Three symphony cycles you would like to have on record instead of the usual suspects

2808 Views 60 Replies 37 Participants Last post by cybernaut, 1 mo ago

48486

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

This is not a thread to suggest more recordings of the symphonies by Beethoven, Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms, Shostakovich, Sibelius, etc. The goal is to indicate which symphony cycles by other composers of your preferences should have more recordings, or what should be recorded in their entirety for the first time.

Mine are: Vagn Holmboe, Gavriil Popov and Hilding Rosenberg

What about you?

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21 - 40 of 61 Posts

joen_cph

· #21 · 2 mo ago

PMD gets rather divided opinions, from what I've heard - biggest praise was 'the greatest among most recent composers". A big name in the UK, obviously, but not always so easy to get into. However, symphonies 7, 8 , 9 will probably be recorded in the coming years - anything else would be very strange.

Coming to think of it, Nørholm's later symphonies 10-13 are also awaiting recordings, and at least the 13th is 'rather accessible' - fingers crossed, but an obvious task for Dacapo.

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larold

· #22 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Not that I'd ever buy it or listen but it would be interesting for someone to try their hand recording all 175 (or whatever) of Alan Hovhannes' symphonies.

Perhaps less far-fethced would be a complete set of symphonies by Walter Piston. Lots of people have tried their hands at some but none all.

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PathfinderCS

· #23 · 2 mo ago

Honestly; I want to add Havergal Brian. One conductor, same label, whatever orchestra. I need to hear more visions of various symphonies like 2, 4, 8, 9, and 10!

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Merl

· #24 · 2 mo ago

Tubin & Cowell off the top of my head.

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Prodromides

· #25 · 2 mo ago

There are certainly more than 3 cycles that many of us wish for; limiting myself to a Top 3 mine would be:

1) Paavo Heininen
Symphony no. 1 op. 3 (1958/60)
Symphony no. 2 Petite symphonie joyeuse op. 9 (1962)
Symphony no. 3 op. 20 (1969/77)
Symphony no. 4 op. 27 (1971)
Symphony no. 5 op. 80 (2001–02)
Symphony no. 6 op. 132 (2015)
Symphony no. 7 op. 144 (2020)
Symphony no. 8 op. 145 (2021)

2) the 12 symphonies of Wilfred Josephs Wilfred Josephs

3) the 12<12+ (?) symphonies of Maurice Karkoff Karkoff, Maurice (Ingvar) | Encyclopedia.com
syms.: No. 1 (Bergen, Oct. 22, 1956), No. 2 (1957; Swedish Radio, Jan. 5, 1959), No. 3, Sinfonia breve (1958-59; Gavle, Jan. 10, 1960), No.4 (1963; Stockholm, April 4, 1964), No. 5, Sinfonia da camera (Gavle, Nov. 11, 1965), No. 6 (1972-73; Stockholm, Oct. 12, 1974), No. 7, Sinfonia da camera (1975), No. 8 (1979–80), Short Symphony for Symphonic Band (1980-81; Stockholm, Sept. 27, 1982), Dolorous Symphony for Strings (1981–82); Sinfonia piccola (1982–83), No. 10 (1984–85); Little Symphony (1987), No. 11, Sinfonia della vita (1993–94), and No. 12, Sinfonia semplice (1994–96)

[if asked for 5 instead of 3, my next contenders could include Irwin Bazelon and Mikis Theodorakis - but there is no shortage of other candidates]

I love the CPO label's contributions to the discographies of symphonic cycles, but I wouldn't mind subsequent alternates by others on cycles by Wellesz, Frankel + many more.

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48486

Discussion Starter · #26 · 2 mo ago

Interesting replies so far and I agree with them all (being a symphony completist the mere idea of having those cycles is certainly exciting). Some composers are totally unknown to me (e.g. Glonti, Brusilovsky, Gerster, Heininen, Josephs). Hopefully record labels will take note of this thread.

Josquin13

· #27 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

There are so many cycles that narrowing my list down to just three is difficult. I agree with many of the choices here so far: especially Tubin, Tournemire, Sessions, & Simpson.

