Hi all,
To me, Terry93D's question in another thread raised the question what you would recommend to new enthusiasts. A colleague asked me for some suggestions the other day, and I found myself tackling the issue more or less psychologically. This is a person that likes grand gestures and is very extrovert, and I found myself giving him Parry's and Atterberg's symphonies, but also Fauré's piano quartets (as I consider virtually all chamber music as unsung for large swathes of the populace) and that went down very well. But I would perhaps not recommend Parry to just anyone.
But it begged the question: would you be able to formulate a "canon of unsungs" - works that you would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone if you wanted them to open their minds to the breadth of underappreciated music?
Perhaps a ground rule to avoid an onslaught of lists: one work (or set of works), and with motivation, per person.
To make a start, let me mention the last two symphonies by Franz Berwald. Not only are they melodically and rhythmically attractive, but they're also quite distinctive and show an individuality that may alert people that their is something beyond the usual fare. And they're just such fun.
I would add the Piano Concerto's of Herz as they are very immediately appealing and ..... well anyone with a sense of fun can really enjoy his music - not too taxing on the mind.
I have to wholeheartedly agree with using the Herz concertos in such a way. I would be the first to suggest that musically they are not amongst the greatest creations, but this is where so many miss the point. These concertos do exactly what they set out to do without any aspirations of being great music; namely to entertain and to engage with an eclectic audience mix. As I have mentioned before, surely this is exactly still relevant today - perhaps even more so than when they were written, and if they can today produce just one spark of interest, which hopefully can be expanded to encourage further exploration of "serious music" amongst an unsuspecting public, this has to be a good thing.
Tempted by the Berwald symphonies too, it's true. A (math) teacher of mine (who knew of my music interests) told me to keep the name in mind/an ear out for him several years before I heard a note of his, and I'm glad he did!
Though I discovered them at a time when I didn't really need much convincing about "unsung music", I was still immediately hooked by Wilhelm Stenhammar's last 4 string quartets back in college (especially nos. 3, 4 and maybe 6.) Complex yet quite appealing, sincere and distinctive.
(Was difficult to choose between Stenhammar's quartets and one or two other options- fortunately! I admit one of my criteria was, did a classical-music-loving (but not necessarily obscure music-"special-pleading" ;) ) family member of mine enjoy the piece when I put my CD of them on the speakers at home :D ...)
I completely agree about the Berwald! [Many years ago] the 1st piece of classical music that I had ever heard was Berwald's Singulare on the Radio. From the opening bars I was hooked on to the composer and classical music for life!
I also agree with those who suggest Berwald, great stuff! I would also put in Moszkowski's 2nd Piano Concerto (Op.59) and anything by Volkmann and Goetz - 2 composers who I only discovered due to the knowledgeable members of this forum!
OK, modifications to say why i think these works are easily accessible - all of them are stuffed with great and memorable tunes and, especially in the case of the Moszkowski, extremely cheerful!
I wholeheartedly endorse what Martin and FBerwald have to say about Herz.
Could we please have reasons to accompany each suggestion? Otherwise we're into meaningless lists - which may be expunged for all eternity ;)
What Alan said. Look at it this way: if we could come up with some motivated choices it might serve as an UnsungComposers list of recommendations for people that take their first look at the unsungs.
Joseph Marx: "Autumn Symphony". A hyperromantic, large, striking and ingenious work which will make a strong impression on anyone willing to spend some time on it.
This whole idea of assembling a list for beginners in the field of unsung music strikes me as difficult to carry out--assuming it is not just another way of "tell me your favorite pieces".
Wouldn't you want such recommendations to be tailored to the person you make them to? Their listening habits, their preferences within the standard repertoire, their attention span (if you know that much about them)? Even their nationality?
Somebody who is comfortable with Chopin waltzes and Schubert songs should be directed to something equivalent in the unsung repertoire, not to a grand large scale orchestral work. And vice versa. Etc. Maybe they'll explore from there on out, maybe not.
