25 thoughts on “Music Chat: 16 ESSENTIAL Orchestral Classics In 1953”
What a fun topic, Dave! I was thinking of this just yesterday as I was listening to some old favorites while in the car. I was thinking that the Suppe Overtures and Enescu Romanian Rhapsody #1 in my player had received the (early 1970s) Schwann Guide's asterisk, indicating a particularly essential work in the standard repertoire. Great pieces, but I think that hardly anyone would classify them thusly today. Likewise, you had mentioned the Schumann cello concerto a few talks back, which brought to my mind how this middling, unpopular concerto was designated one of the core repertoire pieces by Stereo Review in their pamphlet-guide. Funny how these characterizations imprinted on this teenager's brain and come to mind time and again. And Louis Biancolli's Concert Companion (early 1950s, I think) — now that has some really weird stuff in it.
Interesting that Mendelssohn's Italian was on the list. I was almost tempted to take that over the violin concerto for my favorite Mendelssohn work. Your channel has developed nicely since you began it. I hope the name change boosted your numbers as hoped.
No Haydn, no Mahler – your faves! I have an idea for a fun talk : a list of your top 10 pretentious cd titles….every month, new ones emerge, worse than the last….
I have a Guide to Recorded Music by Irving Kolodin from 1941. It is a lot of fun to look through and I am surprised by it's breadth. It goes beyond the basic repotoire and has a lot of material. However, Neilson does not exist and Mahler is represented by a few song cycles and I think an exract from the 4th symphony,that's it. And I love the fact that when I read the sections on Sibelius and Richard Strauss those two were still alive! No Four Last Songs or Metamorphen to review, they were still to come.
I have 101 Masterpieces of Music and Their Composers by Martin Bookspan. He made some recording choices that you would probably disagree with today. For instance, in the edition I have, he raves about Beecham's recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, but doesn't mention Reiner's recording at all!
I hope you will not skip over the Jazz chapter as 1953 was a very interesting time in Jazz. The Bebop Revolution had just occurred and the controversy surrounding it was nowhere near dying down yet. It would be interesting to hear what Taubman had to say about it.
The year of my birth! Thank you so much for this fascinating look back David. I look forward to further installments. When it comes to works of genius like these, that old cliche is true: the more things change the more they stay the same.
Excellent video! This gives rise to an idea: how about doing a video on some interesting books that were important in the past for record collectors, like the Penguin Guide?
I enjoyed this video. Years ago, I owned secondhand copies of David Hall’s “Record Book” (1946 edition, as I recall) and “Disc Book” (1955). I regret not keeping them. In the “The Record Book,” Hall reviewed every classical recording in print in the US. That was doable in the 78 rpm era when most discs were issued by only 3 labels (RCA, Columbia [US], and Decca [US]). By 1955, that was no longer possible. Instead, he offered lists of discs he liked. I did find the 1955 book online, and was able to peruse it. Hall’s entries were pretty diverse; for example, Gesualdo, Nielsen, Mahler, and Varese were mentioned.
Hi Dave! I have the 2 volume Milton Cross "Encyclopedia of the great composers," which contain short bios of many classical composers, as well recommended classical pieces for your record library (in the back of book 2). I believe it was written in the late fifties or early sixties and it's very well-written and researched in my opinion. I'd love to know what you think of them.
The year 1953 triggers a lot of memories for me, so I'll pitch in a few historic memories. I was born in 1953. My father, originally Abraham Tannenbaum, changed to Arno Tanney, was a cantor and I would go hear him during the high holidays. It was "reform" type services but it still lasted forever over a couple days. He also had quite a few years on the Borscht Belt circuit in the Catskills back in the day. He wa a comedian as well as singer. He also did one children's record called Pancho Goes to the Fiesta with music by George Kleinsinger. During WWII my father was a sargeant managing some level of army entertainment services. He recorded a recruitment commercial during those times that people liked so after the War he was hired for a couple of years as the MC of a national variety show called "Sound Off" based on that old recruitment commercial There were celebrity guests and he was sort of the Ed Sullivan type figure on this radio show. I still remembr 78 records. We had those when I was a kid. My father was 43 when I was born so my childhood history goes back a while. But now I'm 70 so much of all the memories are a bit dimmer now. But I still remember a good bit.
