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Hi all,


We had this discussion a few years ago, but I thought it might be worth seeing where we stand now. Every spring, I'm going through the programmes for many European orchestras and concert venues, and sometimes it strikes me how certain composers and works appear to be giving way to others. I haven't really done any systematic analysis, so most of this is impressions, and anecdotal - but I'm interested to learn what your impression is. And mostly: do you have the impression that any unsungs are getting played more often?


The situation may be different from country to country. It seems to me that British orchestras are somewhat more experiment-averse than German or Scandinavian ones, mostly due to the way in which they're financed. Anyhow, here are my impressions:


On the way down/out:
- Bartók. Seems to be in decline since the 1990s; certainly the Concerto for Orchestra is no longer the stalwart it used to be. But I still see the Divertimento popping up, and Kossuth appears to be getting more popular, an interesting move for a piece that was mostly obscure ten years ago.
- Smetana. Even Vltava is getting rare.


On the way up/in:
- Stenhammar: Even the substantial Symphony No. 2, and the 1st piano concerto, get programmed with some regularity.
- Glazunov. I can't remember a single performance of a Glazunov work in a Dutch or German hall before 2000. But althought I would still not call him 'canonized', his works aren't nearly as rare as they used to be.

[reasoned]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some help from members about a possibly attractive opportunity that has come up. Let me explain. A friend, who has been the main programmer for an orchestra in 'Central Europe' for two years now, has been the victim of my persistant rants about the fossilization of the orchestral repertory for some time now. During a talk a week or so ago, he challenged me to come up with five works that he promised he would study and listen to. If he deems one of them of sufficient quality and attractiveness, he'll see whether he can get it programmed within the next seasons.

We agreed on some rules, though:

   
• They must be 'performable' - so no one-and-a-half-hour behemoths that require triple percussion sections and the like. There goes the Natursinfonie.
• The score and parts must be easily available. No reading from manuscripts or extortionate rental fees. This requires some research, but it is doable.
• We're looking for something in the romantic/late romantic/post-romantic corner. Roughly (but not necessarily), composed between 1870 and 1914. It may be experimental, but it needs to remain firmly tonal and memorably melodic. Sorry, Charles Koechlin.
• The composer must be truly 'unsung'. His idea, not mine. But that rules out the likes of Franz Schmidt, for instance.
• We're looking for a major work - a symphony, concerto or a substantial tonal poem.

He's a good friend, and I'm taking his word seriously. But it also puts something of a responsibility on my shoulders (at least, that's how I feel it).  And to be honest, I must confess that I find the task rather daunting. There are more than enough works that I would advice a friend to hear, but this is a lot more specific and it might (just might) lead to a suggestion actually being performed.

Within these parameters, I would appreciate it if any of you could give me some reasoned suggestions. Not just lists of five works, if you wouldn't mind. I have some ideas of my own, of course, but I'm curious what you can come up with.

Today I stumbled upon an unsung work by an almost-sung composer, Wilhelm Stenhammar's First Symphony in F major, on the website of the Stockholms Konserthuset:

http://www.konserthusetplay.se/#afNOjt_1nuZGnYaC_akNbg

I wanted to post it here because of the work itself and its excellent execution, but also because to me this ranks among the best concert registrations I've seen for some time. This is a director who clearly knows his stuff and his music: we get to see all sections of the orchestra at work at the moments they matter, instead of an hour-long focus on the conductor.

Hi all,

I just heard of the passing away, on June 11, of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Although I've been unable to find a list of recordings, I remember him as one of those names that cropped up in recordings of (relatively) unknown works during years when many shunned the unsung altogether. A grand old master, he'll be missed.

I can recall a discussion we had on the old Raff forums, as they then were, about the way (if any) in which the seemingly solidified concert repertoire had evolved in recent times. It seemed like an interesting enough question to put to the forum once again, particularly with regard to our beloved unsungs: which composers have gained entry into the (symphonic) concert hall, and which (sung or unsung) have disappeared from it or are less often heard?

