Haydn: "Farewell" Symphony (Leinsdorf, 1946)

Haydn and Leinsdorf notwithstanding, a large part of the reason for this post is to pay tribute to Deems Taylor, who died fifty years ago this Sunday (July 3, 1966). Composer, author, journalist, and broadcaster, he had the gift of explaining classical music in layman's terms, similar to that of Leonard Bernstein a generation later. As intermission commentator for the New York Philharmonic broadcasts during the 1930s and early 1940s, heard throughout the USA, he exercised this gift, drawing countless listeners into what must have seemed to many of them a rarefied world. In 1946, the Pilot Radio Corporation hit on the idea of marketing symphonic albums with recorded introductory commentary, and it must have seemed natural for them to approach Deems Taylor for the job. In the event, however, only two sets appeared - Grieg's "Holberg Suite" (conducted by Rudolph Ganz) and this one:

Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F-Sharp Minor ("Farewell")
Erich Leinsdorf conducting the "Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra"
(with introductory commentary by Deems Taylor)
Recorded c. 1946
Pilotone set DA-302, four 10" vinylite 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 67.08 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 42.70 MB)

This recording must have been made between Leinsdorf's appointments with the Cleveland Orchestra (which ended in 1946) and the Rochester Philharmonic (which began in 1947). It, and the Grieg set, were in the shops in time for Christmas 1946. That there were no further sets in the rather grandiosely named "Pilotone Academy of Music" series is perhaps explained by a lawsuit brought by the Metropolitan Opera Association against Pilot for their use of the word "Metropolitan" in the name of their pseudonymous orchestra.

Landowska Plays Haydn

In the most recent issue of Classical Recordings Quarterly, there's an article by Donald Manildi entitled "Why Don't the Record Companies..." in which he expounds on deserving historical recordings that have not yet made it to compact disc.  One of his choices is this Haydn set by the great Wanda Landowska, whose legacy has been well served on CD with the curious exception of this album, one of her last (and issued posthumously in 1960):

Haydn: Sonatas, Hob.XVI Nos. 34*, 35, 37, 40 and 49* and
Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII No. 6*
Wanda Landowska, piano* and harpsichord
Recorded 1957-58
RCA Victor LM-6073, two mono LP records
Link (FLAC files, 250.73 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 117.56 MB)

For those who like to burn CDs from these downloads, this program is about six or seven minutes too long to fit on one CD (which may be a factor in its non-appearance on CD thus far).  What I did for myself was to make one CD for all the harpsichord tracks, and another for the piano tracks.

Haydn's birthday this year happens to be on Easter Sunday.  It's hard for me to believe that in only 19 years we will be celebrating his tercentenary - it seems only yesterday that we were celebrating Bach's!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Bruckner: String Quintet (Prisca Quartet)

Anton Bruckner

I'm afraid I'm a little late to the party, but last week (Sept. 4) saw the 188th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), and I guess it's better late than never.  So in his honor, I present the première recording of his finest chamber work, the String Quintet in F, which falls chronologically between the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.  This features the Cologne-based Prisca Quartet, named after its leader, Walter Schulze-Prisca - whose name originally appears to have been simply Walter Schulze, but he took his wife's last name, Prisca, when he married her!  The playing sounds quite old-fashioned even by the standards of its time, and it may well be the slowest version of the Quintet on record.  (If the Scherzo weren't cut, it would be easier to make a comparison.)  Hans Roelofs, in his excellent Bruckner discography devoted to the composer's non-symphonic music, considers this recording to be of documentary interest only.  But this could be the closest we can come to hearing Bruckner's music as Bruckner himself would have heard it, and it's worth noting that Schulze-Prisca was born the same year, 1879, as this Quintet was written.  Judge for yourself:

Bruckner: String Quintet in F Major (1879) and
Haydn: Serenade (from Quartet in F, Op. 3, No. 5)
Prisca Quartet with Siegfried Meincke, viola
Recorded December 29-30, 1937
Decca-Polydor X 220 through X 225, six 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 135.05 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 54.9 MB)

During the 1930s, the Prisca Quartet recorded several sets for Deutsche Grammophon-Polydor.  Besides this Bruckner quintet, there were three Mozart quartets (one of which is available from Pristine Audio), and quartets by Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Verdi.  Oddly, all but the Haydn and Bruckner were released on ten-inch discs!

