A Moszkowski Symphony?

[semloh]

Thanks, minacciosa. Let's hope your words fall on receptive ears.

[FBerwald]

Any updates reg. the Symphony - Has anyone read the score?

[Recorddude]

I have just acquired  copy of the Moszkowski symphony from the BNF if anyone is still interested.

[eschiss1]

Yes.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Moi aussi.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Since this thread has been revived I must offer belated apologies. Way back in 2012 Eric wrote:

has there even been a recording of the Jeanne d'Arc symphonic poem? At least that exists in published score, from which parts could presumably be extracted given time and patience etc. ... maybe the parts are already somewhere. I don't see a recording, though. Maybe not commercially viable, as usual, unless coupled with an orchestration of Etincelles... erm... er.)

I meant to point out at the time that the orchestral parts for the Jeanne d'Arc symphonic poem (or "symphony" as I believe the composer sometimes called it) are, not surprisingly, at Fleisher. The catalog record at Fleisher gives 45mins as the playing time, but I don't know whether this is based on an actual performance at sometime, or just a guess.

[tpaloj]

Thank you all for this discussion and linking the score. It's a shame Moszkowski wasn't interested getting it published back in the day.

Here's a simple computerized midi of the first movement I created. It runs some eleven minutes (including a repeated exposition). My apologies for any mistakes in transcription. It's best to listen while following the score to better grasp the full range of dynamics of the piece.

I've only briefly glanced through the rest of the score, but even from this example there shouldn't be any doubt this Symphony stands long overdue its proper revival and recording. Was it ever performed in Moszkowski's time?

Dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ps1u8ywmtd3os53/Moszkowski%20Symphony%20-%20I.%20Maestoso.mid?dl=0

[Mark Thomas]

The MIDI, much as I dislike them generally, certainly whets the appetite. Thanks for making it available.

[Alan Howe]

Would anyone care to characterise the style?

[Mark Thomas]

Filtered through the fog of the MIDI sound it comes across as a thorough-going Germanic opening movement, with strong and memorable material and harmonically not too adventurous for its time. Beyond that I wouldn't go.

[FBerwald]

I'll agree with Mark - memorable material (very memorable if played by an actual Orchestra). Thank you Monju for giving us the 1st snippet of this symphony.

[tpaloj]

I'll second any enterprising conductors to champion this symphony! The manuscript even with its usual slips of pen and the occasional missing accidental is very tidy; any professional editor should be happy to spin a typeset edition from such a legible score. (If the length won't scare them.)

I agree this material presents a fresh sample of the Moszkowski spirit - playful but stern, and quite memorable. Intricacies being hard to notice through midi sound - but after working on this it's impossible to fail to mention his effective orchestration. An actual performance should highlight this fact in its best light. I'm glad the midi has been of atleast some use as a simple starting point of reference for this work.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The Fleisher copy is printed. The score was, according to the marc record at Fleisher published by Julius Hainauer, Breslau, and G.Schirmer, New York. Parts also printed, apart from the harp which is MS. Full printed scores of this work (316pp) can be found in a number of European libraries and the Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek, Mainz has also a set of parts.
What made you think Moszkowski had not published the work?

A two-piano arrangement by the composer was published by Augener.

[eschiss1]

Interesting. What Fleisher copy are you talking about? Fleisher doesn't HAVE a copy. (Do they???) (This is not the Joan of Arc symphonic poem- which is available at IMSLP in that Augener reduction though also unrecorded. It's from 1876 and was published about 1878.)

(Ok, who's been sneaking copies off to Fleisher again? Fess up.)

[eschiss1]

also, Jean d'Arc op.19 is -very- E major (see the 1879 Hainauer reduction @ IMSLP), not D minor (which the symphony clearly is, see the downloadable manuscript linked above from BNF.)