To get the discussion going: I get the impression that Strawinsky has all but disappeared (this year's centennial of the Sacre notwithstanding), while there has been an interesting amount of Stenhammar this season (it seems).

[Jan van Gilse: Eine Lebensmesse]

For those interested:

May 31, 2013 (20:15):

Jan van Gilse: Eine Lebensmesse (+ Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8)

Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
Groot Omroepkoor
Nationaal Jeugdkoor

Markus Stenz, conductor
Heidi Melton, soprano
Gerhild Romberger, alto
Roman Sadnik, tenor
Vladimir Baykov, bass

Vredenburg (temporary music hall, Leidse Rijn), Utrecht, Netherlands
(http://www.vredenburg.nl/agenda/concerten/2487)

===

June 8 & June 9, 2013 (20:00)

Joseph Jongen: Symphonie concertante (& César Franck: Le chasseur maudit / Joseph Callaerts: Organ concerto)
Antwerp Cathedral
Peter vande Velde, organ / Flemish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden
Antwerp Cathedral (http://www.defilharmonie.be/concert/orgel-versus-orkest-0)

===

July 15, 2013 (19:30):

Anton Urspruch: Piano Duo "con spirito"
Franz-Hitze-Haus, Kardinal-von-Galen-Ring 50, 48149 Münster, Germany.
(http://www.antonurspruch.de/)

===

September 6, 2013 (20:00)

Rued Langgaard: Symphony No. 1, "Pastoral of the Cliffs"
South Jutland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard
Ribe Cathedral, Ribe, Denmark
(http://langgaardfestival.dk/program-2013/)

===

November 16, 2013 (15:00)

Joseph Jongen: Sonata for flute and string orchestra, Op. 77(& Carl Nielsen, Symphony No. 3)
Flemish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giordano Bellincampi
De Roma, Antwerp, Belgium
(http://www.defilharmonie.be/concert/arctische-soundscapes-0)

===

February 27 & 28, 2014

Franz Schmidt: Symphony No. 3 (& Arvo Pärt, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten / Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 2)
Alexander Toradze, piano. Frankfurt HR Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi
Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
(http://www.hr-online.de/website/rubriken/kultur/index.jsp?rubrik=79789&key=standard_document_47638705)

Hi, would it be an idea to put a 'sticky' on either of the two discussion fora for the mention of unsung repertory in concert? I find that such notices typically disappear pretty quickly from the boards because there is little discussion possible - this might be more useful. I'm scouring concert listings pretty often to find interesting performances (and my impression is that they're occurring more often than they used to - could be wishful thinking) and there really isn't a good place to put them.

I thought at least some of you might like to know that, as part of the 2013 Langgaard Festival, Thomas Dausgaard and the South Jutland SO will play Langgaard's First Symphony, the "Pastoral of the Cliffs", on Friday, September 6 of this year in Ribe Cathedral. More information is here:

http://langgaardfestival.dk

[IS]

Esteemed administrators, I don't know if I'm in the right group here, let me know or remove the thread if so.

Other denizens, might I call in your help in identifying a piece? This (http://www.mediafire.com/?6bo988h36sshsj0) piece was once sent to me as Adolf Wiklund's Symphony, Op. 20 from 1923 - despite being just over 11 minutes in length and not sounding like a symphony at all. But after hearing Langgaard's Ixion, my idea of what is and isn't a symphony has obviously taken a bit of a beating.

Now that I have heard a 'proper' recording of the Wiklund symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h-FcfhdK7Y; live recording from 1952), I can easily tell that my recording isn't it. However, what I'm curious to learn is what it IS. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.s. I'm reminded of a Russian Disc recording of Miaskovsky's 'first' and 'fifth' symphonies, which in fact contained Prokofiev's Ballet Chout. That led me astray a fair bit, but Eric eventually solved the riddle.