Number one on my own list would be Charles Koechlin because he's an important French composer from an era of music that keenly interests me & to date no conductor and orchestra has recorded his complete symphonies--a serious oversight!!!

Joonas Kokkonen is another fine, underrated 20th century composer of 4 Symphonies; however, I won't put Kokkonen in my top three because I'm very happy with my two complete sets from conductors Sakari Oramo & Ulf Soderstrom/Osmo Vanska & my individual recordings by Paavo Berglund. Although I would like to see BIS finally release their LP recording of Kokkonen's 2nd & 4th Symphonies from conductors Leif Segerstam & Okko Kamu onto CD. I'd particularly like to have Kamu's 4th in my collection:

I'm also think highly of conductor Owain Arwel Hughes' cycle of Vagn Holmboe's 13 Symphonies with the Århus Symphony Orchestra, hence I won't put Holmboe in my top three, either.

So, I see this exercise as more of a calling to rescue certain composers that have been unjustly ignored or at least partly neglected by the record companies.

With that in mind, here are my top three picks,

1. Charles Koechlin

2. Alan Stout--who was a student of Vagn Holmboe, Wallingford Riegger & Henry Cowell. I've never heard any of Stout's Symphonies (or 10 String Quartets), which were premiered in concert by conductors Solti & Ozawa & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the 1960s. But I have heard some absolutely brilliant music that he composed for a production of Euripedes' Hippolytus, & I've never heard a Greek chorus work better on stage (not even close). IMO, the music was way more interesting & transfixing than what Harrison Birtwistle composed for Peter Hall's production of the Oresteia triology at the National Theater in London around the same time.

However, Stout didn't promote his own music, it wasn't in his nature, so there's very little available to listen to. I admit I'm not overly crazy about his Cello Sonata--which has been recorded, but recently some of Stout's earliest works for organ and chorus have been getting posted on youtube, etc., & the following piece has grown on me considerably with repeated listening:

Alan Stout Interview with Bruce Duffie . . . . . . . . .

www.bruceduffie.com

3. Paavo Heininen

Plus, like joen_cph, I'd like to see Ib Nørholm's last symphonies get recorded--nos. 10-13, so that I can hear his complete cycle (I have the Odense recordings of 1-9). Here's his 9th, for anyone who's curious:

Others:

Einar Englund
Wallingford Riegger
John Harbison

I'd also like to hear Oliver Knussen's Symphony No. 1, which was a youthful effort that he withdrew--that is, if he didn't throw it into the rubbish bin.

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Oldhoosierdude

· #28 · 2 mo ago

Fibich should get more attention. Although the Naxos set is pretty good.

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Neo Romanza

· #29 · 2 mo ago

joen_cph said:
I think by Peter Maxwell Davies, symphonies 7,8,9 are not available in recordings.

But for Honegger, there are at least 4 complete sets (Baudo, Dutoit, Plasson, Brogli-Sacher).

Another complete Honegger cycle comes from Fabio Luisi on a lesser known Swiss label (whose name escapes me at the moment --- it's not Claves or Musiques Suisses I do know this much). This is difficult set to find, but I bought it years ago. It's alright, but it doesn't displace Baudo.

Michael Pakaluk

· #30 · 2 mo ago

Coach G said:
I'd like to see the "Dude", Gustavo Dudamel, and his swinging New York Philharmonic, take on a complete cycle by one of great American symphonists such as Roy Harris (11), Walter Piston (8), Roger Sessions (9), or Gloria Coates (15?), Lou Harrison (4) et.al. I wouldn't expect him, or anyone to do a complete Alan Hovhaness (60+), but to hear some of Hovhaness' less popular gems done by a major American symphony orchestra might be nice (Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra did Hovhaness' Symphony #2 "Mysterious Mountain". At least Gerard Schwarz had enough respect for our own American classical music heritage to record a wonderful near-complete William Schuman cycle for Naxos with his Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Likewise, Marin Alsop is also doing a great job bringing bits and pieces of the Roy Harris cycle to see the light of day. You'd think with America's wealth of very fine symphony orchestras, along with our world-class conductors that are native-born or on loan from all around the world, that we'd highlight the beautiful, if not interesting, music that our country has to offer, even if it doesn't quite measure up to our European counterparts. But that's not what we do. Instead of embracing the long-lost symphonies of an American composer such as Florence Price, we complain about it being "woke". If you don't believe me then dig up the recent "Another Silly List" thread from a few weeks ago here on TC. So then we probably end up with Dudamel and the NYPO recording the 200th rendition of the Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Bruckner, or Sibelius symphonies that nobody needs to hear.

