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A.S. Thank you for Berg's 5th symphony - powerful stuff!

Oddly, neither the 1900 nor 1906 editions of Grove mention Hiller's Piano Quintet despite listing his chamber output as including "5 pf quartets, 5 trios, 5 string quartets ...[sonatas, etc etc]".

Rather quaintly, the 1900 edition says of Hiller that "His pleasant genial personality, and his great intelligence and wide range of knowledge, make him welcome wherever he goes. In England he has many friends, who are always glad to see him, and hear his delicate legato style of playing, soon, alas, to be numbered with the things of the past." It adds that "His 'Destruction of Jerusalem', his Spring Symphony in E minor, his Pianoforte Concerto in F sharp minor, and more than one of his pianoforte works, are surely destined to survive."  A bold prediction! The mainstream CD catalogues offer the F sharp concerto and some piano works, but no obvious recording of the others. Indeed, I wonder if any of his symphonies have ever been recorded?

Thanks for looking at that, Mark. No problem re timing, now I know it's GMT+.

Thank you for those opinions of the Herrmann Lenore... It was the first, and for many years only, Raff I had heard, so I treasure the LP, and it's safely digitized. I assume the version on the Nonesuch label is the same recording, issued primarily for the US market?

...and it is a bit awkward because posts marked "today" are often, for me in Australia, actually "yesterday" and have already been read. I wonder if the timing on the list that I see, should match my local time - but, when it comes down to it, this is such a wonderful forum that I really don't care!

Yes, I've recently been double checking all threads in case I missed anything. I just assumed it would come good....

Sicmu - thank you for the Kreek symphony. Maybe I am "conservative" too, because I think it's splendid. I agree that stylistically it is somewhat of a pastiche and certainly one would never guess that it was composed in 1953, but it's inventive and - to my ears - a delight. The short Wiki entry has Kreek as most noted for collecting Estonian folksong, and maybe that's why it's so tuneful.
It says that his crowning achievement was his Requiem, and tantalizingly refers to works for zithers and orchestra. I am alone in never having encountered such a combination?

Hmm... well you may be right, Alan. Those 'Ace of Diamonds' LPs of the 60s were what I had in mind... maybe my memory is playing tricks but I don't recall them sounding out of tune. As far as Raff symphonies goes, I wonder what you make of the classic LPO/Herrmann recording of Lenore - my first encounter with Raff. Do you think it rates well compared to contemporary performances?

It would be hard to deny that the heyday of the Suisse Romande was under Ansermet, c. 1955-65, just in time to capitalize on stereo LPs and make the most of their strong string playing and crisply defined brass section. I have very few of their subsequent recordings, and they seemed to flounder a bit in the 80s and 90s....

Thank you, indeed! The Melartin is just gorgeous. Lohdutus is a beautiful little gem, and the melodies of Marionettes just flow effortlessly... I must go back and listen to the symphonies again.

Latvian - that's a kind offer - yes please!

Well, looks like I should go in search of some Persichetti and give it a try.... a musical challenge worth taking up. Now it's Albany vs. Dutton .... what a pity that money comes into play!

Dundonnell - what an amazing treasure trove, and thank you for that detailed listing. I'm in a similar position, but have a far less impressive selection (ex-BBC Radio3). Digitizing will be a problem for me, but one day.....

A.S. thank you sincerely for these symphonic works; all new to me.  I had never even heard of Pingoud until now - a truly unsung composer - and getting to know his work is going to be a great pleasure.

Arbuckle - thank you so much for this. I will try hard to get the Symphony up over the next few weeks.