Messages

The straight answer to Peter's question is that we just don't know, but that it's a reasonable assumption. Raff himself thought that No.6 was an advance on No.5 and if you read Avrohom Leichtling's essay on the work at the Raff web site you'll see why. As I'm on holiday just now I can't really write at length on this, much as I'd like to, but Ilja is certainly correct that Raff didn't seem to subscribe to the view that everything built up to the finale. Rather that the slow movement was the emotional centre of the work and that the finale represented a relaxation of the tension.

I'm on holiday at the moment and can't hear the muisc on the hotel computer. But Raff's Hungarian Suite is an orchestral work, so I doubt it...

Well, of course all three have been recorded, by Polish Radio, but so far only one of those recordings, No.1, has been issued on CD. The Polish recording of No.3 has been broadcast a couple of times by the BBC, which is how I come to have a recording of the work.

Dennis, I've replied to you by private email.

How interesting that you came up with a Stanford comparison, Alan. The same thought occurred to me, although I had in mind the later Stanford symphonies from No.4 onwards. Noskowski has the same generous expansiveness, rich orchestration and is a born melodist, too.

Today, by the way, marks the centenary of Noskowski's death.

I an understand what your friend is saying, but it's the first I've heard of it being a problem. Maybe it's a Mac thing, iTunes being an Apple product. I've certainly experienced no problems myself, but in my set up Windows Media Player takes care of streaming audio. I'll investigate...

Firstly, welcome Dennis and many thanks for the compliments about raff.org. I can never get too many, you know!

Secondly, it's interesting that so many people have a soft spot for No.11, considering that Raff himself was unconfident enough about it to actually suppress it in his lifetime. I always assumed that this was because he was subject to an uncharacteristic fit of self criticism but Avrohom Leichtling, in his essay on the work, contends that it was more likely because it represented a radical departure from his previous style and that in the succeeding symphonies, published as Nos.8-10, he moved more gradually to the sparer and more modern aesthetic he established in Der Winter. It was conceived as the first in the cycle, of course, although it was published posthumously as the last of the Seasons. From the recordings which I had heard I had always regarded it as one of his poorer efforts. Then Stadlmiar's superb interpretation quite changed my view of it.

Finally, Bernard Herrmann. Alan is right. His is still the definitive reading of Lenore I think.

Noskowski's Third is a really great work too which is every bit as good as you'd hope from the composer of The Steppes. Confident, colourful, melodious and well put together, it deserves a place in the romantic symphonic repertoire if any unsung symphony does. I understand that Bo Hyttner has secured for Sterling the rights to all three of the symphonies in performances like these, first broadcast by Polish Radio, so we should be in for a series of treats.

Phew! My hero!

Berwald's Sinfonie Singuliere has one of the most arresting openings of any and is well named - it's a wonderful piece.

I'm afraid that a couple of listens to the Violin Concerto confirms Alan's initial impressions. Somehow, despite some lovely playing by the soloist, the work fails to ignite and seems to meander. Quite a let down after the two piano concertos and the Orchestral Suite. The Romance for violin and orchestra is much more effective, although it's really only a short rhapsodic work in the tradition of Massenet's Meditation, Svenden's Romance and so on. I've haven't yet listened to the Violin Sonata.

My grammar reflects the fact that I was tired, Jim, and ready for bed. I wasn't saying that Chopin and Field were contemporaries, but that Farrenc and Mayer were.

I see. Thanks, Martin.

I'd quite forgotten about Emilie Mayer's 5th. Symphony. I've just dug out the CD and played the work. It was a real pleasure to get reacquainted with it. Such a confident and assured piece, if just a tad Beethovenian here and there for the 1850s.

As we've just been saying elsewhere (Chopin/Field) comparisons are invidious, but, as they were contemporaries, I suppose that it's inevitable in this thread to compare Mayer's Fifth with Farrenc's symphonies. Both were certainly accomplished composers and there is plenty of drive and invention in their symphonies. Having recently listened to Farrenc's three works and now this one by Mayer I'm inclined to rate the latter's marginally higher because her orchestration is more adventurous and her thematic material sticks in the mind straight away, whereas Farrenc's works are memorable for their vigoour, rather than their melodies.

Thanks for the heads up about the Fine Arts String Orchestra performance, Martin. I'll add it to the News page. Do you happen to know the venue and time? The MusicaNova site gives neither.