Esteemed administrators,

Given the questionable legal status of much material on Youtube, have you thought about what people can and can't link to on the site? I'm trying to avoid the blatant rips of commercial CDs, but the situation is less evident with live recordings. Should we avoid Youtube altogether (a shame, because there are is a lot of good unsung stuff there)?

We had this discussion a couple of years ago, but I found it interesting to provoke an update. The question is: which composers do you think are ascending or descending from one category (sung) into the other (unsung) in the concert hall and on CD/MP3?

The thing that made me raise the question is that I noticed certain composers that I heard a lot of music from in my student days (about 15 years ago) are becoming gradually less performed in (Dutch) concert halls: Ravel, Stravinsky and Bartók, to name just three. The reverse is the case with Dutch composers: some pieces by Wagenaar, Van Gilse and Van Anrooy are now heard quite often (well, more often than before). Usually as openers however - still, it's a start.

What trends have you noticed in your country / region?

I'd like to ask the forum what you think is the best, most satisfying and innovative, solution to that burden of the nineteenth-century componist: the wretched 'Finale problem'. We can all recall unsungs that didn't do so well, but who do you think made a good job of it - at least, whose finale 'belongs' most to the work it is part of? I was recently listening to Peterson-Berger's Fifth Symphony, and while I think that it does have its share of problems, I think that the finale is in perfect balance with the rest of the work.

Hi all,

About a week ago, I found this box:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Orchestre-Philharmonique-de-Liege-1960-2010/hnum/1639967

On JPC. It's 50 (sic) CDs of the Liege Philharmonic's recordings for a mere 60 Euros. And even though not all is romantic stuff, and lots of it is 'sung', there are some real good things to be had. Just a quick summing up:

• Bartholomee: Fredons & Tarabusts; Humoresque
• Biarent: Poeme heroique; Rapsodie allonne für Klavier & Orchester; Trenmor; Symphonie d-moll; 2 Sonette nach Heredia für Cello & Orchester
• Boesmans: Violinkonzert; Conversions; Klavierkonzert
• Bruch: Konzert für Klarinette, Viola & Orchester op. 88 (Ausz.)
• Busoni: Nocturne symphonique
• Chausson: Symphonie op. 20, Contes d'Orient
• Dupuis: Macbeth; Pour un drame; Macbeth; Invocation für Cello & Orchester; Prelude & Danse für Violine & Orchester; Suiten d-moll & B-Dur; Legende für Cello & Orchester; Poeme für Cello & Orchester; Moiina
• Escaich: Orgelkonzert; Symphonie Nr. 1; Fantaisie concertante für Klavier & Orchester
• Gossec: Grande Messe des Morts; Symphonie a 17 parties pour Orchestre
• Greef: Klavierkonzert (No. 1, I checked)
• Gretry: Danses villageoises; Cephale et Procris; L'Epreuve villageoise-Ouvertüre; Les Mariages samnites-Ouvertüre; Richard coeur de Lion-Ouvertüre; Marches celebres
• Jongen: Comala; Clair de luneop. 33; Harfenkonzert op. 129; Orchestersuite Nr. 3 op. 95; Passacaille & Gigue op. 90; Symphonie concertante für Orgel & Orchester op. 81
• Kersters: Ulenspiegel de Geus
• Leduc: Overture d'ete op. 28; Symphonie Nr. 29; Le Printemps op. 25
• Lekeu: Barberine; Etudes symphoniques Nr. 1 & 2; Fantaisie sur deux airs populaires angevins; Adagio pour Quatuor d'orchestre; Fantaisie contrapuntique sur un cramignon liegeois; Epithalame für Streicher; Larghetto für Cello & Orchester; Fantaisie contrapuntique sur un cramignon liegeois; Chant lyrique für Chor & Orchester; Andromede; Introduction symphonique aux "Burgraves"
• Magnard: Hymne a Venus

Not surprisingly, a lot of local heroes Guillaume Lekeu and Albert Dupuis, and also a good number of works by Tournemire.

