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Today I happened upon Charles Johnson's orchestration of MacDowell's op.55 (Sea Pieces), and was not terribly impressed with the results. The opening "To The Sea" is especially bombastic in its new clothing...
But then, I've never really been a fan of this type of thing. Particularly in the case of Macdowell, where the music is so intrinsically pianistic... in it's new guise the softer moments come across as cloyingly as the elongated sighs in the dreaded Les Sylphides. Never enjoyed Faure's "Dolly Suite' in orchestral garb, either.
Why not expend this energy on recording the MacDowell piano pieces that have yet to be recorded?

Anyway, you can judge for yourselves. It's on youtube.

Technically not a new recording, so I'm posting here...

I've happily discovered that NPR's "Pipedreams" programme has a cd available that includes the late Robert Pitman's transcription - for piano and organ - of Mendelssohn's first Piano Concerto. This was a piece that I first heard broadcast back in 1988 - and never thought I would hear again.  I think the combination of piano/organ works wonderfully in this piece.
Information here:
http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/purchase/pipedreamslive.shtml

Maybe that letter-writing campaign to Michael Barone paid off (though it took 20 plus years)

[Evening Service for Trebles]

Ok, he's alive (as far as I know), and still active as an organist. But, fear not; his music is wonderfully melodic, and speaks with the voice of the late 19th century. I've no idea if the man would consider this a compliment, but there you are.
I came across his Evening Service for Trebles some 30 odd years ago - on TV, of all places. It was paired with the equally lovely Agnus Dei by Douglas Hopkins (of whom I know nothing - but would like to).
Anyway, I have never found a commercial recording of either work, and mores the pity. All I have is a video tape (with rather dodgy audio), and a memory...
I could upload  them, but seeing as how they are both late 20th century works I'm afraid someone might hit me.

To the question: Have any here come across either work, or any other substantial pieces by this overlooked composer? The pieces certainly deserve a wider audience..... in my humble opinion.

Please pardon if this has been previously discussed.

Another chap who seems to - after having experienced success (I once saw, him in a contemporary biography, compared to Wolf & Schubert) - fallen from the collective consciousness. According to Wikipedia he composed (in addition to the songs he WAS famous for) the following operatic/orchestral works:

Incidental music for The Double Life (M. R. Rinehart), 1906
Young Blood, symphony/tone-pageant, 1919
Alice in Wonderland, opera (R. B. Butler, after Lewis Carroll), 1920
Two Etchings for Orchestra, 1922
Bridal Overture
Pied Piper, opera
The Piper, symphonic poem, 1927

I would love to have the opportunity someday to love this music... or even hate it, whichever the case may be.  The vagaries of fashion are the cruelest vagaries I've ever come across...

[This is merely an opinion - and not put forth as gospel]

... has never really clicked with me. Thematically it seems (to my ears) a bit less inspired than his other symphonic outings. This is merely an opinion - and not put forth as gospel. Granted, I've only heard the Marco Polo recording - so if any kind soul can point me to a superior performance I would be very grateful.

Wanting to love it, folks.

Danny

[A. Fesca]

To those who may have the ear of those who may have influence within the halls of sundry classical music labels: A. Fesca wrote just enough piano music to fill up a cd quite nicely. Just saying.

Hyperion did it for Gottschalk 

[ANY]

OK, I'm being completely serious here:

I recently acquired a beagle puppy, and within the span of a month he has been subjected to a great variety of music - most of which he displays a raging ambivalence to. But I discovered quite by chance that the op.42 Piano Trio of Niels Gade turns an otherwise rambunctious puppy into a placid and - by the end of the 2nd movement - snoozing beast. Bach, Chopin, Bennett, Fesca -  have no effect at all.

I've noted two other reactions: a piece by Pink Floyd titled "Dogs" will cause him to cock his head to the side (synthesized barking, et al), and ANY Boulez will run him out of the room.

Just wondering if any of you folks have noted any pet reactions via the music you listen to  (serious, or otherwise)?

[Christus]

Just a shot in the dark, here.

Back in 1981 the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS - owned by Hearst/ABC) broadcast a performance of Liszt's Christus oratorio. Ever since I have been attempting to track down this performance in the hopes that it might be commercially available. Unfortunately I cannot recall either the venue, nor the performers involved.
My question: Does anyone here know of any videotaped performances of this piece prior to 1981? I know that there could not have been very many performances, let alone videotaped ones...

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Danny

[Švanda dudák]

Not sure if he's come up before, but here's a poor guy who seems to have been eaten by time, and neglect. I seem to recall hearing a broadcast of Švanda dudák eons ago, but nothing since. I was surprised to discover just how much he had composed. I'd particularly love to hear his Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 4 Movements from Washington Irving's Sketch Book (1940)... dreamer that I am...

Well, oddly enough there doesn't seem to be any composers of "serious" music that I can find who originated in Rhodesia. One would think there would be at the very least a Rhodesian Rhapsody or two floating around by some enterprising Salisburian...

Hope I'm proven wrong.

I'm certain someone here will know the answer to this

Apart from the Eclogue/Grand Fantasia and Toccata, did GF leave behind any sketches or evidence of intent regarding how he might have completed his Piano Concerto? The (relatively) recent reappearance of the "complete" Violin Concerto gives one hope that a stray page or two might turn up beneath an old hedgerow, somewhere...

