Hugo Kauder Symphony No.1 (1920-1)

Started by Alan Howe, Friday 30 December 2022, 16:54

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eschiss1

Btw, Mr. Howe, you have responded well to his music in the past (judging from a skim of posts from 2015-7 or so) but I don't have any real knowledge of his music either!
Happy 2023!

Mark Thomas

I'm happy to let Mr Botstein have the last word.

eschiss1

Well... if he chooses to add a commercial recording of the oboe concerto I will not complain.

Alan Howe


Ilja

Quote from: Mark Thomas on Wednesday 04 January 2023, 08:09I'm happy to let Mr Botstein have the last word.
We'll have to, until someone else has a go at it.

Alan Howe

Very unlikely, I'd've thought.

In any case, I think we've established the 30-minute figure as a 'guesstimate', i.e. as involving a mixture of reasoned  calculation and sheer guesswork - for which Botstein was in no way responsible.

Alan Howe

Botstein's recording has now been announced - it'll be available on the Avie label from 24th May:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/the-lost-generation/hnum/11833381
More details here:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9619812--the-lost-generation-apostel-kauder-busch

The timing for the Symphony is 40:09.


eschiss1


Droosbury

Got my copy of this the other day. Very pleased they edited out the horrible false note that appears in the version that was in Downloads. I am currently absolutely obsessed with the noble, yearning theme in the third movement (very Mahlerian), played by the violins at the bottom of their register apparently (I had thought it was violas). Heart-melting.

Others here may not care for the accompanying Schoenbergian Haydn Variations by Hans Erich Apostel, but there's nothing to be scared of, I promise you! And the Busch variations make a very pleasant end to a well-filled disc.

Alan Howe

Thanks for the review - very encouraging.

John Boyer

Hrrmph.  JPC now says it won't be available until June 14, and yet...

It will be interesting to hear Peter Serkin as an orchestrator. 

Alan Howe

My copy has now arrived - and I note that Dave Hurwitz has reviewed the disc somewhat negatively, in particular the Kauder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTDyXCS5un8

Now I just want to raise a question here: how important is it not to rush to judgment on an unfamiliar piece of music - and especially if one is an influential critic? I know we all post our reactions to the music we hear on this forum, but (a) we're not pretending to be experts and (b) we have the great advantage of being a community of music lovers which provides for balance and differing opinions. I've often thought that Hurwitz's channel would be improved by inviting the other critics who work with him at Classics Today to participate in his videos.

And to return to Kauder: he's a post-Mahlerian, his music is more fragmentary than Mahler from the previous generation. In other words, he's attempting something different, I think, while consciously continuing the tradition. When I heard Hurwitz's critique I immediately wondered whether he should have listened a bit more carefully, preferably a few more times over a few more days, instead of rushing to judgment. The slow movement is absolutely glorious...

Am I being fair?

eschiss1

As to Apostel, I've only heard a few works of his, but he was after all a pupil of Berg (the first of his string quartets fills out a CD set of Zemlinsky's 4 numbered string quartets on DG) who edited a critical edition (I think) of the full score of Berg's Wozzeck. So maybe more for some of us (I might like it more) than others.

John Boyer

Quote from: Alan Howe on Saturday 08 June 2024, 18:58When I heard Hurwitz's critique I immediately wondered whether he should have listened a bit more carefully, preferably a few more times over a few more days, instead of rushing to judgment. The slow movement is absolutely glorious...

Am I being fair?

Still waiting on my copy, but I agree: when dealing with recordings, I always listen to something twice, with a decent interval between hearings, before venturing on a preliminary judgement.   

Alan Howe

When dealing with unfamiliar music it is always useful to try to 'locate' a composition in its historical context; however, the danger is always to make comparisons to the work's detriment if it's not taken on its own terms.

Again, am I being fair?