This one is dedicated to the Alan Howe Test (and, who knows, he may be quick to reply and even give us additional guidance).
The rules are to cite your favourite unsung work - yes, you are allowed just the one.
Then you say what it is that makes this your favourite unsung work by describing what it is in what you hear that you so love and explaining how it affects you when you play it.
Finally, do give what you feel is the best CD of this work and again, say what it is that you especially like compared with any alternative recordings.
I don't have a mind that could consider a hierarchy - I have more of a small group of favorite unsung works. However, I can play along. I have given the board a few transcendent (in my opinion) pieces before, such as Goldenweiser's Piano Trio in e minor.
But for this question I will offer:
Ravel's 'Trois beaux oiseaux du paradis' for voices and choir (1915)
While Ravel isn't unsung, this piece is quite rare - I doubt most concert-goers know about it.
Why: the purity of instrumentation (voices only, solo and choir), the subject matter (unrequited love, the immediacy of death and stupidity of war), the sumptuous harmonies, the sorrowful melodies, the changes in register (soprano, alto, tenor for the different parts in this short work).
great performances:
best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-GPMd0KEk
Donna Deam, Frances Jellard, Paul Badley, Ben Parry (soloists)
second best (slower):
Monteverdi Choir
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V6OMW0/ref=dm_sp_alb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLdH0kvLCw
Great thread. Great response. Thanks ever so much.
Unfortunately, my favorite unsung work falls outside the era of allowable discussion. However, for the one work within the timeframe it would be.... boy, this is tough...Balakirev's First Symphony.
It is "honest". Balakirev was no Beethoven or Brahms, but he wrote dang fine tunes. The music moves along without getting bogged down in dull repetition. Eschewing the German model, the unusual form of the first movement is just fine. The scherzo is delightfully orchestrated and quite fun. The third movement is the heart of the symphony. The clarinet theme is haunting. It always fills me with a sense of sadness - like Balakirev looking back over the decades since starting The Five wondering what it meant and did they accomplish what they set out to do. The last movement is just exciting and thrilling to hear.
I remember reading in Edward Garden's biography of Balakirev that he thought the 3rd movement was uninspired and mediocre. Totally wrong.
Recordings: I think I have them all. Top of the list would be Jarvi's on EMI. This music demands good sound and EMI delivered brilliantly. The orchestral playing is beyond criticism and the conducting is marvelous. Listen to how he handles the rubato in the 3rd movement - breathtaking. But I wouldn't want to be without others such as Beecham. The Svetlanov on Melodiya is excellent if the sound is a but raw. His Hyperion remake sounds great, but something is missing. Another wonderful piece of music that is encountered only on cd; I doubt I'll ever hear it live, sadly enough.
I'm often tempted to say my favourite unsung work is the one I've just been listening to. However, if pressed for a single choice, I suppose it would have to be Franz Lachner's monumental prize winning 5th Symphony. Sadly, I only know it by the one and only recording of it, issued some twenty years ago under the Marco Polo label. I particularly like the grandeur of the opening movement,towards the end of which I fancy I hear echoes of both Bach and Beethoven within a few bars of each other. The other really outstanding movement for me is the majestic plodding canonic minuet, with its trio that reminds me of a sentimental Victorian song. However, I would say that the other two movements, although quite satisfactory, do not quite come up to the high standard of Nos 1 and 3.
I looked on Amazon and it is still available in the used market at under $10.00. This seems to be one that I would like to explore a bit further. What this forum likes seems to fit within what I enjoy.
Tom
You can listen to Lachner 5 in full here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQy8_LkkSuw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQy8_LkkSuw)
I don't recall hearing a better work than the Rozycki 1st Piano Concerto, unsung or not.
Like all the great works, it brings out a multitude of emotions. The piano part is top notch virtuoso stuff , but it is far from a display piece. The orchestration is lush throughout and when welded together with the piano, creates a perfect marriage.
Melodic, powerful and instantly memorable and why it is not performed every week is beyond me.
Thal
I agree and feel the same way about Bortkiewicz's PC 1 and Alnaes' PC, two other splendid works in the Rachmaninoffian vein.
Following on the example of the Ravel choral work, the first and least known opera of Bedrich Smetana, "The Brandenburgers in Bohemia" is probably my favorite unsung work (and there's a lot of competition.) Virtually unknown outside of Czech-speaking countries, and rarely performed even there, it has infectious melodies, wonderful dance tunes, and beautiful moments on both the grand and intimate scale. Like "Boris Godunov" the chorus seems to be the main character, and are given the best tunes. Those tunes have been sticking in my head for years, and refuse to budge.
