Your discovery of 2021

[Ilja]

Hi all,


In the past years, people have posted threads (I might even have myself, not sure) about their personal discovery of the last year. And as it might help us get through the somewhat desolate span of time between Christmas en New Year, I hope no one minds me initiating it now.

I'll kick off with my threesome:

   
• The ongoing revelation of Julius Röntgen's symphonic oeuvre, with the recent recording of symphonies 7 and 11, 12, 14 and 22-24 as a very welcome surprise a few weeks ago. They are of invariably high quality despite (or because) of their compact form, and show how a composer was searching and finding satisfying new ways of expanding romantic composition in a period where traditional historiography has it as stale and obsolete. It's an approach similar to that of Felix Woyrsch, to name one, or:
• Joseph Lauber's symphonies. It took me a while to warm up to them, but I can hardly wait for the release of symphonies nos. 4 and 5. Again, a satisfying personal journey to find new expression in traditional forms, by a composer of great talent.
• The cartload of musical rarities that continues to be revealed through the tireless work of Martin Walsh, Tuomas Palojärvi, Gerd Prengel, and others (among which I include the person behind Albis Music, whose name eludes me for the moment). Where listening to synthetic music used to be something to chew through (at best), the technical advances made in recent years have made many of them a joy to listen to. These people deserve everyone's warmest gratitude.

Edit: elaborated on my choices.

[Alan Howe]

OK, but no more than three per person, plus reasons, please.

[Alan Howe]

My choices are all the fruit of the work of today's intrepid excavators of unknown symphonies:

1. Kufferath Symphony in C: this came as a huge surprise to me - a name I didn't know who had written this major symphony in the late 1840s pointing forward to the likes of Dietrich and Brahms, i.e. in what sounds like an advance on the idiom of Schumann and Mendelssohn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGVdSTkAjAU

2. Thieriot Symphony No.5: a symphony of immense strength and purpose, building on and extending the classical-romantic heritage of Brahms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSuKduRk_Ic

3. Zellner Symphony No.1: a dynamic, athletic symphony rivalling his contemporary Raff's 2nd and 4th symphonies for variety and memorability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMC_l1mEii0

[tpaloj]

1. Lachner's 6th Symphony
This recording came as a sort of a surprise, and what an excellent one it was. Sure, the performance could have been improved slightly here and there, but just the fact that it was recorded at all certainly fulfills the mission started by Gerd Prengel's original hand-crafted rendition, which has led to many discussions about Lachner's music on this forum in the past few years.

2. Draeseke's 3rd Quartet (plus everything else posted on the R&B board!)
I have been listening to a lot more chamber music this year: Draeseke's very fine 3rd Quartet is just the latest piece that was discussed here. Chamber music overall is not my favorite genre, but it has been the best kind of personal discovery for me to listen to so much excellent unsung chamber music thanks to recommendations on the Recordings & Broadcasts board.

3. Grimm's Symphony in D
Another major work in a long streak of unsung symphonic discoveries thanks to Martin. I really hope some recording companies take notice of what is out there.


I'm probably forgetting something from earlier this year that should be highlighted as well. Perhaps it's this continuing covid haze, no idea what year or month it ever is. If I had to make a pledge for next year, I certainly want to focus more on editing scores and sets of parts – after all, practice is supposed to make you better as they say. There is a large time commitment for notating any symphony-sized work, but as long as travel and recreational restrictions seem to be ongoing in the world, I find it more than easy to justify spending spare time on such musical projects. A new version of Dorico is also supposed to come out early next year, and it's going to be a big update which hopefully fixes bugs and in turn helps creating scores on that program even faster.

[semloh]

I'd like to choose two CD issues rather than specific pieces of music. They are The Clarinet Chamber Music of Ruth Gipps (Somm) and the 2 Piano Quartets of Emilie Mayer (CPO).

I've chosen the Gipps for the clever programming and the consistent charm of the music, which I find beguiling and relaxing. The clarinet is warm and seductive.
I've chosen the Mayer for the sustained energy and inventiveness of the music, and the sparkling quality of the performances, which I feel strike a happy balance between vigour and delicacy.

Were I to choose three pieces of music for 2021 they would be from these two discs, and I would immediately change my mind as to which they would be! 

[Mark Thomas]

2021 has been a wonderful year for "great discoveries" and my list is way too long to confine to just three, so I'm going to have to bend the rules, just a little:

Firstly, we should all recognise the incredible work done during this year by Reverie (Martin) and tpaloj (Tuomas), which has given us a remarkable collection of thoroughly listenable digital realisations of hitherto unheard works: a swathe of fine complete symphonies, symphonic movements and other orchestral works which I have just typed out, but have now deleted because there are just too many of them! So I will nominate a pair as standard bearers for my first class of discoveries: the C major and D major symphonies of Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath, one realised by each of our benefactors. They're works with very different characters but both demonstrate what a fine, versatile symphonist he was and what a loss it was that he buried himself in the musical backwater of Brussels.

