What are you listening to now - I ?

[Beef Oven]

Havergal Brian Symphony #3 BBC Symphony Orchestra, Lionel Friend. Not sure where I got the idea from to play this.

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[Beef Oven]

Stranglers, Rattus Norvegicus - first saw these guys in 1976!

.

[BBMmk2]

Debussy: Music for King Lear: 11 Fanfare d'ouverture; 2 Le Sommeil de Roi Lear; Jeux; Images. CBSO/Rattle.

Mahler: Symphony No.6, "Tragic". Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado.

Shostakovich: Festival Overture, Op.96; Symphony No.10 in E minor, Op.93. LPO, Andrew Litton.

[DublinJimbo]

Mendelssohn: String Quartets op. 44
Pacifica Quartet

[salymap]

John Ireland piano concerto, Eric Parkin soloist, LPO conducted by Brydon Thomson, on R3 earlier

[Beef Oven]

David Bowie - Low, RCA, 1977.

[Beef Oven]

Peter Grimes, Pears, Brannigan et al, Decca.

[Petrushka]

Delius: Piano Concerto
Curzon/BBCSO/Pritchard

Holst: The Planets
LPO/Jurowski

[Suffolkcoastal]

Symphonic journey listening the last few evenings:

1855 (concluding)
Smetana: Symphony in E 'Festive'
1856
Eduard Franck: Symphony in B flat major
Gounod: Symphony No 2 in E flat
Liszt: Dante Symphony
Saint-Saens: Symphony in F 'Urbs Romana'
1857
Gade: Symphony No 6 in G minor
Liszt: Faust Symphony
Spohr: Symphony No 10 in E flat
1858
Bristow: Symphony in F sharp minor
L Norman: Symphony No 1 in F major

Another interesting collection. The Smetana has suffered from its use of the 'Emperor's Hymn' in 3 of the 4 movements. Rather uninspired in places in nevertheless shows glimpses of the mature composer, most especially in the delightful Scherzo which is sometimes heard.
I don't expect many MB's have come across the music of the German composer Eduard Franck. The B flat is a nicely written work nothing special and very much of its time with Mendelssohnian touches. Gounod's 2nd Symphony is sometimes overshadowed by his 1st which is better known, but I find the 2nd just as delightful, especially the finale.
The two Liszt Symphonies are of course fairly well known. Of the two I much prefer the Faust Symphony, which is a superbly written work and a work I must get a score of soon. The Dante Symphony doesn't for me hang together as well and I find it occasionally rather rhetorical, but this is purely my opinion.
Saint-Saens' F Major Symphony is I find a rather dull piece, certainly far less interesting than his earlier A major and E flat symphonies. The Gade 6th is a typical work from this composer, but perhaps not the equal of his earlier symphonies, the scherzo stays in the memory but the other movements lack distinctive ideas at least compared with the earlier symphonies.
Spohr's final symphony caused the composer some doubts and he didn't publish it. It is a rather subdued work and not totally convincing except for the strangely sombre yet moving siciliana like slow movement.
George Bristow is an American composer and his F sharp minor symphony, has plenty going for it, rather Mendelssohnian at times also sometimes the influence of Schumann is noticeable, there are one or two moments that don't quite sound like other composers of the time.
The Swede Ludvig Norman occasionally has his chamber music featured on TTN. His 1st symphony should be broadcast as well. It is an occasionally slightly quirky work, that certainly has moments of individuality. Like Gade and Berwald there is something oddly Scandinavian about his music and like Berwald he scores slightly unconventionally at times particularly for woodwind and brass.

[EdgeleyRob]

Symphonic journey listening the last few evenings:

1855 (concluding)
Smetana: Symphony in E 'Festive'
1856
Eduard Franck: Symphony in B flat major
Gounod: Symphony No 2 in E flat
Liszt: Dante Symphony
Saint-Saens: Symphony in F 'Urbs Romana'
1857
Gade: Symphony No 6 in G minor
Liszt: Faust Symphony
Spohr: Symphony No 10 in E flat
1858
Bristow: Symphony in F sharp minor
L Norman: Symphony No 1 in F major

