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Received my copy of the CD yesterday. Have only so far listened to the Overture as I have not been able to listen to as much music as I usually do. I enjoyed the Scottish melody of the overture which I too found memorable. I personally did not find that the music outstayed its welcome! I will listen to the much more substantial symphony and post my opinion of it in due course. Thanks UC for your recommendation.

I too echo Gareth's wish that someone attempt a reconstruction/orchestration of the 6th concerto. In my case, I would particularly like to hear the final movement "Rondo Oriental" which includes of course a part for chorus. I do so enjoy classical music with a touch of the exotic/oriental to it!

Members of UC who appreciate the music of Alan Hovhaness may well be interested in the following CD released earlier this year:-

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/symphony-no-48-vision-of/hnum/6809106

This is a world premiere recording of Hovhaness's Symphony no 48 "Vision of Andromeda".

Before making this post, I trawled through previous threads on this composer, in particular the thread "Hovhaness recommendations", last posting May 2012.Reading this thread,it was obvious that members either liked Hovhaness's music or disliked it (strongly)often  giving the reason that the music was "too samey"! For my part, I have a foot in both camps. When I first discovered Hovhaness, I was immediately taken with a number of works – Sym 2 Mysterious Mountain, Sym 9 Saint Vartan, Sym 19 Vishnu and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam amongst others. This whetted my appetite for this composer's music and I subsequently went on to purchase 18 CDs! By this time though, I too became a little bored with the music as I also found that the music was becoming quite samey!!! I then stopped listening to Hovhaness altogether sometime in 2012! It's only now that , coming across this newish release March 2015 and listening to sound bites and consequently purchasing the CD  that I rediscovered my liking for Hovhaness's music. I had simply forgotten that certain of his compositions are, for me at least, very good indeed! Although I would add that a number of his works do indeed sound similar! So where does this latest work stand? I have played this symphony at least 7 or 8 times now and I have become quite fond of it. I would say that it's not the very best symphony that Hovhaness ever wrote but at the same time it's an attractive work that repays repeated listenings. A four movement symphony, my brief comments on each movement are as follows:-Mvt 1 Andante starts with a long, expansive theme slowly building to a dramatic climax before dying peacefully away. At 6:38 there is a very delightful melody for flute which is memorable. Three times during this movements bells/chimes are heard (a feature of Russian music and of course, Hovhaness is of Armenian descent!). Mvt 2 Fugue allegro is a brief 3 minute fugue which is very exciting and really grabs one attention (Hovhaness had a particular love of the fugue and Bach and wrote many fugues which often found their way into a symphony as here).Movement 2 is a particular favourite of mine. Mvt 3 Andante -  allegro moderato features another longish, expansive theme, almost minimalist at times in its structure but subtly orchestrated and again with prominence given to the flute. Mvt 4 Largo – allegro – andante almost echoes the opening movement with another of those long, expansive, shimmering themes. As in mvt 1, the music is punctuated by bells/chimes 3 times and the music closes in a regal and satisfying way. Although this is not a programme symphony, the music at times, to me at least, suggests travelling in space, indeed on a journey to the galaxy of Andromeda:  a timeless journey, accompanied by the very weightlessness of space itself .

If members already like Hovhaness, they will like this symphony too. No, I would never say that Hovhaness is a great composer but his music, or much of his music, is very attractive indeed and does have value! Listening to this latest symphony has inspired me to get out some of my favourite Hovhaness CDs and listen to them again!

Alan, would you please kindly correct my spelling of Sgambati in my previous post. Don't know where I got a double "tt" from! Thank you.

For the past week or so I have been listening to Sgambati's Symphony no 2 almost daily, indeed on a couple of occasions I have listened to the symphony twice through without a break. That should already make clear my impression of this symphony!  I too think this symphony is marvellous and a real find! For me personally, this is THE symphony of 2015 so far! I was absolutely taken with it from the very first hearing. I concur fully with the comments already made in this thread. I too hear a bit of Liszt and some Wagner but mostly I hear the wonderful Italianate, joyous voice of Sgambati. I really like all 4 movements but would qualify this statement with the following comments. My absolute favourite movement is the scherzo, movement number 2. Three times in this movement is heard the exhilarating theme, first introduced at 3:55 and 8:29 in the opening movement. But in the scherzo this theme is given its full expression: a joyous Italian dance-like interpretation sweeping the listener along with its sheer joie de vivre. Needless to say, I have also listened to this movement as a stand-alone movement; I am that fond of it!!! The opening movement does indeed have a thrilling forward impulsion to it and finishes, it seems, almost too quickly. The third movement Andante con moto is pastoral/bucolic in feel and is quite beautiful in its simplicity. If I am being a little critical, I find the first half of the concluding movement, for me at least, slightly (but only very slightly) lacking in the inspiration of the other three movements. But from 4:45 onwards, starting with some wonderful writing for flute, this movement really takes off and moves all too swiftly to an exciting conclusion. A marvellous, marvellous symphony! If I had to pick out just one highly attractive feature of Sgambati's writing, I would not hesitate to choose his orchestral writing skills and the magical orchestral colours he imparts to his music, particularly in Symphony no 2! I was so swept away by his second symphony that I had to get out Symphony no 1 again and give it another listen or two. I am already revising my opinion of his first symphony but I have to say that I still prefer by far Symphony no 2! Thank you UC for discovering this symphony!!!