Secondly, another cheat: the recent cpo twofer set of seven late Röntgen symphonies - Nos.7, 11, 12, 14, 22, 23 and 24. The longest lasts only 22 minutes, most are single movements and some barely reach double digits, but every one is a masterclass in symphonic writing, economy both of scale and resource and each is a hugely satisfying listen, despite their concision. They are wonderful antidotes to the music world's continuing love affair with Mahlerian and Straussian expansiveness (although I love that too).

Finally, a nomination in which I suspect I will be alone: Eduard Franck's Piano Concerto No.2. I had bracketed Franck as a capable, pleasantly-rewarding but essentially modest Mendelssohn epigone, when along comes this big, confident bravura concerto which, especially in its first movement, reminded me in so many (positive) ways of Anton Rubinstein's Fifth Piano Concerto, a favourite since the early 1970s. That work has its flaws, of course, but it also has a certain grandeur which is echoed by Franck's concerto, something which was quite unexpected and very welcome. The slow movement too is a perfect limpid foil to the first's monumentality, something which Rubinstein failed to pull off.

A very large crop of exciting new commercial recordings, coupled with the efforts of tpaloj and Reverie and UC's uploaders have made 2021 an unusually fruitful year for worthwhile discoveries - in fact, I can't remember a more rewarding one since the 1970s.

[Ilja]

Oh, I even forgot about the Franck concertos - a discovery indeed! What I find particularly gratifying is that we haven't really had a single "big" release this year, but rather a continuous and very rich trickle of new works in all genres. So many in fact, that I've actually had to work through something of a backlog at times.

[Alan Howe]

May I also add my personal vote of thanks to Reverie (Martin) and tpaloj (Tuomas) for the fabulous standard of work that they have achieved over the past year - and for the gifts of music that they have brought us through the compositions they have unearthed and to which they have given new life.

[mikehopf]

Hear! Hear!

[Reverie]

1. Richard Stöhr - Symphony No. 1 (1909)  I've listened to this very old crackly recording on Youtube many times with great interest. I have been working on creating a cleaner realisation but it is taking some time. Stohr's music is late romantic but beautifully orchestrated so clean and crisp. Underated.

2. Carl Heinrich Reinecke: Sinfonie Nr. 1 A-Dur op. 79 - The Andante 2nd mov - deeply spiritual. Why waste words? Enough said.

3. Hadley, Henry Kimball - Symphonic Fantasia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxMZCaUA64

A short masterpice for the orchestra. Such variety in texture and sonority. How can Henry be forgotten?

[ancestralvoices]

If I'm not moved, I can't place a composition on this forum. I fully realize that others' look for more than this...

I have two. A beautiful piece I wrote about on my Vasilenko post — although the piece was composed by another, a Ukrainian composer called Stavylov. It's called Prelude to the memory of Shevchenko: Sadness and perhaps despair for Shevchenko. The strings moved me, and I realize that there is a full orchestral version. This piece kept me through a lonely Christmas night.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=DIzNJes-h7w&feature=share

The other piece is by a living composer for the Vatican — who is hit or miss. This little Stabat Mater is "hit" in my book: Stabat Mater by Marco Frisina. As for why? I'm not sure if his intention was to be sad, but I hear it exuding an overwhelming somber feeling which I, as a non believer, was awash with. Intentions mean much less to this listener than emotional reactions to absolute music. My emotional response was a wonderful sadness. 
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tryd4NgjSsU&feature=share

Warm wishes this end of 2021.

[terry martyn]

A Happy New year to all forum members!

In passing, I would like to echo what Mark has said about the Eduard Franck Second Piano Concerto, a substantial work with an individual voice,which,if its composer had been less unassuming,might have found a toehold in the repertoire. (And I was glad of his positive mention of the Rubinstein Fifth,the first Genesis record I was lucky enough to buy,with its haunting,surprisingly understated,slow movement)

But my discovery of 2021 has to be the Juon Symphony in F sharp minor. I was led to it through Mike Herman¨s discography and happy to find that the Sterling CD was still available in a new pressing from jpc.de. It is full of catchy melodies,and the big tune in the first movement is one that Bortkiewicz might have envied but could not have composed as it is sunny,upbeat, almost Griegian,without a hint of melancholy.

[gprengel]

My top discoveries 2021  were:

- Mendelsohn's string quartet movement op.81,3 with it's awesome fugato which I love so much that I orchestrated it: http://gerdprengel.de/mend6-4.mp3

- various movements from Ferdinand Ries' symphonies 4 - 8  , for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qftner0_Glc . So far I had loved only his piano concertos and chamber music but now these symphonies have brought me much joy!

- symphonies 2 - 5 by J. Raff which I got to know not until this last year through this forum - thank you!

[gprengel]

Mark Thomas: Finally, a nomination in which I suspect I will be alone: Eduard Franck's Piano Concerto No.2. I had bracketed Franck as a capable, pleasantly-rewarding but essentially modest Mendelssohn epigone, when along comes this big, confident bravura concerto which, especially in its first movement 

Thank you, Mark, this is indeed a remarkable discovery! Especially movement 1, but also the 3rd movement! Great! I read that Frank wrote this at an age of 14 !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5yc3QO6tMI

[eschiss1]

Eduard, not the unrelated César-Auguste Franck's early op.11 concerto , gpr!!