Haydn by the Musical Art Quartet

The Musical Art Quartet, 1926-27

Last fall, when I was doing my "reissues," I re-uploaded a Schubert recording by the Musical Art Quartet (Sascha Jacobsen and Bernard Ocko, violins; Louis Kaufman, viola; and Marie Roemaet-Rosanoff, cello), saying that it was one of three major recordings that this ensemble made for Columbia in the late 1920s.  Well, here's another - and, as it happens, the first of the three, made only a year after the group's founding in 1926:

Haydn: Quartet in C Major, Op. 54, No. 2 and
Haydn: Quartet in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5 ("The Lark") - Finale
The Musical Art Quartet
Recorded January 27, April 4 and April 21, 1927
Columbia Masterworks Set No. 69, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 65.19 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 27.4 MB)

In the earlier post concerning the Musical Art Quartet, I mentioned also that Sascha Jacobsen was the famous member of the group at the time, even to being one of the names mentioned in the title of a 1922 Gershwin song, "Mischa, Jascha, Toscha, Sascha."  (The others, of course, are Elman, Heifetz and Toscha Seidel.)  At the time, that song was familiar to me only by reputation; this state of affairs changed two days ago, however, thanks to YouTube.  Not one of the Gershwins' better efforts, perhaps, but it is rather fun nevertheless.

Tully Potter informs me that the Musical Art Quartet was in existence until 1944, and that Jacobsen and Roemaet-Rosanoff were the two constant members.  (This means that Jascha and Sascha played together, when Heifetz, Sanromá and the Musical Art Quartet recorded the Chausson Concert for Victor in 1941.)  Shortly after founding, second violinist Bernard Ocko was replaced by Paul Bernard, who also remained until 1944.  (Ocko plays on the Haydn set, and Bernard on the Schubert.)  Louis Kaufman gave up the viola chair in 1933 to the, confusingly, almost identically-named Louis Kievman (later to play in the Stuyvesant Quartet); in 1937 William Hymanson became the violist.

The Incomparable Emanuel Feuermann

Emanuel Feuermann

Today I present three recordings featuring the man whom many, myself included, consider the greatest cellist of all time, the tragically short-lived Emanuel Feuermann (1902-1942).  He really should have lived into the era of stereo recording, but he died at age 39 of complications from an operation for hemorrhoids; Toscanini, who was one of the pallbearers at his funeral, is said to have wept during the procession, saying, "this is murder!"  At the time of his death, Feuermann was planning to take up the viola da gamba, so that he could present Bach's three sonatas for that instrument as authentically as possible.

Despite the short time available to him, he left a precious recorded legacy.  But, alas, no unaccompanied Bach suites - I suppose these works were perceived at the time as belonging to Casals, so Feuermann never got to record one - so the closest we can get to what that may have sounded like is via his 1938 set of a Reger suite, and this unaccompanied sonata by his friend, Paul Hindemith:

Hindemith: Sonata for unaccompanied cello, Op. 25, No. 3
Emanuel Feuermann, cello
Recorded January 27, 1934
Japanese Columbia S-1032, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC file, 22.17 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 9.3 MB)

Feuermann left us several concerto recordings, including a wonderful Brahms Double with Heifetz, and this one of the Haydn D major:

Haydn: Cello Concerto in D major, Op. 101
Emanuel Feuermann with orchestra conducted by Dr. Malcolm Sargent
Recorded November 25, 1935
Columbia Masterworks set MM-262, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 76.38 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 37.26)

On a personal note: this is the third copy of MM-262 that I have owned; the first one I had as a boy of ten, inherited from the discarded 78 library of Emory University, where my mother was teaching music at the time.  It was my introduction to Feuermann's art, and to this day the Haydn D major is my favorite of all cello concertos, largely on the strength of this recording.

Finally, for fans of Eugene Ormandy, another of his early Victor recordings, featuring Feuermann - the first of four recordings Ormandy was to make of Strauss' "Don Quixote," but the only one with a cellist other than first-desk Philadelphia players:

Richard Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35
Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy
Emanuel Feuermann, cello
Samuel Lifschey, viola
Alexander Hilsberg, violin
Recorded February 24, 1940
Victor Musical Masterpiece set DM-720, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 87.25)
Link (MP3 file, 45.26)

My 100th Post!

