Rufinatscha 3rd Symphony (not) discovered in Innsbruck

[Kriton]

This recording, although flagged up in DG's 2008 catalogue, was never issued - a bit like Abbado's Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique in Lucerne. Apparently Vengerov felt that his performances weren't up to the ridiculous demands made upon the soloist by both Mahler and Schmidt and he and Boulez came to blows, thus scuppering the whole project. So all we have is a lovely CD booklet cover and tears for what might have been...

...and that's why the infamous Mahler Violin Concerto is never played or recorded... 

[Alan Howe]

Infamous indeed. The opposite of famous, in fact...

[eschiss1]

I'd say I stand corrected, but
1) I'm just confused now.
2) I see that the link to the old Raff forums was not removed by (presumably) Mr. Howe... (I was considering removing it). Does that mean this link still goes somewhere? (Ok, I should really test it and find out myself if it's a dead link...)
All best in superconfusion
Eric

[JimL]

Hmm.  The 3rd Symphony in F Major dies away quietly.  Wonder who else you could say this of?

[Kriton]

Hmm.  The 3rd Symphony in F Major dies away quietly.  Wonder who else you could say this of?

Mahler's 3rd in the relative major! 

[eschiss1]

The last movement of Mahler 3 ends in the parallel major (that is, D), not the relative, and I'm pretty sure it ends loudly, but I'm not positive.  (And the first movement does end in F, but also loudly...) Can't think offhand of other symphonies in F that end with a morendo effect, besides Brahms 3    Does Atterberg 2, say?

[JimL]

Nice one, Eric!  Brahms indeed.  And if the Rufinatscha 3rd has a cyclic reference to the first movement at the end of the finale (and don't think it out of the question - he does precisely that at the end of the 6th) then another influence on Brahms will be revealed. 

Come to think of it, Raff's Lenore ends much the same way, albeit not cyclically.  Although I doubt he heard Rufinatscha's 3rd.  Or did he?

[Mark Thomas]

No, I think that we can safely say that Raff had never heard Rufinatscha's Third, or at least this version of it...

[Hofrat]

The last movement of Mahler 3 ends in the parallel major (that is, D), not the relative, and I'm pretty sure it ends loudly, but I'm not positive.

I have the *Oxford Dictionary of Music* in front of me and I can not find a definition for "parallel major."  If you are taking about the term used to indicate the connection between a major and minor key having the same key signature, then the proper word is "relative major." For example, C-major is the relative major of A-minor, and A-minor is the relative minor of C-major.   
 

[Alan Howe]

Eric: the old forum doesn't exist any more: I didn't author the Wikipedia page, but have, at your prompting, now removed the link to it.

Hope superconfusion has been replaced by superunderstanding.

[John H White]

I should imagine that the term "parallel major" really means "tonic major". Thus C minor, with its 3 flats, is the tonic major of C major, with no flats. I wouldn't care to drive a C minor car.

[Kriton]

I think I never should have remarked on the key, not understanding the English music terminology all that well...

[Alan Howe]

Just in case anyone still thinks that R3 has been discovered in Innsbruck, I ought just  to confirm that it was a thoroughly nefarious April Fools' Day joke. The symphony, sadly, remains lost (verschollen)...

[eschiss1]

...
Ok.
That was what was confusing me, and now I am -- enlightened. About this, anyway. I would not go so far as to claim generally
Eric

[Mark Thomas]

Nice one, Alan! Well done.