A pleasant fantasy, anyway

Well, it's not officially Christmas until we here in rural NC watch the BBC TV adaptation of "The Box Of Delights". And as a consequence I find myself annually curious and searching for a bit more music by Victor Hely-Hutchinson (whose Carol Symphony is used as the theme music for the aforementioned drama).
Has anyone here heard any substantial piece of his - apart from the Carol Symphony? I see there's a "South African Suite", as well as a "Symphony for Small Orchestra"...

A Happy Holimass and Merry Chrismadays to all who celebrate such

I have an old album (on red vinyl, no less) titled Izler Solomon Conducts, that features Felix Mottl's Gluck Suite, Bartok's Roumanian Dances, and a little Spanish flavoured tone poem by (I'm guessing) American composer Paul Dunlap titled Tequila. Now, the only reference to a composer by this name that I can find is this one courtesy of Wikipedia:

Born Paul A. Dunlap, he wrote the scores for several Three Stooges feature films, including The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, The Three Stooges in Orbit, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze and The Outlaws Is Coming. Dunlap also scored the last Abbott and Costello film Dance With Me, Henry as well as more than 200 films and television programs.

Assuming it's the same fellow, have any of you ever happened upon any other compositions by him in a more serious vein (ie that do not involve face slaps and pie throwing)? It would be great to learn there's a Dunlap St. Luke Passion gathering dust in a cupboard, somewhere, waiting to be unleashed on the world....
Just curious

I was reading through some of Schumann's writings the other night and came across this fellow. Schumann was reviewing a symphony by said composer, and was wonderfully tactful in his almost dismissal of the work. The review did however pique my interest.

I don't believe that any of GvPs works have been recorded (though I may be mistaken)...

Other names that have jumped out at me over the years:
Joseph Christoph Kessler
Étienne-Victor-Paul Wachs
Christian Gottlieb Müller
August Nolck (Noelck)
Rudolph Willmers
Theodor Döhler
J. Frank Frysinger

Just saying... 

Has there ever been a comprehensive list compiled of the original compositions of either Karl Kilndworth, or Franz Hünten? At least Hünten rated an entire side of an album (paired with Herz) back in the 1970s. Granted, those examples of Hünten's work did not leave me longing for more, but it would be nice to know for curiosity's sake if he ventured very far beyond the solo keyboard.

Klindworth has always been a bit of a mystery. It's frequently mentioned that (among his other distinguishing attributes) he was a composer, but very few examples of his creative work have been put forth...

[Symphony no.1 in 4 Movements]

Ummmm... OK,

I'll admit to having an unwholesome curiosity about the piece, as well as his very ominously titled Symphony no.1 in 4 Movements.  The thing is, I've never encountered any of his so-called "classical" pieces, and I'm not about to shell out an ungodly sum for vinyl on ebay for what I know in my heart of hearts must be the aural equivalent of his poetry...

So, has anyone here ever heard any of McKuen's classical compositions? Apparently he's quite prolific...

This afternoon, whilst doing a bit of painting, I put a disc of Wyk's music that I'd bought back in 1990 - and promptly lost, until recently . It contains his Symphonies 1 & 2 as well as the sprawling tone poem Primavera, and though I remembered that I had enjoyed the pieces way back then I'd forgotten just how engaging AVW can be - especially in his large scale works. I also have a disc of his chamber music which I haven't returned to very often. I feel personally that he's best on a large canvas. So little of his music has been recorded that it's difficult to gauge his strengths with any accuracy...

[three movements of the latter being among his unfinished manuscripts.]

I've always loved the music of Edward Macdowell, and have over the years sought out any biographical information on the composer that I could lay my hands on. Unfortunately, I feel that the extant biographies do neither the man, nor his compositions justice.

That being said, I recently came across an interesting passage in John Fielder Porte's 1922 biographical sketch:

"He felt, too, that he was growing away from pianoforte work and had he lived there would have been further and more representative symphonic poems and at least one symphony from his pen, three movements of the latter being among his unfinished manuscripts."

Now, I may have led a sheltered life, but I'd not heard about the existence of these symphonic movements (whatever their degree of completion). And they are apparently not related to the other aborted Macdowell symphony (Two Fragments After The Song Of Roland Op.90)

You'd think in a novelty-hungry world that some enterprising Newbould or Cooke would have
jumped on these. If they do indeed exist, I hope they will eventually see the light of day.

Hi all. I have a question that has bugged me for some time.

Years ago, on Art Hoehn's  "Music Through The Night" program Mr. Hoehn played a version of Schubert's 8th that I'd not heard before, or since. What made this particular recording unique was the fact that it was not the usual two movements, nor one of the many "completed" versions; but rather the first two movements,  the few orchestrated bars of the third... and then what remained of the movement on piano.

It was actually quite moving to hear the work in this form, and to experience Schubert's (apparently) lasts thoughts - in regards to this piece - ebbing away single-notedly on the piano...

Anyway, if anyone happens to know of this recording, and it's availability, I'd be most grateful.

Danny