Well, it has changed to some extent. I'm sure a Mahler symphony would turn up today which it surely wouldn't have in 1953. In fact, it's interesting to look at old Schwann calolagues from the 50s and see how little Mahler and Bruckner was available. But at least they had the Schwann catalogue. Can you imagine still having it published today!!
I paused the video to think of my own 16 but stopped since I couldn't limit myself to just 16. Specifically, when I included Norbert Burgmuller's Piano Concerto on my list because I have the slow movement playing in my head today.
Content (momentarily) aside, I love the book's cover. With the asterisks/stars it has a smack of what's known as "Googie" architecture, which (I just learned) really started in the 1930s.
I love the torn dust-cover! I have the 2-volumes of Milton Cross' (and David Owens') Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music, also published in 1953, covering "the foremost composers of the past and present (seventy-eight in number) and their music." Inherited from my father sans dust-covers. One chapter is "One Hundred Basic Works for the Record Library". It will be interesting to see how Cross's recommendations compare with Taubman's.
Old reference books are a lot of fun. My 1928 Victrola Book of the Opera tells me that the many, many operas of Massenet were performed a lot more frequently than the two or three that are occasionally performed today. Also, descriptions of some contemporary items that have since fallen out of the repertoire, a number of once-popular operas that I have never heard of. L'Amor dei tre Re, Mirelle, Zazá, and your personal favorite, Dinorah.
What a fun topic, Dave! I was thinking of this just yesterday as I was listening to some old favorites while in the car. I was thinking that the Suppe Overtures and Enescu Romanian Rhapsody #1 in my player had received the (early 1970s) Schwann Guide's asterisk, indicating a particularly essential work in the standard repertoire. Great pieces, but I think that hardly anyone would classify them thusly today. Likewise, you had mentioned the Schumann cello concerto a few talks back, which brought to my mind how this middling, unpopular concerto was designated one of the core repertoire pieces by Stereo Review in their pamphlet-guide. Funny how these characterizations imprinted on this teenager's brain and come to mind time and again. And Louis Biancolli's Concert Companion (early 1950s, I think) — now that has some really weird stuff in it.
Interesting that Mendelssohn's Italian was on the list. I was almost tempted to take that over the violin concerto for my favorite Mendelssohn work. Your channel has developed nicely since you began it. I hope the name change boosted your numbers as hoped.
Mahler is a powerhouse now. Is he mentioned anywhere in the book?
No Haydn, no Mahler – your faves! I have an idea for a fun talk : a list of your top 10 pretentious cd titles….every month, new ones emerge, worse than the last….
I have a Guide to Recorded Music by Irving Kolodin from 1941. It is a lot of fun to look through and I am surprised by it's breadth. It goes beyond the basic repotoire and has a lot of material. However, Neilson does not exist and Mahler is represented by a few song cycles and I think an exract from the 4th symphony,that's it. And I love the fact that when I read the sections on Sibelius and Richard Strauss those two were still alive! No Four Last Songs or Metamorphen to review, they were still to come.
I have 101 Masterpieces of Music and Their Composers by Martin Bookspan. He made some recording choices that you would probably disagree with today. For instance, in the edition I have, he raves about Beecham's recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, but doesn't mention Reiner's recording at all!
I hope you will not skip over the Jazz chapter as 1953 was a very interesting time in Jazz. The Bebop Revolution had just occurred and the controversy surrounding it was nowhere near dying down yet. It would be interesting to hear what Taubman had to say about it.
The year of my birth! Thank you so much for this fascinating look back David. I look forward to further installments. When it comes to works of genius like these, that old cliche is true: the more things change the more they stay the same.
