To lighten your Monday, here is a little puzzle not unrelated to the topic of this site:
Musically speaking, which is the odd one out?
- London
- Oxford
- Cambridge
- Norwich
Answer at the weekend if no-one guesses, but I'm sure someone will work it out quickly.
Oxford is the odd one out: Symphony No.92 by Haydn.
The three others are titles of symphonies by British composers: VW2 (London); Parry 2 (Cambridge), Edward German 2 (Norwich).
Or: Haydn's is the only symphony which is not his no.2.
Haydn also wrote one nicknamed London, however (No. 104).
True enough. Any more possibilities?
Between Alan and eschiss1 (by message) it is solved. To be complete:
London, Cambridge and Norwich all have romantic 2nd symphonies by British composers named after them. Oxford has a classical 92nd symphony by an Austrian!
Postscript: how many other places in Britain have symphonies named after them? Röntgen's Edinburgh symphony has recently been mentioned. What others?
Cotswolds (Holst) ; Scotland as a whole (Mendelssohn) ; Ireland (several composers) ...
Nottingham (Alan Bush in 1949), but never, so far as I am aware, either Ipswich or Stoke-on-Trent.
Again somewhat later on there is indeed a "Cheltenham symphony" for youth orchestra, by Henry Williams.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Tuesday 18 June 2013, 00:53
Cotswolds (Holst) ; Scotland as a whole (Mendelssohn) ; Ireland (several composers) ...
Cornelis Dopper's Second Symphony is also nicknamed the 'Scottish'.
Gosh, this has got me thinking.
One of my old favourites is the Symphony No.3 'Westmorland' by Armstrong Gibbs - unless you mean cities/towns, in which case how about Daniel Mason's Symphony No.3 - 'Lincoln'? ;D
I think that's not meant to refer to the city/town, judging from the subtitles. :D
Quote from: eschiss1 on Tuesday 18 June 2013, 15:50
I think that's not meant to refer to the city/town, judging from the subtitles. :D
LOL, as they say ...
The above posts include all the ones I was thinking of. But we have two "Scottish" symphonies, several "Irish", and there is an "English" by Parry. Is there no "Welsh" symphony by anyone? What an indictment!
Also - it occurs to me that quite often symphonies are named after cities, but not often concertos. So perhaps Howard Blake's "Leeds" VC should also be mentioned here.
perhaps less recent than the Blake, I'd think Rodrigo's best known work, which is named after a town, also comes to mind :)
Didn't Cowen write a Welsh symphony? Trying to recall.
Easy question btw - (at a guess) what city in the USA (in the 20th century) (probably) has had the most symphonies and concertos dedicated to it/mention it in its title?
Quote from: eschiss1 on Tuesday 18 June 2013, 22:22
what city in the USA (in the 20th century)
I'll allow this question, but let's keep quizzes relevant to UC, please.
It would be Louisville, I guess.
(bah, forum eating my post)
I'd guess New York, especially with other subtitles relating to it (Big Apple, etc)
How about the first symphony to be named after a fictional character? I have my guess (and very relevant to UC) but we'll see.
Quote from: TerraEpon on Wednesday 19 June 2013, 07:14
How about the first symphony to be named after a fictional character? I have my guess (and very relevant to UC) but we'll see.
As the question stands, the answer is certainly to be found in the pre-romantic era, since all the gods and heroes of classical myth and legend are fictional characters. So works like Dittersdorf's "Fall of Phaeton" symphony would qualify.
Hrm. I was thinking Louisville... anyway. Fictional but not "mythological", and Romantic-era? Either one of the works associated with Faust or Dante (e.g. Liszt or Pacini's symphonies thereon), or earlier still...
Haydn Symphony 43 (1771) "Mercury"? Actually - it may not count, as the title seems to date from the 19th C.
That would beat the Dittersdorf by a decade even if so... but I'm sure one could go even further back...
I'm sure the answer lies way before UC's period, but any more offers?
Dittersdorf would be a good bet. He was actually a pioneering figure in many ways, whose contributions to music are just starting to be recognized and still waaaaaaaaaay underappreciated.
However! Pichl's Diana and similar symphonies were published in the late 1760s... predating Haydn's 43rd symphony (whatever the provenance of its nickname) and predating Dittersdorf's 1781 Metamorphoses symphonies as well. (Pichl also "beats out" Mozart in composing one of the first string trios to use a viola I think- not sure... - not that his is remotely comparable to Mozart's K.563 "Divertimento" (I think- I'm not sure if I have or haven't seen/heard Pichl's trio, yet, though the Mozart work is a hard work to be anywhere near comparable to.)
Well done, Eric. Any more contenders?
I don't mind topics addressing issues outside of the remit of this forum in the pre- rather than post- direction, provided they are entirely relevant to subjects within the remit of this forum, such as symphonies with extra-musical associations. Tracing historical precedents is an entirely appropriate subject of discussion.
It's OK provided that the law of infinite regression doesn't assert itself...
Well, you all beat me hands down.... as far as romantic symphonies go, all I could think of was Gliere's Ilya Murometz! ::)
Going back to symphonies titled after places, specifically places in the UK and specifically by British composers, I think we should not overlook Stanley Wilson's "Skye" Symphony which won a Carnegie Trust Award in 1927 - and deserves a revival. (There is also McEwen's "Solway" Symphony, which has been recorded.)
Well remembered - I had forgotten those. McEwen is a long-time favourite of mine, as well.
I don't think anyone mentioned Bantock's Hebridean Symphony for symphonies named after UK places.
Edward German: Symphony No. 2 'Norwich'
I don't know why, but I find that incredibly funny. Why would anyone compose a Symphony and call it Norwich??
I think I will compose a Symphony and call it "Tooting Bus Depot".
Thal
Well, Norwich is culturally and historically a rather rich place. No worse than calling a symphony "Cambridge" or "Oxford", surely?
Set your prejudices aside, Thal. As English cities go Norwich is actually rather fine. I frequently nip up the road to Norwich for chamber music concerts (and twice a year for a dental check up - and the dentist is amongst the violins of the Norwich Symphony Orchestra). Norwich in fact is a rather cultured place - and marked by a conspicuous absence of muck, graffiti, and unpleasant louts roaming the streets.
German's Symphony No. 2 in A minor quickly became known as the 'Norwich' since it was commissioned for the 1893 Norwich Festival, and conducted at the latter by the composer himself. True, we are not quite in Elgar territory but it is nonetheless a rather splendid work and I enjoy an occasional performance of it. Dig back in the records and you'll find the Norwich audience loved the work and were especially enthusiastic about it. When it was later performed in London G B Shaw ridiculed the work - but bah! why take note of Shaw?
I'm rather tickled by the idea of a Tooting Bec Bus Depot Symphony. I can't imagine it to have passages of heart rending soaring lyricism, and I guess its progress might be constantly punctuated by rasping outbursts of blaring brass. But alas I'm pretty sure those party-pooper moderators of ours would rigorously preclude all discussion of it.
Having been involved in the bus industry in a former life, I will have no truck with slighting references to bus depots, thank you! Nor Norwich for that matter: "a fine city" indeed, for that's what the city welcome signs used to say. Just to link the two, I am always amused by the strap-line adopted in the1970s by the Norwich-based bus company, Eastern Counties: "Eastern Counties - we serve you right"! Hmmm.
But back to music...
Works named after places are more often so named because of commissions or performances. Smetana's symphonic poem "Prague" is about Prague, but Mozart's Prague Symphony is not, and neither is Kabelevsky's Prague Piano Concerto.