Composers who wrote just one symphony

[eschiss1]

In looking to see if the recording I had had been commercially released, I happened on a copy listed in the U. Texas at Austin Library Catalog- archival, not commercial- and was reminded what I remembered much more often a long while ago, that their library has (listed; have never been there or even in Austin, just to Fort Worth briefly I think) a wonderful collection of archive recordings etc., possibly one of the best in the USA at a guess (I don't know. I have personal experience with the one associated with Lincoln Center Library in NY City- listened to some Ivanovs there years back and other music besides, some from broadcast, from LPs, from CDs, etc. ... - the others I can only guess at. Anyway. I'd start a thread about that if it looked like it might go anywhere rather than being a one-off... as is, sorry about the tangent...)

[JimL]

Rott is actually kind of a wobbler.  He composed a Symphony for Strings in A-flat in addition to the one in E for full orchestra.  Since some composers numbered their symphonies for unusual orchestras (strings, strings and percussion, military band, etc.) among their symphonies in general, whereas others made a differentiation between symphonies for full orchestra and symphonies for other instrumental groups (e.g. Mendelssohn, with 12 symphonies for strings numbered separately from his "regular" symphonies) Rott is kind of ambiguous.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks so much for the upload of the Bartok Symphony, Eric. Such prompt service!

[eschiss1]

Happy to

[eschiss1]

It's not, I think, that Mendelssohn differentiated his  "12-and" symphonies for strings (no.13 being just a prelude and fugue, perhaps one might not include it...) because of instrumentation- after all, they aren't all for strings (he arranged one for small orchestra, anyway) - he didn't include any of his works from those years in his "official" numberings, I think, if they were his and not his publishers' anyway (if they were his publishers', then they certainly didn't, since they weren't published during his lifetime.) (Or do his earliest published works overlap in date with those student/early family gathering works? It's possible, I'd have to check. Could be wrong, yes.) Though yes, categorization, opus numbering, who decides what, ... is its own (trouble-ridden, curse-ridden) group of topics anyway...

[Alan Howe]

Many thanks from me also, Eric, for the Bartok upload.

[giles.enders]

In reply to Peter; Anna Suszczynska  1891-1931.  She was born in Poznan and studied at the Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin and later went to New York to further her studies.  In addition to her symphony she also wrote a piano concerto in E minor
and a fantasy for orchestra.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Thanks Giles. Some interesting characters here, eh?

[Wheesht]

A female composer I have long been curious about is Evelyn Faltis (1887-1937), whose Phantastische Sinfonie für Orchester, op. 2a appears to be her only symphony, and for which - according to the article about her on the 'Musik und Gender im Internet' site run by the 'Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater' in Hamburg [http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/A_lexartikel/lexartikel.php?id=falt1887] - she won a prize at the conservatoire in Dresden. Has anyone in the UC community ever come across any of her works?

[paul corfield godfrey]

The Bartók scherzo from the Symphony in Eb is not the same piece as the Bartók Scherzo for piano and orchestra. The former work has formerly been available on Hungaroton SLPX11517 where it was coupled both with the latter work and Kossuth.

[eschiss1]

ah, thanks. it seemed that they shared the same BB no. (25) ? or so I thought. so I was confused.

[DennisS]

Thank you Wheesht for drawing my attention to the André Messager Symphony in A. I managed to obtain a copy on Amazon of the Skarbo CD (Messager + Fauré + Frank) and have since listened to the Messager Symphony several times. Listening to the symphony, I am strongly reminded of Mendelssohn and to a lesser extent of Schubert. There is also the influence of the french school - Messager, Fauré and Franck were all of course organists and Messager and Fauré  both shared the same music master,Eugène Gigout. I am very taken with the symphony and am certain that I will come back to it often.

Thanks again for the recommendation.

[giles.enders]

Evelyn Faltis also wrote a piano concerto which I have long been curious about.

[britishcomposer]

So far I couldn't trace his name in this thread but I think the Norwegian Iver Holter wrote just one Symphony in F major op. 3. It has been recorded but I don't have the CD. I suppose it was written in 1881 or 82. Arizona Public Radio (KUAT) broadcast it recently.

[eschiss1]

If I understand this right, which I'm not sure I do, it was written around then, maybe mid-1882. "After a year in Christiania..." (Oslo)