Personal Revelations of 2011

[Peter1953]

For me the symphonic music of both Parry and Stanford. Unbelievable that I didn't discover this wonderful music so many years earlier. I had some CD's, but no symphonies. It has been an utter delight exploring their music. Maybe for 2012 I will go deeper into their chamber music.

But for me the absolute trouvaille of the year is Samuragochi's Hiroshima Symphony. Each time I listen (without being disturbed) to this magical, extremely impressive symphony it leaves me completely overwhelmed.

This forum gives me a substantial pleasure in life, that's for sure.

[Christo]

Stanley Bate. I read the reviews of his Viola concerto before, of course. But only after both his Third (1940) and Fourth (1953) symphonies had been released, did I give them some credit. Bate really is a discovery of the first category, amply underlined by the recent release of his second piano concerto (1940) with the wonderful slow movement - that can also heard among the downloads of this site, in a historical recording with Bate als the soloist.
                                 
For many the personal revelation of 2009 or 2010 perhaps, but for me one I only made in 2011.

[Amphissa]

I'd really like to hear the Samuragochi symphony, but I'm not eager to pay the very high prices I'm encountering.

[albion]

The chief revelation of 2011 for me has been the continued unstinting generosity of members of this forum in allowing access to their priceless collections of off-air (and off-vinyl) recordings and thereby building up our archive(s). This altruism has encouraged and enabled me to extend my abiding interest in British music further into the twentieth century (and even beyond).

Daniel Jones, William Wordsworth, Alun Hoddinott, Peter Racine Fricker, Arnold Cooke, William Mathias, Ruth Gipps, Alan Bush and many others were names I knew perhaps from only one or two works: now members (including myself) have access to what constitutes probably one of the most comprehensive collections of British music (aside from commercial releases) anywhere, including many recordings that have even eluded the National Sound Archive. This acquaintance with these composers has also encouraged me to finally get round to purchasing a great many discs which I had previously overlooked - many from Lyrita.

I am greatly looking forward to the continued expansion of this branch of the forum in 2012.

[DennisS]

I too would like to echo Albion's comments regarding the Downloads section of the forum. It has been a real revelation and I have discovered an incredible amount of wonderful music I would not otherwise have encountered. And even more incredible, it has been cost-free! I thank all the members who have so generously uploaded their favourite works from unsung composers - you have enriched my sound world!

cheers
DennisS

[Alan Howe]

Agreed - the downloads section has thrown up all sorts of treasures, for which many thanks.

As for music that has been a revelation to me personally during 2012, Noskowski 2, Urspruch's piano music, Weinberg's symphonies, Hessenberg 2, Klami 1, Suder's Chamber Symphony, Blacher's Symphony, the Brun Symphonies on Guild, the Tubin symphonies, Statkowski's opera Maria, Samuragochi 1 and Schubert's operas Fierrabras and Alfonso und Estrella have been among the stand-outs.
Probably the highlight was the discovery of Samuragochi's Symphony: the question is whether I will feel the same twelve months from now.
Oh and I mustn't forget Rufinatscha 6: thanks to Gianandrea Noseda, the BBCPO and Chandos' recording team, the piece was revealed on the international stage for the first time this year (having been recorded at the end of 2010 and released in 2011) as one of the great unsung Romantic symphonies...

[britishcomposer]

I had longed to hear Parry's Prometheus Unbound for years after having read various comments about the status of this work. Some authors claimed it to be the starting point of the English musical renaissance in the 19th century. I knew somehow that there was this recording from the BBC but I had few hopes actually to hear it. And despite the fact that Chandos and hyperion had made promising enterprises in recording some large scale choral works the shrunk away from Prometheus. So it was a positive shock when I found this site with its British Music Broadcasts folder.
When I actually listened to Prometheus I couldn't believe my ears: if the first performance had been as dedicated and enthusiastic it would have established this work as a masterpiece. To my mind this is one of the greatest recordings of British choral music ever made. Thank you very much! 

