A friend sent me this speech, originally delivered in 2004. I thought its message was especially important in these harsh economic times when some see the arts as a "luxury" we cannot afford.
 
A Contemplation on Music

Welcome address to parents of the incoming freshman class at Boston Conservatory, given by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of the music division at Boston Conservatory.

I have been asked to serve on a panel at the Music Librarians' Association's Annual Meeting later this month, here in Chicago. The title of the session is:
 
What’s Next? The Compact Disc as a Viable Format in the Future of Music Recording
 
In my remarks, I have been asked to address the following three questions:
 
1.    What is the likelihood of CDs ceasing to be a viable format for delivery of recorded music to consumers?
 
2.    If CDs do cease to be viable, what will take their place?
 
3.    How will your professional practices change in response to developments in how music is delivered to consumers?
 

This month, Cedille Records released what from a musicological perspective is probably the most significant recording we have ever released. Beethoven & Clement Violin Concertos features the world premiere of the 1805 Violin Concerto in D major by Franz Clement, the violinist-composer for whom Beethoven wrote his revered Violin Concerto the next year. Listening to the two concertos side by side, it becomes clear that the Beethoven is not the isolated phenomenon it has always been considered, but was in fact significantly influenced by Clement's concerto (which was premiered on the same 1805 concert as Beethoven's Eroica Symphony).

To introduce this historic recording, I am reprinting violinist Rachel Barton Pine's personal note from the CD booklet. Before I do, I want to let everyone know that Cedille Records is hosting a Release Party to celebrate this important recording, including a live performance by Rachel Barton Pine, on Sunday, October 5, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM at the Union Restaurant in Evanston, 1245 Chicago Avenue (just South of Dempster). the event is free but space is limited, so if you'd like to come, please RSVP to nancy@cedillerecords.org or call 773-989-2515. Please do so by the end of this week to guarantee your spot.

Now here's Rachel Barton Pine on this very special recording project:

When I was a little girl, my mom often let me stay up late to watch classical music performances on PBS. I vividly remember the night I saw Itzhak Perlman perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto. I was six years old and had just learned the Haydn Concerto in G Major. My introduction to its “big sibling” was a revelation; I instinctively sensed that the Beethoven was the pinnacle of violin concertos.

Stylistically, Beethoven’s concerto seems to stand alone among the great works for violin and orchestra. The few other concertos from that time that are occasionally played, most notably those of Paganini, Spohr, and Rode, bear it little resemblance. I take a Classical period approach to the Beethoven, which accentuates its differences from the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. The Franz Clement Violin Concerto in D Major turned out to be the perfect pairing, setting Beethoven’s masterpiece in an entirely new context.

In spring 2006, I received a call from the owner of my favorite sheet music store, Performer’s Music. Knowing of my fascination with lesser-known historic repertoire, he asked if I would be interested in the newly published first modern edition of Clement’s Violin Concerto in D Major. He read me a short essay about the piece and I placed my order immediately. When the score arrived, it only took one glance to know that I had found something special. It is an excellent composition, but what really startled me were the aesthetic similarities to Beethoven’s masterpiece.

The Clement Concerto has not been publicly performed in approximately 200 years. There are no surviving cadenzas, so I composed my own for this recording. For the Beethoven, I chose to record the cadenzas I wrote in 2001. Most cadenzas to the first movement of the Beethoven begin with a variation on the solo violin’s first entrance. However, Beethoven began his cadenza to his piano transcription of the violin concerto with the bold motif in the orchestra that follows the conclusions of the exposition and recapitulation. I chose to start my cadenza with this same motif, employing my own choice of harmonies. The four repeated notes that feature so prominently in the first movement appear many times in my cadenza. Notably, in the final climax, I reiterate them one last time, halving the speed for extra emphasis. They even make a brief appearance at the end of my cadenza to the last movement.

I am very grateful to Maestro José Serebrier for learning the Clement and for preparing both works so meticulously. I would also like to thank the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for playing with such commitment and enthusiasm. It was a rewarding collaboration and I look forward to working with these fine musicians again. Finally, many thanks to Clive Brown for reviving Clement’s life story and concerto.

I am very pleased to share with you my interpretation of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and I hope that you will be intrigued and moved by its worthy predecessor.

Jim Hirsch's recent Top 5 list post made me think of one I've always wanted to post: a list of obscure composers who shouldn't be:

1.    Nicolai Miaskovsky (1881-1950)

The forgotten "Soviet" composer (i.e., contemporary of Shostakovich and Prokofiev), Miaskovsky was a prolific writer (27 symphonies, 13 string quartets, etc.) whose music is consistently entertaining, colorful, dramatic, and often gorgeous. He is probably best known for his lushly romantic Cello Sonata, which is often appropriately coupled on recordings with Rachmaninov's, as it is on the recommended recording below and as it will be on a disc Cedille Records will record with cellist Wendy Warner this fall for release in 2009/2010.

