104 Great Symphonies You Haven't Heard Yet

104 Great Symphonies You Haven't Heard Yet

Alonso Delarte

Published by Alonso Delarte at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Alonso Delarte

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Dedicated to the memory of Prof. John Guinn

Acknowledgements

The writings of Robert Simpson on Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius have given me a great example for writing about music. The thematic catalogues by Hoboken, Köchel, Perger, Klafsky, Sherman and Thomas have been of great help.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The list of 104 Great Symphonies

Appendix A: Great Symphonies You Might Have Heard Only Bits and Pieces Of

Appendix B: Suggestions From Jim Moskowitz

Appendix C: Great Symphonies You Might Have Heard Before

Appendix D: Great Symphonies You Might Not Have Heard Before

Appendix E: Some Sinfoniettas

Appendix F: Some Sinfonie Concertante

Appendix G: Mozart Symphonies

Appendix H: Haydn Symphonies

Appendix J: Advice For Amateur Orchestra Conductors and Boards

About the author

Introduction

At first this book was going to be titled A Hundred Symphonies You Have Never Heard Before. Part of that problem with that title is that it doesn't give any indication why that is a situation that you would want to change. After all, I could fill a book so titled with competent but forgettable compositions.

Worse, I could include works thought to be lost (Mozart contemporaries like Kraus and Pokorny have quite a few of those in their catalogues), works known to have been destroyed (Robert Simpson is said to have written a Symphony using 12-tone technique) and long awaited music that never materialized (like the Sibelius Eighth).

Since this book is limited to Symphonies that I have studied (preferably listening to more than one recording and studying the score) and that I can vouch for as being excellent compositions that I think other people ought to hear, the word great was added to the title, and never before was swapped out in favor of yet.

Now, I can't guarantee that you have never ever heard these before. Those who get all their classical music out of one of those compilations of the best or most relaxing classical music have certainly not heard any of the Symphonies listed in this book (they won't recognize anything until they get to Appendix A).

People who listen to the typical classical station in America may have heard ten or at most twenty of the Symphonies listed in this book, and even people who sit on the boards of major orchestras may very well be stumped by a lot of the composers named in this book. If you have heard half the Symphonies listed in this book, then I commend you on your excellent taste. And if you have heard every single Symphony in this book performed live by a full orchestra, then I envy you.

It is important to emphasize that famous is not necessarily great. Judging by radio play alone, we could very well conclude that some half-baked song that repeats the same line over and over and is getting played several times a day on a popular music station is greater than Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. Or Beethoven's Fifth, for that matter.

Of course familiarity is an important factor in our perception of music. The other day, after listening to the Sixth Symphony of a certain Czech composer whose name is frequently misspelled, I caught myself thinking: This is better than the Fifth Symphony. Why? Well, the handling of form seems more assured. No, that's not the reason. After all, just a couple of days before that, I had been listening to the Fifth Symphony and at no point did I think anything along the lines of it not being as good as the Sixth.

The real reason for that is that, to me, the Sixth is more familiar. I've heard it in concert, on the radio and on CD, and maybe even LP and cassette. The Fifth I have only heard on CD. I have only two recordings of the Fifth in my collection, and one of them comes from a boxed set of his complete Symphonies. I have five recordings of the Sixth and I could have more if I wanted to. Plus, the Sixth is quite redolent of the Brahms Second.

The Fifth Symphony is an excellent piece of music, and to deny ourselves the pleasure of hearing it due to some idiotic notion of it not being as good as the composer's later Symphonies would be a grave mistake. As we leave the economy of the assembly line behind and move towards the economy of the replicator, we should take the opportunity to get to know music outside the narrow realm approved by the music appreciation racket.

To really listen with open ears, we must give each piece of music a chance on its own merits, without regard to where it fits in the composer's oeuvre or in relation to contemporary music. After hearing a particular piece of music for the first time, if it does not particularly make an impression on you one way or the other, you should give it a second chance. Then maybe upon the second hearing you'll decide that it's either one of your new favorites or it's something you don't need to ever hear again.

In deciding the title of the book, there was still the matter of the number. Exactly 100 seems wrong, because, for one thing, it suggests there was some kind of ranking that was arrived at by polling and voting. Since so many Symphonies are numbered, I decided there would be some sort of numerical correspondence between a Symphony's number and its placement in this list, such as placing Michael Haydn's No. 29 in D minor at #29 on the list.

There are of course lots of Symphonies No. 3, for example, but not that many No. 80, so for some of the lower numbers I would have to settle for a different number. This problem is worst for First Symphonies, as there are surprisingly quite a few composers who wrote a tremendous, awesome Symphony No. 1 and followed it with competent Symphonies that just don't exert that strong a hold on the imagination. (Though in some cases it could be that not all their later Symphonies have been recorded—perhaps Czerny's Third or Fourth Symphony might be more to my liking than the Second or the Sixth).

What if I could not think of a Symphony to place at a particular spot? It occurred to me that I should then just choose the Symphony by Joseph Haydn with that very number. Haydn wrote 104 Symphonies, yet only about 20 of them (mostly the ones with nicknames) are well known. That therefore determined that this book would list 104 Great Symphonies. Long before that decision, I knew I wanted to include No. 89 in this book, while No. 86 was included because I couldn't think of any Symphony to place at the #86 spot.

