Composers who wrote just one symphony

[minacciosa]

Joseph Jongen did write a single symphony, his op.15 from 1898. It's about 45 minutes long.

[eschiss1]

You're right, I forgot to check CeBeDeM (one of these days I also am going to have to give in and just call it Tonguetwister.)

[Alan Howe]

Joseph Jongen did write a single symphony, his op.15 from 1898. It's about 45 minutes long.

What's it like?

[minacciosa]

I haven't seen the score. One day.

[eschiss1]

Here's a little on Jongen's opus 15 symphony- the "cannot be judged" part is ominous, is the work lost, I wonder? Joseph Jongen and His Organ Music, p.19. (Composed around 1899, when Ein Heldenleben was premiered, a premiere Jongen attended it seems- not when Don Juan was, as the author also claims, which was 10 years before. Unless the Munich premiere is meant in both cases. 1899 might still be meant, from the rest of the page.) (Ah, you already have 1898. Gotcha. Well, there's some other info on that page that may be of some interest. It seems to have been performed twice around 1900 but maybe not since.)

[minacciosa]

That's fascinating information. The little bit of description of the symphony certainly intrigues.

[giles.enders]

Another 24 for the list.


Aloys Schmitt 1789-1866
Jan Il'insky 1795-1860  Symphony in F
Jozef Brzowski  1803-1888
Henry Westrop 1812-1879
William Lovell Phillips  1816-1860
Carl Eckert  1820-1879
Nikolay Ivanovitch Zaremba  1821-1879
Florimond Ronger Hervey  1825-1892 'Ashanti War' dramatic symphony 1874 Performed at Covent Garden Prom.
Adolf Gollmick  1826-1983
John Thomas  1826-1913
Charles Frost  1828-?
Charles Barry  1830-1915
Arthur O'Leary  1834-1919
Agnes Tyrrell  1846-1883
Horton Allison  1846-1926  Symphony dated 1875
Aline Hundt  1849-1873
Louise Le Beau  1850-1927
Clara Korn 1866-1940  Symphony in C
Annie Grimson  1870-1949
Edith Greene  symphony composed 1895
Amilcare Zanella 1873-1949
Evelyn Faltis  1887-1937
Edith Swepstone  1885-1930
Anna Suszczynska  1891-1931 Symphony in C major 'War Symphony' 1914

[Delicious Manager]

Some composers I don't think have been mentioned yet (apologies if they have):

Béla Bartók
Arthur Benjamin (a very fine piece)
Norman Dello Joio
Bernard Herrmann
Mieczysław Karłowicz
Robert Volkmann

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Thanks Giles. Without backtracking I think Rott was cited in an earlier post - no matter, the symphony bears repeated sightings!

Not at all a grumble directed at you, Giles, but when folk produce lists such as this I wish they'd attach 2-3 sentences giving a view in a nutshell as to why the composer or work might be worth a mention.

Maybe my knowledge is more limited than most - but I'm clueless about who the other three might be, or why their single symphonies are worthy of note. Google tells me that Anna Suszczynska is an architect with 5 years professional practice in Torquay in Devon, but I'm pretty sure she didn't write a War Symphony in 1914.

Mere unadorned lists don't tell us very much. Apologies if I might appear grouchy - I'm not!

[eschiss1]

Volkmann wrote two, of course, so doesn't belong on this list.
Bartók's early E-flat major symphony has only recently been reconstructed and performed- I have a radio broadcast, I think it is, I don't believe it's even been commercially recorded. I'll only claim that's a major gap because I regard Bartók as one of the great 20th-century composers and an unrecorded large work of his as, well, ... a major gap. (Well, ok, I like it, as I recall. Need to listen again, though...)

[eschiss1]

Clara Korn has actually been discussed in here, sort of - here. Clara Anna (Gerlach) Korn, 1866-1940.

Wikipedia credits Alexander Ilyinsky (1859-1920) - we've talked about him in the past too - with one symphony; I've seen Jan Ilyinsky mentioned somewhere too I seem to recall, but trying to remember where...

[Delicious Manager]

Volkmann wrote two, of course, so doesn't belong on this list.
Bartók's early E-flat major symphony has only recently been reconstructed and performed- I have a radio broadcast, I think it is, I don't believe it's even been commercially recorded. I'll only claim that's a major gap because I regard Bartók as one of the great 20th-century composers and an unrecorded large work of his as, well, ... a major gap. (Well, ok, I like it, as I recall. Need to listen again, though...)

Re: Volkmann: So he did! I have no idea how he got on my list of single-symphony composers in my database (constantly ongoing). Apologies for the gaff.

As for the Bartók, it was recorded many, many years ago (I have the LP): http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/June%201972/41/850770/BARTOK.+Symphony+in+E+flat+major%E2%80%94+Scherzo,+Kossuth%E2%80%94Symphonic+Poem.+Scherzo+for+piano+and+orchestra.+Budapest+Symphony+Orchestra+conducted+by+GyOrgy+Lehel.+Item+marked++with+Erzsebet+Tusa+%28piano%29.+Hungaroton+SLPX11517+%281.50%29.

Arthur Benjamin's lone symphony is a very fine piece indeed (to my ears), while Bernard Herrmann's Symphony is also worth a listen. If I was the first to mention Karłowicz's Straussian Symphony, I'd be surprised, as that composer is attracting some well-deserved attention nowadays.

[eschiss1]

Re Bartók: I mean the whole symphony (BB 25/DD 68), not just the scherzo- ah. From Elliott Antokoletz, Paolo Susanni (2011) - symphony exists in piano reduction only (1902) except for the scherzo which the composer rescued, added a piano to and published as his opus 2 Scherzo/Burlesque for piano and orchestra. (An orchestration of the complete piano version (complete? sketches? the former I assume...? ) was however performed and broadcast- that's what I was referring to.)

[Mark Thomas]

Eric, always assuming that Bartok's early Symphony is romantic in spirit and isn't characteristic of his mature music (In which case it wouldn't belong here) might you be able to upload it? It'd be an interesting listen.

[eschiss1]

I don't see why not offhand, let's see... and I think nothing he wrote in 1902 was characteristic of his mature music, but I might be wrong about that too