Of all the unrecorded music in all the world...

[eschiss1]

Hi again all,
I should also have said all of the unrecorded piano music by Alkan.  There is quite a lot which has never been recorded and (IMHO) deserves to be! 

I agree- actually, I think very much of it has been recorded but on a hardly accessible label, some years ago, according to something Adrian Corleonis said in Fanfare???... i'm not sure... well, that would make it like the Rufinatscha symphonies, in a way.
also, the thread began with the stipulation that the music be at least partially orchestral - it would be great to have another such thread for chamber and piano music though.  I have heard, I believe and seem to recall vaguely (but not where from?), that Hamelin is uninterested in taking on such a project - unfortunately, being of the opinion that some of it is not worth the time learning to perform.  Which is a performer's judgment to make in the end and not ours, I'm not disputing.  I mention Hamelin because I believe he'd be perfect for the project, myself.
Eric

[eschiss1]

I'd go for all the unrecorded symphonies of Franz Lachner, particularly Nos 2 & 6, the latter of which was reckoned by Schumann to be twice as good as No 5. Apart from these I'd like to hear the 3 surviving piano concertos of Cypriani Potter and the 6th piano concerto of his pupil, William Sterndale Bennett,which has been withheld from performance for completely non musical reasons by the present owner of the manuscript score.

Has Lachner 4 in E (ca 1834) even been published yet or is it still wholly in manuscript, anyone know?
Eric

[Pengelli]

Going back to Gaze Cooper (Walter Thomas Gaze Cooper,or just,GC 1895-1981). I would definately buy a cd of his music if one came out. Particularly,if it included one of his eight symphonies. The one I would most like to hear,being his Symphony No 4 'The West Wind',based on the John Masefield poem (a poet I like). It includes,a solo part for a soprano and violin.and,intriguingly,a humming course (you know...mmmmmmmmm!),which,apparently, runs through the entire piece. Love to hear it,or something else. He wrote a heck of allot in all different genres. So,over to you Dutton,Toccatta,Chandos,EMI (in my dreams),et al!
   Oh,and by the way,what about the still unrecorded symphonies of,quite possibly Wales's greatest symphonist,and friend of Dylan Thomas;Daniel Jones. Still best remembered for his incidental music for the famous Radio dramatisation of 'Under Milk Wood'. I remember,the late lamented,and in my opinion underated,Bryden Thomson was an enthusiast. A recording of No 5 would be particularly welcome,

[Pengelli]

Also,the remaining symphonies of Roy Harris. David Diamond and some symphonies by Henry Cowell. Although,if I had to go for just one of them, David Diamond.
Still on the subject of Welsh composers,a cd of the glamorous and rather mysterious Morfydd Owen (including her orchestral music,or,at least, what there is of it) & a chance to hear Joseph Parry's symphony (if it still exists of course).
I also wish someone would release the BBC performance of Brian's 'Das Siegeslied',which is far superior to the shoddy but brave Marco Polo/Naxos effort,and the performance of his Violin Concerto by Ralph Holmes. Again,way superior to the Naxos interpretation, (although,each to his own,as they say).
Oh,and a cd of music by August Von Bungert (love that name). A very intriguing sounding figure,and another of orchestral music by Jaromir Weinberger ( of Schwanda fame). I have heard some other pieces by him,and he was a superb orchestrator. Such a pity,that his other work was so unjustly over shadowed by this one success, But such is life......

[Jonathan]

Hi again all,
I should also have said all of the unrecorded piano music by Alkan.  There is quite a lot which has never been recorded and (IMHO) deserves to be! 

I agree- actually, I think very much of it has been recorded but on a hardly accessible label, some years ago, according to something Adrian Corleonis said in Fanfare???... i'm not sure... well, that would make it like the Rufinatscha symphonies, in a way.
also, the thread began with the stipulation that the music be at least partially orchestral - it would be great to have another such thread for chamber and piano music though.  I have heard, I believe and seem to recall vaguely (but not where from?), that Hamelin is uninterested in taking on such a project - unfortunately, being of the opinion that some of it is not worth the time learning to perform.  Which is a performer's judgment to make in the end and not ours, I'm not disputing.  I mention Hamelin because I believe he'd be perfect for the project, myself.
Eric

Hi Eric,
Yes, I meant to say at the top of my post slightly off topic but i was typing it in a break at work so was in a hurry!  I agree about Hamelin being the right man for the job though and I was aware of his unwillingness to participate!  Another thread might be a good idea...

Ok, back on topic now, Sgambati's two Symphonies coupled on one disc would be good.  I'd also like all the remaining works by Scharwenka and, of course Raff!

[JimL]

If I'm not mistaken, I think that Raff is almost completely done up where orchestral music is concerned.  I think that only the operas and what incidental music remains unrecorded is all that's left of the orchestral music still unrecorded, and I'm sure Sterling, cpo or Tudor have it somewhere in the pipeline.

[Marcus]

Hello Martin Anderson,
This question is impossible to answer with any conviction, as there are so many works begging for a recording, and tomorrow, I will think of something else, but today's selection is Gabriel Faure's Symphony in D minor op40 (1884), if the manuscript has survived. It was first performed in Paris on 15/3/1885, with Edouard Colonne conducting. It remained unpublished. Although it was written in 1884,,( Faure was 39 when it was composed,and he did not consider promoting  it in later years), I would still like to hear it, so as to assess Faure's musical language at the time, and who knows,Faure's assessment may have too harsh. However, as my chances of hearing that work are akin to my winning the lottery, I will nominate the Symphony in C minor by Waldemar Bargiel (1828-97), step-brother of Clara Schumann.
I can also reveal my thoughts for tomorrow : the Symphony in D minor by Estonian Evald Aav (1900-39), purely on the strength of the only work of his which I have heard, the wonderful Symphonic Poem - Life. It was released a few years ago on Eesti-Raadio Cd #ERCD-017, and is a two movement work lasting approx. 35 minutes, in an advanced late romantic idiom.
Marcus.

