Tremendous news - for me at least! I notice that in May no less than Hyperion are to release the Frank Martin opera Der Sturm. And it has a pretty starry cast - with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Thierry Fischer. I've waited many years for a recording of the complete piece, and ever since noticing it on the Hyperion website just 5 minutes ago I've been doing a little hop, skip and jump around my study. Early days yet, but thank you so much for this, Hyperion!
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#42
Recordings & Broadcasts / Robert Fuchs
Tuesday 01 February 2011, 14:46
I note that Naxos next month will be releasing the two early (Opp. 9 and 14) Serenades for String Orchestra by Fuchs. The bank card is poised ready.
Maybe Fuchs has the same role in my world as the slightly earlier Franz Lachner has for John White (but I'm sure John's knowledge of Lachner is far extensive and better grounded than mine of Fuchs!) Nonetheless he is someone who causes endless delight - and besides, I have no less than Brahms on my side since Fuchs is one of the very few composers singled out for praise by Brahms.
Just as John clamours for more Lachner recordings (and he has full support in that), so I clamour out for more Fuchs. And yet a glimpse at the shelves tells me we are reasonably well provided. We have recordings, and mostly good ones, of the 3 Symphonies, the Piano Concerto, all 6 Violin Sonatas, the 2 Cello Sonatas, the 2 Piano Trios, the 2 Piano Quartets, the 4 String Quartets, some of the Piano Sonatas, and the glorious E flat major Quintet.
Hum, simple mathematics tells me that this is more than a fair representation of Fuchs (and we're much better off here than is the case with Lachner or rather, the Lachners.) 'So what more could one reasonably want?' The answer of course is, more recordings, top notch ones, mainstream labels making for easy accessibility, and of course regular performances. I keep fingers crossed that Naxos might eventually follow up their new CD with another giving the Opp. 51 and 52 Serenades.
Fuchs is, of course, no giant of the late 19th century. But that matters not one jot, and life wouldn't be so nearly as interesting if our listening was restricted to an exclusive diet of the few giant figures. Besides there would then be no UC forum and we'd all get very bored!
Peter
Maybe Fuchs has the same role in my world as the slightly earlier Franz Lachner has for John White (but I'm sure John's knowledge of Lachner is far extensive and better grounded than mine of Fuchs!) Nonetheless he is someone who causes endless delight - and besides, I have no less than Brahms on my side since Fuchs is one of the very few composers singled out for praise by Brahms.
Just as John clamours for more Lachner recordings (and he has full support in that), so I clamour out for more Fuchs. And yet a glimpse at the shelves tells me we are reasonably well provided. We have recordings, and mostly good ones, of the 3 Symphonies, the Piano Concerto, all 6 Violin Sonatas, the 2 Cello Sonatas, the 2 Piano Trios, the 2 Piano Quartets, the 4 String Quartets, some of the Piano Sonatas, and the glorious E flat major Quintet.
Hum, simple mathematics tells me that this is more than a fair representation of Fuchs (and we're much better off here than is the case with Lachner or rather, the Lachners.) 'So what more could one reasonably want?' The answer of course is, more recordings, top notch ones, mainstream labels making for easy accessibility, and of course regular performances. I keep fingers crossed that Naxos might eventually follow up their new CD with another giving the Opp. 51 and 52 Serenades.
Fuchs is, of course, no giant of the late 19th century. But that matters not one jot, and life wouldn't be so nearly as interesting if our listening was restricted to an exclusive diet of the few giant figures. Besides there would then be no UC forum and we'd all get very bored!
Peter
#43
Recordings & Broadcasts / Catharinus Elling
Sunday 30 January 2011, 13:47
Herewith the details from MDT of the Catharinus Elling CD that Morten mentioned a few weeks ago. I'm not acquainted with Elling at all (and there is little - at least in English - written about him). However judging by the 'blurb' on MDT this, for me, will be a compulsory purchase.
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product/NR_March11/PSC1304.htm
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product/NR_March11/PSC1304.htm
#44
Recordings & Broadcasts / Wagner
Wednesday 26 January 2011, 18:50
Yes I know Wagner is the least unsung composer imaginable (he, of course, would not have imagined it any other way for here is the man who once expressed resentment against a mountain for being larger than himself) and hence inappropriate for this site. But maybe interesting to spread the news that apparently Pentatone are going to undertake recordings of the 10 major music-dramas with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski, and are hoping to complete the project in time for the 200th anniversary of RW's birth in 2013 (heavens, I reckon in that year we shall have to accustom ourselves to wall to wall Wagner and yet more dripping from the ceiling!)
