Request for assistance

[thalbergmad]

One day, someone is going to record the Borowski piano concerto and i hope i am still around to hear it.

Thal

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well so do I, but do you know where the orchestral material is?

[thalbergmad]

Can be hired from Carl Fischer old chap.

Thal

[jdperdrix]

I suggest Léon Boëllmann's Symphony in F op. 24.
No recording available (except a very old broadcast), 35 minutes long, created 1892, requiring the classical romantic orchestra, in a Franckian idiom. After recent resurrection of other French symphonies of the period, by Vierne and Widor, this one is still neglected. Parts are available on rental from Durand-Salabert-Eschig (cat #313) and the full score can be obtained from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France for a nominal fee.

[eschiss1]

Available very, very easily in full published/manuscript (but -readable- manuscript!! copies) score and parts too, and looks worthwhile- the violin concerto in G minor Op.52 by Gustav Hollaender (pub.1893). These are the copies used, I think, by Dutch radio for their own performances, so they're arguably performance-ready. (Some IMSLP sources are from Dutch Radio Orch. or NY Phil archives and so have already been gone through by orchestras...)

[jerfilm]

To answer Revilod, the only recording I can find of the Bronsart was Michael Ponti's way back when.  Don't know that anyone has played it since.

Jerry

[cypressdome]

I just wanted to point out that the orchestra parts for two works mentioned above Raff's Second Symphony and X. Scharwenka's Symphony, Op. 60 are available for free on IMSLP.  There is a growing collection of orchestra parts on IMSLP originating from the NYPO archives.  The full list is here.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Can be hired from Carl Fischer old chap.

Thank you so much.

[FBerwald]

Just want to add my suggestions.

Symphony-
Klughardt - Symphony No. 5
Berwald - Symphony No. 3 [Other than the numerous recordings I do think this is a concert hall rarity]
Goetz - Symphony
Raff - Symphony No. 5
Weingartner  - Symphony No. 6 "La tragica" [I love this one!!!]

Concerto -
Klughardt - Violin Concerto
Rubinstein - Piano Concerto No. 5
Berwald - Piano Concerto
Frederic d' Erlanger - Violin Concerto
Raff - Cello Concerto No. 2

[Ilja]

Hi all,


Thank you for all those suggestions! The problem in concertante works is, of course, that you need to find a soloist willing to study the piece and perform it for what is most likely a one-off. But we'll give it a go - and the Bronsart is a very good suggestion that ticks all the 'right' boxes.


I'm afraid Raff, Berwald (they did a Berwald concerto not too long ago) and even Goetz may already be too well-known for this purpose, but I'm going to suggest the Raff 2 anyway. Regarding Scharwenka I can say that it looks as though the orchestra in question shall be performing one of his concertos (the 2nd, most likely) two seasons from now.


Keep the suggestions coming, though. I promise to publish my eventual list here when I send it on.

[JimL]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the symphony by Paul Dukas.  I know that it's been recorded a few times but it still is a concert-hall rarity.
The symphony by Georgy Catoire likewise, except it hasn't even been recorded a few times.
Raff's Cello Concerto No. 2 is indeed a fine work, but just about any of his concertante works would fit the bill here.
Anton Rubinstein's 5th PC, as much as I'd like to see it performed more frequently, is almost 50 minutes long.  May I suggest one of the first 3?  Nos. 1 & 2 get particularly short shrift, and No. 3 used to rival the 4th in popularity but has almost completely fallen out of sight.
Danish composers in general get overlooked, no doubt because their music in the 19th Century was fairly mainstream conservative, but since that is right up the alley we're looking in, may I suggest any of the symphonies of Niels Gade besides the 1st?  Not that it's overplayed, but it's probably his best known one, and there are some pretty great utterances in the 4th and 5th.  The 5th is eminently worthwhile, but needs a piano soloist.  Any works by Malling or Hartmann père ou fils would also fit the bill, particularly the violin concerto by Emil Hartmann.  The symphonies of Bendix are also worth a look, and I think the scores are available, how readily, however, I know not.

[eschiss1]

Problem is, I think with many of these suggestions the works may be undersung but the composers (e.g. Dukas) are sometimes fairly well-known, if for only one, 1.1, 1.5, or 2 works...

At the risk of making too many posts and suggestions (especially since I agree with some of the above, though I don't always know where to find the material in readily useable form...)

*Jadassohn's 2nd symphony, score and parts (1860s- a little earlier than your frame- and recently recorded- but...)
*Stojowski's violin concerto (published 1908, again score and parts.) Maybe one of his other works? I think some broadcasts have been uploaded here and some recordings recently released also.
*Forsyth's viola concerto in G minor. There's a recording on Hyperion, but that's it, I think... and the link has, I believe, full score, parts and reduction (by John Ireland, so copyright-restricted some places.)

[Alan Howe]

Draeseke's 3rd Symphony. Composer virtually unknown; symphony surely one of the greatest by an unsung.

[JimL]

York Bowen Viola Concerto.

[Gareth Vaughan]

In his opening post, Ilja writes:

The score and parts must be easily available. No reading from manuscripts or extortionate rental fees. This requires some research, but it is doable.

I think it would, therefore, be very useful if those making suggestions would endeavour to do a bit of research (as many of you have) beforehand in order to be able to direct Ilja to the score AND parts of the works we are suggesting, bearing in mind that he has specifically asked for no MS scores and parts. Admittedly, this makes life a wee bit difficult since a lot of works, even by well-known composers were never actually engraved - at least the orchestral parts (with sometimes the exception of the string parts) were not. They exist only in handwritten form, though such parts were usually made by professional copyists and are eminently readable (occasionally more so than poorly engraved sets). Nevertheless, they count as MSS.
I have foreborne to mention some of my favourite unsung pieces because, although published. they were not printed, so the only performing material available is handwritten. This is the case with some of York Bowen's works (as I discovered on a visit to De Wolfe's some years ago).