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Couldn't agree more. The Dawson is a gem, but for different reasons than the other two. So glad you are playing it!!

I'm resurrecting this old thread to give a couple of updates. The book was reviewed in the June issue of Gramophone and (surprisingly) the controversial "Greatest Symphony" issue of BBC Music Magazine. As a lurker I noticed the thread devoted to that issue and had to laugh--the review of the book comes across in much the same way as the rest of the issue: "Sometimes Beethoven is just better."

The book is now available at quite a few public libraries around the USA (and many more university libraries). Thanks to all of you who have picked up a copy! The general reception has been fantastic, and I'm so thankful for emails that say things like, "I've always wanted to know what was going on in the USA during the era of Beethoven and Brahms." There is nothing more gratifying than to hear you have satisfied someone's curiosity.

I love Draeseke's Third!

Very nice find! I have enjoyed getting to know Hamerik's music, and this certainly puts a new spin on my experience of it.

(Random fact side bar: the composer/critic Richard Storrs Willis, who wrote the tune for "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," studied with Schnyder von Wartensee.)

My understanding is that Anton Eberl's dates are 1765-1807, not 1766-1801. This is important historically in that Beethoven's 4th, 5th, and 6th symphonies all premiered in 1807 and 1808, just around Eberl's death. Eberl was the "leading" symphonist in Vienna prior to his death. Once he was gone, Beethoven was able to swoop in with more market share, as it were.

Since the book has been out only for a couple of months, it doesn't surprise me that only a few libraries have purchased a hard copy (WorldCat tells me that this number is 77, though it will keep rising over the next several months).

The larger academic libraries often have standing orders with major university presses like Oxford and then hand select other titles. Public libraries tend to order bestsellers and then rely on other methods (trade reviews, etc.) to determine other purchases. To my knowledge, only a two public libraries (Seattle, WA and Greenwich, CT) have copies available for direct borrowing right now.

For interlibrary loan, as was mentioned, it could take a very long time for the book to start flowing more freely. It's possible that a cheaper paperback might be available before the hardback enters full circulation among the libraries.

Thank you all for your interest! And for Martin's generous feedback above.

Some of you might be interested in commentary on the book that appeared in last week's New York Times. It is great that the reviewer highlighted the composers themselves so prominently. In a later issue of the Times, the same critic wrote brief remarks on the old NY Philharmonic recording of Paine's Second Symphony:

Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/books/review-douglas-w-shadles-orchestrating-the-nation.html

CD Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/arts/music/reviews-classical-music-albums.html

I am hoping that the increased attention on this music will interest the Times and other outlets to consider JoAnn Falletta's recent recordings of Paine's orchestral works in addition to the new George Frederick Bristow recording.

Groves says 73 symphonies. Perhaps, the Haydn of America?

Thanks for pointing to Grove as the source of this info. To my eye, it says, "?3," not 73.

The new print edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music has clarified this issue. (I wrote the revision of the Pratt article, but it is not yet online.)

Is there any mention of Silas G. Pratt ( 1846 -1916) who wrote 73 symphonies? Surely, the Wagner of America!

Good call! There are two brief references to Pratt, but I was not able to work him into the text as fully as I had originally wanted. I've been collecting a lot of primary source data about him, though, and I hope to cook up something more official on him sooner rather than later. What an interesting person!

(My understanding is that he wrote *3* symphonies, not 73!)

Ah, ok, I see one of Phelps' orchestral works at the American Music Collection catalogue (@NYPL). Forgot to look there... (correction: 2; NYPL has his symphony Hiawatha in score.)

Exactly. Hiawatha was microfilmed at my request.

Listened to the full disc of the Bristow this morning. Absolutely fantastic rendition of the symphony! Gutsy playing, brisk speeds, great timbral balance. Highly recommended.

There are fees associated with interlibrary loan that university libraries will absorb for university-affiliated people. Public libraries, on the other hand, will often refuse a loan over a certain dollar amount rather than passing the fee to a patron. It stinks, but sometimes the fees are shockingly high.

I know of Ellsworth C. Phelps (and of Edward H. and Edward B. Phelps... sometimes hard to tell since their scores would be published just as "E.C.", "E.H." or "E.B." Phelps... as usual... sigh) but did not know he composed symphonic music. I wonder if Frédéric-Louis Ritter's symphonies (or those of somewhat more early-20th century David Stanley Smith) find their way in

I did not have a chance to look at Ritter's symphonies, but his name does appear in several contexts because his music was supported by the same conductor who supported Phelps: Carl Bergmann. Like Phelps, I think Ritter's hope for more performances died along with Bergmann in 1876. There might have been some other isolated performances later, but I haven't kept track. Maybe for the paperback. :-)

David Stanley Smith does not appear in the book. I tried to keep strict chronological boundaries, or else it would have spiraled out of control! He is definitely someone who needs more attention. Looks like a boatload of his materials are at Yale.

I believe sdtom intended mainly to argue that there is not sufficient money in books about (sung) composers to motivate lots of people to write them, i.e. those that are written are written out of non pecuniary motives.  This in response to hints in earlier posts that books on e.g. Beethoven create big profits for their authors while books on Raff or Onslow would not.

Yes, and I didn't mean to suggest that a book on Beethoven generates "big profits," only that Beethoven is one of the few topics that will entice a trade publisher to move ahead with a potentially interesting classical music title. See, for example, Matthew Guerrieri's The First Four Notes: Beethoven's Fifth and the Human Imagination. This book is more or less only about the famous four-note motive in Beethoven's Fifth. Try writing a book on the "Satan's Horn Call" melody in Templeton Strong's Sintram Symphony, and I don't think it would get very far!

Then also consider a title like Christopher Fifield's book on German symphonies between Beethoven and Brahms. It is thorough and easy to read, but the price puts it out of reach of many "average" book buyers. If it is going to win hearts and minds among the music-loving public, there would have to be a concerted campaign led by conductors, scholars, other performing musicians, etc. It is becoming easier to create those coalitions, but it's not *easy*. (See, for example, the new recording of George Frederick Bristow's Symphony No. 2, which was a collaboration between a scholar and a conductor--the conductor, incidentally, is related to another musicologist.)

The bottom line, I think, is that there are many institutional barriers to advocating for unsung composers in print or in concert halls with the hopes of reaching a wide public. That's not to say that things will always be this way, but it's my impression at present. The original poster in this thread seems to think that there is a magic bullet out there. I'm highly skeptical.