@der79sebas - Although I dearly love the Autumn Symphony and personally consider it a masterpiece, the point of this thread is suggestions for the classical music novice. "safebets". In that respect maybe Marx might be a bit too rich, as it takes repeated listening to fully grasp his grandiose ideas. My suggestion of Hertz was based on the fact that the work is short enough not to bore a beginner and maintains enough interesting material for it's length. Even Berwald's Piano Concerto can fit the bill [if the listener is a piano enthusiast.] I had initially wanted to include Flor Alpaert's Pallieter [a very fun late romantic romp!] but, I felt that it might be a bit too much for the 1st time [I could be wrong, of course :D]
I have found that many of my [Indian] friends who listen to hard rock and pop and are open to new genres respond very well to crisp, classical and well-defined pieces eg, Beethoven Symphonies [I know .... not unsung.] For these people The works of Kalliwoda, Ries and likes might be suggested. Scharwenka - Piano Concerto No. 4 was a success among my friends, as was the Piano concerto of Raff. Ries's Symphony No. 5 was an instant hit [another Fun piece!].
Then there were some [all from personal experience .... I consider myself a sort of musical "evangelist" :D]; some friends who were not so crazy about metal, rock or pop, but had very eclectic tastes - Beethoven was not very favorable to them. They responded well to dreamy, drawn out pieces - Chausson - Poem; the works of Bruch - especially the double concerto for Clarinet & Viola; The Symphonies of russian composers like Kalinnikov, Glazunov, Lyapunov - Piano concertos were very acceptable. Bortkiewicz was huge hit [even among the Beethoven lovers] - I believe it's the "screen-movie" quotient of his music.
There has been , however, one common stumbling block. OPERA. I have never been able to sell the classical vocals to anyone [I have excluded my very few friends who listen to Jazz and are Fitzgerald fanatics, from this.] with the obvious exception of Cecilia Bartoli's spectacular coloratura performances.
I would suggest as a "safe bet" some of the (many) unsung works of a composer who survives in the brepertoire for a handful of works : Camille Saent-Saens.
I would suggest between his unsung works, always with the gift of rich melodic invention, concision and impeccable craftmanship:
The First Piano Concerto
The numbered Symphonies n.1 and n.2 (n.2 I would deem "semi sung", as I had the luck to attend, in many years, two performances of the second- one was in France).
Raff, Raff and Raff again. By that I mean virtually anything of his. Why? Becuase he's a melodist of the first order, a craftsman of the front rank and, perhaps most of all, because he puts a smile on your face. And then there's his tremendous dynamism - his quick music dances, seethes, bounces along, whereas his slow stuff often aches with beauty. And he composed more earworms than virtually any other composer...
I've never listened to any Raff, though I see his name repeatedly here and elsewhere. So that I am not drawing at random from his list of works, could you suggest your top three of his "safe bets" for a Raff novice?
Depends which genre you prefer. Try any of Symphonies 2, 3 4 or 5 (especially 2 or 5 in the Chandos/Järvi performances), Violin Concerto No.1 (Sterling), the two Piano Quartets (Divox), the Piano Quintet, Op.107 (Divox), String Quartet No.1 (Tudor) and any of Tra Nguyen's volumes of piano music (Grand Piano).
Here's Mark Thomas' comprehensive discography, with recommendations...
http://raff.org/records/discog/cd_sym.htm (http://raff.org/records/discog/cd_sym.htm)
Good luck - and do give us your feedback!
Three safe Bets for the Raff novice
1. Cello Concerto No. 1 [I dare you to resist this one!]
2. Cello Concerto No. 2 [Oodles and oodles of melodious surprises]
3. Piano Concerto [self explanatory once you give it a go]
Joseph Marx: "Autumn Symphony". A hyperromantic, large, striking and ingenious work which will make a strong impression on anyone willing to spend some time on it.
Marx's Autumn Symphony seems like anything but a safe bet to me. It requires not only a certain familiarity with the idiom to appreciate it, but also a good deal of stamina to sit it out. One for the advanced customers, I think.
