Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 6 (1927-03)

244 The Phonograph Monthly Review vst i - - — - — appear to have been mostly benefit occasions. We have the spectacle of a man writing wonderful music for no particular orchestra. If there would appear to be little to regret in the way of having no permanent record of the manner in which the symphonies sounded on first hearing, that regret is more than made up for by the knowledge that today we can have complete recordings of each of the symphonies. We know that it was an American, Thayer, who first published an index of Beethoven’s com- positions. His research told him that was the first requirement. Materials are not at hand at present to make anything like a complete survey of the history of phonograph recordings of the Beethoven symphonies. It is almost too contem- poraneous to contemplate. Nevertheless, the his- torian of 2027, it may be, will be quite as in- terested in the first recordings of Beethoven’s symphonies as Thayer and Nottebohm were in the first editions. Were there any recordings from Beethoven anywhere before 1910? The earliest dates that I have been able to discover are some recordings by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1912. In November of that year the Victor Company re- leased the Leonore Overture, No. 3, recorded by the Victor Concert Orchestra. On one side of the second record was issued the Adagio from the Fourth Symphony played by Vessella’s Band. Apparently this was the first fragment of a Beethoven symphony recorded in the United States. In May, 1913, the slow movement from the Sixth Symphony recorded by the Victor Con- cert Orchestra was released. In June of the same year came the second movement of the Fifth Symphony; in July the first movement. The last movement came out April, 1917, and the third movement in May, 1917. The gradual process of recording or releasing the first entire symphony follows in a sense the way in which the symphonies were first intro- duced—piecemeal. The first recording by a standard symphony orchestra was that of the Allegretto of the Eighth Symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski, released in May, 1920. Toscanini and the La Scala Orchestra recorded the Finale of the Fifth Symphony and of the Third Symphony in 1920; also the Finale of the First Symphony, released in 1921. The first movement of the Fifth was brought out in a new version by Mengelberg and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in April, 1922. This apparently concludes the records by Am- erican orchestras of Beethoven Symphonies for the Victor Company to date. The next stage was the issue of foreign record- ings in this country—the first being that of the Seventh Symphony by Albert Coates and the Symphony Orchestra, released in June, 1922. About this time European recordings of note be- gan to appear, notably in the Columbia catalogue: the Third by Sir Henry Wood and the 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th by Weingartner. IICV The first issue of the Beethoven symphonies in complete recording were the Odeon versions made in Germany and distributed in the United States by the General (now the Okeh) Phonograph Cor- poration. These recordings were made by the Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera House di- rected by Dr. Weissman, except for the Seventh, which was directed by Dr. Morike. Another important series is that of the Poly- dor recordings which include all nine symphonies recorded under the direction of Klemperer (1 and 8), Fried (2 and 3), Pfitzner (4 and 6), Seidler-Winkler (5 and 9) Wohllebe (7), Strauss (7), and Furtwaengler (5). The latest development of course is the elec- trical recordings which are indicated in the com- plete list which follows. Weingartner’s Ninth for Columbia was the first one of these to. appear. It is unnecessary to note what a debt of grati- tude the Beethoven lover is under to each of the phonograph companies who have by experimenta- tion built up a remarkable library of the sym- phonies. Note especially that the whole develop- ment appears to come between 1912-1927. RECORDINGS OF BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES Electrical recordings are starred (*). First Symphony: Columbia *Masterworks Set No 57—Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. (George Henschel). Parlophone P1886-8—Berlin State Opera House Orchestra (Weismann), Odeon 5094-6—Berlin State Opera House Orchestra (Weismann). Polydor 69760-3—Berlin State Opera House Orchestra (Klemperer). Victor 6300— (Finale) La Scala Orchestra (Toscanini). Polydor 67874—(1st Mvt.) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Abendroth). Second Symphony: Columbia *Masterworks Set No. 45—London Symphony Orchestra (Beecham). Odeon 5097-5100—Berlin S. O. H. Orch. (Weissmann). Parlophone P 1889-92—Berlin S. O. H. Orch. (Weissmann) Polydor 69799-802—Berlin State Opera House (Fried). Third Symphony (“ Eroica ”): Victor *(No. not yet announced)—Symphony Orchestra (Coates). Columbia * Master works Set No. 46—New Queen's Hall Orchestra (Wood). Parlophone P1845-51—Berlin State Opera House Orch. Weissmann). Odeon 5101-7 — Berlin State Opera House Orch. (Weiss- mann). Polydor 69706-11—Berlin State Opera House Orch.(Fried). Columbia 7081-3 M—New Queen’s Hall Orch. (Wood). Withdrawn. Polydor 65508 — (Scherzo) Wiirttembergischen Landesthea- tres Orch (Busch). Fourth Symphony: Columbia *Masterworks Set No. 47—Halle Orch. (Harty). Parlophone P1861-4—Berlin State Opera House Orch. (Weissmann). Odeon 5073-6—Berlin State Opera House Orchestra Weissman). Polydor 69663-7—Berlin State Opera Hourse Orchestra (Pfitzner). Victor 35269—(Adagio) Vessella, Band. Fifth Symphony: Victor *9029-32—Royal Albert Hall Orch. (Ronald). Columbia *Masterworks Set. No. 48—Royal Philharmonic (Weingartner). Polydor *69855-9—Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin (Furtwaengler). Odeon 5053-6—Berlin State Opera House Orchestra Weissmann). Parlophone P 1792-5—Berlin State Opera House Orch. Weissman).