What reactions to such an ambitious project? My first thought (apart from the fact that the recordings will undoubtedly be acquired to join an existing several metres of Wagner on the shelves) was a sad one: if a record company commits itself to such a project then that must be bad news for all of those unsung operas that call out for a recording? Likewise it will have an adverse impact on potential opera enthusiasts in encouraging people to listen to more and more of the same and persuade them into thinking that 'opera' is more or less synonymous with 'Wagner'. If that prediction is justified then the probability of ever getting a first recording of, say, a Raff opera decreases so much more.
Or have I gone plain pessimistic? Another reaction was to think that a new Janowski recording would have to be even better than exceptionally good to compete with his earlier very distinguished recording of the Ring that came out in the early 1990s on Eurodisc. That Ring, plus several other prestigious Rings, is currently available in mid / bargain priced recyclings. Can the market actually absorb such, as it were, Ring competition? I wonder.
Peter
What reactions to such an ambitious project? My first thought (apart from the fact that the recordings will undoubtedly be acquired to join an existing several metres of Wagner on the shelves) was a sad one: if a record company commits itself to such a project then that must be bad news for all of those unsung operas that call out for a recording? Likewise it will have an adverse impact on potential opera enthusiasts in encouraging people to listen to more and more of the same and persuade them into thinking that 'opera' is more or less synonymous with 'Wagner'. If that prediction is justified then the probability of ever getting a first recording of, say, a Raff opera decreases so much more.
Or have I gone plain pessimistic? Another reaction was to think that a new Janowski recording would have to be even better than exceptionally good to compete with his earlier very distinguished recording of the Ring that came out in the early 1990s on Eurodisc. That Ring, plus several other prestigious Rings, is currently available in mid / bargain priced recyclings. Can the market actually absorb such, as it were, Ring competition? I wonder.
Peter
#45
Composers & Music / Woldemar Bargiel
Wednesday 12 January 2011, 16:15
Bargiel has slipped through postings in the past - but he deserves a thread of his own!
I've spent the last few days (when not head down in the Helene Raff book, a hugely absorbing thing) listening again to the three Bargiel Piano Trios (in their sole recording, the Trio Parnassus on MDG).
What utterly splendid works these are! Beautifully composed and crafted with perfectly balanced interplay between the three instruments, some lovely and fluent slow movements and exciting quicker movements with moments of real drama. I got so carried away that I had to remind myself that splendid as these works are, they don't reach the same pinnacle of truly great music such as the Brahms Trios. There is a depth and intensity of utterance in Brahms that Bargiel does not reach. But that does not matter a jot: someone who held a less than fully positive view of Bargiel on the grounds that his trios fell short of those of Brahms would be akin to someone who criticised Beethoven's middle period quartets on the grounds that they didn't match the searing intensity of the late quartets.
But why on earth don't we hear far more of Bargiel - even taking into account that he devoted most of his time to teaching rather than composition and the work list is relatively small? We have (thank heavens) recordings of these Piano Trios, the Octet, a Violin Sonata, a small number of Piano works - but none of the String Quartets (I believe there are 4, but worklists vary), most of the solo Piano works, or the orchestral music (including a solitary Symphony, and Overtures to both Prometheus and Medea - and I have no idea what those few orchestral works are like, though I remember Alan once pleading for a recording of the Symphony).
And I went on musing. My own preferences abound, but it struck me that music in the various Austro-German traditions written in the second half of the 19th century must be truly one of the highest epochs in Western music. I quickly compiled a list of composers born between, say, 1820 to 1840 and producing works in their maturity from c1850. There are, of course, the 'landmark' composers (like Brahms, Liszt, Schumann), but I then astonished myself producing a substantial list (composed straight off the top of the head and without consulting references) of what might be called 'high Upper Second class but knocking on the door of First Class' composers (including Raff of course!). Anyone can quickly compose such a list, but if you actually do so you'll be struck at how quickly you get to the bottom of the page and have to start a second.
And it then struck me as to why all this music in such a glorious period sometimes is so woefully represented in record catalogues. True, we have multiple recordings of the 'landmark' composers. You could probably fill a large record shop entirely with different versions of Brahms symphonies alone, although that would be a foolish enterprise. Hyperion (to whom we're so grateful for all its many inroads in this territory) can even provide a 99 CD set of every scrap of solo piano music by Liszt.
