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I have recently been intrigued by Austrian late-romantic Julius Bittner (who was an exact contemporary of Franz Schmidt, to whom Bittner was a close friend). He was primarily an operatic composer (he composed at least ten in a post-Wagnerian style), and his opera Der Bergsee (The Mountain Lake, 1911) has been recorded and has a brief thread here. I am not particularly fond of operas, so I have not investigated it, also being rather discouraged by the three-star review on Amazon. However, as indicated by Wikipedia, he was versatile in all forms, composing two symphonies, two symphonic poems, Austrian Dances for two pianos and orchestra, incidental music, chamber works (including two string quartets and a cello sonata), a Great Mass and Te Deum, numerous operettas, three ballets, and many songs. Apparently Mahler and Bruno Walter were enthusiastic promoters of his music.

One can find some bits of his music of YouTube: the Prelude to Der Musikant, an excerpt from the opera Das Höllisch Gold and the Austrian Dances nos. 1 and 3 for piano.

Bittner's Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Bittner
Works of his held at IMSLP: http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Bittner,_Julius

Anyone know more about Bittner?

[Fantasia-Quintett for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello and Harp; Petite Suite for Flute and Harp; Danses Medievales for Flute and Harp; Sonatine for Bassoon and Harp (!); Suite Printaniere for Harp]

Some chamber music, all with harp, by little-known Swiss composer Joseph Lauber: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lauber-Pierre-Martens/dp/B00BDOAZBQ/ref=sr_1_185?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1373040431&sr=1-185

Fantasia-Quintett for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello and Harp; Petite Suite for Flute and Harp; Danses Medievales for Flute and Harp; Sonatine for Bassoon and Harp (!); Suite Printaniere for Harp

I wasn't familiar at all with Lauber, so I did some research on him. Here's an enticing description of Lauber's style from web.archive.org: "Joseph Lauber greatly admired the music of Debussy, Fauré and Duparc. His own compositions combine the harmonies and textures of the French Impressionists with the formal structures of the German Romantics - with a dose of local Swiss color thrown in for good measure." According to German Wikipedia, he composed five symphonies, two piano concertos, two violin concertos, a double bass concerto (which has been recorded on Gallo), symphonic poems, a formidable amount of chamber music as well as vocal works.

While the release at hand may not feature Lauber's most substantial works, maybe it will act as a harbinger for more recordings of his music!

I recently listened to Hermann Graedener's String Quartet no. 2 in D major, op. 39 (c.1905). It's a thoroughly conservative work for its time, but certainly not without interest. It has an open-air feel more reminiscent of Dvorak than Brahms, but of course Graedener doesn't have Dvorak's talent for instantly memorable melodies. Especially remarkable is the puckish scherzo, with ear-catching spiccato and even ponticello effects. Also, the expansive first movement is quite lovely, with some interesting harmonies along the way. This work should dispel any notion that Hermann Graedener was merely a Brahms epigone

Thanks-that's good to know

I don't know if Jongen's romantic/impressionstic music is off-limits here, but I'd like to put in a word for his gorgeously, shimmeringly atmospheric and often melodically memorable piano works, which should greatly appeal to admirers of Faure, Debussy and Ravel. The Klavier disc of some of Jongen's best piano works with Gary Stegall as pianist is strongly recommended as an entry point into his pianistic output. There is a more extensive series on Pavane which is worth exploring as well, but of course the music is more variable in quality. But Jongen on an off-day is far from bad!

[Adolphe Samuel (1824-1898): Symphony no. 6 in D minor, op. 44; Joseph Jongen (1873-1953): Three Symphonic Movements, op. 137; Royal Flemish Philharmonic/Martyn Brabbins]

A very exciting upcoming release: http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-No-6-Adolphe-Samuel/dp/B00CPCENQI/ref=sr_1_24?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1372977059&sr=1-24

Adolphe Samuel (1824-1898): Symphony no. 6 in D minor, op. 44; Joseph Jongen (1873-1953): Three Symphonic Movements, op. 137; Royal Flemish Philharmonic/Martyn Brabbins

This release (the second in the "Belgian Boutique" series) will mark the first appearance on disc of the music of Belgian-Jewish composer Adolphe Samuel, as well as fill a major gap in the Jongen discography. The editorial review on Amazon describes the Samuel symphony as "mystical and Wagnerian" and Jongen's Three Symphonic Movements (his final orchestral work) as "neo-impressionist". A biography of Samuel and a synopsis of his Symphony no. 6 can be found here: http://www.musikmph.de/musical_scores/vorworte/516.html#english

I am a great admirer of Jongen's music and look forward to investigating Samuel's. Another one for the wish list! Now, how about Jongen's early, large-scale Symphony?

German father and son composers Karl (who has the same birth and death dates as Wagner!) and Hermann Graedener (or Grädener) have languished in obscurity even more than many of the composers that are discussed here. They are so obscure, in fact, that none of their music has made it onto disc. Enter Steve's Bedroom Band, who uploaded more than serviceable recordings of Karl's String Quartet no. 3 and Hermann's String Octet and String Quartet no. 2 to IMSLP, and we finally have access to some of these mens' work. As can be heard in these well-crafted, melodious works, Karl was primarily influenced by Schumann and Mendelssohn, while Hermann was strongly influenced by Brahms. Considering that my interests lie mainly in orchestral music, what piqued my interest most about the Graedeners is that they composed some substantial orchestral works. Karl composed two symphonies and a piano concerto (as well as three operas), and Hermann has two symphonies and two concertos each for violin and piano to his credit. IMSLP holds quite a few of each composer's chamber works, as well as as piano reduction of Hermann's Violin Concerto no. 2. Does anyone have any more to say about this intriguing father and son?