Representative works with recommended recordings:

Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano in A minor, Op. 81 (Yuli Turovsky, cello; Luba Edlina, piano; Chandos 8523)

Symphony No. 22 in B minor, Op. 54 (another great Russian symphony in the key of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique) (Miaskovsky Complete Symphonies; Russian State Symphony Orchestra; Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor; Warner Classics 513844)

String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, Op. 86 (only currently available recording: Taneyev String Quartet; Northern Flowers 9954)

Piano Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 19 (Sviatoslav Richter; Doremi Records 7806)

2.    Jan Vaclav Hugo Vorisek (1791-1835)

This Bohemian contemporary (and friend) of Beethoven and Schubert combines some of the best aspects of both: the former's flair for drama and the latter's gift for melody. Unfortunately, he was (like Beethoven) a bit of a late bloomer (by Classical Period standards) who (unlike Beethoven) died young. So his mature output is relatively small but consistently superb.

I owe my "discovery" of this composer to Maestro Paul Freeman. When we went to Bratislava, Slovakia to record the Piano Concerto No. 4 by John LaMontaine with pianist Ramon Salvatore and the Slovak Radio Symphony I attended Maestro Freeman's recording session the previous night, of the 3rd and 4th movements of Vorisek's Symphony in D (his best known piece) and was bowled over. I searched out recordings of the full symphony and any other Vorisek pieces I could find and discovered the works listed below, including Vorisek's last: a Mass he composed soon after winning the position of Court Organist in Vienna (beating out Schubert for the job) and, unfortunately, soon before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 34.

That recording was only available in the Czech Republic. When I discovered that the recording Maestro Freeman had started of Vorisek's Symphony never came to fruition, I immediately proposed recording the Symphony and Mass with Freeman's Czech National Symphony and Chicago vocal soloists, resulting in the CD listed below.

Representative works with recommended recordings:

Symphony in D major, Mass in B-flat major (Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Prague Chamber Chorus, Chicago soloists; Paul Freeman, conductor; Cedille Records CDR 90000 058)

Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 5 (Ivan Zenaty, violin; Josef Hala, piano; Multisonic Records, currently out of print)

Piano music including Six Impromptus, Op. 7 and Fantasia in C major, Op. 12 (Radoslav Kvapil, piano; Regis 1224)

3.    Leo Sowerby (1895-1968)

During the 1920s and early ‘30s, Leo Sowerby was the American composer whose music was most often programmed by American orchestras. Chicago Symphony conductor Frederick Stock in particular championed his music during that period. While the music of many other "American Romantics" (e.g., Samuel Barber, Howard Hanson, etc.) has enjoyed a revival in the last few decades, Sowerby's music has not been as fortunate. I find this strange because Sowerby was admired by his contemporaries and his best music demonstrates highly colorful instrumental writing, beautiful melodic development, and superb use of counterpoint. I find myself listening to Sowerby's music on my "Cedille iPod" more than anyone else's.

My knowledge of Sowerby came courtesy of the Leo Sowerby Foundation, which successfully lobbied me to record the music of this unfairly neglected Chicago composer (who served for many years as organist at St. James Cathedral). The result was the two all-Sowerby orchestral recordings with Paul Freeman listed below.

Representative works with recommended recordings:

Comes Autumn Time, Prairie, Theme in Yellow, From the Northland ("Tone Poems by Leo Sowerby"; Czech National Symphony Orchestra; Paul Freeman, conductor; Cedille Records CDR 90000 033)

Symphony No. 2; Concert Overture; All on a Summer's Day; Passacaglia, Interlude, and Fugue (Chicago Sinfonietta; Czech National Symphony Orchestra; Paul Freeman, conductor; Cedille Records CDR 90000 039)

Concertpiece for Organ and Orchestra (David Schrader, organ; Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Cedille Records CDR 90000 063)

Piano Trios (La Musica Gioiosa Trio; New World Records 80365)

4.    Nicolai Medtner (1880-1951)

A pianist-composer in the tradition of Rachmaninov and whose music will remind many of that near-exact contemporary, Medtner penned some of the most gorgeously nostalgic and bittersweet music ever written. I have Chicago Russian-émigré pianist Dmitry Paperno to thank for this personal discovery.

Representative works with recommended recordings:

Forgotten Melodies, Op. 38, Nos. 6, 7, and 8 (on "Dmitry Paperno plays Russian Piano Music"; Cedille Records CDR 90000 001)

Sonata Reminiscenza, Op. 38, No. 1 (on "Paperno Live"; Cedille Records CDR 90000 044)

Sonata Triad, Op. 11 and Sonata in E minor, Op. 25, No. 2 ("The Night Wind") (Hamish Milne; Crd Records 3339)

5.    Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)

I'll round out my list with another piano composer, in this case a French Jewish contemporary of Liszt who concedes nothing to his more famous colleague in the virtuosity department. From the recommended recording below, of particular interest is the "Etude" titled "The Fire in the Neighboring Village," which is really an amazingly elaborate tone-poem for piano.

Representative works with recommended recording:

12 Etudes in Major Keys, Op. 35; Le festin d'Esope, Op. 39, No. 12; Scherzo diabolico, Op. 39, No. 3 (Bernard Ringeissen; Naxos 8555495)

So, who are your 5 most underrated or overlooked composers?

Previous posts in this series:

What do young artists and ensembles need to know about recording?

What musicians should know about recording, part 1: Where to record

The Recording Process, Part 2: The Recording Team

The Recording Process, Part 3: Getting the Sound

The Recording Process, Part 4: The Process of Recording