sacred compositions and from 1911. Mr. (published in the journal "St. Cecilia"), for example, "Veni dulcis Jesu" (female choir) and "celebrate. Heart" (for mixed choir and also only in Croatian). The 1912th Mr. prominent male choirs to "Ave Maria" and "Christus Factus Est" and "Laudate Dominum" and "The Sacre Convivum". Also at that time produced greater work in the Latin Mass in B flat major (1914). Here are listed only important piece, however, this first opus number 32 original songs of spiritual content and 9 harmonization of church chants. The sacred music of Slavic texts. However, this second, later Odakovo creativity, ie composing spiritual songs in the Old Slavonic text belongs to its culmination not only of spiritual but do opus.

The high level of musical direction Odak just great songs in this musical direction elevates the level of singing Slavic, Greek Catholic liturgy and Glagolitic our singing and our tradition of Cyril and Methodius, which draws its inspiration and historical and musical themes and motifs. Therefore the second part of his total spiritual works more valuable and important. He is completely sovereign odakovski, original and valuable. But these songs goes on in our history, he reminds us that we are the only people that the Catholic Church was able to hold nearly a thousand years of the liturgy in the vernacular (and the entire Catholic Church used Latin until 1965. G). Especially for the so-called merit. Clergymen acting in some dioceses of the Adriatic Sea and by retaining the tradition of the liturgy in the vernacular language of St. uninterrupted. Cyril and Methodius and the moment when the holy brothers, the Slavic Pope Hadrian II. in the 9th c approved in Rome in the Basilica of St. Mary Major liturgy which they are translated into the vernacular. Where did that come to life through musical expression and the text part of our past, about which we know quite a bit. So, without diminishing the value of a single world-famous composers (whose works are in our church choir (too) often performed), it should ponder over the liturgy and concert programs of our church choirs that should be the promoters of the popular word for which we through the history of so many fought. Therefore, greater effort and more performances of local composers (like Odakovih works) would certainly contribute to that goal.

[Symphony #3 for Mixed Chorus and Orchestra by Vaclav Felix, 1986]

Symphony #3 for Mixed Chorus and Orchestra by Vaclav Felix, 1986


Prague Radio Chourus, Pavel Kuhn, Cond.
Prague Radio Symphony Orch.
Jiri Malat, Conductor

Source: PANTON 8110 839 (LP) (1988)

From the collection of Karl Miller

For those of you who may wish to collect more 3rd Symphonies by Czech Composers with chorus, this may be your lucky day.  This one is by Vaclav Felix, was written about the same time, but I would say it was "brighter" than the Flosman (although I've been preferring the Flosman).  I don't have trained ears, but in a lot of ways this sounds like it could have been written much earlier. It  is an expansive and approachable work to me, and definitely uplifting at the end.

I found just a little about Felix on Music Web, to wit:

VÁCLAV FELIX
(b. 1928, CZECH)
Born in Prague. He studied piano, violoncello, musical theory and composition privately as a teenager before passing a graduation course at the Prague Conservatory that enabled him to go on to study composition at the Faculty of Music of the Prague Academy of Performing Arts with of Pavel Bořkovec and Václav Dobiaš. He completed his studies with musical theoretician Karel Janeček. He worked as a music editor, as Secretary of the Union of Czechosfovak Composers and taught at the Faculty of Music of the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. His catalogue includes operas as well as orchestral and other works of various genres. His later Symphonies are: Nos. 4 "Solemn" (1987) and 5 for Chamber Orchestra (1987).

[Music of Jacques Ibert]

Music of Jacques Ibert


1.  Cello Concerto
M Marchesini (vic)
Orch de l'Assoc de Concerts Oubradous
Feb 25, 1974

2. Angelique- Farce en un Ache
H. Nagorsen, G. Sibera, L. Masson, M. Sieyes, O. Turn,
P.-M Pegaud, L. Hagen-William, L. Dachary, C Vierne
October 25, 1976

3.  Capriccio
Orch Nice-Cote-d'Azur, R. Chevreux Cond.
October 19, 1972


All are from radio broadcasts.

From the collection of Karl Miller

From the Wikipedia Bio:


Jacques François Antoine Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.

Ibert pursued a successful composing career, writing (sometimes in collaboration with other composers) seven operas, five ballets, incidental music for plays and films, songs, choral works, and chamber music. He is probably best remembered for his orchestral works including Divertissement (1930) and Escales (1922).

As a composer, Ibert did not attach himself to any of the prevalent genres of music of his time, and has been described as an eclectic. This is seen even in his best-known pieces: Divertissement, for small orchestra is lighthearted, even frivolous, and Escales (1922) is a ripely romantic work for large orchestra.
In tandem with his creative work, Ibert was the director of the Académie de France at the Villa Medici in Rome. During World War II he was proscribed by the pro-Nazi government in Paris, and for a time he went into exile in Switzerland. Restored to his former eminence in French musical life after the war, his final musical appointment was in charge of the Paris Opera and the Opéra-Comique.

