John Parker wrote:

>Seems like we had this thread very recently because I remember that I
>was the only one then to mention Karl Hartmann's 1st symphony and seem to
>be the only one now.  Is there anyone else who knows and loves the works
>of this composer?

I remember years ago all the symphonies were played on the radio (from
Wergo LPs, IIRC) and I dutifully heard them all.  I liked some a bit, was
underwhelmed by others but never got back to them.  The fact that they were
only available as a hideously expensive set was another deterrent.  It
might be time to try again.

>I discovered him by accident when I bought a used CD in order to get
>Hindemith's violin concerto and this other guy, Hartmann, had his violin
>concerto paired with Hindemith's.  I still like Hindemith but if I'm only
>going to listen to one of the pieces, it is always Hartmann's.

This is covered in the chapter on serendipity in my unusually well-thumbed
copy of "Murphy's Law:  A User's Guide".  My first experience of this was
buying an LP of Robert and Gaby Casadesus' version of the Mozart double
concerto which I'd just fallen in love with.  It was coupled with Robert
playing the Ravel left-hand concerto, which blew me away completely.  I
have a theory that someone at Sony accidentally threw out the Ravel tape
and is hoping no-one will notice, because to my knowledge, this version has
never been re-released on CD.

Richard Pennycuick
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