You're on a friggin roll, my dude. You're going to be legendary after building up this vast library of invaluable lectures. People will be consulting them for years to come. Great legacy.
Bloch's is my favorite for the reasons we know already. Another interesting symphony in this key is Rangström's Symphony No. 1 'August Strindberg in Memoriam'. What an angry and turbulent work! I'm a sucker for dramatic works like that.
Along with the increase in atonality and key ambiguity, there are the other modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc. - not to mention pentatonic and whole-tone scales) that were more widely used before the "classical" period and are being used now more and more.
I was hooked on the Bloch the first time I heard it on that early Marco Polo recording. It's wonderful, beautiful and powerful symphony. In a world where the symphonies of Mahler, the big tone poems of Strauss are so popular, I'l never understand why this symphony is so little known. Only three recordings to date and it never shows up on live concerts. Very glad you mentioned it - more people need to hear it!
Great choices, once again very illuminating (Bloch, especially). A thought: since this very enjoyable series is loosely based on the format of Bach's "WTC", it might be cool to begin with a bit of one of the Preludes or Fugues in the "key du jour", which would provide fascinating insight into your point re: the relationship of KEY to the color and character of the music we are about to hear; eg: the opening of the Bach C# minor Fugue from Book 1 (one of his supreme masterpieces in the form) would really "set the stage" for Kraus, etc. Just a thought. Two more thoughts: 1.) I had forgotten that the BAX #5 is in C# minor; thanks for including it. For anyone interested: that broad, chant-like theme (24:10) will return in the symphony's Coda, transformed into a magnificent hymn that begins gently and expands into what I believe it Bax's most inspired ending (in the parallel Db Major). The Bryden Thompsen/Chandos recording is fabulous; the man REALLY understood the music. 2.) When I conducted the Prokofiev 7th, I pulled a fast one, playing the the original somber ending to conclude the work. The applause was polite, so I told the audience that the composer had subsequently composed a livelier, "up--beat" version, placating the authorities and increasing the likelihood of racking up another Stalin/Lenin prize. So we did a "re-wind", played the end of the sad coda, followed by the revised, rollicking coda. The audience let out a collective yelp of delight, and the applause tripled. Still, I doubt that any one of them would care if they ever heard the work again. That's just the way the world is. LR
Honorable mention could go to Beethoven’s Op. 131 String Quartet, which has entered the orchestral rep through transcription/arrangement (and is an astonishing work). That opening fugue is what I imagine Mahler pointing to if you ask “what does C# minor sound like?”
I first heard the Bloch Symphony in C sharp minor sometime in 1988 or 1989 thanks to a friend in high school who had a tape - I've no idea how he came by it, so it might have been the Gunzenhauser which had just been released, or the St Louis recording - and was blown away by it: such a huge, opulent, brilliant work. So hard to get a copy of it though! It's also hard to understand why it has been frustratingly neglected for so long, but there are so many composers whose œuvres are only getting recorded thanks to Naxos and similar labels. Thanks for your recommendation of the Naxos disc of Bloch, and for the other works such as those of Kraus and Magnard. Wow!
Chopin often used this key. The first polonaise, the third scherzo, the fantasie-impromptu . . . he also used it in the etudes, waltzes, preludes, nocturnes, and especially the mazurkas (opus 50 #3 is as expressive a mazurka as he ever wrote). Haydn wrote a piano sonata in this key sometime before 1780. It's a weird sonata with a scherzo for a middle movement and a slow minuet as the finale. But speaking of Beethoven, the string quartet op. 131 is an incredible apotheosis of the expressive capabilities of this key.
the Mahler piece at 16:30 was used as the theme music for the late '70s BBC docudrama about the events leading to WWI, "FALL OF EAGLES". The whole series is on TH-cam. Many thanks to David Hurwitz for another intriguing show.