Alberto and Eschiss thank you for mentioning other works by C-T. The list of works I referred to in the post above was never an exhaustive one as I know there is a lot of music by C-T out there. I was merely referring to CDs I had purchased,i.e. works that I was specifically interested in. I will though follow up on your suggestions.

A very pleasant surprise this morning, the Amadeus magazine and Sgambati CD finally arrived this morning(originally ordered 26 March). I am eagerly looking forward to listening to it later today. As soon as I am familiar with the work, I will report back to UC.

This thread immediately caught my eye. Already an admirer of Castelnuovo-Tadesco's music ( I have his 2 piano concertos, his guitar concerto and his violin concerto no 2), I straight away put this CD on my wish list. I did not purchase the disc immediately as I already had a large number of CDs on order and in addition, I already had a very fine version of  his VC no 2 (Itzhak Perlman and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin Mehta). Then 2 weeks ago, I could wait no longer and immediately ordered the CD. Since its arrival, I have listened to the VC no 1( Concerto italiano for violin and orchestra) at least half a dozen times and I must say that I too think that this is a marvellous work which is fast becoming one of my favourite VCs. Indeed, I already prefer it to VC 2! For those who don't know VC2, in can be described as, and I quote "an impassioned work of biblical character and inspiration with an almost cinematic sweep to it". As has already been stated in this thread, VC 1 also has a very pronounced cinematic feel to it. I felt this even before learning that C-T,forced to leave Italy because of the war, moved to America and was initially based in New York for about a  year before moving to Hollywood in 1940 . From 1940 until 1956, C-T wrote a tremendous amount of film music and some sources credit him with having worked on as many as 250 movies, although he did not always receive screen credit! Listening  to his 2 VCs, I can readily understand why he was so in demand in Hollywood!!!VC1 comprises 3 movements, with the opening movement as long as movements 2 and 3 combined. The first movement opens with a delightful melody, leading to a long lyrical passage. At 6:15 into the movement , this theme takes on almost a "swing" element to the music ( interestingly, I detected what seemed to me almost the same theme given this swing treatment at 0:40 in movement 3 of the second VC –  but not being a musicologist, I leave it to the experts to determine whether elements of VC1 are reprised in VC2!). The first movement continues with some dense but very striking orchestration, becoming quite dramatic before returning to a long lyrical passage, followed by a long cadenza, culminating with a big dramatic finish for both violin and orchestra. Movement 2, as the Arioso title indicates, is a lovely, song-like movement, rhapsodic and very beautiful with many delightful orchestral touches. Limpid, delicate and of great beauty, this movement is also  not without its moments of drama. Movement 3 effectively closes the the VC on a very satisfyingly emotional high, albeit a little abruptly.With a rondo feel to the music, the movement is dance-like, and again has many lyrical passages. The VC is all too quickly over! I particularly appreciated the playing of Tianwa Yang, who  produces an absolutely beautiful tone throughout both works. I can well understand why this violinist is widely recognized as one of the outstanding rising stars on the world classical music scene.

I am still waiting for my copy to arrive. As soon as it arrives, I will of course listen to it straight away and then post my opinion of the symphony on UC.

Reading this thread made me check what works I had - 8 CDs in all. I have two fine versions of Istar - the Pierre Dervaux CD referred to above, in addition to Wallenstein and La forêt enchantée, also includes Istar. Then on the Timpani label (there a couple of D'Indy CDs on this label), there is a very good performance of Istar (coupled with Poème des rivages and Diptyque méditerranéen) with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Emmanuel Krivine.

I too have listened to the sound bites of this CD and also think that they are glorious. CD on order. In the meantime, I was prompted to get out my copy of the CD of Blumenfeld's Symphony and have another listen to whet my appetite. I hadn't listened to it in quite a while and had forgotten how impressive it was!

Thanks Savoir-faire for your advice how to order direct from the Amadeus magazine site using the email address you provided. I have just made my payment to them and eagerly look forward to receiving the magazine/CD shortly.

Just been listening to the sound bites. I am already a keen admirer of Jongen's music and this CD is for me a must buy.

I have just listened to the sound bites on Jpc.de - very impressive. I have just placed my order. Thankc UC for the recommendation.

Thank you Music 33 for your upload. It was much appreciated. Thank you also Richard for your kind offer to email this work. It's great that members on this forum are always keen to share. thanks again.