But what of, for example, Naxos? For the last couple of years they have been churning out 20 or so new CDs each month (plus all those Historical Naxos and other series), and seem to be pursuing the policy of recording just about everything that moves and gives off sound. They have an astonishing 'output' and seem determined to dominate the world of recorded music. With chamber music I'm hugely grateful to them for the strong representation of 20th century British chamber music (Britten, Bax, Rubbra, Howells, Rawsthorne, Bliss, Tippett and many many others). But what (and I stumble to the main point) of Austro-German chamber music composed in (roughly) 1840 onwards? In contrast, very weak! Series like the Naxos 'American Classics', 'Spanish Classics' and so forth are getting larger and larger catalogues (some welcome gems they contain alongside many a damp squib). But where, in the Naxos world, is the chamber music of (to take random names) Gernsheim, Thuille, Goetz, Dietrich, Draeske, Thieriot, both Lachners, Bargiel himself and many others? If Naxos are out to dominate the world, then why not record the heaps of chamber music here that is often not recorded at all or hard to obtain or only available on 'top end' labels? Couldn't Naxos have a field day, and often to themselves? And if they manage to successfully sell yet more Brahms or Schumann when the competition must often be intense, then why couldn't they successfully sell this music when the competition is either non-existent or small (rather than just, sometimes almost mindlessly, going on adding to American, Spanish, Historical or whatever Classics)?
Apologies - in customary rambling mode, and it really boils down to: I want more Bargiel.
Peter
I've spent the last few days (when not head down in the Helene Raff book, a hugely absorbing thing) listening again to the three Bargiel Piano Trios (in their sole recording, the Trio Parnassus on MDG).
What utterly splendid works these are! Beautifully composed and crafted with perfectly balanced interplay between the three instruments, some lovely and fluent slow movements and exciting quicker movements with moments of real drama. I got so carried away that I had to remind myself that splendid as these works are, they don't reach the same pinnacle of truly great music such as the Brahms Trios. There is a depth and intensity of utterance in Brahms that Bargiel does not reach. But that does not matter a jot: someone who held a less than fully positive view of Bargiel on the grounds that his trios fell short of those of Brahms would be akin to someone who criticised Beethoven's middle period quartets on the grounds that they didn't match the searing intensity of the late quartets.
But why on earth don't we hear far more of Bargiel - even taking into account that he devoted most of his time to teaching rather than composition and the work list is relatively small? We have (thank heavens) recordings of these Piano Trios, the Octet, a Violin Sonata, a small number of Piano works - but none of the String Quartets (I believe there are 4, but worklists vary), most of the solo Piano works, or the orchestral music (including a solitary Symphony, and Overtures to both Prometheus and Medea - and I have no idea what those few orchestral works are like, though I remember Alan once pleading for a recording of the Symphony).
And I went on musing. My own preferences abound, but it struck me that music in the various Austro-German traditions written in the second half of the 19th century must be truly one of the highest epochs in Western music. I quickly compiled a list of composers born between, say, 1820 to 1840 and producing works in their maturity from c1850. There are, of course, the 'landmark' composers (like Brahms, Liszt, Schumann), but I then astonished myself producing a substantial list (composed straight off the top of the head and without consulting references) of what might be called 'high Upper Second class but knocking on the door of First Class' composers (including Raff of course!). Anyone can quickly compose such a list, but if you actually do so you'll be struck at how quickly you get to the bottom of the page and have to start a second.
And it then struck me as to why all this music in such a glorious period sometimes is so woefully represented in record catalogues. True, we have multiple recordings of the 'landmark' composers. You could probably fill a large record shop entirely with different versions of Brahms symphonies alone, although that would be a foolish enterprise. Hyperion (to whom we're so grateful for all its many inroads in this territory) can even provide a 99 CD set of every scrap of solo piano music by Liszt.
But what of, for example, Naxos? For the last couple of years they have been churning out 20 or so new CDs each month (plus all those Historical Naxos and other series), and seem to be pursuing the policy of recording just about everything that moves and gives off sound. They have an astonishing 'output' and seem determined to dominate the world of recorded music. With chamber music I'm hugely grateful to them for the strong representation of 20th century British chamber music (Britten, Bax, Rubbra, Howells, Rawsthorne, Bliss, Tippett and many many others). But what (and I stumble to the main point) of Austro-German chamber music composed in (roughly) 1840 onwards? In contrast, very weak! Series like the Naxos 'American Classics', 'Spanish Classics' and so forth are getting larger and larger catalogues (some welcome gems they contain alongside many a damp squib). But where, in the Naxos world, is the chamber music of (to take random names) Gernsheim, Thuille, Goetz, Dietrich, Draeske, Thieriot, both Lachners, Bargiel himself and many others? If Naxos are out to dominate the world, then why not record the heaps of chamber music here that is often not recorded at all or hard to obtain or only available on 'top end' labels? Couldn't Naxos have a field day, and often to themselves? And if they manage to successfully sell yet more Brahms or Schumann when the competition must often be intense, then why couldn't they successfully sell this music when the competition is either non-existent or small (rather than just, sometimes almost mindlessly, going on adding to American, Spanish, Historical or whatever Classics)?