Bryan Bishop, 2008

Believe it or not, eighteen months after starting this blog, I have reached my 100th post!  So, something rather unique seems in order, and I therefore offer three of my own performances as a pianist.  I've posted the Haydn here before, but only as MP3 files, so here are the FLACs to go with them.  The Vaughan Williams I have posted to YouTube, but the Brandenburg Concerto is truly new - I only got the CD myself this past Monday.  So, without further ado, here are the links:


Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D, BWV 1050
DaSalo Solisti Chamber Orchestra conducted by Norman Bernal
Bryan Bishop, piano
Teodora Stoyanova, flute
Norman Bernal, violin
Live recording by Carey Carlan [a member of the orchestra], November 13, 2011
Link (FLAC files, 101.35)
Link (MP3 files, 24.33)

Haydn: Piano Trio in G, Hob.XV:25 ("Gypsy") and
Haydn: Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII:6
Bryan Bishop, piano
Laura Nadine, violin
James Woodall, cello
Live recording, November 7, 2009
Link (FLAC files, 95.58 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 33.49 MB)

Vaughan Williams: Suite of Six Short Pieces
Bryan Bishop, piano
Live recording, October 12, 2008
Link (FLAC files, 44.65 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 14.91 MB)

Bruno Walter in 18th Century Music

Bruno Walter at the Vienna Musikverein, January 16, 1938

Today I present the only commercial recordings of Baroque music conducted by Bruno Walter (1876-1962), as well as a Haydn symphony recording made on the same day as one of these recordings.  All three recordings were made in that fateful year, 1938, the year of the "Anschluss" - the Nazi annexation of Austria, where Walter, a Jew formerly active in Berlin, had been living and working since Hitler came to power.  (The picture above shows Walter in the green room of the Vienna Musikverein, shortly before his last concert there - which featured Mahler's Ninth Symphony.)  The details on the recordings:

Corelli: Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 ("Christmas Concerto")
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter
Recorded September 13, 1938
Victor Musical Masterpiece Set M-600, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 46.62 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 25.73 MB)

Handel: Concerto Grosso in B minor, Op. 6, No. 12
Paris Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter
Recorded May 17, 1938
HMV DB 3601 and 3602, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 36.38 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 14.99 MB)

Haydn: Symphony No. 86 in D
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter
Recorded September 13, 1938
Victor Musical Masterpiece Set M-578, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 62.66 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 34.15 MB)

The Handel recording is particularly rare, as it received no US issue during the 78-rpm era (although Victor is known to have allocated a set number, M-952, for it).  The Haydn set is rare enough, both HMV and Victor versions having been deleted during the Second World War.  I originally offered the Corelli and Handel transfers back in 2007, but the Haydn symphony is a new upload.

Three by the Budapest Quartet

 

The reissue program continues with three recordings by the great Budapest String Quartet, from three different points in their career.  First is one of their early recordings, from the time when the Quartet's lineup still boasted two Hungarians, and three of its founding members.  These were first violinist Emil Hauser, violist István Ipolyi, and the Dutch cellist Harry Son; the newcomer was second violinist Josef Roisman, a Russian who would eventually become the quartet's leader:

Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 2 in F, Op. 22 and
Dittersdorf: Quartet No. 6 in A - Minuet
Budapest String Quartet (Hauser-Roisman-Ipolyi-Son)
Recorded February 8, 9 and 11, 1929
HMV Album Series No. 134, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 121.83 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 48.98)

By the time of the following recording, Roisman had moved to the first violin chair, and only Ipolyi was left from the original lineup.  The Schneider brothers (Alexander and Mischa) now occupied the second violin and cello positions, respectively.  This lineup (1932-36) is considered by many to be the Budapest Quartet's greatest, and one of the few recordings from this period that has apparantly never been reissued on LP or CD is this, the only Haydn quartet that the Budapest Quartet was permitted to record for HMV after the Pro Arte Quartet was engaged to do its series for the Haydn Quartet Society.  (This particular work had, in fact, been part of the very first Society volume, but that was already out-of-print by the time this release appeared.)

Haydn: Quartet in G, Op. 54, No. 1
Budapest String Quartet (Roisman-Schneider-Ipolyi-Schneider)
Recorded April 24, 1935
Victor Musical Masterpiece Set DM-869, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 42.36 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 18.76)

Lastly, here is one of the Budapest Quartet's few recordings of a contemporary work, one actually written for them.  Even though Columbia had already successfully launched the LP format by the time of its issue, this recording was issued only on 78s, with the result that it is probably one of the Budapest Quartet's rarest recordings.  By this time, Boris Kroyt had long since replaced István Ipolyi as violist (so that now the group consisted entirely of Russians), and Alexander Schneider had left the Quartet in 1944 to freelance.  He returned in 1955, but in the meantime a succession of second violinists replaced him; at the time of this recording it was Edgar Ortenberg:

