• Holmboe's 8th would have its place here (but I understand that you added it already). Another landmark would be Tubin's 6th, although I personally slightly prefer his 8th. The Norwegian composer Harald Saeverud (1897-1992) also was a highly original personality. I like his 7th and 9th symlphonies very much (the 9th might be superior in purely musical terms), but I never heard his 8th, which was completed in the 1950s (it has been released by a Norwegian label lately). Although this may seem far-reaching, New Zealand's Douglas Lilburn (1915) undoubtedly is a quasi-Nordic composer, especially in his first two symphonies (Symphony 2, 1951). The 3rd is his last major orchestral piece, and a very fine one indeed. Lilburn, as you know, is interesting, because he encompasses his country's evolution from British pastoralism to electronic sounds, having been a leading figure throughout. Another almost Nordic symphony from down under is Arnold van Wyk (1916-1983)'s utmostly poetic Primavera. Rosenberg's 6th symphony and Karl-Birger Blomdahl (1916-1968)'s 3rd (Facets, 1950) are two remarkable examples of Swedish symphonies in the early 1950s. Well. I could quote Ukraine's Borys Lyatoshinsky, but he can hardly be regarded as Nordic :-) Likewise for Sandor Veress, who was published mostly in Milano. His 2d symphony (as many other works of his) is of outstanding quality and compelling power.
• HOLMBOE: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (BIS CD-618)
• TUBIN: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6 (BIS CD-304)
• SAEVERUD: Symphony No. 7 (BIS CD-822 AURORA NCD-B 4953)
• SAEVERUD: Symphony No. 9 (AURORA NCD 4913)
• SAEVERUD: Symphony No. 8 "Minnesota". I cannot find the reference now, and my provider seems to be jammed. It has recently been issued in a 2CD-box, I think, with other works, including Symphony No. 5 and possibly the previous one, Dreier's rendition of Symphony No. 9. You can try to find it at the Norwegian Music Information Centre or ask them at this address.
• LILBURN: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 (CONTINUUM 1069). New Zealand music
• van WYK: Primavera, Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (GSM CLAREMONT CD GSE 1509).
• ROSENBERG: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6. I do not have the CD reference at hand, you could find it at this address.
• BLOMDAHL: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 (CD BIS)
• LYATOSHINSKY: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (CD Marco Polo)
• VERESS: Sinfonia Minneapolitana (Symphony No. 2), Terszili Katicza (Musikszene Schweiz CD MGB 6130)

• I may be mistaken, but I think that Josip Stolcer-Slavenski (Croatia, 1896-1955) also composed a mixed electronic-orchestral piece in the 1950s. Slavenski was a surprising pioneer throughout his career, and I recently heard a Sonata for violin and organ (early 1920s) which can be compared only with Rued Langgaard's Music of the Spheres, in a different spirit, though. His Sinfonija Orijenta (Religiofonia,1934) must be one of the first major works to bring all great monotheistic religions together !
• STOLCER SLAVENSKI: Croatian, but spent a large part of his career in Belgrade. Croatian Music Information Centre or Yugoslav Music Information Centre.

• What do you think of Gerhard's magnificent Concerto for Orchestra (1965) ? Also, just for the sake of curiosity, I shall mention Tauno Marttinen (Finland, 1912) and his violin concerto (1962). He says that in its slow movement, one hears something like the breath of God. You know, it might be true. Very impressive. Another interesting and somewhat mystic piece is the Byzantine Concerto (Music of Octoecha 2, 1959) by Ljubica Maric (Serbia, 1909), who, together with Dusan Radic, E. Josif and a few others, show how then modernists escaped communist ideological restrictions by turning to very ancient Slavic traditions.
• GERHARD: Concerto for orchestra. I have a LP (Argo). It would be very surprising if either Valois or Chandos did not record it before long.
• MARTTINEN: Violin concerto, Symphonies Nos. 1 & 8 (CD BIS-701)
• MARIC: Byzantine Concerto (CD SOKOJ/KOMUNA, double CD "Prag sna").

