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Thanks Eschiss1 ... I always wondred what the name was that John Hawkins had written on the CD cover!

Couldn't agree more - and I think we're all being appropriately respectful. I'm sure we don't confuse our distaste for certain composer/works for distate toward those who feel otherwise. It's just so amazing to become aware of such diametrically opposed reactions to music....

As to Bach... well most of his work leaves me stunned. I find it transcendent, and I can say no more. As to ways of approaching those composers we don't like, well can I say that I was never a Mahler fan until I saw Ken Russell's film, this p[rompted me to sit and immerse myself in Bernstein's early account of the 6th and I was absolutely bowled over. I think we find our way by all manner of routes!

I am keen to contribute to the downloads folder, but I'm afraid I can't upload the Marshall-Hall Symphony in E-flat as it is still in the catalogue of Move Records. This is a small label based in Melbourne, specializing in Australian composers and their catalogue is well worth a visit:
http://www.move.com.au/result.cfm?style=a

X-Trapnel - hmmm, I can't really argue with you there, except just maybe you're a bit harsh on Ives. After all it was only a hobby, he was producing some pretty radical stuff pre-WW1 (I am always amazed that Three Places in New England is from 1910!), and surely nobody can deny that the Adagio from the early 1st Symphony is a beauty.

I know this started with the symphonies in mind, but I'd like to recommend the Sinfoniettas (Russian Disc, Svetlanov) which sit well alongside the magnificent 21st Sym.

This thread is testimony to the diversity of tastes - I am left completely stunned that someone who loves music could not 'get' Mahler, who plumbed the depths and heights of emotion, or be utterly dazzled by Britten's sheer genius in his Frank Bridge Variations or Young Person's Guide, and Gershwin - half my life has been spent whistling, humming or singing his music ..... and so it goes on....

OK - now my confession - Tchaikovsky! utterly meaningless, repetitive, empty-headed, crash-bang-wallop, confused drivel, all fancy wrapping and no contents. (dives for cover!)

Thank you indeed for these wonderful Hill recordings, which are a delicious prospect. I'm listening to the 1st as I type and it's a joy. People here are so generous.
Hill is unjustly neglected here in Australia and I fear will remain so, unless the ABC can be persuaded to release a complete set of the symphonies. That would need a high profile champion, which is unlikely since we still import our conductors and directors from overseas and I doubt that they've even heard of him! Home grown conductors and performers feel a need to prove themselves in Europe and with the standard European-Russian repertoire, so no joy there either. How lucky we are to have people on this forum who can nonethless supply us with the music!

Yes, Eschiss1, I agree - rather a good job being done there.

Jerry, I missed out on welcoming your kind offer of the 'The Bush' by Hart. I think any Australian music by 'unsungs' is like gold dust.... so yes, please. Do by any chance have any Bracanin? It seems the ABC's Eurocentrism - at least as far as recording is concerned - means most Australian composers are destined for obscurity! Easton appeared on Naxos, Broadstock on a Russian (?) label, and so it goes...

I have the Marshall-Hall Symphony in E-flat on an old CD (the obscure 'Move' label!), along with the Adagio from his Symphony in C minor. I'll upload these if anyone is interested, provided I can confirm there are no copyright issues.

The symphonies by Japanese composers, courtesy of Naxos, have been an enjoyable revelation to me, and probably to most listeners outside Japan. It is especially interesting to hear the extent to which Japanese culture is influencing what is, of course, a European musical form. The same goes for Australian 'classical' music, which in recent years has begun to establish a national identity through assimilation of Indigenous musical ideas (Sculthorpe, Edwards, etc). I don't think of this as 'nationalism' in any jingoistic sense, by the way, but purely in terms of musical sensibilities.

Uploads of the Hill 12 and 13 would be greatly appreciated, as I've only ever heard the earlier ones. The 3rd - 'Australian' - includes some beautiful melodies and is a favourite. Clearly Hill loved Australia even though he was a Kiwi and has been called "New Zealand's Dvorak". I haven't heard the ABC broadcast much of his in recent years, with the exception of a sentimental piece for narrator and orchestra entitled "Green Water". The viola concerto can readily be heard on YouTube, ánd has appeared on WRC and HMV/EMI LPs, but there's currently no CD as far as I can tell. Among more recent Australian symphonists, I would note Brenton Broadstock. His five symphonies are stunning works (see Wikipedia entry for CD details)... and I hope he doesn't become an "Unsung Composer" in time to come!

Jim, you posted just as I was sending the above ..... anyway, yes, yes, please!

Thank you for this superb rarity. As an Australian, I should perhaps be embarrassed that I have never heard of, let alone heard the music of, either composer and even more so when I found a lengthy entry in Wikipedia.  With its brooding Baxian soundworld and finely detailed orchestration, I wonder how a self-taught composer developed such a style. Is the other piece on the record similar in style?

Glad you like it, Latvian.... though I would admit it's less imposing than some of the amazing compositions you've given us.

I have a few more details.... it was written in 1980, and performed three times by the Bournemouth SO in 1982 (inc. the first broadcast performance). This performance is from 1989, and the three movements are:
1. Pacific calm
2. Night - upriver to Rotterdam
3. North Atlantic

In the early 80s, I taped the FBP of John Hawkins' Sea Symphony (1982), from BBC Radio 3. I grew to like it, then with the advent of the web duly discovered his web site. http://www.johnhawkinsmusic.co.uk/  This has a link enabling people to contact him to request a free non-commercial demo CD of the symphony. If members are interested, rather than burden him with requests, I will ask John if I can upload it.

This version of Svendsen's cello concerto features on my old reel-to-reel tapes, in a box somewhere in the house. How marvellous to hear it again after all these years. Thank you. Members are so generous. When time and health allow, I must digitize whatever has survived on the tapes and do some uploading myself - mostly ex-BBC Radio 3, 1970s and 80s, including a few FBPs, and some rather obscure composers.