This is the last day to document November listening, so I better write this before it becomes last month's news.

I just gave a listen to the CD "From Hungary to Taiwan" by the Formosa Quartet (Bridge 9519), and it's wonderful. Most of it is given over to folk music arrangements, with tasteful bits of modernism thrown in. I especially liked Dana Wilson's Hungarian Folk Songs, but the Taiwanese stuff is great too. Along the way, the Formosans throw in Bartok's No. 4, and the context brings out its folk flavor. I prefer more linearity in Bartok, but the cohesive "folk band" sound of the FQ is a nice alternative. Recording is excellent, as is always the case with Bridge. Special mention should go to the liner notes, which nicely explain the fine points of both the Hungarian and Taiwanese folk music traditions. (By some coincidence, I found myself listening to this in between reading Patrick Leigh Fermor, the passages where he recounts his experiences in Romania with ethnic Hungarians and throws in lots of history.)

Al Eisner wrote:
>
> In a recent video, Dave Hurwitz promoted Roussel's Symphony #2 as the
> greatest French symphony. If it weren't for Berlioz, I would say he has
> a point. What else might contend (again, beyond Berlioz)? The popular
> works of Saint-Saens and Franck, perhaos some of Magnard, what else?

Even Bizet had his say.

On Tuesday, 23 November 2021 at 10:12:57 UTC+11, Al Eisner wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Nov 2021, HT wrote:
>
> In a recent video, Dave Hurwitz promoted Roussel's Symphony #2 as the
> greatest French symphony. If it weren't for Berlioz, I would say he has
> a point. What else might contend (again, beyond Berlioz)? The popular
> works of Saint-Saens and Franck, perhaos some of Magnard, what else?
> It's a compelling work, albeit sometimes obsessive (here not a bad thing),
> even better for me on second hearing.

> Al Eisner

For me one can't get past the symphonies of Chausson in Bflat, or Bizet in C, or Honegger 3.

For sheer melodic invention, Bizet's Carmen and L'arlesienne suites sweep the board for me as far as the 19th century goes.

Ray Hall, Taree

On Tue, 30 Nov 2021, number_six wrote:

> Al Eisner wrote:
>>
>> In a recent video, Dave Hurwitz promoted Roussel's Symphony #2 as the
>> greatest French symphony. If it weren't for Berlioz, I would say he has
>> a point. What else might contend (again, beyond Berlioz)? The popular
>> works of Saint-Saens and Franck, perhaos some of Magnard, what else?
>
> Even Bizet had his say.

The Bizet is a fine work, which has gone from being unknown to being
overplayed. Delightful, if not heard too often, but I don't think
it is in the same class as the above.

By the way, since MELMOTH mentioned L:andowski, I've heard his second
symphony on the Martinon late years set. A very impressive work, well
worth hearing, but, again I would put it a tier below (if such a
comment is worth anything). I was not at all taken with his second
piano concerto, in that same set.
--
Al Eisner

On Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 12:41:07 PM UTC-8, Al Eisner wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Nov 2021, number_six wrote:
>
> > Al Eisner wrote:
> >>
> >> In a recent video, Dave Hurwitz promoted Roussel's Symphony #2 as the
> >> greatest French symphony. If it weren't for Berlioz, I would say he has
> >> a point. What else might contend (again, beyond Berlioz)? The popular
> >> works of Saint-Saens and Franck, perhaos some of Magnard, what else?
> >
> > Even Bizet had his say.
> The Bizet is a fine work, which has gone from being unknown to being
> overplayed. Delightful, if not heard too often, but I don't think
> it is in the same class as the above.
>
> By the way, since MELMOTH mentioned L:andowski, I've heard his second
> symphony on the Martinon late years set. A very impressive work, well
> worth hearing, but, again I would put it a tier below (if such a
> comment is worth anything). I was not at all taken with his second
> piano concerto, in that same set.
> --
> Al Eisner

I expect DH touted Roussel knowing full well that "hey! Whaddabout Berlioz?" would be a common reaction. In other words, being an agent provocateur....