Edouard Silas

[pcc]

The symphony in A in the Silas MS bequest is indeed the published op.19 currently on IMSLP. The other two symphonies, op. 96 in C and the "Burlesque Symphony - Mr. Punch's Musical Recollections" make up the whole of the three symphonies cited in Upton's "Standard Symphonies" (though Upton's dates are wrong, it seems) and Alan Krueck's note.  Now to find the published D minor piano concerto that someone bought from under Mr. Eastick, as the MS of the "Elegie" is in the BL.  Not to state the obvious, but has anyone checked the BL's CPM?

I think my fellows will take a whack at the op. 19 symphony - I'll get a graduate student onto making up the parts! 

[matesic]

Err...CPM = Culture, Policy and Management? As compared with 10 or so years ago I think the BL have made it much more difficult (and expensive) to obtain scans of their mss. Even to obtain access for reference it seems you need some kind of official academic status or endorsement. Another job for a graduate student?

[pcc]

That's the Sibley Library's general ref for the BL's Catalogue of Printed Music published prior to 1980.  I was just going to have one of my students use the printed edition of the Silas A major symphony off of IMSLP as their basis for generating parts. (My wife, the Sibley Library bookbinder, made me a quick hardbound reference copy of it, which makes it much more convenient to study.) I have a friend within the BL who may be able to help me get microfilms (remember those?) of the MS volumes of the two other symphonies, the "Elegie", and at least a survey of what Nitocris consists of (the instrumentation and voice distribution, whether Fitzball's complete libretto is included, etc.)  I think Joash was published so that might be a bit easier to examine, but I'm more interested (at least initially) in Victorian secular rather than sacred drama, heathen that I am. And I am tenuously affiliated with several scholarly institutions as adjunct professor; it means I hold a somewhat shabby hat in my hand as I look up pleadingly for admission through research libraries' golden portals, but I haven't been thrown out on my ear yet.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I have checked the printed music catalogue at BL and also the COPAC of British Libraries. There are no copies listed of any of the concertos or symphonies (apart from No. 1 which exists in more than one library), alas!

[eschiss1]

The Mass should probably be pre-dated to "by 1864" - at least, if we're talking about Op.62, which was issued by Belgian publisher Katto in 1864, before its British publication in 1866. KBR has a copy of the Katto publication.

[Alan Howe]

Can anyone give an idea of his idiom, please?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well, I heard some of his organ music years ago and thought it dull and academic, which is partly why I have never made much effort to trace the piano concertos. However, I have not seen the 1st symphony (or, indeed, any of the orchestral music) and am very willing to accept the opinion of a professional musician like pcc who has, and clearly thinks it is not without merit and attraction.

[matesic]

The first symphony is scored for classical orchestra including clarinets and trumpets but no trombones (except in the finale) but the opening for wind choir alone seems quite original. I'll see if I can hash something for strings out of his Allegretto Op.23 for piano 4 hands. IMSLP has it only in William Best's arrangement for organ, but the idiom doesn't look particularly organistic (organic?).

[Alan Howe]

So: in all likelihood a conservative composer, possibly even backward-looking. But if the music's of good quality...

[Alan Howe]

Here's his Prelude in D for Organ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prXov0Tab5U
and his 'Malvina' Romance, Op.75:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgP0PJ749ww

[matesic]

Definitely something to "like" in Malvina I'd say. Is it synth do you think? The left hand seems very mechanical.

[Martin Eastick]

No, it is not a synth. recording, as I have the CD as issued by Epic/Sony Records in 1990. Catalogue Number ESCK8008. Contents are: Amaranth (Op6), Prelude & Impromptu Op37, Florida - Caprice Op47, Barcarolle Op54, Idyll Op63, Malvina Op75, Gavotte, Minuet & Jig Op103 & Le Pas des Roses - Air de Ballet (1884). The pianist is Osamu Nakamura. Although I was pleased to have the recording, I do have to admit that the performances are not really that compelling, but as far as I am aware, there is nothing else of his recorded - except perhaps the odd organ miniature or so included in a recital CD.......

[Gareth Vaughan]

To my ears the organ Prelude is feeble and undistinguished - a very dull piece. The piano work, 'Malvina', is charming enough but deserves better playing (that left hand accompaniment is unremitting, and it needed be if it weren't executed so mechanically). Thank you for providing the links, Alan.

[semloh]

Agreed, Gareth.

[pcc]

Actually, in the op. 19 Symphony the trombones are in each movement except the first. According to the printed score, Silas replaced the slow movement and scherzo he had originally written with those now in the printed score in 1860, which would predate the symphony's earliest known performances.

I would say Silas's style here could be viewed as conservative, but no more so than Saint-Saëns's early symphonic works or Gounod's symphonies. It certainly doesn't feel at all Germanic, at least to me.  After long study I think I like the slow movement and finale best. though all have good tunes (the clarinet solo in the opening of the first movement has real lyricism, for instance).  The finale starts arrestingly with tympani and basses and goes on to an unusual opening theme, the broad second subject first appears for strings alone (actually a string quartet texture - the contrabass is left out), reappears as a bright apotheosis for winds and brass against string figuration, and the piece winds up very succinctly. Silas's orchestral music may well be superior on the whole to his organ and piano music, but there's really only this one work that's accessible at this moment from which to form an opinion.  I've looked at the organ music on IMSLP and was as unevenly impressed (to be kind) as others on this forum.  However, any Victorian who on one hand would predictably write a "sacred drama" eulogizing Joash (who, I'm sorry to say, is as obscure to me as St. Polycarp in Gore Ouseley's oratorio) and on the other pen a "Burlesque Symphony" tied to Punch magazine had something odd in his mind that piques my interest to investigate him further.