[eschiss1]

Hello Martin Anderson,
This question is impossible to answer with any conviction, as there are so many works begging for a recording, and tomorrow, I will think of something else, but today's selection is Gabriel Faure's Symphony in D minor op40 (1884), if the manuscript has survived. It was first performed in Paris on 15/3/1885, with Edouard Colonne conducting. It remained unpublished. Although it was written in 1884,,( Faure was 39 when it was composed,and he did not consider promoting  it in later years), I would still like to hear it, so as to assess Faure's musical language at the time, and who knows,Faure's assessment may have too harsh. However, as my chances of hearing that work are akin to my winning the lottery, I will nominate the Symphony in C minor by Waldemar Bargiel (1828-97), step-brother of Clara Schumann.

Bargiel's symphony (or the only one I know of?) is in C major actually; I've heard it, and it is well worth a commercial recording, in my opinion (coupled possibly with his Intermezzo, which is an orchestration- I don't know by whose hands- of the slow movement of his - also-unrecorded, unless you count MIDIs... - piano sonata in the same key.)  Well-called I think

I thought Faure's symphony had been recorded though...  I know a reconstruction of the violin concerto has, so I hope I'm not just confusing the two.  All I think I know about the symphony aside from what you relate is that material from it finds its way into, I believe, his E minor violin sonata, just as material from the violin concerto fragment becomes the opening of the E minor string quartet?
Eric

[JimL]

Funny, but I always thought that the Faure Symphony was withdrawn by the composer and lost (except for the movements he cannibalized from it for other works (a la Raff's E Minor Symphony).  And I think it unfair that none of Rufinatscha's work could be considered by Martin simply because some house label has beaten him to it.  Rufi, IMHO has been the major find for me of this present company and could quite easily be billed to the general public as "the greatest composer you've never heard of."  Assuming they've heard of Raff, of course.  

[Marcus]

Hello eschiss1,
Yes you are correct. Again I was relying on memory,  which can be a little faulty sometimes with my thought processes sometimes surging ahead of a check of the facts. ("old-timers' disease !).I remember reading in a Schumann biography a reference to this work, and it is definately in the major key, and Bargiel only wrote one.(that I know of)
I have a list of symphonies from Brahm's circle, and late 1800's on my wish list, and one by one they are being recorded, (Dietrich, Herzogenberg, Jadassohn, Brull), with Bargiel & Grimm now at the top of the list, and added  to that symphonies of Ferdinand Hiller (3)(1811-85) & Konrad Gradener(2) (1812-83), two often mentioned in Brahms biographies.  I had mistakenly written C minor for the Bargiel work on my list some years ago. Must be time for a nap...
Cheers !
Marcus.

[eschiss1]

Incipits from the Bargiel symphony's movements can be seen in a review of the publication of a piano reduction of the work that appeared in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, and which is available online at books.google.com - there's a link to this in the Wikipedia-en article for Bargiel, in the list of works next to the symphony.  (Then click read publication, then search for Bargiel, etc.)
Eric

[CrazyCello]

I'm not sure if it falls under the remit of purely "Orchestral" music but one work I'm eagerly awaiting a recording of (preferably on historical instruments) is the hour long setting of Confetibor tibi Domine (1799) by Samuel Wesley (1766-1837). I have a score of it, parts look tantalisingly inventive, to the point it could probably join the ranks of end-of-the-century large scale choral works along with the likes of Haydn's Creation. The fact that it only received about five performances in Wesley's lifetime and I've found reference to only one modern performance since the score and parts were published is probably a large factor in its unpopularity and relative obscurity.

[albion]

I'm not sure if it falls under the remit of purely "Orchestral" music but one work I'm eagerly awaiting a recording of (preferably on historical instruments) is the hour long setting of Confetibor tibi Domine (1799) by Samuel Wesley (1766-1837). I have a score of it, parts look tantalisingly inventive, to the point it could probably join the ranks of end-of-the-century large scale choral works along with the likes of Haydn's Creation. The fact that it only received about five performances in Wesley's lifetime and I've found reference to only one modern performance since the score and parts were published is probably a large factor in its unpopularity and relative obscurity.

Yes, it's a wonderfully assured and varied work lasting 50 minutes. There was an excellent studio recording broadcast on Radio 3 on 28th July 1989 with Alison Hargan (soprano), Anne Collins (alto), Justin Lavender (tenor), Michael George (bass), the BBC Singers and the Orchestra of St John's, Smith Square conducted by John Lubbock.

There was another performance on 28th September 1995 at St Giles Church, Cripplegate, with Susannah Waters (soprano), Margaret Cable (mezzo), Adrian Thompson (tenor), Gwion Thomas (baritone), the Taverner Choir and the London Mozart Players conducted by Andrew Parrott. Incidentally, the same concert (which was broadcast live) included Cipriani Potter's 1832 G minor Symphony.

'Confitebor tibi, Domine' certainly deserves a modern commercial recording.

[namoji]

hello all, if the optional piano music for consideration in this difficult project, because I would love the piano sonatas of Theodor Kullak, and the only sonata in Bb written by Henri herz .. would be to my taste very good options

Natanael...

[Ilja]

If I could just plug Eduard Napravník's four symphonies here... Wonderful works from what I've seen and heard (although the latter only in piano four-hand, I fear).