• Here comes Tubin's 8th. Of course, there are hundreds of symphonies in the 1960s. I was thinking of a very singular path, the one followed by Stjepan Sulek (Croatia, 1914-1986), who deliberately and, in a sense, courageously reverted to Brucknerian models, with his own luxuriant orchestral imagination. His 6th symphony (1966) seems to be one of the best instances of this. A CD of his piano sonatas has been released by Croatia Records. In a very different style, two Serbia-born composers completed grand symphonies in the 1960s : Rudolf Bruci (1917, he now lives in Zagreb, Croatia) with his masterful and cinetic 2d symphony (Sinfonia lesta, 1965), and Enriko Josif (1924) with his 2d symphony (Symphony in one movement, 1964), a kaleidoscope of ideas, conflicts and harsh sensuality, and also a wild reflection on old Greek notions (Dionysian vs. Apollinian ! ). A worthy recent release, which could be difficult to place in this chapter, but is one of the rare attempts to acknowledge African influence in a grand Western symphony -- albeit in a Portuguese colonial context --, is Joly Braga-Santos (Portugal, 1924-1988)'s 5th (1966).
• Ahmet Adnan Saygun (Turkey, 1907-1989)'s 3rd symphony should be worth investigating too, but I have no idea of where it can be found (there was an old Melodiya LP). I have an Israeli symphony, Mordechai Seter's Jerusalem (1968), which sounds like a mix of ancient religious chant and mild avant-garde.
• Finally, I should mention two very different major composers, whose symphonies still are unavailable (but it shouldn't last). One is Egon Wellesz (Austria,1885-1974), widely regarded as one of the last giants in the Bruckner-Mahler tradition, with a much more dissonant style of course. The other is Slovenia's modernist Primoz Ramovs (1921), a proponent of purely abstract music for the sake of sound, and whose 4th symphony (Simfonija 68, 1968) should be a very powerful piece.
• Korngold's Symphony in f sharp (1952). I really recommend Kempe's recording, which gets rid of Hollywoodian hybridations and offers a strongly gripping performance.
• A masterly symphony in the Czech and Slovak tradition either is Symfonia 1945 (Symphony No. 3, 1974) by Jan Cikker. There was a LP Opus conducted by Kosler, and it is likely that they have re-edited it on CD by now.
• You mentioned Havergal Brian. His 10th symphony is particularly impressive, even in the "youngster" Unicorn-Kanchana CD recording.
• TUBIN: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8 (CD BIS-342)
• SULEK: Symphony No. 6* (LP Croatia Records LSY-66016)
• BRUCI: Sinfonia lesta (Symphony No. 2) LP Philips (probably not available)
• JOSIF: Simfonija u jednom stavu (Symphony No. 2)* LP Jugoton
• BRAGA-SANTOS: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 (CD Marco Polo 8.223879)
• SAYGUN: Symphony No. 3. Apart from an old LP Melodiya (which I don't have), maybe Hungaroton could record this. They have recorded some of Sayguns's orchestral songs, his large cantata "Yunus Emre" (based on the life and work of this great Turkish mystic), and some piano works.
• SETER: Symphony Jerusalem* (LP Aries).
• WELLESZ: Symphonies (especially Nos. 3-6, 9 ? ). No recording available as yet, as far as I know. But several record companies (CPO and others) are coming to his works at last, so certainly one of them will record these reputedly essential symphonies.
• RAMOVS: Symphony 68 (Symphony No. 4) LP Helido FLP-10-001.