Latvian, thanks for uploading Skultes work. Truly a bit of a find, that provokes so many associations: not only impressionism, but Scriabin as well.

Dear all,

I hope you don't mind me asking for your support in preventing the closure of the Dutch Music Institute in The Hague - the largest collection of musical scores in the Netherlands, and a crucial component in keeping our musical heritage alive.

Due to serious government cutbacks the institute threatens to lose its subsidies without even being given the opportunity to look for money elsewhere; the motivation is that it is deemed of 'merely local interest', which is strange seeing that it is the only depository of scores and music-related archives in the country (there's Donemus, but they're more like a union).

To avoid catastrophy (and the possibility that scores will become impossible to access for years), might I suggest the possibility of petioning the Dutch government through this web site:

http://petities.nl/petitie/steun-behoud-van-muzikaal-erfgoed

Non-Dutch citizens are allowed to sign, even if the site is in Dutch - it is a fairly straightforward process. You will receive a confirmation e-mail that will lead you to a second page where your date and place of birth are also asked; for this initiative you don't need to fill those in.

Thank you for your time.

p.s. just to make sure: I'm not in any way attached to the NMI, but I am concerned - very much so.

Hi all,

I was listening to Tomás Breton's Salamanca overture (1916) the other day, and struck by how different it was from his earlier work, particularly two of his symphonies that I'd heard (from the 1880s and 1890s). It reminded me of Gernsheim, whose Zu einem Drama (1915) is very different from his 19th-C symphonies: near-Straussian in form, albeit very individual in idiom. A comparable case from a different period is Joly Braga Santos who, after composing four very successful post-romantic but innovative symphonies, turned to a rather nasty form of post-modernist chromaticism. I wondered whether you could name more examples of successful composers who nonetheless decided to give a new twist to their output.

I've come to the (sad?) conclusion that I can't really enjoy a lot of mid-20th century British music - not so much because of the music itself but more because of their common musical idiom. Conversely, I can pretty much tolerate anything written in early-20th C Belgium (De Greef, Jongen, Mortelmans, Van Hoof) irrespective of quality, for the same reason. In other cases, it has taken me a long time to get attuned to idioms such as that of the 'Nielsenites'. I will readily admit that it's my loss (or gain), but I was wondering how the people here would reflect on that.

Business Insider's Chart of the Day, 17 February:
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-music-industry-sales-2011-2

I found the best comment was from Daring Fireball's John Gruder:
"Looking at the trends back to the 1970s, maybe it's not that the music industry is dying, but that the CD era was an aberration".

Hi, due to space constraints and the necessity to raise some money for an upcoming research trip to Buenos Aires (I'm sure it'll be nothing but hardship...) which is going to set me back somewhat, I'm selling part of my CD collection: double copies from my time as a reviewer, things I don't listen to anymore and impulse buys that could've used a second thought: most of them are unsungs and I'm selling them for between 2 and 4 euros a disc.

Postage will add something but I won't charge you more than the post office charges me. If you're interested, drop me a line via a direct message, or by e-mail at ilja AT me DOT com and I'll send you a specified list.

Also, you have my word that everything that I have left after the plane, bus, and hotel are paid will be re-invested in a classical music recording. And just to be clear, I have Mark's approval for this.

If I were to name my favourite orchestral pieces, many of them wouldn't be this symphony or that concerto, but rather the smaller and shorter pieces that rarely get noticed. For instance, the overture to Die Sieben Raben is by far my favourite Rheinberger, no larger work by Dopper matches either of the two Paeans for sheer power and the E flat major overture is about the only Furtwängler I play really regularly. In other cases, those smaller pieces offer you a glimpse into what must have been a much more substantial oeuvre, such as with Christian Horneman's Aladdin Overture.

Maybe it's the necessity to push all their inspiration in a relative brief stretch of time, the lack of pressure to build something monumental such as a symphony, or the relative freedom of form, but often those smaller pieces bring out the best in a composer.

What 'gem' would you be able to recommend?