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"...music which grabs me by the throat."

I trust not too tightly, though, Peter.

It is interesting to consider the words we use to describe the effect that music has on us.... and that's pretty graphic. I suppose I had better give this Samuragochi/Niigaki/?  symphony a listen!

Yes, I agree, Mark - Sony are getting great coverage. Which classical music fan would not want to hear this now much-talked-about work? I suppose that in dollar terms there is little distinction between being famous and being infamous!

By the way, I have not heard the symphony myself. Does it fall into UC's remit as a piece of late/neo- romanticism?

That's wonderful, Mark! 

And, welcome to UCs.

There is a Nimbus disc devoted to Friskin's chamber work, and there are many excellent reviews available. The only weakness is generally said to be the playing of the normally reliable Rasumovsky Quartet, and it seems worth considering in order to hear something by Friskin.

He also features on YouTube, playing Bach, mostly in what seemed to me to be a lush, rather romantic style. I particularly like his account of the Goldberg Variations.  Oh to hear that missing Piano Concerto!

As an academic, I can't help thinking that the same issues arise in relation to new musical compositions as to essays produced by students. How do we know who the true author is? How do we establish that it is an original piece of work and not a clever pastiche constructed from the work of others? Universities use sophisticated software that checks essays for plagiarism, and so students are increasingly adopting the alternative strategy of buying essays from professional ghost writers - who advertise widely on the web. There is no way of establishing that the student is not the true author, so we now mandate traditional style examinations!

It may not be possible to establish beyond doubt the true composer(s) of some new compositions, such as the Hiroshima Symphony, given the clever use of plagiarism and ghost writers - especially widespread, dare I say, in Asia.

So, yes, new CD covers, Alan, but maybe they should say - at least for the time being - "Composer(s) Unknown". 

Ah, John - how marvellous!   
I wish you many more birthdays to come, and hope they will be full of music.

'khorovod'  said "I suppose if people enjoy the music it should in theory still have the same effect on them as previously".

I agree, but the important phrase here is "in theory".  There is an argument that great works of art stand on their own merit, and that the character of their creator has no relevance to their aesthetic quality. For most people, however, I think this is unrealizable and our appreciation of a piece of music - even perhaps against our better judgement - tends to be influenced by what we know of the composer and their circumstances. Sometimes, the music is great enough to overcome most negative connotations (some might say that this applies in the case of Wagner) and perhaps the 'Hiroshima Symphony' is good enough to overcome and outlive the indignation listeners feel at having been duped by Mr Samuragochi.

Yes, indeed, Sterling are to be congratulated on their Noskowski series. Apart from the operas, I don't think there's much significant by him that's unavailable on CD, so maybe is their last one.

How about kicking off with some examples, Paul? I can't think of any myself, but suspect you have something in mind.....

Thanks, Alan! That's clear enough. 

In that case, I'll say a word in favour of the neglected Symphony in D major by Bellini, written when he was a young man, per Grove (although I can't find an exact date). Maybe not especially "remarkable", but interestingly scored, and looking forward to the operatic style ... and half bad for a teenager!

I am a little lost with this thread because I really don't understand what is meant by "late classical". The common practice is to give 1820 as the beginning of the romantic period, so I suppose that "late classical" would be music composed, say 1790-1820? 

Coupled with the Shchedrin violin sonata - that really is an odd choice! The later issue has it coupled with the unfinished Borodin piano trio.

As I have just been listening to the Symphony No.5 in G minor after a long hiatus, I thought I'd pick up on this old thread about one of the very gifted UCs about whom we rarely speak.

As a belated reply to the last post, from Peter, yes sad that he died in his 50s and that he was so encumbered with work, but as I pointed out in a previous post he still managed an astonishing output, including 6 symphonies (the two G minor ones being excellent), and five/six piano concertos (we don't need to revisit that one!). The latter are on CD, but I think the symphonies are still hard to find.

If anyone is interested, I am happy to upload an mp3 of the Symphony No.5 in the old BBC radio performance by the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Alwyn. I believe this is a studio/concert performance rather than ex-LP. I recorded it directly from the BBC broadcast all those years ago, and now I see the same broadcast has popped up on YouTube. 

Hmmm ... but we do seem to have strayed somewhat from Weingartner songs!

What a great way to start the day - with this sparkling, brightly played and engaging music.
Sincere thanks 'jerfilm' 

Joseph Dente - yet another unjustly unsung composer. It's hard to understand why this particular symphony has been so neglected. It's so enjoyable. I do hope we'll hear more about and by him ...