Hindemith: Quartet [old No. 5, new No. 6] in E-Flat
Budapest String Quartet (Roisman-Ortenberg-Kroyt-Schneider)
Recorded April 2, 1945
Columbia Masterworks Set MM-797, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 64.08 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 31.15 MB)

A word about the numbering of Hindemith's quartets, which is a very confusing issue indeed!  During his lifetime he published six: Op. 10, Op. 16, Op. 22, Op. 32, and two in E-Flat, one in 1943 and one in 1945 - Hindemith stopped using opus numbers after Opus 50.  (The present Columbia set doesn't identify a number, merely "Quartet in E-Flat (1943)", but the 1943 quartet was published as "No. 5.")  During the 1990s, however, an early Quartet, Op. 2, was published and added to the canon; this - unfortunately - became Quartet No. 1, and the numbers of all the succeeding quartets were bumped ahead by one!  Hence, the Op. 22, his most popular, is now known as "No. 4" where it previously was known as "No. 3"; worse still, the 1943 E-Flat is now "No. 6" - while formerly the 1945 quartet was known as "No. 6 in E-Flat"!  What I wonder is, why couldn't the Op. 2 quartet have been labelled "No. 0" as with Bruckner's early D minor symphony?

The L.S.Q. and the L.S.Q.

Léner String Quartet

In the early 1920s English Columbia had two different string quartet ensembles that could claim the initials "L.S.Q."  The first was the London String Quartet, which began recording for Columbia in 1914, then about 1920 jumped ship and moved to Vocalion.  They eventually returned in 1924, but while they were away, a different "L.S.Q." came on board - the Léner String Quartet, founded in 1918 by four students at the High School of Music in Budapest: Jenö Léner, Jozsef Smilovits, Sándor Roth and Imre Hartman.  At first they were heard on records only in isolated string quartet movements, usually abridged, but by 1923 they had recorded their first complete quartet, Mozart's K. 465 (a work they never re-recorded):

Mozart: Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465 ("Dissonance")
Léner String Quartet
Recorded November 7 & 8, 1923
English Columbia L 1545 through 1548, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 81.76 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 31.38 MB)

The following year they recorded their first complete Beethoven quartet - and they would become famous for being the first group to record a complete Beethoven cycle:

Beethoven: Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp minor, Op. 131
Léner String Quartet
Recorded February 11, 21, 22 and August 25, 1924
English Columbia L 1581 through 1585, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 116.2 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 43.77 MB)

The above two sets had the distinction, along with the Léners' recording of Haydn's Op. 76, No. 5, of being the first complete string quartets available to the American record buyer, being part of the initial release of Columbia's new "Masterworks" album series of complete works.  The Beethoven was Set No. 6, the Haydn No. 7 and the Mozart No. 8.  (The first five had all been symphonies.)

In 1924 the London String Quartet returned to the English Columbia fold, their initial release being this first complete recording of Haydn's "Emperor":

Haydn: Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3 ("Emperor")
London String Quartet
Recorded December 15 and 17, 1924
English Columbia L 1633 through 1635, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 73.38 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 25.96 MB)

By this time the London String Quartet was being led by James Levey, with founding members Thomas Petre, H. Waldo Warner and C. Warwick Evans covering the other parts.

For those interested in the London String Quartet, I highly recommend a new release on the Music & Arts label, a survey of their concerts at the Library of Congress from 1943-1951.

Symphonies from Sir Henry

The reissues continue, with a trio of recordings by the great British conductor Sir Henry J. Wood (1869-1944).  Among these are the first two complete recordings of symphonies made by Sir Henry, the Franck from 1924 and the Haydn "Surprise" from 1925.  Previously, he had recorded the Schubert "Unfinished" (in 1919, re-recorded in 1923), the Beethoven "Eroica" (in 1922) and the Tchaikovsky "Pathétique" (in 1923), but these had all been abridged.  The Franck and Haydn are not, but they sure are fast!  The Franck takes 31 minutes, and the "Surprise" takes 18.

Franck: Symphony in D minor
New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood
Recorded July 2, 9, and 16, 1924
Columbia Masterworks Set No. 10, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 83.33 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 34.77 MB)

Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G, "Surprise" and
Järnefelt: Praeludium
New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood
Recorded February 5, March 25 and 26, 1925
English Columbia L 1668 through 1670, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 62.68 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 22.79 MB)

Sir Henry had a long recording career with Columbia, spanning from 1915 to 1934, before he moved to Decca in 1935.  For Decca he made recordings of Beethoven's Fifth, Vaughan Williams' London Symphony, and Elgar's Enigma Variations, and this one of Dvořák's Symphonic Variations:

Dvořák: Symphonic Variations, Op. 78 and
Handel-Wood: Sailors' Dance and Rigaudon
Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood
Recorded April 1 and 2, 1937
English Decca X 182 through 184, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 58.16 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 24.41 MB)

Coming up next: recordings by Albert Coates, including his 1923 Beethoven Ninth!

