What's happened to that Eggert Recording?

[John H White]

I note that, from an internet search, that the Gavle Symphony Orchestra recorded J N Eggert's Symphonies Nos 1 & 4 back in December 2009 to be issued on a Naxos CD No. 8.572457 but I've been unable to locate that CD. I'm just wondering what has gone wrong. Can anyone throw some light on this subject please?

[eschiss1]

Hrm. It was supposed to be released sometime this year I think but possibly delayed, according to some searches in this forum , for want of appropriate filler... (nothing brief enough orchestral by Eggert. Maybe something by an also little-known near-contemporary from that general area that might work and of the right time... hrm... well... who and what, Eric... hrm.)

Hrm. Maybe the overture to the 1832 drama Love's Omnipotence by Peter Krossing (Danish, though.) (ms orchestral score at Danish library & IMSLP ; also a symphony by him there.)

[eschiss1]

If the main reason why the Eggert CD is stuck in the can is really that the 2nd CD would be too brief, why not record some of his unrecorded chamber music- of which there's quite a bit- and "fill out" the 2nd CD with a string quartet (not suggesting that quartets are filler- I don't subscribe to that delusion)? It seems only tradition, and only relatively recent tradition, to require that most CDs be as uniform as possible- all orchestral, or all chamber, and relatively few composers, etc. or else off to the light-music Collections bin they go.

If it's only - solely - a tradition, and not a sensible one, that's stopping what are really some very fine symphonies (I only know the G minor and E-flat major, and am very impressed by them) from reaching a wider audience, tradition needs a talking-to (in my honest opinion).

(Was reminded of this on re-reading one of Martin Anderson's Fanfare reviews (of Lindblad), which mentions Eggert as do the notes to the Lindblad CD, and then thinking...)

[Mark Thomas]

It seems only tradition, and only relatively recent tradition, to require that most CDs be as uniform as possible

I was chatting about this with a senior person from a major label a few months ago, and apparently it's a marketing decision based on clear customer preference. CD buyers prefer CDs to have music of the same genre, and ideally of a single composer, too, although that's less important than the genre thing. The growth of the download market will negate this, though, I imagine.

[John H White]

I hope I don't sound too impatient, but I would like the opportunity of hearing some of Eggert's symphonic output during my lifetime and I am in my 83rd year now! Would there be any point in contacting Naxos directly about this matter?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Always worth a try, John.

[eschiss1]

I've only heard some because Swedish Radio (I think) broadcast some and we may still have it wandering around in our downloads section somewhere... also, Swedish Radio's archived-for-a-month Morning Music program probably rebroadcasts those recordings occasionally...

[John H White]

Around 20 years ago I tackled Marco Polo Records as to when they were going to complete the Lachner symphonic cycle and they replied that they had no intention of issuing any further recordings of Lachner symphonies. They even went on to delete the ones they had already issued in 2002, the composer's bicentenary year!

[eschiss1]

Well.. yes and no. They're available as downloads from classicsonline (and I should assume, from the Naxos Music Library, for subscribers). I would not be surprised to see some CDs released only as downloads in future, I think (depending I suppose on how all the balancing factors seem to work out... it seemed that was where the Gould Trio was going with their Fuchs release, but I guess that was a download-first thing that later did get released on CD, or something.)
Eric

[Gauk]

Well.. yes and no. They're available as downloads from classicsonline (and I should assume, from the Naxos Music Library, for subscribers).

I just checked - 1, 5 and 8 are there with some of the orchestral suites.

[John H White]

I think we've got crossed lines here and its probably all my fault for mentioning Lachner. I've certainly had CDs of the Lachner 1st, 5th and 8th symphonies for a good many years but I'm still waiting to hear recordings of some of the Eggert symphonies.

Well.. yes and no. They're available as downloads from classicsonline (and I should assume, from the Naxos Music Library, for subscribers).

I just checked - 1, 5 and 8 are there with some of the orchestral suites.

[britishcomposer]

John, why not start with these recordings from our downloads archive as Eric suggested?

Symphony No. 2 in G minor, "Skjöldebrand"
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1551.msg29746/topicseen.html#msg29746

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1551.msg27361/topicseen.html#msg27361

[eschiss1]

no crossing- Lachner 1, 5 and 8 were indeed -physically- deleted from Marco Polo's catalog, but I should have moved that to the Lachner thread. I apologize. Still, it's interesting and good news of a sort that they've kept them available in some form, rather than unavailable completely.

[John H White]

Many thanks Brithishcomposer, I'll try those links as soon as I have an odd moment.
As you say, eschiss, it is indeed good news that those 3 Lachner symphonies are still available as downloads.