Václav Jindřich/Wenzel Heinrich Veit: Symphony in E minor, etc.

[Alan Howe]

I note that the CD is now unavailable from Amazon (you can still get the download). I wonder whether this is because my review had featured the controversy about the Romanze & Finale...?

I have posted a similar review at jpc where the CD is still available for purchase.

[terry martyn]

Mine  arrived from Prague this afternoon.
Apart from the seamless way Joachim´s concerto moves from the (overlong) first movement to these second and third movements, in my opinion, those seem to be on a higher plane than the offerings of Veit.  (Of the music I have so far heard of Joachim, this concerto is his finest). Veit´s symphony isn´t at all bad and i would date it from the 1830´s (haven´t checked what the booklet says about that, but then,frankly,what is the booklet worth?) But when they all thought Veit had composed the Romanze and Finale, did they think that they had stumbled on a real find? More fool them if they did, and now they want to take the paying public as fools too.

[Alan Howe]

I enjoyed the Symphony: the CD's worth having for that alone.

[terry martyn]

I agree, and went ahead with the purchase for that reason only

[Mark Thomas]

Absolutely. The Symphony is certainly worth an occasional listen, although it's no masterpiece, but the Overture is instantly forgettable. I saw no point in downloading the Joachim concerto movements. I don't believe that the performers or the label deliberately set out to deceive, but were caught out by poor musicology in not recognising the Joachim movements and over-hyping the genuine, but run-of-the-mill, Veit pieces.

[terry martyn]

I have now read the booklet, written by the conductor.
Apropos of the Romanze and Finale, it specifically states "At the time of its completion there simply was not an appropriate musician to perform the piece and thus it had to wait for its performance until today. You can listen to it on this CD in its world premiere"

[Alan Howe]

That's absolute rubbish, of course.

[Mark Thomas]

I don't have the booklet as I downloaded the Veit recordings but I don't understand how the conductor could justify that statement. Where are the references to back it up? I believe it's been stated elsewhere that there's no mention of the two movements in Veit's own papers.

[semloh]

I am quite amazed by what has happened here. My faith in CD liner notes/booklets has been well shaken. I had always assumed that they could be trusted. We have occasionally found accidental mistakes - wrong movement order, incorrect marking of movements, and so on - but this appears to be wilful deception! Obviously, some labels can reasonably be taken as more reliable than others, and the identity of the author is a key factor, but I shall be less trusting in future.

[eschiss1]

For earlier "fun with liner notes", try practically anything with late music by Roslavets, if memory serves, or other stuff with similar unacknowledged musicological intervention. (I'm thinking of the Naxos recording of the so-called Roslavets violin sonata no.6 (incidentally the most Romantic of the works on the disc, and given a date of 1940 for whatever reason, though I think the ms is without date); the notes to the score admit that there is nothing on the manuscript identifying the work even as a sonata, it just happens to maybe-fit a place in the composer's work catalog (but who knows, the work might be missing or lost, too), but point is, -none- of that makes it to the Naxos notes.)

[Alan Howe]

I phoned Czech Music Direct who are selling the CD in the UK and they knew nothing about the problem with the Romanze & Finale. It seems that those involved in the project are keeping stumm and hoping nobody will notice.

[Mark Thomas]

Money talks or, in this case, fear of losing it silences.

[Alan Howe]

I've also forewarned Presto before they advertise it as a new release.

[terry martyn]

The Veit Symphony continues to grow on me.  The main melody in the opening movement is sticking in my memory and it reminds me of that arresting Concert Overture of Julius Rietz, which is probably no surprise as the two men were pretty good friends, I believe.

[Alan Howe]

Yes, it's a good piece. Alone worth the price of the CD.