Weingartner in 18th Century Music

The Austrian conductor Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) is best-remembered for his interpretations of 19th Century masters, especially Beethoven and Brahms (he was the first to record all nine Beethoven symphonies), but he was equally adept in earlier music.  Recently, Satyr gave us Weingartner's fine version of Mozart's 39th Symphony (from a pioneering 1923 recording, one of five complete symphonies Weingartner recorded acoustically), and so I answer with three works: the famous "Toy Symphony" formerly attributed to Haydn but now thought to be by one Edmund Angerer, a brisk, no-nonsense version of Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," and a rarely-heard set of selections from Handel's opera "Alcina."  The details and links to the downloads:

Haydn [attrib.]: Toy Symphony
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Felix Weingartner
Recorded April 7, 1931
Columbia 7242-M, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC file, 19.71 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 8.04 MB)

Mozart: Serenade in G, K. 525 ("Eine kleine Nachtmusik")
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Felix Weingartner
Recorded February 17, 1939
Columbia Masterworks set MX-187, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 32.37 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 15.38 MB)

Handel: Alcina - Dream Music and Ballet Music
Paris Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Felix Weingartner
Recorded July 21, 1939
Columbia Masterworks set X-164, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 34.14 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 18.06 MB)

Mogens Wöldike's Haydn

This week I present what I believe to be the first recording of a Haydn symphony by the great Danish conductor Mogens Wöldike (1897-1988).  His stereo Vanguard recordings of Haydn symphonies with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra became famous, and rightfully so, but I don't think this particular symphony - No. 91 in E-Flat, one of three written in 1788 for the Count d'Ogny - was among that Vanguard series.

Haydn: Symphony No. 91 in E-Flat Major and
Haydn: Twelve German Dances (1792) - Nos. 1 to 6
Danish State Broadcasting Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mogens Wöldike
Recorded c. 1949
HMV Z 7016 through 7018, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 63.01 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 27.34 MB)

The First Mrs. Casals?

The Portugese cellist Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteano Mena (1885-1950), or, to give the name by which she is generally remembered, Guilhermina Suggia, was generally believed to be the first wife of Pablo Casals, although there is no evidence that they were actually married.  Certainly she was his student and, from 1906 to 1912, his lover, and she even billed herself as "Mme. P. Casals-Suggia" for a time.  After they separated, Suggia retained her admiration for Casals.  In 1927, she married Jose Mena, an X-ray specialist.  Upon her death, her Stradivarius cello was bequeathed to the Royal Academy of Music in Britain, to be sold to fund a scholarship for young cellists.

Suggia made a handful of recordings, including two concertos that Casals never recorded - the Lalo D minor, and this one of the Haydn D major (which, incidentally, was one of John Barbirolli's first conducting assignments for HMV):

Haydn: Concerto in D, for cello and orchestra
Guilhermina Suggia, with orchestra conducted by John Barbirolli
Recorded July 12-13, 1928
HMV D 1518 through 1520, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 65.57 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 25.92 MB)

Denis Matthews in Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

The British pianist and musicologist Denis Matthews (1919-1988) was most closely associated with the music of the great Viennese Classical masters, especially Mozart and Beethoven.  Perhaps his most famous recording is that of the Beethoven Horn Sonata, made in 1944 with Dennis Brain, both Den(n)ises being in R.A.F. uniform at the session; this has been reissued on a Testament CD along with an equally fine Beethoven Clarinet Trio featuring Matthews, Reginald Kell and Anthony Pini.  But I present here a trio of single 78-rpm records, each featuring a solo piano work by a member of the First Viennese School:

Haydn: Sonata in E, Hob.XVI:31
Recorded April 25, 1949
English Columbia DX 1655, one 78-rpm record

Mozart: Fantasia and Fugue in C, K. 394
Recorded September 16, 1942
English Columbia DX 1095, one 78-rpm record

Beethoven: Rondo in G, Op. 51, No. 2
Recorded April 25, 1949
English Columbia DX 1595, one 78-rpm record

All played by Denis Matthews, pianist
Link (FLAC files, 65.28 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 28.78 MB)

