I've been listening to Grieg's only symphony in C minor and have found it intriguing although there are some who disagree.
Tom :)
I've always thought it a delightful work in every way. The main criticism seems to be that it is early and therefore uncharacteristic of the mature Grieg, but frankly I think the best approach is to take it on its own terms.
Agreed. The symphony has taken a lot of undue flak, which it does not deserve. It is of course very much of its time and, perhaps unusually so for Grieg, of its (geographical) area: you can see how it occupies the same world as the Svendsen (which so intimidated Grieg), 2nd Winter-Hjelm, Heise, Byström and Norman symphonies. Having said that, to me it feels decidedly more "muscular" than either of those.
Not more muscular than, say, Norman's 3rd, surely - or either of Svendsen's symphonies. But I agree about the others.
Remember the uproar when that first recording came out? Grieg never wanted it to be performed, but oh well, it was a nice revelation and sure added to our knowledge of the composer. But can anyone explain how this symphony is not in the PD in the US? The manuscript is online. The composer has been dead longer than needed for copyright. I can understand the published, nicely typeset version being under copyright, but not the original. What's to stop someone from creating their own performing edition from the MS? It would be a nice addition to the repertoire of amateur and semi-professional orchestras, but rental fees put a damper on that.
In regard to the copyright status of Grieg's manuscript for his symphony I ran into that bizarre aspect of U.S. copyright law when posting the manuscript of Mahler's Piano Quartet on IMSLP (http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Quartet_(Mahler,_Gustav)). The chief copyright reviewer there explained it in this thread (http://imslp.org/index.php?title=Special:WikiForum&thread=437) in which he states: "Because under US law until 2003, an unpublished work - even of an author dead for hundreds of years - was subject to common law copyright (basically a perpetual copyright) until first publication, at which point the clock started running on the work itself, not just the edition thereof." Fortunately, as of Jan. 1, 2003 all unpublished works of authors who died over 70 years ago entered the public domain in the U.S. Considering how copyright law in the U.S. is all about the money that was at least a bit of luck.
I've never heard it performed in concert
Quote...but frankly I think the best approach is to take it on its own terms.
The very essence of what approaching unsung composers is about!
do you remember the first recording? I can't but I remember having an LP and listening to it over and over commenting on why the San Diego Symphony never played it.
The first recording was with Karsten Andersen and the Bergen Symphony Orchestra.
do you remember what label?
It was on London (Decca in Europe) and was an early example of digital recording. You can get it on CD on the Decca Eloquence label from Australia. It's coupled with a marvelous reading of Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony from Lopez-Cobos and the LA Philharmonic.
Also available as an MP3 download on Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grieg-Symphony-Goldmark-Australian-Eloquence/dp/B00P56ELF4/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1466974046&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Grieg+Decca+Eloquence (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grieg-Symphony-Goldmark-Australian-Eloquence/dp/B00P56ELF4/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1466974046&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Grieg+Decca+Eloquence)
Did it come out on digital as a premiere recording?
Yes.
I remember being impressed although my friends said that he had no business writing a symphony. I enjoy it today.
Not knowing anything about your friends' musical tastes or the quality of their judgment otherwise [].
Remember that Grieg certainly esteemed the work enough to have published _part_ of it fairly soon after composition (the inner movements, maybe the best part), in piano duet reduced form; it's not as though he threw the whole thing in a locked drawer and threw away the key, leaving all four movements to be discovered only posthumously...
He just got discouraged after hearing Svendsen's 1st Symphony and decided that he couldn't live up to that standard. Probably harsh self-criticism (with a dash of relief that nobody would be looking to HIM to compose more symphonies).
you probably hit the nail on the head jim.
Which, fortunately, did not prevent him from writing both a string quartet and a cello sonata that can hold their heads high, on melodic and formal grounds.
..and the great 3rd Violin Sonata.