Apologies - in customary rambling mode, and it really boils down to: I want more Bargiel.
Peter
#46
Recordings & Broadcasts / Two Roads to Exile
Monday 13 December 2010, 18:06
Occasionally a new CD seems to slip by without much notice given. RCA released (I think in October) the third release in the ARC Ensemble (= Artists of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto) series of 'music in exile'. Previous releases were 'Right through the Bone' (some especially alluring and delightful works of Rontgen including the wonderful String Sextet of 1931 and the Piano Quintet of 1927) and 'On The Threshold of Hope' (devoted to Weinberg and including a stunning Piano Quintet). All these CDs have imaginative titles, and in my view have been of tremendous quality.
They've now come up real trumps with a third release, 'Two Roads to Exile', containing the Adolf Busch String Sextet and Walter Braunfels String Quintet. I can't recall much publicity given to the release nor have I seen mention of it in the usual places. (Even the notorious DH hasn't yet condemned the CD!)
In my view, it is a release of great significance. Most will be familiar with the outline's of Busch's life and his legendary status as a violinist (if not go straight to the Toccata website!). Few will be familiar with his compositions. The Sextet was premiered in Bonn in 1928, much revised in 1933, and has never been published. Jury is still out on the work (I've listened to it but twice), but first impressions are that it is a gorgeous work, full of lyricism and especially well crafted. The booklet notes "It is an ebullient declaration of a master musician revelling in the creation of instrumental challenges, ingenious string sonorities and virtuosic counterpart" - and I can't do better than that!
However the Braunfels String Quintet seems to me an utter masterwork, and this is its first recording. How to describe it?
A 'big' work of a half hour or so duration. The first movement has Brahms as a distant ancestor, and its sound world is (approximately) that of Pfitzner (but certainly with none of his frequent rigidness, clumsy congestion and wandering off all over the place and then getting lost), early Schoenberg (think the 1st Quartet or Verklarte Nacht) and perhaps Zemlinsky. It is a big, bold and magnificent movement, full of opulence, lyricism, richness and perfect balance between all five instruments.
Second movement, an Adagio...and gosh! The music here is suffused with sadness and melancholy. But not that of a typically Romantic composer recalling with sweet sadness thoughts of lost youth, innocence, past loves, faded memories or hopes or whatever. Rather it is that of an eminent composer who has been stripped of his position and reputation in the musical world, one whose works were silenced, a half-Jew and practising Catholic who, rather than seek a new life outside Germany, chose to go into a precarious 'self-exile' near Lake Constance. It was here, in his sixties, he wrote 'Jeanne d'Arc' (blast it, my copy has yet to arrive!) and after that the three string quartets and then the present quintet. The melancholy of this second movement is that of a nihilistic and forlorn resignation. What would be unfolding about Braunfels would be a realisation of the atrocities manifest in Germany, the utter collapse of morality, the complete breakdown of the world in which he had lived and gained success, and perhaps precisely nothing for which to hope. Whatever the eventual outcome of the war (the Quintet was written in 1945) did he perhaps sense the end of traditional musical language and expression and the emergence of the noisy avant-garde after the war? His age, and the conditions around him as things slowly emerged after the war, meant there was no prospect of his music being rehabilitated or regaining his former positions and reputation. Do I read too much into this music? The music left me with a gulp.
And for those who care to read on, the third movement? A fast moving and agitated Scherzo. The 1st violin keeps undermining the music with a scurrying, insistent, nervous and frightening little figure. We are almost in the world of Shostakovich with those ominous knocks on the door in the still darkness of the night.
The last movement? I found it deeply enigmatic. Early all, a jaunty and brazen almost folk-tune like melody is announced by the 1st violin, and then works its way around the other four instruments. One's foot almost starts tapping. Momentum increases almost to a frenzy. But is this the release from the pain and anguish of the preceding music? Is this the joy that dispels the gloom? Maybe, but I am unable to see it that way. This is energetic music tottering on the brink of despair and madness. Unless the dance continues we shall collapse into nothingness. Is Braunfels quoting or referring to something with this 'folk-tune' like figure? It is somehow very familiar, but I cannot pin it down. If others can cast light on it that might be fascinating and help understand the musical 'semantics' of the movement.
