Noskowski's Symphony 2 has just been announced for release by Sterling...
http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1093.html (http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1093.html)
Great! This is a must-buy I guess..
Morten
A must, must, must buy. Unfortunately!
Whacko! If it is even better than the 1st, then I might indeed buy two copies!
Three cheers for Bo Hyttner! I can't wait, especially having heard the excerpts on the web site. Mouthwatering stuff!
I'll eat my non-existent hat if this isn't one of the releases of 2011!!
I am wondering what friends think of this symphony, now that the CD has been released since a few weeks. Personally I think the First is the best, also better than the Third (I have a broadcast recording).
My copy of No.2 is still on its way to me. FWIW, I suspect No.3 is his most characteristic and mature symphony; however, I have a real soft spot for No.1, with its open-air quality and easy melodiousness. So I cannot make an overall judgment, with No.2 yet to arrive. Watch this space...
did anyone ever hear the LP? of symphony no.2 years ago?
No.2 is a very different animal from No.1 (or No.3, for that matter). This is a concise (33-minute) work of an elegiac-heroic cast, a typical darkness-to-light Romantic symphonic conception with some absolutely magnificent writing for brass and some memorable thematic material. Well worthy of revival - if you enjoy your top-of-second-division symphonies as much as I do, then you can buy this with complete confidence. Much enjoyment will ensue. If you like your Parry, Stanford or Gernsheim, you'll love this. BTW, the slow movement's genuinely inspired - an quasi-Elgarian lament of real breadth and nobility...
This is what I was led to believe, Alan. Which was why I was eager to hear the 2nd Symphony (and my copy is on order). I was also quite worried at one time when my searches for the MS score had drawn a blank. But all is now well.
I greatly look forward to reading your view of the piece when your copy arrives, Gareth.
Has anybody else heard this magnificent CD yet...?
I listened to my copy of the Sterling CD a couple of times yesterday. This is another very fine work from Noskowski which, if hardly a work of genius, need fear no comparison with all but the most inspired of late 19th century symphonies. For me at least, Noskowski's three-symphony canon is an impressive achievement in terms of the variety of the works coupled with the consistency of the craftsmanship and imagination. This work, with its splendid brass writing, reminded me more than once of Glazunov's Fifth and the contrasting sonority of the string writing really underscores the piece's elegiac theme. As Alan says,once again Noskowski hasn't stinted on the melody - he's as liberal as Raff in that department.
If I have a criticism, and it seems carping, is that it's a symphony of two halves: the drama and seriousness of the first and slow movement contrasting with the vivacity of the scherzo and the joyfulness of the finale. Nothing wrong with that, except that Noskowski places the scherzo second. So, rather than a straightforward darkness-to-light transition through the work, it's more of a rollercoaster ride. Personally, I'd have preferred the former, but it's Noskowski's symphony, not mine.