Lost composers

[TerraEpon]

Ignace Malzat - Oboe Concerto in C Major, c1800 - once attributed to F.J.Haydn

I've always wondered who wrote that, as it's a favorite of mine. I've never seen a name attached to it before.

[HerbieG]

Yes, I have some.  On an old Monitor LP (these were dubbings of Soviet recordings, mostly in dreadful sound but boasting artists like Richter) I have what purports to be a viola concerto by Khandoshkin, which I always suspected was a relic from the Old Spuriosity Shop' - the second movement sounds like Korngold, and the outer movements sound nothing like late 18thC writing, with stratospheric violin parts.  The soloist was none other than Leonid Kogan with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra conducted by Rudolph Barshai, and having just checked on Google, this is indeed now listed as being by Goldstein!

Then there was the Centaur recording of a Symphony in E major purporting to be a newly discovered work by Schubert!  (Nothing to do with the sketched Symphony No. 7 in the same key).  This was such an obviously spurious piece of rubbish (stringing together loads of cribs from Schubert's music) that it was almost entertainment in itself - like McGonagle's poetry or the singing of Florence Foster-Jenkins. 

Finally - you mention above the E-flat Violin Concerto K268 by 'Mozart' now attributed to Eck, and another one in D major in Mozart's style by Sauzay, written in 1837.  Is this latter one the Concerto in D, K271a, once recorded by Menuhin?  If so, then I must say that I am disappointed, as I think this is a magnificent work and I always liked to think that it was by Mozart, despite the stylistic reservations expressed by some detractors.  Unlike the efforts of Casadesus, this really does sound quite convincing.

[Mark Thomas]

Welcome Herbie!

[HerbieG]

Thanks Mark - it's great being a member of such an erudite group. 

[peter_conole]

Hi all

Eugene Sauzay (1805-1901) emerged as the probable 'real' composer of the Mozart K271a violin concerto after a lot of consideration about scholarly hoo-ha on the subject, at least in my mind. The controversy meanders on, but the general consensus seems to be that it was not a Mozart work. There is no way of resolving the business outright, but the idea that the work is a clever Sauzay pastiche appeals to me. It saves a lot of speculation and guessing - discussions on who may have composed the work if it really was one from the 1700s have been fruitless. And Sauzay did come up with the score.

Another work I forgot to include was the Boccherini b flat cello concerto neatly put together in the 1880s by Grutzmacher. Nobody disputes that one - and like the pseudo Haydn (oboe concerto) and Mozart (violin) works, it is an attractive piece.   

regards
Peter

[JimL]

I thought the Boccherini B-flat Cello Concerto was a genuine work that was merely re-orchestrated by Grutzmacher.