Our Summer BAL 18: Schubert Octet

[BBMmk2]

I thought I had this in my collection, now I must reccopence this, quite hurriedly!! Nash Ensemble have recorded this, hav'nt they?

[verismissimo]

Might just be tempted by a nice lively, fruity (i.e. not emaciated/ blanched) HIPP version I suppose...

I've invested in the Hausmusik version recommended by John Skelton.

Fingers crossed, LMP.

[BBMmk2]

What do other people think?

[Barbirollians]

I have the 1958 Vienna Octet and it still sounds marvellous . I should second , however, very strongly the recommendation for the Michael Collins and friends CD though which I probably now play more often .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ha ha ha. Well there you go - didn't even realise he wrote one!

You might recognise the Finale, martin: after a slow, mock-dramatic Intro, it launches into one of those "Oh! That's where it comes from!" tunes.

I'm also extremely fond of the Michael Collins and Friends version (if it's the same as the performance that was the cover CD for BBC Music Mag back in Vol 8 No2 - without a shepherd or even a solitary rock, alas): it made the piece "click" for me at last, having not "got" it before.

[BBMmk2]

I would appreciate other members opinions of The Nash Ensemble's recording please?

[verismissimo]

Really wonderful horn playing from Anthony Halstead on the Hausmusik recording from 1991. Presumably natural horn, waldhorn?

[Tony Halstead]

Hmm... the Octet dates from 1824, so, 10 years after the invention of the valve.

Schubert's song 'Auf dem Strom' ( 1828) is all but unplayable using a valveless horn, as is the 4th horn part of his 'Nachtgesang im Walde' for 4 -part male choir and horn quartet.
Playing an early valve horn in the Octet would certainly be justifiable on practical grounds, especially in the Variations movement, which lies uncomfortably low for the horn 'crooked' in C - its total length of tubing a somewhat unwieldy 16 feet / 4.8 metres.
Nevertheless, the fact that the composer notated that movement for the 'C basso' horn and all the other movements for 'horn in F' implies that he was expecting a valveless 'hand-horn' to be played.

I must try to hear the 'Hausmusik' recording and listen out for any muffled 'stopped' sounds!

[Tony Halstead]

Just listened to it... definitely a valveless 'hand-horn'.

[verismissimo]

Brilliant stuff, waldhorn. Many thanks.

[Tony Halstead]

I would appreciate other members opinions of The Nash Ensemble's recording please?

Not wishing to 'damn with faint praise' these are my thoughts:
Workmanlike;
Worthy;
Generally a bit dull and un-inspirational.

Ensemble-wise: very well 'together' but of course that's not a 'guarantee of success' as an interpretation ( witness the appalling 'untogetherness' of the last BAL's recommended recordings!)

[BBMmk2]

Thank you Waldhorn. Pity that, I do rather like their work, normally. Will have another look at other members' views on this work now!

[MickyD]

Another HIPP one is this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=schubert+octet+AAM

which shares 2 out of 3 of its wind players with the Hausmusik recording.

I got to know the Octet through this lovely AAM recording - it made a later appearance in a Decca twofer with the same artists in the "Trout" Quintet and some violin sonatas.

[Don Petter]

And I only have a very old LP, Heliodor 'Hi Fi', purchased in 1963, with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, sadly not named.

That Heliodor was a 1962 re-issue of the DGG LP of 1956, which latter is the one from which I first got to know the work. The same group (by name) made a new recording for DGG in 1966.

I see there is a Brilliant re-issue on CD:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Octet-Berlin-Philharmonic-Franz-Schubert/dp/B001FXSVIY/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1345996013&sr=1-3

which I presume is the later DGG performance (the earlier was mono only). Can anyone confirm this?

I also see Amazon offers a Nimbus CD with apparently the same forces:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Octet-Franz/dp/B00000F1BU/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1345996013&sr=1-2

Anyone experience of this?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I also see Amazon offers a Nimbus CD with apparently the same forces:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Octet-Franz/dp/B00000F1BU/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1345996013&sr=1-2

Anyone experience of this?

Yes; it's in their Schubert: the Masterworks 40 CD set, too. Good performance, but lacking the magic of the Michael Collins & Pals.