Swiss composer Joseph Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Pieces that were once regularly played, which today have fallen out of the repertoire: Joachim Raff’s Symphony No.5 (‘Lenore’). Recorded by Nonesuch in 1973 with the London Philharmonic & Bernard Herrmann. (Played at the Proms in 1895, conducted by Henry Wood, and not there since!)
How nice to see Joachim Raff making what I assume is his debut in the Column! … I’ve just checked his Wiki entry and it confirms Colin’s headline: “Raff was very prolific and by the end of his life was one of the best known German composers, though his work is largely forgotten today. He drew influence from a variety of sources – his eleven symphonies, for example, combine the Classical symphonic form, with the Romantic penchant for program music and contrapuntal orchestral writing which harks back to the Baroque. Most of these symphonies carry descriptive titles, including “In the Forest” (No. 3) and “Lenore” (No. 5).”
The article goes on to say that Raff’s Symphony No. 3 “was enthusiastically received by the audience at that time, spread quickly to England and America and was one of the most played orchestral pieces in the world at the end of the 19th century. It fell into oblivion together with Raff himself, but influenced many later romantic composers including Tchaikovsky.”
Wiki also continues by saying that the ‘Lenore’ Symphony (No. 5), equally famous in its time, was inspired by a ballad of the same name by Gottfried August Bürger that also inspired works by several other composers. The world premiere recording of ‘Lenore’ was made in 1970 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bernard Herrmann, a staunch champion of Raff’s orchestral music. He described it as “one of the finest examples of the Romantic Programme School – it deserves a place alongside the ‘Symphonie fantastique’ of Berlioz, Liszt’s ‘Faust’ Symphony and the ‘Manfred’ Symphony of Tchaikovsky.”
Raff’s 3rd Symphony is also well worth adding the list of works seldom played today and happily, YouTube has the recording played by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Francesco d’Avalos. “In the Forest” has four movements with descriptive titles: (1) Impressions and Feelings; (2) Dreaming; (3) Dance of the Dryads; (4) At Night. Entry and departure of the Wild Hunt. Daybreak.
A comment under the video reads thus: “Conductor Hans von Bülow described the symphony’s success as “colossal” and at one performance in which Raff was present “a complete hurricane went through the house” and Raff mounted the podium “amidst barbaric jubilation from the audience”. One critic described the Symphony as “the best Symphony of modern times, one of the very few which are worthy to go down in posterity in company with the works of Beethoven and Schumann.” Nevertheless, it might be noted that despite all that, the Raff “Im Walde” has never had a Proms performance, even under Sir Henry Wood!
Well, here it is and most helpfully, the uploader of the d’Avalos video has illustrated it with the pages of the full score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZKMzX-0h7A&t=695s
So shall the Proms people be dropped a hint that the Proms Premiere of Raff’s “In the Forest” is long overdue?
Edward Johnson