Others may respond to the Quintet quite differently. Some may complain I am fancying all sorts of things into the music. But not having read a single word on this Quintet I feel out there quite alone and trying to make sense of it. I shall learn from others!
In the meantime I know what, if I had the resources, I'd buy all you lot for Christmas! The CD seems to me a magnificent release. The two works are deeply serious and in my view supreme pieces of chamber music. And the performances quite astonishing.
Pray forgive my clumsy account of the music. I have ears, but am not a musicologist!
Peter
They've now come up real trumps with a third release, 'Two Roads to Exile', containing the Adolf Busch String Sextet and Walter Braunfels String Quintet. I can't recall much publicity given to the release nor have I seen mention of it in the usual places. (Even the notorious DH hasn't yet condemned the CD!)
In my view, it is a release of great significance. Most will be familiar with the outline's of Busch's life and his legendary status as a violinist (if not go straight to the Toccata website!). Few will be familiar with his compositions. The Sextet was premiered in Bonn in 1928, much revised in 1933, and has never been published. Jury is still out on the work (I've listened to it but twice), but first impressions are that it is a gorgeous work, full of lyricism and especially well crafted. The booklet notes "It is an ebullient declaration of a master musician revelling in the creation of instrumental challenges, ingenious string sonorities and virtuosic counterpart" - and I can't do better than that!
However the Braunfels String Quintet seems to me an utter masterwork, and this is its first recording. How to describe it?
A 'big' work of a half hour or so duration. The first movement has Brahms as a distant ancestor, and its sound world is (approximately) that of Pfitzner (but certainly with none of his frequent rigidness, clumsy congestion and wandering off all over the place and then getting lost), early Schoenberg (think the 1st Quartet or Verklarte Nacht) and perhaps Zemlinsky. It is a big, bold and magnificent movement, full of opulence, lyricism, richness and perfect balance between all five instruments.
Second movement, an Adagio...and gosh! The music here is suffused with sadness and melancholy. But not that of a typically Romantic composer recalling with sweet sadness thoughts of lost youth, innocence, past loves, faded memories or hopes or whatever. Rather it is that of an eminent composer who has been stripped of his position and reputation in the musical world, one whose works were silenced, a half-Jew and practising Catholic who, rather than seek a new life outside Germany, chose to go into a precarious 'self-exile' near Lake Constance. It was here, in his sixties, he wrote 'Jeanne d'Arc' (blast it, my copy has yet to arrive!) and after that the three string quartets and then the present quintet. The melancholy of this second movement is that of a nihilistic and forlorn resignation. What would be unfolding about Braunfels would be a realisation of the atrocities manifest in Germany, the utter collapse of morality, the complete breakdown of the world in which he had lived and gained success, and perhaps precisely nothing for which to hope. Whatever the eventual outcome of the war (the Quintet was written in 1945) did he perhaps sense the end of traditional musical language and expression and the emergence of the noisy avant-garde after the war? His age, and the conditions around him as things slowly emerged after the war, meant there was no prospect of his music being rehabilitated or regaining his former positions and reputation. Do I read too much into this music? The music left me with a gulp.
And for those who care to read on, the third movement? A fast moving and agitated Scherzo. The 1st violin keeps undermining the music with a scurrying, insistent, nervous and frightening little figure. We are almost in the world of Shostakovich with those ominous knocks on the door in the still darkness of the night.
The last movement? I found it deeply enigmatic. Early all, a jaunty and brazen almost folk-tune like melody is announced by the 1st violin, and then works its way around the other four instruments. One's foot almost starts tapping. Momentum increases almost to a frenzy. But is this the release from the pain and anguish of the preceding music? Is this the joy that dispels the gloom? Maybe, but I am unable to see it that way. This is energetic music tottering on the brink of despair and madness. Unless the dance continues we shall collapse into nothingness. Is Braunfels quoting or referring to something with this 'folk-tune' like figure? It is somehow very familiar, but I cannot pin it down. If others can cast light on it that might be fascinating and help understand the musical 'semantics' of the movement.
Others may respond to the Quintet quite differently. Some may complain I am fancying all sorts of things into the music. But not having read a single word on this Quintet I feel out there quite alone and trying to make sense of it. I shall learn from others!
