Robert Hermann and Joseph Lauber

[Maury]

One unexpected result in my joining here has been strange new respect for unsung Swiss composers. Robert Hermann is certainly not the technically most assured unsung but there is something unpredictable about the way his music moves.   The only thing that bothers me is his use of cymbals which I would gladly ban from the orchestra if I could. Lauber I am a bit more uncertain about because the few things I was able to find fluctuated between the routine and the fresh.  Also in his long life he seems to have moved into neo-classicism which is outside the forum realm.

On a side note I would mention Othmar Schoeck who I only knew previously as the composer of Penthesilea, a very Stravinskian work to my ears and rather harsh in the recording I heard. But based on adriano's mention of his opera Venus I listened to that as well as a later opera Massamilla Doni which I found quite lovely. Massamilla Doni is not conventionally Romantic but neither is it neo-classical. It's style is rather hard to place but there is definitely a Romantic flavor to it. It was based on the Balzac novella.

Anyway back to Hermann and Lauber, I am having extreme difficulty finding recordings for either. I did see the two Hartmann symphonies CD which I recently ordered but not much else. Lauber seems quite sparsely recorded as well. Any leads and recommendations for these two unsungs?

[John Boyer]

Regarding Lauber, all six symphonies are available directly from Schweizerfonogramm:

https://www.schweizerfonogramm.com/en/cd/complete-symphonies-by-joseph-lauber-now-available/

[Maury]

Thank you very much for your reply and link.

[Alan Howe]

There have been discussions on these composers here in the past. Please use the search facility if you are interested - it cuts down on potential repetition of topics. For example:

On Hermann:  https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,890.0.html
On Lauber:  https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,8030.0.html
                    https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,8326.0.html
                    https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,8087.0.html

[Maury]

Yes I saw a few posts but they were years old. I always search before I post something. If these kind of request posts are wrong for the site I apologize but didn't know.

[eschiss1]

at least in the US one can download the Sterling recording of Hermann's symphonies for $9.49. I am very much a fan of the rather stark 2nd.

[Alan Howe]

Yes I saw a few posts but they were years old. I always search before I post something. If these kind of request posts are wrong for the site I apologize but didn't know.

It's not a problem here - just thought you might like to see our previous discussions. You can, of course, resurrect an old thread. The other issue is that, on the whole, we try to avoid threads covering a number of composers because it makes searches more difficult - unless a particular comparison is being made or a particular coupling of works by different composers is being discussed.