I'm pretty certain there's only one recording of this work, released by Supraphon in the early 1960's. Had they not released it on CD "Brandenburgers" would languish in even greater obscurity on LP's. I doubt we'll ever see it staged on these shores, but it would work just as well in concert performance, and I'm sure would win over anyone who's fond of Czech music.
Quote... Franz Lachner's monumental prize winning 5th Symphony
You talked me into it, John. Normally I don't comment on a work unless I've heard it at least five or six times, but in this case, my enthusiasm urges me to say this is not only a remarkable work for 1835 but an important milepost in the history of symphonies of "heavenly length." I have previously, and apparently erroneously, taken the familiar thread of central European (read Leipzig, Vienna) symphonies between 30 and 40 minutes in length as a norm; and imagined that composers who wrote longer works (Beethoven 9, Schubert, Rufinatscha, Bruckner) exceeded that norm on a case-by-case basis. Because of its crucial position in the rather symphony-poor 1830s, the Lachner suggests that there may have developed a recognized parallel thread in which symphonies with, as it were, Brobdignagian aspirations would rightly require equivalent proportions for their exposition. In which case, the hour-long Bruckner 1 would be participating in rather than standing out from a coalescing tradition.
As mentioned, I hesitate to characterize anything upon early hearings, but in deference to the thread, let me say that my first impression is that Lachner's weak point would seem to be his rhythms, which lack a certain character that one finds, for example, in Berwald or in the Hiller symphony. Forgive Lachner that, however, and you find a world of symphonic strengths. I was particularly impressed by his ability to use fugatos dramatically, to move in and out of them without making the simpler early Romantic textures that follow sound like they are from a different aesthetic world. The first movement in particular is quite long, but I dare say it coheres without sounding a bit like Beethoven and just occasionally like Schubert. That in itself is quite an achievement in the early 1830s.
ADDENDUM: On second hearing there's no lack of memorable rhythmic vigor in the finale.
There is no way I can single out one favorite work by an unsung composer, just as I could not single out one favorite work by a sung composer. In fact, I can't imagine how anyone could accomplish that. Maybe by category of composition (piano concerto, symphony, choral piece, chamber work, etc). But even then, I don't think I could do it.
I have to make mention of Moszkowski's Piano concerto (Op.59) - I know it's not that unsung compared to some but...
Anyway, the reason I like it so much is that it is a cheerful, happy and fun to listen to piece. I also like the way the theme from the first movement crops up in the finale. The whole piece is full of excellent, memorable tunes which stick in the mind. It's also one of the rare pieces which makes me smile. :)
Think I'll put it on over dinner!
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 22 November 2013, 17:51
You can listen to Lachner 5 in full here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQy8_LkkSuw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQy8_LkkSuw)
Thanks for the link Alan. I'm listening to it as I type.
Tom
Quote from: Amphissa on Wednesday 27 November 2013, 01:21
There is no way I can single out one favorite work by an unsung composer, just as I could not single out one favorite work by a sung composer. In fact, I can't imagine how anyone could accomplish that. Maybe by category of composition (piano concerto, symphony, choral piece, chamber work, etc). But even then, I don't think I could do it.
I have a difficult time picking out one particular work also. Right now I'm quite taken with the third symphony of Enescu but next month it will likely be something else.
Tom
Oh, Enescu may be unsung but in my house he's one of the greats. But his compositions tend to the modern. For example, his Impressions d'enfance contains extended passages that would have sounded new had they been written in the 1970s or 80s.
I'm glad that I discovered him even though it took me a long time. I tend to agree with you as far as the modernism is concerned.
Tom
In this respect, Enescu is like other composers of the same generation such as Szymanowski, Bloch (and, I suppose, Vaughan Williams) who began their composing careers under the influence of the late romantics (hence their inclusion here) and then went on to develop more modern idioms, often influenced by ethnic or folk music.
I have two intrusive (and very expensive) Spanish cleaners in at the moment. I think I have found a way to drive them out from under my feet. I am playing the whole of Lachner's Fifth on full volume!
¿Qué? From Barcelona?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6CKSW9I1cA
To get back to the question of this thread, I have been pondering this question and although my musical preferences tend to shift rather often, there is one particular recording that over the years I have come back to again and again, and don't play too often for fear of "spoiling" my joy in hearing it again – and that is Hans Huber's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major of 1899.