• Sessions's Requiem could be quoted here, don't you think ?
• SESSIONS: Requiem "when Lilacs..." (CD New World Records NW-296-2)

• Of course, there are other examples and your choice is very striking. I was thinking of the first attempt of this kind in the East: Boris Tchaikovsky (or Cajkovskij, Russia, 1925-1996 ?)'s 2d symphony, but maybe it is not fully convincing. In fact, some of Talivaldis Kenins's pieces are also full of quotations, but I should say interiorized ones. (Note: Talivaldis Kenins is a Latvian-born Canadian composer, and in my opinion one of the greatest living composers. His Symphony No. 6, Piano Quartet No. 2, Concerto for five percussionists and orchestra, Fantaisies Concertantes for piano and orchestra are some of his most memorable masterworks.)
• Boris TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 2 (CD Russian Disc)
• KENINS: See here

• When Baltic musicians became better-known, everybody wondered at the fact that they had been influenced by American minimalism while living in the Soviet Union. The point is that they did not know anything about Reich, Riley, Glass... Minimalism has been present in traditional Baltic music for centuries !
• Baltic composers: Estonians on Finlandia Records, Antes Records. The "Lithuanian New Music Series" is outstanding, with very detailed notes, strongly committed. Lithuanian MIPC.

• Another expression of revolt, which you know well, is Allan Pettersson's. My personal favorite is his 13th symphony, but No. 9 might be the closest musical equivalent to infernal visionary frescoes such as Jerome Bosch's paintings, and No. 10 is a tremendous outburst of revolt too. Unfortunately, the only vocal expressions of his struggle are Symphony No. 12 (after Neruda) and Vox humana. Those, if arguably not his very best, still remain gripping statements, with gorgeous choral episodes.
• PETTERSSON: All symphonies available on excellent CPO Records. Apparently, No. 10's best rendition since Antal Dorati is the recent BIS CD conducted by Leif Segerstam. Symphony No. 12 (after Neruda): CD Caprice CAP-21369.

• Here, you might like to try two French composers : Eloy and Florentz. I don't know if any music of Eloy is available, but Florentz's vocal works (influenced by the Middle-East, and most of all Ethiopia) have been recorded recently, I think. Of course, there are also Asian composers. Apart from the Japanese, there are two very talented Vietnamese composers. One is between two worlds, as it were, Nguyen-Thien Dao (1940). The other is deeply rooted in Oriental philosophy and mysticism, Ton-That Tiet (1933. Ton-That is the family name). Some of his works are available on CD. A very striking one is Jardins d'autre monde (Gardens from another world), and I eagerly expect the completion and recording of his Chemin de Bouddha.
• FLORENTZ: some CDs by Erato Records.
• DAO: Les Enfants d'Izieu (actually based on tragic events from World War II near Lyon), CD MFA (Musique Francaise d'Aujourd'hui)
• TON-THAT: a technically brilliant, but spiritually sometimes inaccurate anthology (with much too strong reverberation) is available: CD REM 311232. Well, some pieces are very finely and sensitively played, for instance the viola piece. If you can, try to find a recording or broadcast of his "Jardins d'autre monde", for instance by the Tokyo Sinfonietta.

• Do you like Holmboe's quartets ? In a very different style (and actually post-modern), I can quote Forgotten music for string quartet by Dubravko Detoni (one of Croatia's leading modernists, 1937).
• HOLMBOE: String quartets. I think that DaCapo (Marco Polo) has recorded quite a few of them.
• Some of Rosenberg's string quartets are magnificent as well (Caprice Records).
• DETONI: Forgotten music (CD Croatia Records CD-D-K 509-62-69)