In the meantime I know what, if I had the resources, I'd buy all you lot for Christmas! The CD seems to me a magnificent release. The two works are deeply serious and in my view supreme pieces of chamber music. And the performances quite astonishing.
Pray forgive my clumsy account of the music. I have ears, but am not a musicologist!
Peter
#47
Recordings & Broadcasts / Jean Derbes
Friday 19 November 2010, 20:35
Apologies if I try your patience!
I've noticed Timpani (who usually don't produce anything less than worthwhile) have just issued a disc of the orchestral works of Jean Derbes. A name utterly unknown to me, and I'm always game to try new things.
A quick google doesn't reveal much - apart from that he was a French composer 1937-1982. And part of the Timpani blurb reads "...one of music's forgotten composers, whose output reveals a grand soul and a tortured spirit that died too soon". (Do souls die??)
Anyone know anything about him? Anyone listened to this CD (or an earlier one of a couple of years ago of the piano concerto)? I always want to support a distinguished record company that attempts a new venture. On the other hand I don't want to waste pennies on acquiring mere noise for such is freely available whenever I turn on the power tools to construct a new CD cabinet.
Forgotten he surely is. But deservedly so, or what? Any views?
Peter
I've noticed Timpani (who usually don't produce anything less than worthwhile) have just issued a disc of the orchestral works of Jean Derbes. A name utterly unknown to me, and I'm always game to try new things.
A quick google doesn't reveal much - apart from that he was a French composer 1937-1982. And part of the Timpani blurb reads "...one of music's forgotten composers, whose output reveals a grand soul and a tortured spirit that died too soon". (Do souls die??)
Anyone know anything about him? Anyone listened to this CD (or an earlier one of a couple of years ago of the piano concerto)? I always want to support a distinguished record company that attempts a new venture. On the other hand I don't want to waste pennies on acquiring mere noise for such is freely available whenever I turn on the power tools to construct a new CD cabinet.
Forgotten he surely is. But deservedly so, or what? Any views?
Peter
#48
Recordings & Broadcasts / Heinrich Kaspar Schmid
Thursday 15 April 2010, 22:47
Anyone yet listened to the CD of chamber works which is scheduled for release by CPO in the UK later this month? Judged by what I've read about Schmid it appears right up my street, and given the CD contains a Pf Trio, it is going to prove hard to remove it from the Wants List. More debt, alas!
Peter
Peter
#49
Recordings & Broadcasts / Gounod's 'La Nonne Sanglante'
Monday 29 March 2010, 13:24
I note from the booklet notes accompanying CPO's recent d'Albert Symphony that "soon available" will be Gounod's 1854 opera 'La Nonne Sanglante'.
Whoopee I proclaim (even if the idea of this opera with a libretto by Scribe loosely adapted from Monk's Gothic novel, and complete with frustrated lovers, dark castles, ghosts, murder, midnight and other gothic stock in trades fills other Forum friends with horror).
Anyone happen to know how soon that "soon available" might be?
Peter
Whoopee I proclaim (even if the idea of this opera with a libretto by Scribe loosely adapted from Monk's Gothic novel, and complete with frustrated lovers, dark castles, ghosts, murder, midnight and other gothic stock in trades fills other Forum friends with horror).
Anyone happen to know how soon that "soon available" might be?
Peter
#50
Composers & Music / A Plea for Hans Gal
Wednesday 24 March 2010, 00:21
If record producers eavesdrop this forum may I make a special plea for the orchestral works of Hans Gal? I believe it would be quite tragic if his compositions fell into complete oblivion.
True, there has been some limited revival of interest in Gal in the last two years with a quite stunning set of discs of the piano works by Leon McCawley. I have found these works, variously, wonderfully lyrical, suffused with wit, often charming, and always written with sharp precision. They are clearly written by a composer who himself was a highly accomplished pianist. Fascinating stuff. Then, and to my mind even more satisfying, are the recordings of the quartets by the Edinburgh Quartet. They each form splendid, life-affirming music, much in the Austro-German late Romantic tradition. I have yet to hear a disc of the Piano Trios on Camerata.
But the orchestral music? There are four symphonies dating from 1927, 1943, 1951, and 1975. The first was last performed (to my belief) by the BBCSO in 1970, as part of the 80th birthday concert. I would guess it to be a distinguished work, for it was awarded second place by CBC in 1928 to mark the centenary of Schubert's death - the first place being occupied by Schmidt's Symphony 3, exalted company indeed! As far as I know the other symphonies have been slowly gathering dust since the 1950s. Amongst other things, there are also concertos for Violin (1932), Piano (1948), and Cello (1949). There are also three early operas, but maybe I should reconcile myself to eventually sliding into deafness, gaga-land or the final resting place without the chance to hear them.