Another fine video! Count me in as a fan of Prokofiev, from gnarly (I adore his 3rd Symphony) to melodic, with the gorgeous, sweeping 7th symphony as a fine example of his ample talents for crafting memorable, touching melodies. Movement two is such a vital and charming waltz, with humor and wistful aspects-irresistible! And, while I prefer the original quiet ending of the finale, when done with verve, the added little gallop to punch the conclusion can also work for me-depends on my mood. And I'm also glad for the Magnard mention-those four symphonies are all fine works. I've pointed people towards them for many years. I think you are correct in the thought that with current orchestral instruments being homogeneously chromatic that the tensions or felicities for specific instruments in playing various keys are mostly now lost. Unless one has perfect pitch, if you transposed (and one can do it digitally with ease with today's tech) a familiar major work by half-step up or down, how many might notice? I'm looking forward to this continued journey through the keys-a splendid concept for a series that you are executing with sharp discernment!
When I took a course on post-Wagnerian symphonists with Robert Bailey at the Eastman School of Music in the early 80's, he maintained that the tonality of a symphony should be determined by the key it ends in. Thus he considered Mahler 5 to be in D, which makes sense when one considers that the work's progressive tonality charts the gradual emergence and eventual establishment of that key. Mahler himself suggested that it was probably better to avoid mention of a key altogether.
My favorite C-sharp minor symphony MOVEMENT is the gorgeous 2nd movement of Dvorak's criminally neglected Symphony # 3. Once heard, this piece will stay in your memory.
I love these talks where you never know exactly what you’re going to get! Although I’ve explored Bloch’s chamber music (and the Concerti Grossi of course), the symphony is new to me, and will be on my next CD order. One C Sharp Minor symphony not mentioned is the 1st of Kabalevsky - the recording I have was on ASV with Tjeknavorian conducting the Armenian Philharmonic: I don’t know if it has resurfaced on another label.
Just given it a spin - must have had the disc for 20 years and can’t remember when I last listened to it - and I see what you mean! Now back to the Bertini Mahler cycle you recently commended, a second-hand copy of which I managed to pick up for a song on Discogs…
Very good. At 32 minutes I was preparing to comment on your omission of Havergal Brian, and then you took the wind out of my sails, and chose the best of his three. If others are interested, after No 16 we have Nos 3 and 20 in C sharp minor. No 3 with its prominent part for two pianos is long but is worth persevering with. Best heard in the version conducted by Stanley Pope if you can find it. Keep listening friends and enjoy.
Appreciate the mention of Joseph Martin Kraus. I don't know much by him, but love his keyboard / piano sonata in E major "VB2 196". Must listen to some of his symphonies, I didn't realise his pioneering work in this key. Also taken by the excerpt from Bloch, not familiar with any of his music. Thank-you for this interesting series, along with so many of your other reviews.
For me, one of your most intriguing and informative pieces. The Krauss and Bloch are big surprises, the others all favourites and you've characterised C-sharp minor perfectly. I find the whole of Prokofiev 7 wistful, almost valedictory although I'm probably reading too much into it. On a quick scan of famous quartets and concerti to see if they exhibit similar characteristics, Beethoven 131, Shostakovich VC2 and string quartet 4 seem to be the only candidates I can come up with. Perhaps other subscribers can identify more.
For the 3,000th time in my life, I'm in print before I've double-checked. It's the 4th movement of Shostakovich's 3rd quartet that's in C sharp minor, not the 4th quartet. It fits Mr. H's characterization of the key.
