Topics

Not many lady* composers seem to have ventured into the symphonic field. No doubt in times past they were held back by their menfolk. Of those that I know of, I'm going to stick my neck out and claim that Louise Farrenc produced the most impressive output.

*I count all adult members of the opposite sex as ladies, unless they prove themselves to be otherwise!

Norman doesn't appear to have been a very prolific composer but, to me, his three widely spaced symphonies seem to be good, solidly built, musical structures well worthy of concert hall performance. In fact, I might go further and claim him to be Scandinavia's answer to Brahms! The 2nd symphony was issued on CD in 1989 by Musica Sveciae and our good friend Bo Hyttner filled in the gaps with Nos. 1 and 3 on his Sterling label ten years later. So far, I know of no other recordings of these works.

Does anyone else know a piece of music, unsung or otherwise, that is apparently only memorable for its orchestration. My example is Cherubini's Funeral March. You'll find it at the beginning of the Naxos CD of his Requiem. There doesn't seem to be much of a tune but I still enjoy the instrumentation.

 If you enjoy Mozart piano concertos as I do, and want more you only need go to his youngest son Franz Xaver Mozart(1791-1844), whose 2 concertos, to me at any rate, mirror Wolfgang's style, if not his genius. These are currently available on a Novalis CD. F X Mozart seems to have written some piano music and a handful of chamber works but not much else, most of his adult life being spent as a concert pianist and a teacher. Neither he nor his only surviving elder brother married and so the Mozart line of musicians died out with them.

I note that the presenters of this morning programme are asking for listeners to send in serious limericks. How about sending one in deploring the dearth of music from our kind of composers in their programs? I'm trying to write one myself, but I don't seem to be able to get it right.

Naxos in their monthly newsletter announce several new CDs that should interest us, with music ranging from Arthur Foote to Fanny Mendelssohn. Most of the items concerned can also be downloaded from their web site.

The June issue of the Spohr Society Newsletter includes a favorable review of Spohr's celebrated Nonet in F Op.31 coupled with the String Sextet in C, Op.140 performed by Camerata Freden on Tacet 172, a label I've never come across before.
The 3rd disc in Howard Shelley's Spohr symphony cycle is due out next February on Hyperion and will include No. 3 in C minor together with No. 6 in G,the"Historical".
Also on the same CD will be a world premiere recording of the overture to Spohr's oratorio. The Fall of Babylon.

Just a reminder that this year marks the sesquicentenary of Louis Spohr's death on 22nd October 1859. To mark the occasion, a number of concerts of his works have been planned in his birthplace of Brunswick and at Cassel where he spent the latter half of his life. More details are available in the newsletter of the Spohr Society of Great Britain. You should be able to find their web site with Google. Needless to say, the BBC have so far shown no interest in this anniversary.

I'd like to see and hear recordings of:-
(1) All the symphonies of Franz Lachner, especially numbers 2 & 6
(2) All the unrecorded symphonies of Kallivoda.
(3) All the unrecorded symphonies of Carl Czerny.
(4) All of Eggert's symphonies.
(5) Any symphonies by Ignaz Lachner. I believe he wrote one for children on the  lines of the Toy Symphony.
(6) Any choral symphonies that predated Beethoven's No. 9
      The odds are that none of this will happen in my lifetime, but there's no harm in wishing! Now, who have I left out?

I cannot at present think of any symphonic finales from unsung composers that contain "big tunes" like those featured in Beethoven 3 & 9 Brahms 1 and Sibelius 2.
   I realise that such a feature is not necessary for the all round success of a symphony, but I'd be interested to hear of any examples from our unsung heroes.

Having skimmed through the full listings for the forthcoming BBC Proms from their website at www.bbc.co.uk/proms, the only unsung item I've noticed so far is Spohr's Nonet in one of their chamber concerts. No Ruffinatscha, no Raff, no Lachner no Kallivoda etc etc----as usual!
  How about compiling an Alternative Proms programme, say, for one or two weeks concerts? I have a few ideas myself about what to include but I'd be interested to see what other Forum members would put forward for,say, a set of 7 or 14 concerts, each to last between 2 and 3 hours with a 20 minute break in the middle.

Hello Mark,
How about allowing us to add a photo of ourselves to our profile and maybe a summary of our particular musical interests.