Neglected masterworks

[DublinJimbo]

This could do equally well in the What are you listening to now thread, but on balance it belongs better here, since hearing it this afternoon was a revelatory experience. It's a work which is in my collection, but on a disc which I bought for the coupling, and I either didn't listen to it or it didn't make an impression on me before.

What is it? It's Louis Vierne's Piano Quintet op. 42, a quite astonishing work!

The obvious reaction is 'What? Chamber music by Vierne? Didn't he only write for organ?', which just goes to show how dangerous it can be to pigeon-hole composers. This is an assured work from beginning to end, written at fever pace in response to yet another cruel slap from Fate. Vierne's handling of the instruments is masterly, with the piano much more primus inter pares than it is in so many other quintets, but the abiding impression is of music of an ostensibly programmatic nature lifting itself above that and establishing itself in its own right as a masterpiece.

I know I risk falling into the comparison trap, but I couldn't help thinking of Suk's magnificent Asrael symphony (afterwards, I hasten to add — comparisons were the last thing in my mind while listening to the Vierne).

[Roehre]

This could do equally well in the What are you listening to now thread, but on balance it belongs better here, since hearing it this afternoon was a revelatory experience. It's a work which is in my collection, but on a disc which I bought for the coupling, and I either didn't listen to it or it didn't make an impression on me before.

What is it? It's Louis Vierne's Piano Quintet op. 42, a quite astonishing work!

The same applies to the Piano Quintet opus 41 (in D-flat major) by Gabriel Pierné.

Btw, both composer's quintets were coupled with their respective violin sonatas (Vierne op.23, Pierné op.36) on 2 Erato CDs - 1 letter difference, very confusing, as the CDs were very similar in outlook....

[DublinJimbo]

The same applies to the Piano Quintet opus 41 (in D-flat major) by Gabriel Pierné.

Thanks for that. I've quickly sourced a version on the Timpani label as part of volume one of a two-volume survey of his chamber music. I'll probably take the plunge.

[JFLL]

The same applies to the Piano Quintet opus 41 (in D-flat major) by Gabriel Pierné.

Btw, both composer's quintets were coupled with their respective violin sonatas (Vierne op.23, Pierné op.36) on 2 Erato CDs ......

And while in late romantic France (OK, Belgium as well), can I propose César Franck's string quartet, one of the really great quartets, IMHO. (Another composer sometimes written off as merely of interest to organists.) There's a wonderful story about it:

'Proust attended concerts by the celebrated Parisian string quartet, Quatuor Poulet, and became acquainted with their violist, Amable Massis. During a post-concert conversation, Proust proposed a private performance in his home. The musicians agreed in principle, though no specific plans were made. Some days later, Proust made a surprise visit to the first violinist’s apartment around 11:00 P.M., consumed by the desire to hear the string quartet of César Franck that very night. The violinist followed Proust to a waiting car where he was offered a bowl of mashed potatoes. They then drove around Paris collecting the other quartet members. By the time the performance began, it was nearly one in the morning. Upon finishing the demanding work, Proust sat in silence a long time. He then asked to hear the whole work again from the beginning.'

Now let me see, where's the phone number of the Dante Quartet? Not too late, surely, well before midnight. Start the car, James ....

[Roehre]

Further to Franck (who was born in Liège, at that time part of the Netherlands, btw :) ): his piano quintet is a great work too, in the same league as the string quartet.

[Suffolkcoastal]

Louis Vierne also wrote a large scale symphony which is also rather impressive.

[Thomas Roth]

Tippett: Concerto for Orchestra
Nystroem: Sinfonia del mare
Uuno Klami: Psalmus and almost everything he composed!
Howells: Merry Eye
Roy Harris: Symphony no 7

[Stanfordian]

Here is my list of those works both big and small that I love but feel don’t get the attention that they deserve. Neglected masterworks, well maybe some of them!

John Ireland Piano Concerto;
John Ireland ‘The Forgotten Rite’;
John Ireland Mai-Dun;
Boris Tchaikovsky Clarinet Concerto;
Boris Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto;
Bax Spring Fire;
Hovhaness Symphony No. 50 ‘Mount St. Helens’;
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 7 ‘Angel of Light’;
Griffes: Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan;
Stanley Bate Viola Concerto;
Stanley Bate: Symphony No. 3;
Adams: Harmonium;

These are the ones in my head at the moment but I'm sure that there are more that I will spring to mind later.

I think I will have to add Arthur Butterworth's Symphony 4 to my earlier list.