On the chicken/egg question of the characters of the keys in piano literature: One historical view is that strict equal temperament on pianos wasn’t generally achieved until very late in the 19th century. In Beethoven’s time (as in J.S. Bach’s) some flavor of “well temperament” was the norm, slightly favoring the more common keys (but of course making all keys usable, unlike meantone). A nice well temperament features some pure 5ths among the black notes. A minor triad with a pure 5th is equal-beating - thus a somewhat harder sound than an E.T. minor triad where the 3rds have differing beat speeds. To me this hardness/consonance gives C♯ minor in W.T. a more austere and intimate mood compared with, say, C minor, which seems more public and open. I do believe the auditory qualities of the keys influenced sensitive composers to write music in different moods with at least a little bit of consistency. The first time I heard Chopin played in a well temperament was a huge revelation. Suddenly it became obvious: Of *course* he wrote this in F♯ minor! He would never have written it in F minor - etc.
Furtwängler's third! Dave, you once told us that you dissuaded Barenboim from recording this symphony - but I'm not complaining because we got his fabulous recording of Furtwängler's superior 2nd instead. Which I'm sure will be featured in your video on symphonies in e minor! Still, I'd love to hear how the 3rd would fare in the hands of a truly great conductor and orchestra. What I can tell from the flawed Alfred Walter recording is that F. tried to move away from the opulent romanticism of the 1st and 2nd and tried to apply some more hard-edged neo-classical style. It sometimes sounds like watered down Stravinsky or the Rachmaninoff of the 3rd symphony and the Symphonic Dances.
Thanks! Especially for introducing me to the Kraus, Bloch and Magnard. I’m curious about the Prokofiev, as another Beethoven link might be that it’s Op 131, the same Op number as Beethoven’s quartet in C# minor. Surely this can’t be a coincidence? Wikipedia is of no help, and I guess I not as good a listener (yet) to discern if there are any allusions to the quartet in the symphony…
Great video as usual! In another matter- I would like to hear more about your opera cd’s and singers preferences or maybe a review of the big opera sets of different labels. Can you make this kind of videos?
The Bloch gets added to my wish list today -- never heard it before (or even heard of it that I recall). The rest of these were all familiar to me though I haven't listened to the Brian in a long time (I think I had it on a Lyrita LP once). This is turning out to be an interesting series. Oh, by the way, Magnard's farm couldn't have been on the Maginot line at the time he was killed. That line of fortifications wasn't built until the 1930s. However, I do get your point that his farm was on the invasion path.
Great talk as always while the blochwas a revelation.. I've always avoided listening to it just because the title sounded like something that would be super serious heavy and bloated and I could not have been more wrong I can't wait to hear the rest of it
I happily find I have most of these symphonies aside from the Brian and Kraus. This actually makes me interested in furthering my Kraus as I only have one disc of his music from Naxos, featuring the Olympie Overture and three other symphonies, which I quite enjoyed. So this is certainly something to look into. I also see I have one other C sharp minor symphony that I found used from my favourite pick-up place for bargain classical: William Wallace's The Creation Symphony on Hyperion that likely has never been recorded anywhere else before or since. I quite liked that in that whole obscure late romantic big ideas sort of sense that's quite fun to indulge with every now and again, and I only paid like five euro on that and another Wallace tone poem disc.
Surely the Moonlight as written falls very well under the pianist's hands. But would the music have been significantly different if Beethoven wrote the piece in C minor? (Remember when he arranged the E major sonata 14/1 for quartet, he had no issue transposing the piece to F, to take advantage of the cello's low C string.) But no mention of Beethoven's only other piece in C# minor, the great op. 131 quartet! Which like the Moonlight, also opens with a slow movement (this time a fugue) but places the main sonata-form as the finale. I want to follow up with that Bloch, however.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Could be, as the Moonlight is doubtless one of the most famous works ever written. But after hearing the quartet, Schubert supposedly said, "What is left for us to write?" And it was a very important work for Wagner, who wrote that "the very slow introductory Adagio reveals the most melancholy sentiment ever expressed in music." It was important enough for Bernstein as well to have recorded a string orchestra arrangement.
So excited to hear Bloch’s C Sharp Minor symphony get some much-needed love! I have the premiere with the St. Louis Symphony on LP and both recorded versions I’m aware of an CD. Wonderful Straussian romantic stuff which deserves a standard two spot. The symphony also does a nice job of bringing out the somewhat elusive properties of the key.