Ah the dawn of the LP era. Fascinating time
Hmmmmmm, Me thinks they are going to find Bartok and Shostakovich a bit hard to digest.
Excellent video! This gives rise to an idea: how about doing a video on some interesting books that were important in the past for record collectors, like the Penguin Guide?
What a wonderful discovery…a forgotten gem from 1953.
We're going to have tons of fun with this 🥳
I enjoyed this video. Years ago, I owned secondhand copies of David Hall’s “Record Book” (1946 edition, as I recall) and “Disc Book” (1955). I regret not keeping them. In the “The Record Book,” Hall reviewed every classical recording in print in the US. That was doable in the 78 rpm era when most discs were issued by only 3 labels (RCA, Columbia [US], and Decca [US]). By 1955, that was no longer possible. Instead, he offered lists of discs he liked. I did find the 1955 book online, and was able to peruse it. Hall’s entries were pretty diverse; for example, Gesualdo, Nielsen, Mahler, and Varese were mentioned.
I would be interested to learn whether they also recommended recordings for these works.
This is the kind of thing I LOVE!!!!
Hi Dave! I have the 2 volume Milton Cross "Encyclopedia of the great composers," which contain short bios of many classical composers, as well recommended classical pieces for your record library (in the back of book 2). I believe it was written in the late fifties or early sixties and it's very well-written and researched in my opinion. I'd love to know what you think of them.
The year 1953 triggers a lot of memories for me, so I'll pitch in a few historic memories. I was born in 1953. My father, originally Abraham Tannenbaum, changed to Arno Tanney, was a cantor and I would go hear him during the high holidays. It was "reform" type services but it still lasted forever over a couple days. He also had quite a few years on the Borscht Belt circuit in the Catskills back in the day. He wa a comedian as well as singer. He also did one children's record called Pancho Goes to the Fiesta with music by George Kleinsinger. During WWII my father was a sargeant managing some level of army entertainment services. He recorded a recruitment commercial during those times that people liked so after the War he was hired for a couple of years as the MC of a national variety show called "Sound Off" based on that old recruitment commercial There were celebrity guests and he was sort of the Ed Sullivan type figure on this radio show. I still remembr 78 records. We had those when I was a kid. My father was 43 when I was born so my childhood history goes back a while. But now I'm 70 so much of all the memories are a bit dimmer now. But I still remember a good bit.
This is going to be a GREAT series of videos! Can’t wait for the “Off the beaten path” chapter….
Well, it has changed to some extent. I'm sure a Mahler symphony would turn up today which it surely wouldn't have in 1953. In fact, it's interesting to look at old Schwann calolagues from the 50s and see how little Mahler and Bruckner was available. But at least they had the Schwann catalogue. Can you imagine still having it published today!!
The two big omissions from the 21st century perspective are Mahler and Bruckner. People frankly are liking their symphonies a bit longer these days.
I paused the video to think of my own 16 but stopped since I couldn't limit myself to just 16. Specifically, when I included Norbert Burgmuller's Piano Concerto on my list because I have the slow movement playing in my head today.
Content (momentarily) aside, I love the book's cover. With the asterisks/stars it has a smack of what's known as "Googie" architecture, which (I just learned) really started in the 1930s.
I love the torn dust-cover! I have the 2-volumes of Milton Cross' (and David Owens') Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music, also published in 1953, covering "the foremost composers of the past and present (seventy-eight in number) and their music." Inherited from my father sans dust-covers. One chapter is "One Hundred Basic Works for the Record Library". It will be interesting to see how Cross's recommendations compare with Taubman's.
These blasts from the past are wonderful. Please continue.
Old reference books are a lot of fun. My 1928 Victrola Book of the Opera tells me that the many, many operas of Massenet were performed a lot more frequently than the two or three that are occasionally performed today. Also, descriptions of some contemporary items that have since fallen out of the repertoire, a number of once-popular operas that I have never heard of. L'Amor dei tre Re, Mirelle, Zazá, and your personal favorite, Dinorah.