Living composers with complete symphony cycles on disc

Started by Maestro267, June 23, 2018, 12:15:33 AM

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Maestro267

Something I'm briefly contemplating while listening to James MacMillan's Symphony No. 3. All four of his symphonies are available on disc. Sadly, someone like Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who wrote ten in his lifetime, never had that privilege, as Nos. 7-9 remain unavailable commercially. And Krzysztof Penderecki did have all of his completed symphonies on disc, but now No. 6 has finally appeared, his recorded cycle now has a gap.

Are there other living composers whose complete symphonies (so far) are available on disc?

Mahlerian

#1
Quote from: Maestro267 on June 23, 2018, 12:15:33 AM
Something I'm briefly contemplating while listening to James MacMillan's Symphony No. 3. All four of his symphonies are available on disc. Sadly, someone like Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who wrote ten in his lifetime, never had that privilege, as Nos. 7-9 remain unavailable commercially. And Krzysztof Penderecki did have all of his completed symphonies on disc, but now No. 6 has finally appeared, his recorded cycle now has a gap.

Are there other living composers whose complete symphonies (so far) are available on disc?

John Harbison, I suppose.  The Boston Symphony did a set (put out on their own label) of his symphonies a few years ago, and I don't think he's written another one since the Sixth.  Not too enthusiastic about his music, myself.

(Oops, I looked it up, and this release was digital only!  Guess it doesn't count, and I'm pretty sure some of those works have never appeared on any disc.)
"l do not consider my music as atonal, but rather as non-tonal. I feel the unity of all keys. Atonal music by modern composers admits of no key at all, no feeling of any definite center." - Arnold Schoenberg

Karl Henning

Harbison was my first thought, as well, though I did not recall their being made available on disc.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

San Antone

#3
Is Robert Simpson still alive? (Looked it up, he died in 1997. If you grade on a curve, he can still count?) 

His eleven are available on Hyperion.

Brian

Christopher Rouse is missing only his latest, No. 5, a major work that will provoke much thought when it finally appears on CD.

Alek Hidell

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." - Hélder Pessoa Câmara

Mahlerian

"l do not consider my music as atonal, but rather as non-tonal. I feel the unity of all keys. Atonal music by modern composers admits of no key at all, no feeling of any definite center." - Arnold Schoenberg



Daverz

Quote from: Mahlerian on June 23, 2018, 05:15:32 AM
John Harbison, I suppose.  The Boston Symphony did a set (put out on their own label) of his symphonies a few years ago, and I don't think he's written another one since the Sixth.  Not too enthusiastic about his music, myself.

(Oops, I looked it up, and this release was digital only!  Guess it doesn't count, and I'm pretty sure some of those works have never appeared on any disc.)

To me it sounds like good, well-constructed music.  But that's not quite enough.  I've heard up through No. 4.

Karl Henning

Quote from: Daverz on June 23, 2018, 02:15:50 PM
To me it sounds like good, well-constructed music.  But that's not quite enough.

This aligns with my experience.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Ken B

Quote from: Maestro267 on June 23, 2018, 12:15:33 AM
Something I'm briefly contemplating while listening to James MacMillan's Symphony No. 3. All four of his symphonies are available on disc. Sadly, someone like Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who wrote ten in his lifetime, never had that privilege, as Nos. 7-9 remain unavailable commercially. And Krzysztof Penderecki did have all of his completed symphonies on disc, but now No. 6 has finally appeared, his recorded cycle now has a gap.

Are there other living composers whose complete symphonies (so far) are available on disc?

Well that's Penderecki's own damn fault.

arpeggio

David Maslanka just passed away (Aug 07, 2017).  He has a great home page: http://davidmaslanka.com/

He composed ten symphonies.  All of them with the exception of the First and the Tenth have been recorded.

His First Symphony appears to have been his doctoral work.

He passed away before he completed his Tenth Symphony.  His son completed the work.

See: http://davidmaslanka.com/works/symphony-no-10-the-river-of-time/

It was premiered on April 3, 2018.  Considering his stature in the band world my guess that the symphony will be recorded in the near future.


relm1

Slightly off topic since the composers are now dead, but didn't Robert Simpson and George Lloyd both have complete cycles of their symphonies completed while they were still alive?

arpeggio

Quote from: relm1 on June 24, 2018, 05:37:02 AM
Slightly off topic since the composers are now dead, but didn't Robert Simpson and George Lloyd both have complete cycles of their symphonies completed while they were still alive?

Yes.  I have them in my library.

arpeggio

Aho is close.  All of his symphonies except the Sixth has been recorded.  And on can still here it on YouTube.

arpeggio

Quote from: arpeggio on June 23, 2018, 07:00:10 PM
David Maslanka just passed away (Aug 07, 2017).  He has a great home page: http://davidmaslanka.com/

He composed ten symphonies.  All of them with the exception of the First and the Tenth have been recorded.

His First Symphony appears to have been his doctoral work.

He passed away before he completed his Tenth Symphony.  His son completed the work.

See: http://davidmaslanka.com/works/symphony-no-10-the-river-of-time/

It was premiered on April 3, 2018.  Considering his stature in the band world my guess that the symphony will be recorded in the near future.


Found a link to the premier of his Tenth on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO8FnRTbBp8

Maestro267

Quote from: arpeggio on June 24, 2018, 05:58:57 AM
Aho is close.  All of his symphonies except the Sixth has been recorded.  And on can still here it on YouTube.

Is No. 16 available on disc now?

arpeggio

Quote from: Maestro267 on June 24, 2018, 06:24:51 AM
Is No. 16 available on disc now?

Sorry.  We are dealing with living active composers.  My mistake.  It is not available on CD but there is a performance on YouTube.  The only way one can be 100% is if the composer has passed.   

vandermolen

Daniel Asia?

Christopher Gunning?

Vasks?

Kamran Ince?
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).