Messages

[Rubbra's]

I think Rubbra's symphonies are badly neglected, and I love the swashbuckling symphonies of George Lloyd (12 in all).
We don't seem to give the Americans much coverage here, so how about Piston (, Mennin (9) and Cowell (15) .... not my cup of tea, but definitely unsung symphonists, at least outside the US. Not sure how well recorded they are, though. More to my liking are the symphonies of Roy Harris (12), although we rarely hear anything except the 3rd.
Among Scandinavians, Rosenberg (8 syms) is usually overrlooked, and once we turn to Eastern Europe and the old Soviet empire, the list could be almost endless......
This may be an opportunity to place a request to the forum - does anyone have Symphony No.2 - 'I Have Loved the Lands of Ireland' by Seóirse Bodley? My old ex-radio cassette recording is almost unplayable.... and it's a beautiful work.

Whoops - yes, some double-Dutch on my part! Draeseke - a very German composer indeed.

Some of the many 'unsung' Dutch composers have finally begun to be recognised outside Holland - Gilse, Dopper, Rontgen, Vermeulen, etc etc... all wonderful. Thank you for introducing me to yet another - a real delight.

[Alan]

Alan - I like your suggestion that Glass's music sounds like it's about to introduce something, but then doesn't and instead just keeps keeping on. Pity he didn't follow  Webern's example, who at least had the decency to keep his efforts short (albeit not short enough, for some of us!).
mbhaub - our morning classical radio presenter here clearly dislikes Glass; whenever his music is played, the covert sarcasm oozes through her intros and back announcements, along with a heavy dose of apology. One reason (she has intimated) is because of the lack of respect it has for the players - and personally I would add for listeners too.
chill319 - funny you should say that, because the Souvenir de F. is one of the few pieces of Tchaik. I actually enjoy, preferably as the sextet. Perhaps that's because in my head in becomes Dvorak - whose own Op.48 Sextet is unjustly neglected.

Talking of orchestra & pipes (!) ... yes, PM-D's 'Orkney Wedding' is an interesting and rather enjoyable piece. If we are prepared to diversify slightly, there's also 'Uillean Sunrise' by O'Boyle and, in a more folkish vein, 'The Brendan Voyage' by Davey & O'Flynn. After that I'm afraid we're down to McCartney's 'Mull of Kintyre'! As you rightly said Amphissa, it seems that the orchestra has yet to develop the subtlety required to accompany the Scottish pipes.

Getting back on topic.... my number one pet dislike (not just "don't get") is Philip Glass and all who emulate his pathetic excuse for a style. In think he should have stuck to truck driving, but I promise not to be rude to anyone who has the courage to say they like his work....

Amphissa, you're a gem! At last, another bagpipophile! Where ARE all those Concertos for Bagpipes and Large Orchestra?!
You referred to "the traditional over-the-top bombastic final movement" of Mahler's 5th, but as a fan of the Bernstein recordings, I wonder if it is ever possible for Mahler to be over the top.
Didn't you mean, by the way, that it is Mahler who is Shost. with coffins and clowns, rather than vice-versa? I can still see a clown like figure dancing on top of a coffin, to Mahler's 1st sym. in Russell's film...

Apologies if I've misundertood.

Fuhred - I think that listening to works by the 'unsung' composers alerts one to the fact that Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, et al., were not isolated figures with unique styles - an impression that is bound to develop when they each receive so much exposure - but rather part of an historical stylistic continuum. The Czerny symphonies seem to me to have echoes (or pre-echoes!) of all them in there somewhere, to mixed effect. As an aside, it would be interesting to share some ideas as to whether there are any composers whose style we think is unique, as if it just 'popped up' from nowhere! Maybe that's simply not possible.....

I'm sorry, I have nothing else by Marshall-Hall. I wish I had, so that I could post something in return for all the fascinating music everyone is sharing. I am looking forward to listening to the work by Mrs Hill, another neglected talent. There's a rather amusing biog. note about her, by the way, at the Music Australia site (http://www.musicaustralia.org/)
Thank you especially for the Hill Viola Concerto - time to get re-acquainted! I would be interested to hear what members think of it, because although it may not be truly great music, I can't see why it hasn't established a place in the regular concert repertoire (here, or beyond Australia). Are we short of viola players?!

Alan, I would be interested to know how you get on as you listen to these....  I have so far been unable to discern a distinctive voice in his work; maybe I'm expecting too much or just need to listen more.

Thank you for the latest marvellous Japanese uploads. That unfinished symphony by Otaka is a particularly beautiful piece. To my ears, the performance does it proud - it combines exuberance with sensitivity and could hardly be bettered. I must find out more about this composer!

This is an endless source of interesting exchanges, and I think they are very relevant for a group championing works which lie outside the approved canon.
Haydn - my first real delight in classical music; his wit and endless invention tell us a lot about the man, I think.
Mozart - my second, attracted by the tinge of sadness that I feel inhabits much of his work (especially the pieces that seem most jolly!) and marks him out from Haydn.
Yes, I know what you mean about Bach being cerebral - I am 'mathematical', though not by profession, and my sister is a maths professor.... but I really believe that the magic of a lot of Bach is that it can bring the cerebral and the emotional together - joy in life, sadness at its loss, and so on, they're all there in Bach - though as a non-religious person I do find it more difficult to appreciate that side of his work.
The comments about Bruckner have been interesting - one very long symphony with 10 movements? For me the jury is still out.
X-Trapnel - re the Ives - yes those are so good!
Eschiss1 - you have prompted me to seek out that Bernstein recording - sounds like just what I need to help me appreciate the Op.131.
Allan - It's hilarious really - Tchaik 1 is exactly what I had in mind (plus those dreadful plinky-plonk ballet scores!) as I assembled my disparinging comments. Sorry. But, isn't musical taste a wonderful thing!

Lastly, I would hate to parade the results of the Australian music polls - very little beyond what you'd expect - except perhaps a rise of appreciation for Mahler and VW (most Aussies say "who?" when you mention his name). Although votes on popularity don't have much meaning I think they do influence the radio programmers and CD producers! Thank goodness we haven't had a "most boring" poll.

Thanks Eschiss1 ... I always wondred what the name was that John Hawkins had written on the CD cover!

Couldn't agree more - and I think we're all being appropriately respectful. I'm sure we don't confuse our distaste for certain composer/works for distate toward those who feel otherwise. It's just so amazing to become aware of such diametrically opposed reactions to music....

As to Bach... well most of his work leaves me stunned. I find it transcendent, and I can say no more. As to ways of approaching those composers we don't like, well can I say that I was never a Mahler fan until I saw Ken Russell's film, this p[rompted me to sit and immerse myself in Bernstein's early account of the 6th and I was absolutely bowled over. I think we find our way by all manner of routes!

I am keen to contribute to the downloads folder, but I'm afraid I can't upload the Marshall-Hall Symphony in E-flat as it is still in the catalogue of Move Records. This is a small label based in Melbourne, specializing in Australian composers and their catalogue is well worth a visit:
http://www.move.com.au/result.cfm?style=a

X-Trapnel - hmmm, I can't really argue with you there, except just maybe you're a bit harsh on Ives. After all it was only a hobby, he was producing some pretty radical stuff pre-WW1 (I am always amazed that Three Places in New England is from 1910!), and surely nobody can deny that the Adagio from the early 1st Symphony is a beauty.