I have relocated this correspondence about Heise's Symphony to a new thread:
Hello Andre,
Greetings from Australia. This is not about Brahms, but I am wondering if you know the Symphony in D minor by Peter Heise. (1830-1879) .It was played on ABC Classic-FM Radio on 27/8/2002, the recording courtesy of Danish Radio. I have contacted the ABC who no longer have the tape.
I have been scouring the catalogues, Da Capo & Danacord, particularly, hoping that it might appear, but so far without success. It is a beautiful romantic symphony, and as I was out in the bush & not near a tape recorder at that time, I would love to hear it again. Could you kindly relate this story to Princess Mary, she may wish to hear it too ! But seriously, any info you might have would be appreciated
Cheers !
Marcus.
Hello Marcus,
I'm sorry, but I haven't got any information on the Heise symphony. I didn't even know he wrote one! I have tried to search through the Danish libraries, but no luck. How strange that a beautiful work by a much-loved composer isn't to be found. It's almost a bit embarrassing, really.
It's the same with Gade's fine violin concerto, which nobody seems to care for here in Denmark.
Well, I hope that a new recording will be made soon, so that you can hear it again.
André
Hello Marcus and André,
I have an off-air recording of Heise's Symphony. Details as follows:
Symphony in D minor (1868)
01. 07:38
02. 06:51
03. 05:17
04. 07:02
Total: 26:48
Aalborg City Orchestra
conducted by Jens Schrøder
The Symphony is a pretty slight, though attractive work, with plenty of tunes. Sturm und Drang episodes alternate rather uneasily with more cheerful-sounding passages. There's also a lot of what I would call 'dutiful rhythmic chugging'. Worth a proper, up-to-date recording? Yes, but don't expect miracles: this is not a masterpiece waiting to be discovered.
BTW Gade's VC is a most lovely work - thoroughly memorable. It should be in the standard repertoire.
Funny how these things work, Alan. Considering Heise's marvelous piano quintet, his opera Drot og Marsk, and the concert overture Drot og Marsk--my favorite unsung piece of all time--I would have expected Heise to do a real bang-up job on the symphony! Just goes to show that not everyone, no matter how talented, is cut out for writing symphonies. I think we could make a whole thread on fine composers who would have spent their time more profitably not writing symphonies...
Alas, writing symphonies was the mark of a serious composer in the 19th century century...and beyond...
David
Thanks for that information on the Heise symphony Alan. Because of the quality of the small amount of Heise's music which is available on Cd, I hope that it will not be too long before some recording company decides that this the Symphony is worthy of a recording.
Marcus.
Alan's assessment of the Heise Symphony is right, Marcus - I have the same off-air dub. I don't think that the performance itself is too bad, but the piece (which is a mature one, not an early work) somehow has a lack of confidence about it and it's very episodic, so you feel as if you are listening to a well put together suite, rather than a symphony. Tuneful it certainly is but I was most disappointed when I heard it.