Hanson — Seattle has a good cycle but others welcome.

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Cavatino

· #31 · 2 mo ago

Three composers, whose symphonies have been sadly neglected:

Toch
Salmanov
Vainberg

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ronsoccer

· #32 · 2 mo ago

Oldhoosierdude said:
Fibich should get more attention. Although the Naxos set is pretty good.

Supraphon has a complete cycle of Fibch. 3 different conductors but the BRNO State Philharmonic is the orchestra for all 3 symphonies. They were recorded almost 40 years ago and are AAD recordings but the performance and sound is still great!

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Orfeo

· #33 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Gavriil Popov: most definitely
Erkki Melartin: his symphonies are due for another cycle, and in new performing editions prepared by the Melartin Society.
Eshpai
Karamanov
Shebalin
Skulte: most definitely

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Roger Knox

· #34 · 2 mo ago

ronsoccer said:
Supraphon has a complete cycle of Fibich. 3 different conductors but the BRNO State Philharmonic is the orchestra for all 3 symphonies. They were recorded almost 40 years ago and are AAD recordings but the performance and sound is still great!

Thanks to you and Oldhoosierdude for mentioning Fibich whose symphonies are impressive. I've just been listening for the first time to his orchestral suite Impressions from the Countryside played by the Carlsbad SO/Douglas Bostock, which I enjoyed greatly. What I just learned is that he is considered to be in a line following Smetana while many of his colleagues were more influenced by Dvorak. That distinction had repercussions later with early Czech modernism where there was an anti-Dvorak tendency. Nevertheless, I'm enthusiastic about Dvorak and his orchestral suites and symphonies too.

Oldhoosierdude

· #35 · 2 mo ago

Roger Knox said:
Thanks to you and Oldhoosierdude for mentioning Fibich whose symphonies are impressive. I've just been listening for the first time to his orchestral suite Impressions from the Countryside played by the Carlsbad SO/Douglas Bostock, which I enjoyed greatly. What I just learned is that he is considered to be in a line following Smetana while many of his colleagues were more influenced by Dvorak. That distinction had repercussions later with early Czech modernism where there was an anti-Dvorak tendency. Nevertheless, I'm enthusiastic about Dvorak and his orchestral suites and symphonies too.

I like several of the lesser mentioned composers: Fibich, Magnard, Bascewiecz, Farrenc.

SanAntone

· #36 · 2 mo ago

Cavatino said:
Three composers, whose symphonies have been sadly neglected:

Toch
Salmanov
Vainberg

It is sad that Weinberg's (I assume your mean Weinberg) entire cycle of symphonies has not been recorded (there is not even an individual recording for some of them).

starthrower

· #37 · 2 mo ago

There is a complete set of Toch's symphonies on CPO. They've been available for many years.

EdwardBast

· #38 · 2 mo ago

SanAntone said:
It is sad that Weinberg's (I assume your mean Weinberg) entire cycle of symphonies has not been recorded (there is not even an individual recording for some of them).

I too want a complete set of Weinberg symphonies, and if they could throw in a couple of the concertos that would be nice..

Neo Romanza

· #39 · 2 mo ago

larold said:
Not that I'd ever buy it or listen but it would be interesting for someone to try their hand recording all 175 (or whatever) of Alan Hovhannes' symphonies.

Talk about aural torture!

48486

Discussion Starter · #40 · 2 mo ago

Oldhoosierdude said:
Fibich should get more attention. Although the Naxos set is pretty good.

I'm not familiar with the Naxos set, but the Chandos recordings with Järvi get my vote for the best performances of these symphonies.

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