Denis Matthews, along with Myra Hess, Louis Kentner and Frank Merrick, made pioneering recordings of the piano music of John Field.  Last summer, just before starting this blog, I transferred his record of two John Field nocturnes; this is still available, and I have just added FLAC files as well:

John Field: Nocturne in E minor and "Midi" Rondo in E
Denis Matthews, pianist
Recorded June 22, 1945
Columbia 72525-D, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 20.18 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 8.23 MB)

At the same time I made available a "John Field Suite" orchestrated by Sir Hamilton Harty, one of whose movements is the same "Midi" Rondo that Matthews recorded.  This is also still available, as are new FLAC files:

Harty: A John Field Suite and
Elgar: Serious Doll (from "Nursery Suite")
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent
Recorded March 15 and May 7, 1943
English Columbia DX 1118-20, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 54.25 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 22.89 MB)

Shostakovich: First Piano Concerto

Here is the first recording of Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto, for piano, trumpet and strings.  It's played with panache by the Australian pianist Eileen Joyce (1908-1991), accompanied by the Hallé Orchestra (with principal trumpeter Arthur Lockwood) under the tragically short-lived Leslie Heward (1897-1943).  This recording was actually presented about a month ago by Tin Ear at The Music Parlour, as part of a series of Leslie Heward recordings, but that derived from a 1985 LP transfer, whereas mine is from the actual 78s (American pressings of British matrices), so I hope Tin Ear will forgive my encroachment upon his territory.  Besides, with my transfer you also get the filler side, a solo piano recording by Eileen Joyce of two Scriabin preludes.  And it gives me an excuse to present another Steinweiss cover:

This is the third copy of MM-527 that I have owned; the first I acquired on a hot summer day in 1976, when I was thirteen.  I was strolling the streets of downtown Decatur, Ga., probably going from the library to catch the bus home, when I spied a new used-bookshop called Cantrell's Books and Things at 112 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue (now the site of a folk art gallery intriguingly called "Wild Oats and Billy Goats").  Going in, I found that among the "things" were one wall lined with 78-rpm classical sets going for 50 cents per disc.  I had about four and a half dollars on me, so I bought as much as I could afford, namely, two sets: one was Beethoven's Op. 132 quartet played by the Budapest Quartet (Columbia MM-545) and the other was this Shostakovich piano concerto recording.  I had recently discovered Shostakovich and knew several of the symphonies but none of the concertos.  I loved Op. 35 on first hearing; it is still one of my favorite Shostakovich works, and this is still my favorite recording of it.

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35 (+ 2 Scriabin Preludes)
Eileen Joyce, piano; Arthur Lockwood, trumpet;
Hallé Orchestra conducted by Leslie Heward
Recorded October 24, 1941
Columbia Masterworks MM-527, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 56.81 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 28.63 MB)

Another record by Miss Joyce is this one of two Beethoven bagatelles, including the ever-popular "Für Elise":

Beethoven: Bagatelle in C, Op. 33, No. 2 and "Für Elise"
Eileen Joyce, piano
Recorded May, 1940
English Columbia DX 974, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 15.32 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 7.2 MB)

And from Leslie Heward, two recordings that I uploaded previously, of Haydn and Mozart, which are still available:

Haydn: Symphony No. 103 in E-Flat ("Drum Roll")
Mozart: Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546
Hallé Orchestra conducted by Leslie Heward
Recorded September 29 and 25, 1941
Columbia Masterworks MM-547, three 78-rpm records
English Columbia DX 1056, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 82.75 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 34.94 MB)

Gladys Ripley sings "Sea Pictures"

This post features the British contralto Gladys Ripley (1908-1955), a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice, whose life, sadly, was cut short by throat cancer at the age of 47 (the age I am now!).  Here she sings Elgar's fine orchestral song cycle, "Sea Pictures" (composed in 1897-99) with, as a filler, a surprisingly gloomy song by Haydn, "The Spirit's Song" ("Hark! Hark what I tell to thee").  This 1946 recording features the collaboration of that greatly underrated conductor, George Weldon (1908-1963), who conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Elgar: Sea Pictures, Op. 37 (+ Haydn: The Spirit's Song)
Gladys Ripley, contralto
Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by George Weldon
Recorded May 28, 1946
HMV C 3498 through C 3500, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 63.46 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 32.17 MB)