His music just hasn't got enough fire in its belly for me. I have known the 4th Symphony for years and admire its obvious dignity and depth of feeling. However, compared with, say, Suk's roughly comtemporaneous Asrael Symphony, I find it rather lacks grip. Nevertheless, I'll have to dig out some of his music and give it another listen.

Indeed, please do give Foerster another go! Suk's Asrael is a smoldering masterpiece and Foerster's music will definitely seem tame in comparison to it, but on its own it can be rather affecting in a different way than Suk. Suk was undoubtedly a greater composer than Foerster, though.

Actually, Foerster's cello sonatas have been recorded by the Duo Moravia (Tudor 7071). Also on the disc are the Three Nocturnes for cello, viola, piano and the Melodie for cello and piano.

Thank you, but this disc seems to be exceedingly difficult to get ahold of at the present moment. US Amazon sellers are asking in excess of $100 for used copies

Oh, I just meant that there was no single thread specifically devoted to discussion of Foerster (I performed a search BTW). He may not be an undiscovered master and not everyone will warm to his style, but I thought him deserving of his own thread, at least

Again, if you are only going to have one Foerster disc on your collection, it should be the Supraphon one with his Symphony no. 4 and Symphonic Poem Springtime and Desire. Alan, you said you've collected the symphonies and concertos-have you tried his chamber works? Overall, they're more intimate, dark and personal than the orchestral works, if not as immediately appealing.

I was quite surprised to see there is no thread devoted to the very fine Czech late-romantic composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster. In recent years, there has been a flood of recordings of his music-the MD&G cycle of his five symphonies (which has been rather underrated, in my view), the Supraphon discs of the violin concertos and the chamber music, and the Naxos disc containing the Symphony no. 4 and other works. Foerster may not display a staggeringly individual voice (Dvorak, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, R. Strauss and Suk are all influences on his style at various points), but his music has an immensely appealing freshness and color. For the most part, Foerster skillfully avoids the hyper-melodramatic cliches found in some of the music of his contemporaries. Much of his music is sunnily lyrical in character (evoking the Bohemian countryside), but that certainly doesn't mean it lacks depth or drama. Although Foerster's style changed little throughout his long life, there is hardly a feeling of sameness between his works.

Foerster's Symphony no. 4 Easter Eve is generally regarded as his masterpiece. I would agree with that statement-it is a grand work which represents Foerster at his most serious (and Mahlerian), but it is a gloriously uplifting work. The Smetacek performance of this work on Supraphon is the definitive version by far. If you're new to Foerster, investigate this work first, then move onto his magically orchestrated and melodious orchestral suites From Shakespeare and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as his Violin Concerto no. 1 and his folksy opera Eva. Finally, investigate the rest of the symphonies, the Cello Concerto, and the chamber works, the latter of which are among Foerster's most personal utterances.

Foerster has been extraordinarily lucky in having so much of his output recorded in excellent performances, but there are still some works of his that remain unrecorded, most notably his two cello sonatas and some cantatas. His Cantata May, which can be found on YouTube, is quite a gorgeous piece with some excellent vocal writing.

Anyone else an admirer of this fine composer?

[Only two months ago, the two-piano version of this suite appeared on Naxos and we optimistically hoped that the orchestral version might appear soon. But this soon? Great! As we said before, the suites recently written by Massenet, Delibes and Lalo were Debussy's main influences and the latter's Bacchanale from Namouna is evoked in the fourth movement Cortège et Bacchanale. The third movement was not preserved and was orchestrated by Manoury - it is closest to the Debussy of Pelleas while there are hints in the Cortège of the full-blown style of La mer. Les Siècles; François-Xavier Roth.]

In their July catalogue, Records International features a disc on the Actes Sud label that contains the world premiere recording of the orchestral version of Debussy's early Premiere Suite. Although the coupling is the ubiquitous La mer, this still looks like a release to investigate. Here's the description from Records International:

Only two months ago, the two-piano version of this suite appeared on Naxos and we optimistically hoped that the orchestral version might appear soon. But this soon? Great! As we said before, the suites recently written by Massenet, Delibes and Lalo were Debussy's main influences and the latter's Bacchanale from Namouna is evoked in the fourth movement Cortège et Bacchanale. The third movement was not preserved and was orchestrated by Manoury - it is closest to the Debussy of Pelleas while there are hints in the Cortège of the full-blown style of La mer. Les Siècles; François-Xavier Roth.

http://www.recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=07P038

Sounds interesting, no?

Hello, I'm new here! I also look forward to this disc with enthusiasm. I would also very much like to hear Milford's Symphony, op. 34, composed in 1933. It is one of Milford's most substantial work (along with the VC and the Oratorio Pilgrim's Progress), as he was mainly a composer of well-crafted, melancholy and luminous miniatures. Although Vaughan Williams (who was an influence on Milford's music) admired the work greatly, Milford (for reasons unknown) withdrew the work in 1956. The excellent website of the Robin Milford Trust has the score and parts for the Symphony available for purchase. A project for Dutton, perhaps?