[Chris Newman]

Tippett: Concerto for Orchestra
Nystroem: Sinfonia del mare
Uuno Klami: Psalmus and almost everything he composed!
Howells: Merry Eye
Roy Harris: Symphony no 7

Greetings, Thomas,

The Tippett is available on a CD together with his gorgeous Triple Concerto. What is more, you can have them conducted by Colin Davis or Richard Hickox.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tippett-Concerto-Orchestra-Triple/dp/B0007PLYYE/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1331833649&sr=8-17

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tippett-Concertos-Michael/dp/B000000AXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331833733&sr=8-1

There are several versions of Roy Harris's masterpiece as well. The Naxos one with Kuchar is good to my ears.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Roy+Harris+Symphony+No+7&x=15&y=18

[Thomas Roth]

Thanks Chris,

I know. All of the works I mentioned are available on CD, but they are still neglected masterpieces. They are almost never performed in concert.

[Suffolkcoastal]

The Kuchar of Harris 7 is passable (the rolled cymbal on the last chord is not in the score!), but this masterpiece is in desperate need of a good modern recording. Ormandy's pioneering recording is still by far the best of the few available recordings. Stokowski's recording is now available, it is billed as being of the original version of the symphony (it was revised several times between 1952 and 1955), however it is actually of an intermediate version, which is basically similar to the final version except with the main differences being in the coda.

[Thomas Roth]

I agree about the Ormandy still being the best version. And I´m pleased that I´m not alone in thinking that it is a masterpiece. Harris needs someone like Tilson Thomas to speak for him. This, however, is not going to happen since MTT doesn´t like Harris. When I asked him why he said: " If I were to do that kind of music I prefer Sibelius". I don´t understand that remark at all.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I think MTT's response sadly shows his total ignorance. Yes there are the occasional superficial similarities between Harris and Sibelius, but Harris symphonic processes, harmony etc are a world away from Sibelius. The trouble is that MTT seems to think he's another Bernstein at times and would rather wallow in Mahler. Which is a pity as it produced a superb recording of Piston's 2nd symphony and largely with the exception of a certain quartet of well known American composers hasn't explored his own countryman's music as much as he should.
The one conductor I wish had recorded Harris 7 is Kubelik who from the couple of off-air recordings I have of him conducting Harris shows a total command and commitment to Harris far above any other conductor since Koussevitsky. Still if you haven't already have a listen to the Stokowski recording of the intermediate version of the symphony, its pretty good.

I'm also still waiting for David Alan Miller and his fine Albany S O to record it, and if any conductor comes along with a commitment to Harris then I'd always be happy to assist in getting the best possible interpretations performed and recorded.

[DublinJimbo]

Poor Roy Harris, another one of those who've been shoved into the one-hit-wonder drawer. In cases like this I 'm always intrigued to discover what else the composer has written, usually prompted to do so by the very work whose popularity results in non-performance of the rest of his output.

That's been the case with Harris's Symphony No. 3, but it's taken a very long time to discover recordings of anything else. Even now, I've only managed to add his 4th, 8th and 9th symphonies to my collection (the latter two coupled with Memories of a Child's Sunday as recorded by Suffolkcoastal's dream team of David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony). Even this paltry exploration has whetted my appetite for more, egged on now by recent comments here.

I see DAM and the Albany SO have recorded some others, which I think I would prefer to turn to rather than the Naxos survey.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I've been very lucky in receiving gifts of cassettes of very rare Harris works made from off-air recordings, some dating back to the 1940's, meaning I have overall around 80 of his works in recorded format. The Albany performance of the 2nd Symphony, coupled with Morton Gould is very good and Albany have also issued his much tougher 11th symphony in a reasonably good performance which is only really let down by the C Trumpet player who has to cope with some of the trickiest and high lying writing in the repertoire, he does pretty well though, and a lack of string tone (not a large enough body of strings I think) which is essential in Harris.
The Naxos 5 & 6 aren't bad the 5th is only let down by the horns in the last bar who dont complete the upward phrase for some odd reason. The Pacific Symphony Orchestra's (conducted by Harris's pupil Keith Clark) performance of the 6th is superior to the naxos version. For the 7th as discussed above, Ormandy is a must. There is only a just passable recording of the 1st by the Lousiville Orchestra which has a few small cuts, which with Koussevitsky's recording from the 1930's (the 1st commercial recording of an American symphony) are the only recordings of this very fine symphony. It is shocking that so fine a symphony doesn't have a good modern recording when many works of highly dubious quality do. The naxos recording of the 4th (Folksong Symphony) isn't too bad but is let down by a rather lacklustre performance of the 3rd with which it is coupled, though this version does play the work complete, opening out the 30-40 seconds worth of cuts in the 'pastoral section' which were traditionally employed until recently.
Other works to try are the masterful Piano Quintet and the highly engaging Violin Sonata.