I have up several other George Weldon recordings with the orchestra of which he was Music Director from 1944 to 1951, the City of Birmingham Orchestra.  (That's Birmingham, England, of course - not Birmingham, Alabama! Those of us here in the Southern US have to be reminded of that periodically.)  The first of these is a new offering, and the others are re-uploads of transfers I made over three years ago; however, the Dvořák symphony upload now contains scans of the booklet for the set that I was unable to provide earlier.  Here are the details:

Sibelius: King Christian II Suite - Elegie and Musette
City of Birmingham Orchestra, conducted by George Weldon
Recorded March 22, 1945
Columbia DX 1220, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 18.53 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 7.76 MB)

Edward German: Welsh Rhapsody
City of Birmingham Orchestra, conducted by George Weldon
Recorded April 16, 1945
Columbia DX 1274 and 1275, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 43.43 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 19.7 MB)

Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F, Op. 76, and
Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla - Overture
City of Birmingham Orchestra, conducted by George Weldon
Recorded June 25-27, 1945 (Dvořák) and June 7, 1946 (Glinka)
Columbia DX 1315 through 1319, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 105.57 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 48.23 MB)

For those interested in reading further about George Weldon, there's a free downloadable biography (in PDF format) available here.

Early Haydn by Beecham

This time I present what I believe to be Sir Thomas Beecham's only recording of an early Haydn symphony (from 1763), or indeed any Haydn symphony other than the last twelve (the "London" Symphonies, Nos. 93-104).  Someone correct me if I'm wrong!  Anyway, here it is:

Haydn: Symphony No. 40 in F Major
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham
Recorded April 20, 1948
HMV DB 6823 and 6824, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 35.47 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 15.75 MB)

On the eve of the Haydn anniversary year, 2009 (the 200th anniversary of his passing), I uploaded to RMCR four vintage recordings of his symphonies by four different British conductors (including Beecham).  I've re-uploaded these; here are the details:

Haydn: Symphony No. 22 in E-Flat Major ("The Philosopher")
London Baroque Ensemble, conducted by Karl Haas
Recorded July 4, 1951
Parlophone SW 8122 and 8123, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 37.7 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 17.35 MB)

Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F-Sharp minor ("Farewell")
London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood
Recorded April 19, 1934
Columbia LX 323 through 325, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 57.34 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 24.42 MB)

Haydn: Symphony No. 95 in C minor
London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty
Recorded October 14, 1935
Decca K 798 and 799, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 38.17 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 16.33 MB)

Haydn: Symphony No. 102 in B-Flat Major
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, Bart.
Recorded June and October, 1949
HMV DB 9449 through 9451, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 48.67 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 25.55 MB)

Finally, for anyone interested in hearing my own piano playing, about this time last year I participated in a Haydn commemorative concert at my church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Ga.  From this concert I have uploaded two works: the "Gypsy Rondo" Piano Trio in G (with violinist Laura Reynolds and cellist James Woodall), and the wonderful Andante with Variations in F minor for piano solo.  Enjoy, but don't expect note-perfect playing!

Link (FLAC files, 95.58 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 35.6 MB)

Classics from Arthur Pryor's Band

In the earliest days of commercial recording (roughly, from 1890 to 1910), military and concert bands, unlike orchestras, were frequent visitors to the recording studio. The reason for this is simple: massed strings didn't record well, while brass and woodwinds did. Bands recorded everything: popular songs of the day, medleys from operettas and musical shows, dance music, and, of course, marches. This upload, however, focuses on band transcriptions of standard orchestral repertoire. The following works are presented:

GRIEG: Peer Gynt Suite - "Morning" and "Death of Ase"
LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 - Finale
ROSSINI: William Tell Overture
SCHUBERT: Unfinished Symphony - First movement (abridged)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Marche Slave (abridged)
WAGNER: Tannhäuser Overture (abridged)

These were all recorded between 1905 and 1914 (complete recording details are supplied in a text file accompanying the recordings) by Arthur Pryor's Band, one of the most active concert bands making records in the USA during this period.

Link (FLAC files, 134.31 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 49.75 MB)

Arthur Pryor (1870-1942) was a virtuoso trombonist who joined Sousa's Band in 1892, becoming assistant conductor of that legendary organization before leaving to form his own band in 1903. It was Pryor who actually conducted Sousa's Band on records - apparently the great man considered recording beneath him. He was also a composer, his most famous piece being "The Whistler and His Dog." (Fans of "The Little Rascals" films will remember Buckwheat pretending to whistle while a somewhat damaged record plays behind a curtain; "The Whistler and His Dog" is the tune in question.)

