Ignatz Waghalter violin concerto

[JimL]

I've contacted our ally.  She might be able to conduct the American premiere.  After all, Naxos is her label, too.   

[Alan Howe]

That's great, Jim.

[JimL]

I don't want to get hopes up too high!  But she did like the Raff CD I burned for her, so that's a good sign!  I sent her a couple of Miaskovsky CDs (VC, Symphonies 5, 15 and 27) and I'm still waiting for her reaction when she gets them.  We've been emailing back and forth several times a day.  My next CDs will be Rufinatscha (Dramatic Overture, PC and 5th Symphony) and Gounod (La Nonne Sanglante Overture, Piano-pédalier Concerto and Symphony 2).  She's going to Europe from the 10th to the 19th.  I think I'll send her some Bruch (Die Loreley Overture, VC 3 and 2nd Symphony) followed by a Russian disc with Golovanov's Russian Overture, Arensky's VC and the Catoire Symphony after she gets back.  There is some talk of doing some music by Howard Blake, who is out of the remit of this forum, but who composes in a neo-Romantic/modal style somewhat reminiscent (to me) of Vaughan Williams.  I'm going to download a couple of his works and send them to her.  Man, I can't believe this is happening!   

[Alan Howe]

All I can say, Jim, is: keep it up! An entrée like that doesn't come along every day. Well done!

[violinconcerto]

I would very much appreciate if you could pitch your "ally" to perform and record some unrecorded violin concertos: Bruch 3, Miaskovsky, Arensky are all recorded more than enough and the recording of the Blake concerto is pretty much perfect, so why not performing something exciting?

Best,
Tobias

[JimL]

Right now my emphasis is trying to get some of the stuff that's been "recorded enough" performed live in concert.  However, I do see your point.  Maybe down the road I'm going to see if I can do something about that G minor symphony of Albert Becker over at NWU.  The problem seems to be that she wants me to send her CDs of the works in advance.  I get the feeling she has to hear something that tickles her fancy before she'll give the score a look.  So anything that she'll perform has to at least have been recorded in some form and accessible for me to download and burn to CD in order to merit consideration.  Sorry, but that's how we're operating right now.  Give it time and trust and who knows?  As far as Blake is concerned, somebody *spoiler alert* over in Ulster has taken a fancy to his music and wants her to conduct it over there.

[Mark Thomas]

As an aside, Jim, I have written to the music library at NWU to see if I can get a copy of Becker's G minor, so that's in hand.

[violinconcerto]

I get the feeling she has to hear something that tickles her fancy before she'll give the score a look. 

Pretty understandable. Thats why I build a sound archive for the violin concertos of the 20th century. So if she wants to listen to anything from my archive, she can get in touch with me via my website.

Best,
Tobias

[Alan Howe]

I think it's a question of sending music to her, Tobias. As far as your (marvellous!) archive is concerned, she might wonder where exactly to begin...

[violinconcerto]

She don't have to decide where to begin, she just tells me what she wants (what kind of music) and I will give recommendations. I did this before to some violinists who were on the search for new repertoire. So if she will drop a line and sketch her wishes, I surely can make some suggestions.

Best,
Tobias

[eschiss1]

Between works with recordings in the violin concerto archives (e.g. ... ) and works with scores and parts in either Free Library Philadelphia , IMSLP, Sibley/BSB/ThULB/... or somewhere else reasonably accessible , one has a good beginning, I think - and there are likely at least a few works meeting those requirements, enough to fill a CD and a parcelpassel-of-parts.  Yay! (No sarcasm intended- I love the idea. Apologies though, realise that it is offtopic(%Waghalter(yes)).)

[Alan Howe]

She don't have to decide where to begin, she just tells me what she wants (what kind of music) and I will give recommendations. I did this before to some violinists who were on the search for new repertoire. So if she will drop a line and sketch her wishes, I surely can make some suggestions.

The lady in question obviously responds to having recommendations made to her and then hearing a recording. As far as UC is concerned, this would mean sending her a recording of what you might consider worthy of investigation from the late-Romantic repertoire. After all, she doesn't know where to begin because she doesn't know the music...

In my experience, real impetus is given to getting unsung music performed when one actually takes the trouble to send a score/recording, etc. to someone. For example, if Rufinatscha's music hadn't been sent to Chandos, there would have been no recording of the 6th Symphony. We could have waited forever for Chandos to discover him by themselves...

[JimL]

I send a CD and then email the score (if I have it) as an attachment, or provide what information I have on score availability in the body of the email.  If were to make a recommendation of something I don't already have, and it's in your archive, you might send a download to me via WeTransfer, however, I wouldn't generally recommend a work I don't already have, or at least haven't heard.  Most of it I can get via download here, over at Sydney Grew's site, or from YouTube.

[Morris Herzog]

Naxos has just posted the notes that apparently accompany the Waghalter CD. They are written by Michael Haas, who played a major role in Decca's "Degenerate Music" project back in the 1990s. The notes are very interesting, and the passages that describe the music cannot help but arouse great interest. One doesn't have the impression that Waghalter was a minor composer. And he seems to have been a very progressive artist. He attempted to found an orchestra of Afro-American musicians after arriving in the United States! At the end of the notes, Haas writes: "This recording brings to light one of the most unjustly forgotten musicians of pre-1933 Europe, inviting the question: how was it possible that this music went missing for a century?"

The URL to the Naxos notes is:

http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.572809&catNum=572809&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#

[Mark Thomas]

Available next month - details at jpc here.