Thank you for introducing me to the Bloch, I have ordered it. We could do with a Bloch revival, during his lifetime was regarded as a major contemporary composer, now he's nearly completely disappeared from the repertoire, it seems extraordinary that most violinists ignore his violin concerto.
@@patrickhows1482 Agree that the violin concerto should get more play. His string quartets are also worth hearing, but Schelomo seems to be his only piece to enter the standard repertoire (and that may be largely because it makes a good filler for various cello concerto recordings.)
Please note that the St. Louis Philharmonic is not a community orchestra in the usual sense, as it draws from the entire St. Louis metro area. When I was growing up they had many professional players playing with them, although no one was paid to do so. At their best they could show up the St. Louis Symphony of the period, although they were not always on that level.
You're on a friggin roll, my dude. You're going to be legendary after building up this vast library of invaluable lectures. People will be consulting them for years to come. Great legacy.
Bloch's is my favorite for the reasons we know already. Another interesting symphony in this key is Rangström's Symphony No. 1 'August Strindberg in Memoriam'. What an angry and turbulent work! I'm a sucker for dramatic works like that.
First piece I thought of even before Mahler 5 :)
@@Iseeisees Same here! The Segerstam is incandescent.
Along with the increase in atonality and key ambiguity, there are the other modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc. - not to mention pentatonic and whole-tone scales) that were more widely used before the "classical" period and are being used now more and more.
I was hooked on the Bloch the first time I heard it on that early Marco Polo recording. It's wonderful, beautiful and powerful symphony. In a world where the symphonies of Mahler, the big tone poems of Strauss are so popular, I'l never understand why this symphony is so little known. Only three recordings to date and it never shows up on live concerts. Very glad you mentioned it - more people need to hear it!
Great choices, once again very illuminating (Bloch, especially). A thought: since this very enjoyable series is loosely based on the format of Bach's "WTC", it might be cool to begin with a bit of one of the Preludes or Fugues in the "key du jour", which would provide fascinating insight into your point re: the relationship of KEY to the color and character of the music we are about to hear; eg: the opening of the Bach C# minor Fugue from Book 1 (one of his supreme masterpieces in the form) would really "set the stage" for Kraus, etc. Just a thought.
Two more thoughts: 1.) I had forgotten that the BAX #5 is in C# minor; thanks for including it. For anyone interested: that broad, chant-like theme (24:10) will return in the symphony's Coda, transformed into a magnificent hymn that begins gently and expands into what I believe it Bax's most inspired ending (in the parallel Db Major). The Bryden Thompsen/Chandos recording is fabulous; the man REALLY understood the music.
2.) When I conducted the Prokofiev 7th, I pulled a fast one, playing the the original somber ending to conclude the work. The applause was polite, so I told the audience that the composer had subsequently composed a livelier, "up--beat" version, placating the authorities and increasing the likelihood of racking up another Stalin/Lenin prize. So we did a "re-wind", played the end of the sad coda, followed by the revised, rollicking coda. The audience let out a collective yelp of delight, and the applause tripled. Still, I doubt that any one of them would care if they ever heard the work again. That's just the way the world is. LR
Honorable mention could go to Beethoven’s Op. 131 String Quartet, which has entered the orchestral rep through transcription/arrangement (and is an astonishing work). That opening fugue is what I imagine Mahler pointing to if you ask “what does C# minor sound like?”
I first heard the Bloch Symphony in C sharp minor sometime in 1988 or 1989 thanks to a friend in high school who had a tape - I've no idea how he came by it, so it might have been the Gunzenhauser which had just been released, or the St Louis recording - and was blown away by it: such a huge, opulent, brilliant work. So hard to get a copy of it though! It's also hard to understand why it has been frustratingly neglected for so long, but there are so many composers whose œuvres are only getting recorded thanks to Naxos and similar labels. Thanks for your recommendation of the Naxos disc of Bloch, and for the other works such as those of Kraus and Magnard. Wow!
