Johann Rufinatscha: unjustly unsung

[Kevin Pearson]

Thank you Peter! I will be ordering a few titles this weekend. I am a little confused that some of the titles seem to be listed twice or are these the same symphonies performed by two different orchetras?

Kevin

[Peter1953]

Kevin, the presentation is a bit confusing, but they are listed twice. If you like some symphonies, then you need "Klingende Kostbarkeiten aus Tirol #43" (1 & 5) and "Klingende Kostbarkeiten aus Tirol #49" (6)
Klingende Kostbarkeiten aus Tirol = Melodious Treasures from Tirol.

[JimL]

You're in for a big treat, Kevin!  Dessoff made a BIG mistake!

[Peter1953]

What a heavenly, moving 2nd movement, the adagio con espressione of the 2nd symphony. Just listen. It is so beautiful.

Rufinatscha's 6th was written in 1865, but his magnum opus was never performed. Until July 2007. He had to live another 28 years, but didn't compose another symphony anymore... Maybe he thought that his 6th was the ultimate symphony he was capable of composing. Or maybe the spoiled Viennese concert hall audience didn't want his music anymore. He could have been disillusioned.

[monafam]

Maybe he thought that his 6th was the ultimate symphony he was capable of composing. Or maybe the spoiled Viennese concert hall audience didn't want his music anymore. He could have been disillusioned.

This is intriguing to me.  Are there other examples where a composer may feel he has composed the "ultimate" form of a specific musical-piece and then stopped that type fearing he could not produce something better?  I'm sure there are examples where a fan might wish a composer "quit while he was ahead" but I guess I never consider that they might feel they can't express/write it better than they already did.

[Alan Howe]

If you know the 6th Symphony, it's hard to imagine it being 'topped', as it were. But the real block to further symphonic writing for Rufinatscha must have been the disappointment of finding that his great masterpiece was rejected by the VPO and its influential conductor.

[JimL]

Too bad he didn't have enough confidence in himself and/or his creation to shop it around in Berlin, Cologne or Leipzig.  Or Wiesbaden.  A lot of other composers would have.  All this talk about it has made me put it back in my car.  I'll be revisiting it the rest of this week.

[John H White]

Quote:
[This is intriguing to me.  Are there other examples where a composer may feel he has composed the "ultimate" form of a specific musical-piece and then stopped that type fearing he could not produce something better?]
    I think a further example could be Franz Lachner, who wrote no more symphonies after 1851 but lived on another 39 years, during which he wrote a series of 7 orchestral suites in a sort of 19th Century "Baroque" style.

[Peter1953]

I read he was born in South Tyrol and would be considered the best known south tyrolean composer. I am not entirely agree, because Ludwing Thuille was born also in this former Austrian province.
I like very much the Thuille Piano Concerto in D major and the Symphony in F major.
I am going to open a new topic about him as soon as I have a short bit of free time.   

Fernando's reply made me curious about the Bolzano born Ludwig Thuille (1861-1907), so I bought the cpo disc with his piano concerto in D major coupled with the symphony in F major. Just to be able to compare his orchestral works with Rufinatscha.

Fernando wants to start a topic on Thuille in due course. Perhaps I can contribute something to that topic and can go into detail a little for what it's worth. The reason for my post now is that I can strongly recommend the Thuille disc to anyone who is interested in a comparison with Rufinatscha or other South Tyrolian composers like Netzer. And if you don't want to compare, I think that the CD is absolutely worth buying for the almost 79 minutes of pure listening pleasure.

[Alan Howe]

One problem with any comparison between Thuille (the cpo CD is lovely, by the way) and Rufinatscha is that they are from totally different eras. In addition Rufinatscha was a symphonist who worked his way towards his own style and created at least two masterpieces (Nos. 5 & 6), whereas Thuille's single symphony is an early and uncharacteristic piece. For myself, although there is some very fine mature chamber music by Thuille, I am not persuaded that anything by him attains the heights or individuality of Rufinatscha who is simply one of the unknown greats. 

[Peter1953]

Alan, I fully agree with you. I hope Fernando finds time to start a thread on Thuille.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Could the move from writing symphonies to suites be something to do with musical taste and the fact that suites were more likely to get played in concerts than symphonies - or, at least to get played more than once? Volkmann wrote 2 symphonies, then, in his old age, turned out 3 suites for string orchestra which were praised by his contemporaries and got played. Could this have been behind Lachner's turning away from the symphony. Brull wrote one symphony and 3 orchestral suites; Jadassohn wrote 4 symphonies and 4 suites. I don't know - it's just a thought.

[Alan Howe]

You're definitely onto something, Gareth, I'm sure!

[JimL]

I concur.  We've all heard the assertion that there was some kind of turn away from the symphony between Schumann's 3rd and Brahms' 1st.  Although it has been documented that there were a great number of symphonies composed in that span, do you think that they were all more or less so negatively received by the critical establishment and/or the public (as being either too Beethovenian or not Beethovenian enough) that most composers in that time frame only took one or two stabs at the form before moving to a somewhat more acceptable format? 

[DennisS]

Hello Peter 1953

I was so taken by what everyone had said about Rufinatscha that I ordered his 6th symphony on Tiroler Landesmuseum without having heard even a note of his music. I placed my order from here in the UK on 25 August. Sadly the CD has still not arrived. I have since sent 2 emails to them - I speak German -but I haven't received an answer to either email. I am starting to think that either my CD has gone missing or there is a problem. TL have cleared my payment. Do you have any comment as you obviously know the Austrian Museum?

cheers
Dennis