• Don't you like Roger Sessions's symphonies ? I find them extremely remarkable, especially No. 7 (1967). I may not share his views about the Vietnam war, but this period is powerfully reflected in his symphonies Nos. 6-8, whose worth is, however, purely and highly musical. I already mentioned Pettersson's 13th, one of the highlights of that decade, as well as Balakauskas's 2d and Kenins's 6th and 7th. There is also a very strange, and intensely radiant work, Symphony No. 5 by Pascal Bentoiu (Romania, 1927): it depicts the path followed by a so-called thinking subject through music history, from homophony and heterophony to aleatoric gestures. Of course, it is too short to be an encyclopaedia, but it is a very strong experience, I think. It has been recorded on a CD by Olympia (the record is entitled Romanian Contemporary Music).
• SESSIONS: Symphonis Nos. 6, 7 & 9 (CD Argo 444-519-2)
• BALAKAUSKAS: Symphony No. 2 (CD 33 Records/Bomba Records)
• KENINS: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7.
• BENTOIU: Symphony No. 5 (CD Olympia "Romanian Contemorary Music" OCD-416)
• Osvaldas Balakauskas was born in 1937. There is an excellent anthological CD (33CD003) available from 33 Records/Bomba in Lithuania. It includes one of his most "popular" works, the 2d symphony, which probably is not his most complex work, but has a very impressive drive and clarity of purpose ; two works for cello and tape which display a marvellous craftsman's imagination in the rather hostile Soviet context of the 1970s ; another piece for cello and piano, and finally "Rain for Cracow", one of the violin pieces which I have in my top list of priorities for recitals (when I shall resume my concert activity). Their address is: E-mail: headq@bomba.lt. Snail-mail: Bomba Records, Zygimantu 6, 2600. Vilnius, Lithuania. Phone: (370-2) 22 33 58, 62 27 31, 22 38 18; Fax: (370-2) 22 57 15. They have another outstanding record, devoted to the complementary pole to Balakauskas in Lithuanian music: Bronius Kutavicius (b.1932). This latter CD is devoted to oratorios. Balakauskas is strongly committed in contemporary life, both a nationalist and a cosmopolitan figure, whereas Kutavicius represents ancient, timeless traditions, together with a sweet tooth for formal experimentation. Another CD, more readily available, is the one entitled "Peteris Vasks: Stimmen", vol. 1, published by Finlandia a few years ago. It features what probably is the best version of Vasks's symphony for strings, but the real gem is Balakauskas's Ostrobothnian Symphony, a superb study in textures, not without his characteristic rhythmic vitality. It is far both from Vasks's "post-modernity" and from the typical Baltic minimalism now prevalent in Estonia, for instance. A piece that encompasses Balakauskas's older and more recent style, in an intensely vital fresco, is "Opera Strumentale" for symphony orchestra. For this, I should advise you to turn to the Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre. This is a very lively Centre, and each of their own "Lithuanian New Music Series" CDs is really worth investigating. The overall picture is very captivating, and it includes a number of masterpieces. Balakauskas also composed a work for string quartet and symphony orchestra, "Passio strumentale", which I have not heard as of yet.
• Talivaldis Kenins (b.1919) certainly belongs to the previous generation in every respect. He has never touched electronic music, for instance, and strongly believes in formal structure, contrapunctic writing (of which he is a very inventive master) and lucidity. Radio Canada International released a 4 CD-box (ACM33) devoted to Kenins in their "Anthology of Canadian Music" series. Unfortunately, the music displayed there is brilliant (Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto) but not entirely typical. In my opinion, his best music can be found in such pieces as the Symphony No. 6 "Ad Fugam" (on a fugue of J.S.Bach, a powerfully gripping and moving piece, not a pastiche at all), the Concerto for fourteen instruments, or the 2d Quartet for piano and strings. The latter has been recorded by Centrediscs (WRC8-7117) and is sold by the Canadian Music Centre, 20 St. Joseph Street, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1J9, Canada. They may have copies of the other pieces too. The CD recording of the 2d Piano Quartet is clean and should give you an idea of the music, but it probably does not do justice to its greatness. There are some hopes that BIS records start an integral series of Kenins's symphonies, but when, I could not tell.