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

Hrmm...off the top of my head:

Off of this forum:
-Ina Boyle: the Violin Concerto.  Quite possibly my favorite discovery of this year past.  (Can you say "gobsmacked"?)
-Khuddus Khuzhamyarov: the concertos for trumpet and saxophone.  My other favorite discoveries of the year...especially as they allow me to use the phrase "Kazakh saxophone concerto" in a sentence.
-John Foulds: the Cello Concerto.  My third favorite...oh, you get the idea.
-Leone Sinigaglia: the Violin Concerto.

On recordings:
-Guirne Creith: the Violin Concerto (see Boyle, above)
-Parry: the Symphony No. 4 (one of my Christmas treats to myself) - I never knew his symphonic music, but I'm glad to begin discovering it.
-Carel Anton Fodor: Beethoven before there was a Beethoven.  Why can't I find more of his stuff on CD?
-Johan Wagenaar: the Cyrano de Bergerac overture.  I have a feeling I've heard it before (in one of our local NPR station's rare moments of "ooh, that's odd, that is - why don't we let people hear it?" programming), but it didn't impress itself upon me until lately.
-Lennox Berkeley: A Dinner Engagement - I'm quite looking forward into digging into Nelson at some point in the new year.

Honorable mention, as a choral singer:
-Zoltán Kodály: Missa Brevis.  Of all the masses I have sung or heard, only the Vaughan Williams is better, in my opinion.  And it's a joy to sing, too.

[thalbergmad]

My highlight for the year was the Phantasie Concertante by Dora Pejačević. I still tingle when I listen to it and that has not diminished after a dozen hearings.

The two piano concertos by Miriam Hyde come a close second. 19th Australian female composer would have been my 510th guess if I listened to them cold.

Thal

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

My highlight for the year was the Phantasie Concertante by Dora Pejačević. I still tingle when I listen to it and that has not diminished after a dozen hearings.

Is that the CPO release, perchance?  Another pre-Christmas treat to myself.  I didn't list it, because she's not a discovery - I fell in love with her Violin Sonata back when I was in Croatia, in 2005.  I bought way too much music on that trip, but that piece remains a favorite.

[semloh]

The big revelation for me has been - quite frankly - my own ignorance. After nearly 60 years listening to classical music, I thought I had a good knowledge of the field, familiar with composers on the old Olympia label, Marco Polo and Melodiya. But I've discovered that I was seriously mistaken, and I am amazed by the number and quality of composers/compositions of which I was totally unaware. This forum has brought so much wonderful music to my attention - perhaps mostly notably from Eastern Europe and ex-Soviet states - that it has been impossible to give all the music its due. I am like a child let loose in a sweet shop!

Underlying this is the generosity of all those who upload, so - thank you sincerely. My hope for 2012 is that I will be able to contribute!

[Alan Howe]

-Carel Anton Fodor: Beethoven before there was a Beethoven.  Why can't I find more of his stuff on CD?

Well, his style is clearly pre-Beethoven, more à la Haydn, I would have thought. The symphonies are pleasant, but no more than that. Maybe there's some better, more original stuff waiting to be discovered - he lived a long life...

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

-Carel Anton Fodor: Beethoven before there was a Beethoven.  Why can't I find more of his stuff on CD?

Well, his style is clearly pre-Beethoven, more à la Haydn, I would have thought. The symphonies are pleasant, but no more than that. Maybe there's some better, more original stuff waiting to be discovered - he lived a long life...

Caveat: I've only heard the one piece, the Symphony No. 4, on the second album of the "400 Years of Dutch Music" series.  But it struck me as having more body than Haydn - more oomph, if you will.  More weight.  It reminded me very much of the Beethoven First.  I'd like to get to know him better...perhaps then my opinion would be revised downward.  (See also: Ture Rangström...)

[Alan Howe]

Well, Fodor 4 (or is it 3?) and Beethoven 1 probably come from the same year - 1801.

[Alan Howe]

I forgot about Georg Schumann's masterly 1st Symphony - better than the early efforts of Strauss, Thuille, d'Albert and others of that generation, much as I like them all. It'll be good to have the cpo recording when it appears...