With the numbering decided, as one further gimmick, each Symphony in this list of 104 is allotted a maximum of 104 words. (Certain explanatory words don't count towards that limit, nor the suggestion of what else to put on the concert). While 104 words may often be insufficient even just for the highlights, it forces me to get to the point. All the Symphonies in the list of 104 are deserving of in-depth analysis just like all the overplayed Symphonies of the core repertoire, but that's not the purpose of this book.

I have tried to have variety in these selections, including some short, cheerful Symphonies that some may dismiss as lightweight as well as lengthier, heavier and more melodramatic Symphonies. I don't want anyone to listen to two Symphonies from this list and then say Of course he chose that one, it's a 19th Century Symphony in C minor with lots of ominous brass statements and timpani rolls. (Actually I'm referring to a certain YouTube user with that one, in my case, it would be more like 18th Century Symphonies in D minor).

I will admit upfront that there is an element of self-interest in my taking up this endeavor. I think I write pretty good music, but with the attitude imposed by the music appreciation racket, I face very high barriers of entry. It doesn't matter how good my music actually is if it can be shot down with something like It's not Beethoven's Fifth or "It's not Vivaldi's Four Seasons." That stupid attitude also leads to people to ignore a lot of lesser known gems from the most famous composers.

In writing about music, there is always the problem that no words can substitute for the actual experience of listening to music. The most that I can hope for is that the words I write convince you that the music I write about is worth hearing. In some cases, the preview tracks on Amazon.com and other music shopping websites may be what seals the deal.

You may notice that I don't use the abbreviation Op. for Opus. I think it's silly to abbreviate a word of four letters to two letters, and in any case it doesn't affect word count one way or the other. I doubt Gramophone magazine and similar publications save much on ink by substituting a period for a U and an S.

I don't expect many people to read this book word by word from beginning to end. Perhaps most will skim it from #1 to #104, skipping past the ones they have heard before, reading about the ones they have not heard, and occasionally putting this book aside to search for a recording.

For each Symphony I suggest an Overture and a Concerto that would be suitable companions in concert. I do realize that for some of the shorter Symphonies, the programme would be too short, but these are only meant as suggestions, which, if nothing else, elucidate the Symphony at hand. In part for that reason, I have tried to limit the suggested Overtures and Concertos to well-known pieces, or at least not have both of them also be obscure music. And you will notice that I suggest some Overtures and Concertos over and over again.

It is a judgment call, but even if you take my suggestions, you may want to consider structuring the concert as Overture-Symphony-Concerto or even Symphony-Concerto-Overture rather than Overture-Concerto-Symphony.

But perhaps most Readers will be listeners who, tired of the same old Symphonies trotted in and out for each concert and recording, are eager to explore as far as the fringes of the repertoire in the hopes of finding great music they were unaware of. For the most part I won't be recommending any specific recordings. In the case of the lesser known works, there may only be one recording to choose from.

Who knows how many wonderful Symphonies have been consigned to oblivion, often by circumstances beyond the composer's control? The Symphonies listed in this book at least have a fighting chance to be rescued from oblivion.

The list of 104 Great Symphonies

#1. Vadim Salmanov, Symphony No. 1 in D minor

NOTE: Salmanov wrote three other Symphonies, of which the Second seems to have achieved at least a small degree of popularity at one point.

In the Soviet Union, there was an expectation on symphonists to deliver social realism, though graduation pieces (such as First Symphonies), were exempt. It may not be too difficult to nevertheless read social realism into Salmanov's First Symphony.

To my mind, the beginning is a cold winter day in Russia. The mood is not so much tragedy nor Sturm und Drang as it is an almost elemental determination to survive. The slow movement is a kind of slow march. The finale arrives at a well done, triumphant but not over the top conclusion. Note the motivic integration throughout.

Suggested Overture: Antonio Salieri, Les Danaïdes Overture.

Suggested Concerto: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466.

#2. Michael Haydn, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Baroque, MH 37, Perger 2, Sherman 2

NOTE: Owing to various confusions about Michael Haydn's oeuvre, as many catalogue numbers as I can find will identify each of his Symphonies in this book. It is thus hopefully certain that one of the catalogue numbers used will be the one you find on the recording's back cover. In the case of Symphony No. 2, it is only a coincidence that the Perger and Sherman numbers are exactly the same.

The way this Symphony starts out, it could very well be a Concerto Grosso; throughout there are quite a few Baroque traits, as well as a few decidedly more Classical. In those days before the codification of sonata form, the development is all of ten measures and scored just for the violins (firsts and seconds, which ought to be placed across each other instead of all on the same side). The slow movement is, as was common for the era, without winds. The Minuet has a degree of pomp, while the concluding Rondo, though in a lightweight 3/8 time, is an appropriately festive conclusion.

Suggested Overture: Ludwig van Beethoven, Consecration of the House Overture.

Suggested Concerto: Antonio Salieri, Organ Concerto in C major. (Admittedly it would be a short concert with these suggestions; in a few other cases throughout this book, the suggestions for Overture and Concerto are more to shed light on the character of the Symphony).

#3. Vagn Holmboe, Symphony No. 3, Opus 25, Sinfonia Rustica

Holmboe has acquired a reputation for writing music that is consistently grim and fierce. This Symphony presents the more cheerful side of Holmboe. Would you have guessed that