Deprived of performances or recordings I have obviously not heard any of the orchestral works. Yet judged by the chamber music, and the reputation Gal had gained by the time of his death, I would guess they are works we would treasure if given the opportunity to do so. We've heard this refrain many times on the forum, but how awful it is that some music is allowed to fall by the wayside whilst other merely 'interesting' or sometimes near worthless works get star treatment (hardly an original thought!) Maybe my high expectation of Gal's orchestral works is misplaced, but I somehow doubt it. Anyone familiar with them?
Peter
True, there has been some limited revival of interest in Gal in the last two years with a quite stunning set of discs of the piano works by Leon McCawley. I have found these works, variously, wonderfully lyrical, suffused with wit, often charming, and always written with sharp precision. They are clearly written by a composer who himself was a highly accomplished pianist. Fascinating stuff. Then, and to my mind even more satisfying, are the recordings of the quartets by the Edinburgh Quartet. They each form splendid, life-affirming music, much in the Austro-German late Romantic tradition. I have yet to hear a disc of the Piano Trios on Camerata.
But the orchestral music? There are four symphonies dating from 1927, 1943, 1951, and 1975. The first was last performed (to my belief) by the BBCSO in 1970, as part of the 80th birthday concert. I would guess it to be a distinguished work, for it was awarded second place by CBC in 1928 to mark the centenary of Schubert's death - the first place being occupied by Schmidt's Symphony 3, exalted company indeed! As far as I know the other symphonies have been slowly gathering dust since the 1950s. Amongst other things, there are also concertos for Violin (1932), Piano (1948), and Cello (1949). There are also three early operas, but maybe I should reconcile myself to eventually sliding into deafness, gaga-land or the final resting place without the chance to hear them.
Deprived of performances or recordings I have obviously not heard any of the orchestral works. Yet judged by the chamber music, and the reputation Gal had gained by the time of his death, I would guess they are works we would treasure if given the opportunity to do so. We've heard this refrain many times on the forum, but how awful it is that some music is allowed to fall by the wayside whilst other merely 'interesting' or sometimes near worthless works get star treatment (hardly an original thought!) Maybe my high expectation of Gal's orchestral works is misplaced, but I somehow doubt it. Anyone familiar with them?
Peter
#51
Composers & Music / Schmidt-Kowalski anyone?
Friday 19 March 2010, 11:39
Greetings! Anyone with any particular axe to grind on Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski? A German composer, born 1949.
There are three Naxos CDs devoted to his music (Symphonies 3 and 4, Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto 2, and some Symphonic Poems), but Naxos has - for reasons unknown to me - restricted the distribution of these CDs to Germany. Hence I sneak him in since he is at least unsung in the UK.
Ever curious, I obtained one of the CDs - and was glad I did. Hardly at the cutting edge of contemporary composition, but nonetheless rather affecting, sincerely expressed music, and firmly rooted in the romantic tradition. And good performances and a splendid recording to boot.
Being of a mischievous inclination I'd rather like to blindfold colleagues on this site, tell them I was going to play a new and undiscovered composer of whose work Sterling had released a recording, and sit back and see what happens. But doubtless my mischief would bring about a rebuke!
Anyone listened to this stuff?
Peter
There are three Naxos CDs devoted to his music (Symphonies 3 and 4, Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto 2, and some Symphonic Poems), but Naxos has - for reasons unknown to me - restricted the distribution of these CDs to Germany. Hence I sneak him in since he is at least unsung in the UK.
Ever curious, I obtained one of the CDs - and was glad I did. Hardly at the cutting edge of contemporary composition, but nonetheless rather affecting, sincerely expressed music, and firmly rooted in the romantic tradition. And good performances and a splendid recording to boot.
Being of a mischievous inclination I'd rather like to blindfold colleagues on this site, tell them I was going to play a new and undiscovered composer of whose work Sterling had released a recording, and sit back and see what happens. But doubtless my mischief would bring about a rebuke!
Anyone listened to this stuff?
Peter
#52
Composers & Music / Paul Büttner
Wednesday 24 February 2010, 00:47
What an evening! A few weeks ago I picked up the Sterling CD of Buttner as part of a scoop in bargain basements in London (and what a scoop from which, financially, I am still recovering). I had never heard of Buttner, and the CD ended up in the bag simply because it was a Sterling disc (and because the notes told me he was a pupil of Draeseke). The disc seemed to have got put to one side, and I finally listened to it tonight - twice!