• Have you heard Hugues Dufourt (1945)'s gigantic symphony for percussion instruments, Erewhon ? This really is a bold experiment, and a very controlled one, too. He manages to avoid exotic effects during more than an hour, without ever becoming tiresome.
• DUFOURT: Erewhon. No recording to my knowledge (which is incredible).
• Stjepan Sulek: Sonatas and Studies for piano (Croatia Records CD-D-K 5052623.)
• I should also quote Michael Levinas's nightmarish, extraordinary menagerie of hybrid sounds in Le Rire de Gilles. Also, I must pay tribute to Gerard Grisey, who, together with Tristan Murail, Horatiu Radulescu and others, initiated the Spectral music movement, and passed away two weeks ago. His untimely death is a terrible loss for contemporary music.

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  Il risveglio della musica religiosa/ The revival of religious music
  • Besides Osvaldas Balakauskas, the other Lithuanian composer whom I mentioned, Bronius Kutavicius (1931), really stands at the mystic crossroads between East and West in his oratorios (recorded by Bomba records). A most promising work (but I could not get any recording as yet) is Cantus Magnificat, a symphony-oratorio by Julius Juzeliunas (1916). I would like to inform you there is a long play record of 'Cantus Magnificat' by Melodiya (c 10-26079-007). Yours sincerely, Dr. Gediminas Juzeliunas
  • In the CD featuring Tubin's 10th symphony, there is his haunting Requiem, too. Of course, he started work on it in 1950, but did not complete it until 1979.
  • Often considered backward-looking, but mostly timeless are Rubbra's symphonies, and notably his 9th, Sinfonia sacra (1972).
  • KUTAVICIUS: the CD which I mentioned (Bomba Records) is BRONIUS KUTAVICIUS ORATORIJOS (CD 33 RECORDS 33CD006)
  • JUZELIUNAS: Melodiya LP of his symphonies
  • TUBIN: Requiem (CD BIS)
  • RUBBRA: Symphony No. 9 (Sinfonia Sacra), Morning Watch (CD CHANDOS CHAN-9441)
  • A major Hebraic religious cantata is "Moses" by Herman David Koppel (Denmark, 1908-1998). The CD has been recorded by DaCapo.

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  Il concerto nonostante il concerto/ The concert notwithstanding the concert
  • Some concerti are seemingly trying to take inspiration from avant-garde vocal experiments, for instance Ramovs's Cello concerto or Anders Hillborg (Sweden, 1954)'s violin concerto. Kenins's concerti for 14 instruments or for 5 percussionists and orchestra are also remarkable, if more traditional, modern concerti.
  • RAMOVS: Cello Concerto*. (Edicije DSS)

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  Nuovi ensemble/ New ensembles
  • You will find some very fine attempts in this spirit in the Lithuanian New Music Series.

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  La sinfonia nonostante la sinfonia/ The symphony notwithstanding the symphony
  • Here, I could quote Balakauskas's Ostrobothnian, of course. Also Davies's 5th (many regard it as his very best one), Simpson's cosmic and much acclaimed 9th (1987), the 6th and last by Konstantin Iliev (Bulgaria,1924-1988), Norholm's glorious 2d which you have quoted (probably in the previous Symphony chapter), Tomas Marco's 5th, Jozsef Soproni (Hungary,1930)'s 3rd (da Requiem), maybe Udo Zimmermann (Germany, 1934)'s threnody after Garcia Lorca (Sinfonia come un gran lamento,1977). Ake Hermanson (Sweden,1923) is said to have composed a visionary 4th symphony (Oceanus,1983), but I never had a chance to hear it. His 1st (1967) already was quite awesome.
  • BALAKAUSKAS: Ostrobothnian Symphony (CD Finlandia 4509-97892-2)
  • P.M.DAVIES: Symphony No. 5 (CD Collins 14602)
  • SIMPSON: Symphony No. 9 (CD Hyperion CDA66299)
  • ILIEV: Symphony No. 6* (LP Balkanton)
  • MARCO: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (CD Col Legno AU 31812)
  • SOPRONI: Symphony No. 3* (LP Hungaroton)
  • U.ZIMMERMANN: Sinfonia come un gran lamento* (LP Nova)

Borislav Cicovacki wrote (Tue, 7 Dec 1999 02:28:16 +-100):