Chopin often used this key. The first polonaise, the third scherzo, the fantasie-impromptu . . . he also used it in the etudes, waltzes, preludes, nocturnes, and especially the mazurkas (opus 50 #3 is as expressive a mazurka as he ever wrote). Haydn wrote a piano sonata in this key sometime before 1780. It's a weird sonata with a scherzo for a middle movement and a slow minuet as the finale.
But speaking of Beethoven, the string quartet op. 131 is an incredible apotheosis of the expressive capabilities of this key.
That 5th Symphony of Mahler is a test for the principal trumpet player in the opening. It is actually an audition requirement piece.
the Mahler piece at 16:30 was used as the theme music for the late '70s BBC docudrama about the events leading to WWI, "FALL OF EAGLES". The whole series is on TH-cam. Many thanks to David Hurwitz for another intriguing show.
Wow that Bloch Symphony sounds interesting! I will definitely check that out. As usual thank you Dave for introducing us to new music!
Another fine video! Count me in as a fan of Prokofiev, from gnarly (I adore his 3rd Symphony) to melodic, with the gorgeous, sweeping 7th symphony as a fine example of his ample talents for crafting memorable, touching melodies. Movement two is such a vital and charming waltz, with humor and wistful aspects-irresistible! And, while I prefer the original quiet ending of the finale, when done with verve, the added little gallop to punch the conclusion can also work for me-depends on my mood.
And I'm also glad for the Magnard mention-those four symphonies are all fine works. I've pointed people towards them for many years.
I think you are correct in the thought that with current orchestral instruments being homogeneously chromatic that the tensions or felicities for specific instruments in playing various keys are mostly now lost. Unless one has perfect pitch, if you transposed (and one can do it digitally with ease with today's tech) a familiar major work by half-step up or down, how many might notice?
I'm looking forward to this continued journey through the keys-a splendid concept for a series that you are executing with sharp discernment!
Thanks David for the extended excepts, Which helps me to make informed choices as to what I add to my wishlist, which is growing ever bigger!
Fantastic discussion. Elaine
Thanks for listening
When I took a course on post-Wagnerian symphonists with Robert Bailey at the Eastman School of Music in the early 80's, he maintained that the tonality of a symphony should be determined by the key it ends in. Thus he considered Mahler 5 to be in D, which makes sense when one considers that the work's progressive tonality charts the gradual emergence and eventual establishment of that key. Mahler himself suggested that it was probably better to avoid mention of a key altogether.
Mahler was right.
My favorite C-sharp minor symphony MOVEMENT is the gorgeous 2nd movement of Dvorak's criminally neglected Symphony # 3. Once heard, this piece will stay in your memory.
Good pick!
I love these talks where you never know exactly what you’re going to get! Although I’ve explored Bloch’s chamber music (and the Concerti Grossi of course), the symphony is new to me, and will be on my next CD order. One C Sharp Minor symphony not mentioned is the 1st of Kabalevsky - the recording I have was on ASV with Tjeknavorian conducting the Armenian Philharmonic: I don’t know if it has resurfaced on another label.
It's available on Naxos and CPO, at least, but it's not a very interesting work.
Just given it a spin - must have had the disc for 20 years and can’t remember when I last listened to it - and I see what you mean! Now back to the Bertini Mahler cycle you recently commended, a second-hand copy of which I managed to pick up for a song on Discogs…
Love your channel, dude! Good thing you have to house all those thousands and thousands of CDs and I don't.
Very good. At 32 minutes I was preparing to comment on your omission of Havergal Brian, and then you took the wind out of my sails, and chose the best of his three. If others are interested, after No 16 we have Nos 3 and 20 in C sharp minor. No 3 with its prominent part for two pianos is long but is worth persevering with. Best heard in the version conducted by Stanley Pope if you can find it. Keep listening friends and enjoy.