Biography
Early years
Ibert was born in Paris. His father was a successful businessman and his mother was a talented pianist who had studied with Antoine François Marmontel and encouraged the young Ibert's musical interests. From the age of four, he began studying music, first learning the violin and then the piano. After leaving school, he earned a living as a private teacher, as an accompanist, and as a cinema pianist. He also started composing songs, sometimes under the pen name William Berty. In 1910 he became a student at the Paris Conservatoire, studying with Emile Pessard (harmony), André Gedalge (counterpoint) and Paul Vidal (composition).[1] Gédalge also gave him private lessons in orchestration; Ibert's fellow-students at these private classes included Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud.[2]

Ibert's musical studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, in which he served as a naval officer. After the war he married Rosette Veber, daughter of the painter Jean Veber. Resuming his studies, he won the Conservatoire's top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, in 1919.[2] The prize gave him the opportunity to pursue further musical studies in Rome. In the course of these, Ibert composed his first opera, Persée et Andromède (1921), to a libretto by his brother-in-law, the author Michel Veber, writing under the pen name "Nino".[3]

Composer and administrator
Among Ibert's early orchestral compositions were La Ballade de la geôle de Reading, inspired by Oscar Wilde's poem, and Escales (Ports of call), inspired by his experiences of Mediterranean ports while he was serving in the navy.[4] The first of these works was played at the Concerts Colonne in October 1922, conducted by Gabriel Pierné; the second was performed in January 1924 with Paul Paray conducting the Orchestre Lamoureux. The two works made Ibert an early reputation both at home and abroad. His publisher Alphonse Leduc commissioned two collections of piano music from him, Histoires and Les Rencontres, which enhanced his popularity.[2] Rencontres. In 1927 his opéra-bouffe Angélique was produced; it was the most successful of his operas, a musical farce, displaying eclectic style and flair.[3]

In addition to composing, Ibert was active as a conductor and in musical administration. He was a member of professional committees, and in 1937 he was appointed director of the Académie de France at the Villa Medici in Rome. Ibert, with the enthusiastic support of his wife "threw himself wholeheartedly into his administrative role and proved an excellent ambassador of French culture in Italy."[2] He held the post until the end of 1960, except for an enforced break while France and Italy were at war during World War II.

Later years
The war years were difficult for Ibert. In 1940 the Vichy government banned his music and he retreated to Antibes, in the south of France, and later to Switzerland and the Haute-Savoie. In August 1944, he was readmitted to the musical life of the country when General de Gaulle recalled him to Paris. In 1955 Ibert was appointed administrator of the Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Nationaux, which ran both the Paris Opera and the Opéra-Comique. After less than a year, his health obliged him to retire. Shortly afterwards he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts.[2]

Ibert died in Paris aged 71, and is buried at Passy Cemetery in the city's 16th arrondissement.

Music
Ibert refused to ally himself to any particular musical fashion or school, maintaining that "all systems are valid", a position that has caused many commentators to categorise him as "eclectic".[3] His biographer, Alexandra Laederich, writes, "His music can be festive and gay ... lyrical and inspired, or descriptive and evocative ... often tinged with gentle humour...[A]ll the elements of his musical language bar that of harmony relate closely to the Classical tradition."[2] The early orchestral works, such as Escales, are in "a lush Impressionist style",[5] but Ibert is at least as well known for lighthearted, even frivolous, pieces, among which are the Divertissement for small orchestra and the Flute Concerto.[5]

Ibert's stage works similarly embrace a wide variety of styles. His first opera, Persée et Andromède, is a concise, gently satirical piece. Angélique displays his "eclectic style and his accomplished writing of pastiche set pieces".[3] Le roi d'Yvetot is written, in part in a simple folklike style. The opéra bouffe Gonzague is another essay in the old opera bouffe style. L'Aiglon, composed jointly with Honegger, employs commedia dell'arte characters and much musical pastiche in a style both accessible and sophisticated.[2] For the farcical Les petites Cardinal the music is in set pieces in the manner of an operetta. By contrast Le chevalier errant, a choreographic piece incorporating chorus and two reciters, is in an epic style.[3] Ibert's practice of collaborating with other composers extended to his works for the ballet stage. His first work composed expressly for the ballet was a waltz for L'éventail de Jeanne (1929) to which he was one of ten contributors, others of whom were Ravel and Poulenc. He was the sole composer of four further ballets between 1934 and 1954.[2]

For the theatre and cinema, Ibert was a prolific composer of incidental music. His best-known theatre score was music for Eugéne Labiche's Un chapeau de paille d'Italie, which Ibert later reworked as the suite Divertissement. Other scores ranged from music for farce to that for Shakespeare productions. His cinema scores covered a similarly broad range. He wrote the music for more than a dozen French films, and for American directors he composed a score for Orson Welles's 1948 film of Macbeth, and the Circus ballet for Gene Kelly's Invitation to the Dance in 1952.[