Another fine symphony by Spohr. People will say,it's not as good or profound as Beethoven's. Apart from the fact that not many symphonies are,does every symphony have to be epoch making to be an enjoyable or satisfying listen? Again,Spohr has his own individual sound world all his own. Some of the orchestration for No 5 is quite gorgeous. I would even go so far as to describe it as exquisite (the woodwind chirruping like birdsong). If there was a Mr Happy of classical music,Spohr's the man! His music has a genial,contented demeanour which just doesn't go down very well in these cynical times. Lovely music! :)

I do like allot of Spohr's music! Symphonies 1,3 and 4 are,particularly,fine! I have  heard that his symphonies lack depth. Well,okay you won't find Beethovenian profoundness. But Spohr was famous and widely performed in his day for a reason. He was a superb orchestrator & his music,once you get to know it,has a distinctive sound world unlike any of his contemporaries. He's also one of the warmest,happiest composers I have ever heard. His symphonies just seem to bubble with high spirits. His chamber music is excellent,too. A lovely composer. Howard Shelley's recordings for the Hyperion label are very good;but I must admit I,marginally,prefer Howard Griffiths Cpo cycle. Spohr deserves a reappraisal in the concert hall,too! His best music would just the ticket to lift the spirit of audiences in these glum times! The 'critics' would pick holes no doubt?! But when I think of the kind of pretentious,tripe they like?!!

Re: Coleridge-Taylor's Hiawatha trilogy!

This may be one bug I'm glad to contract,then?!! ;D Just out of interest! What do you think of the old,'classic' Sargent recording? I mean the stereo recording,not the 1929 recording,of course! (I looked the work up,today,on Wikipedia)

I also seem to recall having a 78rpm of Webster Booth singing "Onaway! Awake,Beloved. That record must have sold allot of copies! I gather that allot of people who didn't know a single note of anything else that Coleridge-Taylor wrote (or even who composed it!) got to know the song via that recording. A brief search with google brought up three other 78rpm records with Tudor Davies,John McHugh and,titter ye not ;D........Frank Titterton! Confusingly,for me,the same search brought up recordings of "Onaway! Awake,Beloved" sung by Mr Harry Dearth and Stanley Holloway (baritone). But,of course the music,in that instance,is by Frederic Cowen! Sargent recorded Hiawatha's Wedding Feast in 1929! So you could have listened to the whole piece on 78rpm records! Giving your right arm (or left?) a good ol' work-out in between sides! According to Wikipedia "Sargent recorded the Death of Minnehaha with the same choral and orchestral forces as for the 1929 Hiawatha's Wedding Feast". I had no idea he'd recorded the second part! But,when I looked it up,there it was in Sargent's discography!!
Incidentally,I found a photo of the radiogram my grandmother (my mum's mother) owned! (See below!) It was a beauty (albet,a bit of a monster!) I seem to recall people saying it had a nice (rich) sound to it!


     

Malcolm Sargent discography! https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11682899#Discography

;D Luckily,I bought a big roll of triple-ply,extra strong kitchen roll yesterday! I could't resist this at the low price offered! (I logged back on after midnight,having resisted it! I was wondering if they'd lowered the price a bit more? Then I though,"Oh,what the he**!)  As you will know,the Argo set has been deleted & sellers ask exorbitant prices!) I've read your numerous posts about Coleridge-Taylor here! He also was an intriguing part of the English musical renaissance,as it often dubbed,and a glaring omission from my collection! And who could resist a box set with such colourful artwork?!! Hopefully,the nice booklet,notes and slip case intact?!! ( You can't be sure with some of the big sellers! Stock photos & everything marked,"Very good!")

Wel,I didn't have to worry too much about someone telling me it was rubbish,with the forum this quiet! (Although,someone may yet oblige?!! ;D) At this rate I might even get away with extolling my love of the creative output of Tikhon Khrennikov! :o ;D (If I had a pound for every locked thread that has resulted from the mere mention of his name?!!)

On a more positive note,I just bought a s/h copy of this 2 cd set,from a seller on Ebay :)!

More Pffffffffff-itzner!

Symphony op.36,Elegie und Reigen op.45,Fantasie op.56  Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Werner Andreas Albert    Cpo



Someone's going to tell me it's rubbish (if any members posts here?) but I must admit I'm impressed by this symphony. In fact,I think it's an impressive piece. Like allot of Pfitzner's music it surprised me,when I first heard it. I thought he was going to be a throw back to the late nineteenth century;but the main influiences seem to be from the first decade (or two) of the twentieth century. Mahler  and Schreker spring to mind. Indeed,'Mahlerian',is how I would describe part's of this symphony. Particularly,the big climaxes in the first movement. And there's a lovely,serene slow movement with some quite beautiful writing for the strings and woodwind. This is the quite of big,late romantic symphony that rocks my boat! A few years ago I had look around the internet to find out what people thought of Pfitzner's music. What I found wasn't too positive and there wasn't allot! Now,I find allot of enthusiastic reviews and allot of posts at the GMG forum expressing admiration for some of his music. The performance on this cd is very good,to my ears;and the sound quality is up to Cpo's usual standard (very good!). While,it was listening to this I was thinking it would be great to hear the Berlin Philharmonic perform this work (and his Violin Concert,please! ;D).


