Reicha's symphonies

[Balapoel]

I thought I asked this question before, but I can't find it using search. So, can anyone help clarify the exact number/status of Anton Reicha's symphonies? Adding more detail from Grove.

Symphony (performed in 1787, lost)
Symphony in Eb 'a grande orchestre', op. 41 (1799-1800, published 1803)
Symphony in Eb 'a grande orchestre', op. 42 (1799-1800, published 1803)
Symphony 'Grande symphonie No. 2' (completed c 1808)
Symphony 'a petit orchestre' No. 1 in c minor (1808, Pc 14500)
Symphony in f minor (before 1808, Pc 14501)
Symphony 'No. 1' in G (completed 13 July 1808, Pc 14498)
Symphony 'No. 2' (completed before 1808, mentioned in Emmanuel)
Symphony 'No. 3' in F major (completed 4 sept 1808, Pc 14499)
Symphony in D 'sinfonie a grand orchestre' (1809, Pc 13107)
Symphony 'a grand orchestre' 'No. 2' (1808, mentioned in Borrel)
Symphony in Eb (Pn 9153)
Symphony in C (before 1824, frag in H i, 141)
Symphony in C (before 1824, frag in H i, 166)
Symphony/Overture in C (before 1824, frag in H i, 175)
Symphony a grande orchestra No. 1 (1809) mentioned in Borrel
Symphony a grande orchestra No. 2 (1811) mentioned in Borrel

Of these, there are recordings of Symphony in Eb, op. 41, and symphonies in f minor, c minor, G, F, and D.

[TerraEpon]

My list is as follows:

Grande Symphonie No. 1     Op. 41
Symphony a Grand Orchestre in Eb     Op. 42
Symphony No. 1      Incomplete
Symphony No. 2      
Symphony No. 3      
Grande Symphonie No. 2   
(Symphony a Grand Orchestre in D      Probably same as Symphony a Grand Orchestre No. 1; If not, first movement only)
Symphony a Grand Orchestre No. 1   
Symphony a Grand Orchestre No. 2   
Symphony in C         
Symphony in C            Fragment
Symphony a Petit Orchestre No. 1      
Symphony in E            Possibly in Eb
Symphony in f         
Symphony            ?

Mostly gotten from the thematic catalog combined with whatever Internet resources I could find.

[Alan Howe]

There's a research project waiting here, isn't there? I have five of the symphonies - in E flat, Op.41, C minor, F minor, D major and F major. They are mostly late classical in idiom (Haydn rather than Mozart), but there are fascinating forays into proto-romanticism and the F major work (1808) at 42 minutes is a positive monster for this period and contains some wonderful harmonic surprises. If anyone is at all interested, I'd recommend going for a download of the superb performance of the F major on Panton available here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vo-%C3%AD-Symphony-major-Rejcha/dp/B0059WOOJM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1409090027&sr=8-9&keywords=reicha+symphonies
You have to pay for the Vorisek Symphony to get all of the Reicha, but that's probably a small price to pay for some fascinating - and exciting - music. In fact I'd say the F major is a near-masterpiece. One of my symphonic discoveries of the year, without doubt.

[Delicious Manager]

Reicha was a close friend of Beethoven's and they sought each other's opinions on their music. Several years ago, when I was managing one of the major period-instrument orchestras, we were approached by a conductor who had been making a special study of Reicha's remarkable symphonies with a view to recording all the extant works in that form. We had meetings with RCA/BMG to quite an advanced level before the senior producer we had been negotiating with was summarily made redundant during a particularly 'difficult' time at BMG in the late 1990s and all momentum was lost, never to be recovered. Said producer subsequently set up his own (now quite successful) small independent record label, but they didn't have the financial resources to back such a project. What did come out of it, however was my realisation what a singular composer Reicha was; his symphonies are full of structural and harmonic surprises. While his musical language might not have been so radically iconoclastic as his friend Beethoven's, he was definitely one of the 'movers and shakers' who helped set the scene for the new Romantic style that would soon evolve. While there are some pretty decent recordings of Reicha's symphonies scattered around, it would have been nice to have a unified set under one conductor's vision.

[DennisS]

I have listened to the sound bites on the Vorisek CD of Reicha's Symphony in F major. Very much liked what I heard. Have already ordered the CD which is already in the post to me - can't wait to listen to the whole symphony!