From the slow buildup towards the lush orchestral textures in the development section of the first movement, via a light-footed scherzo and a gorgeous adagio it concludes with a glorious, rhythmically complex finale. Much of it feels more like a symphony with piano obbligato part a la Gade 5, but that makes it all the more effective when the piano does take a more prominent role. Somehow, the work manages to combine a certain feeling of fin-de-siecle, languid decadence while maintaining a lively energy, and I love it for it.
Of course, I won't pretend that it is some barn-storming revolutionary work. Rather, I think it is an example of the refinement that comes from being part of, and integrating, long-standing musical tradition. And it's probably the piece that, through the twenty years I know it, I have most consistently enjoyed. It helps that the single commercial recording of the work by Dan Franklin Smith, with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker under Michail Jurowski, is a fine one.
Tough question.
If Unsung Works by a very slightly Sung composer are permitted then probably the Scriabin Sym 3. (What I see on bachtrack are always a few performances of L'Extase and the Piano Concerto in f# with a few brief piano works thrown offhand into a piano recital.) All Scriabin's numbered symphonies are magnificent and original.I'm sure they are standard repertoire in some alternate universe, unfortunately not this one.
If really really Unsung are required, then I will go with Goldmark's opera Die Koenigen von Saba. A really lovely tuneful opera with very few weak spots. Again should be standard repertoire.
I think Scriabin's Third is on the edge of "sung-ness". The composer is of course well-known enough and I've seen the work itself twice in concert. However, I have the impression that he's not as often played in the German lands and the UK (where Scriabin's voluptuous decadence has never really gone down well).
Personally, I have a soft spot for the Second, which is the most restrained (relatively speaking) of the symphonies.
I indicated my choice would be Die Koenigen von Saba if there were any objection to Scriabin. But your comment interested me. Scriabin is certainly not played in the US (always excepting L'Extase which I would characterize as fringe repertoire ) and I certainly take your word he is not much programmed in the UK and Germany. Despite Muti I don't think Scriabin is much thought of in Italy. So apart from Russia where is he programmed? Looking again at bachtrack I saw one performance of Sym 2 in Paris (Karabits) and one performance of Prometheus in Berlin. Everything else orchestral was L'Extase. May I ask where you saw the two performances of Sym 3 and the time between them? Was it in the Netherlands? Is there a fan base there?
Although I could make a case for each of Rufinatscha 5 (formerly 6), Raff 3 or Draeseke 3, my vote would have to go to Thieriot's Symphony No.5 in C sharp minor - one of the last great representatives of the generation of Brahms, Raff, Draeseke and Bruckner, still writing symphonies in the early 20th century!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSuKduRk_Ic
Scriabin: Also the piano concerto in Atlanta in March 2025; Prometheus -was- performed in Boston back on July 26 '24. Symphony no.1, according to Operabase, was performed at the Bard Festival, Aug 14. 2022, but they, anyway, don't list a more recent US performance.
As to Huber: Operabase lists an upcoming performance of the Tell-Symphony in 2 days (28/9/2024) in Andermatt, Switzerland. There was also one on August 1 in Berne.
By our standards Stenhammar's 2nd symphony is almost sung, but there are several live performances of it in 2025, including one in London.
Yes Eric, as to Huber's Tell Symphony I had planned to visit the Andermatt performance but it was just too expensive (both the journey and, amazingly enough, the ticket). Plus, to be honest, I don't really think it's Huber's best symphony by quite a long stretch.
Hi Eric,
Could you send us a link to the Stenhammar performance next year in London. please?
Viotti Violin Concerto No 22 springs to mind. This was the first 'unsung' piece that alerted me to the fact that many of the best compositions by less well known composers are better than some of the compositions of the famous ones. Is it my favourite? That's impossible to answer, but for the purposes of this thread it will do well.
The pathos and drama of Viotti 22 are marvellous, way more interesting in my estimation than Mozart's oft played violin concertos. The Lola Bobesco recording is my favourite.
https://youtu.be/e9IZSTn2N3U?si=lpFrFEIseJsbOPb3
Mozart's VCs are, of course very early. He never wrote a mature VC, although the version of his late Clarinet Concerto for viola gives us a clue what one might have sounded like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYRbCoc4vRs (slow movement)
There is, of course, his magnificent Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola.
Sorry, I totally misread. It's in Detmold... the same webpage listed a -2015- performance from London.
Thanks, Eric. Detmold is a lovely town, by the way. My wife and I spent an academic year there between university and teacher-training in the late seventies.