As I understand this thread, we are talking not about complete newcomers to classical music (no need to recommend unsungs to them; there the correct suggestion would be simply Beethoven/Schubert/Schumann/Bruckner/Wagner/Mahler/Strauss - well a few French and Italian composers maybe, too) but for people who have made themselves familiar with the romantic standard repertoire and are now willing to wander in more obscure realms. And there Marx' Autums Symphony would be quite good start to find out what's going on "beyond". As mentioned earlier, of course, it depends on the personal taste of the person you talk to.
Marx's Autumn Symphony is far from a safe bet - more like an over-large, indigestible lunch (much as I love the piece). Mind you, if a person is used to sitting through, say, Mahler, he/she might be OK with Marx...
I completely agree with Alberto- the less well known works of Camille Saint-Saens are consistently beautiful, characterful and rewarding! All of the works that Alberto mention, plus all of Saint-Saens chamber works. And his unknown opera's - particularly Henry VIII and Etienne Marcel are excellent- [we still need really top notch recordings of the operas].
For someone who likes Brahms's chamber music, I think Thuille's Sextet is a safe bet. It's memorably lyrical, well constructed, and doesn't outstay its welcome.
For someone who likes early Romantic symphonies, I second, third, or whatever Berwald's Sinfonie singulière, especially by the Malmö SO under Sixten Ehrling. Berwald's musical ideas remain delightful and surprising even after multiple hearings. He's as original as Berlioz (though nothing like Berlioz).
For someone who likes early Faure (Vln sonata 1 etc), I suggest one of the Atma classique discs of chamber music by Dubois. Dubois really knows his way around all four of the standard movements of the classic sonata-suite, and he has something appealing to share that commands (my) attention, especially in works written after 1906.
For someone who likes Russian orchestral music, it's hard to go wrong with Glazunov's Symphony 5, the finale of which almost matches Tchaikovsky 5 for excitement; Glière's Symphony 2, full of memorable tunes and, in the first movement, an exciting development; or either of Kalinnikov's lyrical symphonies. On second thought, I'd recommend Balakirev's First Symphony before Kalinnikov. The Balakirev is almost as tuneful as Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade, and is at least as well constructed. The Beecham recording in early stereo makes a strong case for the symphony, as does the Svetlanov/USSR SO performance on the budget label Regis.
One could go on and on, of course. As Alberto and others have pointed out, some sung composers like Saint-Saëns have appealing unsung works. And like Eric I'm a fan of Stenhammar. Just the other day I played Rimsky-Korsakov's Piano Concerto (Hyperion series) for someone just getting to know classical music, and I was surprised by how strongly they liked it. Their only disappointment was that it wasn't twice as long. Their enthusiam prompted me to revise my own opinion of the piece (listening to it with them, I enjoyed it more than I ever had before).
That's an excellent and helpful post - thanks!
If I were to choose one "safe bet" disc it would be Michael Ponti's recording of D'Albert's Second and Bronsart's Piano Concertos...both completely irresistible.
Could you expand on that a little, please? In what way do you find them irresistible?
I find the Ponti/d'Albert very resistible, I'm afraid, partly because it is cut and partly because I don't like the recorded sound. Ponti plays it well. The Bronsart is a great big, hugely impressive "wham-bam" virtuoso concerto - big on tunes and big on bombast. I love it - but it would be good to have a recording in more modern sound. Again, Ponti is excellent.
Amen to the Bronsart suggestion, and to Gareth's comments.
Well, I can dismiss one of Gareth's objections to Ponti's performance of D'Albert's concerto! It isn't cut even though the performance only lasts 15 mins 24 secs. Piers Lane takes over 21 minutes. But it's Ponti's spirit more than anything I like. What I like about the concerto is that it is so memorable melodically and so tightly written. Every bar carries the musical argument further. There is so much music in that quarter of an hour. It would be very difficult to cut it. There isn't anything you could leave out! I accept that the recording isn't all it could be but I don't really mind too much.
Bronsart's concerto is also very strong melodically...in all three movements. It's tightly written and, although it's a virtuoso piece, certainly in the finale, there's none of that meretricious writing, really padding, which disfigures so many Romantic concertos. My 85 year old mum loved the finale when I played it to her in the car! We do need a new recording, though.