[DennisS]

The Reicha/Vorisek symphonies CD is another disk I purchased some time ago. I have listened to this CD a number of times and each time, I hugely enjoy the music! Indeed there is very little music from this period in history that I do not enjoy. I do love my Beethoven, Mozart et al and it was quite a discovery to discover Reicha and to a lesser extent Vorisek. I did not know that Reicha was a highly regarded professor at the Paris Conservatoire and taught Berlioz, Liszt and Frank! Highly esteemed during his lifetime, it's surprising that his music is not better known! The two symphonies on this CD complement each other well with Vorisek, a very compact work , contrasting nicely with the looser construction of the Reicha symphony. Of the two symphonies, I prefer the Reicha and know I will return to listen to it often. The noble element of the first movement,followed by a stately second movement, leading to a light-hearted third movement and ending with the dancelike fourth movement ,energetically propelled forward, with a most satisfying conclusion, makes for a most enjoyable listening experience. I am very pleased to have purchased this CD!

[Alan Howe]

Glad the Reicha Symphony in F hit the spot, Dennis.

[Alan Howe]

Muriel Boulan in her chapter on Reicha's symphonies (in a volume published earlier this year collecting the papers given at a symposium on Reicha in Paris in 2013) lists these seven (complete) symphonies:

Symphony in D major: composed Hamburg before 1799.
Symphony (for Large Orchestra) in E flat major, Op.41: c. Paris between 1799 and 1801-2.
Symphony (for Large Orchestra) in E flat major, Op.42: c. Paris between 1799 and 1801-2.
Symphony (for Small Orchestra) in C minor: c. Paris between 1799 and 1801 or after 1808.
Symphony No.1 in G major, c. Vienna 13th July 1808.
Symphony No.3 in F major, c. Vienna 4th September 1808.
Symphony in F minor, c. Vienna between 1802 and 1808.
http://www.olms.de/search/Detail.aspx?pr=2008459

This is clearly not a full list - it may only comprise Reicha's extant symphonies.

Another source has this list, although it doesn't make clear which have survived:

ANTON REICHA SYMPHONIES ATTRIBUTED TO OR REFERED TO IN CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS
http://www.italianopera.org/articoli/newmanREICHA.html
a) Symphony., performed in Bonn, 1787, 'lost', mentioned only in Reicha autobiography.
b) Symphony 'a grand orchestre' - 'First Symphony' in E flat Major - 1799-1800? - published as Op.41 in Leipzig (1803).
c) Symphony 'No.1' in G Major ('completed 13th July 1808') Pc 14498c - Paris Conservatoire.
d) Symphony No. 2 (?) supposedly completed before 1808 and referred to in Emmanuel.
e) Symphony No. 3 'completed 4th September 1808' Pc 14499 - Paris Conservatoire
f) 'Grande Symphonie' No. 2 (?) - 1808 - mentioned in Borrel
g) Sinfonie a grand orchestre in D Major (1809?) Pc - Paris Conservatoire (1st mvt)
h) 2 (or perhaps 4 !) Symphonies a grande orchestre (1809), No. 2 (1811), mentioned in Emmanuel and in Borrel.
I) Symphony in C Major, (before 1824) - fragment in HI, 141
j) Symphony in C Major (before 1824) - fragment in H1, 166
k) Symphony/Overture in C, (before 1824) - fragment in H1, 175
l) Symphony a Petit Orchestre No. 1, c, Paris Conservatoire 14500
m) Symphony in E, Pn 9153
n) Symphony in F, Pc - Paris Conservatoire, 14501 -
o) Symphony, US-Bpm** M.403.107
p) Various Symphonic Movements and Fragments, CH-E 19.08, F-Pn 9152-3, Pc 13107
(symphonies in bold mentioned in Boulan's list, above; symphonies in red lost; fragments in blue; others unknown in green.)

So, what a muddle! It seems that there are seven extant symphonies of which I have five on CD: those in E flat, Op.41, C minor, F minor, D major and F major.

Have I left any recordings out?

[eschiss1]

I'm not sure where he gets "E major" from since I'm fairly sure in all or most of those cases the author of that list, or his source, or his source's source... means E-flat. But- interesting.

[Alan Howe]

You're right, Eric. That's a clear error. I've altered it to E flat.