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Man, tough choice between Atterberg, Bortkiewicz 1, Alnaes, and Medtner 2 and 3. They're all equally fantastic works in my opinion. The first three have tunes and bravura that give Rachmaninoff a run for his money and the two Medtner have a melancholic depth that is very moving.

Oh, I wasn't dismissing the Strauss Oboe Concerto as fluff! It is definitely a substantial work with a nostalgic feeling all its own. Like with many of Strauss' works, though, it fails to engage me enough to trigger an emotional response. Apologies for the misunderstanding!

I don't mean to limit this thread too much, but I'd like to keep the discussion within the realm of the late-romantic era. There's quite a few woodwind concertante works that were written in the first couple decades of the 19th century (e.g. those by Spohr).

While more mid- than late-romantic in harmonic style, there's Klughardt's lovely Concert Piece for oboe and orchestra, recorded by Sterling.

Pappalardo...I've heard his name in passing. Looks like IMSLP holds a good bit of his sizeable chamber output. Thanks for bringing his name back to my attention! You are absolutely right that we have checked so much off our wish lists over the past couple years due to the enterprising recording projects of labels such as Naxos, CPO, Dutton, and others. It sounds so greedy to badger our good friends in charge of such record companies to record everything on our ever-dwindling wish lists, but that's our job, isn't it?

Overall, I prefer Stanford in his more extroverted, less Brahmsian works, such as the Irish Rhapsodies and vocal/orchestral works (especially the magnificent Songs of the Fleet). I also very much like the Second and Third PCs (with their premonitions of Rachmaninoff), but, like Jimfin once did, I find PC 1 to be a more elusive work due to its overall restraint. The symphonies don't keep my attention as well as the works I mention as my favorites, but they contain some glorious moments for sure. The Sixth is my favorite Stanford symphony, as it is the most individual (to my ears) and contains a beautiful slow movement of genuine depth that Stanford's music rarely reaches (not meant to be a disparaging comment). In short, I find Stanford's music perpetually enjoyable and inspiriting at its best, but falls just short of being emotionally satisfying.

I mentioned in another post the intriguing Bassoon Concerto of Italian composer Antonio Scontrino (1850-1922), which inspired me to start this thread...

It seems to me that there are a relatively minuscule amount of concertante works for wind instruments written in the late-romantic era. Now, there are a handful of concertante works for horn and orchestra from this period, but it is debatable whether the horn is truly a wind instrument. Besides, I see there's already a thread for Romantic Era works for horn and orchestra.

Well, the most obvious examples that come to mind are Strauss' Oboe Concerto and Duett-Concertino for clarinet and bassoon, works I'm not overly fond of but fill this niche quite well. I suppose Finzi's Clarinet Concerto could be considered late-romantic, but, whatever the case, it has to be the most achingly beautiful works ever written for a solo wind instrument. Wolf-Ferrari wrote a couple very attractive concertante works with winds (including an Oboe Concerto) which could be described as having a late-romantic harmonic language but being clothed in a neoclassical aesthetic. Also, there's Chaminade's brief but utterly charming Flute Concertino.

So, my main question is: Why so few concertante works for winds in the grand manner like the concertos composers were churning out for piano, violin, and cello at the time? The Finzi concerto is the closest example I could think of that has the emotional depth and dramatic content of concertos written for the "usual three" during the period. Many late-romantics (Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Rimsky, Sibelius, etc.) exploited a great fondness and gratifying writing for the winds in their orchestral works. So, why didn't they write any works that would fit the subject in question?

Any thoughts?

That's intriguing, Eric! Another composer who I believe is worthy of a recorded edition is Antonio Scontrino (1850-1922), whose role in the revival of instrumental music in Italy is largely forgotten today. He composed two symphonies, concertos for piano, double bass, and bassoon and other orchestral works, five string quartets, as well as other compositions. Now, granted, I haven't heard much of his music at all-just a very attractive (yet not the least bit slight) minuet from a String Quartet in A minor which Steve's Bedroom Band uploaded to IMSLP. The only other morsel of his music that seems to be available is the first movement of his Bassoon (!) Concerto in piano reduction on YT (which I haven't yet heard). I've glanced over the music of his held at IMSLP (including the full score of the mouth-watering Sinfonia marinesca), and I believe it holds great promise. Naxos seems to be taking much interest in the Italians these days; perhaps we should put Scontrino on their radar?

On a different note, I really hope some enterprising record label brings out the four Napravnik symphonies in the near future. I was deeply impressed by his Concerto symphonique and Fantasy on Russian Themes (featured in Hyperion's RPC series), which are big-boned, rather forward-looking works. There's also a fantastic Violin Sonata of his on YouTube. The two-piano score to Napravnik's Third (The Demon) is on IMSLP, so that's a start!

Thanks for confirming those "rumors", Alan. Rasilainen is a superb conductor and I'm sure he could work wonders with Marx's dazzling kaleidoscope of a work

I, too, long for a spectacular CD recording of the Herbstsymphonie with a world-class orchestra and sympathetic conductor. However, I would expect CPO, not Hyperion, to be the label to do the job. In fact, I've heard isolated rumors that CPO does indeed have this masterwork in the pipeline...

That is indeed exciting news, Karl! I've loved what little I've heard of EB Hill's beautiful, impressionistic music.

I shouldn't have forgotten Volkmar Andreae's marvelous Piano Trio no. 2! It's an eclectic yet personal work, drawing from influences as diverse as Brahms, Faure, and Impressionism. Despite its eclectic nature, it is a cohesive and powerful work. Andreae's first piano trio is a more through-and-through Brahmsian affair, but its melodic invention and sheer exuberance puts it above many other Brahms-influenced chamber works of the time in my book (e.g. those by von Herzogenberg, which I'm afraid don't do much for me).

Many thanks, Ken, for your extensive reply. That trio sounds nothing if not tantalizing!

Hi Ken, you mention a composer by the name of Kroeger. Are you, by any chance, referring to American composer Ernest Richard Kroeger (1862-c.1934)? I've been intrigued by his music ever since coming across a couple very attractive piano works of his in an old book. According to a bio included in that ancient collection, Kroeger composed a Symphony in B flat, a PC in E-flat, a Suite for Orchestra in C, four overtures, four string quartets, two string quintets, two piano trios, a piano quartet, sonatas for violin, viola, and cello, a Piano Sonata in D-flat, a Suite for Piano in F minor, twelve Concert Studies for piano as well as numerous miniatures and songs. On the basis of the piano works of his I've played (esp. the passionate, melodic Declaration), he definitely seems like a composer worth the record companies' time!

I've recently come across another example that would fit this thread: Pancho Vladigerov's Scandinavian Suite Traumspiel, drawn from incidental music he wrote for Strindberg's play of the same name. It's a stunning work, with influences as varied as Impressionism, Wagner, and Swedish folk music. It's available on CPO: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NOIWOY?

Toccata will be bringing out the previously unrecorded viola/piano music (including two sonatas) of Grechaninov in due course: http://www.toccataclassics.com/cddetail.php?CN=TOCC0234

Also included are Grechaninov's viola/piano arrangements of Debussy's Romance and Beau Soir.