Could we please establish whether any cuts are involved in the Ponti coupling? And if so, in which work? There seems to be a difference of opinion here...
Perhaps I am mistaken about the d'Albert being cut, but there is a big time difference between Ponti's and Lane's performances. I will listen again.
Thanks, Gareth.
Ponti does not cut either D'Albert's concerto or Bronsart's though I can't guarantee he plays absolutely every note! The enormous timing discrepancy between his and Piers Lane's recordings of D'Albert's concerto is entirely due to interpretation. There are, of course, other performances which follow a middle path. Siegfried Stockigt takes just under 18 mins and Joseph Banowetz 19 1/2. I do think that Lane makes very heavy weather of it. Of course, unsung repertoire will not have a performing tradition attached to it so extremes of interpretation are more likely to occur. The Jarvi recording of the "Lenore" symphony was certainly a surprise!
QuoteOf course, unsung repertoire will not have a performing tradition attached to it so extremes of interpretation are more likely to occur. The Jarvi recording of the "Lenore" symphony was certainly a surprise!
Agreed - in principle. Although Järvi's
Lenore may well be closer to whatever tradition existed in the 19th century than its rivals...
Re Dubois' chamber music: just started listening to an older recording of his string quartet no.1 in E-flat. At least as of the end of the first movement: Seconded. Memorable, enjoyable, harmonically clever/fluid/unsquare but _also_ uncramped and very "open-air" in quartet-"instrumentation"... (no, not boring! Turn of the 19/20th-century "French chamber music" virtues, I guess, but I like those* (done well- as here!)- reminded me of Vincent d'Indy's also very fine (and underrated) first string quartet, in places.) Glad to have a chance to hear this piece. Between d'Indy, Dubois, Magnard and some others (including especially the late works of Saint-Saëns and early works of Roussel**) 1890-1910/20 or so was a good time for French chamber music... (of course)
The remaining 3 movements of the Dubois quartet give me no reason to lower my opinion- the elegiac third movement is especially fine.
I'll seek out the ATMA CDs l'un-façon-l'autre...
Given my druthers I'd mention other works that have - ... "earwormed me" of late?... oh- eh...
for example I've had trouble getting Nikolay Medtner's violin sonatas (especially the first, and I thought least of the three...) out of my head (yet again!!) ... - and Furtwaengler's 1944-6 symphony in E minor, which I've now heard in performances conducted by Barenboim and the composer too, is one of those late-late-Romantic works from the heart and soul (and drawing on a composer-conductor's experience of Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, and many others, very occasionally quoted but more often filtered) that just keeps growing on me (and I was already listening to it very often as it was, iTunes' counter was telling me, especially considering its great length!)
(Though this latter is, given its very variable critical reviews, probably not quite a safe bet. Of course, that depends on a lot too...)
*(not those virtues -exclusively- :) , though the "done well" part remains important in any case)
**(early works. His later works aren't suitable for this forum - and some here will dismiss their merit out of hand- but his earlier works are within time period and musically speaking appropriate- or so it seems to this writer, who is now getting another headache :) ;) but that's tangential anyway.)
I would also like to add [and I can't believe I forgot this one] -
Eyvind Alnæs - Piano Concerto in D Major.
A superbly crafted example of an ultra romantic piano concerto. The Last waltz movement [are there any other examples of a la Viennese Waltz for Piano & Orchestra?] anticipates Rachmaninoff's Paganini Variations - 18th Variation, by about 34 years [or am I the only one to notice this similarity?].
When it comes to chamber music, I'd go with Gernsheim, particularly the 2nd String Quartet. But really, everything is excellent.
Seconded, Ilja!
FBerwald- there was a popular tune around at the time, I think, which might have inspired the Alnæs, the Medtner (Op. 25/1 slow movement opening, also in Eflat), and the much later Rachmaninoff themes which all sound so similar...
If I'm not mistaken, the 18th variation in the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is the one in D-flat that turns it into a love song. It's the Paganini 24th Caprice theme in inversion and augmentation (upside-down and with extended note values).