Potter Symphony No.1 etc.

[britishcomposer]

Dear members,

I would like to turn your attention to the following broadcast of Cipriani Potter's Symphony No. 1.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h09l

Do you know more about this? Perhaps a complete cycle of recordings in the making?

[Richard Moss]

Fantastic spot - well done!  Do we know from the BBC if this is the G minor symphony, which I have listed as 1819, revised 1824/6?  I understand there is some ambiguity about the numbering and dating  etc. of his symphonies.

If anyone has the time and technical skills to record this and upload it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Best wishes

Richard

[Alan Howe]

This is all the BBC listing says:
(Maundy Thursday, 9th April at 2pm)

Cipriano (sic!) Potter: Symphony No 1
BBC NOW
Howard Griffths (conductor)

[Alan Howe]

Wikipedia has this list of Potter's symphonies:

Symphony [No. 1] in G minor (1819, revised 1824–26) [unnumbered by the composer]
Symphony [No. 2] in B♭ major (1821, revised 1839) [unnumbered by the composer]
Symphony [No. 3] in C minor (1826) [styled No. 6 by the composer]
Symphony [No. 4] in F major (1826) [styled No. 7 by the composer]
Symphony [No. 5] in E♭ major (1828, revised with replacement slow movement 1846) [styled No. 8 by the composer]
Symphony [No. 6] in G minor (1832) [styled both No. 10 and No. 2 by the composer]
Symphony [No. 7] in D major (1833) [styled No. 2 by the composer]
Symphony [No. 8] in C minor (1834) [unnumbered by the composer]
Symphony [No. 9] in D major (1834) [styled No. 4 by the composer]

[Gareth Vaughan]

Do you mean Hyperion or CPO? The Hyperion set is conducted by Howard Shelley. The CPO set is conducted by Howard Griffiths.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The question is, how many of these have survived? Apart from the G minor symphony (and because of the inconsistent numbering it is impossible to tell from a library catalogue which lists simply "Symphony in G minor" exactly which G minor symphony it is) a brief search throws up only the E flat and B flat symphonies (mss in RAM and available online through their catalogue) and a Symphony in D minor, held by more than one library but only in a 2-piano arrangement. So where are the others, one wonders. The B flat symphony ms is probably incomplete as it consists of only 11 pages. I will have to do more searching.

[Alan Howe]

On your current count, Gareth, what's your best guess as to how many survive complete? And which ones?

[Gareth Vaughan]

The British Library Music MS collection lists the following full scores:

Symphony in G minor (1819, rev. 1826) 49pp. Autograph ms.
RPS MS 159
Symphony in B flat (1821) 89pp. ms [bound in with "Allegro con fuoco" of Symphony in G minor (1819)]
RPS MS 160
Symphony in C minor (1834) 54pp. Autograph ms.
RPS MS 161
Symphony in D (1833) 69pp. Autograph ms.
RPS MS 162
Symphony in G minor (1832) 56pp. Autograph ms.
RPS MS 163
Symphony in D (1834) 54pp. Autograph ms.
RPS MS 164

Also:
THREE symphonies (Nos. 6, 7, and 8 ), in C minor, F, and E flat, in score, by Cipriani Potter; January and November, 1826, and November, 1828. Autograph. Paper; ff. 200. Oblong Folio.
Add MS 31783

Parts held:
Symphony in E flat (date on parts: 1846)
Add MS 31788
Symphony in C minor (date on parts: 1847) [not clear from catalogue which C minor symphony]
Add MS 31790

Assuming the 2 G minor symphonies and the 2 symphonies in D are separate and entirely different compositions, and that the C minor symphony (1826) bound in with the Symphony in F listed in Add MS 31783 above is different from that listed as RPS MS 161, all 9 symphonies would seem to have survived. Also, let me correct myself: it is one of the D major symphonies that I noted in my earlier post as being listed in some libraries in a 2-piano arrangement, NOT a symphony in D minor. As far as we know there is no Symphony in D minor by Potter.

[Alan Howe]

That's really helpful, thanks.

[Mark Thomas]

An energetic Beethovenian symphony from Potter, well worth reviving. Thanks for the heads up.

[jdperdrix]

I've recorded and uploaded it. I didn't listened to it yet. I hope the quality is fair. See downloads.

[Gareth Vaughan]

If those are the movement markings, the G minor symphony of Potter recorded by the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra under Hilary Davan Whetton on Unicorn Kanchana must be the later G minor, the one dated 1832 ("Symphony No. 6", though variously styled both 10 and 2 by the composer). I don't have this CD so can't make a comparison with the radio broadcast, but the movements listed on the CD are not the same as those for the broadcast symphony.

[Mark Thomas]

Your assumption must be correct, Gareth, as the G minor symphony conducted by Davan Wetton is quite different from the one broadcast today - always assuming that's correctly identified of course. 

[eschiss1]

which G minor symphony was performed by the Philomusica/David Littaur 6/14/1975 and broadcast by the BBC as #5 Feb. 19 1976?
BTW CADENSA lists March 1989 broadcast recordings by Davan Wettan for BBC with Ulster of the G minor symphony he recorded a half year later for Unicorn with Milton Keynes.

[Mark Thomas]

We are quite lucky with broadcasts and recordings

That's a really helpful summary, thanks joelingaard. Spurred on by yesterday's broadcast, I've been looking at the various recordings of unidentified BBC Potter symphony broadcasts on my hard drive, trying to identify what and by whom. This makes things very much clearer. Unfortunately my  copy of the Unicorn-Kanchana CD had fallen foul to the bronzing plague, but luckily I did make a backup a few years ago. Listening to all this music afresh after a break of a few years makes one realise what a fascinating and rewarding early-romantic symphonist Potter was.