How to make it easier to fund recordings of unsung composers.

[modthryth]

I have been thinking about the discrepancy, in the United States (my only point of reference), between the billions of dollars private donors give to fund the operation of classical music ensembles and the thousands of dollars required to produce a permanent recording of a never-before-recorded piece. If only we could take .01% of the billions and use it to finish the Evergreen Symphony's Lachner cycle!

I get the sense that many of the wealthy enthusiasts who fund classical music in America via donations to their local orchestras do so because that is a sort of default option--there is no easy way (is there *any* way??) to donate money towards the recording of music rather than the live performance of it, other than obviously buying recordings (the equivalent, in my imagination, of buying a concert ticket, which is not nearly enough to fund the ensemble performing). Perhaps not many donors have an interest in obscure composers--but some do or might with the right influence.

It also occurs to me that if any group of enthusiasts has ever contemplated this exact question, it is you all, and so I ask you, what would it take to make it easier to fund recordings of unsung composers? If you had the option to help fund recordings of the unrecorded pieces you are most curious about, would you?

[mbhaub]

I recall a discussion similar to this years ago. Although it sounds enticing to get a group of similar minded people together and fund a recording, it's easier said than done.

First up, how much can it cost? You don't want some scrappy orchestra that presents a bad reading and turn people off. But you can't afford the Berlin Philharmonic or the Cleveland Orchestra. So you get a middle-sized orchestra somewhere that agrees to a couple of rehearsals and then record it. Let's say it costs $50,000. Now how many sponsors can you get? Some disks out there sell only 1000 copies world-wide. So let's say you have 1000 serious collectors. Are they willing to cough up $50 each for a copy? Or could you find more sponsors? Or get a cheaper orchestra? (What's the London Symphony Orchestra charge these days?)

Then there's repertoire. With so much obscure music already recorded, how in world could you ever get 1000 people to agree on what to record? I may have my wish list; but I guarantee it's not yours. Or do we say we'll do both. Now double the costs...or get a really cheap orchestra.

I wish that some billionaire or Saudi Arabian mega-donor would appear and magically finance a group whose sole purpose is to record previously unrecorded repertoire. They could work day after day for decades there's so much stuff. The German radio orchestras did a very good job there for a while with lesser-known music but it seems to me that both CPO and Capriccio have let up lately. Dutton in England certainly did some stellar work, too. Marco Polo isn't producing as much new stuff as they once did. The big legacy companies like Sony, RCA, DG...forget them.

Well, I'll buy another Powerball ticket this week and probably a MegaMillions one, too. If I ever win there will be new, fully staged and recorded production of Franz Schmidt's two operas. Don't hold your breath.

[eschiss1]

Fortunately labels like Centaur, Pan, Bru Zane, and others are still releasing interesting-looking new releases even now, and cpo was just recently, these things take time (actually, they still are, just not in our very narrowly-defined UC "interest region"; eventually their releases will fall back in that again too, but it's practically a geometrical fact that the more narrowly we define our interests, the more rarely new releases and new concerts will fall entirely into them*... e.g.: I mention Centaur even though their latest disc [actually, not even out yet...] is of music by Howard Boatwright (1918-99), definitely an unknown American composer who would probably have been of some interest to us- about a half-decade ago.)

*Assuming a label doesn't cater more or less exclusively, or even probabilistically more, to unknown music of/in/from the specific period and area and etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,.... of our interests, but none ever has that I can think of offhand.

[Alan Howe]

I'm (reasonably) content to let the many fearless independent labels carry on doing their thing. We may want a myriad of other works to be recorded, but just think about where we are today compared with, say, 20 years ago. Riches, surely?

[Justin]

As Alan said, you have to take into context just how many unsung composers have seen releases of their works, particularly on CD, in the past 30 years. Unfortunately, I think our tastes are a niche market for the foreseeable future, and I understand modthryth's frustration.

One particular occasion for such recordings has been the anniversaries of composers, including Raff, Blech, Delius and more recently Coleridge-Taylor's 150th coming in 2025 (we have already noticed an uptick in recordings of his works). Because of the communication powers of the internet, organizing such tributes and crowdfunding have made it easier to get such works off the ground. Just take a look at the crowdfunding effort to successfully fund Raff's Samson; this is the most direct answer to the forum question.

We discussed in a previous thread the impact of Hyperion's planned recordings after being acquired by UMG, so it will be interesting to see if the large music companies will be compelled to at least provide a forum for these smaller labels to continue recording unsung works.