                 "Well,it's better than the Rufinatscha!"                  

Thank you for that! :) Nice to 'see you' over here! I'll have a listen. I don't know any of David Mathews music!

Playing on Radio 3,right now! John Ireland's Epic March!

I was going to turn the Beeb off. I only leave it on overnight to keep the channel clear for my Sennheiser cordless headphones,but I had to look at the display to see what was playing. John Ireland is one of my favourite British composers and I must admit this piece hasn't made that much impression on me,to date! But listening now,it's quite a stirring piece & I might just play it,when I put on the Boult cd! His Piano Concerto is one of my favourite Piano Concertos. Indeed,one of my favourite Piano Concertos. He wrote superbly for the piano & I love his solo piano music. I have more than one boxed set!

Schubert: The Last Four Quartets     Quartetto Italiano  Philips Duo 2cd's

     

Sorry dhibbard! ;D  For my money,these have got to be amongst the loveliest and most sublime of all String Quartets. And that goes for most of,if not all of his chamber music. If you find Chamber music a bit difficult to grasp (as opposed to indifferent or hate it!) his String Quartet No 14 "Death & the Maiden" & String Quartet No 13 "Rosamunde" are two of the most lyrical,tuneful & thereby,most readily approachable/accessible. Indeed,even if you prefer,or only listen to,orchestral music by composers,from this era,you will know the tune in No 14 (and the name!). Indeed,his Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667,popularly known as the "Trout Quintet",is very probably the most tuneful piece of chamber music ever composed. It's just movement after movement of lovely,hummable tunes! When I was young it was,indeed,the only piece of chamber music I liked,thanks to my grandparent's radiogram and collection of Lp's. The Trout Quintet was on a thick old 50's Lp (like a black dinner plate with grooves! A 10 inch-er,I believe?! And that's it,below) and the musicians were Members of the Vienna Octet. I also remember that the "waltz man",Willi Boskovsky,who became famous for his conducting of Johann Strauss II,played the violin on it!



NB: I would make these images a bit smaller,but I have to listen out for a delivery van!

 A Rued Langgaard symphony (No 1) performed by the Berlin Philharmonic (+ Langgaard mini festival)! :o :o :o :o :o (Actually,it's 'returning'!) And a recording will follow! Wow-ee! :o :o :o :o :o

https://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/news/dacapo-records-enters-into-cooperation-with-legendary-orchestra-for-a-danish-outsiders-first

Robert Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 & Manfred Overture / The Detroit Symphony Orchestra / Paul Paray    Mercury 2 cd's



Excellent recordings of the symphonies conducted by Paul Paray,a conductor rated very higly by classical fans & me! Some of his recordings can be a bit hard to get,unfortunately & pricey. You just have to keep looking. These recordings boast the fabled 'Mercury' sound,which I love and still (at least in most cases) sound amazing,even in this day & age,in terms of the sheer clarity of the sound. (Mercury recordings also have a very distinctive sound!) The Fourth symphony & Manfred Overture are in mono sound,however! But,I love mono,so what not to like? Although,if I bought a new recording & it was in mono I might not be so thrilled?! But I do mean mono from when mono recordings were the current technology,of course! I mean,recording a piece of music in mono now would be a bit daft! (Okay,they get your point now! ed. ::) ;D)

And Cpo have,obviously,taken my advice and issued a recording of the Louis Glass symphony I most wanted them to record after No's 3 & 5! :) (Actually,it's just a coincidence,but,as far as I could make out,from the absolutely dire (I wish I could say otherwise!) Plovdiv recordings,the one that the I would most like to hear in a decent,or,preferably,first rate recording (in excellent sound!).

Indeed! One of the problem's with allot of the,admittedly,very enjoyable Piano Concerto's I've listened to (I admit to enjoying all the keyboard wizardry,heroics & glamour) is the lack of a a really good tune,or even one,at all!) but the Grieg has one of the best & most memorable tunes ever written by any composer. One of the most arresting openings ever! And it's very well (indeed,beautifully) constructed! I sound like an engineer saying that;but even if you're not a musician you know when something meanders (like my posts!). And I don't,necessarily,mean as badly as Draeseke! ::)

Grieg: String Quartets / Chilingirian Quartet    Hyperion



One of my favourite composers! I can't think of a single piece of music I haven't enjoyed by Edvard Grieg! Indeed his incidental music for Peer Gynt is one of my favourite pieces of music ever and I have multiple recordings. I like his Piano Concerto,but I tend to agree that he was at his best when his imagination was unrestricted by such convention's of form. That said,he still came up with one of the greatest,most popular & tuneful concertos ever written. So pretty good going,when you think about it?!! And it got to appear on the Morecambe and Wise show!

It's Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffff ffffffffffffffffffitzner! :o ;D        String Quartets in D minor & op. 36       Franz Schubert Quartet    Cpo

     

                    Ze String Quartet zat grew up and became a symphony!                                              Go on Hans,gissa smile! :) (He looks like me when I get up in the morning!)

I confess to liking some of the old curmudgeon's music! Mind you,I'm turning into a bit of one myself! Although,I don't plan on any goose stepping! (Unless,I want to pull another muscle!) His String Quartet's are satisfying creation's,imo! He turned one of these into a Symphony,later on! The bounder! :o