A particularly pioneering effort is represented by the movement from Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, which was recorded in 1910 and released in November of that year. It would appear that this was the very first time Victor recorded any part of a symphony. The record must have sold reasonably well, for the band had to remake it two years later. Clearly, the record-buying public had a taste for "serious" symphonic fare. Certainly my copy of Victor 31798 was much loved by its original owner!

In 1912, Victor embarked on a program of recording abridged symphonic works, not with a band, but with its own in-house orchestra, the Victor Concert Orchestra. Two Haydn and two Mozart symphonies, the Beethoven Fifth and the Schubert Unfinished, as well as movements from Mendelssohn's "Italian" and Dvorak's "New World," were among the offerings. Most of these do not credit any conductor, though Walter B. Rogers, Victor's house conductor, was probably responsible for most of them. Nearly three years ago, I uploaded to the newsgroup "rec.music.classical.recordings" (RMCR) a selection of these recordings, containing the following:

HAYDN: Military Symphony (No. 100 in G)
MOZART: Symphony in G minor (No. 40, K. 550)
MOZART: Jupiter Symphony (No. 41 in C, K. 551)
BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 3 (Op. 72a)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 - Adagio
    (played by Vessella's Italian Band, as a filler for the Leonore Overture)

These are still available for download at the following links:

Link (FLAC files, 181.49 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 67.8 MB)

The Virtuoso String Quartet

The Virtuoso String Quartet (Marjorie Hayward and Edwin Virgo, violins; Raymond Jeremy, viola; Cedric Sharpe, cello) was organized by the Gramophone Company of England (HMV) in 1924, and was, apparently, the first chamber music group formed specifically for making recordings.  Their recording career was brief, however.  By the late 1920s, ensembles with international reputations, such as the Budapest Quartet, were recording for HMV, and the Virtuoso Quartet with its more localized reputation was shunted aside in favor of these.  A pity, for the Virtuoso Quartet was a fine ensemble whose performances are passionate and compelling, and whose recordings, which include four Beethoven quartets and quartets by Tchaikovsky, Franck, Debussy and Ravel, as well as numerous shorter works, have become sought after by collectors.

I have three of their Beethoven quartet recordings available, as well as a group of shorter works, headed by Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet (with harpist John Cockerill, flutist Robert Murchie, and clarinetist Charles Draper) and including the first of Frank Bridge's "Three Idylls" for string quartet, composed in 1906.  (Benjamin Britten, who was Bridge's pupil, wrote variations for string orchestra on the second of these Idylls.)

Beethoven: Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat, Op. 18, No. 6 and
Schubert: Moment Musicale
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded from December 6, 1926, to January 31, 1927
HMV D 1206 through D 1209, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 83.68 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 57.02 MB)

Beethoven: Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded May 20 and June 18, 1924
HMV D 953 through D 956, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 94.01 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 32.44 MB)

Beethoven: Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat, Op. 127 and
Dittersdorf: Quartet No. 5 in E-Flat - Minuet
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded from October 26, 1925, to October 12, 1926
HMV D 1183 through D 1187, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 107.58 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 72.12 MB)

Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
(with John Cockerill, harp; Robert Murchie, flute; Charles Draper, clarinet)
and
Bridge: Three Noveletten - No. 3 in E-Flat
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded February 4 and March 18, 1929
HMV C 1662 and C 1663, two 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 36.10 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 25.29 MB)

Bridge: Three Idylls - No. 1 in C-Sharp Minor
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded June 18, 1928
HMV C 1593, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC file, 20.47 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 13.87 MB)

Bridge [arr.]: Londonderry Air and
Haydn: "Emperor" Quartet - Theme and Variations
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded July 1 and November 21, 1927
HMV C 1470, one 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 22.17 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 16.52 MB)

Julius Harrison: Widdicombe Fair - Humoreske, Op. 22 and
Haydn [attrib.]: Quartet in F, Op. 3, No. 5 - Serenade
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded November 21, 1927, and July 8, 1928
HMV B 3137, one 10-inch 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 15.74 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 11.25 MB)

Since this was originally posted, I have made available two additional transfers of VSQ recordings.  I list them below, for the convenience of having all my files of their recordings in one place:

Gossec: Tambourin (arr. Cedric Sharpe)
Grainger: Molly on the Shore
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded July 1, 1927
HMV B 2589, one 10-inch 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 16.40 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 9.56 MB)

Franck: Quartet in D Major
Virtuoso String Quartet
Recorded January 14 to April 20, 1925
HMV D 1006 through D 1011, six 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 149.02 MB)
Link (FLAC files, 74.09 MB)