The Pope performances of Brian's Symphonies Nos. 3 and 17 will be available in January 2022 on Heritage, using the BBC's original mastertapes...
Appreciate the mention of Joseph Martin Kraus. I don't know much by him, but love his keyboard / piano sonata in E major "VB2 196". Must listen to some of his symphonies, I didn't realise his pioneering work in this key. Also taken by the excerpt from Bloch, not familiar with any of his music. Thank-you for this interesting series, along with so many of your other reviews.
Approaching 9K...Congrats David! Oh Btw nice review of Bruckner cycles a bit back :)
Thanks!
Thank God for Mahler's 5th!
I seem to recall another (5th) symphony that begins with a repeated triplet rhythm...
For me, one of your most intriguing and informative pieces. The Krauss and Bloch are big surprises, the others all favourites and you've characterised C-sharp minor perfectly. I find the whole of Prokofiev 7 wistful, almost valedictory although I'm probably reading too much into it. On a quick scan of famous quartets and concerti to see if they exhibit similar characteristics, Beethoven 131, Shostakovich VC2 and string quartet 4 seem to be the only candidates I can come up with. Perhaps other subscribers can identify more.
For the 3,000th time in my life, I'm in print before I've double-checked. It's the 4th movement of Shostakovich's 3rd quartet that's in C sharp minor, not the 4th quartet. It fits Mr. H's characterization of the key.
On the chicken/egg question of the characters of the keys in piano literature: One historical view is that strict equal temperament on pianos wasn’t generally achieved until very late in the 19th century. In Beethoven’s time (as in J.S. Bach’s) some flavor of “well temperament” was the norm, slightly favoring the more common keys (but of course making all keys usable, unlike meantone). A nice well temperament features some pure 5ths among the black notes. A minor triad with a pure 5th is equal-beating - thus a somewhat harder sound than an E.T. minor triad where the 3rds have differing beat speeds. To me this hardness/consonance gives C♯ minor in W.T. a more austere and intimate mood compared with, say, C minor, which seems more public and open. I do believe the auditory qualities of the keys influenced sensitive composers to write music in different moods with at least a little bit of consistency.
The first time I heard Chopin played in a well temperament was a huge revelation. Suddenly it became obvious: Of *course* he wrote this in F♯ minor! He would never have written it in F minor - etc.
Furtwängler's third!
Dave, you once told us that you dissuaded Barenboim from recording this symphony - but I'm not complaining because we got his fabulous recording of Furtwängler's superior 2nd instead. Which I'm sure will be featured in your video on symphonies in e minor!
Still, I'd love to hear how the 3rd would fare in the hands of a truly great conductor and orchestra. What I can tell from the flawed Alfred Walter recording is that F. tried to move away from the opulent romanticism of the 1st and 2nd and tried to apply some more hard-edged neo-classical style. It sometimes sounds like watered down Stravinsky or the Rachmaninoff of the 3rd symphony and the Symphonic Dances.
Thanks! Especially for introducing me to the Kraus, Bloch and Magnard. I’m curious about the Prokofiev, as another Beethoven link might be that it’s Op 131, the same Op number as Beethoven’s quartet in C# minor. Surely this can’t be a coincidence? Wikipedia is of no help, and I guess I not as good a listener (yet) to discern if there are any allusions to the quartet in the symphony…
Great video as usual!
In another matter- I would like to hear more about your opera cd’s and singers preferences or maybe a review of the big opera sets of different labels. Can you make this kind of videos?
I have already.
The Bloch gets added to my wish list today -- never heard it before (or even heard of it that I recall). The rest of these were all familiar to me though I haven't listened to the Brian in a long time (I think I had it on a Lyrita LP once). This is turning out to be an interesting series.