Another interesting collection. The Smetana has suffered from its use of the 'Emperor's Hymn' in 3 of the 4 movements. Rather uninspired in places in nevertheless shows glimpses of the mature composer, most especially in the delightful Scherzo which is sometimes heard.
I don't expect many MB's have come across the music of the German composer Eduard Franck. The B flat is a nicely written work nothing special and very much of its time with Mendelssohnian touches. Gounod's 2nd Symphony is sometimes overshadowed by his 1st which is better known, but I find the 2nd just as delightful, especially the finale.
The two Liszt Symphonies are of course fairly well known. Of the two I much prefer the Faust Symphony, which is a superbly written work and a work I must get a score of soon. The Dante Symphony doesn't for me hang together as well and I find it occasionally rather rhetorical, but this is purely my opinion.
Saint-Saens' F Major Symphony is I find a rather dull piece, certainly far less interesting than his earlier A major and E flat symphonies. The Gade 6th is a typical work from this composer, but perhaps not the equal of his earlier symphonies, the scherzo stays in the memory but the other movements lack distinctive ideas at least compared with the earlier symphonies.
Spohr's final symphony caused the composer some doubts and he didn't publish it. It is a rather subdued work and not totally convincing except for the strangely sombre yet moving siciliana like slow movement.
George Bristow is an American composer and his F sharp minor symphony, has plenty going for it, rather Mendelssohnian at times also sometimes the influence of Schumann is noticeable, there are one or two moments that don't quite sound like other composers of the time.
The Swede Ludvig Norman occasionally has his chamber music featured on TTN. His 1st symphony should be broadcast as well. It is an occasionally slightly quirky work, that certainly has moments of individuality. Like Gade and Berwald there is something oddly Scandinavian about his music and like Berwald he scores slightly unconventionally at times particularly for woodwind and brass.

Many thanks Suffolkcoastal for another interesting post.

[Roehre]

I don't expect many MB's have come across the music of the German composer Eduard Franck.

I guess you like understatements

Saint-Saens' F Major Symphony is I find a rather dull piece, certainly far less interesting than his earlier A major and E flat symphonies.

I wonder whether Saint Saens was awar of this difference. I hardly can imagine another reason why he hasn't published the work himself and gave it an opus number.

George Bristow is an American composer and his F sharp minor symphony, has plenty going for it, rather Mendelssohnian at times also sometimes the influence of Schumann is noticeable, there are one or two moments that don't quite sound like other composers of the time.

To be honest, I prefer this work of Bristow's to the Chadwick symphonies, of which one (iirc the second) is said to be the "best symphony Beethoven never wrote"

Whatever, thank you very much again for your posting, SC: very valuable and very much appreciated

[Roehre]

Today (It’s St.David’s Day ):

Mathias:
Festival Te Deum op.28 (1964)

Hughes:
Dewi Sant (1951)

Grace Williams:
Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes (1940)

Puw:
..onyt agoraf y drws.. (2007)

German:
Welsh Rhapsody (1904)

[DublinJimbo]

I don't expect many MB's have come across the music of the German composer Eduard Franck. The B flat is a nicely written work nothing special and very much of its time with Mendelssohnian touches.

I'm more familiar with his chamber music (including an especially good Piano Quintet), but do have recordings of two symphonies (B flat and A major) and two violin concertos. Your mention prompted me to turn to the A major symphony, which I'm now listening to.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I shall reach the E Franck A Major symphony in a few days, I think it dates from 1862, from what I remember of it the 1st time I heard it, it is the more attractive of the two symphonies, I'm glad my mention encouraged you to listen to it. I believe I've heard the Piano Quintet, it was available as a download.

I don't find the Chadwick symphonies too bad, the 3rd is the better of the two that have been recorded, but the real gem among 19th century American symphonies is John Knowles Paine's 1st Symphony which stands up well against many better known symphonies of the period IMO. The choice of composers to publish or not publish some of their works is sometimes a wise decision sometimes not. But in the Saint-Saens F major case definitely the right one, still from a historical and developmental point of view it is valuable to have a chance to hear these works. In the case of the earlier A major symphony I suspect he wasn't inclined to have what he considered juvenalia published, even though it is a delightful and refreshing work.

[salymap]

Sibelius symphony no 1, Mark Elder and the Halle. Complete on Essential Classics today