Justin Heinrich Knecht (1752-1817)

[alberto]

Knecht belongs to the classical era.
But his "Grande Symphonie"  or "Le portrait musical de la Nature" (1783) is said by someone to be in some way a forerunner of Beethoven Pastoral.
Yesterday I attended a concert where Knecht's Symphony was recorded live by Naxos, performed by the youthful and modestly sized Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino  under Christian Benda.
The concert booklet didn't pretend that the Knecht had a direct effect on Beethoven, not even that Beethoven knew it (but he did know some Knecht organ music).
The Knecht is cast in five movements, lasting about 25 ', with some modestly descriptive passage.
No shocking surprise, but a playful listening.
I'll buy the Naxos (no idea about time release). A Carus label of the Knecht (plus some vocal pieces, with an overall very short timing) exists on the "Carus" label.   

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Interesting - and Naxos, for good or ill, seem intent on recording just about everything: is there some musical area into which they haven't ventured? I can't think of one!

The Carus disc to which you refer is, admittedly, on the short side. Yet an overall timing of 48 minutes isn't too bad to acquire some recordings of works that aren't otherwise available. But like you, Alberto, I confidently predict I shall buy a future Naxos recording of the symphony since I'm a real sucker for such things. I would have thought a "modestly sized orchestra" is all the work requires, and Christian Benda has done some fine things.

A few years ago Carus recorded the romantic opera Die Aeolsharfe, oder Der Triumph der Musik und Liebe from 1808 - but I haven't heard it.

[eschiss1]

There  seem to be a lot of manuscripts/manuscript copies/scores of music by Knecht, mostly but not entirely either organ solo or at least with organ parts (561 of the 777 listed), at RISM. There's more music by him out there somewhere for someone looking to fill out a CD, but presumably it would take time to make a performable version of it (or maybe a whole CD of his organ music, if there were a market for. Or as is done now lately, some works posted in manuscript and typeset to IMSLP and with recordings therefrom -- e.g., I mean. Hrm. Not surprisingly, 3 of the 5 works @ IMSLP by Knecht already have synthesized recordings attached, thanks to Jurgen Knuth and the WIMA project- nothing forbidding organists with organs (as against computers) from putting up creative-commons recordings should they wish to, of course, etc. (actually, one or two of those three are choral works a cappella, not organ works.)

[jerfilm]

I just ran across the Carus recording and I find it quite interesting.  While the Grande Symphonie "The musical portrait of Nature" was written in 1783 and is clearly within the classical era, for the most part it doesn't sound like 1783.  To me, at least.  The liner notes refer to it as his Pastorale Symphony and attempts to label it a precursor to Beethoven's 6th.  I certainly wouldn't go that far but it certainly doesn't sound like  Haydn or late Mozart.   Although the latter two seem to me to start drifting away from the classical mode in their late works as well.  This man clearly was trying to write a piece of programme music some years before anyone had coined the phrase.  That in itself makes the CD one of interest.

Jerry

[Alan Howe]

It's certainly of interest. But no more than that, to my way of thinking.

[JimL]

Program music goes back at least to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons Violin Concertos, each of which is accompanied by a series of verses by the composer describing the effects contained therein.