Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath (1818-1896)

[Alan Howe]

Originally, yes of course. But it has later associations which resonate more strongly with us today, surely.

[Reverie]

Looks like the people over at KBR have been busy again. There is now a manuscript of two connected movements. They have them labelled as Andante and Allegro even though I cannot see any written descriptions. I've had a look at the opening of the first movment and it sounds wonderful so I'm going to be busy 

LINK: https://belgica.kbr.be/BELGICA/search.aspx?SC=GALERIE&QUERY=&_lg=en-GB#/Detail/(query:(Id:0,Index:1,NBResults:1,PageRange:3,SearchQuery:(CloudTerms:!(),FacetFilter:%7B%7D,ForceSearch:!t,InitialSearch:!t,Page:0,PageRange:3,QueryGuid:cc449fb7-b8e5-4954-b9e3-9c5dfa83bd19,QueryString:'Oeuvre%20pour%20orchestre,%20%5Bin%20C%5D%20%5BMusique%20manuscrite%20=%20Handgeschreven%20muziek%5D%20:%20andante%20-%20allegro',ResultSize:100,ScenarioCode:GALERIE,ScenarioDisplayMode:display-vignet,SearchGridFieldsShownOnResultsDTO:!(),SearchLabel:'',SearchTerms:'Oeuvre%20pour%20orchestre%20in%20C%20Musique%20manuscrite%20Handgeschreven%20muziek%20andante%20allegro',SortField:!n,SortOrder:0,TemplateParams:(Scenario:'',Scope:BELGICA,Size:!n,Source:'',Support:'',UseCompact:!f),UseSpellChecking:!n)))

[Mark Thomas]

These two movements are in addition to the two symphonies? Is anything at all known about them, such as the date of composition?

[Alan Howe]

We need to hear these, don't we? And the Symphony in D! No pressure, then...

[eschiss1]

do those KBR pages not have briefer "permanent links"? I doubt those links work more than a few minutes...

[ewk]

On the webpage itself, there is a shorter link labelled as "permalink": https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/18198173
Best wishes! ewk

[tpaloj]

We need to hear these, don't we? And the Symphony in D!

Though the inner movements of the Symphony in D are very nice, so far I'm not too impressed with the first and last... might be best to temper your expectations a little 🙂 Still, I've begun the task and am resolved to see it through... will take some time to finish the score. By the way, it won't be too long for a symphony either, around 25 minutes at most.

[Mark Thomas]

Expectations tempered, Tuomas, but renewed thanks for your hard work on all our behalfs.

[Alan Howe]

Indeed. I'm still looking forward to it very much.

[tpaloj]

A small update on the Symphony in D major. Everything is now notated, but I still need to format and check some 40 pages of the *heavily* orchestrated Finale (oh dear lord!). The composer's tempi numbers for the first and last movements seem to me unnaturally fast, a common feature for music from this period of time for some reason. Nevertheless, it won't be too long for a symphony: around 26-27 minutes in all. The good news is that the Finale won't be too dependent on the "national" austrian and belgian themes to make its point, as most of the material and music is Kufferath's own. A 3-minute coda combines both the austrian hymn (today most familiar to anyone as "Deutschland über alles") and La Brabançonne in a contrapuntally developed, raising conclusion. Stay tuned for more news and audio to come 

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for the update Tuomas.

[Alan Howe]

I'm tuned and waiting...

Thanks again!

[tpaloj]

Kufferath's Symphony in D major is finally here! Score, parts and video. I don't know how likely it would be to ever hear this symphony being performed or recorded, but at least all performing materials are now on IMSLP. Perhaps some orchestra or recording venture might find them useful eventually.

This symphony is dated 17.7.1853 on the last page of the score, and it was never published. The austrian national hymn of the time (today more famous as the tune to Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit) and the Belgian La Brabançonne are being used in the second and final movements. Curiously the instrumentation in the first movement was originally scored for the same, larger forces as the rest of the symphony, but in the manuscript all the "extra" instruments have been meticulously crossed over to reduce its instrumentation to common symphonic orchestration of the time (2222, 2210, timp, strings). Each successive movement introduces more and more instruments, culminating in a total of 24 players plus strings altogether in the Finale.

The music in the outer movements is very festive and upbeat. The second and third movements, which I had already uploaded here earlier, I find very nice. The triumphal – and loud! – Finale has some good passages, and the Coda with its aforementioned national themes makes for a pretty effective conclusion for this work.

This was a nice project, sometimes pretty laborious (the Finale...) but definitely worth it for me for the practice in preparing the score and parts. I still prefer Kufferath's other symphony over this, but I hope you will enjoy it no matter what!

Score & parts on IMSLP: https://tinyurl.com/2p82pwdm
Youtube: https://youtu.be/peyvVjbWgHQ

[Gareth Vaughan]

Thank you VERY MUCH INDEED for your hard work and dedication in producing score and parts of this work. Having the performance materials available will be a significant incentive for any conductor/orchestra who might be interested in exploring the symphony to give it an airing. We can but hope. Congratulations, Tuomas!

[Alan Howe]

A wonderful early Christmas present! Greatly looking forward to listening to it later on, after my seafront walk.