Oh, by the way, Magnard's farm couldn't have been on the Maginot line at the time he was killed. That line of fortifications wasn't built until the 1930s. However, I do get your point that his farm was on the invasion path.
I know. I gave the actual location in the video.
Thank you for my beloved Bax 5. Your devoted Baxian.
C# minor is rarely used by Liszt, I can only recall his Christus, when Christ is hanging on the cross (btw it ends in Dflat major).
What about Lemba and Myaskovski?
What about them?
@@DavesClassicalGuide what do you think of them, why didn't you include?
@@kuradipingviin I included enough. There's no reason or point in talking about everything.
Great talk as always while the blochwas a revelation.. I've always avoided listening to it just because the title sounded like something that would be super serious heavy and bloated and I could not have been more wrong I can't wait to hear the rest of it
I happily find I have most of these symphonies aside from the Brian and Kraus. This actually makes me interested in furthering my Kraus as I only have one disc of his music from Naxos, featuring the Olympie Overture and three other symphonies, which I quite enjoyed. So this is certainly something to look into.
I also see I have one other C sharp minor symphony that I found used from my favourite pick-up place for bargain classical: William Wallace's The Creation Symphony on Hyperion that likely has never been recorded anywhere else before or since. I quite liked that in that whole obscure late romantic big ideas sort of sense that's quite fun to indulge with every now and again, and I only paid like five euro on that and another Wallace tone poem disc.
Surely the Moonlight as written falls very well under the pianist's hands. But would the music have been significantly different if Beethoven wrote the piece in C minor? (Remember when he arranged the E major sonata 14/1 for quartet, he had no issue transposing the piece to F, to take advantage of the cello's low C string.) But no mention of Beethoven's only other piece in C# minor, the great op. 131 quartet! Which like the Moonlight, also opens with a slow movement (this time a fugue) but places the main sonata-form as the finale. I want to follow up with that Bloch, however.
The sonata is infinitely more popular and better known than the quartet as a work that may have assisted in defining the emotional ambit of its key.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Could be, as the Moonlight is doubtless one of the most famous works ever written. But after hearing the quartet, Schubert supposedly said, "What is left for us to write?" And it was a very important work for Wagner, who wrote that "the very slow introductory Adagio reveals the most melancholy sentiment ever expressed in music." It was important enough for Bernstein as well to have recorded a string orchestra arrangement.
So excited to hear Bloch’s C Sharp Minor symphony get some much-needed love! I have the premiere with the St. Louis Symphony on LP and both recorded versions I’m aware of an CD. Wonderful Straussian romantic stuff which deserves a standard two spot. The symphony also does a nice job of bringing out the somewhat elusive properties of the key.
It was not the St. Louis Symphony, it was a "symphony orchestra in St. Louis," specifically the St. Louis Philharmonic.
@@DavesClassicalGuide thank you, I stand corrected. Whoever they were, it was a damn fine community orchestra.
Thank you for introducing me to the Bloch, I have ordered it. We could do with a Bloch revival, during his lifetime was regarded as a major contemporary composer, now he's nearly completely disappeared from the repertoire, it seems extraordinary that most violinists ignore his violin concerto.
@@patrickhows1482 Agree that the violin concerto should get more play. His string quartets are also worth hearing, but Schelomo seems to be his only piece to enter the standard repertoire (and that may be largely because it makes a good filler for various cello concerto recordings.)
Please note that the St. Louis Philharmonic is not a community orchestra in the usual sense, as it draws from the entire St. Louis metro area. When I was growing up they had many professional players playing with them, although no one was paid to do so. At their best they could show up the St. Louis Symphony of the period, although they were not always on that level.
Prokofiev's "unpopular" symphonies are for me his best, full of fantasy and mystery, especially 2, 3, and 7. They need to be heard more.
Bloch's scherzo could be called "Danse macabre of the Valkyries."
That is very apt! And there was one point in that extract where I thought it was about to turn into Uranus from Holst's Planets...