This music - Symphony 4 - is utterly magnificent. I have seen fleeting references to Buttner on the site, but nothing substantial. Heavens, this really is an unsung composer because, other than this Sterling disc, a lengthy trawl through the ether reveals no other recordings of his music. He also seems a quite invisible figure, for the same trawl demonstrates there is very little information about him save some very bare facts. Nothing whatsoever in Grove 5, or even New Grove.
Why this almost total neglect? There are, presumably, at least 3 other symphonies. And a string quartet. What else? Are the scores published? Is he ever performed? Can fellow members of the site enlighten me? Can anyone else help relieve the great urge to hear more Buttner?
This music - Symphony 4 - is utterly magnificent. I have seen fleeting references to Buttner on the site, but nothing substantial. Heavens, this really is an unsung composer because, other than this Sterling disc, a lengthy trawl through the ether reveals no other recordings of his music. He also seems a quite invisible figure, for the same trawl demonstrates there is very little information about him save some very bare facts. Nothing whatsoever in Grove 5, or even New Grove.
Why this almost total neglect? There are, presumably, at least 3 other symphonies. And a string quartet. What else? Are the scores published? Is he ever performed? Can fellow members of the site enlighten me? Can anyone else help relieve the great urge to hear more Buttner?
#53
Composers & Music / Rott String Quartet
Monday 15 February 2010, 13:07
Apologies for initiating what will hopefully become a new thread - but having recently discovered the site I'm enthused about the prospect of informed and courteous responses! To the point: after the excitement of a few years ago with the rediscovery of the Hans Rott symphony (however one might finally judge it, an astonishing first symphony by one not yet in their 20s - and now with 4 or so generally excellent commercial recordings) I'm surprised there is little awareness of his string quartet. I chanced upon a middle of the night BBC broadcast - about 30 years ago! - and was enthralled by what seemed wonderful music. I recall a staggeringly beautiful slow movement, and ever since I have yearned to hear the quartet again.
There appears to be a recording by the Mainz Qt on an obscure label called Acousene. Does anyone know this: is it worth some perservance (and probable expense) in tracking it down? Might it be on the short list of some enterprising record company to issue the quartet in a more accessible CD? Fingers tightly crossed - the fate of all who care much for unsung compositions!
There appears to be a recording by the Mainz Qt on an obscure label called Acousene. Does anyone know this: is it worth some perservance (and probable expense) in tracking it down? Might it be on the short list of some enterprising record company to issue the quartet in a more accessible CD? Fingers tightly crossed - the fate of all who care much for unsung compositions!
#54
Composers & Music / Draeseke Christus
Saturday 13 February 2010, 19:12
Any wise fellah out there with thoughts about Draeseke's Christus?
I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain the stomping big Bayer box containing this tetralogy of oratorios across five CDs, together with thick booklet of full notes & translations, for an irresistible £20 (on Amazon it nearly always attracts a price that would involve extending the mortgage!).
To my complete embarrassment I've spent 2 weeks peeling off the cellophane and idly reading the notes, and finding every excuse to delay listening to it. I provide an absolute assurance that I am immensely looking forward to exploring the work(s). I know the symphonies via the CPO recordings, and some of the (rather good) piano music. But this ain't the kind of thing you can get a crude and basic hang of within 30 minutes before settling down to more serious listening.
I hope others recognise the phenomenon. Maybe I'm by nature a serious ditherer. After all this is the person who read the first 14 pages of Proust 7 times before venturing on - I didn't want to miss out on anything! So what is the way into it? Any clues or pointers? Contributions most gratefully received!
I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain the stomping big Bayer box containing this tetralogy of oratorios across five CDs, together with thick booklet of full notes & translations, for an irresistible £20 (on Amazon it nearly always attracts a price that would involve extending the mortgage!).
To my complete embarrassment I've spent 2 weeks peeling off the cellophane and idly reading the notes, and finding every excuse to delay listening to it. I provide an absolute assurance that I am immensely looking forward to exploring the work(s). I know the symphonies via the CPO recordings, and some of the (rather good) piano music. But this ain't the kind of thing you can get a crude and basic hang of within 30 minutes before settling down to more serious listening.
I hope others recognise the phenomenon. Maybe I'm by nature a serious ditherer. After all this is the person who read the first 14 pages of Proust 7 times before venturing on - I didn't want to miss out on anything! So what is the way into it? Any clues or pointers? Contributions most gratefully received!