Any more information on the 1835 Vienna Symphony Competition?

[John H White]

I think I asked this question a few years back but, since then, quite a number of Knowledgeable new members have joined this forum. All I know is that Franz Lachner carried off the first prize with his massive 5th symphony and that Otto Nicolai came second with his one and only symphony. Ferdinand Ries's 7th symphony, entered by a publisher friend without the composer's permission, apparently came "nowhere", despite, IMHO, being of similar merit to the afore mentioned works. I'd love to know about some of the other 50 odd composers who took part and how they fared in that contest. Maybe some German Speaking member with access to the Vienna Music Friends archives could shed some light on this query of mine.

[eschiss1]

I'll try also or try again- The Lachner 5th is described in a contemporary London publication (The Musical World, June 3 1836, p.187) not as having been written for the competition exactly speaking but as having been written for the Concerts spirituels (of Vienna, not Paris, apparently and -then- having been entered into a competition set up by the directors of those concerts (maybe the predecessors of the current Vienna Symphony?) and then about to be published "in the course of the summer" by [the publisher Tobias] Haslinger (also Vienna). I'll see if I can turn up more info about the aforementioned competition.

[John H White]

Many thanks Eric. I look forward to seeing the results of your further enquiries.

[eschiss1]

If I'm reading right, (Carl) Reissiger's symphony (Op.120 in E-flat, premiered(?) 1836) was perhaps(?) submitted to the competition also ("Reissiger, grosse Symph. in vier Sätzen (unter den nach Wien gesendeten, der Preisaufgabe zu Folge" - next line (Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, 1836, volume 38, p.xxiii) has "Gährich, Symph. in G moll (neu, unter den nach Wien gesendeten (mostly the same as above), in Berlin aufgeführt).)

[John H White]

Many thanks, Eric, for digging deeper and unearthing this extra information. I wonder if either of these works have ever been recorded.

[eschiss1]

Fairly sure the only Reissiger works that have obtained any distribution in sound are two piano trios, a few wind works maybe (clarinet concerto?), maybe that Felsenmühle overture in some form, but that may be about it at this time. I haven't seen his symphony in library or digital scan, but it was performed in 1836 in a few places and published by Peters in 1837.  Gährich rings the slightest of bells, but I'm not sure why- I'm guessing Wenzel/Venceslas Gaehrich (1791-or4-or8-1864) - (Fétis and Wikipedia have biographies. Syms. 1 and 2 were published 1831.)

(Parts of Gährich sym.1 are in the possession of the Danish Royal Library (Breitkopf, plate 5135.) I really should get an account and ask them to consider scanning some of  these things in- those, and some of the T.B. Sick quartets, and other things too, etc., but that's another thing entirely )

[John H White]

Many thanks, Eric, for all your hard work on this topic. I wonder if Peters Edition have an archive of works they have published in the past.

[Simon]

Hi,

I'm might not understand to whole thing, but according to Jaroslav di Zielinski article "The Poles in Music" in "Modern Music and Musicians Vol. 3" (1918, p. 365), there's a short description of this competition (or is it another one?). Lachner is given first, but it is Josef Strauss (1793-1866) which came second, and Dobrzynski third/honourable mention. See here:
http://www.forgottenbooks.org/download_pdf/Modern_Music_and_Musicians_v3_1000062915.pdf

On the other hand, Josef Strauss Wikipedia article gives Strauss as third.
http://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Strauss_(Musiker)

And then John's first post mentioned that Otto Nicolai was second.

So who's right? Am I missing something?

Thanks!

Simon

[Robert Samuels]

Hello All.
I am currently doing some research on this competition, and I would be grateful for any further information. In particular, I am trying to identify the composers who entered -- unfortunately, entries were anonymous and the scores returned by Haslinger (at least, that's what the initial announcement of the competition says).
I would like to know the source for the identification of Ferdinand Ries' 7th Symphony as an entered work -- the edition of the score (ed. C.Hill, Garland 1982) does not mention the Viennese competition.

I currently only have nine of the 54 entrants identified or provisionally identified, so there is plenty of scope for more digging!

[Alan Howe]

Welcome to UC, Robert.